Elder Adams in Yakima: Week 61: In which I swap West for Jensen, I get to drive, and I recount the week.

Hello From The Other Side Of Heaven
written 24 Jul 2017

Well, hello everyone! Today is a Monday, and it's looking to be a really great one. Elder Jensen and I are just starting to get used to each other, and since he hasn't tried to strangle me yet, I figure that's a positive sign. He's a really funny missionary, and we're going to have a lot of fun together. He loves skiing and classical music. Yeah, that's right. Wellington's Victory here we come! Seriously, though, it's pretty great. Also, I get to drive again. I don't know if I ever told you, but we got a brand spankin' new white Toyota Corolla a transfer ago, with Elder West. Now, I get to drive it. Oh, yeah! It's honestly a pretty nice car, and probably one of the nicest cars in the mission. It's just so... sparkly new!

Honestly, Wednesday and the couple of days leading up to it were probably some of the hardest days on my mission to date. It was really, really, hard for me to say goodbye to Elder West. He really became a very good friend in the short time we had together. I'm not sure I've met anyone who has as many common interests... it was basically all of them. We also thought alike, almost to the point of mind-reading. My dad can attest that we sometimes read each others' minds, and Elder West and I rivaled that. It was scary. However, as hard as it was, I knew then and I know now that it is the Lord's will that we are where we are. Elder Jensen is so great, I'm sure he and I will work super well together!

Now for my Day-By-Day Missionary Walkthrough™

Monday: We had P-Day, and we signed in each others' transfer journals (it's where we save contact info/stuff)

Tuesday: We had a super standard day, and not much happened.

Wednesday: I said goodbye to Elder West in the morning, went with Elder Poloncic while I waited for Elder Jensen to arrive, and then said hello to Elder Jensen. With Elder Poloncic, we taught a guy who is agnostic but open to learn more, and Gerardo Alvarez, whom the English missionaries are teaching and is preparing to be baptized in a couple of weeks. He does speak Spanish, but he is perfectly bilingual. Still, it's going to be such a blessing to the Spanish work here to have another Spanish-speaker!

Thursday: We went to the Food Bank to help out, then did missionary work.

Friday: We taught Ofelia and Juan C.

Saturday: We saw a new couple, Manuel and Maria, and taught them the message of the Restoration. They loved it!

Sunday: We went to church and did missionary work the rest of the day. Pretty normal.

Love you all!

Elder Adams

Questions from Editor Mom:

How's life in The Dalles? - Life is super great! The Dalles are as wonderful as ever.

Are you happy? (I know how hard it is to say goodbye to a beloved companion.) - Heck yeah, I'm happy! Mmm-hmm! Not going to lie, it was super hard to say goodbye to Elder West. Still, Elder Jensen is great. It's going to be a really great transfer.

Are you finding common ground with Elder Jensen? - Well, he's funny, so yeah. Also, before he left he started getting into going to a lot of classical music concerts, so that's another common point.

Have you had any good experiences that have helped you bond as a companionship? - I'd say so, yeah! We've been really warming up to each other. I'm not sure if there's anything in particular, but it's been good.

How's your health holding out? - Right now, really great! In my last week with Elder West, I did get sick for a night and most of the next day, but it wasn't too bad. I did lose my dinner a couple of times, but that comes with the beast. However, it didn't last long, and we were out by the time the afternoon rolled around.

Are you finding Spanish speakers to talk to? - Yes, we are! We actually had 3 new investigators this last week! (Well, we said we had 4, but that's because we forgot to count him as an investigator earlier, so that's what you do.)

How much time do you spend in Goldendale? - Not too much. We usually just go up MAX twice a week, and one of those times we are just going to teach Ofelia and Juan C. When we drive up ourselves, it's to teach them and also to try to find the other people who live up there. We usually only have an evening for those trips, though.

Looking forward to hearing from you today! - Igualmente!

Love you!

Elder Adams