Plot twist

November 07, 2022

Yeah so basically there was a pretty major change this week (hence the title) but I'll get into

Tuesday was a pretty cool day. There's this member who sells churros. My companion and I thought to go visit him that day. A little while back he had told us about someone who works with him who'd he'd like us to meet, but we'd never gone. Tuesday we went and as we approached the churro business, the member, Angel, was making churros, and there was a guy there washing his car doors. (Literally his doors. Over the years angels car has been completely stained by churro grease for having transported so many churros) we started a conversation with the guy. His story was pretty good. He said (not the exact translation of the conversation obviously) "do you guys remember, when you went to Rosa Maria's house (a lady in teaching), and there was a borracho sleeping on the floor next to the couch?" I definitely did remember that cause I remember sitting down on the couch at the beginning of the visit and almost putting my backpack on the guy cause I didn't see him. We said we did remember. He said that that guy was him. He said he had been drinking for 90 days straight. Without stopping basically. He didn't really eat, and he said he could buy cheap alcohol to last him 3 days with just 100 pesos. He said he could barely even walk and his body would just shake. From what I could gather, it sounds as if he was basically in a state of drunkenness for these 3 months (give or take). When we were talking to him he was completely transformed. He was completely sober and working. He was super nice. He said he was depressed because he can't see his daughters and he lost his family and it was finally time to change. It amazed me to see someone like that. In the course of my mission, the honest truth is that I've met some pretty drunk people. I can think of one guy in specific named Guadalupe in my second area of Melchor Ocampo. He was very nice honestly but he was always under the strong influence of alcohol. I remember I wanted to see guys like that how they really are when they're not drinking a ton, and it was really cool to see a guy like this transformed. That night we taught him a lesson about the Atonement. He was super nice. His names Celso. We also taught that day a guy named Axel. Last Saturday Axel approached us on his bike as we walked to the house to use the bathroom. He asked if we were Jehovah’s witnesses. We said no. He said he wanted to talk to us. We got his number and on Tuesday morning, (sorry this is all out of order) we talked to him. He's a nice guy. He actually came to church last Sunday.

I'm gonna skip Wednesday and go to Thursday. We had our zone conference. It was good I guess. I've noticed (I must be honest here) that with the new mission president I get a little less bored in his zone conferences then the last mission presidents. After the conference we had to carry a heavy box full of book of Mormons with bibles and triple combinations piled on top. It was the heaviest box on planet earth. My companion and I had to take turns carrying the thing and the whole rest of the day my arms were shaking. It was awful. After those shenanigans, we went to go teach Sofie and we gave her that last preparations for her baptism on Saturday. That night we ate tacos with the elders from the other mission (they share a church building with us)

Friday is when the great "plot twist" came in. It was about 9:30 pm, and we were just talking amongst ourselves getting ready for bed, and a call from our mission president came in. I answered the phone. This is somewhat how the conversation went.

Me: Buenas noches Presidente
Pres Holtom: Good evening, Elder Rivera, how are you?
Me: Good
Pres Holtom: that's good, have you enjoyed your last 4 weeks with elder Gurr?
Me: Yeah!
Pres: Well, that good, we have some news though. There's gonna be emergency transfers in the mission. Do you know elder Soto?
Me: Yes
Pres: Okay, well he's being emergency transferred from his area and you’re gonna be his companion. Do you think you can do it?
Me: I think so

So yeah, among other things, that's basically what president told me. It was pretty sad. I honestly have to say this week Me and my companion had been getting along really well and we'd become friends. My comp started packing that night. We stayed up late that night just talking. We also listened to an elder Holland devotional called "Lessons from Liberty Jail" its a pretty dang good one. On Saturday we had Sofie’s baptism. It was good. A lot of members showed up. The members here are good. After the baptism my new companion, Elder Soto showed up and my other comp elder Gurr left and just like that I was with my new comp. Elder Soto is from Culiacán, Sinaloa. He has the same time in the mission as me. 16 months.

I felt on Sunday as if I was just kinda wondering around the area. None of the people I wanted to visit were home. Church was good though. Axel came. Anyways thats all from me. See ya!

Pics

Elder Soto and I