July 22, 2013
Hey!! How´s it going! This week has been pretty good, we´ve had some great lessons and even one investigator, Soraya. She said that she wants to be baptized! That should be happening next week!
We also had an intercambio with the zone leaders because my comp is the district leader. I had to go the other area and OH MY GOSH!!!.... we walked sooooo much! I was dying, sweating, crying, and tired! Such a long day, but it was fun to have the little cambio.
This week I also received my other shoe in the mail, so I finally went out working in real shoes!!!! The first time in almost 2 months!! But the bummer is that I think that I have another ingrown toenail and I´ll probably have to go to the hospital again. :(
In the shoe package was the new "Pass the Pigs" game and it is pretty sweet! We´ve played it quite a bit. It still makes everyone angry, but it´s fun to play. Today for pday we´re going to go walking around the city/centro to check out some cool stuff.
Not too much to report week. We´ve just been working hard, trying to find new people to teach and help the others progress. Sorry this letter is short, we´re kinda in a rush to leave to hit the town.
Dad - Thanks for the letter! I love getting the photo updates from the week! It makes me feel like I´m not missing out on so much. You´re not even that old! Whenever someone sees your picture they always think that you and mom and super young! So keep it up! Your vacations are sounding super nice, especially while I´m here sweating. But I know we´ll have some fun times when I get back! I don´t have a lot of time to write today because we are going to play games. I love you!
I love you all!!! Abrazos y besos!!
Sunday, July 28, 2013
One Shoe is a No Show
July 15, 2013
Hey!! Hows it going?? This week hasn`t been super eventful because we don`t have a lot of investigators. So we just contacted.....a lot.
We did have zone conference and I got a package with one of my shoes, some toe cream, and a hacky sack. I`ve been waiting for the other package that has my other shoe in it. It's here in Barranquilla, I just have to wait for the secretary to take the package out of the mail place. This entire week I`ve just been rocking my Addidas sandals like normal.
We had interviews with the president and his wife on Thursday. While I was talking with Sister Searle, my comp was talking with the president, then we switched. With Sister Searle we just spoke in English the whole time and talked about how the mission was going, how I felt about it and then we talked about stuff back home.
Then with President Searle we talked about how I was feeling with my personal conversion. They are both really good people and really nice.
We`ve found some new people to teach, but it`s been really tough this week. We`ve literally spent almost all the days contacting....it`s horrible....my feet kill at the end of the day and because I`m wearing sandals, the mosquitos just eat my feet. I`m really hoping I get that other shoe soon.
That is pretty much the report for this week. I`m sorry that nothing too eventful has happened this week, just contacting and contacting and sweating.
I love you all! Abrazos y Besos!!
Hey!! Hows it going?? This week hasn`t been super eventful because we don`t have a lot of investigators. So we just contacted.....a lot.
We did have zone conference and I got a package with one of my shoes, some toe cream, and a hacky sack. I`ve been waiting for the other package that has my other shoe in it. It's here in Barranquilla, I just have to wait for the secretary to take the package out of the mail place. This entire week I`ve just been rocking my Addidas sandals like normal.
We had interviews with the president and his wife on Thursday. While I was talking with Sister Searle, my comp was talking with the president, then we switched. With Sister Searle we just spoke in English the whole time and talked about how the mission was going, how I felt about it and then we talked about stuff back home.
Then with President Searle we talked about how I was feeling with my personal conversion. They are both really good people and really nice.
We`ve found some new people to teach, but it`s been really tough this week. We`ve literally spent almost all the days contacting....it`s horrible....my feet kill at the end of the day and because I`m wearing sandals, the mosquitos just eat my feet. I`m really hoping I get that other shoe soon.
That is pretty much the report for this week. I`m sorry that nothing too eventful has happened this week, just contacting and contacting and sweating.
I love you all! Abrazos y Besos!!
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Toe-tally Surgical!
July 8, 2013
Well this week was pretty similar to last week. I had to get my toenail cut again, so I only left the apartment to work one day. I had the craziest experience when I went to get my nail cut. The (old man) doctor that usually cuts my toes wasn`t there, so we talked to another guy who told me that I had to come back the next day for `surgery`.
