Elder Zach Greene: Leaving B-Town!

Hey!

Sorry this letter is coming in a little late, we went to the zoo and we just got back from doing all the other stuff. Also because it's transfers this week, we wanted to know if we were leaving or not before we e-mailed. So turns out I will be leaving B-Town this week. It's hard to hear that you have to leave an area where you've grown so close to everything, the people, the places, the food, the companion, etc. But I'm ready for new things and I know that I'll be able to grow more If I leave. So yeah don't send anything to my Linwood address this week. I'll let you know where I'm at next week.

I'll start off by saying that I'm offended that Mom thinks I don't know who Imagine Dragons are! Though I have lost much of my musical knowledge, I still remember a lot, hahah. I also got your letter and your package, thanks so much! Jared, nice job getting kicked out of the dance again! Sometimes Elder Martinez reminds me of Jared/Taggert. He loves talking like an Asian, he has this no worry attitude, and he can't stop making noise whether it's singing, whistling, beating something with his hands, etc. Oh and yes I understood Tyler's letter, Mom, haha. Thanks for the insight Tyler, it really did change how I thought about missionary work and the Plan of Salvation. Also, I'm stoked you used "chevere" because I think that's one of my favorite Spanish words.

Well one crazy thing that happened this week was we had a homicidal shooting in the neighborhood, and by neighborhood I mean our directly across the street neighbors! There were a lot of police, and detectives even knocked on our door to see if we knew anything. But yeah there were helicopters flying around and all kinds of police cars.

So this week was pretty cool. I went on exchanges with Elder Mardock and we weren't having much success towards the end of the night, so much so that we ran out of contacts on the plans for the day. So I said, Let's go see if Melvin is home. Melvin was my first investigator ever, we couldn't find him much eventually so we had to drop him. But we went and it turns out that he moved to Seattle. Jose, another investigator we taught, was there though. We talked to him and it was honestly such a bizzare experience. I remember Jose being real hard to understand but going back two months later I understand him perfectly haha. It really tripped me out. I didn't realize that my Spanish was progressing until it already had! Nevertheless, my Spanish got put to the test yesterday! 15 minutes before church started Presidente Diaz asked if I could teach the Young Men because they requested me. (actually that was in English cause they are all in public schools) It went good, but then 10 minutes before sacrament, Felix asks if I can give a 10-15 minute talk, hahah. I said of course and started thinking of what I could share. I ended up talking about attitude and how if we think more of others we're going to be more happy. But all in all, Heavenly Father has blessed me a ton with Spanish.

We are still working with our investigator, Luz. She is an amazing person who just fits right in in our little branch. We went and taught her more about the Book of Mormon this week and it was such a sweet lesson because she really wants to know more. She's been praying with Juan and reading at night as well. She says she can feel her life changing and I just was amazed at how you can see it. She just looks different and though she still has a lot more to learn, she's happy. And it's just the coolest feeling in the world to see someone's life start to change like that. I'm sad I won't be able to work with her anymore but I know the next Elder that comes is the one who will help her more.

The zoo was pretty funny today. Everyone either thinks you work there or wants to know who you are. Also tons of people said "Hey Elders!" which was fun. (We don't get a whole lot of that in the city).

Thanks for everything! I'll let you know where I'm going when I can, probably a week from today. Love you guys, have a good week.

-Elder Greene