3 in 1!

 November 25, 2024  

Good Morning/Afternoon/something my beautiful people! 

It has been a wonderful week out in the ABC islands! Zone Conference was this week and I'm stoked to tell you all about it!

     This transfer we ended up going to Bonaire for our zone conference. It's almost always in Aruba because of all the immigration things going on, but President was able to make it work to get us all to Bonaire for this one! First impression: A lot of Donkeys. Like a LOT. You have to be careful because the donkeys will just step right out into the road and in front of your car. Bonaire is also significantly smaller than the other two, and I absolutely love Bonaire already. Zone conference weekend was spirit-filled and fun.

     To start the weekend we did a proselyting activity where we were making videos for the Light the World campaign and we ended up running into 3 couples who were all on one of the Largest cruise ships I have ever seen. We also got some Gelato, and if you know me, you know that I am a Gelato man, so I was living my best life. From there we had our zone conference and it was incredibly spiritual and overall just a great experience.

     Saturday was incredible as well. We started by doing a sunrise hike to the tallest point in Bonaire, telling stories the whole way through. Next up was Sinter Klaus. My understanding of Sinter Klaus is that it is the original Santa Claus. He comes from Spain with his minions who have been painted black with chimney soot, and if you are a bad kid, they throw you in a potato sack and bring you back to Spain with them. They came in on a ship and ported, then paraded into the town center, where they held somewhat of a concert, but we were off to the fields to play games and eat some lunch.  The end of the day meant a plane with all of the Aruba and Curaçao missionaries on one 16-seater plane, and then we were back! All in about 36 hours! 

     I left this weekend very sunburnt, and very excited for everything to come in this mission. President Van Gils and I have been out for the same amount of time, so it was very fun to talk with him about our adjustment to the mission! This mission has brought so much growth and so many experiences. I have learned so much and it's only been a few months! This week brings transfers, so I'll let yall know what happens next week! I love you all, read the Book of Mormon, I promise it will change your life!

-Elder Aldrich