Unexpected Transfers

I hope all of you had a wonderful wonderful Christmas! On Christmas Eve we got together with the whole mission to have a special devotional, eat, and do a gift swap. It was a lot of fun to see a bunch of friends that I haven't seen for awhile. Last year in the gift swap I received a can of peanuts, this year a razor, so... vamos mejorando;) When we finally got back to Chacabuco we had a Family Home Evening with the Catala family (the Stake President). We all shared our testimonies about the Savior, and it was a really special experience. We then ate dinner, and his wife is Chinese, so we ate some sushi and some chicken. We then left and went to another dinner in the Villa 1-11-14 and ate some Bolivian soup. It was really really hot... but we were eating soup. It was a pretty fun day.

On Christmas we woke up at 6:30, exercised, I opened my present, we studied, and then we took a 3 hour nap which was quite lovely. We then played futbol for awhile and I talked to the family. It took awhile to get to where I could actually talk to you, but in the end it was a lot of fun, and especially fun to talk to little Josie who can now talk! 

Ana was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. She was really happy, and her family felt the spirit very strongly being there with her. They are going to get married and baptized as well, I just know it. 

Well, today we had transfers. Elder Long had been in Chacabuco for 3 transfers and I had only been there 1 so we all figured Elder Long would be transferred. He took pictures with everyone and said goodbye to everyone. Then President Ayre called me at about 5:30 yesterday afternoon. "Hey Elder Garrett, how are you?" "Fine thanks, you?" "I'm doing great. Hey, I've got a proposition for you. I know you've only been in Chacabuco for 1 transfer, but I'd like to know if you are willing to go to Zárate with Elder Fabila as a Zone Leader. Are you okay with that?" Wasn't really expecting that call. I had a little bit of time to say goodbye to some people... but seeing as I was only there 6 weeks, not many people were very sad because no one knew me very well. 

Now I'm starting a new adventure in Zárate. The Zárate Zone is bigger than the rest of the mission combined. It is a lot of campo. It's really far away from the rest of the mission. I'm really excited to be here and to have a new experience. My companion, Elder Fabila, is 20 and from Uruguay. He is really cool and is going to play soccer for BYU after his mission. He said he needs to practice in the mornings, so he agreed to teach me how to play... because... well... I don't play very well. I'm really excited for this new adventure.

Have a great week! Que la fuerza les acompañe!

Love,

Elder John William Garrett