Just when you think you´ve got
everything figured out and know the best way to work in a sector, the
mission throws you a curve ball and you have an unexpected transfer.
Which is what happened this last week! Dad and Colton, I´m glad to hear
I´m not the only one who had a crazy week. So, on Monday we got the call
for cambios and I was super surprised to hear that I had cambios! I had
only been in Santa Cruz for 2 transfers so a cambio was not in the game
plan. But, on Tuesday, day of cambios, I got a new companion, a new
sector, and a new ward! And I mean brand new, as in we´re opening a new
sector in a brand new ward that was just created yesterday! So, what
they did is they created a new ward from two existing wards, and now we
are the missionaries who are starting the new barrio. So, my new
companion is Hna. Belt, which I am so so happy about! Hna. Belt is from
American Fork, Utah and has about a year in the mission. We have a lot
in common and get along great. Something cool is that she is Native
American from her mom´s side, from the Zuni tribe. They come from New
Mexico which is where I served the first part of my mission, so that is
pretty cool.
So, Tuesday after transfers we got in a taxi with all our
suitcases and headed over to our new sector. Oh, our sector is called
Escardó 1 (it´s pronounced escargo), in the zone Maranga (I totally
jinxed myself last week when I said I should just move into the Maranga
zone ha). Hna. Aguero (the hermana from Argentina that I trained!) is
also in our ward, and she is training a new hermana, so I now have a
¨nieta¨ in mission terms. Whoo! Entonces, Hna. Aguero helped us get to
our new room. We got all our suitcases in and Hna. Aguero said, Okay,
good luck, we´ll see you! and then left. Hna. Belt and I just looked at
each other and laughed at the situation. We had a brand new carpeta,
with 0 registros, 0 nombres, nada. The first few days we honestly just
walked around our sector, contacting in the street and writing down the
names of the streets because our map didn´t have all the little street
names. We didn´t even have a ward directory because we are starting a
brand new ward, so one doesn´t exist yet. The first few days we just
enjoyed the adventure and walked around all day joking and laughing,
contacting, and drawing our map. Finally, we met up with the elders and
got some registros to work with. I´m sorry, registros means...
registers? (The paper where we write the information about
investigators, less actives, and recent converts ha). SO, we finally had
something to work with and started to visit a few investigators. This
is what we have so far:
*Gabriel: Gabriel is a 15 year old who has been
taking charlas from the elders for quite a long time now. We found him
at home and taught him for just a few minutes, and then invited him to
come to church. On Sunday he showed up in a white tie and shirt (which
the elders said he´s never done before), and he was there half an hour
early waiting for us to arrive! He is awesome and we´re excited to teach
him more.
*Flor: Flor´s daughter Ana is a member and was
baptized in Nebraska when she was a teenager. Flor loves everything
about the church and considers herself a member, but says she doesn´t
need baptism to be a good christian. We explained that even Christ was
baptized to be our example, and when she heard that her face changed and
she said, I never thought of it like that. I guess you´re right. She
agreed to let us come over to the read the Book of Mormon with her, so
we are going tomorrow to read with her. We´ll see what happens!
*Familia Vicuña: The Vicuña family is a very special
family. They suffered an accident in their family when their 14 year
old daughter was hit by a car 6 months ago. The daughter, Eliane, is
doing physical therapy to recuperate her ability to walk and to talk.
Right now she is in a wheelchair and can move her hands to communicate.
She is the cutest girl ever, and I have never met such a humble family.
They are not mad at God and know they are passing through a trial of
their faith. They have come together as a family, and throughout our
whole visit Eliane´s parents never left her side or stopped holding her
hand. We taught them about the Atonement, and that thanks to Him, all of
our suffering can be swallowed up and made better. It was a very
powerful lesson and the Spirit was very strong. They promised to come to
church next week as a family. We are also very excited to teach them
and see them grow as a family.
All in all, this week was quite a different
one. It was full of new experiences, new people, new companion, new
ward, new zone, new district, new bishop... but it was also a week full
of miracles. And it´s only been the first week! I know this transfer
will be tough since we´re starting from scratch, but I´m excited for the
challenge and know that with Heavenly Father´s help, we can do all
things. It´s a new adventure and I´m ready to learn what Heavenly Father
has in store for me personally.
Thanks for all your letters! And thanks for the birthday
package you sent!! Hna. Belt and I have been thoroughly enjoying
American candy. I also got a letter from Amy Jarman, could you tell her I
will try and write them a handwritten letter today? Tell them thank
you, they are the greatest!
I love you SO much! I´m glad Court made it back safe from
Fiji. It sounds like she had a blast and had lots of good experiences.
Welp, have a great week! Chaufa!