Elder Varvel is in the mission field! His first area is Abilene. That is on the Eastern side of his mission, so it's pretty and green. His whole mission is in the Bible belt of the US, but Abilene is the Bible belt buckle. There are more different churches in this city than in any other city in the world! Sawyer said, "Everyone is very nice! The people here really do have southern hospitality!"
His new companions are Elder Martin and Elder Chapman. He said they are great! They are the Abilene zone leaders. He says there are a few things that come from being with the zone leaders:
1. You get excellent training.
2. You stay really busy.
3. He's currently in an English area. His companions have meetings a lot, and when they do he goes with the Spanish Elders, so he still gets to practice his Spanish.
He attends the Spanish Branch along with the ward he is assigned to. He said, "The members here are awesome! Everyone knows the missionaries and everyone is super involved with the church! And they make FANTASTIC food! The Spanish Branch is a small, tight knit group, and I just love them! They have a pot luck after church every Sunday.....be jealous, because THEY CAN COOK!"
He seems to be having a great time! I'm happy to know that he's being trained well, fed well, and taken care of :)! I sent him a letter with a gazillion questions. I'll have more info when I get his response back from that one.
