Zarahemla Week 11

The snow makes everything look cleaner and prettier!

This week has been pretty great, but also super cold and snowy! I don't think I'm ready for the Canadian winter, but here it goes!

Wednesday was a pretty average day, not super busy. Went to district meeting, which was super fun. We are starting the Christmas "Light the World" initiative, and we had a huge role play activity where we set up the chairs in the same format as in the busses, and we all started contacting each other using the initiative. It was fun! We stopped by to see an elderly member, Hermana Gregoria, to see how she is doing (she's had health problems recently), and she invited us over for dinner on Friday to teach her son Javier who is investigating. He doesn't have a phone, so the only way of contact we have is through Hermana Gregoria, which is interesting. Later on that night, we went back to see Oscar and Jenny, the family that we did service for last week, for a lesson. It went super well, and they really are interested! They're awesome.

The apple pie we attempted

Thursday was Thanksgiving! We didn't celebrate, obviously, but last P-day Elder Colunga and I made (tried to) an apple pie that did NOT turn out very well, ha ha. But we heated it up that night, and it wasn't too bad! We headed over to the mission office to start an exchange with the zone leaders. Elder Jimenez came with me to my area, and it was a ton of fun! We ended up walking (and running) over 27 kilometers that day, as the majority of it was spent passing by referrals and contacts. But it was awesome! We also were able to teach Nicole that night, which went super well. She's progressing consistently, and it's been so humbling to watch her conversion process.

Me and Elder Jimenez

Friday was pretty great. We passed by one of Elder Jimenez's converts (he started his mission in Zarahemla), and we were able to visit with his family a bit. We passed by Mauricio and a referral, and then waited at a metro station to meet up with the other Elders. Then Elder Colunga and I went back home to do weekly planning. We did that until late, and then went to Hermana Gregoria's house. The food she made us was amazing as always (she's Peruvian), and we had a great lesson with Javier. He shared an experience of one of his prayers being answered immediately, which was so cool. He is committed to improving his life, which was wonderful to see.

Saturday was very busy, which is always great. We went to Victor’s again right away, and had a great lesson with him. We then went all the way to the west side of the island for a baptism with the other Elders in our district. It's always super cool to be able to see success in the mission. Then we went up to see Fransisco again, who we had had trouble getting in contact with. That lesson went as usual, he visited a lot, but we were able to teach him some things. We then were able to see Jesus and Yeni again, who had been sick earlier, which stopped us from seeing them, but we had a wonderful lesson with them. They're so awesome; we love them so much! That night we spent a long time trying to find a ride for Nicole to church the next day. Her mom would take her, but had work and couldn't, and we called basically every member who had a car. Sadly, not many members have cars, and the members that did said they couldn't or didn't respond. Nicole was dying to know if she could go to church, but we had to go to bed not knowing if she could!

On Sunday morning, we got a call from one of the members saying that a meeting had been cancelled, and they were able to take her. It was such a miracle! It's sad when investigators don't go to church, but it's even sadder when they really want to go but can't because of transportation troubles. But miraculously, she was able to come! Church was great as always, and Nicole loved it. She went to Young Women's and learned the Word of Wisdom. We made her teach it to us, which she did perfectly! She's so awesome, I hope I'll still be here for her baptism! After church, on the way home, we passed by a few contacts and referrals. It was super windy and cold, and we thought we would about die! But we obviously didn't. We then went home, had some lunch/dinner, and then did contacting for the rest of the night. It was a pretty great Sunday!

Monday was fairly decent, and not very busy. We were able to pass by Hermano Mendoza again, which was great, as always. He has such a positive attitude, and a lot of faith, which is so humbling to see. We might not be able to control our circumstances, but we sure can choose to be happy or not! We then went to Fransisco again and had another great lesson with him. He's funny, and super nice. He always gives us bananas to take after each lesson. After that, we went home for a little pit stop, ate some lunch/dinner, then went on the bus to contact the rest of the night. It was crazy, there were a ton of Hispanics out that night! I was talking to someone in Spanish almost the whole time we were riding a bus! That doesn't always happen! On the way home, the bus broke down, which apparently had never happened to Elder Colunga in the year that he's been here. So, we got home a bit late. But, it was a great day!

Things are going super well here in Zarahemla, and I'm loving every minute of it. Transfer calls are this Saturday, we we're anxious to hear if we get transferred! I'll most likely stay and get a new companion, but honestly anything could happen. Regardless of if I stay or go though, I know it's for a reason! Love you all so much; hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!

Elder James