Week 49...7/13/15...BACK TO MALACATAN BABY!!!! ELDER TUMBACO, Carlos, Marlin, Julisa and Lucia, Noelia

UWHOOOHOOO!!!! IM BACK IN ZONE MALACATAN! I'm pumped!  I love this Zone! My first area, San Pablo, is like 20 minutes away from my new area, Libertad 1! So that's awesome!  All of the missionaries are new except for Elder Kanahele who got moved back here to be our Zone Leader. But I better give you all an update about how crazy this week was. I'll start with Tuesday... Here we go. . .

Tuesday: So we got up and headed to the reunion de Districto and we have had the meeting and during the meeting, they told us that the changes wouldn't be in till 2:00 pm. So we ran to eat lunch and then came back to watch the presentation of the changes.

Guamex. The place we always used to eat in Reu. 

That’s a torta that we always ordered. It's soooo good! 

The red furry ball is called Rambutan it’s a fruit that’s super good! But looks crazy! The inside is like a peeled grape and it's got a seed in the middle. 

Me, Elder Dial, and Elder Hill all had changes and we're leaving all of our comps to defend the areas for themselves. I was kinda sad to leave my area because this Saturday they had 4 baptisms Carlos, Marlin, Julisa, and Lucia all got baptized! They're the daughters and son-in-law of Hna Gloria and next week we have a family of 4 lined up to get baptized too but I won't be able to be there for it. I love all the people in El Codo, and I'm unfortunate to be leaving Elder Lagos, I love that kid. But anyways after the district meeting, we took off to get home and say goodbye to everyone. We got home on a bus late so we had to get off at La Colonia and walk with all of our clean clothes to say goodbye to everyone.

That picture is the last photo of me and my comp Elder Lagos at the change meeting.

Then we walked the 3 miles home to eat dinner and say goodbye to the rest of the people we could. We got home and I started to pack. I'm such a slow packer! I had just so much stuff to do and
I didn't get to bed till like 3... 

Wednesday: We were up at 5 and on the bus and in Reu at like 7am. We got breakfast and then we headed to the changes meeting. They did them a little differently this time. Basically, I got sent to Libertad 1, Zona Malacatan to be the District Leader there.  I'm feeling like I've got a lot to learn, which is true.   The thing is,  I don't have very much time to learn it because I feel like all I do is run, run, run. We got to our house and then left to work on Wednesday and when we got back I realized how filthy it was. It's probably because there's a huge hole in the middle of it where the member we're living with keeps a garden of types. So I cleaned everything up a bit and then we headed to unpack and I got to bed late again.

Thursday:  I've never been so tired. I'm absolutely exhausted but we went to the Zone Meeting and I got to meet the district.  It's crazy being back in Malacatan.  Everything is super familiar!  I've seen a ton of familiar faces and even a few have recognized me as ELDER PUG-Mago. (mago means magician in Spanish). 

Friday:  We just worked all day, but in the morning I was super pumped because our area has a gym close, so we are going to be going there in the morning every day! OH ALSO, THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE BIRTHDAY PACKAGE MOM! It was perfect. The last Sunday in El Codo we were cleaning out the Capilla and stumbled upon like 8 old Conference Report Ensigns! I was super excited to read them but I had changes and felt like I should leave them there. But cabal, in the packages, was a huge list of conference talks! I'm so excited to read them! The only thing is there is not any time at all! Right now as a mission we're trying to read the Book of Mormon in a month so any free time I have, I spend reading the Book of Mormon. It's been amazing and I've learned so much from it!

Saturday: WE HAD A BAPTISM! The Elders here have been teaching a girl named Noelia. She made the decision to be baptized and my comp insisted that I be the one to perform the baptism. OH... MY NEW COMP IS AWESOME! His name is Elder Tumbaco! He's from Ecuador and he's a great teacher! I'm so pumped to get to work with him here!

Sunday: The church was great and we had a few investigators come. It was awesome to see all of the members I had met on divisions a few months ago. Also Elder Garcia, a missionary who just finished his mission stopped by our ward with his family to say goodbye to everyone. Then we jumped in a Tuc Tuc and I realized that it was one of the TUC TUC drivers we always would ride within San Pablo! It was soo cool that our paths crossed again. I invited him to church and then we headed out on our way. He always would charge us fairly and more than once saved our lives when we were coming home late from playing soccer, somehow he'd be there to give us a ride even though it was so late.

Monday: We played volleyball as a Zone and it was a blast!  

It's crazy how time goes! But I'm pumped to be able to serve here in my new area! Hope all is well! Love and miss you all!

PS. This is probably the reason I got changed out of El Codo. I've gotten sick a ton there, I got Chickunguya which is a mosquito illness, I had a 104 fever, and it's a disease that actually attacks all of the past injuries which is why it is such a terrible disease for the elderly. It really affects the joints and such. But my wounds from my stitches got enflamed as well as my ankles from when I sprained them in lacrosse. Also from the heat, I've had some really bad rashes from sweating constantly. It spread from my legs onto my arms and I've got little red dots all over my arms. We thought they could have been bed bugs but I went to Xela to a skin doctor and he said it was just heat rash and I needed to get to colder weather. So I'm really sad to go leave El Codo, but I'm hoping that I can not be super itchy all the time. 

Love,

Elder Pugmire