Hello Gonzalez Family
I'm the most excited missionary in all the world. I'm now serving back here in the best place on earth, Bloomington Illinois. I'm absolutely thrilled to be here. I love it here. I'm so grateful to be here and be serving with Elder Virgen who was my MTC companion. I'll be serving with him for 6 weeks and then I'll train a new missionary for my last 12 weeks. This place is so special and I was the most excited missionary at transfers and wow I've just been on cloud 9 since I've been here. The word spread throughout the ward the first couple hours that I was here and when I called to bishop the next day after transfers he already knew that I was there and I was shocked and he said that yea the word got out that night over facebook that I was back and I was about in tears yesterday when I was at church talking to the members and the youth that are now getting ready to graduate and head on missions. I love it oh wow what a gift from God to send me here and we are going to just rip this place to pieces. The members and on board with everything that we are trying to do, and with the mountains of faith that I have in this ward things are going to get done.
At transfers I was ready to go where ever and was determined to have a good attitude about the place that the Lord wanted to take me. The first zone that was announced for transfers was the Peoria Zone and when President made it to the Bloomington District he released the district leader(who is still here) and then said " we are finally transferring Elder Berthold out of Bloomington and.... where is Elder Gonzalez(president looking around the chapel from the pulpit), do you want to go back to Bloomington"? I was like well yea of course and he said that's where you're going, and that's when I just lost it and started hugging all the missionaries around me and just was in a stupor I mean just absolutely blown away. On the way back in the car was the new zone leader going to Peoria who is taking the spot that I had and was telling him all about Peoria and also another zone leader who was released from the Des Moines zone and he's now the district leader in Pekin and so president is stacking the Peoria zone because it's been down for awhile with a bunch of pile missionaries who have done nothing, so he's giving this place some new life. I'm the District leader out here and we are going to get things done. I have 6 elders to watch over including myself and soon we'll have sisters in this ward, which will suck because I love this ward and splitting it into 2 areas we will have stay in our areas even when it's in the same ward.
It was really hard to leave Ames. That place is very special to me and Elder Herrin has been a great companion and I will always stay in contact with him. Our Chinese investigators Jin He was baptized on Saturday by Ben Turbes one of our recent converts there so that is really special. Going from Ames to here is a long drive but I was excited to whole way. I have 2 people in Ames that I still need to stay in contact with so that they can go on missions and they will be great missionaries.
This Saturday we are having Elder Anderson of the Council of the 12 come to the mission with L. Whitney Clayton and it's going to be great. I will be listening to the spirit to see what I must do the rest of my mission and for the rest of my life. I'm different because of Christ, I'm different because of where I've served, I'm different because of the trials which I've gone through and have gotten back up from. This mission experience can be summed up in one word... Discipleship. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. Never again can I go back to who I was. Never again can I say the things that I used to say or think the way I used to think. I'm changed from the inside out. "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh" Ezekiel 36:26
These last 4 months will be hard but I will give it everything because that's what I've been called to do.
We are having a special Stake Conference here and will have Elder L. Whitney Clayton come to that and speak so I'm super excited for that on Sunday. I really wonder what will happen to the mission and to attitude of the members concerning missionary work.
I love you all and want you all to know that I'm praying for you and that I love all your letters.
Elder Gonzalez Bloomington Illinois
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