Ok so because I only have a week here in my area so far, I'm not sure I can give you quite as much information as you are hoping for. But I'll do my best with the time I have...
Elder Martinez is a boss. The members LOVE him! So as long as I have Elder Martinez, I will be taken care of very well here in Azusa. He is almost done with his mission and has been here in this area for 6 months already. So, it is very likely that he is going to be moved next transfer. Which means that I need to learn this area really quick. It sounded like a daunting task to me(this is one of the biggest Spanish areas geographically in the mission) until I put it into perspective for myself a couple nights ago as I was falling asleep and realized that in other missions around the world, my area is probably comparatively small. But anyways, back to Elder Martinez, he is a convert to the church. And his story of how he got out here on the mission is amazing. It is inspiring to me. His parents, who are not members, told him that he absolutely would not be allowed to go on a mission unless he first finished his 4 year degree. So, a very cool but long story short, He did it! He earned his 4 year degree in a year and a half. And now he is here. Serving a mission. And I'm his companion. Pretty Awesome huh?
The way we do missionary work here in my new area is going to be very very different from how we did it back in Arroyo. Here, because the Spanish speaking population is so much smaller, there are almost no opportunities to contact people on the street. Here, we work nearly 100% through the members. In my week here, we have only had the chance to contact one person through our own person efforts (without the help of a referral from ward members). Working with ward members is something I thought I was getting a pretty good grip on before when I was in Arroyo, but now I'm learning all that I can do to build upon the very small foundation I started when I was in Arroyo. So I've got a TON of learning to do before I lose Elder Martinez here in this area.
Elder Martinez and I talk in Spanish a lot. So that is super helpful for my Spanish. I really enjoy that.
As far as the rest of my new area goes, I'm not sure I'm able to give a full account yet. I was only able to meet one investigator last week. We had a bunch of cancelled appointments. But I got to meet a ton of the ward members. And they are all super awesome. Just wonderfully nice people.
I can understand Portuguese!... Well kinda. It is similar but at the same time sounds so so different from Spanish. I met a member family last night from Brazil. They are awesome. I made a mistake in Spanish and they kindly helped me fix it. Then they told me they are trying to learn Spanish too. At first I didn't believe them. I mean, they had just been talking in perfect Spanish/Spanglish with us for the last 10 min! But then they talked to us for a bit in Portuguese. So that was super fun. But really, I think all they are trying to learn is how to sound more Spanish. Because as far as I can tell, its exactly the same, just a way way different accent. They are awesome!
Well, being in a new area is crazy. I'm so exhausted at the end of the day. Always. I'm learning so much every day.
Conference was amazing. Learned a ton. Loved it. If I had more time, I'd write more.
Don't remember if I already said this, but Elder Ingram is my ZONE LEADER! WOOT WOOT! He is a super star. For real. I got trained by the best missionary in the mission.
Well,
Love you my Family!
Elder Ostler
