transfers

Dear Family,

It was a bittersweet week. On Wednesday we had a work visit - I traded places with one zone leader for a day, sleeping in his bed, using his toothbrush, etc. I learned a lot during the day with the other zone leader, and upon returning to my old area, I felt almost like a million soles. Everything seemed new again, and I had more enthusiasm for the work.

We've been teaching a woman named Miriam who has some physical and psychological health issues (mostly stemming from ill treatment from her husband, I believe). When we first taught her, things were rough. Her children, a 4-year-old and a 7-year-old, are a bit noisy and distracting. She didn't have much desire to do anything about her problems; her only wish was that they would just all go away. I felt like we weren't getting anywhere with her. But we gave her a Book of Mormon and invited her to read. We also gave her a Priesthood blessing of health. We passed by a few times with different members of the ward, and last Sunday a ward member accompanied her to church. (Now THAT's missionary work!) She started going to the weekly Relief Society activities, and she has started praying and reading the Book of Mormon every day. Her kids are as noisy as ever, but her countenance has changed. She smiles more often, she understands what she reads, and even though she isn't sure what to do about the problems with her husband, she isn't hopeless anymore. The Gospel changes lives. The Book of Mormon changes lives. She has a baptismal date set for the 29th of December.

That's the sweet part. The bitter is the news that came Friday night. I'm being transferred from here (Zona Central - Buenos Aires) to Zona Esperanza - Pueblo Libre. My companion, Elder Gonzales del Valle, is being transferred to Zona Laureles - Altamoche. I'll send a picture I took of our map. Buenos Aires is on the beach, the part of Trujillo most westward. Esperanza is northeast of downtown. It's not that far of a transfer - taking the mission office as the origin, it's only a movement of about negative two-thirds pi radians (I don't mean to be nerdy, that's just what came to my head when I found out where I was going). We're both being transferred, and our area, Buenos Aires, is being closed. We'll leave our area book with the zone leaders so that they can come teach the investigators we've left; but the area will remain relatively free of proselyting besides that.

We had our third and last baptism on Sunday morning. She's a 12-year-old girl in a part-member family. She witnessed the baptism of an 8-year-old last week and got excited to be baptized herself. All of the baptisms I've seen in this area of Buenos Aires have been miraculously quick. The first two found us on Saturday, were interviewed Sunday, and got baptized on Monday. This week, we taught Marita for the first time on Wednesday and again on Friday. On Friday she told us that she had prayed to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet and if the Book of Mormon was the word of God; she then recounted of how she felt that it was true. Her entire countenance changed as she told us what she felt. Her eyes lit up and she smiled as she testified of what she knew. She was interviewed on Saturday and baptized Sunday morning before Sacrament meeting. In Sacrament Meeting, I had the opportunity to confirm the 8-year-old who was baptized on Monday.

We're sad to leave Buenos Aires; it became like home for 3 months. I hear great things about my new area in Esperanza. But it sounds a little dangerous. Though I don't know - they told me Buenos Aires was dangerous, too. Maybe it just helps to be a half meter taller than everybody else. (Speak softly and carry a Book of Mormon)

Love,
Elder Withers