TRANSFERS ONCE AGAIN

Transfers coming up on Wednesday. Elder Voeks is going to be leaving the area. He has been here for 7 transfers and it is sad to see him leave. A lot of the mission is changing. Every companionship in our zone is changing along with all the zone leaders in the mission. Lots of changes but good changes. The mission is doing very well. Everyone is happy and there aren’t many problems. So Elder Voeks has wanted a Needville area to open ever since he got here. He talked to President about it and President decided that it should be experimented with and opened for a short time. The Elders would be living in a member’s home. But just two days ago transfers had to be completely changed. A missionary has some medical issues that require him to go home for a period of time. So that means that we are one missionary shorter than planned. So Needville, being on the bottom of the list of areas, had to be dropped as a new area. So we were a little sad about that.
This week has been busy, fun, and productive. We went on exchanges on Monday. That was a great experience. Elder Cole who I was with is a great missionary and we did a lot and had a great time. I would love serving with him. It was a great exchange for me but for Elder Voeks it was a little different.

So while I was in Richmond on exchanges some funny things happened in Rosenberg. The car broke down twice which seemed like battery trouble. So they tested the battery and it was bad. They replaced the battery and the Elders are driving and it dies in the middle of the freeway. Eventually they can get it to the side because most roads in Texas are slightly slanted. I have a picture Elder Voeks took of the car being towed away. I am going to photocopy it and send a copy home or something. But luckily now it is fixed. The real problem with the car was that the computer in the car broke. I didn’t even know that could be a problem.

So the week went on and we have been finding many great people. One in particular we were driving and contacting media referrals. Then Elder Voeks gets the impression to turn on a road I didn’t tell him to. The road ends without any outlet. So Elder Voeks turns it around at the end of the road and stops. He looks at this house and feels like it is familiar somehow. He then remembers that he was told by the Spanish missionaries of a house that looked just like this one 5 months ago but was never able to find the house. So we went in and had a great lesson and talk with the family there.

The Spanish missionaries baptized a family this week. I have met the family before and they are really nice. There were 4 who were baptized. The Spanish Elders went over yesterday and told us that it seemed completely different than when they had been there before. They said that you could feel the spirit in the house and in others much more vibrantly.

So before transfer calls Elder Voeks and Elder Olsen knew that they were prolly going to leave. Also Sister Burke is at the end of her mission. These three people are my closest friends in the mission. It is sad that all of them are leaving. We have had great times though. I am definitely going to stay in contact with them because of how awesome they are. We are trying to get permission today to go to Cheesecake Factory with them all and some other missionaries.

Last night we had two dinners. Our first dinner was at the Crankers and we had a bunch of lasagna. Then we went over to another member’s house just to visit and he thought that when we asked if we could stop by that it meant dinner. So we had huge steaks and potatoes. I was fuller after those meals that I can remember. I am still not hungry and it’s Monday. Cool little story about sacrament. So we were sitting there listening to a talk from a member in the stake presidency and everyone hears this loud rumble. It lasted for about 10 seconds. It sounded like someone rolling a garbage bin on concrete right next to you. It was a deep booming sound as well. The church is pretty sound proof already and the chapel even more so. It would have been loud outside. We got a little rain but nothing very enjoyable or helpful to the plants. It just made everything humid. This week has been great. Time is flying by and change is on the horizon. I love you all and have a great week. I might not be able to write any letters this week because today is busy with Elder Voeks leaving soon and such. (The apartment is a mess). Keep working hard and endure to the end.

Love,
Elder Devon Joel Marr