Well this letter has some good news and some bad news. I will start with the bad. Last week as we were traveling to our district meeting I got a phone call from the assistants telling me i had special changes and that i had to be in Cuernavaca with my bags packed and ready to leave early the next morning. I was pretty shocked and bummed. After almost 7 months being in Tepoztlan I was being tranferred 3 weeks earlier than I anticipated. The worst part was that we got home from disrict meeting at 10 just enough time to pack and go to bed. So, I didnt get the opportunity to see or write the members or investigators from Tepoztlan. It was also very hard to leave my comp Elder Bangerter because I didnt get the chance to finish training him. So we arrived at the bus station and I found out that I had been assigned to serve in the state of Guerrero in Iguala, ward Tamarindos. I am now serving with Elder Pearson who was in the MTC with me. We got here on Tuesday to open the area and we were very warmly welcomed. It is CRAZY hot here, I think we are always in the 90s. It is completely different from Tepoztlán, a lot dirtier and smells bad but so far I love it!! The ward is amazing here!!! The first few days were a little tough, missing Tepoztlan and battling the heat but we are starting to get on a roll. We are actually very blessed because their is a young man in the ward, David, that is sending in his mission papers soon. He isnt going to school and isnt working either so he is basically our third companion. He is helping us get to know the area because it is also very big like Tepoz. He is super funny and knows some english which makes things fun. Elder Pearson is the MAN. He is from Richfield, Utah and is a super great singer and amazing missionay We became friends in the MTC and while traveling to Mexico and now we are companions! Pretty fun stuff!! What makes it even better is that we are opening the area so the members are so excited to finally have missionaries and to start sharing the Gospel with their friends again. They meet in the stake center here so it is really nice to have a chapel to meet in! We started our time here visiting the members and offering our services to them. We made a ton of great first impressions and won the confidence of the members quickly. On Sunday, we made little cards and passed them out to the members asking them for their address, name, telephone, and to mark the options that they can support and help the missionary work. The members responded well and now we have many of them so excited to share the Gospel with their friends. We also had the opportunity to speak on Sunday and I think our talks really inspired the members. We also taught the Gospel Principles class to an investigator and a couple less active members and our friend, David, helped us out with that. So it was a great Sunday and we already know a lot of the members! There are around 80 members that go to church and a ton less actives. There are a few really strong families that are very kind and helpful as well. The member support here is incredible and I can tell they really love the missionaries here. So even though it has been crazy hard to leave so many loved ones in Tepoztlan, Elder Pearson and I are loving the area here in Tamarindos and we are going to do some great things together for this area with the help of the Lord. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we share is for all people in all places. I know that as we love the people, we will not have any fear to be bold and to invite people to come unto Christ. Love you all lots!!! Have a fantastic week!
Elder Stutz
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