We went back to
the clinic on Friday and I went to the surgery room. I had to leave my comp
to go to a separate room where I had to strip down and put on a
hospital gown and wait in a big blue chair until a nurse came and put an
IV in my hand!!! After waiting even longer, they put me in a wheel
chair and carted me off to the operating room. We got to the OR and I had to
move from the wheel chair to the operating table. During that
process a lot of people saw my butt.
Once on the table they hooked me up to a heart monitoring machine, put the finger heart monitor device on, and then put another thing on my right arm to test my blood pressure. While they were doing that, there were two other nurses that were washing my leg and foot. To top it all off, they put an oxygen mask on my face! Yes, all of this happened just for an ingrown toenail.
They finished with the anesthesia and then cut the nail. I thought
that everything was over at that point, but no.... I was carted off to another sick- people room where I had to wait for another 30 minutes. Oh and by the
way, all of these rooms were extremely cold! So there I was just chilling in
my wheel chair, freezing to death, losing the feeling in my hands, listening
to people groan / cry. It was awful! After what seemed like forever, they let me go
change and then we left the hospital. I have never been so happy to be out in the
heat before!
The next few days I just chilled in the house and wasn't able to do
much. The 4th of July wasn`t quite the same here in Colombia, but we hung up the
flag and sang some American songs to feel like we were home a little bit. That is
really it for last week's update.
This week we have a Zone Conference and I`m going to receive a package and some letters!!!!
So I`ll let you know what I get next week!
love you all! Abrazos y Besos!
Well this week was pretty similar to last week. I had to get my toenail cut again, so I only left the apartment to work one day. I had the craziest experience when I went to get my nail cut. The (old man) doctor that usually cuts my toes wasn`t there, so we talked to another guy who told me that I had to come back the next day for `surgery`.
We went back to
the clinic on Friday and I went to the surgery room. I had to leave my comp
to go to a separate room where I had to strip down and put on a
hospital gown and wait in a big blue chair until a nurse came and put an
IV in my hand!!! After waiting even longer, they put me in a wheel
chair and carted me off to the operating room. We got to the OR and I had to
move from the wheel chair to the operating table. During that
process a lot of people saw my butt.Once on the table they hooked me up to a heart monitoring machine, put the finger heart monitor device on, and then put another thing on my right arm to test my blood pressure. While they were doing that, there were two other nurses that were washing my leg and foot. To top it all off, they put an oxygen mask on my face! Yes, all of this happened just for an ingrown toenail.
They finished with the anesthesia and then cut the nail. I thought
that everything was over at that point, but no.... I was carted off to another sick- people room where I had to wait for another 30 minutes. Oh and by the
way, all of these rooms were extremely cold! So there I was just chilling in
my wheel chair, freezing to death, losing the feeling in my hands, listening
to people groan / cry. It was awful! After what seemed like forever, they let me go
change and then we left the hospital. I have never been so happy to be out in the
heat before!This week we have a Zone Conference and I`m going to receive a package and some letters!!!!
So I`ll let you know what I get next week!
love you all! Abrazos y Besos!
Monday, July 1, 2013
Price Smart!
July 1, 2013
This Sunday was great because we got to meet the new mission president! President and sister Searle are in our ward so I think that every Sunday we`ll get to see them. He isn`t as tall as I thought he would be, but he is super nice and so is his wife. The President knows quite a bit of spanish, but his wife doesn`t. But I didn`t either when I got here so I`m sure she`ll learn fast...hopefully.
We had some changes in the ward and now there are only 8 missionaries in the ward. Our area is HUGE so the office is going to figure out how to divide our area or add another companionship. Not sure what`s going to happen.
Also, this past week no
one had money in the house. We had to go the the office and clinic a
bunch of times, so I had to take out money last week. This morning I
withdrew some more money because we are going to PRICESMART!!!! Basically it`s
just like Costco!! I`m going to be in heaven!!!!
We went to Pricemart and a few things I need to clarify:
1- It`s Price Smart, but everyone says it together so I had it wrong. 2- IT IS AMAZING!!!!! It`s just like a Costco!!! I was in heaven!!!!!! Also, there were about 20 other missionaries there shopping too so we saw quite a few people there. It was also raining like crazy after we finished shopping, so there was a super river in the street in front of our house and our back patio started to flood.
