NEW AREA AND NEW COMPANION!

 Hey everybody!

Sorry it has been a while. It feels like I haven't written a letter in such a long time. It's been about 2 and a half weeks- ish and so much has happened! So I finally got transferred out of Marquez! Marquez had some amazing members that I loved dearly and I will miss them a lot, and a lot of good, funny, and special memories were made in Marquez. For new years we ate with some members, then we didn't do a whole lot at night, though we did watch a lot of fireworks and listen to a bunch of fun music (thank you neighbors). A missionary also finished his mission in Marquez, Elder Cruz. Although he wasn't my comp, he still lived in our house so I can technically say I "killed him" haha. He gave me a cool Mexican tie and a big keyboard as gifts to me, which was very kind, although I'm not quite sure what to do with the keyboard because it's broken and doesn't turn on. But I'll see what I can do with it. Transfers came and I said goodbye to my comp Elder Gonzalez, and he also gave me (another) cool tie. I got transferred to an área called Cortazar! It's a little town just southwest of Celaya, and we're the only missionaries here, so we have a big area. I got my first American comp, Elder Nilsen!!!! I was super stoked to be working with him, and I still am. Right off the start, I've been learning things every day. He's helped me a ton on how to plan and find people better. And we've been working really hard! By far the hardest working missionary I've had on my mission so far, which is good because I've been wanting someone who I could really pick up the pace with and walk and find and teach and, well, be a missionary. We both have good habits in our daily schedule and study sessions which I've been loving. So, it's been a big blessing having Elder Nilsen as my new comp. Here are some pics of the things we've seen while just walking around. So far in our transfer we've had 3 baptisms, and this week we should have 6 more. If everything goes well this month, we should be getting somewhere around 11 baptisms. So we are super pumped. Like I said, I've learned a lot of things in this new area, even in these 2 weeks. One of these made my view on missionary work a little bit easier. As missionaries, we don't have to prepare people to hear the gospel. Sure, it's awesome to share the gospel whether people are ready or not, but all the real "preparing" is being done by God. Sometimes we get confused as missionaries that we need to keep teaching and teaching the same person, even though they might not want to change anything about their habits or lifestyle. But God is who really prepares people to hear the message, not us. Our job is to find people, then teach. Not prepare. And actually, preparing people is probably the harder part of the job. So thank goodness that God's doing it. And there's no harm in sharing a message about the gospel with someone who rejects it immediately after. That could be a seed that'll grow within them, and God will take the harder part of preparing them for missionaries later down the road. Another thing I learned is that I can talk Spanish really well! I don't remember getting many good compliments back in Marquez, but here I get them a lot more lol. One member said that my spanish sounds like I'm from the street haha! In lessons, I can really feel the spirit and I can just open my mouth and speak and teach without even thinking at all. But then in normal conversation I kinda forget words here and there haha. It's truly amazing and I can see the Lord work through us. Thank you for all the prayers and I truly love you all. We're working really hard and it's awesome seeing the success we're getting. I encourage you guys to try and share your testimonies more, even if it's in a sacrament meeting. That is something that nobody can dispute or argue. It comes from the heart. The people who have the most faith are oftentimes the people who have the most questions and doubts but keep pushing forward and keep believing. That's all for now, I love you guys!

Elder Chamberlain