Soy Padrastro

Monday

Transfer news dropped, and I found out that I'd be finally leaving my hometown, Deporte, and moving on to another area, finishing training another gringo comp. The rest of P-day was normal with soccer and El Olivar for lunch, which was bussin like usual.

Tuesday

More than anything, it was just full of goodbyes to the people that I connected with the most over the last six months. It honestly didn't hit me that I was actually going to leave the area. I feel like just when I got to the point of being able to express myself clearly, I had to leave, haha. But we had awesome visits with members and recent converts, and they all gave me good advice and wished me luck for the next transfer.

Wednesday

We got to transfers, and that's always a blast seeing all of the other missionaries. I got to meet my comp, Elder Hone, who is from South Jordan and only a little shorter than I am. We got to the area, and it's so different! One thing I heard before I left on the mission is that I needed to prepare to walk through sand and hills, and after six months, I'm finally starting to experience that, haha. When we got back, we mostly just tried to visit the people who have dates and find new people in the streets, and it ended up being a phenomenal day. I think Elder Hone likes having a gringo comp more because I'm someone he can actually talk with, and I'm always someone who's willing to listen, so it's been a blast learning about him.

Thursday

It's been a little stressful being the person my comp has to rely on, but I already feel like I'm learning so much so fast. The whole day we pretty much walked almost the whole area, and it's huge! At night we just contacted a member and then saw his neighbor yelling at us through the window. We went over to him to see what's up, only to find out he's alone in a wheelchair and his house doesn't have any power. He was speaking in a language that wasn't either English or Spanish or any other language or dialect that the world has to offer, but after time we realized that he wanted us to wheel him over to his bed. Then we had to light a candle so he could see before having to lift him up on his bed because he's missing a leg and seemed not to have any strength in his arms either. Kind of a wild experience—Elder Hone was pretty spooked, haha.

Friday

It was honestly such a good day today. This entire week I've been trying to focus on the people who are on date and progressing, but it's still pretty stressful because I can't have as long and complex lessons as a native speaker would have. Elder Hone has been adjusting to the short and simple style that we've been teaching in. When I could see that he was stressed out because we are both somewhat new, I told him that God isn't going to let people's eternal salvation suffer through our weaknesses. The only thing we can do is our absolute best, and God will fill in the rest. Right as we were about to hit important lessons, we contacted this recent convert who was in the back-up of the back-up in our day, and he was awesome! We shared a short lesson with him, and then out of nowhere he asked us if he could come with us for lessons because since his baptism, he's so passionate about the Gospel. The lessons with him around were phenomenal, and we got these people so excited about their upcoming baptismal dates. It was honestly such a miracle.

Saturday

Today we met with another recent convert and his family who aren't members. His parents want to be baptized but are a little nervous. Either way, we explained the doctrine and offered a date. The dad was very excited and said it was something he's ready for; the mom was a little more nervous and wants to wait a little longer. Either way, it was an awesome lesson. That night we really got to know the ward because we had ward council, and they all honestly seem so cool, so I'm pumped to work with them more. Then a bunch of youth kept handing us hotdogs on a stick with mayonnaise on them. It was honestly disgusting, haha.

Sunday

We got seven friends and seven recent converts to church, which apparently was low for this area, but I was happy with it, especially because that family we taught the day before all came! That night we once again visited with a recent convert and his wife who isn't a member. Once again, we asked her thoughts on baptism, and after learning it was something she wanted and she's willing to go to church, we extended a date. It's been such an awesome week getting to know everyone here.

Spirit Thought: This week made me realize that I've been relying on my comps so much that I haven't given myself enough room to rely on the Spirit. Now that He's the only person I can rely on, I've seen so many miracles through it as I've acted in faith.

Thanks for tuning in! Hope y'all have a good week. I'm praying for ya. Read your scriptures and say your prayers. Peace out.

—Elder Mitchell IV

Fotos:

Honestly just the same pictures but with different people