Elder Taran Pew: Monday, May 27th, 2013

They took me out of S. I was figuring that would be the first thing you'd all be asking, so there you go. I'm in G again, but in a different zone. I'm in a ward called E, and the temple is in the ward boundaries. Pretty sweet. It's right on the border of my area. There are 3 companionships here: 2 of Elders and this transfer two sister missionaries will be opening a third area. I'm still district leader. My companion is Elder D. He's from Columbia. He's from the same generation as Elder A and Elder R, but he spent the first 4 months of his mission over there waiting for his visa. He's the only member in his whole family. He was baptized when he was 13. We live in a mansion (literally) with 2 other missionaries who seem awesome (another American and another Columbian) along with a member family who lives in a different section of the same house and rents it to us. Basically, this area is the rich section of Guadalajara, and apparently there's lots of Americans. It's about exactly the opposite of S.

We had another swap of companions. Elder D's companion is now with Elder A in S, and it just happens to be Elder Q, my brother who was also my first Zone Leader in A. He's going to finish his mission there. They did not put another companionship in S yet, but President Wagner told me they would in the near future. They did put another companionship in T, another little down by G, and they sent Elder J and Elder H there to open up that area and they sent sister missionaries to their area in G. Pretty soon these misioneras are going to take over the whole mission...

We had a good last week. We found a super awesome investigator named J. We contacted his wife and put an appointment to go visit her, but when we got there she wasn't home. Instead, a shirtless, gangsta looking dude with tattoos all over his body answers the door, smoking, and asks us what we want. Based on previous experience, I was pretty sure he was going to get super defensive and tell us that his wife is Catholic and they don't want us to visit them, but no. He invited us in and listened to everything we said, and was super interested in the Restoration. We left him with a Book of Mormon and when we came back, he had read from the introduction to 1 Nephi 2 and understood everything. And even better, he told us he knew it was all true!!! That was the last time I saw him, but we had an appointment with him for tomorrow night and I'm excited to find out what happens there.

We had found an investigator named V a few weeks ago that seemed kind of interested but stopped being home when we went over. We found her again Sunday and she told us she wanted to give the Book of Mormon back because she didn't have time to read it. So we said a prayer and started to read with her in the introduction and explain the importance of it. She had a lot of doubts, but the Spirit was super strong and guided the whole lesson. We just seemed to know exactly what she needed to hear--and it was amazing to see the Spirit work through us, including the member that came to help us teach, and through the investigator. At the end of the lesson she told us she was going to read the Book of Mormon, and then we challenged her to pray and ask God right there in that moment if it is true. She did and told us she felt like she had been illuminated. She said that it seemed like her eyes had been opened to something she couldn't see before that prayer. It was amazing! And that just happened to be the last lesson I taught in S with Elder A.

By Friday, I already knew I was going to be transferred. That night, I said my last goodbye to Elder A, who got home today, and that day we also found out that Elder J was going to be sent to T and would no longer be part of our district. When I was praying that night, I felt sure that I was going to be transferred, so when the call came Sunday I was ready. It was a blessing, because if not I think I might of cried. Ok, maybe I did anyways, but not as much as it would have been. Luckily, I had time to quickly say goodbye to everyone I wanted to. Some were sadder than others. V was the only one that cried, but J was about to. It's been really sad. I'm going to miss all those guys. SOOO many things happened to me in that area. I feel like I matured about 10 years there with all that went on in those 7 months. But at the same time I know that this is where I'm supposed to be now. I don't know why, but I'm sure I'll find out. When we were here at the temple Saturday and Monday, I felt like I was going to get transferred here. And here I am. And thank goodness I'm not on the coast sweating like a little pig. I'd love to be in G and G