Week 32: The best week so far

I think this week was the best so far in my mission. We had the opportunity to have the baptism of Milagros Suanarez at eight in the morning on Sunday and what a spiritual experience! She is a very unique personality and I have never seen her so peaceful and calm. Although it was very early and with very cold water, she told us that she had never felt better. She was crying during the two talks and in the photos too and I know she is going to be a very strong member for life. (In fact, he has already given us a reference and has taken her to various ward activities!) Her sweet spirit reminded me of when I was baptized and although it was years and years ago, I still remember that feeling of pure happiness and it almost brought me to tears. She is a single mother with two kids that will now have the blessing of being raised in the gospel - a blessing that I need to be more grateful of - thanks to her diligence and humility.

week 30

I enjoyed my last few days in Cartago with Elder Sanchez and when Sunday night came, we didn't get a call so we were both sure we didn't have transfers... But the next morning at 7am the phone rang and it was the APs!!! They told us that I have transfers and my new companion is going to be Elder Garcia, from Honduras and that I was going to a place called Desamparados. Honestly I was pretty relieved because I've heard that E. Garcia is really funny😅 (thank goodness because E. Sanchez never laughed at jokes while we worked and it kinda killed me) Anyways, Wednesday came around and we had the transfers and now I'm with Elder Garcia! He is the funnest guy I've ever met in the mission so far and we get along better than any of my past companions!! Also he's almost as tall as me, which is change I'm not used to, haha. The first day I felt so lost like I just started my mission again (and kinda still do:) but I've already met some members here and they are the COOLEST people EVER! Like everyone in the ward came up to me and invited us to dinner and we had to say no to almost all of them... Here let me find a picture of Me and E. Garcia:

A random spider i almost walked into

A Cool experience:

My first day in this area we went to an sister's house who the missionaries haven't visited in a few weeks and something really crazy happened. She started to cry and told us that she knew the church was true and wanted to be baptized as soon as possible. I thought that it was because she had been prepared by other missionaries, but later E. Garcia told me that it was a miracle and never thought it would happen. We put a baptismal date for the 23rd and I can't wait for that day!

HERE IS ZACH'S REACTION TO HALEY AND BRYSON TELLING HIM THEY GOT ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED!!!!!!! He was sooooo excited!!!!!  Zach loves his new brother in law to be!!!

Week 29

This last year so many important things have happened in my life that I will never forget. 2019 brought a whirlwind of changes in my life. I finished high school, left on a mission and then my life started to change spiritually too. It wasn't until the new year that I really looked back and saw how I've grown and put new goals to continue that growth. I have really seen that real happiness comes from the satisfaction of being able to see the fruit of your labors and having a desire to work every day. Some days I don't see progress and it's frustrating sometimes, but when we look back on larger periods of time it's much easier to see that progress; that's why I'm grateful for the new year because it's a special time we can use to reflect and feel the satisfaction of what we have accomplished. I love something that Thomas S. Monson said about happiness in a BYU devotional in 1970 because it has a lot to do with that progression I was talking about:

“The happy life is not ushered in at any age to the sound of drums and trumpets. It grows upon us year by year, little by little, until at last we realize that we have it. It is achieved in individuals not by flights to the moon or Mars, but by a body of work done so well that we can lift our heads with assurance and look the world in the eye. Of this be sure: You do not find the happy life … you make it.” – Thomas S. Monson

I'm grateful for the opportunity to make newer, better, higher goals in order to eventually make my life a happier one.

One goal that I was already able to accomplish  this year was to make a better relationship with my companion. The first two and a half weeks were super rough for me and there were way too many things that I didn't agree with. I felt like we didn't function well as a companionship and so first I decided to continue telling my lame jokes and laughing at myself even if he decided to keep inside his "serious shell". Little by little I got him to laugh until he would tell his own jokes and now we are already like buddies. I figured out what he really liked to do - photography - and it turned out I loved it too and I was the first companion of his that could talk about everything he loves about cameras. In fact we both watched videos of Peter Mckinnon before our missions!! Yesterday he told me he takes a good picture with every one of his companions and prints it out and so I had an idea: in the night we would turn on all the lights, and build a mini studio to take the absolute BEST picture possible! We set up a stand for the camera using tables and books, and made a "studio backlight" from the broken DVD player (we accidentally broke it last week oops) and started popping out some GREAT pictures and it was a blast just being nerds with the camera and figuring out the best settings, hahaha! Here are some of the results of our little photoshoot :)

Week 28 New Years!

This week went by incredibly fast and we had lots of progress too. We are teaching around 8 new people who each have different needs and I am learning and progressing in my ability to teach and understand. My companion Elder Sanchez is the most obedient companion I've had and I am so grateful for all the things that he is able to teach me. I don't have much time because we spent most of P-day playing soccer with the Elders of our zone which was actually super fun (I'm starting to like soccer a lot more:) I think I have a few P-day pictures!