Hola!
I just came back from the mountains; we went to Montefiore,
which is the waterfalls. I sent pictures! I sent pictures of a place really
green, and a castle looking thing, and there are waterfalls. We didn’t get to
go last time because there wasn’t anybody in the castle looking place, we got
to go in this time and it was breathtaking. It was all jungle, with vines and
animals. Haven’t seen any monkeys yet, but I am told they are around here
somewhere. I kinda felt like Tarzan. Mom, you would love these waterfalls. Its
really cool how nature has carved its way through this jungle.
This week has been a little rough as far as lessons and
things go. With a companion right now that doesn’t speak any English, I have
been speaking Spanish all week long. It’s weird when I speak English to people.
Sometimes that’s a little rough. Its weird because when I try to tell you a
story in English, its not going so well. Ha-ha. My companion and I are getting
used to each other a little more and that is going well.
As far as people go, Familia Reyes, John and Mile, have a
baptismal date! It’s not active yet, because they haven’t been to church, but
their goal is scheduled for February 25th. That’s really cool because I think that I am
probably going to leave Bucaramanga come early March. So it would be cool to
get them baptized before I left. But, we had 71 effective contacts this week,
which is pretty good. We walked so much! On Friday, when we came back, I could
hardly stand! We went from our house, to Barcia, about half a mile, and then
from Bucarica, to Altamira, where we live, and then from Altamira to La Paz
which is 2 miles down. We walked around there for awhile with Hermano Cuadros visiting
people, trying to establish contacts and things. Then we came back to (?) which
is close to where we live. Still a good long walk. Then back to Bucarica, and
then back home. All in all, 7 or 8 miles that day. A lot of appointments fell
through, almost all of them. It wasn’t a good day. But we are starting to get a
lot of contacts. This week I heard a phrase so much that I don’t want to hear
it again…. I don’t care if I don’t hear this phrase again, and that is “I
believe in Jesus. Jesus is one. Jesus is one God. I don’t need no religion. Yo
no neccessito un iglesia, yo tengo Jesus en mi Corazon.” I have Jesus in my
heart. Yes… But no…. We had one bad run in with a Catholic. She just really
didn’t want to listen. The thing is that here, they don’t know the bible. They
really don’t have a good reason to listen to us other than they are Catholic.
They are Colombian and they are Roman Catholic, and they will straight up tell
you that. But… ya.
Other than that we had some good appointments. Familia
Reyes, Christian and Miladys are still going strong; Christian will be ordained
to the Aaronic priesthood this Sunday. I am really proud of him. He is so
humble and willing to serve. They have a goal to be to the temple by this time
this year. I am praying that I will be serving in Bogota during that time,
because only the missionaries serving in Bogota can go to the temple. I would
like to see them sealed and receive their endowments.
We had lunch yesterday with the familia Olave, they are
really rich. Here you are either really rich, middle, or low (theirs a small middle class, but
its really lower class.) There an area called Monterrey, which is where Hermano
Olave lives, and he has a mango tree. He asked me after almuerzo if I wanted a
mango. I said “heck ya!” he called to his maid to get him a ladder, and the
maid brings him a ladder and he got up on top of it, and this 65 year old guy
in a suit is climbing a tree to get a mango for a missionary, but I guess how
you tell if a mango is ripe is that if you tug on it and it falls in to your
hand, then it is ripe. If you wiggle it around and it doesn’t come off, then
don’t even bother. He gave me a mango, we came back to the house and I threw it
in the fridge. We worked and then came back to the house and my companion
showed me how to peel it, and I think I have a new favorite food. It was so
good I about cried. Fresh mango. Good stuff.
They have a spiky green fruit they make juice out of that
tastes like a milk shake. Colombians make juice like a milkshake, or a
smoothie. You can ask for water or milk. Also, Colombians drink yogurt. They
don’t eat it with a spoon. Kinda interesting.
Last Sunday there was a guy that walked into the church
kinda dirty and messy, and a member motioned me over and he had a cup in his
hand and he informed me that he had met some missionaries that told him that he
couldn’t drink coffee, and that he didn’t like that, and he took a sip of his
coffee. Then he left. That was weird. Just came in to tell us that he didn’t
like the word of wisdom. That was it.
This week I really have come to realize how important it is
that we appreciate the gospel. A lot of people here will listen to us, you know
preachers preaching… (That’s another phrase I don’t care to hear again… predicar la palabra.. preach the word….) basically people are like “ya I will listen to
ya, love to hear the preachers preaching the word…” But what that means is that
they will let you into their house and you’ll give a lesson and they will say
“oh good. Thank you!” what they don’t realize is that this is so much more.