Okay this letter is going to be super lame and for a good reason.....We didn`t go out to work very much this week. Basically the cotton material that the doctor shoved under my toenail has been bugging me / hurting, so we went to the office to have the secretary look at it. The next day we went to the clinic and the doctor lady just told me that we really can`t take out the cotton balls, but gave me a cream and more pills that I need to take.
Two times a day I have to take pills and put a cream on my toes so they don`t get infected. I`m still working in my flippy floppies! These sandals have MILES on them, they`re amazing.
Love you all! I`ll talk to you later!! Abrazos y Besos!!!!
This Sunday was great because we got to meet the new mission president! President and sister Searle are in our ward so I think that every Sunday we`ll get to see them. He isn`t as tall as I thought he would be, but he is super nice and so is his wife. The President knows quite a bit of spanish, but his wife doesn`t. But I didn`t either when I got here so I`m sure she`ll learn fast...hopefully.
We had some changes in the ward and now there are only 8 missionaries in the ward. Our area is HUGE so the office is going to figure out how to divide our area or add another companionship. Not sure what`s going to happen.
Also, this past week no
one had money in the house. We had to go the the office and clinic a
bunch of times, so I had to take out money last week. This morning I
withdrew some more money because we are going to PRICESMART!!!! Basically it`s
just like Costco!! I`m going to be in heaven!!!! We went to Pricemart and a few things I need to clarify:
1- It`s Price Smart, but everyone says it together so I had it wrong. 2- IT IS AMAZING!!!!! It`s just like a Costco!!! I was in heaven!!!!!! Also, there were about 20 other missionaries there shopping too so we saw quite a few people there. It was also raining like crazy after we finished shopping, so there was a super river in the street in front of our house and our back patio started to flood.
Two times a day I have to take pills and put a cream on my toes so they don`t get infected. I`m still working in my flippy floppies! These sandals have MILES on them, they`re amazing.
Love you all! I`ll talk to you later!! Abrazos y Besos!!!!
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
New Area - New Companion!
June 24, 2013
This week has been pretty interesting. Started out with transfers! I
was transferred to Modelo here in Barranquilla. My new comp is Elder
Ramirez from Mexico! My new apartment is so much bigger than in Cevillar!! I love it! In the
house there are 4 elders in total. Elder Ramirez (my comp), Elder
Juarez, Elder Davidson, and me.
The area is really nice (has a little more money than my last areas) but it´s a great ward. Everything had been going well this week, working in the new area, getting to know the investigators and members, working with my comp, and then Thursday hit and my toes started hurting again....yes....my same toes....I have issues.
Also on
Thursday we had a meeting with President Gaviria on how to have a ward
council...the same meeting that I had in my old area. Then Saturday we
found out about the leadership broadcast on Sunday.We had to be at the Stake
Center at 5:00 to watch the broadcast. Because of the broadcast, our church time was changed from the original time of 2-5 to 9-12. When we got to the chapel and it was absolutely packed!
There are two wards,
Modelo and Paraiso, that were both there and during sacrament meeting they told us that
they are fusing the two wards. Now my area/ward isn´t Modelo, it´s
Paraiso, I think. And the best part of all is that there are 14
missionaries in the ward right now. 6 Sister missionaries and 8 elders!
Pretty insane! So now we have to figure out the new boundaries and everything, which
is going to be lame because with the ward changes we lost almost all of
our investigators.
The leadership broadcast was super awesome! I think the missionaries are more excited about the possibilty of having a tablet or computer in the house. Today for pday we didn´t do much because another elder in the house had to go to the clinic and I had to go too because my toes are hurting me and basically the old-man doctor stuck my toes with anesthesia again, then rammed cotton under my toe nail to help it grow straight or something...so tomorrow I might not work depending on how my toe is doing.
So that´s about it for me...just living the life down here with my toe problems.
Love you all! Abrazos y besos!
The area is really nice (has a little more money than my last areas) but it´s a great ward. Everything had been going well this week, working in the new area, getting to know the investigators and members, working with my comp, and then Thursday hit and my toes started hurting again....yes....my same toes....I have issues.
