Cambios

Well, this past week was the cambios (transfers) for the mission. We learned the changes Monday night and by noon Tuesday the cambios were done for almost all the missionaries in the city of Santa Cruz and Montero. Only the changes of missionaries out in Beni were done later in the week. For all those curious, I did have cambio this time, in that I am no longer in Montero. In fact, I'm not even in the department (state) of Santa Cruz now. I got moved out to a place called Paititi in Trinidad, the capital of Beni. Yes, I finally got out to the jungle. I'm also district leader again. Woo!

Like I said earlier, Monday night we were informed that the cambios were ready, so we rushed to print them out and get ready for the changes. Tuesday morning we headed out with 2 cars to drop off the oldies and pick up the newbies from Santa Cruz. However, one of the cars broke down on the highway, so we had to return to pick them up and keep moving on with only one car. We were able to drop off the 2 oldies and their bags without any space problem, but we had to do some fancy tricks so that the 3 newbies and all their stuff would fit in so we could head back to Montero. It took some work, but we did it. We were then able to use the rest of the day working normally.

Not sure if I mentioned this before, but there is a small branch like 80min to the west (I think I said to the north last time; my bad) that the Elders from anther ward were visiting. Well, when we commented to President Zambrano that we had found a suitable house for the Elders, the branch got their own companionship. The only problem is that the house was bare. So, Wednesday morning, we had to drive out there in the back of a truck hauling beds, closets, tables, chairs, and other things for the house. We left our house at 9 in the morning to pick stuff up and head out. We got back home just after 1. In the trip back, we got a call from the mission secretary telling us that my carnet de extranjero (visitor's card that all foreigners have to carry) had to be picked up by my person before my flight to Trinidad. We got the call at 1:30; the office closes at 3; and my flight was for 7:45 in the morning the next day. We ran to Santa Cruz and got to where the office was at about 2:40, only to learn that the office had moved. We then ran to the new location, but when we got there they told us it was already closed. After a little chat, they let us pass. Then, when we got to the counter to pick up the carnet, they told us the time to pick up cards was until 2. A little more talking and we were finally able to walk out with my carnet in hand.

After the craziness in the morning and afternoon, we though to work calmly in our little temporal (temporary) trio for my last night in Montero, but then it decided to rain alot, so that was fun. In the early morning Thursday we headed out to the airport so I could check in and await my trip to Trinidad. It was to be 2 flights of about 40min each one, first to Cochabamba and then to Trinidad.

 La mayoria son de la avion (The majority (of the pictures this week) are from the plane)

 

I was joined by 2 other Elders heading to Trinidad, and the first flight passed without any problem. However, our second flight got postponed because of poor weather conditions in Trinidad. At first, it only got delayed an hour (10:30), but when that hour passed, it was announced that the flight would be cancled until 8pm. So, we got to know a bit more the airport of Cochabamba. We would have left to see if we could've found the temple, but we were told not to. Oh well. Luckily the weather in Trinidad improved a bit, so we could lave at 4:30pm instead of at 8. When we got to Trinidad we saw why the flight was delayed: a whole bunch of rain water everywhere.

Thursday night I got to meet my new companion, Elder Fusi. He was born in California, but his parents were born in Tonga. I havn't actually taken a picture yet, so ya'll can't see him this week. He's super funny and has already been in the mission for a year. The area of Paititi is also super beautiful, with lots of plant live - and lots of dirt and mud. Friday we were able to work normally and help me get to know the area. Saturday and Sunday were also spent getting to know the area bit by bit. I don't have any super crazy stories just yet (except when we had to try to pass a flooded street to get to a visit) but some should be coming soon.

una es una calle en Paititi que tuvimos que cruzar (a street in Paitit we had to cross)

With loves,

Elder Yates

*A little more info shared in other emails*

Yes, E' Fusi speaks English. I perfer speaking spanish, but the fact that our house of 6 missionaries includes 4 English speakers (one of which has only a little bit of time in the mission) gives way to plenty of opportunities to speak English instead of Spanish. The six of us of the house are in Paititi, and the zone consists of 5 wards and 1 branch, with a total of 12 companionships, 3 of which are sister missioneries

una otra es con el tejon de una familia que visitamos

(One other picture is of the badger (?) of one of the families we visited)