Elder Kimball Neilson: AstraZeneca

¿Qué Onda?

This week started off with Interviews with President Lyman on Wednesday. It was great to get counsel from him about the work, and how to help our investigators here in Milpa Alta.

Thursday afternoon we made it up to San Salvador for my first time. It is a pueblito that is up at 9,000 ft over in the San Pablo Branch. We had an in person lesson with an investigator scheduled, so after 2 month of being here we finally had a reason to take the hour long bus ride up all the way up there. It is really high up in the mountains and gives you a great view of the rest of the city from just its main street. The only sad part was that our investigator cancelled on us, so we had to just take a bus back.

Friday the entire mission went to get the Covid booster shot, and Elder Mangus and I had Exchanges with the APs (Elder Perry and Elder Erickson). As we had to be at the La Noria chapel at 5:30 am, and Milpa Alta is an hour alway, the Zone leaders invited us to sleep at their house, which is only 30 minutes aways. We still had to get up at 4:00am on friday, so it wasn't like we got a full night's sleep that we otherwise would not have gotten. After meeting the rest of the Zone at La Noria we took the bus up to Coyaocán. There we met the rest of the mission along with the entire South-east mission and North-west mission. As a group of around 300 missionaries we all walked over to the Naval Academy to get the booster. They had the Navel band playing at a band stand right next to the underground parking lot where we got vaccinated which I thought was cool. President Lyman had told us that we were going to get Moderna, but in the line right before we got it it turned out they had switched it to AstraZeneca. We were a little worried but President said that that is what he got so not to worry. After that while walking out of the parking garage, the music the band was playing was a little more upbeat. To me it sounded like victory! After that we all walked back to our buses, took a mission picture, and left back to our zones.

However as Elder Mangus and I were having Exchanges with the APs I went with Elder Perry back to the AP´s area Pedregal. The exchange was great, I had a great time working with Eler Perry, but after lunch the vaccine really started to hit us. It started out as just a little ache but it got progressively worse until my entire upper body was dead along with burning up. Elder Perry was hit but we pushed through and taught every lesson that didn't fall. WE went to bed at 9:30, but both couldn't sleep and woke up repeatedly over the next 5 hours. Finally around 2 am we took some Advil and were able to sleep until morning. Saturday morning Elder Perry and I felt much better. It was truly an unforgettable exchange!

I returned to Milpa Alta Saturday, and Elder Mangus and I went up to San Salvador for a family home evening with some members. Their teenage granddaughter Hannia isn't baptised and has decided to start attending church again, and wants to be baptised! Which is awesome! We had our first lesson with her Monday morning, and it went great, she is really receptive and open to learn.

That was about it week,

Elder Neilson