Intercambio

October 14, 2013

What`s up! This week has been pretty crazy! On Tuesday I had an intercambio with the zone leaders so I went into Cartagena to work. Within that intercambio, I had another with Elder Fitzgerald (I lived with him in Alpes, my first house) because there was a baptismal interview. It was really fun to go out and work with him and see how much we have progressed with the language and teaching. 

That day it also rained a lot so it was super humid and I sweat a lot :( We had a group planning sesh on Thursday so we all met up. While we were there, the assistant, Elder Schwab, arrived. He is now working in my old area of Modelo and told me that Ana and Luisa got baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I`m sooo happy! Also Adriana and Laura are getting ready to be baptized too!!! Super awesome news!! 

Also on Friday we had interviews with the president and we had to go to the church in Los Alpes. As always the interviews were running late, but after we finished Elder Schwab told us the they were heading out to Turbaco (my areaa) and could probably take us. SO ...we got to go in the president`s car. It was fantastic! I felt like I was back home for a brief moment with the AC. 

 Even more crazy was when we arrived in Turbaco because as we were driving down the streets everyone started screaming, freaking out, and running in the streets....The soccer game against Chile had just ended in a tie. That means that Colombia is going to World Cup!! So literally everyone went insane, got on motorcycles and paraded through the city screaming, honking horns, and making a lot of noise. 

We were going to leave to work, but then the power went out.... in all of Turbaco. Which meant that everyone was even crazier, so we hurried back to the house to wait out the night. Pretty nuts! I took a video and I`ll try to send it to you next week. 

That`s it for this week, we didn`t have that great of lessons with people. We could never find anyone in their houses, so we contacted a lot a lot. 

I love you all! Abrazos y besos!

Futbol - Finally!

October 7, 2013

Hey what´s up! This week has been kinda slow, especially with conference. We had arranged for 5 people come and watch Conference, but we just waited there and no one came....bummer...but the conference was great Saturday! We didn´t have any problems with the connection. I really liked the talk from Elder Soares, and the others that spoke about self improvement / Auto discipline. 

Sunday, however was a little different. Literally right when the conference was about to begin, the laptop died. Someone didn´t connect the charger and a bunch of people started running to get it set up again. Another 20 minutes later the laptop died again, then the connection kept dropping.  We weren't able to hear an entire talk, which was a huge bummer. 

Flooded streets

That is crazy and awesome that Kurt Crandall got his mission call here!! That´s so sweet! I can´t wait to see him! 

This week we had a really good lesson with Luicel. She´s great! We were talking about the Book of Mormon and how she had felt about it. She was telling us that she would feel kinda stressed, but would open up the Book of Mormon and find something that was just ´meant for her,´ then she would pray and ask God for help. It was so awesome to hear her tell us about that. Also, in that lesson we had a member with us (new convert) and they were able to talk more to Luicel and share about the whole conversion process! 

Group pic after playing soccer!!!! Left to right top: Elder Carmona, Anderson, Fitzgerald, Centon, Herrick, Anderson. Bottom: Escobar, Mañuico, Gallardo, Me

This week we also had the best zone conference ever! RULE CHANGES!!!!! We can now leave with the cell phones, so we don´t have to spend money making calls. We can now write at the same time, so we don´t have to waist soo much time at the internet! 

Me once we finally got on the bus after all the rain and taxi

AND... WE CAN PLAY SOCCER!!!!! For now it is only with the zone leaders... but it´s awesome!! I´m sooo pumped to play! Those changes are super epic here and everyone is extremely happy. Today we played soccer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Soooooo awesome!!! Just a great time! Even though I am out of shape, I loved it. Elder Mañuico and I had the most beautiful combo goal. It needs to be on Sports Center. 

Cool Estatue here

It was all great until the ball popped. We had to borrow one from some kids that were watching us. Then it started to rain super hard so we had to leave and no one wanted to take us in their taxi because we were soaking wet. After a long time finally someone had mercy and let us in, but it was almost impossible to drive because all the streets were super flooded. 

Me eating chicken at a restaurant, Cali Brasas

All in all it was a fantastic day! My legs are just shot right now and I´m pretty sure I won´t be able to walk tomorrow, but playing SOCCER was amazing!! 

So that´s it for this week! Love you all! Abrazos y besos!

Eloisa!

September 30, 2013

Hey! How`s it going! This week has been pretty great! Actually it didn't start out too well because last Monday we ate chicken for lunch and when we left to start working, I wasn`t feeling very well. We came back home and I threw up a lot.  But other than that the week was great! 



