Week Sixty Eight

Well... all good things have to come to end. It's been real serving out here in Boston, and I'm glad I've had the opportunity to meet so many amazing people out here. Buuuuut The good things haven't come to an end out here yet, and that's why I'm excited to STAY HERE ANOTHER TRANSFER WITH ELDER SOLOMON! #4TRANSFERSBOI!

So this week has been craaaaaazy. We got cleared last week to get one of the most amazing people baptized. Abela and her daughter Marthene! About a year ago, 2 African men from her country Tanzania heard about how kind she was, and they showed up at her house, and have been freeloading ever since. They sleep on her couches in the living room. She has too big of a heart to kick them out though. Well one of them brought his family with him, and she started taking care of them too. So at one point she had 10 people she was taking care of along with children of her own, all while working 2 jobs as a single mother to support them. She is so amazing. After her baptism we called her later that night to remind her to be extra on time for confirmations (she only has 1 bathroom in her house, so it takes them a loooooong time to get ready Sunday morning) she told us she was so grateful. In her Swahilan accent she told us "I was lost in the American way, and you came and saved me." Then after she was confirmed on Sunday she just sat in her chair, and tears began to glow as she told us she really could feel the spirit, and that she had not felt it since she left her home in Tanzania over 30 years ago. So that was one of the coolest experiences on my mission, and a big testimony builder about the Holy Ghost for me. 

Also random thing of the week. On Saturday BYU played U Mass. So this Sunday we were getting the church ready when like 20 BYU cheerleaders walked in for church. If you took a screenshot of our faces, you would have thought we had just witnessed a car accident. It's been awhile😂 Also, we met Cosmo. Anyways, Sunday was hectic!

We also found out we are receiving 3 new sets of missionaries in the zone! So President Blair gave us the opportunity to be apartment hunting. All the times I've watched House Hunters has payed off! It has been so much fun being a part of the whole process. One of the sets of new Elders will stay with us while that gets situated!

This week was one of the most hectic weeks I've had on my mission. We also had zone conference, and interviews with President!  It's been a good week and I'm really excited to spend Thanksgiving, and Christmas in this area! Have a good week yo. 

Random Text Received by Momma C Tonight

Hi!  My name is Coralee Zabriskie.  Your son and his companion visited our family this evening.  They brought the Spirit into our home.  So grateful you let him serve a mission.  What a blessing they are to everyone out here!

Week Sixty Seven

Well the highlight of my week by far was that Abela and Martin got approval from the Mission President and the Bishop to be baptized. So stay tuned, we may have ourselves a Tanzanian baptism party on the way! Elder solo and I prayed for a miracle for so long that they may be baptized, and I'm super happy that we are both going to get to see that day!

We had MLC this week too. We talked a lot about how God's goal is also our goal. And that is to help to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man, and if we can realize that it will help everyone gather scattered Israel. We also were test running a new way to do real plays, and it involves being put on the spot. So President on the spot chose a companionship to teach two points in the Restoration with multiple teaching tools to some members of the Mission Presidency. He scanned the room looking for a companionship to choose, and he passed Elder Solo and I, but then he turned back and was like "You!" so we got to teach in front of everyone. It was fun though! 

Also it gets dark at 4 now so #rip.

We spent Halloween in the one and only Salem Massachusetts. We set up shop next to an old cemetery! It was really cool, I got a picture of some of the people who were buried there. Some other Elders found a house where Joseph Smith stayed too! Salem was full of wayyyyyy fancy Halloween costumes! I tried inviting so many people in costume to learn about the gospel. We met a lot of members from around the county too! Walking around Salem on Halloween may have not been the best idea though. We got the word out to a lot of people, but also a lot of people thought we were dressed up, and we got complemented on our costumes a few times😂  It was a great conversation starter though! I'll definitely never forget hitting the streets of Salem with Elder Spice on Halloween though! 

MLC

Cool hike in Lynn Woods.

We had the idea to set up a booth in Salem on Halloween.

  

Week Sixty Six

I don't know if I've said this in any of my other weekly emails before, but one of my favorite pastimes in life is asking little kids if they know fortnite dances. Well on Saturday night we were passing a Saturday night mass at this huge church, and there was a heard of little ninos out there running around. So I yelled "Amigitos!" "Do you know any fortnite dances?" and then it got wild. It went from a bunch of 8 year old kids running around to a straight dance party😂

This weekend there was a giant nor'easter that slammed the Boston area, and we got caught walking around like 2 miles from the car in Lynn. It was crazy and the roads were flooded in Lynn, so we were jumping around trying not to get soaked. We made it back, but my shoes are still recovering.

The Red Sox won the World Series last night, but throughout the week everyone's been partying and wearing their Red Sox gear. It's actually helped a lot with our finding.

So this week was the primary program in our ward, and we are teaching an amazing African family with two little girls. We found them when we first got here, and they've been coming to church for around 2-3 months now, so they've been learning the primary songs. This week we went over twice to teach them, and we practiced the primary songs with them. And on Sunday we got to watch them in the primary program. Their mom was sooooo proud of them, she was telling all of her African friends before the program that her daughters were performing in church. They got a couple of speaking parts in it too. So that was the highlight of my week.

Elder Solo and I hit our 15th month mark this week. The time has been flying by out here, especially in Boston. The fast pace lifestyle makes your life go faster. I wish I had some cool spiritual though to share with you, but I don't have any cool insights at the moment. Just keep the commandments and your covenants, be nice, and patient, and God will bless you. Have a good week y'all. 

It was a wet nor'easter.

Took the whole district to Costco because I'm not missing my Costco run.  Then we took them over to East Boston.