Well, I did get transferred but I didn't go very far. I was serving in
Beira 1 and now I am in Beira 2. However, next transfer I
won't have to worry about being District leader or in the Branch Presidency or training. I did, however, get turned into the new Zone Leader though, so I'll still have something else to worry about. Ha… I was way surprised about it. Not something I was expecting. Before transfers, I knew it was an option. Then at about 9:45am on Saturday I was setting up for the baptism, getting ready for transfer meeting, and getting excited to go to Maputo, when my phone rings and I look down and see that Pres. Packard is calling me. He never calls. Ever. So I pick up the phone and there he is asking me if I was worthy to receive a new assignment... So by that point, I knew exactly what was coming. So he asked if I was willing to be the Zone Leader up here and so I
accepted. So ya, that’s the new news with me. I'm pretty excited. I'll learn a lot and grow, I'm sure. Zone Leader does come with
its perks however. For example, we'll have a car, which is actually a
blessing and a curse. Plus, we get dinners from the Senior Couples
and the most exciting perk, is that we get to fly down to Maputo once a
transfer to have a special Zone Leaders Council. We only have 4 Zone
Leaders and 2 are already in Maputo so I guess it’s not that big of a
deal, but you still feel pretty executive, getting on a plane in a suit
to go to a meeting. It’s what dad does every week, but it’s new for us... Ha. So ya. I'm excited about the new assignment. My new companion will be the existing zone leader. His name is Elder Fiallo and he is from Brazil. He's a super good missionary and I'm excited to serve with him. He's got 5 more transfers left and to be honest, he'll probably go AP in 2 transfers and spend his last 3 as AP. So I think I'll be in Beira for a little while longer. I was pretty excited to got to Maputo but staying to be ZL in Beira was a good substitute. All the transfers
happen on Thurs. morning, however I'll be transferred tonight, because
our zone leader is leaving on a plane to go to Maputo tonight. So after
P-Day I'll be the new ZL. It ought to be an experience. I'll be
handing over The Branch Presidency and District Leader Position to
Elder Connell, who's been in the district with me ever since I got
here. He's a very good, capable missionary and so I have no problems
handing it over to him. I spent Sat. with him in Presidency Meeting
and Branch Council, then all day Sunday I trained him and got him up to
speed on the Branch Presidency. I think things will go well.
Yesterday (Connell's first day on the job...) we had 2 women in the
Presidency Office arguing over a rental bill that apparently someone
didn't pay. It almost came to blows too. Hopefully things will work out. I've got a new respect for bishop’s and the work that they do. Transfer meeting was crazy. Almost my entire group went
senior. There's one kid who is still a junior out of the 11 of us. I
feel kind of bad for him, he's a good missionary too. Who knows? A lot of weird stuff happened this transfer. Two kids from my group are
training this transfer, Elder Bell and Tarwater and then Elder Nagao went DL and Smoot continues as Branch President. It’s way weird to see all of us taking these leadership roles. It seems like we just left
the MTC. Super hard to believe.
Sounds like you guys had a blast on that Backpack trip. That is one
thing I miss. Andrew’s pack looked a little familiar, with things
strapped on the outside and what not. Looked like a beautiful trip. I love the ocean out here, but I miss the mountains. It'll be fun to see them again. The trip sounds fine. Just plan it and let me know. I'm down for whatever. Well, that’s the big news this week. I'll write you next week and let you know how the whole ZL thing is going.

Elder Okazaki

Ps. I still have my camera and it’s all good. We just have to send pics
from the couples computers because of the viruses on these public
computers... so it’s a little hard... sorry. Nice pics Andrew... Will is tall!