Ya me voy ... otra vez!

Sooooo, the zone leaders called me yesterday anddddddd I'm getting transferred!!!!!!!!!!!!! Again!!!!!!! After a whopping 3 weeks in my area, they're kicking me out of here! haha, Stay tuned until next week to see where they send me...

This week was super crazy.
Last Monday, Elder Hernandez and I went with the zone leaders to a nearby hill that has a sweet view of Orizaba. We went up in a ski lift type thingy, I forget the word for it in English. But that was super fun and then we celebrated Mexican Independence Day (September 15th) with a piñata in the district meeting. That was fun too.

Ski lift type thingy

The view over Orizaba

Angel wings at the top!

PINATA!

On Tuesday, I went on divisions in an area called Huatusco, which is a super small town like an hour and a half away from here.  It's always interesting to meet new people in different areas.

On Wednesday, we found a new person to teach, named Alejandro. His wife is a less active member and he has a lot of questions about religion. He just wants to change his life for the better so we were able to talk about how the Book of Mormon can help him do just that. He also has two swords that he bought in Oaxaca that are super cool and he let us have a photo shoot with them so that was fun.  We don't knock doors here in Oaxaca because they have had robbers dressed like missionaries come into their home and scope out items to steal.  So now they don't trust missionaries.

Thursday was just a normal day... Friday we had a Noche Mexicana! It was a ward talent show with a bunch of food.  It was really fun. Mexicans really know how to dance!!!!!!!!! It was super cool to watch, and the food was as delicious as always.

Noche Mexicana!!

Saturday we went to do visits with the Bishop.

Sunday we had ward conference which was a great conference with a focus on the youth.  My companion and I took advantage of the fact that we went to the conference in suits to take pictures with a few of our favorite families. Which is awesome cause now I have a few photos of the few people I've been able to meet in my few weeks here.

The Gonzalez Family!

Obispo Luna and family!

All in all it was a good week! Im super grateful to be here in Veracruz as a missionary! Hope you all have a great week!!!!!!!


Elder Gurney

Escamela!

So the transfers came and I was sent up north to Orizaba! To the mountains!!!!! Where it actually gets cold!!!!!!! I can see snow! My ward is called Escamela and I'm with Elder Hernandez, he has the same time as me in the mission and we get along super well. We did have a rough start to the week... the sudden change of weather got me pretty sick, so we were not able to work as hard as I wanted to this first week. However, all in all it was a good week! There are such amazing members here and it's been fun getting to know them.  In fact, the son of the Stake President served in Morristown!!  I can't wait to meet him! 

My old zone before transfers!

My first day in Escamela .. and we got soaked!

As for people we are teaching, we have two people who have come to church but besides that there is nobody so this week we were dedicated to finding (which is hard when you're sick haha) however we were able to find a few people who we believe can really progress in the gospel!

A member gave us crab to eat ... it was pretty difficult to eat!  

A lake in our area!

One of the people we are teaching is named Alan, and he has already come to church. He is a young man who has a lot of struggles but is trying to turn his life around.  He is an awesome guy.

We were able to find Antonio, he is the father of two teenagers and a little girl. His wife passed away about 2 months ago, which has been very difficult for him and his family. His sons are both members and are super faithful, and we are working with him to develop his faith. He is also awesome and we hope to help him come closer to God.

Im super happy to be here in Escamela with Elder Hernandez!
NOS VEMOS!!!

Love, Elder Gurney

Ya me voy de Tecno

The news came in yesterday! I'm getting transferred tomorrow! However, they don't tell me where until tomorrow... so stay tuned to find out! Haha.

A cool painted wall we walked by!  (He is still sporting his blue towel!) 

This week was really awesome mainly because of the conference we had on Wednesday, when Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles came to our mission. The entire mission came to one chapel in the Puerto for the conference and it was fun seeing all my former companions and all the friends I've made here in the mission. In fact, all the Elders who are outside of the Puerto came down to sleep over with the missionaries here in Puerto to be on time for the conference. So Elder Harouni and ELDER KIRKHAM, my companion before Elder Reyes, came down to sleep over in our house! That was super fun as well.

Cards with Elder Harouni and ELDER KIRKHAM!

The conference itself was super awesome. Elder Bednar talked about how us members have bad habits that impede us from our potential. How we often want God to do everything so that we can stay in our comfort zone. We often pray for the sick that didn't make it to church that they can be there next week, but rarely do we go out and visit those who didn't come and help them get to church. Faith is a principle of action. This helped me think about if I'm doing my part or do I want God to do everything. He also mentioned that we overcomplicate things, if we are acting and if we are good, the revelation will come. It was a great conference. 

My mission family!

Former companion .. Elder Murillo

Zone Leader ... Elder Weaver

Former Companion ... Elder Spencer

Friday was also interesting because I had to go with my CCM buddies to immigration for something with our passports, I don't really know what we did, but it was fun. I got to talk with them for a little while waiting in line. It was great to catch up even more and see how they're doing.

My CCM group!

These last two weeks have been great. I'm going to miss Tecnologico. I have been here for six months and I've met some amazing people here. I'm sad to be leaving. However, I'm excited to meet new people!

Hope you all have a great week!
Love, Elder Gurney