Transfer to an Undisclosed Location

Dear family,

        This week has been insane! Elder Bell goes home! His two years are up. I've been to the post office three times because we've had to ship his things home. Yesterday we had two open houses for Elder Bell, one for each ward. Then we slid down the staircase of the Hargis's home on a mattress. The reason why we did that was because Elder Bell promised the Hargis children that he would slide down the stairs on a mattress on his last official day on the mission field. That day was yesterday. He's getting picked up today at 1:00 pm and he goes to the mission field. I have to say that I'm thoroughly depressed that I'm losing my other half/best friend/"stepfather" after having gone through so much with him. I've been with Elder Bell for four months now and he's taught me a lot. This next paragraph is my tribute to him. I would write more but I'm in a state of shock right now and you'll see why in a minute.

        Elder Bell's been the perfect role model of a loving missionary who doesn't focus on the number and instead focuses on the soul. You could tell that he loved you and that he wanted to do everything in his power to show you that he actually cares. That's probably the one thing about Elder Bell that I'll remember the most. He was a loving missionary and in returned he received the love and adoration of everyone in both of our wards and even just the members in our stake. Another thing that I'll remember about Elder Bell is that he was EXTREMELY patient with me. He didn't laugh at me, call me stupid or do anything like that. He was able to get me back on track if I was thinking something stupid or if I said something I shouldn't have. He never got angry with me about anything and he would lovingly correct me if I made a mistake. Elder Bell was also my role model of humility. He never bragged or boasted about anything he did. never. Not once. By everybody's standards (including my own) he was a phenomenal missionary and yet he never let it go to his head. He sered out of a love for the Lord and out of a love for his fellow men. I'll also remember his sense of humor too. Elder Bell is HILARIOUS! I could almost always crack up when he's around. He can make just about anybody laugh. That's just his gift. I've never seen anyone who couldn't laugh when he was around. He even knew how to make jokes in serious situations. I've only heard two people sing about pooping and he's one of them. He usually called people Jews whenever they did something bad and he also knew how to make jokes about gospel-related stuff. 95% of all the jokes are in-context jokes so if you weren't there and aren't a missionary you wouldn't understand. So to sum it up here are the qualities I admire about Elder Bell:

1. His Christ-like ability to love the ever living heck out of anyone
2. His never-ending patience
3. His humility
4. His sense of humor

Now here's where things get more mind-blowing: I'M GETTING TRANSFERRED! Our area's going to get flushed! For those of you who are unfamiliar with the word "flush" it means that when both missionaries get transferred or leave out of the area and there are two new missionaries who take their place. The new missionaries are brand new and don't know anything or anyone.

 I couldn't believe my ears when Elder Bell told me. I thought for sure that I would be staying since Elder Bell's going home but nope God decided to pull a fast one on us and flush our area. I thought the chances would be slim since President Beck doesn't like flushing people but nope I'm leaving as well. I wonder if God doesn't trust me with the responsibility of taking over the area. I probably shouldn't think that since there's a good chance that there must be some more people elsewhere whose lives I need to change that only I could change. I have no idea what's going to happen to me but it's pretty clear that Heavenly Father wants me out of Surprise too. I'm scared for our investigators and for the members. They're going to get slammed BIG TIME! At least the members like me so it would be easier for them emotionally speaking to transition from losing Elder Bell but nope! They're going to have to get used to two brand new missionaries. According to Elder Bell whenever there's a flush some investigators get left behind and others don't get focused on as much because the new missionaries have a different approach than the old ones. I'll have to say my good-byes as well and now I have to pack in addition to Elder Bell.

Like I said before I'm in a state of shock and I feel numb and in disbelief. Nobody else believes it either. Just as the work in our area was picking up God decides to take me out. I was really looking forward to taking over the area and braking in my new companion but I guess I've learned whatever it is I'm supposed to learn. Dang it! I think the irony of all this is that just as I've actually gotten to know and love everyone Heavenly Father decides to rip it all away from me. Oh well. I guess you'll all find out where I'll be in my next e-mail.

Another thing that makes this week uber crazy is that I've been on some kind of split or exchange with Elder Bell for basically the entire week. Here's been the break-down my week:

• Monday: While Elder Bell's at an open house I'm with an RM teaching one of our members with a baptismal date.
• Tuesday: On an official exchange for the day with Elder Freeman. We were on bikes the whole day. The cool thing is that we never got lost and I knew exactly where we were going the whole time! We also got some good work done too.
• Wednesday: Elder Bell's at a leadership meeting so I'm on exchanges with Elder Theva, the Fijian elder, from 9 am - 4 pm. Then at 7 pm we're on splits again.
• Thursday: Elder Bell and Elder Angelos finished the study guide so they went to Peoria and had a personal study with President Beck. We assumed that I would be taking over the area so I had to do weekly planning alone. I stayed with the other missionaries that live with us. The Wickenburg elders came to our apartment and stayed the night with us last night so there were five missionaries in our tiny apartment. I didn't see Elder Bell until district meeting at 1 pm. Then we had one appointment and then we had both of our coordination meetings back-to-back.
• Friday: President Beck called for a last minute specialized training. Half of our mission was at that meeting. Then we had to arrange for the rides of other missionaries which resulted in a last-minute exchange and we didn't have a phone. We spent most of the night at the apartment since Elder Bell had to pack.
• Saturday: Went to the baptism of one of the kids in one of our wards. Went to the post office twice so Elder Bell could send his stuff in packages. Most of this night was spent with Elder Bell packing.

I have a quick question: Do people read these e-mails? I feel like I'm pouring out my heart and soul and I'm not getting any responses back. If you aren't reading these e-mails then what's the point of me spending my time writing these long e-mails? Please pray for me because I'm going through a really rough time right now.

Love,

Elder Boothe


P.S. Sorry for getting mad at the end of my e-mail. You've all done a phenomenal job of loving me and supporting me. I've just been through a lot recently and I'm still in shock. I love you all, I pray for you and I cannot thank you all enough for the amount of love and support you've put in for me everyday.