P-Day update week 7, 04/04/2022

 ¡Hola Hola!

Well my p-day changed this week so this is coming out a little later than normal, but I'm in the field and I definitely have some cool experiences to go over!

So the first couple days of this transfer were mainly spent travelling and getting settled in. On Sunday night the elders in my district had to say goodbye to the hermanas for the last time at the CCM. It was honestly very sad to see them all leave, but I know they will do great things out in the field, and one of them is going to my same mission so we will be travelling together. The next day two of our elders had to leave around 2:45am so my companion and I made sure to get up and send them on their way. I only got to sleep for another hour and a half since I had to be up at 5 to say goodbye to Elder Ashton as I left the house as well, it was especially sad to leave my companion but we are in the work of the Lord, and I am confident I will see him again. So I had a nice 7 hours of travel from the time I left Mexico City to the time I arrived in Xalapa but I slept for most of it so it wasn't terribly bad. 

Sister Perkins, Elder Nielson, me, President Perkins

When we got there we were greeted by the mission president, President Perkins, and the two APs (Assistants to the President). They got our bags and we made our way to a nearby stake center for some first greeting. I got the chance to meet the secretaries and the senior couple when we arrived at the building. They also gave us some food and a quick little devotional on this new teaching method they have been using for the past couple weeks. They had us pack a little night bag just for the day since we were not going straight to our respective areas until tomorrow. After that they put us to work. We took a quick taxi to the other side of Xalapa where we dropped our stuff and started to contact people on the street. Me and one of the APs each grabbed a copy of The Book of Mormon with some pamphlets and headed out, he did the first one and then he told me to do it. I was kinda shocked haha, I didn't really know what I was doing, and talking to real people is different from roleplaying with your companion, especially when I don't exactly have a perfect grasp of Spanish yet. But I was able to start some conversations, and with the help of Elder Scown (AP) we placed a few copies!! After that we stayed the night with the secretaries and met all the trainers, I would soon be living with one of them. The next day we got up and headed to the new missionary conference. We got some breakfast then studied our scriptures while we waited for the conference to start. The conference was pretty good! They talked a lot about our purpose here and the importance of being diligent and obedient, definitely things I want to be. 

They then let us know who our trainers were gonna be, I was assigned to be the companion of Elder Cal Nielson! He is from California and has been out in the field for 21 months, his Spanish is crazy good and people tell me he's the best missionary in our mission! After that the rest of the day was spent traveling to our first area, the city we are in is called Zacapoaxtla (sah-kah-pwa-kst-lah), it is technically in the state of Puebla but it is really close to the line. Zacapoaxtla and the surrounding area is absolutely stunning, we are in a very mountainous and very green zone, the people are incredibly kind and there is a lot of work to do.

Elder Nielson and me after finding out he was going to be my trainer

Our house is shared with another companionship, it is in the part of Zacapoaxtla called "Los Cristales" and it is actually pretty cool, we share a kitchen with the other elders but we have our own bathroom and bedroom so it's been really good. We also live right next to the branch president so he lets us use his gym for our morning workouts which has also been really nice, hopefully I don't get too comfortable! 

This week we walked a lot, it's very hilly here and walking is easier than calling/waiting for a taxi to show up. But the beautiful scenery and the fact that I'm walking so I can go teach the gospel makes it all worth it. Speaking of, we have been doing a lot of teaching, we've been teaching around 2 lessons everyday and I've been slowly getting more comfortable teaching, it's been incredible. The people are so kind and so ready to hear the gospel.

Missionaries have only been in this area for about 4 months, so our unique message is new for so many people. It's been wonderful to see people's understanding of Christ grow in a matter of a few days, the Holy Ghost is ever present in all of our discussions and lessons, and seeing our friends listen to its prompting and accept its truth brings me indescribable joy!

One family in particular that we started teaching, I'll call them the Morenos, were a reference from someone in Los Angeles, CA. They wanted to learn more about Christ, so we went over to a town called Zaragoza. The Morenos live in a Colonia right next to it. We got there and they welcomed us with so much love, they gave us some food and talked with us a bit before our lesson. As we started the lesson I could just tell that this family was ready to hear our message, they listened with open ears and open hearts, seeing them learn the truth and grow in understanding before my very eyes was beautiful, I haven't felt the spirit so strongly in a very long time. They gladly accepted a copy of The Book of Mormon and we made plans to return the following week.

I have been eating so much! Almost every lesson that we have, the people give us food, even if we just had a big lunch, and even if I don't particularly love the food they give, Elder Nielson always makes sure I eat it hahah! But I've been walking enough that I think it's all evened out in my body, and the food (for the most part) has been settling pretty well with me!

Also a few days ago we were teaching the wife of a recent convert, we'll call her Ingrid. We taught her the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and left her with the invitation to consider baptism, It would be really amazing if we can make sure she and her husband can live together for eternity, we will check with her next week. But after the lesson her husband, we'll call him Cacho, took us on a hike by the side of the village we were in (Ecatlan) to a river where he said would be perfect for a baptism (since we don't have an actual chapel yet, just a house of prayer) it was absolutely beautiful, and a perfect place for a baptism! And the hike there and back was so pretty!

A picture of our hike to the river (I promise it looks better in person haha)

Overall I am absolutely in love with this place, the "buena vistas" are breathtaking and the people are loving, plus there is a lot of work to do here, The Lord has blessed me tremendously and I hope I can be an effective instrument in His hand to share this wonderful gospel with all of his beloved children!!

Another picture from our hike

I'll leave you all with my testimony that we have a loving Heavenly Father. He is always watching out for us and is always wanting the best for us. In our times of fear, we need only reach out to God with a sincere heart and He will minister unto us. Prayer is such a powerful gift we have. Use it. Heavenly Father wants to help and He wants us to be happy, but we have to send the request. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!

¡Les amo!

-Elder Garnica