Week 65 - I'm a Zone Leader in Fort Worth

 Happy Monday! 

Howdy! It seems like lately my emails have been every other week rather than weekly. I'm super sorry that I forget to send my weekly emails out some times, but this time I'll try and catch y'all up. 

About 2 weeks ago I packed up my suitcases and moved out of the Alliance Zone and moved down here to the Fort Worth Zone. It was a sad day leaving all my friends, but I knew an adventure awaits. I went down to Fort Worth and met my new companion Elder Jenkins. He's super fun and laughs at my stupid jokes which is always nice.

Here in Fort Worth I'm a Zone Leader, which means I'm in charge of about 26 missionaries in the heart of Fort Worth. These past couple weeks have been super busy with meetings and office visits and a few exchanges. We give a lot of training and let all our missionaries known about any updates with COVID and mission rules.

We are teaching a few people here, and they're super fun to get to know and share the gospel with. There's a young kid who's about 17 who is dating a girl who is a member of the church, and he's starting to take the missionary lessons. It's fun because it reminds me of my parents and their story of how they were dating in high school and my Dad wasn't a member of the church. I just remembered all about his Journey and conversion and I thought it was so cool to see kind of what the beginning of a similar story is like in real life. 

We did some service this week. I don't do as much service here because I'm so busy, but we had a good time. We helped out at a Buddhist Temple and did some light work, like pour cement and digging trenches. It was pretty fun. I enjoy doing that kind of labor, because at the end you feel like you got a good workout in and you feel accomplished.

I love sending emails, mostly for the spiritual part of it. Yesterday in Church I gave a talk about Joy. It was so fun because it was only a few days after Christmas, and we serve in a Young Single Adult ward, so there were only 16 people at church including me and my companion. It was fun speaking to that small of a group because it reminded me of going to church in Kosovo and Tonga where the congregations are smaller. In the talk I gave I used an Ensign article by David A. Bednar from December 2019 called Jesus Christ: The Source of Enduring Joy. Within it, Elder Bednar Talks about joy; what it is, how we can obtain it, and how Jesus Christ is the source of joy. One of my favorite parts is this: 

Because of Heavenly Father’s plan and the Savior’s Atonement, challenges and afflictions invite us to lift up our eyes (see Isaiah 40:26; Psalm 123:1–2) to Jesus Christ, the true source of joy. The precious perspective provided by the restored gospel allows us to learn lessons that prepare us for eternity through the adversities of mortality. Our suffering and misfortunes can be “swallowed up in the joy of Christ” (Alma 31:38) and consecrated for our gain (see 2 Nephi 2:2), “that [our] performance may be for the welfare of [our] soul” (2 Nephi 32:9). Thus joy endures in times and through experiences that are both good and bad because of our knowledge of the Father’s plan and of the Savior’s Atonement. 

I have felt true Joy in my life, and it all comes from Christ. My Joy comes from living His gospel and loving my family. That's one of the reasons I'm out here on my mission - to help people find lasting joy the the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I want to invite you to read this article about joy and see what new things you can learn about it. 

Christmas was super fun and I can't wait for Christmas 2021 in Ireland! :) 

Anyways I hope you have a splendid week and a happy new year. I love y'all lots and I know you will do great things this week.

Love,
Elder Delgado