Week 53 & 54

 Weee'rree haaaalfwaay theeeeeeree.......

That's right! On January 29th 2020, I stepped foot into the MTC, and thus my first year in the mission has been complete! And boyyy has this past year as a missionary been wild; it's been a long year, yet has just flown by! 

So Elder Bowles' birthday was on January 28th, and when I found out a few weeks ago that his birthday would be this transfer, I knew I had to do something for him. After cleaning out our apartment, I came across four bags of birthday balloons... how convenient! So during the course of the transfer, I would blow up a couple of balloons and toss them behind our couch every time Elder Bowles went to the bathroom. The morning of his birthday, while he was in the bathroom, I took the 100-some balloons out and piled them outside his door. When he came out, he was like "Whaaaaaaaaaaa" and I was like "Yeeeeeeaaaaaaa"....... and then we had a bunch of balloons all over the floor for the next week. 

So one of the people we're teaching, Luz, is sooo awesome! Normally our lessons go pretty long cause she tells us a bunch of stories about trails she's faced and miracles she's seen. We had extended a baptismal invitation, and although she doesn't see how ready she is, she declined cause she wants to know everything before getting baptized. We feel that there might be deeper reasons, so we're going to have to investigate a little more 🕵️‍♂️🕵️‍♂️

So I've had to reflect a bunch on my mission to see what I've done and what I've accomplished. Even with all the craziness and changes this past year, I have seen a lot of spiritual growth in myself. I have seen how unpleasant of a person I used to be and still can be sometimes, and I have grown a testimony of change. I'm grateful for repentance and for Jesus Christ who has given all of us the opportunity to change and be forgiven of our mistakes. 

If any of you have been keeping track, I have already had a total of thirteen companions so far on my mission! And I've learned so much from each of them about how to be a better missionary, but really a better person overall, and I've seen myself change a bunch! I'm thankful for them and really everyone I've served around for shaping me to who I am today. I still got a lot more to change and a lot more to grow, which is why I'm excited for another year of all this! 

I love you all! Qué tengamos otro año tan especial como éste! 

(Weeks consisting of 1/26/21 - 2/1/21 and 2/2/21 - 2/8/21) 

Elder Terry 

Fotos:

1-2) Chillin' in the B-day balloons

3) Played some Top Golf on p-day with the district, and man it feels good to get some thiccc contact with a driver

4) The B-day boy, Elder Bowles, and the jello and cake that a person that we're teaching, Luz, gave us 🎂

5) 1 year in the mission gang

6) Got some Chick-fil-A to celebrate my year mark

7) Made some homemade corn dogs with the boys for Elder Bowles B-day

8) Flannel gang

9) We helped pass out these boxes of leftover mint cookies from Christmas to some of the less actives in the ward!

10) One of the greenies in our district randomly sent me this cursed image of a hot dog... you're welcome

11) One of the Peruvian members in our ward bought some food from a Peruvian restaurant, and if the food in Perú is just fried chicken and fries, I think I'll just have to live in Perú forever