Elder Corey Dobbs: Big Changes

Hey everyone! So first things first, we got transfer calls two days ago, and a lot is changing. To add context, there are about 40 missionaries who are ending their mission tomorrow and going home, and we're getting about 20 new ones. On Saturday morning, President Pack called and asked me to serve as zone leader up north in Valladolid. Then later that night, we found out that my companion is leaving the area too (he's going to a city called Cuenca), and they're closing down our companionship in San Sebastián de los Reyes. Instead of 7 missionaries, there will only be 5, which I think will be better for the ward. They'll be able to get to know the missionaries better. A lot of companionships got closed down around the mission, and a lot of zone leaders are finishing their mission tomorrow, so they're really scraping the bottom of the barrel by calling me. It'll be different, but I'm excited to try it out. Even better is that Oviedo is in the same zone as Valladolid, so I'll be seeing Elder Allan real soon.
This last week has flown by. We saw a cool miracle at the beginning of the week that actually had to do with the ward helping someone. I'm going to skip out on the whole story because it's long, but basically, last Tuesday morning, the 2 of us had two big service items to do. A family needed help moving a couch and a couple beds from one piso to another about 1/2 km away, and another member had called us and said they wanted us to come with them to the hospital to give a blessing to a guy who had been in a serious car accident, and also introduce the family to the missionaries. We couldn't do both at the same time, and the office elders had to organize transfers, but the Elders Quorum came in clutch and organized for us to go on splits, and got a few people to help with the move, and also another member knew a guy with a cheap van that was rented, and helped a lot. All of this was organized in the space of 45 minutes on Monday night, but it was cool to see the ward work so effectively to help out.
I loved our last lesson with Felipe and Isabel, the Dominican-Spanish family we've been teaching. We had gotten a copy of The Family: A Proclamation to the World from the mission office and we brought it over for them to hang it on their wall. Originally we were going to teach about the Plan of Salvation, but on the way over there, I had the thought that we should just talk about families. I mentioned it to Elder McBride and he agreed with me. We read The Family: A Proclamation together, then testified of the blessings that come from having a family centered on God's teachings. As we were talking, I thought back to my family and everything I had learned and experienced growing up and I was so happy for their 3 kids, and everything that was waiting for them as their family started going to church and learning together. I'm sad that we don´t get to keep helping them, but they'll be just fine with the office Elders.
Even though I just had one transfer in San Sebastian, I know that this is what the Lord wants for me. I definitely learned a lot from being a district leader there and from getting to know all the missionaries in my district. I also feel like the area will be doing really well now. I'm glad that I got to be there for these past 6 weeks, and I hope I helped at least some of the people there. I'm excited to go up to Valladolid and be in another old Spanish city.
Que paseis muy bien la semana! Have a great week!
-Elder Dobbs