is this an activity of mormons?

Ok, before my week gets any crazier, I have got to talk about one of the best experiences I've ever had in my life.

Hiking to the top of beautiful mountains in Spain with a bunch of young, Spanish single adults of my church. 

Aly and I woke up early, hopped on the train to the next stop after Alcalá, and went straight to a parking lot of the University, like we were instructed in church the week before.  We walked around for about 10 minutes and couldn't see ANYONE.  We were so confused, they told us to meet in the parking lot! right?
Well, finally we encountered a large group of youth all the same age standing outside a small building. This had to be it right?  They were all young, in pairs, and just waiting for the youth leaders to show up, right?  Initially, me and Aly were too scared to approach anyone, because we didn't see any faces we recognized from church.  So, we just decided to sit down creepily and analyze for a second.  We were convinced this was the right place.  I said to Aly, "but why are they all holding papers?" and she responded, well maybe they are maps to the mountain where we are going to see snow! haha, finally a man drove up and got out of the car, and immediately all the youth started to gather around.  We thought, Oh good! They are about to gather for a prayer or something because the youth leader is finally here.

We started walking towards everyone, when we finally decided that we better ask someone.  We found two nice looking chicas, and I approached them timidly and said in my broken Spanish, "I don't speak Spanish very well, but is this an activity of Mormons?"  They looked at me like I was crazy, and said back..."uhh....we have an exam.""can we help you, what are you looking for?" haha, Aly and I just burst out laughing and embarrassed we apologized and said no thanks, see you later.  Frustrated and lost, we decided to cross to the other side of the train tracks...and finally we found them! The kids from church were all gathered in a circle and I will be honest, at first it was really uncomfortable because no one would talk to us, but by the end of the day, you would have thought we were best friends.


We hopped in a car with 3 boys named Santi, Juan, and Ricardo and two big beautiful dogs.  We drove an hour and a half to the mountains near "El Escorial"and basically hiked all day.  Did i love every second? oh i LOVED every second of it.  After putting ourselves out there a little bit, we literally spoke Spanish ALL DAY to them.  Some of my favorite moments were chatting with them about music, boys, sports, and candy.  We definitely covered all the basics in Spanish, and I literally sound like a 5 year old to them I'm sure, but it was so fun.  and hey, practice is practice right?

The day was filled with hiking, laughing, snowball fights, a picnic, pictures, waterfalls, and a snowman resembling "Christiano Ronaldo" haha.
On the descend, our new friend names Ricardo asked us about that one movie where the vampires fight the wolves and said, (in spanish of course) that the trees and mountains looked exactly like the ones in the movie. After awhile we discovered he was talking about Twilight! bahaha kill me. so funny.

Adrian, one of the boys who speaks English told me a lot about his mission.  I told him how I have been thinking about going for a long time.  He told me that if I have bravery, love, and obedience I will be an awesome missionary.  It was really cute, and has stuck with me.

 our boy carlos.

 CHOCOLATE MILK IN SPAIN!

 I HAVE BEEN CRAVING THIS!!

 

notice the mohawk? that's supposed to be Ronaldo. haha 

 Just hanging out with a bunch of latin americans on a mountain of snow. 

A cute girl named Rakel gave a spiritual message about the similarities between the mountains and the temple, and how they both bring us sanctuary and peace. (at least I think that is what she was saying) I have always loved that concept of the gospel...the power God's creations have to bring us closer to his spirit.  That is one reason I have always loved the outdoors so much, and this experience was just irreplaceable.  Not to mention, it was January 21st and it felt like an early summer day in the Wasatch mountains, and even when we hiked high enough to see the snow, it wasn't very cold. can you say best winter ever?  i love being a lady in spain.