This is salvation. This is becoming like our heavenly father. Its really
amazing this perspective that we have, we are really lucky, especially in Utah,
in Zion. There are a lot of people down here that take a little bit of work to
realize what this message is. Then again, there are others that are really
prepared. They have really thought about it. They really have done some
searching. Those are the people that we are here for. Those that are willing to
do some searching. When they do a little bit of searching, they find that
things like baptism and essential ordinances and priesthood are necessary. We
should never take that for granted, that we have this knowledge, and we should
never be afraid to share it. Easier said than done, believe me I know.
BIG NEWS from the missionary world. We had a transmission
from the missionary board of the church, which Dallin H. Oaks directs. Dallin
H. Oaks, David A. Bednar, Quentin L. Cook, Bonnie L. Oscarson, and a few
others. Directed to all missionaries. First it was a training about the
doctrine of Christ, and I thoroughly enjoyed that. I have never enjoyed a
training more in my life. It was kinda funny, at the beginning they were trying
to figure out how to get it in Spanish, my zone leader asked me to translate! I
felt like the least qualified in the room to do that, but ya I sat and
translated for about 10 minutes for the Elders that couldn’t understand. I
didn’t do a terribly good job of it, but they understood. It’s really hard to
focus and speak at the same time. It’s very difficult. But I want to tell you
about the schedule for missionaries that has changed. The schedule in preach my
gospel no longer applies. Now instead of a set schedule, we get a list of
things to do, but we decide when we do them. Our mission president decides when
we get up, but this is allowing us to have more freedom. The first presidency
and the quorum of the 12 have prayed about this for 6 months, and through
revelation they have given us this new schedule. So we need to do personal
study, companion study, language study, eat breakfast, proselyte, eat lunch,
eat dinner, and other things. It’s the same time blocks, but without a set time
to do it. Also, P-Days we have 2 MORE HOURS!!!! That’s right. Conrad and other
missionaries reading this, if you remember, on P-days we had to study till 10,
but not anymore! We study till 8, for a half an hour, and then p day. Dallin H.
Oaks, it was kinda funny, when he announced that he said, “I think I just heard
a cheer from all the Elders.” Also, they gave examples of possible schedules
for different continents, and it has us in Latin America waking up at 7:30,
going to bed at 11:30 and staying in the streets till 10. WOW! But we find out
when we go to internet today what time we get up because that’s decided by our
mission president. I think Elder Leiffer about cried when he found out we might
be waking at 7:30. The thing is, the sun rises here at 5:00…. So I don’t know
if that will apply or not.
This has been a really disorganized message. I found a way
to improve my Spanish accent though, by a million times. You put a pencil in the front of your mouth
in your teeth and speak Spanish. It gets you to speak with the front of your
mouth. If you try it, you have a good accent, it’s just the placement. So I
have been doing that, reading preach my gospel with a pencil in my mouth like
an idiot talking to myself. So maybe if I get good enough at it, I will come
home with an accent. That’d be cool.
Looking forward to hearing from you all. As for the weather
here, its been stinkin hot. 90 degrees everyday. Except for today where it is
raining and 70 degrees. It weird being in February soaked with sweat. I’m
getting more used to it. I am getting a missionary tan, my forearms are tan,
but under my shirt is super white.
I want to leave you with something spiritual: this week I
have been learning a lot about the application of the atonement in our lives.
It has really made me get in and study how to apply the atonement to our lives.
Isaiah 53: 4-7 talks about the suffering of the Savior for us. It’s my favorite
scripture. When we really understand the atonement, it makes us want to be
better. It comforts us and pushes us forward. I challenge you in the scriptures
in 2 Nephi 9, it talks about the savior being full of truth, and in John 14 it
talks about what that means. It means the truth is what illuminates our minds.
Jesus Christ illuminates our minds and hearts. Truth is understanding. To
understand the scriptures, we need to look for Jesus Christ. Every scripture
has something to do with Jesus Christ. Look for him in the scriptures, in the
stories. Look for him and pray to know how the stories can help you come closer
to him.
I love you all and I miss you. I don’t think a missionary
ever gets over being a little lonesome for his family and his home; he just
gets preoccupied with his work. It only comes back when things aren’t going
well. I miss you and I love you and I am grateful for all you have done for me,
especially you Mom and Dad, for the example you have given me. That something
that I have been thinking about this week is how wonderful my parents are. I
really do have the best family in the world. Bueno, Les Amo Muchisimo. Chao!
-Elder Lewis
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