Week 50: Getting to Know the People, the Land, and the Lord.

Good Afternoon Family!

Here in Colombia, again. Well, crazy that August is already over, my guess is you guys are back in school today, and equally crazy it seems like yesterday that you guys were sharing that “Oh, I have all these plans for summer…” and now you’re back in school. Que Lastima haha. But how awesome.

Well this week has been pretty good, we ended the week with a baptism. We baptized a kid named Juan Pablo. It was really awesome. It was an awesome experience. The next day I had the privilege of confirming him a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and bestowing upon him the gift of the Holy Ghost. That was an experience that I have never had, so it was pretty great. I was very grateful for the opportunity, and… ya.

Alright, so this week has been pretty good as far as the work goes, it hasn’t been THE BEST, but we found a lot of new people, so that’s good. New development with Alverson, he found the answer to his prayers. We actually recommended that he watch the Testaments. So Alverson, we actually got there when he was watching the Testaments and right at the end where Christ is crucified. I was on companionship exchanges with an Elder named Elder Coop, who is a new Elder from the States. And we got in there, and this being my second week in the area, I kinda didn’t know my way there, so we were a bit late. But we got there and goodness, the Spirit was strong. We sat and watched the rest of the 10 minutes with him, and by the end we were all in tears. Alverson is a big guy, he was in the Army. He’s a tough guy. But it moved him to tears. But then, after that, we talked to him about his baptism and asked him how he felt about being baptized on the 16^th of September, and he said that he is ready. I told you guys a little bit about the answer that he received last week. I sure feel humbled to be part of that answer, or to be able to help him find that answer, I should say. So ya, good times in Sogamoso.

We have also got a guy named Jefredy who is going to be baptized the week after Alverson, so that will be good. We also found a couple of new families this week. Who knew knocking doors could be good for anything? Haha. Usually its not here in Colombia, but we put ourselves to work and knocked a lot of doors. There were actually 2 or 3 families that let us in, just right then and there. So we had a good week that way.

Today for P-day we went and rode bikes. We borrowed some bikes from Alverson and we went and took a tour of Sogamoso. It was really cool! I haven’t ridden a bike in a long time. We got going at pretty high velocities at some times, and it’s weird because I have been on my feet the whole time I have been in Colombia. It’ll give you saddle sores, but it gets you around faster. My area is HUGE. From the house to the house of Alverson is like an hour walking. It’s really spread out.

I think that’s it, family. I finished Jesus the Christ not too long ago, just about an hour ago I finished reading it. I can honestly say that I KNOW that Jesus is my Savior. I begin to have great feelings of love for my Savior. I am finally getting to know him as I humble myself and realize the extent that I need his help. I know it’s true. This message has been a little short, but that’s what I have for you guys this week. Thank you so much and I will talk to you next week. Chao Chao!

-Elder Lewis

A Bridge in Sogamoso that the Elders saw on their 

bike ride. Elder Lewis says that it looks like

 something out of a "Legend of Zelda" game. :)