New Area! New Companion! New District Leader!

Heyyyyy yo!

Wow! It has been an awesome and crazy week! And, don’t worry . . . I’m safe and sound. I haven’t felt any of the earthquakes that have been going on.

Thank you for all the stories! I’m glad to hear that you like talkin’ about me . . . LOL . . . And, Dylan, I’m sorry you aren’t playin’ much. I know how it is. Ask me how it was at SJCC . . . LOL . . . Stick with it, though ! Practice hard! Get better . . . If not for your team, do it for yourself!

Well, I gotta start my stories . . .

First, Happy Birthday to Grandma (a couple days ago)! How old are you? That is not a rhetorical question . . .

Second, don’t drink expired milk. The container said it expired on the 15th. I tried to drink it on the 15th and I drank a lot . . . LOL . . . I got a li’l sick that morning. So, obey the expiration dates on milk . . .

Thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much for having Jacob write me! I miss that kid so much! I was so happy to hear from him. It had been over seven months!

How is Robert Gaines? Can you get info on him for me or get him to write to me, too?

This Saturday . . . Whooo hooo! Big day it was! It’s a long story and I’m going to tell it all! LOL! Leila and Marcos were baptized at 10am by my Companion and then Vilma was baptized by me at Noon. But, it wasn’t as simple as it sounds. My Companion and Vilma were mad at each other all week and Vilma almost didn’t get baptized at all! They weren’t all baptized at once because Leile and her li’l brother don’t get along with Vilma. Well, anyway, the baptisms of Leila and Marcos were easy and on time and everything. But Vilma’s was soooo hard. She told me the day before her baptism that if she didn’t get baptized on Saturday, she didn’t wanna see us ever again. She told us this after she passed her Baptismal interview . . . Well, she told me . . . My Companion wouldn’t talk to her!

So, after the two Baptisms at 10am, I went to get Vilma to bring her to the Ward building to be baptized like she wanted by she wasn’t there! I was sooooooooooooooooooooooo, sooo, sooo sad. You can’t even imagine how sad I was. I have worked with her for almost twenty weeks! I wanted her to be baptized SO bad and when I thought it wasn’t going to happen, I was super sad. She was soo, soo prepared. So, I went back to the Ward building and was sitting out front with my head down all sad, thinkin’ that maybe all my prayers hadn’t been enough. (Seeing as I could hardly sleep the night before because I was worried about the decision she was going to make and I was praying the whole night . . . If not on my knees, in my heart . . . Really, though!) Well, lo and behold! She came to the Ward building by herself! I had the biggest smile from ear to ear . . . I’m nearly 100 percent positive about that . . . No, I am 100 percent positive! I took her in the building and my Companion still wouldn’t talk to her, so I climbed on him a li’l again and they talked it out and didn’t have any more problems. Then we baptized her! Even though the baptism started late, it doesn’t matter! It was by faaaaaaaaar the most rewarding baptism that I have had. Then, on Sunday, even though Leila and Marcos were a li’l late, they were all confirmed! Very, very awesome weekend!

We have one other baptismal date for February 13th here in Atlantida, too! Holler! Wehad four baptisms in just sixteen days this month! We were in second place for the whole mission! The first place had five, but that was for the whole change! Elder Flores and I won the month (16 days)! Whoop whoop! Well, my Companion and I and the Lord, of course . . . Very special stuff, though. Last year in the Ward of Atlantida, they had only eight baptisms! I had three of them! Now, this year, Atlantida already has four! Very, very nice!

My Companion and I worked really well together and I know that the companionship was put together by revelation. Leila and that whole family loved how direct and everything he was, but Vilma didn’t. Vilma didn’t like it at all. She liked how I talked to her, though, and for that reason, we had all those baptisms! Different missionaries being able to touch specific people in specific ways that no one else can. I had to explain that to Elder Flores, though, because he was mad that Vilma didn’t like the way he talked to her . . .

Well, Mom . . . You were correct! Today was change day! I didn’t have an interview or anything so I was expecting to maybe just go up to Senior Companion, but nothing more than that. Well, today I had a huuuuuuge surprise when they called my name as District Leader! I was so shocked that I didn’t stand up for what felt like a really, really long time. If someone is gonna be District Leader or Zone Leader or Assistant or gonna train a new, they ALWAYS (well, I guess almost always) have interviews. I thought maybe President had lost a li’l trust in me when my District did some really dumb stuff that I had no part in. But, I guess he didn’t lose any trust in me to call me as a DL without an interview. Cool, huh?

Really cool part number two . . . My Companion that was named . . . He is . . . You won’t believe me (and I get the chills sayin’ it) . . . He is deaf! Yes! He cannot hear! Crazy, right????????? His name is Elder Barrientos and he is from here in Guatemala. You wanna know the craziest part, though? This last change (with Elder Flores), I talked to my Zone Leader. I told him that I would really like to be companions with Elder Barrientos because he has had a lot of idiot companions that won’t be patient with him. I asked my Zone leader if I should tell the President in my interview that I would like to try it ‘cause I can be patient. When, I told my ZL, though, he kinda laughed at me and told me not to say anything to President ‘cause it would be way harder than what I imagined. He told me that President does the changes by revelation. I agreed with him in that point, so I didn’t tell President anything and just kinda let the idea go. Well, NO ONE told President that I wanted to be Elder Barrientos’ companion. I even talked with President after the Change Conference to ask him if someone had tipped him off. Of course he told me not at all! And look who was still called to be my companion! Really, really, cool stuff. And such a testimony builder for me and all the other heard my story from the ZL! Surely President receives revelation for us. I know it . . .

Well, I’m outta here . . . I hope you can tell how excited I am! I love you all sooooo much! Thanks for all the love and support. Oh, and my area name is Ermita . . . Love you all!