Elder Talon Walz: Transfers

2/6/17 I was able to send a package to Utah with Gian who is a returned missionary from Santiago. He is going to Provo for school, it will be his first time in the US! He is excited to see all of the Mormon history in Utah. I am super happy to hear that he was able to meet up with Brennan to give him the package that I sent. That was nice of him. Speaking of packages I am still waiting :/ (for packages mailed before Christmas). But it’s all good. I haven’t had pouch in forever!

I have been moved to Maipu!! This is my first transfer where I am leaving an area with so many people that I love and care about. During sacrament, there was a Hermano that shared some really nice words about me that made me tear up. Then I said goodbye to him and his wife last night and that was sad too, I will really miss them! I am now with Elder Rios and Elder Marsh. Rios is from Osorno, Chile and Marsh is from Payson, Utah. Rios has a year on the mission and Marsh has 5 months so I am in the middle. It is super weird to be in another trio but I think they are going to reorganize us again soon.

This last week we had 2 baptisms! I baptized one and Elder Matamoros baptized the other. I am really glad I was able to baptize them before I was changed! They are both great but they are young teenage girls so they were a little flirty which scared me but in the end it was all good, LOL. Then this week I also tried sushi! What??!! Haha and I liked it! What??!! Haha it was crazy but yeah I actually enjoyed it. Oh and then another food that is really popular during this time of year is humitas. They are like tamales without meat. It is kind of plain but everyone loves them here so I have had a lot in the last 2 weeks! Oh and then Elder Roberts was changed to Maipu also. Not the same the district but the same Zone so that is really cool. I will miss him a ton but at least I will see him a lot. I also hear in this zone we play soccer every P-day so that is really cool to hear!

2/13/17 So I have new news now! Haha I was with E Marsh from Payson, Utah and E Rios from Osorno Chile. But now I am with Elder Schneider from Portland., Oregon. I was changed on Tuesday from Maipu to Cerrillos which is in Santiago. We live in a pretty big apartment complex in a nice place. It’s just us 2 and 4 could easily fit so it is nice. It is also really nice to have a gringo! :) I already like this ward and sector a ton! I had to introduce myself to the ward on Sunday and then right before Sacrament meeting the guy asked me to also give a short talk! That was surprising but it went well! Here, Priesthood and Relief Society are first then Sunday school and then Sacrament meeting. So that is different but it should be cool.

I found out about a website called www.missionarydelivery.com and you can send stuff to missionaries through there. I guess there is a family that runs it in our mission. They take your order and then go out and buy it and then deliver it to us! It’s a pretty cool service that could save a lot of money if they are things you just buy here.

There is a famous soccer player Leo Messi right now that looks like Tyson! He has the same hair and beard. I see different soccer games here and there because everyone watches it! I also found a guy to teach that is into tennis! He told me he is going to try and setup a Monday to play! That would be fun! :)

I just finished reading Matthew in the New Testament. It was sooo good! It strengthens my testimony of the savior a lot! I recommend it at some point :)

2/20/17 My new companion is Elder Schneider! He is great and I love having another gringo companion! He has been in the field for 13 months! Another guy that we work with a lot is Martin. He is a returned missionary that helps us out a lot and he is also the Elder’s Chorum president.

We have an investigator here who has been meeting with the missionaries for years and during my first lesson with him he decided he was ready to be baptized! It was so exciting! But also something crazy happened to him this week, he had a gun held to his head and his car taken from him! He still hasn’t heard if his car is okay yet or not. It is super sad because he just bought the car too, but he is just thankful to be safe! It happened at our Walmart! lol It was nuts! Oh and I don’t know if I told you but our mall is legit! It is nice for an American mall haha! It has Nike in it :) But I don’t have anything I need to buy there lol.

I was wondering if you could throw in a French basis book from Deseret book next time you send something. That would be cool because I am getting close to knowing a ton of Spanish and we teach a lot of Haitians that speak French so the basics of that would be sweet too! Elder Schneider has laminated cut outs of the plan of salvation. We use them a lot to teach with and they are very helpful.

Oh and my case got finished! It cost a solid amount but it looks so cool! I will send pix later!

I definitely feel the help of the Lord and I feel myself growing closer to him! The mission is great! I did get flees again! But only for 3 days! I bought spray and washed my sheets real quick and haven’t had anymore bites! So that is good! But yeah you can take comfort in knowing that I really am happy here. It’s hard here and there but in the end, it’s great! I love my president out here. He helps a ton!

Well, that is all for now! I hope you all have a GREAT week!!

Love, Elder Walz