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| The view from the street right outside of my new house. That's the Chaparristique Volcano, a.k.a. as the San Miguel Volcano. It looks all nice and peaceful now, but it's an active volcano. About every 6-12 months it starts spitting out dust and volcanic gas and causes large tremors (or small earthquakes, depending on your point of view). |
Hello everyone,
Well,
this week in Santa Rosa was very interesting. Wednesday, we had Zone
Conference in the morning, and a branch activity in the evening. The
activity was fun; it was an open house of the chapel. We (the
missionaries) planned it and we (the missionaries) gave a tour of the chapel,
explaining what we do in the different parts of the building. I enjoyed
my participation there. I explained about the baptismal font and about
the Primary's Valiant class (there's only one here). We were actually
able to get a few investigators to come, thanks to an awesome less active
sister who accompanied them.
The rest
of the week was work as usual. Look for people, find people, teach
people, teach some more, walk to other appointments, teach some more, walk,
teach, walk, teach, etc. Our golden investigator, José, moved to the area
of the other elders. I was a bit sad that I don't get to teach him any
more, but it's really the best thing that could have happened. It is now
a lot easier for him to come to church, because he lives fairly close to the
Releif Society president and her family.
So, now
we're going to start with the strange. Yesterday, the Rama Santa Rosa de
Lima had the lowest attendance in my time there. 37 people came to
church, in total, with one investigator present. We have no idea what in
the world happened.
And now,
the strangest thing in the land of Santa Rosa. My companion and I are no
longer in Santa Rosa. We got emergency transferred. We are now
serving in the land of Moncagua. Once upon a time, Moncagua was one of
the most successful areas in the mission. Baptisms were frequent, work
was constant, and there were three companionships in the ward. Today,
Moncagua is very different. The sister missionaries got taken out a few
weeks ago, and they were the only ones there. The area has had two or
three weeks of rest from missionary work. On the bright side, the ward
leaders are excited beyond belief to have elders again. We spent all
evening yesterday touring the area with the bishop and the ex-bishop (he's now
a counselor in the Stake Presidency). They took us around to meet as many
of the auxiliary presidents as we could find, plus some other members who are
willing and able to help with the work.
I hope
that I get to stay in Moncagua for a long time. There is so much work to
be done here. Our working area here is roughly the size of my entire area
in Santa Rosa. There are tons of people here, and tons of members.
We have goals of four baptisms in March and six in April. My vision is
that by the end of 2016 Moncagua can be the missionary powerhouse that it was
when I got here: three companionships, Zona Bautizadora (highest baptizing
zone) and one of the highest-baptizing areas in the entire country, weekly
church attendance close to 200 members. And we're going to do it.
God put me here for a reason. It's because He knows that my companion and
I are going to work like crazy to get done what He wants done here. I
look forward to telling you all about it in the weeks to come.
Oh, and
one fun fact about this area: my ex-companion Elder Hernandez is the district
leader!
Well
folks, I'm out of stuff to tell you about. So why don't you all tell me
about your week? Don't let any of those silly thoughts like "he's a
missonary, he doesn't have time to read about my life" or "my life
isn't nearly as exciting as a missionary's life" get in your way. I
want to hear about what is going on back in the States! Specifically, to
you people who I write to!
Well,
time's up. Talk to you later!
Love,
Elder Colton West
El Salvador, San Salvador East Mission
