Beautiful Buda

I'm leaving!! We received our transfer calls last night and I will be transferred out of the St. Cloud Ward :( But... I will be senior companion! And get this... Elder Berntson is training!!! So, while I am very sad that I was only able to have one transfer with Elder Berntson (we were having such a blast), I am very excited to go have another "Young Guns" transfer with another missionary. Basically, I'm just kinda switching places, instead of being the young Young Gun, I will now be the old Young Gun. Haha, but I am so thankful for this past transfer that I was able to have here with Elder Berntson. We grew immensely! We grew not only physically (with our Perfect Pushups and Perfect Pullups, ha), but spiritually and mentally especially. I feel so much more prepared and know a whole lot more about what it takes to be an effective missionary. I do hope to work with Elder Berntson later down the road, but boy I will always remember this transfer that I had with him and the fun that we had together. So... this Thursday I will receive my new companion and will go to my new area.

Greetings from Buda, Texas! Where the heck is that you might say? Well, It's an amazing teeny little place just south of the city of Austin. Right above the city of Kyle and just west of Bastrop. So...'Beautiful Buda' as it is called, is just an awesome area. It is so sweet, we cover a teeny little portion of South Austin so there are very nice neighborhoods and industrial streets there, and then we travel all the way down to the town of Buda (Buda is pronounced like the word in 'Ferris BUELLER's Day off').

Anyway so, Elder Rudy, my new companion! So I liked your guesses on what my companion would look like, and well...you're way off. He is a short, 5'8 guy who has a very sweet sense of humor, he is a really funny guy! He has just finished up his first 2 transfers here in Buda and has now been out a little over 3 months, cuz he is also an English speaking Elder and he only spent 3 weeks in the MTC. He is a stud! He is from West Jordan, Utah, and is the middle child of 3 boys. He actually took a year and did some school at Snow College prior to the mission, so he is already 20 years old. He is a very hard worker and is very obedient.

He and his last companion really got this area on fire, they just recently had 3 baptisms within the past 2 weeks, and so my first Sunday here, we had two Confirmations for two young guys named Adrian and Reuben. Adrian is 17, Reuben is 15, (their mother is a member) and then the other baptism they had was a kid named Nathaniel, who is only 18. So they like baptizing 'em young here!!! I like it! The ward here is so awesome though, even in just these few days that I have been here, I have come to know a few of the members fairly well, and a load of people came up to me at church and introduced themselves to me and welcomed me into the ward. It was so sweet! Buda is an awesome area, like I said it covers a little bit of the city and then it goes down into the country. It is so awesome though that just the other day, Elder Rudy and I were knocking doors in this super nice ritzy apartment complex... and then 10 minutes later, we were out in the middle of nowhere petting a horse! Haha I love it!

Well, it's been an exciting first few days here in Buda. The nice ritzy apartment complexes are tough work to say the least, but out in the country we have come across some interesting people...and a lot of Spanish! And so, seeing that Elder Rudy doesn't know Spanish, I have had to teach these Spanish lessons on my own! And I'm not really sure what to think about it, because on one hand, it is super exciting having the whole lesson rest on my shoulders, but on the other hand, it just isn't as effective without both of us testifying and teaching. And I also feel super bad about leaving Elder Rudy out of the lesson. He just has to sit there and smile and pretend that he knows what's going on. However, he has learned how to testify a little bit. He is able to say "I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God" and "I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God"! So he always testifies at the end and punches them in the face with the spirit. It's so great, so we'll continue working on it together so that he can testify like a champ by the time our we're finished together.

PS Last night, I hit a landmark... I ate a Habanero chili, the world's 2nd hottest food, next to the Ghost chili (which I don't think are found in Texas). It was insane, it was painful, I was crying my eyes out like a little girl, I was sweating, and it was AWESOME!!! I got a great video of it. True Texas experience. It was like having literal fire in your mouth! haha