The Close of an Era

Hey!  So this week was pretty uneventful so I'll talk about the few things that happened then talk about the changes a bit.

So, as I said in the video, we went to Chimbarongo this week and both stayed the night there so I could do some more baptismal interviews.  I had to do four this time so it took a good while.

Found out who won the presidential campaign!  I was probably just about as surprised as you are.  I thought it was a joke when the zone leaders called us and told us that a member informed them who won.  However, as you all know, everything is going to be just fine.  I'll be the first to say that I have strong feelings against Trump being our president and I really wasn't expecting it to happen and I definitely wasn't expecting Utah to vote for him since the third party candidate was from Utah (from what I heard) but I'm still pretty sure he's not Hitler.  And there's that!  So we'll just remember faith and hope and that everything is going to be okay.

With that, the changes!  I totally predicted the changes, just thinking of the weirdest possible thing that could've happened with the changes.  I thought that I'd be going to Talca and be with Elder Mendez again (my first comp in Hospital) and that Elder Espindola (my first trainee) was going to come to Pichidegua to be with Elder Kammerman.  And guess what happened?  I'm going to Talca as a zone leader with Elder Mendez and Elder Espindola is coming to Pichidegua with Elder Kammerman.

Weird right?

The mission is definitely full of weird changes!  This one in particular took a little more time to digest because, for one, I know Elder Kammerman and Elder Espindola extremely well.  After all, they are both my ''sons''.  So I know that there aren't two people more different in the planet.  I trust that they're going to love each other though and that everything is going to be fine because I trust and love them both.  Pichidegua is definitely the place I care about most in the mission, and now I get to confide it to the two missionaries I trained!  I'll be praying for them and for Pichidegua a lot in the next couple of months.  I hope I trained them well!

The other thing is being a zone leader, but I trust that I'll get used to that as well as any assignment in the mission.  I'm pretty excited about being with Elder Mendez again because we were good friends and got along great but it is kind of weird at the same time.  Definitely came unexpectedly.  I'm super excited about being in Talca again though, in a strong ward in the most successful zone in the mission.  Though I've absolutely loved my time in these smaller and more complicated sectors.

So that's the change!  Saying goodbye was really heartbreaking.  I've been in a pretty low mood the whole weekend since the changes.  Out of all the times I've left a sector, this has been the one I've been the least prepared to leave.  I hope I don't have to do a lot more of these goodbye's because they are definitely getting marginally harder every time.  The sad thing about having greater charity is what you have to go through when you leave.  It's far worth it though.  I had a deep relationship with all these members and investigators and they were very sad to see me go this time around, and the heartfelt goodbye's they said reminded me of when I left home for the mission.  They all said so many nice things and almost made me cry a few times.  Christian actually said that he wanted to invite me back to baptize him in January but I had to tell him I probably wouldn't be able to get permission which was kind of sad.  I just hope I get to come back!  This time with Elder Kammerman has been a golden era for sure, Elder Kammerman is definitely tied with Elder Hadlock as far as friends in the mission go, and that's not easy to do!  I've never been more open or closer with a comp in the mission and leaving him is going to be very hard too.  We worked like crazy and as a result we have 3 investigators that are going to be baptized and 8 people reactivated with more on the way.  President Jimenez thanked us for what we were able to do together in the branch and all of the reactivated members expressed their gratitude.  We've also made some amazing friends in the zone this change as we mentioned in the video and were able to touch their lives in various ways, so it was hard to say goodbye to them too.  There have been a lot of tough trials in these months, and these months have been some of the most difficult, but easily the most joyful at the exact same time.  Funny how that works.  Pichidegua will always be the pride of my mission.  It has changed my life forever, for sure.  I would write more details about goodbye's but sadly I don't have a lot of time.  I really love these people though, with all my heart.  I will never forget the members and the investigators we've had here.

And that's all!  I hope you have a great week!  I love you all!

Elder FoxEra