I hope you all enjoyed it, however you celebrated it. This, 2017, is officially the year that I will completely be on my mission for. So basically, next year, 2018, is when I'll see everyone again!
This has been my first week in Salamanca, and it's been pretty cool. I've begun wearing a scarf, something that I had never done before. It helps a lot when it's cold, which it is here. The highest I've seen is about 10 degrees Celsius, and the lowest around -6. Salamanca is a really pretty city though. It's bigger than Guadalajara, and has an old part of town that is really fancy and pretty. It has a huge Plaza Mayor, which I think is prettier than the one in Madrid. There are a bunch of old Catholic churches, and some cool cathedrals too. We spent a couple of hours on our preparation-day today exploring around there.
My new companion is Elder Calder, from Mapleton, UT, and he's been on the mission for about 18 months. He and I get along really well and I really like him. There are also two other Elders in this area, so we're a district of four elders. We have two separate apartments, so we don't see them as much. Salamanca is a big city.
Last Saturday, we played soccer on a small court. It's something that the missionaries set up, and a bunch of other guys, teenagers and young adults, came and played with us. The crazy thing was that there was still some ice on the cement on one corner of the field so there were quite a few people who slipped and fell. It was right by a tall building which blocked the sun from melting it, but we played until 1 in the afternoon and it was still frozen when we left. It was really fun, though.
The church has a small branch here. On Sunday yesterday, we had about 16 people there, including the missionaries. The meetings were held in some rented classrooms off a street right in the middle of town. It was different to have church meetings with so few people, but I still enjoyed it the same. The branch president is a Brazilian guy in his late twenties who is studying music, so he and I get along really well. There's also a family from El Salvador who moved here about a month ago because of safety problems in their country. It's hard for them because they had to leave a lot behind, including all their friends and a huge ward, but they're awesome people. We had dinner with them on New Year's Eve and they fed us this El Salvadorian food called Pan Relleno that was really good. They have 4 young kids and they're always super nice and welcoming when we visit them. It's amazing to see such strong faith, even though they've gone through so much. The move has been difficult, but they're doing everything they can. They're such great examples of truly converted members.
Anyway, I hope you all have a great start to the new year! I love you all!
Love,
Elder Dobbs
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