Well, this week’s been good. We got some changes here in my area, zone, and district, so it’s been new but, as usual, it’s the same old missionary work thing. It doesn’t really matter who your companion is or what’s up with the area, you just keep on working — contacting people, teaching people, cleaning houses that no one has lived in for 10 years…
… Good stuff!
It’s been great here. I suppose I’ll start with the changes that have happened:
1. New companion
On Tuesday Elder Marino left to go to his new area in Tahuantinsuyo, and I’m still here in Año Nuevo II, Comas, but this time with Elder Gutierrez.
I didn’t really know him a whole lot up until now because we’ve only been together one week, but I do know that my companion pattern keeps on going:
Peruvian — Other country!
Elder Terrones — Peruvian (Trujillo)
Elder Pastenes — Chilean
Elder Mayta — Peruvian (La Oroya)
Elder Rodriguez — Chilean
Elder Ushiñahua — Peruvian (Loreto)
Elder Rioja — Bolivian
Elder Marino — Peruvian (Huanuco)
Elder Gutierrez — Bolivian
So that’s all good. I’ll let you know more about him as time goes on. But at least he has two qualities that I really like in a companion:
Not really prideful — This is huge! Prideful companions are the worst because they’re always trying to show that they’re better so we work their way!
Funny — This is also important. If you spend the day with little moments of laughter, everything is always better!
Then, in the zone (and thus in my district) we got a few flip-flops. For some reason, Presidente Godfrey thought about having only two district leaders in the entire zone, leaving me and Elder Escobar (the other DL, who was in my district but got switched out because he became the leader of his own district) with five companionships in each district! I’ve only ever had four, maximum! Buuuuuut… then they decided to put three, like before, but had to change around the districts because now Elder Escobar and his companion, Elder McMurray, aren’t part of my district! So they did some crazy stuff and I ended up being DL of the zone leaders and the hermanas capacitadoras, or sister training leaders, instead of the hermanas in Belaunde like before!
But wait — there’s more! Because a few other companionships got changed around, I ended up with Hermana Gilson, one of the hermanas that was in my district in Villa Hermosa (my last area, for those that don’t remember), and Hermana Cárdenas, the hermana from Spain that was in Belaunde in my last district, even though she changed areas! Basically, Hermana Cárdenas changed areas in the same zone, and so she’s still in my district! It’s kind of cool (and weird) that she just changed areas!
Now, before anyone gets the dumb idea that I’m excited about this for… other reasons (Because she’s a hermana and I’m an Elder, basically) (I know SOMEONE raised their eyebrows when I mentioned this!), I’ll tell you the really awesome miracle that happened with this change, which is why I’m excited:
The hermanas capacitadoras do work visits with the other hermanas every once in a while, and a few weeks ago they did one in which Hermana Cárdenas went to the area of the Hermanas Capacitadoras. While there, they contacted a random woman in the street and found out that this woman was a member, but the rest of her family wasn’t! So they set an appointment with the woman, and the next day Hermana Cárdenas went back to her area in Belaunde (like normally happens after a work visit) and the Hermanas Capacitadoras went to visit this family… And discovered that this woman is Hermana Cárdenas´s aunt (or something like that), meaning that her husband and kids are her uncle and cousins! And they decided to be baptized!
Fast forward to last Tuesday, and Hermana Cárdenas has a transfer — to the area where her aunt, uncle, and cousins live! JUST IN TIME FOR THEIR BAPTISM!!! It’s like a story you’d find in the Ensign or something: Of the millions of people in Peru, Hermana Cárdenas contacts her family, and then she gets a transfer just in time to baptize them! It’s awesome! (It’s also kind of funny: Hermana Cárdenas is so pumped that she’s been super happy all week!)
Anyway, that’s all I’ve got! ¡Hasta luego!
— Elder Schroeder