*In weeks, we have reached Elder Lewis' 6 month mark (even though in days it's technically the 13th.) time flies, and we are so proud of all that he is doing and learning- The Lewis Family*
Hola Familia! Elder Lewis estabien esta aqui en Bucaramanga,
I am going to be here for another cambio! (transfer) So
another 6 weeks here. We should accomplish a lot in that time. So excited about
that. Not a whole lot changed with the cambios here in Zona Bucaramanga.
Este Semana, this week, we have been working on Bacido (?)
we had a couple good experiences that I want to tell you about. We met a guy
named Eleazar, who actually we had contacted earlier and gave him a card, a
pass-along card with our names on it and our number with the address of the
church on it and told him to call us. When we do that, it’s almost a formality,
it’s like “here, call us if you’re interested”. Usually they aren’t interested
enough to call us, so we call them. But, this time a miracle happened and he
called us. So we met him at a little strip mall kind of a thing and we taught
him a lesson and we were sitting there and he started to tell us about his
life. He’s 40 right now, and earlier he married a woman that was quite a but
older than him and had 6 kids. Married her and then divorced her (well he
didn’t actually divorce her, they separated. Divorce here is really
complicated) and then went and lived with another woman and now they are
separated. So he was wondering what he needs to do to get his life in order. So
we taught him Lesson 3 about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and repentance. It was
super spiritual. It always is when you can tell somebody “Look, every person
that we teach has problems. Every person has things that they wish they hadn’t
done. But our message is that you can change those things and that you can turn
it around and be the person that you want to be, and more importantly the
person that your Heavenly Father wants you to be. To be the Person that your Heavenly
Father wants you to be is to be perfectly happy." and then teach them how to
do it through Jesus Christ and his atonement. Repentance, Baptism, Confirmation,
and perseverance, enduring to the end, this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
So then we had another lesson with him on Friday. We went to
the house of Hermano Cuadros, who has quickly become one of my favorite people
in the world. He is super funny. We have a bunch of inside jokes with him. We
taught Eleazar at the house, and again very spiritual. He had accepted a
baptismal date for the 1st of April. So, with all luck, he will be
baptized on that date.
I sent you the story of the Catholic that we taught that
changed his attitude, that was very cool and definitely a beautiful
manifestation of what happens when we teach with the spirit. I have learned
very quickly that having the spirit is something that we should strive to have.
We should strive to pay any price to have that gift with us because it fills
us. We really can’t teach without that. When we are mad at our companion, when
we are mad at other people, we cant have that spirit with us. You know,
sometimes, it seems like a lot of work to have that with us, but I know that
it’s worth it. I feel as if I am trying to overcome a lot of my laziness here
in the mission. It sure it kind of a sore thing for me, but we’re working.
Here in Colombia, I weighed myself for the first time in a
few months, and was surprised to find out that I weigh almost 170 pounds. I
have gained about 15 pounds since being here. SO… that’s interesting. I think a
lot of it is in my legs, because we walk almost 10 miles everyday and its
usually uphill. Its not a super big slope, but its just enough to bug you. Our
area is a big slope, a big hill. It’s a bench coming off of a mountain, and
it’s sloped just enough to bother you.
My Spanish is coming along. Still trying to improve with my
accent and things, but I believe that I am approaching fluency which is really
cool. To just realize that I can understand. There is still a lot of sayings
and stuff that I don’t get and that I’m still learning, but that’s a
never-ending process as this will never be my native language.
I have been reading the Book of Mormon of course, trying to
wrap up Mosiah, and also reading Jesus the Christ and finding our more and more
things and applying more and more things of that book, definitely a lot of
knowledge in there. It’s definitely a privilege to learn. I’m reading that in
English because, well, James E. Talmage writes very beautifully and I like it.
So I will read it in English. Other than the Book of Mormon, I find that if I
can read a book in its original language, that that’s better. I have found that
the Book of Mormon is quite a bit simpler than it is in English. Like the word
Passionate, which can mean several things in English, but Iracundo, in Spanish,
it means “angry or wrathful” in Spanish. So that’s cool.
Well, short, sweet, and to the point: I am doing well. We
helped our investigators, John and Mile, move and now they have their own house
with their own gym. It’s really cool. We helped them move and then they fed us
lunch. Between the time we helped them move and when John went and got lunch,
we were allowed to take their weights outside. Here in Bucaramanga, the houses
are open because you don’t need a closed house, the weather never gets cold
enough. It only fluctuates 10 degrees in the year. People complain about it
when it gets down to 70 degrees, they are bundling up, blankets, jackets,
sweaters, etc. its really cool, we took the weights outside and we were working
out. Worked out with weights for the first time in a long time and that felt
good.
I am getting more and more involved in the work and loving
every minute of it. It’s gonna be awhile before I feel good about ever coming
home. Sorry. But I feel that I have a lot to accomplish here. Sometimes the
motivation is hard to find when things become commonplace, but the motivation
is found in finding the needs of the people. That is something that I have
really learned here, especially this week. This is something that I didn’t
understand before the mission. I realize now the level of my pride before the
mission. I just want to talk to you, Mom and Dad, about that. It’s something
that has really weighed on my conscience. My pride. I really thought a lot of
myself. The problem is that when you’re that prideful, even though the want to
help people is there, you are incapable of doing so because you are doing it
for the wrong reason. Its when you let go and look for the need of the person.
When you are in a lesson, you don’t think about what you are gonna say. If you
listen, and truly listen, then when it’s your turn to talk, the thing will be
given to you to say. Without fail every time that you follow that counsel, it
touches the person. When you don’t, nothing happens. So, I wish that I would
have applied that before my mission. I just really thought that I knew a lot.
The more that I know now, the more that I know that I don’t know anything. And
that’s ok, because I don’t know everything, All the more that I will rely on my
Heavenly Father. All the more that I am really going to strive to understand
people. I hope that it will never become that way again. First of all, I hope
to continue to change and do better at listening. Really listening. Because
when we listen, we look for the need of the person, which I didn’t do. What
happens is that you think you know what they need when you are prideful, so why
listen to them because YOU already KNOW what they need… regardless of what
their needs are you just say what you’re going to say anyway and… ya. But, I am
sorry. I regret that I have learned so late how to listen. I love you guys. I
love you all. I hope you enjoy listening to my rambling. I’m sorry that I don’t
get you all written, and I hope that you forgive me for that. I hope that all
is well there, it sounds like I am getting a few too many of the blessings over
here. I hope that things start to go better for you guys. Physical Health, and
then with Tremonton being flooded… (It was funny to hear about the National
Guard being sent to little Tremonton… haha)
Well the work goes on. I wish to convey my love to you all,
my gratefulness for all that you do for me, all that you have done for me
throughout the years and still. I wish I could convey accurately how much I
love you all. I wish that I would have been more grateful, but the second best
thing to do it be grateful now. I want you to know that I am. It’s a subject of
much thought for me. I'll talk to you next week, I love you all! Hasta Lluego!
Chao!
-Elder Lewis
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