La Obra de los 'Spanams'

 Another week down and it's been a full one. We've gone way over our miles allotment but there's just so much work to do we have to drive everywhere. Since we're Spanish speaking Elders we travel the whole zone to speak to anyone truly interested to learn more and make the trip down here to Dalton to attend the Spanish ward. I still can't believe how blessed I am to be able to speak Spanish again and I pray that my tongue will loosened again so I can do my best. 

Teaching has been great and we visit so many people but not many keep commitments and progress like they should be. Christlike attribute focus has been on knowledge and we have been applying that throughout the week helping others to see where we come from and establish that credibility so that they are more inclined to listen. 

Lessons ranged from talking about science and evolution to teaching while doing parkour. My comp loves parkour and the boyfriend of a lady we are working with is an trainer so I learned some moves and got some great contacts. The work spread to everyone some way or another. We had an awesome service project in Saturday helping an elderly lady Maria on her farm. We relocated her chicken coup and then got to enjoy some fresh chicken soup, mole and rice. 

All in all I'm having a great time and I'm extremely tired at the end of the day but that's the point, catch y'all on the flippity-flip.

Spanish Area - Changes

 It's a whole new playing field down here in Georgia! Transfers went great on Wednesday and that day feels like forever ago because we have been working hard in mini-Mexico. It truly is a blessing to be assigned to this area to have this opportunity to speak Spanish because that's all we do all day. Limitations are much easier down here and we are outside ALL the time. 

In comparison to what I was doing before and the teaching pool I had, there is work to be done here! There has not been a dull moment and I'm tired as heck but it's all good and I'm growing more and more. Some lessons to highlight would be with Nelly and Gonzalo's family where we played Jenga to represent Christ's church and how you need all the pieces for it to be complete. There young daughter Sasha was blown away and we actually saw it click in her head. The parents have many questions and we are working with the helpful members to help them towards baptism soon. 

Another would be sharing the Plan of Salvation with a family on there porch and seeing the true interest the father had in following Christ and leading his family to eternal life. Everything is going well with the packed scheduled, delicioso pupuseria foodtrucks, and early mornings. I'm trying best through Christ and that's why I'm all good, imagine what it'd be like without Him in your life, yikes. Cuidanse mucho everyone

Transfer to Georgia - Se Hablamos Espanol

 Transfers were pushed up a week due to President having meetings with general authorities and such so I'm leaving Bristol and going to the only Spanish speaking ward in the mission! It is sad to leave all those I have come to know so well here in the birthplace of country music and I wish I could stay but I am excited to serve where I'm assigned now. The past week has been great and it started off with us receiving furniture for the apartment. We quickly assembled a couple tables and couches and then headed over to Kingsport for interviews with President Graham. It was great to see other missionaries as always and speak with our knowledgeable president. 

Our weekly ward correlation meeting went great as we discussed the needs of those we're teaching, discovered new ways to find, and organized an actual meal calendar. The ward is starting to come alive as we are heading into phase 2 of missionary work and can see them in there homes. A few people we've been teaching have had some covid scares so we're keeping with phone calls for now but a huge highlight from the week was meeting Diane. She is a Jewish friend of some members who loves to cook and has lots of service to do at her house, so missionaries written all over. We spent all morning and afternoon weeding her jungle of a garden in the pouring rain and it was awesome. She hooked us up with some fresh socks and dry t-shirts before taking us out for some authentic barbecue. We talked religion the whole time and she is so fascinating, pretty much already a member and we'll see her again tomorrow. 

Yesterday at church a member gave an amazing talk about praying to God always rather than just when we need Him. We should always be reaching out in adoration and love to our Heavenly Father and those around us. Not just on Sunday but always. Hope all is well, and see y'all in Georgia hablando español pues, aahhh!

Quatro

 Hey, how y'all doing? This past week has been eventful and exciting in many ways. A group of 11 new missionaries have been crammed into the mission and we are now a household of four Elders. First time living with another companionship and it's great so far. We are still without any form of furniture but we're fine, one Elder was serving in Ghana last year so he and I feel at home with the living conditions. 

Teaching the investigators is still going strong and a huge help this past week has been General Conference! How amazing it was to receive guidance and support through the words of the living prophet and apostles on the earth today. I am excited to review their talks over the next few weeks and study them in detail, I invite y'all to do the same. One adventure I'll share from this week is as we were out locating inactive members who the bishop assigned us to find and fellowship. We knocked softly on a door of a house as to not knock over the whole house just from the force. This man lived far out of town, up a steep overgrown dirt road, in a trailer on a couple stilts. Despite the conditions this is where the address directed and more importantly the Spirit guided us. We were able to talk a little and although he didn't seem interested in the slightest, he was surprised by the visit and agreed to give us his new phone number not previously known on our record book. 

I hope from this one highlight of my week that you can apply it to what you're doing in your life. Surprise someone by always following the Spirit and never misdirecting His hand. Be safe, cuidanse mucho!