 |
| My new companion - Elder Landetta |
This week has been awesome, and I'm so happy that I am able
to stay in Zarahemla! My new companion, Elder Landetta, is a BEAST at
missionary work. I've been learning a ton from him already, especially in
Spanish. I'm so glad that I have another native Spanish speaker as a companion,
my language skills have really improved with him (but his Spanish is a little
different than what I'm used to). I'm starting to dream and think in Spanish
which has been so crazy! But, anyway, this is how this past week has been.
 |
| I'm very proud of myself! |
Last P-day was mainly focused on getting Elder Durgante all
packed up, which took a while. I converted him to use vacuum bags, the same as
Elder Colunga did to me. We fit what he had in 2 large suitcases and 1 medium
suitcase into only 1 large and 1 medium. I was very proud of the
accomplishment. After P-day was over, we headed over and had another great
lesson with Issac y Laura. They have such an amazing little family, and the
lesson we had was super spiritual. They have so many sincere and meaningful questions,
that lessons are always very focused. They're so nice!
 |
| Nicole got a polaroid camera and gave us the pictures! |
 |
| Saying goodbye to Elder Durgante |
Thursday was transfer day, so everything was a bit
stressful, but it all went smoothly. We took all of Elder Durgante's stuff to
the bus station, and said goodbye to Elder Durgante. It was fun to be with him
for a transfer! Short, but great! Then I went with another Elder to the mission
office to wait for my new companion, Elder Landetta. At the mission office, I
was able to see a ton of missionaries I came in with that had been marooned out
in the barren wasteland areas of the far north. It was so great so see them!
After a while we went back out, and I picked up Elder Landetta at the bus stop.
He had a bag that weight about 42 Kg that I took home on the metro and busses.
It was so awful having to take it through the snow to our house, and it ended
up breaking. He didn't care though, since this is most likely the last time he
is being transferred (he only has 2 transfers left). We did weekly planning so
he could be updated on all the new things in the area. He's so excited to be
back! After we finished, we left to go visit Marcela, but there wasn't another
man in the house so we couldn't teach her. We might be passing her off to
Sisters so that it's not as hard to teach her. We did some tracting the rest of
the night, and we found a couple of good people!
Friday was really productive. I'm so grateful to have such a
seasoned missionary helping me learn! We had District Meeting in the morning,
which went well, and then went home to do some transfer planning for a little
bit. We set some goals that we want to accomplish this transfer, and we are
shooting for 2 baptisms this transfer. It's realistic; we will just have to
work super hard! Then we headed to Francisco, and had a pretty good lesson with
him. We had a lesson planned, but when we showed up he wanted to read a passage
in the Book of Mormon and discuss it. The lesson went about an hour long, and
we only went through the introduction and three verses. At least he likes the
Book of Mormon! Then we went to pass by a couple of people that Elder Landetta
remembered teaching that were really solid. Went knocking a little bit in a
Spanish area, then went home.
Saturday was also really busy. Planned for a little bit in
the morning, then left right away. Went to visit Guillermo, who last Sunday
just randomly showed up at church and really wants to be baptized. Had an
awesome lesson with him, and have him committed to be baptized in the next
couple of weeks! It's so amazing that there are people that are so prepared for
the Gospel, it's very humbling. It makes you want to try so much harder to find
the people who are just ready to listen. They're for sure out there! Then we
went and visited Jesus and Yeni, who are doing great. They still are struggling
with the same legal problem, but that should change very soon. When it does, we
hope they will be able to be more focused on the gospel! Did a few other
things, visited Roy, a potential Elder Durgante and I found, but he sadly
wasn't home. We then went home, and started calling our investigators to invite
them to church the next day.
Sunday was super awesome! Went to church, and when the
meeting started, only one of our investigators, Eddy, showed up. I stressed out
about them for a while, but when it was time to take the Sacrament, I knew I
should just focus on that and forget about the other things occupying my mind.
When I did, Jesus, Yeni, and Guillermo all showed up! It was so amazing! Jesus
and Yeni haven't been to church together in so long! It was such a blessing.
After church we went straight to visit Hermano Mendoza and give him the
Sacrament, and shared a message with him. He's doing awesome, still improving
little by little. After that we went to visit the Mayta family, whose son
served his mission in Washington DC! I talked to him a bit about it, it was so
cool. He really loved his mission.
Monday was really busy as well, and we got a lot done. We
completed our studies in the morning, ate some lunch, then left. Passed by
Mauricio, who set up an appointment with us but wasn't there. We had a block of
about three hours free, since it was Monday and we couldn't set up any
appointments, so we decided to go street contacting in an area that Elder
Landetta remembered being super successful. We went, and it was like we were in
South America (except for the fact that it was FREEZING cold and SUPER windy)!
We kept finding tons of Hispanics. Cubans, Mexicans, Chileans, Peruvians,
Guatamalans, Argentinians, it was crazy! Almost everyone you saw was Hispanic!
It was so awesome. We then walked about 7 kilometers to pick up food from a
member, got lost, and got there super late. But we still got it, and everything
was good. Walked down to the metro station, and it was so nice to be somewhat
warm again. We were outside for about 3.5 hours straight! It was rough, I
couldn't feel or move my face by the end! Went to visit Issac y Laura again,
and had another great lesson. They have been super interested, and super warm
and open. Then we went home, and ate the food the member had given us. It was
such a great and busy day!
 |
| Goodbye pizza (sorry it's blurry)! |
I've had such a great week, and again, I'm so grateful that
Elder Landetta is my companion. He's so great, and has been teaching me a ton
about missionary work. My Spanish is improving so fast, which is great! I was
really worried about not getting it polished off a little bit before serving in
French, but I've been doing so much better! It's really been so cool. I'm
definitely going to savor the little time I have left here!
Love you all so very much, and I hope you have an amazing
week!
Elder James
No comments:
Post a Comment