Training Wheels Are Off

Monday

P-day, we started the morning by getting transfer news and... I'm staying in my area and getting a new companion! His name is Elder Baldeon, and I don't know much about him except that he only speaks Spanish, so this transfer will be a lot different. The rest of P-day consisted of playing spikeball, domination, eating lunch, and talking to family.

Tuesday

Since transfers didn't officially start until Wednesday, Tuesday was Elder Wilkens' last day in Deporte. We spent the whole day visiting our friends in the area. First, we visited Crazy Carolina, who was pretty much yelling the entire time. Then we went to see our recent converts Pamela and Renzo, where we taught a quick lesson before eating and dancing to whatever song Renzo played for us. It was a party! We finished with a visit to Andre’s, where we talked about the Book of Mormon and took pictures together. We ended the night with a lore dump from Elder Wilkens. It was lit.

Wednesday

Most of the day was spent traveling to the mission office for transfers. It was fun to be on the bus and see other missionaries since I still don't know our mission very well. When we arrived, I spent the entire time talking to friends and met Elder Baldeon. He's from Peru, from a city whose name I can’t spell. I said my final goodbyes to my trainer, Elder Wilkens, before heading back to Deporte. When we returned, we walked with a kid named Jared to seminary. His parents aren't members, but his aunt recommended he go, and he’s been attending ever since! We also brought Renzo with us for some member-attended lessons. We visited Rocio, who is on date, and a lady named Enriqueta, who had been taught before but now has renewed interest. We ended the night by visiting our recent convert, John, who told us how hard it is for him to stop drinking coffee, but he’s trying to keep going. Renzo and I then introduced Elder Baldeon to the beauty of salchipapas before calling it a night.

Thursday

Things are already so different with Elder Baldeon. We actually exercise and make breakfast in the mornings, which is crazy. Later, we had a lesson with Monica, who is on date, about the Restoration, but it’s kind of hard to follow Elder Baldeon in lessons sometimes. He gives me this look that means he wants me to say something, and I have no clue what to say! It's different, but good for me. After visiting some members, we went to the top of our area and taught Cielo, who has a lot of interest, so we ended up putting her on date! I know this is pretty normal for other missionaries, but I’m still getting used to not speaking any English at all. It’s definitely exhausting, but I wanted to use this transfer to really focus on learning better, so it’s what I need.

Friday

Not too much happened today. After lunch, Elder Baldeon said he felt like he needed to throw up and then just lay on his bed for a minute. I was confirming some appointments, and he started sleep-talking to me while I was doing it. It was wild! Nothing too crazy happened after that. We had a lesson with a girl named Araceli, and we talked about a lot of things. She has potential, but it’s just hard to meet with her, so we’ll see what happens. We ended the day by eating this chicken I’d always wanted to try, but it ended up being way too expensive and not that great. Lit.

Saturday

While we were up in our area, we ran into a big group of kids asking if I was from the States and if I spoke English. I proceeded to, um, cough cough, speak English to them, and they were just laughing. Later that day, we were down at the bottom of our area and sat at a park because we ran out of contacts for a minute. The army of niños saw me again, came up to us, and sat in a line in front of me, asking questions. It was really funny; I was just messing with them the whole time. Their questions were things like, "Why is your skin white? Do you know Mr. Beast? Messi or Ronaldo?" They asked what I do for work, and I shared a short thought about Jesus Christ and having faith in Him. They then asked if I had any pictures to give them, and all I had were church invitations. So I gave each of them one, and they asked me to sign it, which I gladly did. If only adults were that interested in what I do!

Thanks for tuning in! I hope you all had a great week, and I’ll see you next time!

Elder Mitchell IV

Photos 

1-6. The last of Elder Wilkens
7. Elder Baldeon
8. Army of niños








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