Puchica!

Dear Family,
Holy cow! What a crazy week! So like I told you, my companion Elder Morris finished his mission this week and flew home Friday morning. It was an early release because of school starting today, and transfer meeting isn't until tomorrow. So I've been companion-less for the past few days. I live with two English elders who have helped me, and the members have too, so I've always been with someone but it's definitely not the same. In some ways it's liberating not to have a companion, because whatever I do in my area is up to me. But mostly I'm realizing what a blessing it is to have someone at your side who can help you out with the so many things we have to do for our area and ward and zone. It's crazy. But it's been a good learning experience.
So speaking of experiences, we've had a few crazy ones this week. Starting this out I'm not sure how many I can squeeze in with the time I have, so if you want to know about all my stories you'll have to write me a letter and ask :) Friday afternoon I was with a priest in my English ward and we were driving to see a potential when we started approaching the house of a former investigator (that I hadn't met yet) and I told the priest to pull over so we could visit her. When we knocked the door the 13yr old son answered and said, "My mom's a little jumpy right now but I'll go get her." Moments later she came to the door balling and crying like crazy. Whoa! "Eve what happened?" Then she started to unravel some issues with her 17-yr-old son that she had JUST found out about. We went in, comforted her, shared a scripture and prayed. But before the prayer, in walks the 17-yr-old....it was intense. The mom said that this is the second time the Mormon church has reached out to her in the exact moment that she needed it. It was really a miracle that we had stopped by and it was a new experience for me to learn how to deal with a situation like that. They committed to coming to church and want to start taking the lessons. We're supposed to be having an FHE with them tonight.
Another cool short story was Saturday morning when I was with an English elder. We went to visit a referral, but it was like the 4th attempt and so far no one has yet to answer. So I decided to knock the Hispanic house two doors down, hoping that they might know eachother and could help us out. Turns out that the neighbor is a former investigator from so far back that we don't have her record, but she still reads in the Book of Mormon, has been to church and the temple grounds before, and is willing to have us come back. It was a crazy encounter that I know God lead us to have.
Thanks for everything, family. I gotta go. Have a great week!

Elder Gathro