2/12/2024

DOWNTOWN BABY!!!!

That's right! I am now in the McGregor ward in downtown Houston. The ward is technically split up into 2 areas. I am in McGregor B which is the south side. If you look up Sunnyside Houston that's where it is. But yes I can go to downtown.

It has been a crazy week and there was a lot that has happened so buckle up and hopefully you like reading.

Monday

Before I even got transfer news. The district did a final Nerf War. I was dual wielding Nerf Guns so I was a deadly opponent. After that we went to a members house and did play some D&D. They were at lvl 9 so they made my character lvl 9 too. I was a super overpowered cleric who absolutely obliterated a lich. I will for sure play some D&D after the mission with some of my buddies. That was one of my favorite P-Days.

Tuesday

The day I got my transfer news. But a lot happened before the news in the evening. It was super nice outside so Elder Eberle and I decided to make it a bike day. We just went around and did some knocking and visiting people we previously met with. It was hot but not too bad. Its not bad until summer. One of the Sisters had this prolonged headache so she asked if we could give her a blessing so we did that. After we went to the Pauls for dinner and had a great time. The kids are still super fun. After getting home, Elder Eberle got his transfer news to the Baybrook/Friendswood area. After that it was either I stay and get someone else or move and they white wash the area. After about 15 minutes of not knowing my news, I got the email. The first thing I saw was McGregor! I instantly knew it was downtown and that they white washed Jones Creek/ Pecan Grove! Soon we learned that they pink washed it meaning, Sisters would be replacing us. It was a wild night. McGregor is also a bike area so I can now use my bike more!

Wednesday

We spent basically all day packing and making sure the apartment was Sister tidy. They specifically asked us to do that. In the evening we went and visited the ward missionary leaders. We went to Brother Balisis first. We went through everything with him and got him up to date with it all. After that we went to the church for the youth activity but ended up getting a referral that took most of our time there. He lived by Brother Jensen who we were just getting ready to go visit. He said that we could just drop a Book of Mormon off at his house. When we got there, he pulled up and we got to meet him in person which was really cool. Hopefully something comes of it with the new Sisters in the area. Then we visited with the Jensens. I had both Brother Balisi and Jensen sign my transfer journal and it was a sad time to leave. We got a group picture which I should probably try to get for my pictures. Then we left.

Thursday

TRANSFER DAY!!!

Well it was interesting getting here. Elder Eberle and I took a good amount of the morning just getting the rest of our things ready and put in the car. It is really amazing that we were able to get all of our stuff in the car. I took a whole deck of Uno cards and put them everywhere in the apartment for the Sisters to find for the next few weeks. Then we opened every door in the apartment except of course the sliding door, microwave and fridge. I probably should have gotten a picture or video. It was really fun though. 

 Once we got to the mission office it took a bit for the day to get going. My new companion Elder Lund is District Leader. I am once again DISTRICT MONKEY!!! I don’t think I will ever get away from it. In the McGregor area there are also 2 other Elders moving into the area, my MTC companion Elder Child and Elder Biggs. The car was already filled with their stuff so my stuff was supposed to go into the Sisters car but they left early so that couldn’t happen. We put all my stuff in a big pile inside the Mission Office and drove the 45 minutes to the area, dropped their stuff off, and went back the 45 minutes to pick-up my stuff, and drive all the way back 45 more minutes. There wasn’t much time left in the day after that. The rest of the night we just unpacked my stuff. 

WOW what a day!

Friday

Here we go. It was a busy day. There was a lot of people we tried to visit. The weird thing about this area is there are mostly really old small houses and then all around in seemingly random lots of land, there are brand new 3 story town homes that are just 3 in a row. There are also a lot of Baptist churches. It is like the only other church I see in this area. It is truly the absolute opposite of Jones Creek. After riding around all day trying to visit people we went to the church. On Friday nights they have basketball night. It is something simple that we can invite anyone to and also invite members. It is a good way to have people get into the church and meet members. I instead just played the piano in the chapel because the divider for the gym and chapel was open so I just went in there to practice. 

Saturday

Probably my most busy day by far. We started by biking to the church to clean it. I literally vacuumed half the church. It is a smaller building though. After we quickly got ready for the day and went out to visit a guy who said we could come back before noon for Saturday. When we got their the police also showed up. The guy we were meeting up with was having beef with his neighbor about their dogs and I guess some threats were made so we just sat by waiting for our chance to share our message with the guy. It was interesting. After that the day truly began.

 We went to try and visit a referral. When we got to the house there was just a lady sitting on the porch. She said she was the aunt of the person we were trying to meet. Then a guy came out and was saying he didn’t care who we were and to get off his property. Then the lady told him why we were there and he invited us back over. He was super drunk but he became less crazy. He was not very happy with the door which kept blowing open. It was funny. Later we visited a lady who is on date for Baptism. She is super solid and Elder Lund is going to try and get me in white for that so that is cool. We were just trying to visit some other people and some kids invited us to play basketball so we played 3 games against them. It was a fun game. After they just asked who we were and why we were out there. We told them a bit about our purpose and had a great interaction. 

 On one street we were riding down a random dog came out of nowhere and started chasing us. I just saw Elder Lund start to ride faster and then I saw the dog. It was super fast but I was able to out ride it. Now I can check that off and say I was chased by a dog. One of the last visits of the night was with a recent convert family. They let us in and we shared a nice message. When the father came home he offered to drive us to our next destination so we accepted. We went to the member Lorenzo. Lorenzo is an awesome member. He served his mission in Mexico City and has some awesome stories to tell. He also can cook really well and made his Lorenzo Design Mexican Burgers. It was super good. After we just rode back to the apartment and took in the view of downtown Houston.

Sunday

Well my first Sunday here in the McGregor ward was great! Someone Elder Lund met before I got here came to church by riding his bike. It was super cool. There are always new people coming to church over here. The guy that came really enjoyed Sacrament Meeting and also Sunday School. He was contributing and sharing thoughts during the lesson. Super cool guy. Later on we did a bit of finding and met 2 people to go back to. One of them just came from Louisiana and doesn’t have a church here yet so that's epic. We also visited a progressing person and got to know them better. This area truly is built different. 

Well that is the week. The McGregor area has a lot to offer. It will take some getting used to especially after the suburbs of Jones Creek. I am excited to be here. I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I did typing it. Have a great day and be safe out there. It is a crazy world. 

Also special shout out to my Sister Emily and my Grandpa who have had their Birthdays!!!