OFF TO FLORIDA

Well, changes have come, and I’m off. Well, both of us are off. They are doing a white wash (when they put two new Elders in an area) in our ward, and they are going to have lots of work on their hands, especially because they have a baptism this coming weekend. We made sure to tell them, everytihng they needed to know and left them lots of notes. Our ward mission leader was sad we were leaving, but he promised he would do everything he could to help them. We had to say goodbye to lots of investigators and explain the situation to them. They all understood and all went very well. So much has happened this week.

Well, my Oro (greenie) Elder Delbar is going off to Durazno in a little town called Villa del Carmen. He’s going to be with an Elder named Elder Hoggan who was in my group in the MTC. He’s very sweet and very funny, almost exactly like Tyler. My companion is all grown up and moving off on his own... sniffle sniffle..... I’m so happy for him. He really likes the country which is good because that’s where he's going. I’m heading off to Florida. Not the state, the province. And... I’m going to be a zone leader. So, I’m a little nervous and I was a little frustrated Sunday night after we received the calls making sure all was prepared and organized for the new Elders coming. But, after a good nights sleep, I just felt this huge sense of peace and I felt very content. We said our goodbyes to our converts and the awesome members of the ward, and I felt a little like Paul leaving behind people who had become his dear friends. Well, as our convert Luis said ¨ Es la ley de Dios¨ It´s the law of God.

I’m very excited and ready to head off to a new area, having learned loads. I’ll never forget this ward and area and all the Lord has taught me here. More and more I grow to understand that the Lord really doesn’t need missionaries. His gospel will roll forth with or without us. But we need to be missionaries. So, I’m off to Florida, just north of Montevideo with Elder Bonilla. I’m excited to work with him, and he seems very nice. I’ll give you more details next week.

Back to what happened this past week. We had a baptism! Sergio, the younger brother of Nicholas who was baptized 6 weeks ago, got baptized. Furthermore, he was baptized by Rafael, a priest/youth in the ward. I think I already told you his story. His family was inactive and had moved into our ward. It was a nice baptism and it all worked out very well. Also, the neighboring ward and their missionaries who are in our district came over for an emergency. Their heater wasn’t working in their building and the water was cold. So they decided to come over, and we had a joint baptism. It was pretty funny, but all worked out very well. When all was said and done, four people were baptized. The three they baptized were these girls that contacted us in the street. We went and talked to their family, but they were right on the border of our area. It’s been a few weeks, and now they got baptized! It was fun that we had a tiny little part and that we got to see their baptism.

Well, I think that’s all that happened last week. Lots of running around, doing baptismal interviews and of course teaching and sharing the gospel. I had kind of a hard time at one point these past few weeks, but then I have just felt this overwhelming sense of peace, knowing that I’m doing my best. It’s been so fun today to be here in the terminal to see all my friends and talk to them and hear their experiences. I have learned so very much. The Lord has poured out His spirit, and I have never felt closer to Him.