Also on
Thursday we had a meeting with President Gaviria on how to have a ward
council...the same meeting that I had in my old area. Then Saturday we
found out about the leadership broadcast on Sunday.We had to be at the Stake
Center at 5:00 to watch the broadcast. Because of the broadcast, our church time was changed from the original time of 2-5 to 9-12. When we got to the chapel and it was absolutely packed!There are two wards,
Modelo and Paraiso, that were both there and during sacrament meeting they told us that
they are fusing the two wards. Now my area/ward isn´t Modelo, it´s
Paraiso, I think. And the best part of all is that there are 14
missionaries in the ward right now. 6 Sister missionaries and 8 elders!
Pretty insane! So now we have to figure out the new boundaries and everything, which
is going to be lame because with the ward changes we lost almost all of
our investigators.The leadership broadcast was super awesome! I think the missionaries are more excited about the possibilty of having a tablet or computer in the house. Today for pday we didn´t do much because another elder in the house had to go to the clinic and I had to go too because my toes are hurting me and basically the old-man doctor stuck my toes with anesthesia again, then rammed cotton under my toe nail to help it grow straight or something...so tomorrow I might not work depending on how my toe is doing.
So that´s about it for me...just living the life down here with my toe problems.
 |
| Bought these weights right before I left Cevillar - gonna get my burn on! |
Love you all! Abrazos y besos!
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Liseth!!!
June 16, 2013
How´s everyone doing?? This week has been pretty great and a little
crazy! Tuesday was the soccer game, Colombia vs Peru, and oh my gosh it
was absolutely crazy! The main street/highway that leads to the stadium
goes through our area, so it was absolutely nuts!
Then there was a warning out because 3 people were killed, so Tuesday we only went out working from about 7 to 9. This week has been raining a lot, and that means that we have more mosquitos.... which sucks. I wish I had Lolo´s (Lauren Zaharis') super anti- mosquito power because these things are eating my feet off!
This week we had the baptism of Liseth!!! It was great! It´s awesome to see her be baptized and how quickly she has progressed and how much the gospel has changed her life!
Also, Sunday I gave a talk in church. It was all going awesome, I was talking about Agency, but then I looked at the clock on the wall and it said 9:55 and I freaked out and ended quickly because there was still one more person that needed to talk after me. Once I sat down, I looked at my watch and it was only 9:48. The people didn´t get the full message...kinda bummer.
This Wednesday we have transfers so we are all kinda freaking
out and guessing who is going to be leaving. I´m pretty sure that I am going
to leave and also either Elder Webb or Alvarez too. We´re going to find
out tomorrow night so next week I´ll let you know what happened!
On Thursday we had our last conference with President Gaviria and his family. He talked a lot about marriage and also how we can know Jesus better. For example, what kind of things we can do to bring ourselves closer to Him and learn more about Him. It was a great conference and I was able to see a lot of buddies there because it was all of the Barranquilla missionaries!
This pday was pretty much a bust. We wanted to go bowling, so we told the taxi guy where the place was. He got lost and we got to the building late, only to find out that it wasn´t open. We decided to go to McDonalds to eat our pain away. Next we printed some pictures and came back home. So thank you so much Dad and Grampy for your donations for pday, but it looks like that money will be going to another pday in the future (I haven´t taken the money out yet).
So that´s about it! Love you all!! This week should be pretty crazy with transfers! By the way, this picture is like a "normal" Newspaper in Colombia.
Love you all! Abrazos y besos!!
Then there was a warning out because 3 people were killed, so Tuesday we only went out working from about 7 to 9. This week has been raining a lot, and that means that we have more mosquitos.... which sucks. I wish I had Lolo´s (Lauren Zaharis') super anti- mosquito power because these things are eating my feet off!
This week we had the baptism of Liseth!!! It was great! It´s awesome to see her be baptized and how quickly she has progressed and how much the gospel has changed her life!
Also, Sunday I gave a talk in church. It was all going awesome, I was talking about Agency, but then I looked at the clock on the wall and it said 9:55 and I freaked out and ended quickly because there was still one more person that needed to talk after me. Once I sat down, I looked at my watch and it was only 9:48. The people didn´t get the full message...kinda bummer.
On Thursday we had our last conference with President Gaviria and his family. He talked a lot about marriage and also how we can know Jesus better. For example, what kind of things we can do to bring ourselves closer to Him and learn more about Him. It was a great conference and I was able to see a lot of buddies there because it was all of the Barranquilla missionaries!
