Elder Ethan Orchard: New Area

Hey Everybody!

This week has been interesting, there have been a lot of changes! First of all, I got transferred to a new area. I left Herriman after being there for four months and took my talents to the city of Alpine. I spent most of Monday night and Tuesday packing my stuff up and trying to say goodbye to people in Herriman. Unfortunately I wasn't able to catch everyone I wanted to, but maybe I'll be able to go back sometime, and if not, there is always after my mission! The transfers happened Wednesday morning, and I began the next phase of my mission. My new companion is Elder Yoshida. He is from Tokyo, Japan. He's 27 and a convert to the church, so he's got a really strong testimony. He also really likes Michael Jackson. He really just likes music in general, but Michael is definitely his favorite.

We spent a good part of Wednesday through today just trying to get me introduced to the new area. It's a beautiful area, we are way up in a cove sort of, so there are mountains pretty much surrounding us. It's awesome! I still don't know hardly anyone in the area, but I still have at least six more weeks to figure it out. I've already met several people that have connections to back home, which is crazy to think about. The world is already a small place, and the church just makes it smaller!

We were only able to do a little bit of service. We helped put up some retaining wall bricks for a lady. They were these brick mold pieces made by one of our ward members that works at The Home Depot. They had put an earlier model up a few years ago, but they were falling apart and didn't look all that great. The replacements look really good though! We also helped a family move in to their new home in our area.

Well, that's about all I have this week. We're trying to build up the area right now, so there isn't a whole lot going on yet, but hopefully we'll be able to find some more work! I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Orchard