Week 13

I've officially finished with training! It's a bit of an unreal feeling to be here, but I've known it was coming for a while now. I'm grateful that I've been able to make it this far.

MONDAY was an awesome p-day with the Trapp house and the zone leaders. Early in the morning, while we were deciding what we wanted to do, we got a call from the ZLs. They wanted to see if we wanted to come with them to the top of the Sandia peaks since it was the last p-day of the transfer. We didn't have a ton to do that day, so we said sure, changed into some warmer clothes, and hopped into the truck with the other Elders to meet up with the ZLs. We'd decided to meet them at a gas station not too far from the start of the road to the top of the peaks so that we could follow each other up. They'd said to meet them there at 8:30, and we were there at 8:30, but with no sign of the ZLs. Because they were taking so long, I just took the extra time to work on my emails for the week. They finally showed up at 8:50, and when they got there, we joked with them pretty hard about how they're always late. It was all in good fun, and they laughed, so I don't think we were too tough on them. After all that, we headed up to the top of the peaks and got some pretty great views of Albuquerque and all the desert. We went hiking around up there and got to see some of the stuff up there like the cell towers, a stone cabin, a meadow, and even a pretty nice forest, which was a good reminder of home. After all that, we headed back down and into town for zone p-day where for once, we did not play basketball (shocking I know). We'd actually decided that we were going to play board games that day, and it was pretty fun. We played Codenames, Uno, and some other card game, all of which I lost. Luck just wasn't on my side that day, but I still enjoyed myself.

TUESDAY we had apartment inspections, so we made sure to get all the last touches to cleaning the apartment done. And it definitely paid off because they said that we probably had the cleanest apartment so far. Otherwise, there wasn't too much we did that day other than tracting. We did get one call that we weren't expecting as we were heading home for the night. It was from one of the counselors in the bishopric asking if Elder Bates could give a talk on Sunday about his favorite talk from general conference.

WEDNESDAY wasn't that interesting either until dinner. Dinner itself was great with green chili enchiladas, salad, corn, and honey butter croissants, which were delicious. The fun part was when Elder Bates mentioned that he did theater in high school, and one of the kids started making him quote Hamlet from memory. It was actually pretty impressive to see how much he remembered on the spot after being on the mission for so long. Finally, at the end of the day, it was time for transfer news. And the results were that I was being transferred to the Northwest zone and the Woodmont/Ventana area more specifically. I was a bit sad to be leaving my baby area and Elder Bates, but I'm going to somewhere with a lot more houses, and I'm excited to meet my new comp, Elder Holbrook.

THURSDAY we spent some time just going around to different members and friends, saying goodbye. There are some great people out here, and I'm glad I met them.

FRIDAY I had my last District council in the ABQE zone. I'm going to miss some of these missionaries more than others, lol. It was a good time, and I'm gonna be looking forward to seeing them at zone conferences. Later on during dinner and the evening hours, I started packing up all my stuff so that we could head to the transfer site quickly in the morning. It feels like I've gotten a bunch of random stuff on the mission, but it really isn't that much.

SATURDAY I woke up early to make sure I was all packed and ready to head to the transfer site. When we got there, I said goodbye to Elder Bates and a couple of the other missionaries there and then went to meet my new comp. Elder Holbrook is a pretty great guy, and I'm looking forward to working with him. After we headed to the new area and finished all of our studies, he got right to tracting, and I'll say that it is really different. There are so many houses and people out here that we spent an hour on just one street, talking to people and knocking doors. Once it got dark, we headed to the meeting house for the ward Halloween party. It was pretty fun watching all the kids go Trunk or Treat and play carnival games around the parking lot and building.

SUNDAY I spent a lot of time at church just meeting new people and learning names. It's gonna be a bit of a struggle to remember it all, but I'm excited since everyone is so nice. I also found out that I was apparently giving a talk on missionary work and the blessings that come from it. It was pretty easy, and I'm glad I was able to share the blessings of it with others.

I'm happy to be serving the Lord here, and I hope to keep doing so with strength. The thought I'd like to share for the week comes from Hebrews 2:9, which says, "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." Because Christ was mortal just like all of us, he knows exactly how to help us in our lowest moments.

1-3: top of the Sandia peaks 

4: goodbye Elder Bates 

5: Hello Elder Holbrook