Hermana Eliason: The Best Weekend Ever!

Me and my new companion, Hermana Mora

On Monday, I said goodbye to Hermana Perez and took the bus with other missionaries to San Luis Potosi (3 hours). When I arrived I was warmly welcomed by my new companion, Hermana Mora! She is just so great and I love working with her. She comes from a family of 4 in Ecuador and is 22 years old. After we arrived, I unpacked and got settled in our house. I really like our home, because we have a small garden in our front patio (including a lemon tree!) Everything is great!

The scenery on the way to San Luis! It was so pretty

Then on Tuesday, I got to know the area and some investigators in the morning / afternoon. We had a very powerful lesson with an investigator named Marta. We watched the video called "Finding Faith in Christ" and the Spirit was felt so strong in her sewing shop. She said she'd accompany us this Sunday in one of the General Conference sessions - which I am super excited about and encourage everyone to watch :) Then in the evening, we boarded another bus to return to Aguascalientes. As Sister Training Leaders (STL) we have special reunions with the Mission President and the other STL's and Zone Leaders the first Wednesday of every month. But since the reunion is at 9am in Aguascalientes, it is necessary that we travel the day before, and then spend the night in a big house of the mission with the other STL's from the other 2 zones in San Luis & Zacatecas. It kinda felt like a big sleep over :) We arrived at the "Colinas house" with 8 other STL's and ate dinner together. It is so exciting to hear how the other sister missionaries are doing.

Eating with all the other Sister Training Leaders

So on Wednesday, we all gathered from 9am - 2:30pm with the Mission President to receive instruction. It was incredible and I learned a ton! I left feeling super spiritually uplifted and motivated. I loved the meeting and all the other leaders. And after lunch with everyone, we took photos and headed back to San Luis. On the bus ride I enjoyed the beautiful scenery and practiced hymns in English with Hermana Mora - she loves to sing.

Thursday flew by! We planned our talks for the zone meeting with the other missionaries on Friday - I was super nervous. And our lessons went well in the evening. It is an exciting challenge to learn a new area and new people. So many names and streets to remember, but I like it :)

Here we are with Hermana Crosby and Hermana Branaley
(the two american sisters I arrived with)

Friday was the zone meeting and it was fantastic! The zone leaders (Elder Turgenien & Elder Fuentes) and Hermana Mora and I each talked for 30 minutes about our assigned topics. I spoke about the importance of using our time wisely. I learned a lot from preparing my talk and am so grateful for this time to serve those in this zone as the Sister Training Leader with Hermana Mora. I learned the names of the new missionaries and got to see some familiar faces of missionaries I know from other areas I've served in! My talk went well and Hermana Mora said the Spirit was strong, and my Spanish was great :) I know the Lord is helping me every step of the way.

In the evening we visited the church building to wish a little girl & her brother a Happy Birthday. They were celebrating with music and food, and there were a ton of people that showed up. We ended up contacting a bunch of non-member friends and neighbors who had shown up and received a lot of references! It was actually really fun going table to table and talking with everyone about the gospel. We made several appointments and invited all to the conference this weekend and our church services on regular Sundays :)

Hermana Mora and I with the Spider Man from the birthday
party where we contacted a ton of people

So basically - BEST WEEKEND EVER! I LOVED Saturday and Sunday because of General Conference. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2014/10?cid=HPSA100414463&lang=eng The talks were so inspiring and spiritual and just what I needed to hear. I hope everyone got to listen :) We had 6 investigators attend on Sunday! It was so awesome. This week we committed 3 investigators to a baptism date and contacted like crazy! Our area is small (and half of it is Tangamanga Park) but there are a lot of houses. San Luis Potosi is different than my other area in Aguascalientes. Some observations:
* the taxi's here are green instead of red - so that keeps throwing me off when we're looking for a taxi :)
* it is way more expensive here! I used to buy bread for 3 pesos and here it's 6 (the double!)
* it's a lot cooler here. I have started to use my light sweaters and am no longer worried about sun burns.
* I'm working in neighborhoods with houses, not in sectors with apartment-style living.
* It is cleaner here - less trash in the streets and less stray dogs roaming around.

Fun facts about my area:
* there is a train that runs through the center of town. So I can always tell where I am based on the train tracks.
* There are also lots of mini parks for little kids and lots of green. There are more trees and plants and vine covered walls :)

All in all, San Luis is beautiful. I love my new area, my new companion, and all the new people I am meeting. I have a firm testimony that this is the true church and we can all encounter the peace that comes from knowing about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the plan that our Heavenly Father has for each of His children. I am proud to be a missionary and have the privilege to invite others to come unto Christ. I love you all and keep you in my prayers, always. Hope you have an outstanding week!

Love always,

Hermana Eliason

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