December 17 Transfers!!

Well as the subject and also the fact that I am writing on a Tuesday say, this week was transfers! I did indeed get transfered to a new area. I am now out of the city in an area called Casador in the city Escobar. In my area is the zoo that the mission president took the whole mission to a while ago. I am really excited to be out here even though it is way different from the city and especially now that it is getting really hot there is no shade to walk in. 

My companion is a good guy from Chile. He speaks little to no English so I am really going to have an opportunity to work on my Spanish the next few weeks! I feel pretty good in a conversation with him I just don´t quite have the vocabulary to speak fluently quite yet. The mission president called me this morning and told me that my new companion is struggling a little bit as he only has a transfer and a half left in the mission and that the Lord and him are counting on me to lift him up and help him finish strong. I am excited to be able to help out another missionary even though I am just a junior companion to him. It will be good though and we already get along great so we will see how it goes!

This past week we had a marriage and a baptism! It was so great to bring a family together in marriage and then to have the couple in all white for the baptism on Saturday. There is always problems that we have to deal with but it all worked out and we were able to baptize them both. It was a great experience and I am so happy to have been able to do it before I left that area. San Cristobal was a great area and I am so blessed to have had it as my first area. Now I am here in Escobar ready to work and do it all over again. I finished my training yesterday so I am finally done with the four months of working to be a regular missionary. I am still pretty new and my Spanish is not perfect at all but I am excited to be able to get out and work here.

As I said the weather here has been hot and getting hotter. It doesn´t help that it is extremely humid as well. I really just sweat all day long and so I have been trying to drink a ton of water. It is really weird to me to be this hot at Christmas time but it is all good. I am already excited for fall haha. I don´t know very much about this area quite yet because I just got here today but next week I will let you all know more about the ward and what it is really like here.

So speaking of Christmas what we are going to do is use the computer of a member here in Escobar to skype after we eat lunch with here. The plan as of now is to go there, do some service for her, eat lunch, then I will skype, followed by my companion. Right now the time we have planned to skype for me is 2 oclock Buenos Aires time. I am pretty sure that will make it 10 am there in Utah, and all of this is on Wednesday, Christmas day. What you all need to do is make a skype account this week and send me the account name so that I can add it on her account and talk to you! If I don´t get this account name next Monday I won´t be able to call you so that is important! I am really excited to be able to call and see you all for a little while, it should be great!

I also was able to pick up the Christmas packages at the mission office today during transfers. I have not opened them yet though but still thank you! Everyone was jealous that I had 3 packages haha so you all did well. It should be a great Christmas here!! It sounds and looks like everyone had a good time making Christmas cookies and what not this past week. It kinda sucks to have missed it but I know I couldn´t be doing anything better than this right now!

Other than all that there really isn´t much new to report. Just getting used to a new area, new comp, new teaching style, and still a new language. This week will definitely be a week of learning for sure and even after just one day of total Spanish with my comp I can already feel my English slipping, so this Skype call should be interesting haha! I am excited though and can´t wait for this next week.

Also, Dad said something about filling taxes for this next year. I usually just did it on tax slayer I think and it worked out great. I have no idea how we go about doing those here but I will ask around about it. I will let you know!

Anyways thank you all for everything, especially the prayers! As I always say I can feel the power of those prayers helping me along every single day! I love you all I and will be able to email for a short time next Monday and then we can Skype on Christmas day! Please don´t forget to make a Skype account and send me the information for it! I love you all and thank you again! Have a great week!!

Love,

Elder Zollinger