Zarahemla Week 12

Exchange with Elder Torres

This week has been awesome! Tons of miracles and lots of wonderful experiences.

Wednesday was pretty much the usual. Went to district meeting which was great. It was the last district meeting of the transfer, so we had a little testimony meeting which was cool. Hermana Jex is "dying" (going home), so we took funeral pictures which were pretty funny. After district meeting and doing some things in the mission office,

we went to see Fransisco. It was such a funny lesson, Fransisco is awesome. He fed us sandwiches and we showed him how to watch the church's bible videos online, and he loves them (he really loves the bible). We also shared with him the Restoration video, mainly because we hardly get a word in during some of the lessons, and he has some trouble understanding things, so we thought the video would be nice to simplify things a bit. He really liked it!

Thursday was pretty good, fairly different which is always fun. We did a bit of weekly planning, which was great, and then went to meet the other Elders in our district for our next exchange. I went with Elder Torres, and it was awesome! He was fairly stressed about it since this is his first transfer, but he did awesome! We got to do a little bit of contacting together, then went to dinner with a member family. The dad is Québec-coi, but he speaks perfect Spanish! You could easily mistake him for a native! It was crazy. We then made our way to a less active family's house, who had an adorable little boy that kept showing us his toys. We shared a bit with them, and it was super fun.

Elder Colunga and I were COMPLETELY alone in one of the
new metro trains during contacting time

Friday was, of course, the first day in December, which means the Light the World initiative has officially begun! It makes contacting SO much easier, and I encourage all of you to watch the video on Mormon.org. It's super inspiring! Elder Torres and I were able to do studies together which were fun, and then went right away to meet back up with the other Elders. Elder Colunga and I then finished our weekly planning, and went out contacting for the night. We're spending a lot more time contacting, since we've been highly encouraged to share the Christmas initiative. It's been super awesome!

We are so sad that Elder Colunga is leaving!

Saturday was pretty good, we went to visit Victor again early in the morning, and then went back home to do studies and have lunch. We got to visit with Mauricio, who we haven't been able to see for a while, and that was awesome. Went to see Fransisco again, and it was great as usual. Contacted a little bit more, then got McDonald's as a transfer call day feast and pre-fast Sunday feast. We then went to a homecoming party for the Lemus family's son who just got back from serving in the LA mission. Hermana Lemus wanted Elder Colunga to play the piano for a little meeting they had, and wanted us to meet her son since he really wants to help out with missionary work. We'll work with him a lot probably! We then went home and got transfer calls. I'm staying in Zarahemla! I'm super happy about that, since I absolutely love this area. Sadly though, Elder Colunga is leaving and going to LaValle, which is a French speaking area just north of Montréal. He's been such a great trainer, and I'm sad to see him go! I'm also getting Elder Durgante as my new companion. He is from Brazil, and I'm excited to meet him this Thursday!

Sunday was great, pretty normal. Sadly, Nicole couldn't come to church this week due to some miscommunication with her ride. Elder Colunga and I were sad about that, but hopefully she'll be able to come next week! After church, we spent a good chunk of time coordinating with members and saying goodbyes. We got a TON of food from the members, since it was fast Sunday, and also got invited over to a member's house for dinner. We went home for a little pit stop, and to drop off the food, and then went to the family's house for dinner, contacting on the bus on the way. It was super awesome; the members in Zarahemla are so great. We then left and contacted for a little bit before going home.

Elder Colunga & I were both craving Buffalo chicken wings,
so we made them last P-Day.

Monday was pretty decent, Elder Colunga and I are trying to get in all the fun we can before he gets sent away. We visited Hermano Mendoza for Elder Colunga to say goodbye and get a picture with him, and he was super sad to see Elder Colunga go. Went to also say goodbye to a recent convert who we have been working with, and then spent a long time contacting. It was a pretty successful day!

Anyway, this week has been awesome and I hope everyone is doing well. Again, I invite all of you to look into and start working on the Light the World initiative; it's such a meaningful opportunity to improve this Christmas season! Love you all so much!

Elder James