Hey Family!
This week has been really good. I have been enjoying it a
lot. On Tuesday, we had intercambios with Yopal, and Yopal is like a city that
is 5 hours away, but a totally different climate. Super, super hot. So they
came up here to Sogamoso, and I went with Elder Colving from Harrisville, Utah.
We had some cool experiences on that intercambio. Bit the rest of it went
pretty normal. Then that night, got… they got.. ugh crap… The rest of Yopal got
to our house, there were 6 of them because there was a Multi-Zone Conference
the next day. So there were 8 missionaries at our house, and we made pizza, and
Elder Gutierrez from Argentina is a gourmet chef. Imagine that. So we had a
good time, we played UNO, we made pizza, it was pretty fun. We finally got our
water filter installed, so now we have clean water to drink, although I don’t
think the water in Sogamoso is all that bad, but then Wednesday we got to go to
Duitama to go to a multi-zone conference, and that was really great.
President was really at his best. He talked to us about
baptism and about our purpose. Sometimes when we invite people to be baptized I
feel like as more as a favor to us as the missionaries. Like “will you be
baptized” and not really knowing why we are saying it. But the training from
President was focused on that, and it really opened my eyes. As I have been
studying about it this week and followed the counsel that he gave, I have
noticed that my purpose here as a missionary is to invite other people to
receive a remission of their sins through faith in Jesus Christ, repentance,
baptism, confirmation, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.
It’s something that I repeated before, as part of the mission purpose, but
nothing that I really understood. We are inviting other people to come unto
Christ to be forgiven of their sins, to better their lives, and to return to
live with God with their families. Could you have a better purpose? I really
don’t think so. I am so happy to be here, and it made me want to work hard.
That was one of the highlights of the week.
After the Multi-Zone Conference, we had interviews with the
President. As I told you guys, I asked for an extension. President said “Thank
you so much, Elder Lewis, for your desire to serve the Lord for more time. But,
the answer is no.” and he said it like that. I was so bummed! But, ya know, it
just makes me realize how much I want to savor this time on the mission.
There’s nothing like it. Then he gave me some great advice; he said: “Elder
Lewis, you should learn to be happy. You should learn to be happy right here
where you are. Some people think ‘I will be happy when I’m in the MTC.’ And
then after the MTC, ‘I’ll be happy when I am in the field’, and then “I’ll be
happy when I have 6 months’ and ‘I’ll be happy when I have a year’ and ‘I’ll be
happy when I’m home. ‘ Then ‘I’ll be happy when I’m married’ and ‘I’ll be happy
when I have kids.’ And ‘I’ll be happy when my kids grow up’. But it’s a trap.
Because we will always be saying ‘I’ll be happy, one day.’ But we need to happy
right now." As I thought about that counsel, it was kind of abrupt. I didn’t
know why he gave it to me. But as I tried to apply it in this week, I saw why.
My companion told me something kinda rough, he said “Elder Lewis, I don’t see
you smile very much in our contacts. You need to smile more.” I thought about
it, and instead of getting defensive, like maybe I would’ve done before the mission
or before I learned, I thought, “you know what, you’re right.” So I slapped a
smile on my face and said a prayer, and we went, and the contacting was so much
better. I have learned that just putting a smile on your face will do so much
for you. Having a positive attitude. You know, it’s not easy all the time. I’ve
learned that from the few days that I have been trying to have a good attitude
all the time. But it’s so worth it. You have the spirit with you. you get along
with your companion. You learn more. You’re happy! So that’s what I learned
this week.
Well, after that, on Thursday, we had a normal day until
4:00, then we went to Bogotá. We stayed with some Elders that live right by the
offices of the mission. Went to concilio, or the leadership counsel the next
day, which is really great. Spiritually fed again, and then we went to the
temple after that, and again another spiritual feast. Then we came back to Sogamoso,
for Saturday and Sunday, and I am here again. For p-day we went and played
soccer, it was a holiday here in Colombia, we went and played soccer with all
of the ward. That was really fun, I am starting to use my feet a little bit
better. Scored 3 goals today. So that’s been my week. I love you guys so much,
hope to hear from you all. See you later! Chao Chao!
-Elder Lewis
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