Hello!
Well, I am being transferred from the Valley to Encinitas! From what I've heard, it's basically the complete opposite of the Valley. It's in the top left of the mission, as opposed to the bottom right, for starters. Both of my companions and one of the sisters have all served there before! So they told me quite a bit about it yesterday, and showed me a lot of pictures haha. It's super green, super beautiful, super nice weather. Sister Montgomery told me it's my reward for sticking it out in the valley during the hottest part of the year! It's right on the beach! I'm going to be in a trio again, with Elder Cook and Elder E. Jones. I'm excited! Apparently there isn't nearly as much Spanish there, so that's too bad.
This last week in the valley has been great though. I'm going to miss all the awesome people here. The members, the missionaries, and the people we taught.
We had dinner at the Ibarra family's house yesterday, they're super awesome, they had us over for dinner and gave us haircuts so many times. They are "that" member family that just takes care of the missionaries and keeps the branch going haha.
I had my last English class with the people here yesterday! Afterwards, I took a picture with Hermano Grijalva, one of the coolest guys on the planet. He's so enthuastic about missionary work, he himself is a convert, so he knows how important it is. He gave me a hug, shook my hand and thanked me for my work, then he and his wife started crying, which made me cry too! The mission life is crazy, you get super close with random people who don't even speak the same language, form bonds with them, and then a few months later, you're gone!
Anyways, I'm super grateful for all the things I've learned here in the valley and for all the miracles and blessings I've seen here. Yo he escuchado que voy a amor Encinitas!! Este es la obra del Señor!
Elder Pettit
P.s. I typed most of this email out this morning whole driving to San Diego, but I didn't finish it. We haven't been able to have wifi all day because the sim card we were given today isn't working. Sorry for the late email! It's been a crazy day, we got settled in to the apartment here in Encinitas, played ball with some other elders, went shopping, and man, it's actually kinda cold here! 70 degrees with a breeze! Lol! More info to come next week!
