Hello! Yes, I'm all better now. It was rough but thanks to Hermana Seel, clear liquids and four days of being bedridden, I'm feeling just as good as ever! Thanks for all of your prayers and your concern. This experience helped me appreciate health just a little bit more (now that I know the difference - thank you, Adam and Eve!).In other medical news, I finally got my ingrown toenail taken care of! [Warning - long and graphic story coming.] We went to a foot doctor (podologico in Spanish) this last Monday. Hermana Seel was warning me about the painfulness of the operation. She said that there was anesthesia they could use but even the shot to numb my toe would really hurt. So, with all those comforting thoughts rolling around in my brain, we went in to meet the doctor. Her name was Raquel, and she was surprisingly unterrified by my feet (she was probably used to cases like mine.) She told me that the intruding part of my toenail would have to be removed, and she recommended that we try first without the pain killer and, if it was too painful, we could numb the toe. I agreed to this plan, and she starte
d to work at my ingrown toenail with a narrow metal tool, digging out the ingrown part and pulling it out shard by shard. The pain was intense, but since I'd tried to do basically the same thing several times on my own, I was more or less used to the feeling so I was able to muscle through it. We took care of one side, and I commented that the other side of the toenail also hurt, so she went in to take a look and found that the other side was just as bad as the first! So she started working on that one too. THAT was what really hurt, because that side was fresher and the nerves were more alert, but after a minute or two of digging around, she got out the last bit. Finally, my toe can heal and I can stop worrying! It feels good to finally be done with it. We have another checkup appointment in a week. I'll be sure to tell you how the healing process is going!Anyway, on to slightly more pleasant subjects. :) Transfers came and gone and now I have a new companion! Elder Becerra has gone to serve in Alcazar de San Juan, a pueblo on the outskirts of Madrid, and I have been fortunate enough to receive, as my new companion, Elder Benson! He was Elder Ogden's last companion. Cool, huh? So I may not have had the opportunity to be companions with Elder Ogden, but now I can at least live the experience second-hand. :)
Another change: I am no longer serving in Barrio 4. The missionaries of Barrio 4 have been reassigned to the neighboring ward of Barrio 2, bringing the total of missionaries in the latter ward to 4. It was hard saying goodbye to the members, many of which I've grown to love during my short time with them. I'll include pictures of some of them with this email!I have gotten a great letter recently from my siblings, including an awesome sheet of fun photos. Thanks, family! I'll do my best to write you back post-haste.
Just to set the record straight, Mother, it's quite cold here in Madrid today! Yesterday we nearly froze solid because of the uncharacteristically cold winds that swept through the city. Today, the wind has stopped, but the cold persists. I don't mind it too much because when it's cold I can wear my suit-coat out proselyting, and I very much prefer wearing a full suit to wearing the short sleeve white shirt. It looks much more professional.Today, we plan on going and eating at Domino's Pizza with some other missionaries. We'll see how it measures up to yankee pizza. I must admit that my expectations are somewhat low. :)
I love you, beloved family and dear friends! I'm feeling much better all-around, healthwise and ganas-wise. I'm feeling much more confident in the area (even though it's a different area) and I'm excited to meet the future head-on.
Take care back home, and don't forget what's important!
-Elder Knorr
Little Alejandra Bueno. After all that we could do, we simply could NOT get her to keep that nametag out of her mouth!
Jacob Bueno. I love the expression on his face in this one.
The whole Bueno family. Jacob and Alejandra are twins and were born 4 months premature. It's been a real fight for all of them, but the babies are just fine and healthy now and just barely celebrated their first birthday!
My old companion, Elder Becerra, destroying some of the member boys in soccer last Saturday. We bought some investigators and it was really fun!
The family of Carlos, Agustina and Jesus. Carlos has Mora on his lap, and Jesus is the one on the left. We were teaching Jesus the lessons. He's a really good kid and I'm sure he'll get baptized soon.
After eating with some of the members. I can't remember all of their names, but they sure gave us a TON of food!
The boys of the Moldes family. Guess what, Ethan? They like Nerf guns too! I told them about your collection and they were amazed. I'll show them the picture of the pegboard and let you know how they respond.
