Zero Sleep and A Dream

Hey friends! Let me tell you a little bit about the absolutely zero hours of normal sleep that I got this week. All starting on Monday night right after I sent my email. From that night straight into novinhos into a sidequest outside of the mission at 1am I finally got to sleep on Friday night. With all that said another crazy transfer week has come and gone and for the third time in a row I loved every second of it.

Very Not P-day 

So today is the first actual p-day that I have had in a minute haha. Last week was wild with transfers, a million deliveries, and novinhos. Right after I sent my email last week we had to figure out the divisões for the people that would train because no one had done that yet. This time was super easy though because I didn’t have to worry about the interior at all. It was super quick. Instead of having to print 7 transfer boards this time I only used one. That's how much easier it was. I love doing those logistics.

After that it was time to send people off to their final dinner with President. Everyone was off and on their way I went back to editing the newsletter and it was a waiting game. Around 10pm everyone was on their way back to the office and we sent off one sister. I got home at 10:45pm, went straight to my room and tried to knock out knowing I'd have to get up early. It took an hour of wrestling myself to sleep but we got there. 

Tuesday was just babysitting and sending people off but we did have three Elders get released in the office. Two of them had their parents there and it's always so cool to get to talk to their parents and interesting to see the mantel missionary work be lifted and replaced with the mantel of life. One of the releases was a little more special. One Elder that was in the office just before me served as the executive secretary and in the same ward I am in now. He had nowhere to go back to as his mission ended so he got his membership records sent to this ward, where he passed half his mission. The Stake President came and released him in person in the office which was already super special but it got even more special. It is tradition to have your mom remove your missionary tag, however he was just staying here so President's wife took his tag off. On top of that, there were 5 or 6 different families that came to support him. It is amazing to see people rally around a missionary who left everything to be a member and serve a mission. That is how the Lord blesses his faithful followers.

Novinhos!

Right after everyone left it was straight into novinhos prep. Tuesday night we made our little assembly line and put together 20 training books to give to them. It's always vibes doing that. I did some fun bargaining with pizzerias until 11pm to order 12 pizzas for the new missionaries, always do the most random things. I finished that, got home and knocked out into Wednesday. That morning was a waiting game because we had no clue what time the novinhos’ suitcases were gonna get there. Of course it was right when we were in the middle of something that they got there but oh well. You know that it was Americans that got here because there were SO MANY suitcases and every single one had matching suitcases. If you haven't caught on we play a lot of waiting games then it turns into hecticness. I waited to get the call from the APs that they were headed into lunch and I sent a bunch of Americans in Ubers to a restaurant. Once that happened I thought I had a chance to eat lunch and I thought wrong. As I started eating I got the call that they were ready to head back. Rip my lunch and now it was actually hecticness. They pulled up and the 24 hours of nonstop work started. I gave a bunch of financial trainings, set up a million bank accounts, told some stories, and I couldn't be happier. Then the pizza got there and everyone was so hyped. For the first time in office history the novinhos got pizza with chocolate crust. You're welcome, that's what happens when you put a Mexican that watches his dad negotiate as your financial secretary (I literally just asked). I wanted them to have a memorable first night. 

Thursday was to wake up and make sure everyone got over to the office just to find out they didn't need to be there. Whoops. Oh well it still worked out. After lunch it was the most adrenaline rush part of the week, sending people to their areas. 19 duplas all leaving at the same time. Me running around with a laptop. My comp leaving me. People asking a million last second questions. My natural habit. I ended it sweating, companion-less, but most importantly satisfied with the day. But Elder Urbano what do you mean companion-less? At one point I was looking for my comp and I couldn't find him then I saw President's car leaving and in the passenger seat… my comp. Bro just left and only came back four hours later. So I was left all by myself to handle the hecticness… oh well.

No Sleep

Just because novinhos went smoothly didn't mean everything was said and done. Unfortunately an Elder had to go home in the middle of all this. I found out Thursday and he needed to be home by Friday. That meant emergency travel itineraries and last minute packing. I sent him and another Elder back to his house to get all his things and he would come back to spend the night with us. After a phone call with our executive secretary and travel company we were able to get his plane ticket and everything was set. His flight out was at 5am and my comp knew him well so we planned on taking him to the airport which meant waking up just before 1am to get to the airport by 2am. As we finished up the day we had to run to the store to do some shopping for a meeting that was going to happen the next day. We had him tag along with us and it was so much fun. When we got back we bought some pizza to have a final dinner with the Elder and snuck in a quick 2 hour nap. 

Making our way to the airport at 1 am was no problem. Zero traffic and no time crunch. We got to the check in line and he was denied boarding. Usually South American countries don't need a passport to get around but since he was going to Panama he needed one but didn't have one. Luckily, I have dealt with an emergency travel case before and the Spirit brought the protocols to memory. Before the lady finished explaining everything I was already on the phone with our emergency travel agency and figuring it out. After about 45 minutes we were able to get him on a later flight that didn't need a passport. We made our 10 minute walk to the other side of the airport, I got him some Starbucks, we checked him into his flight, took a selfie, and he was on his way.

After all the hassle it was already 4am and we were just leaving the airport. We got our Uber and our driver flew home. Made me miss driving so much. We got home and crashed. We got a solid 5 hours of sleep then we had to go do more shopping! When I made it to the office, President looked at me and said, “You woke up?” I laughed and he gave me a hug and then we went into his office so that I could debrief him. I did some normal office work, said bye to a missionary that was headed out with his parents and that is the extent of my memory from this week.

On Top of Everything…

• I saw the APs eating with President in his office and I was like bro I need to ask him something so I went in and ended up sitting down and small talking with them until I remembered that my comp and I were in the middle of something important

• We had a service project on Saturday but the member never showed up

• Saturday night a missionary had to come into the office to get his documents to go home with his parents so we were there helping and they brought us american candy and bought us dinner. 7 different delivery drivers were lined up on the curb they bought so much food it was hilarious.

• I spent all of Sunday editing the Mission Newsletter and it was so so good. I got so many funny videos from people. Including Sister Andrade sent videos of President.

Quote

“Acordou hein” [Presidente, 7/24/2026]

God's Hand

• Being able to get this Elder home safely

• Novinhos day going smoother than any other day

• Last minute lunch with a member on Saturday

• A real p-day 

• A member from Vila Ema (my last zone) visiting for p-day

• A tree outside the office blossoming

• Free dinner Saturday night

• Peace

Spiritual Thought

Towards the end of this week I had this overwhelming feeling of anxiety and I was unable to discover why so, on Sunday, I decided to study the topic peace in the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants. In Alma 38:8, Alma says “And it came to pass that I was three days and three nights in the most bitter pain and anguish of soul; and never, until I did cry out unto the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy, did I receive a remission of my sins. But behold, I did cry unto him and I did find peace to my soul.” It was an excellent reminder to me that in moments of anxiety I don't have to suffer alone and neither do you. As we come unto He brings peace too us. It is that simple. A grande promise.

Okay this week was wild with lots of random things. I hope you enjoyed the stories. I probably forgot things here and there but you get the idea. I miss you all and I hope you are well. Write me! I will try my best to respond quick! Love ya!

Tchau Tchau,

Elder Urbano