Well sadly, the dynamic duo are done with their cambio together. Elder Gibson is off to new things and new places, and has left Zach with more confidence than he has ever had. He also left him with a companion who is from Chile and only speaks Spanish. So surprise, surprise, Zach is going to be forced to speak a whole lot more Spanish than he has been. He has had the convenience of having roommates who are from the states and speak English. So this will be kind of fun! He is nervous, but also is excited to face this new challenge of interacting with an all Spanish speaking Elder.
Elder Van Pelt and Elder Gibson have been working so hard in this area, and they have lots of work to be done to finish things up, so Zach is hopeful his new companion will be willing to work hard and finish things up. They actually have a baptism set for February 6th for a guy named Pipe. He showed up to church for the first time in a basketball jersey and basketball shoes, (hey, if women can wear pant's to church, anything is possible right?) this last week he showed up in a shirt and tie, however, and was talking about being excited for his baptism.
In his letter, Zach explained that the biggest thing he has learned on his mission thus far, is to truly love. Our soon to be brother-in-law, Chan, put it perfectly a few weeks ago, that being on a mission is the closest you will ever feel to how Christ felt during his ministry. Just love for everyone. Zach for instance said that some missionaries seem to fall into a pattern, which seems to be pretty easy because you are doing the same thing everyday on such a tight schedule. He said that he has tried to break out of that pattern. Instead of walking up to investigators and doing his scripted "Hi I am a missionary, would you like to hear my message...", he tries to relate to them. He will walk up, tell a joke and talk to them. I think that is a great way to show love to others.We, as members, don't need to focus on hammering principles into peoples minds to get them to come to the gospel. We can show love, and care for them. That will go a long way! Zach has seen a lot of success with just taking a moment and getting to know people, it has opened up people to him in many ways.
Anyways, the letter wasn't very long this week, but it was full of great content! Hope you all have a wonderful week, and remember to love EVERYONE! Just like Zachy :)
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