Transfer!

Hello my dear family!!                                                  

Merry Christmas!! We are in December!

Well, let's start with the questions:

When is your next trip to Piura?

It was TODAY. We had transfers, and I have now left Zarumilla. I am now in Lopez Abujar 1, in Zona Piura Central. I am rather in the center of Piura City! I am now with an Elder Villalba. He has 6 months in the mission, from Ecuador, we have a good pensionista, the ward has around 170 in attendance, and my area is 100% sand. And that is about all I know for now. So there is some big news!! I will miss Zarumilla, it was such a blast and learning experience and now I am going to move on to even bigger experiences. I intend to baptize every waiting soul.

Here our apartment is a little smaller but awesome! There is so far NOTHING of Christmas decoration. This is my last Mission Christmas so I went ahead and bought a baby Christmas tree we are going to deck out. :) And Mom don't worry about the packages now!! I am in Piura, the office missionaries are in my zone and so we are some of the first to know when the packages arrive. :) Tumbes is a hard place for packages, but Piura I will get them in no time. :)

What is something new you learned this past week?

I learned that I gotta stick to it with the Book of Mormon!! We found that that could really be a key deal especially with R, M, and their family. So we are getting them on reading and they are getting interested and READING!! Also when I got to say farewell to a couple members, they shared with us the fact that they had never seen missionaries as dedicated as Elder Encarnacion and I when it comes to following up if they are reading the Book of Mormon. it is the keystone, ALWAYS read it and keep your testimony strong about it.

One thing about R and that family: well, they are actually going to Piura for Christmas/Summer break and they won't be heading back to Zarumilla until March or April... They will be living with R's Sister and Brother-in-law. Bummer right? Well, not quite. The brother-in-law with the father R is a MEMBER. And guess which ward he attends? Lopez Abujar. Not quite my area, but my ward/district. hahaha small world right!! I will be keeping tabs on them and see what I can do to get them to church! With a family member helping out that could be a lot of extra help!

Looks like you are all having a blast over there in USA! That is so cool, Becky, you guys have a Spaniard staying with you guys! What part is he from? That would be so fun.

Also Uncle Bryan made a quick note about how this summer we will be having another pair of missionaries off! Connor and Parker, prepare yourself NOW. Read the Book of Mormon daily! Learn all you can, it comes in handy later. :)

As for Thanksgiving here, a member invited Elder Encarnacion and I dinner, so that was my way of celebrating. I actually had actually lost track of that holiday.. haha But Christmas is big here like there. With lights, trees, Santa, all that jazz. And also, us missionaries bringing the most important message of Christmas to their homes.

Sunday for lunch was the coolest thing EVER. The district had lunch together in a member's home. The father that night later traveled to Piura for his cancer treatments and asked for a health blessing. As us 6 missionaries joined together to give that blessing I felt the power and knew we were the Lord's hands and His missionaries. We were a stellar District, but now I am in Piura, Elder Orellana also, and Elder Moses to Sullana (With Elder Plata!!!!) I love this work and I know it is the Lord's work.

Well, I love you all!! Talk to  you next week!!

Elder Russell