Semana 20: I'M GOING TO MEXICO!!!

Hello my beloved friends and family!! How is everyone doing?? I hope everyone had a phenomenal New Year because we all needed it lol. To be completely honest, I am so glad that 2020 is over and that I can just start fresh with a new year and new goals in mind. This week flew by pretty fast (mainly because it was not a normal week for me).

Views

So you probably all know from my last email that I flew to Salt Lake last P-day. IT WAS SO FUN! It was a straight 10 and a half hours of flying and I got to talk to some really cool people on the way there and back (I was able to talk to some people on my flight in Spanish as well which was really nice and refreshing). So I landed in Salt Lake at like 10:45am and I was greeted by my amazing aunt, uncle, grandpa, and cousin! AH it was so nice seeing them it was definitely very refreshing and motivating for me. They took me straight to the consulate office and there we ran into 5-6 Elders and Sisters who were ALL going to Xalapa with me! They were all so nice and really fun to talk to. I cannot wait to be serving with them, they are all powerhouses. So basically I flew almost 11 hours to go to a less than 10 minute meeting but it is aight because the church is loaded. After the meeting, the fam was kind enough to take me to PF Changs before I had to hop on my flight back home to Syracuse! I got picked up by my mission grandparents (Elder and Sister Purcell) and they took me back to Elder Boyse's apartment where I spent the night. 

Aunt Lori and "B" at the airport

PF Yum!

Grandpa and Annie

Xalapa boys

Xalapa boys part 2

The next morning (Tuesday) I woke up and my companions picked me. We were driving through this INSANE blizzard and the car was slippin and slidin despite the 4-wheel drive. Elder Culebro almost slammed us into a stop sign and Elder Wilson just about had a heart attack. Twas a good time. A few minutes after we got a call from President Vest and he first roasted us for not driving on the highway where the roads are plowed and then told us that he wanted to interview us. He said to meet him at this random dollar general parking lot in the middle of nowhere. I will never forget being interviewed by President Vest in a dollar general parking lot in the middle of a blizzard. He always gives me the best advice and is a very good listener. He told me that I'm probably not going to Mexico for another 6 months because of how bad COVID is (HA)! It is always so fun talking to Sister Vest too. She is literally so sweet and is a great emotional support for any struggling missionary. 

Blizzard!!!

So the rest of the week has been pretty normal after that. We did get some bad news that Bobbie's baptism had to be pushed back for reasons that were our fault and I am very sad about that. But she is for sure going to be baptized and I am so beyond excited for her. 

Bobbie came to church!

We had a pretty cool experience with Bobbie. I felt this very strong impression to send Bobbie this general conference talk by our Prophet, President Nelson. He talks about why we need to use the correct name of the church and the importance of it. So we sent it to her and Bobbie was absolutely astounded by how good that talk was. She said, "If you were to ask me at the beginning of this week if I felt like President Nelson was a true prophet of God, I probably would have said no, but after reading and listening to that talk 4 times I cannot deny that President Nelson is called of God". I was like WOAH!! it was so awesome. She discussed this during our second hour zoom call while we were going over Come Follow Me in Doctrine and Covenants Section 1 which talks ALL about prophets. Bobbie is so prepared for baptism and she is SO elect.

Comps and Bobbie

Sunday was probably my favorite day this week because of the Spirit I felt. Bobbie doesn't have a car so she's been doing church over zoom this entire time. My companions and I felt impressed to talk to my Branch President about getting her a ride to church or finding some way to get her to church. Due to COVID restrictions, members aren't really allowed to give our friends rides to church. Our Branch President prayed about what he felt like we should do and after a few days he told us that we needed to get Bobbie to church in person this Sunday. We were able to get her a ride and she came to church in person!! It was so nice seeing her and all the branch members were so warm and welcoming. It was a very Spirit-filled fast and testimony meeting. Xhavier was flying out to his mission on Wednesday and it was so nice seeing him one last Sunday. I had the amazing opportunity to bear my testimony to the Norwich Branch and it brought tears to my eyes. I love these people and I was so grateful to have our friend Bobbie there in person. We gifted her with a full quad set with her name on it and she was in tears. She expressed her gratitude for us and how much she loves us. After the service our Branch President texted us and told us that Bobbie said that there were no words to describe the feelings she felt when she came to church that day. She is already considered family in the Branch. 

Elder Jurdas is heading out to Cali on Wednesday!

So I have some AMAZING and TERRIFYING news... I am going to MEXICO! I fly out this Wednesday at 6am and I couldn't be more excited! This will be my last email in America and from here on out I will be washing my clothes in rivers lol. Everyone keep me in your prayers lol I am going to need it. This week is going to be crazy for me but I know the Lord will provide a way for me to be a successful missionary down there.  

How to make any missionary in the New York Syracuse mission cringe

Welp being in Norwich has been really awesome and I met a lot of incredible people. I am sad to go but I know there is so much in store for me in Xalapa. Being here has been a huge testimony builder for me. Thank you to everyone who has shown me love and support through all of this y'all are the best! Hope everyone has an amazing week! If you made it this far you may as well email me back :))) <3

-Elder Scown