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Dear Family,

There have been changes this week. Unexpectedly, Elder Rocca was transferred to another zone last week. We thought that if there were transfers for us that I'd be leaving, but things have taken an unexpected spin. My new companion is a brand new missionary (yes, I'm training again!) named Elder Butterfield. He comes from Herriman, Utah. He's working on his Spanish still, and it's coming along. I'm happy to help. We're trying to talk in Spanish all the time so that he gets used to hearing and understanding it.

Uplifted by the renewed zeal that stems from a new missionary, we've been working our tails off this week. We don't get any breaks. Furthermore, I'm district leader again, but this time in charge of 5 other companionships. It's a monstruous responsibility. I've already spent 20 soles on phone cards this week and I've only got 4 soles left. I need to learn to talk faster. My companion is willing to let me dish off some responsibilities onto him, so that's helping a lot. I'm in charge of all the missionaries in the Esperanza Stake. It's madness but I love it. We've got a great group of missionaries.

Internet time has been cut down again - we're blessed with 30 minutes now. I kinda wish I had been given those sort of restraints back when I was a teenager and tended to overuse the computer. My words per minute are now through the roof.

This week we found several new investigators. Several of them have been prepared to receive us. Elder Butterfield said there's just not enough time to do all the things we want to. I'm glad he's off to a good start. We're working on our planning in order to get the most out of our time. I wish I could tell you about all the people we're teaching. One is the Florian Family. Diana and Arnold are teenagers who are fairly interested - and their aunt Mary and their half brother Joe. Mary has a little granddaughter, Tiffany, who is 6 years old. She plays volleyball and has questions that adults should ask. She told us in the last appointment that she isn't sure if God exists, and she doesn't know what to believe in. She pleaded with her mom to take her to church and not to her volleyball championship game yesterday. I think they had time for both, but they still came to church. Wonderful.

Well, time is running out. I'm happy and healthy. The pills and the pain killer goo that the doctor gave me worked like a prayer. The only thing afflicting me now is that there's so much to do that it's a bit stressful. But I like working under pressure - when more is expected of me, I do more and waste less time. I love the work! Time is running out a little too fast.

Love,
Elder Withers