We had an intercambio on Tuesday and I got to know the area of Turbaco a little bit better. The only problem was that I had to sleep in Elder Anderson`s bed, which is super small, so sleeping was awful. It has also been raining a lot here. A lot, a lot, like the heavens opening up and bringing the rain kind of rain. One nice thing with the rain is that the temp drops so it`s not so terribly hot. 


We had an awesome experience with one of our investigators, Eloisa. She has been kinda iffy on whether she was going to get baptized on Saturday. We talked with her for quite a while on Friday. We all met at the church for the lesson so we went all out. We wore suits, we had the bishop there, the zone leaders and the baptismal font right next to us. But even after all of that she still wouldn`t commit. We were a little frustrated because she seemed really ready to be baptized. 

Every companionship had a baptism

Later in the afternoon we stopped by Eloisa's house to talk with her a little bit more. After talking a while, we ended with the decision that she was going attend to a baptism that night (Friday), watch it, and depending on what happened and how she felt she would tell us if she was going to be baptized on Saturday. So we went, and Eloisa was there also. 


 During the service she didn`t look super amazed, but after it ended we went to ask her how she was feeling. To our surprise she just asked us what time the baptismal service was Saturday and what did she need to bring for her baptism!! I just started geeking out...we were all soo happy! 

Elder Anderson and I

Saturday, Eloisa and two other investigators (from the other missionaries) were baptized! Eloisa chose me to baptize her. That was another great experience to be in the water again. It was just amazing to see how God answered her and that she was able to make the decision to be baptized! I`m so happy that I was able to be part of the process too. 

Also, the zone has been doing great and we completed our goal for baptisms! We`re going to be having a zone pday... Which means we might be playing soccer!!! Finally! We also completed our district goal, so we are going to watch a Disney movie! Dance Dance Dance Awe$ome! 

This week has been pretty exciting, a lot of baptisms and a lot of work. Today(p-day)  we went to Cartagena, McDonalds and a little mall in the Castellana (where I always went when I was in Alpes). We just walked around, printed off pictures, and chilled. It was nice to just relax. This week we should be having zone conference so I will hopefully be getting mail. 

I`m also getting excited for General Conference! That`s about it for this week! Thanks for all the support! Love you all! 

Abrazos y besos!

Holy Hills!

September 23, 2013

Hey! What´s up? This week has been alright. We´ve spent a lot of time contacting and walking. Our area is pretty big and there is a part that has a ton of hills so I feel like I´m going to die at the end of the day, but it´s great here. The people are really receptive here (better than my last area in Barranquilla) so I´m happy to be out here. 

This week no one came to church, which was a bummer, but I saw Carlos at church!!! Carlos Leon is the kid that I helped baptize a year ago!! It was so awesome to see him. He was visiting for the weekend, and when I saw him I freaked out and kept telling my comp that I knew him. It made me really happy to find out that he is still active in the church and that his family is also still active. 

We don´t have a ton of investigators in our area so we´ve been spending a lot of time knocking doors and talking with people in the street. My comp is kinda shy / lacks the confidence to talk to the people so I have to do a lot of the talking. We´ve had some really good lessons this week too. 

And I wonder why the power always goes out when it rains?!

One lesson that was just super awesome was with a lady named Luicel. She came to church last week, but only stayed for 2 hours, so we didn´t have time to ask her how it went. We stopped by her house to visit her and while we were talking to her she told us that while she was at the church she ´felt something´, something that she didn´t think that she would feel (The spirit). We talked with her more about that / it being an answer that the church was true and she told us she thinks that it´s true also. Luicel now has a baptismal date for October and she is very excited to go back to church and to keep learning more. We´re really happy about her progress!

We might have a baptism this Saturday too for Eloisa. She isn´t sure because she still lives with her parents and she is kinda scared to talk to them about baptism. We´ll find out tonight if it is going to happen. So fingers crossed. 

That´s pretty much all for this week. Not a ton happened and this week....  we´ll just be hitting it hard contacting. 

Love you all! Abrazos y besos!

New Area, New Comp - Turbaco, Colombia!!!

September 17, 2013

What`s up everyone! I got transferred!! I`m back in Cartagena, but in a town about 30 minutes outside of the main city. The town I`m in is called Turbaco (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbaco). I came here before for an activity and I hated it, but now I'm actually working out here and I love it.

My new comp is Elder Centon, he is from Peru and has 6 months in the mission. He is pretty new so he doesn`t know all that much about teaching and stuff, but I`m going to work hard with him so he can be awesome.

My Old Modelo Distrito
Sisters Alves, Toscano, Lopez, Gomez, Matarrita, and Vera.  Up top:  Elders Bastos, Palmer, Bossel and Me

The house we are in is super big! It has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a big entry room so I finally have plenty of space to organize my things. Also Elder Anderson (from Utah) is my district leader and we`re in the same ward so that`s great. The other Elder Anderson (from Arizona) is the zone leader.

