All Hail The Tower

Hi guys!

I'm not sure I mentioned this last week... but I'm now in a new area.  This is a new developement, but I was aware of it last week.  Anyways, this past week has been spent packing, and then unpacking all of my stuff.

I was definentally pretty fantic the first half of the week because I was given hardly any time to pack, and my comp got a pretty rough cough and was wiped out because he couldn't sleep from it. Somehow, though, we made it. From the first half of my week, the most notable thing I can mention is that we visited people and I got their autographs logged in my English Book of Mormon.  It was sad saying goodbye to so many good people, and I regret not getting the signature and final goodbye of my last convert: Rotman.  I don't know if he's aware yet that I left the area, and that makes me sad.

Anyways, I really want to get into the meat of what's happened this week, and it's that I moved out!  That's right folks! I finally got sick of El Mochito and left (jokes). I loved my time in El Mochito, and I'll try to follow up this email with a recap of what went on in that area.  Anyways, on Wednesday I said goodbye to my comp and had a sleep over with Elder Porter so we could wake up early and leave.  The next day we got up at 4am and left Las Vegas at 5am.  After a 3 hour bus ride in the emptiest bus I've ever been in we got to the mission offices to figure out what to do next.  Once there we ate McDonalds and chatted with the rest of the missionaries who were going to be heading out to new areas.  I was also reunited with my CCM pals Elder Evanson and Elder Snyder, as well as my othe buddies Elder Rodriguez and Elder Porter. We have all spent the past 6 months in our first area and are now moving to our second areas.  Oh! speaking of 6 months, I hit 7 months on the whole of my mission on Saturday. Time likes to run away to you sometimes.  

Continuing on... soon after getting to the offices the APs gave us our new assignments and directed us to the Zone Leaders to recieve further instructions.  While waiting for those assignments, I chatted with my trainer Elder Miles, my El Mochito replacement: Elder Griffin, and my old buddies.  Eventually though, Elder Porter headed off to his next area: Las Trincheras, Fesitrahn, and I was told to hop into an uber and head to my next area with a new district-mate: Elder Parker.  

After an interesting ride we found ourselves on a street wondering where we were and where our companions were.  They called us to ask when we were coming and we told them we were already there.  They rushed outside and I was able to meet my new comp!  He's pretty cool, and stuff.

Anyways... We got to our new house and I dropped my stuff off by my bed.  I lost my wallet and pillow earlier in the week (the latter being the bigger loss in my opinion) and I was pleasantly surprised to find a replacement pillow waiting for me.  I was also glad to find an AC unit at the house and hot water from the shower and a washing machine.  I don't care about anything else about the house: I'm happy with those things.

To be honest, this area is great (even though I have less than a week here).  The members are cool, ward assistance is fairly high, and there's a ton of people to teach.  We are also very famous along a street called Los Bordos where we stop by multiple times each day.

The first few days here have been very insightful and I'm excited to be able to work with my new comp. He has about the same time as me and are great friends with everyone.  I can see the love he has for the people in his teaching and that makes me happy.

I've been pretty lost for most of these past few days, but I discovered a cellphone tower right next to the chapel, so I've been using that to orient myself.

Speaking of the chapel: This chapel has two floors.  The first floor has all the classrooms,  and the second floor has the ... the ... I forgot what that room is called.  The meeting room thingy...

Right by the chapel, there is a mural being painted about Nephi's dream. It ginourmous and I'm told it's been in progress for the past 3 weeks.  We've been helping out in the morning, painting the mural with Karen so it can finish faster.

Who is Karen, you might ask? She's my grandma.  BUT, she is also an awesome member in the ward in Honduras. When I met Karen, I got the impression from her of the kind of person who, in the stories first appear weird and eccentric, but by the end is super awesome the character everyone loves.  I've been struggling to think of a suitable movie character that would follow along with that. Maybe... the cat from Coraline. Or Vision from Marvel. Or maybe Mater from Cars (that last one is the best comparison I can think of).

Karen is a high-energy member of the church who has been the missionaries best tool these past few months.  She loves to paint and is extremely creative. She's blessed the area with multiple murals related to the church. She's from Guatemala and is planning on returning there sometime soon, but I am 100% gonna get her signature on my BOM and a photo with her. She also has wholeheartedly accepted me to her friend group (which consists of the missionaries, her, and everyone else) and has offered to put me up on the mural.

I feel like I should talk about the friends we have here.  Last week there was a baptism, and right now there are multiple other people approaching baptism.  We had a record 10 friends show up to church this week, and some of them we discovered just a few days ago.  It was amazing to see them at church, and a family of more than 5 (but 5 showed up) asked for photos with us afterwards.  We took photos with them and they updated their Whatsapp profile pics to be those photos with the missionaries so we are now famous.

Okay.  I can't say much more because I'm out of time for today, but I just wanted to finish off saying that my new area is

Oh! And I forgot to mention! My new companion is