Zoo-Lander

August 26, 2013

What´s up! To be honest this week has been really slow. We've been doing a lot of contacting and there has been quite a bit of rain which means a lot of mosquitos. There was a house with literally hundreds of mosquitos at the front door. It freaked us out so we ran away. 

Barranquilla

Elders Bossel, Palmer & Nug

Baptism of Sisters Lopez & Gomez

We spent most of the time contacting / talking with everyone.  We found a lot of people with very strange beliefs, kinda frustrated me, but we did have some really great lessons too. We have 5 people with a baptismal date in September and we´re working hard with them so that they can be all prepped and ready. 

Easy Tiger!

Elders Bastos, Bossel and Nug

Last Pday we went to the zoo and it was alright. It´s not really that big and all the animals were just sleeping in the shade because it was so hot. So kind of a let down, but we did take some sweet pics riding a tiger! 

Also, we had lunch this week with a member who lives in an apartment that is a high rise,  so I took a picture of part of Barranquilla from the apartment view . Not very much to report this week. I'm sorry this letter is lame. Hopefully this week will be a little more exciting. 

Today we´re going to eat burritos and sleep maybe. Love you all! Abrazos y besos!

Shawarma!

August 19, 2013

Elder Molina and I

What is up!! To be honest, this week has been super long. We got shut down hard core. Kinda rejected everywhere we went by everyone we talked to, but we did find one new guy Ricardo! He`s great! He has studied a lot about other religions and that kinda stuff, but has never felt like the other churches gave him clear answers when he has had questions. We answered a lot of the questions that he had and told him about the Book of Mormon. I think we did a pretty good job answering his questions because we`re going to teach him again on Thursday.

The rest of the week was unsuccessful in finding new people to teach. We walked a lot a lot a lot and the worst part was that it rained this week so we had to wait inside of different places or just get drenched. The main problem with the rain is that the street turn into rivers, arroyos, and it`s basically like a flash flood. The other day a car got taken away in one, so they can be really dangerous.

Blister after using my shoes for the first time

We did have some good lessons this week. We were talking with a kinda less active member, she has been having some problems with her testimony. We just explained to her the importance of the Book of Mormon and that she can pray to receive a confirmation that it`s true. After we spoke, she was crying a little bit and told us that she knew the gospel was true and is going to come back to the church!

Zona Paraiso & Lucero with El Presidente!

We also have been teaching the 4 girls from the previous week (Luisa, Laura, Ana, and Adriana.) They are really great because they read the Book of Mormon and complete the commitments that we give them. Adriana went to another city to visit her family, but the other 3 came to church and really liked it! So they are doing really well and if they keep progressing they`ll get baptized in September!!

Also, a fun highlight from this week is that I ate a Shawarma. Yes, a Shawarma. Do you remember at the end of Avengers when Tony Stark says that he wants to eat a Shawarma? Well, I ate one and it`s actually pretty good!

That`s it for my week! Love you all! Abrazos y Besos!

Shawarma

Great but Tough Week

August 12, 2013

What`s up!! This week has been both wonderful and awful. 

Me, Soraya, & Elder Bastos.

It started out good last monday night when we had family night with a  guy in our ward and he invited some people in his family to join us that aren`t members. They have gone to church a lot and have been familiar with the church for over 20 years, but have never been baptized. So now we`re teaching them! 

Baptism Group!

Elder Tocamo (in white) Soraya, my comp and me.

Also,from another less active family we found 4 new people to teach. These 4 are girls are here attending the university, but are living with the family. They are really interested and want to learn more, it`s awesome! 

We had a zone meeting where I received some letters and 2 packages! One package with my new Tevas and one package from Sheridan! Thanks! I love American candy!! Also, we had a baptism this Saturday! It was awesome! Another Elder, Elder Tocamo, who started teaching Soraya came to baptize her. He was extremely happy too! 

Ready to play!

The Team!

The bad part of the week was that we didn`t teach a lot of lessons. Literally almost every lesson that we had planned, fell through. We spent soooo much time contacting, knocking doors, talking with people in the streets, but literally no one wanted to listen to us. Kinda bummed us out, but finding the new people to teach and the baptism boosted us up a little bit. 

Thanks' Nielsen's Frozen Custard!!

Today for P-day we`re going to go print pics and buy stuff at PRICESMART!!! Tomorrow we have a zone conference with the president, so the whole day we`ll be chilling in some nice AC! Well, that`s it for this week.... 

My Journal.

Oh, also I finished my journal! I started July 25th 2012 and ended August 11th 2013. I`ve written in it everyday and included pictures too! It`s super legit. Be proud of me. Thank you Nielsens for giving me that journal! It`s been put to good use! 

Love you all! Abrazos y Besos!

Transfer Time - New Companion - Elder Bastos from Brasil!

August 5, 2013

Me & Elder Davidson

What´s up!! This week has been super crazy. Last pday Elder Davidson and I went to a little street fair to buy some small souvenirs (Something might be headed your way). It was really cool there. We bought a couple of things, a mask and a poncho. 

Me and Elder Ramirez (from Chile) before Transfers.

On Tuesday we had our last district meeting, after which we went out working with the new missionaries, as in brand new first-day in Barranquilla. I went out with another American. He didn´t know a lot of Spanish, very little (kinda like when I got here) so I had do the talking almost all of the time. We just talked a lot about the mission and what will help him out here. 

Paraiso District - District! Hermana Alves, Toscano, Lopez, and Gomez

Elder Me, Ramirez, Palmer, and Bossel

Then, later that night we got transfers! I´m still here in Paraiso but my comp,Elder Ramirez, was transferred. My new comp is Elder Bastos! He is from Brazil, 20 years old and has 7 months in the mission. He´s a good Elder and likes to work. 

So we´ve been working hard out here until it rained last Thursday. It was awful, we even tried using the pity technique (stand out in the rain and contact) because usually people feel badly and then let us in. But that didn't work and no one wanted to talk to us! 

This week has been a little rough, but on Friday we had an intercambio and I got to work with Elder Palmer (from my group) because he needed to have the baptismal interview with Soraya and she passed!! Her baptism this Saturday!!! Super excited! 

Cool street art.

This week should be great. Everything is going well. We're just working hard out here to find new people to teach. It´s been kinda difficult these last couple weeks, but I know we´ll have results!! 

I love you all! Abrazos y besos!!

One Year Anniversary - WOW!!!

July 29, 2013

Hey!! How`s it going!! I CAN`T BELIEVE I WENT INTO THE MTC A YEAR AGO! I`m having a mid-mission crisis! I don`t feel like I should only have a year to go. I still feel like I`m just starting, and now I`m old in the mission! I`m dying! Everything is just crashing down now. 

So that`s where I`m at right now. Our week was normal, just a lot of contacting and trying to find new people. We`re prepping an investigator Soraya for the 10. She couldn`t come to church yesterday because she had to go take a test so that she can become a teacher. She really wants to be baptized and promised that she is going to come to church next week. 

I can`t believe this cambio is almost over! It has passed by so quickly and now we`re all freaking out about who is going to get changed. Today is the last pday so we`re going to check out the little market place and walk around. 

Also, I got the package of M&Ms from Grandma and Grandpa!! Thanks soo much! Everyone here loves chocolate!! This week should be full of surprises! 

Love you all! Sorry this letter is short. Literally nothing much has happened this week. Just completing my first year. 

I`m happy with what I`ve done during the first year of my mission and want to be better in some other areas and work harder. I feel like my time is so short here. 

Love you ! Abrazos y besos!