The Awesome Shower Head in my bathroom.

The area that we have is really big and has a lot of hills so I`m beat at the end of the day. The people here are great. They don`t have a ton of money and they are more accepting of the gospel. We have some really great investigators, two of them are probably getting baptized the 28th of this month. One lady Eloisa, she`s a single mom, and loves learning about the and likes the church a lot.

There is a dog that just chills outside our house, I call him Javier.

We are also teaching a kid, Juan David, he`s only 15 but just amazing. He already considers himself a member of the church and is super excited for his baptism. He understands everything that we teach him and remembers it all too.

The only problem that we have in the area is finding houses. Here in Cartagena they don`t use addresses so it`s almost impossible to find where people live. I`m excited to be out here and pumped to get working. I love the people in this area and know that we can have a lot of success. I love you all!

Abrazos y besos!

Last Week in Barrio Paraiso in Barranquilla?

September 9, 2013

What`s up!! This week has been kinda crazy. Maybe I explained a little poorly last week, because it wasn`t last week that we had transfers, it`s this week. I already know that I`m leaving the area here. 

The bishop accidently said that we were going to only have 6 missionaries in the ward and then later the first counselor came up to us and took his `last picture` with us. 

Both Elder Bastos and I are leaving, but we don`t know where to. Tomorrow night they are going to tell us. It`s a weird feeling, because I keep thinking `ya...I`m leaving`. I`m kinda bummed because now we won`t be here for the baptisms of the investigators, but I`m glad that Elder Molina and Elder Schwab (the AP`s) will be taking over. They`re good missionaries. 

Friday was GAMEDAY and it was madness!!! The Colombian people live for soccer. When there is a game people shut down stores, don`t work, and cancel classes just to watch the game. Also this Friday we had an intercambio and I went to the area of Elder Bossel to work with him. 

Everything went well until after lunch. We left work, and it started raining, then about a minute later it was straight up gale force winds, huricane rain, lighting cracking across the sky, and thunder so loud I thought the sky was going to break. It was soooo intense! Wetried to take shelter in front of an apartment building, but the wind was so strong that it blew the rain and we still got soaked. It was such a crazy storm! Rivers in the streets, cars got taken away, and trees fell over. We stayed in front of the apartment building for about two hours until it settled down. 

This week we`ve had some good lessons. We`ve been preparing Luisa, Laura, Adriana and Ana for baptism. They are great and always have a ton of questions so we spend a lot of time answering everything. They`ve had awesome experiences and are strengthening their testimonies about the church and the Book of Mormon. 

This week we`ve also spent a lot, a lot of time contacting and we always end the day super tired. 

I happy that I`ve been able to serve in this area and grateful that I have been able to help, in a small way, the church grow. Love you all! Talk to you next week in my new area! 

Oh yeah!

Abrazos y besos!

Toenail Love Again!

September 2, 2013

What´s up!? This week has both good and kinda bad. We started off great! Had some good lessons with investigators and less active members. The lessons went well and the people told us that they were going to come to church. It was awesome! We found new investigators too. 

We´ve been trying to have lessons with Ana, Adriana, Laura, and Luisa, but they are in classes nearly every day during the week so it´s really hard to meet up with them. But we had a really good lesson with them yesterday. They somehow found the movie 'The Other Side of Heaven' online and watched and they loved it. Ana told us that she thinks that it was God telling her that it was true. So super cool!

We´ve been passing by and looking for another investigator Ricardo, but he moved! :( We don´t know where he moved to and we´re kinda bummed about that. Also, on Friday we went to the Clinica because my toenail is starting to become ingrown again and the doctor basically just told me to go get a pedicure. So I went and got the worst pedicure of my life! She cut sooooo deep on my toenails and kept asking me if it hurt. I just wanted to yell at her and say "yes!", but I was too busy trying not to cry... just kidding. 

Basically after she finished my feet / toes hurt really badly so I didn't leave to work Friday and Saturday. Kinda lame there, not doing anything the whole day! Saturday I was with a guy in the ward named Oscar. He´s the ward mission leader and he also speaks English! So we talked a lot in English. It was nice, because right now in the house there isn´t a gringo so I feel a little deprived of speaking English. 

Junior Tu Papa

Everything's going well here, just working and working! This week I should be getting mail so I´ll let you know what happens!! 

Me with the flag of JUNIOR!! The soccer team here in Barranquilla. People are crazy for Junior.

Love you all! Abrazos y besos!!