Elder Zachary Gehring: Out of the offices

Good morning star-shine. The earth says hellos.

Well I moved areas. My new comp is called Elder Oliart. He is from Cochabamba and speaks spanish much better than my old companion from the US. I am now in the ward Antofagasta. Its a little smaller than Cañoto but the members so far seem great. Our zone is Piraí and we are 20 missionaries. There are 3 districts and in total there are 4 wards.

Its been really hard these first few days out of the offices. Its such a huge change but I am learning a lot. My spanish, Ive realized, has gone downhill having a english speaking comp for so long. Im picking it up again little by little. My companion and I dont get a long super well yet. He is 4 months away from going home and hes is a robot. Says the same thing every contact, teaches everything the same way, and it doesnt matter what I say, he just teaches what he wants. Its so frustrating at times. I have a lot to learn from him. Hes been a Zone Leader for just under a year now and I have no idea what Im doing so hes teaching me a lot.

I also taught my first zone conference. That was scary. With under a year in the mission, I didnt feel able to teach some who had been in the mission for way longer. To make things worst, the assistants were there evaluating everything. It all went as planned and we ended up learning a lot. The asistants came up to me after and told to me that I did well. It was a relief to know Im doing some things right.

Now the area. Its small, dusty, and it is hotter and more humid than Ive ever been in my life. It is the smallest area ever. I know my whole area and its only been a few days. The pensionista cooks well and our house is nice. I have a huge closet but a smaller desk to study. Its also nice not having a cell phone that is ringing 24 7. We are teaching a few people and they have fechas to be baptized but our biggest challenge is that we dont have new people to teach. We talk with so many people every day but they dont every accept anything but a first visit. With my companion we are working on making sure the first lesson becomes something they remember so they want to hear more. We did teach a family yesterday which went really well. They are so young. She is 17 and he is 20. They have one son with 2 years and one on the way. By Jan they will have 2 kids under 3 years. Its hard to know how to help them. She has to wait until she is 18 to get married and the after they are married they can be baptized. We are sure the church will bless their lives.

Other than that the work is the same. Walking a ton in the blazing sun. Its so hot, did I mention that? Also dusty. But we have AC in our bedroom so we are blessed. Also I love to eat plums. I bought some in the fair saturday. Also I have no idea how to be a Leader of Zone so pray lots for me!! Also pray for my companion so he doesnt think too much about home these last few months!!

I love you all and pray for you always.

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder Gehring