I Will Go and Do : Week 45: Another Transfer in Warwick!

First things first, Elder Phillipsen and I got transfer texts on Friday . . . and we found out that . . . we will both be staying in Warwick for another transfer together! That will make 4 transfers in Warwick and 3 transfers with Elder Phillipsen. We are both very excited to be together, we both agree that if we had to be with any of our companions for this long we are glad it is with each other. We had a great week and we got to go on two exchanges this week!

Last Monday for P-Day, we had a zone P-Day on the beach at Newport. We played beach volleyball and soccer. Afterwards, Elder Phillipsen and I got to go on an exchange with the Newport Elders. I spent all of Tuesday with Elder Larsen in Warwick. We had a pretty great and exhausting day. This was my second exchange with Elder Larsen since I have been here. He is a great missionary and we worked really hard. We walked about 13 miles and biked 4 miles throughout the day. We were able to introduce the commandments to Sam and Leon and we taught them the ten commandments using this fun sign game. We finished off our exchange with tacos! At the end of the day, we met in Narragansett and exchanged with the Narragansett Elders.

So on Wednesday, I spent the day in Narragansett with Elder Weber from Idaho Falls. Elder Weber is a very obedient missionary and we were able to do a great deal of work in an area that can be slow at times. We were able to pick up 4 solid potential investigators and I got to meet Johnson, one of their investigators. Johnson is so, so, so, awesome. He is 20 years old and is originally from Sierra Leon. He was adopted when he was young and grew up in Rhode Island. He lived in Kentucky for a while and there he met some sister missionaries. They taught him a lot and he really wanted to get baptized but he moved. After he came back to Rhode Island, he couldn't find the missionaries and then the Elders in Narragansett randomly started tracting his street! He said he had been praying and fasting that he would be able to find the missionaries. He is such a great kid. He lives in a very sketchy house and his whole family is into bad stuff. He loves God and wants to be as good as he can so all he does every single day is play basketball, read the Book of Mormon, and sleep. He has such a great attitude about everything and he is the nicest guy. If only we could all be a little more like Johnson. We taught Johnson about baptism and then we played basketball with him, #ProsBall. I had a great exchange with Elder Weber and I am so proud of my district and how diligent all the Elders are.

Sam and Leon are doing amazing and we are so excited for them. Also BIG NEWS, Saroeuth, their mother, brought her boyfriend to church this week! His name is Joe and he is from Portugal. We gave him a Portuguese Book of Mormon and we are hoping to start teaching him soon! Sam and Leon's baptisms are in 12 days!

Thank you everyone for your support. I am loving my mission and I want to give a special thank you to my amazing mother this Mother's Day week. Mom, thank you so, so, so, much for all that you have done and continue to do for me. I can never repay you for how amazing and loving you have been to me my whole life. I love you so much! Have a great week everyone!

Love,
Elder Gutierrez

P.S. We got our car back on Friday!