This pday was pretty much a bust. We wanted to go bowling, so we told the taxi guy where the place was. He got lost and we got to the building late, only to find out that it wasn´t open. We decided to go to McDonalds to eat our pain away. Next we printed some pictures and came back home. So thank you so much Dad and Grampy for your donations for pday, but it looks like that money will be going to another pday in the future (I haven´t taken the money out yet).
So that´s about it! Love you all!! This week should be pretty crazy with transfers! By the way, this picture is like a "normal" Newspaper in Colombia.
Love you all! Abrazos y besos!!
Monday, June 10, 2013
What a Great Weekend!
June 10, 2013
What´s up?¡ This week was super awesome and kinda lame at the same time. Super awesome because Reyla and Leslie got baptized¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ So happy¡¡¡¡
I ended up baptizing the two sisters and then Elder Briceño confirmed Reyla and Carlos (Leslie´s dad) confirmed Leslie. The baptisms were really great! Reyla and Leslie were kinda nervous before, but after they were baptized they were soo happy! Leslie started talking about how she was feeling and that she was super happy and Reyla kept saying that she felt soo good. Seeing them be so happy about their baptism made me feel really happy that I could help them in this process.
Also Elder Alvarez and Webb had a baptism too. So the ward had three baptisms in all¡
We´ve also been working really hard with Liseth. She´s progressed really quickly and now she´s going to get baptized this Saturday¡¡¡ We´ve had some really awesome lessons with her. She always reads the Book of Mormon, understands what she reads, marks the scriptures, and prays... it´s awesome¡ And Liseth came to church yesterday so now she ready to go for this Saturday¡¡
Alright, now for the lame part of this week. I started working
again, but I´ve been wearing sandals and everyone looks at me weird. I
can't wear shoes yet because they are a little constricting on my toes.
The problem gets worse because I have another, yes another ingrown toenail,
on the other side of the nail. I'm so not happy about this! I called the
secretary and he told me he is going to send me some pills, but I don´t
know how much that´ll really help.
My spanish speaking is doing really well. I'm still working to work on a bigger vocabulary, but I feel really comfortable. I feel like I can basically say what I want to and don´t have to struggle to think of what to say. It kinda just flows. One of my teachers in the MTC told us that if we think in Spanish, then it´ll be easier to speak in Spanish, so I´ve been really trying to think in Spanish.
I´m getting excited for the new mission
president in July. Not sure what to expect, but excited.
That´s it for this week¡ Super great
and this weekend should be super awesome too¡¡ For pday day we just went
to the centro to print some pictures of the baptisms and walked around.
Love you all¡¡ Abrazos y besos¡¡
What´s up?¡ This week was super awesome and kinda lame at the same time. Super awesome because Reyla and Leslie got baptized¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ So happy¡¡¡¡
 |
| Me, Reyla, Leslie, Elder Briceño |
I ended up baptizing the two sisters and then Elder Briceño confirmed Reyla and Carlos (Leslie´s dad) confirmed Leslie. The baptisms were really great! Reyla and Leslie were kinda nervous before, but after they were baptized they were soo happy! Leslie started talking about how she was feeling and that she was super happy and Reyla kept saying that she felt soo good. Seeing them be so happy about their baptism made me feel really happy that I could help them in this process.
Also Elder Alvarez and Webb had a baptism too. So the ward had three baptisms in all¡
We´ve also been working really hard with Liseth. She´s progressed really quickly and now she´s going to get baptized this Saturday¡¡¡ We´ve had some really awesome lessons with her. She always reads the Book of Mormon, understands what she reads, marks the scriptures, and prays... it´s awesome¡ And Liseth came to church yesterday so now she ready to go for this Saturday¡¡
 |
| Denice (mom of Reyla), Leslie, Reyla, Jenice (mom of Leslie) |
My spanish speaking is doing really well. I'm still working to work on a bigger vocabulary, but I feel really comfortable. I feel like I can basically say what I want to and don´t have to struggle to think of what to say. It kinda just flows. One of my teachers in the MTC told us that if we think in Spanish, then it´ll be easier to speak in Spanish, so I´ve been really trying to think in Spanish.
 |
| The ´dryer´ |
 |
| Washing set up |
Love you all¡¡ Abrazos y besos¡¡
 |
| Basically just spins the water and my clothes...doesn´t do much to actually wash. |
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