I made it! After however many hours of flying, I made it! The jet lag is pretty bad right now, but I'll try to stay awake and focused enough to finish and send this email.
I suppose the biggest news is that I made it here to the Madrid CCM safely and on time. We left at 5 in the morning (Provo time) and went by bus straight to Salt Lake City, the drive was a good time for me to bid a final two-year adieu to the valley and people that I loved. While cruising down the freeway, I saw Venus rise right by the crescent moon over the silhouette of Mt. Timpanogos, and I guess that was kind of like the valley saying goodbye back.
The flight from SLC to the NY airport was uneventful and comfortable. I sat by a couple of great guys and had a nice conversation getting to know them. I've noticed that people are staring at me A LOT. I guess it's this black name tag I'm wearing... :) After a brief layover in NYC, we boarded Air France and headed out across Irreantum, which being interpreted is 'Super Crazy long Plane Flight over the Atlantic.' I was able to get a couple hours of restless sleep. I thought the food they served was delicious and I ate every bite, though some of my traveling companions found it too diverse for their tastes. After the Lord brought me across the great waters, we landed in Paris and had another brief layover before boarding the last flight to Madrid.
When I landed in Madrid, it was just all so beautiful! The sun is so bright and the air is so clear. It's just what you'd expect from a storybook or something. And yes, they DO use the theta and the vosotros form!!! I'm still loving every instance of it. It's just plain awesome! We took another bus to the CCM "Centro por el Capacitacion de los Misioneros." First thing I noticed: all the buildings are built of the same or similar color of red brick, except for the Temple, of course, which is very beautiful and bright. They told us we'd get to go inside tomorrow! I can't wait. Then we had lunch in the cafeteria, which consisted of some halibut, lentil beans, crème brulée and some shrimp. All this time, I never knew that I'd been missing out on half of the shrimp! ;) After popping down a couple of those, I had this melon-like fruit that tasted really good and then a couple of seeded grapes. After a brief meeting, I started in on my unpacking and laundry (which really needs to be done, seeing as I didn't get a chance to do it before I left). After another brief meeting, they gave us our keys and 32 euro to start us off, and I added it to the euro money that Aunt Heather and Uncle Richard gave to me.Well, that's what's going on right now! I'm just about of of time so I'll just sign this off by saying that I love you all and thank you for your prayers and your well-wishes! Can't wait to get some mail, and I'll let you all know when/if I see Elder Ogden! Hasta ver!
-Elder Knorr
