Semana 53: Hurricane Grace

HEYYYYYY!!! 

Wowza this week will go down as one of the wildest, most fun weeks of my entire mission! We got a lot of work done, put some more people on date for baptism, hit my 1 YEAR in the mission, and the cherry on top is Hurricane Grace absolutely pounding my entire mission leaving more than half of the missionaries without power, houses flooded and even some missionaries evacuated from their areas. Here's the spill...

La Zonaaa

Last P-day was soooo dope! We did a lot of cool stuff. We woke up really early in the morning to take a bus ride down south to a small town named Xico. This town is so beautiful. Filled with murals, cobblestone roads, colorful walls and cathedrals I couldn't help but get an Italy vibe. Next to this small town is this massive waterfall (nothing comparable to Hawaii but still really big). We hiked down to the bottom with the entire zone to take photos and take in the beautiful view. Many movies have filmed this waterfall including Indiana Jones so it made the scenery that much better.

Cascadas

Los Chicos

After the waterfall, we went on a long hike in the Veracruz jungle and arrived at another small town in the middle of nowhere, we caught a bus that took us to Xalapa. The bus was way overcrowded and the bus driver was blasting Ozuna and that is when I realized that I understand Spanish music almost perfectly. The whole zone was jamming out crazy; it felt like a party.

Hna Alvarez

El Compa

We arrived at Xalapa, ate some little Caesars and immediately went to a massive trampoline park. We also invited an investigator with us and I taught her the entire Restoration while we were there lol. I found her on Messenger and we started talking, now my entire zone clowns on me for it but my companion is my witness that I didn't do any sort of flirting. We are teaching her with the sister missionaries and today accepted a baptismal date!! Facebook Miracles!!

Xicooo

We did two exchanges this week and I went to the other areas both times. First exchange, we taught some pretty good lessons and committed a couple to get married so they can be baptized and they accepted. After we finished the day, the missionary in my zone and I talked for a fat minute and then some college students knocked on our window and invited us to drink with them and some girls. Easiest no of my life but I thought it was hilarious.

Que Bonito

The next day I hit my year mark!! We celebrated with the zone and bought 4 kilograms of Al Pastor and stuffed ourselves to the rim. It was so fun!! We taught some pretty awesome lessons and when the night rolled around, we went back into exchanges with another companionship. Following that, we woke up the next day and got back to the grind. Some members from the other area bought me 2 boxes of pizza, a cake, some chips and a soda to celebrate my one year in the mission.

Tigre

La zona otra vez

1 Ańo

Fuego

On Friday we got absolutely pounded by Hurricane Grace. A category 3 hurricane swept through our entire mission leaving many missionaries without power, food, and water. The north got hit really bad where I was serving the transfer before, houses are flooded, destroyed and some people are missing. Really sad. I slept through practically the entire thing. When I woke up the street below us was a 3 foot deep river without any exaggerations. An elementary school near our house collapsed and the entire mall and parking garage was flooded. It was a pretty wild experience. Many prayers out for all the missionaries up north in my mission who are stuck inside without light and signal.

We taught some guy outside of a hospital because his wife is in labor and they wouldn't let him go inside because of the pandemic rules. So while his wife was in excruciating pain and giving birth to his son, he was learning about God! He also accepted a baptismal date for September 12th! 

A lot more happened this week but this is already too long! Have a great week! See you all in less than a year!

Elder Scown