Hola Familia!
Drumrollllllllllllllllllll I was transferred Tuesday to Tarapoto. Well, technically I`m now in Morales which is like a suburb of Tarapoto. I now live in selva baja which means it is a lot hotter here (even though we`re supposedly leaving winter and just barely entering into summer), but the heat is delicious and the sun keeps me smiling.
The biggest transfer news is that there are no longer hermanas in Moyobamba. They split the four of us between Lima, Iquitos, and Tarapoto and didn`t send reemplacements. Zona Moyobamba is only 12 Elders now.
I love my new companion----Hermana Vasquez, from Lima. She started her mission 3 months ago here in Morales and is such a good missionary. She jokes about my Spanglish and we get along really well. The neatest/newest/strangest/cosa que me asusto mas de Morales fue que that here in the branch Partido Alto there are 6 missionaries. S.I.X. There are the district leaders (Elder Salinas, Ecuador and Elder Arcela, Peru) , me and Hna. Vasquez, and another companionship of Hermanas (Hna. Grow, USA and Hna. Melo, Uruguay). Branch Partido Alto is so special because they have six missionaries! The branch is split in 3 sectors that we work in. The Elders are Partido Alto, we are Morales 1, and the other hermanas are Morales 2. They`re trying to have a casa capilla (church in house?) in Morales so the services can be closer for everyone and they can start another branch and I think that`s something really exciting to be apart of. The district is really close-knit and I`ve already loved serving here week 1.
Zona Tarapoto is unique because there are more hermanas than Elders. There are the zone leaders, district leaders, and the rest are hermanas. It`s really different, but definitely exciting to be somewhere new.
Arrived here Tuesday morning and Hna. Vasquez and Hna. Gee picked me up from the terminal. Hna. Gee actually serves in downtown Tarapoto, but we were in a trio together until Thursday night because her new companion from the CCM was waiting on VISA papers and had to wait a little longer to enter the field. I hadn`t been in a trio since the MTC days, but it really was so much fun. We went back and forth a little between the areas to have appointments in both and it was when we were in Tarapoto that the funniest thing happened. Went to one of Hna. Gee`s appontments with a lady in her store. We started teaching her about the restoration and at one point after we`d taught about prophets, her granddaughter came home. Come to find out, her granddaughter had assisted (attended church) for years in Chiclayo but hasn`t been baptized yet (15 years old) because she doesn`t have her mom`s permission. Anyway we asked her if she ould explain to us what a prophet is. She didn`t have an answer and we turned back to her Grandma and asked her the same question. Her response (and I quote!): Oh, you mean like Joseph Smith? The three of us gasped out loud. Turns out that she had listened to missionaries hace 18 anos (18 years ago) and believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet I`m excited to ask Hna. Gee more of what happened to her today.
It`s amazing meeting more and more members of the church in a new area. It strengthens my testimony so much seeing the success of the message we teach.
Love always,
Hermana Bowles
No comments:
Post a Comment