This last week has been pretty wild! My trainer, Elder Montague, got transferred to Chula Vista today which was very unexpected and pretty sad. We found out Sunday night when Elder Montague got a call from President, asking him to be a zone leader of the biggest zone in the mission (40 missionaries, compared to 14 in my zone). We thought for sure he would stay and finish my training, and that Bullock would get six-week-shafted instead haha. I think I understand now what it's like to be a NBA or NFL player when one of your teammates gets traded haha! It felt like our star player just got traded! Both of the sisters we share the branch with, Sister Tello and Sister Simon, got transferred as well. So that means two other sisters are coming into a "whitewashed" area, and will have to learn quick on their own. One of the new sisters is just starting her mission, and I know the other sister already.
Last night, we had our English class, and it was the last time that my trainer and the sisters would be there. After the class, we announced that they would be leaving. We brought a cake to help soften the blow, because everyone in the class really likes us missionaries (most of them are non-members too). There's a ten year old kid in the class named Dario, and he said in Spanish, "Get rid of that cake, we don't want it, we want you guys to stay!" That made the departing missionaries get pretty emotional, along with the fact that none of the people would leave until they hugged/shook hands with and took a picture with us. Most of the non-member Mexicans from English class were crying too, it was pretty wild. That, and some other things, have shown me that the Lord really does work through imperfect people. There's a member family in our branch that the Sisters would spend a lot of time with, and when the sisters went to say bye, one of the daughters in that family gave the sisters a handwritten letter. In it, she said how the sisters changed her life forever and have shown her the love God has for her. It was very profound to me, because I was able to see how the Sisters were able to seriously leave a mark on this family. Sometimes the Sisters would do things that would make us scratch our heads, but despite the weaknesses that they and everyone has, they are still able to be that vessel for God's love to people. That was a really powerful experience.
Well, my new companion has been out for 20 months, and he's been speaking Spanish since he was 6! So I'll learn a ton from him, his name is Elder G. Smith. It's sad to see Elder Montague go, we all had a lot of fun together, and I learned a ton from him. My brother Oakley told me in the MTC to pray for a good trainer, and I did. And I got one! He's a stud.
Pues, I'll send some pictures. There might be a lot this week haha, I apologize in advance!
Elder Pettit
