Week 90: Now Entering Engativá.... and Saying Goodbye to Cucutá

Alright, Well Good Afternoon, Family!

I have some sad news, that I will be leaving Cucuta here in about 2 hours. Ya… 2 hours. In about 3 hours then I will be leaving Cucuta. This has been my favorite area. It’s not been for the amount of success that we have had here, but enough. It’s just grown on me so much, the trials that I have faced here, the people that I have met, the people that have strengthened me, and most of all I have come to know a little bit more about my Savior here in Cucuta. It’s really sad to leave. It really breaks my heart. I was having a really hard time last night when they told me.

Well, I guess that I should tell you where I’m going. I am going back to Bogotá. I am going to an area called Engativá, It is actually pretty close to Suba. I remember that when I was in Suba I sent a lot of referrals over to Engativá. It’s pretty close. But I don’t know, It kinda hurts a little bit. I was kinda hoping to go back to Bucaramanga. But as I have thought about it I have mulled it over in my mind, and I have decided that either it’s revelation or it’s revelation, so I am going to do what the Lord wants me to do!

Here in the last week in Cucuta, It has been very fruitful. We have 3 people that are going to be baptized here within the next 2 weeks; Isabella, is being baptized. Her boyfriend is actually taking steps as well. Also, Ilvanis,that’s great but not so great, her husband finally threatened to hit her again and…. She left. She came back the next day and he said that he was gonna leave, so they are going to separate. While that’s really sad for Ilvanis, it’s great news because she can finally be baptized, so maybe that’s a blessing in disguise. It’s been a long time coming. Then we have an investigator named Maria that is going to be baptized here in the next week. I don’t know, all of this makes me just so happy, but at the same time I just don’t get to see the fruits of our labors. But that’s ok. This area has been really interesting because I have really felt like a failure sometimes. No matter how hard we try or how persistent we are things just never seem to get off the ground. The ward has been going downhill for the last couple of months. We don’t have a bishopric, the Bishop and his two counselors, one moved and one went less active. It’s just been kind of a mess. It has been a trying area. But it has been one that has really won my heart over. Another interesting thing is that Familia Salazar, of the family of Alberto, they are just moving to Bogota, and I am going to Bogota too. Wouldn’t it be interesting if we met up in Bogota? I am hoping for that blessing. That would make it all worth it for me. With all of those 3 people that are going to be baptized in the next couple weeks I have seen the same process with other people that have been baptized, and that is the process of conversion. You just see in their lives and in their faces, the way that they talk, that the atonement changes their lives. It’s a great sense of satisfaction knowing that you have been a part of that.

Well, there were a lot of painful goodbyes; Jairo came to our house this morning at 6:30 this morning to say goodbye, and he cried, and I cried, and that was hard. But you know, I am very grateful for the gospel because it will always unite us. This place will always have a place in my heart. Because certainly I have seen the Lord’s hand here. I have seen people healed physically and spiritually through the Priesthood and by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It’s amazing.

Alright, well for p-day, we went over to Frank’s house and asked him to make lasagna, and he made a GREAT lasagna for us. It was pretty cool! We played card games and we watched a church movie in the Embassy. Well, Elder Prestwich is leaving as well, he is going out as a Zone Leader in Duitama, and he is sure excited about that. I am very happy for him. I have also been able to see him grow and mature in the mission. It has been such a blessing to me to see him grow. I got to be his Zone Leader for awhile and that was awesome. Then after that I got to come to Aeropuerto with him, and I spent a lot of time with him and I have gotten to know him very well and I know that he is a great missionary.

Well, I love you all and I hope you are able to see what happens with the challenge from Russell M. Nelson this week and take his… how do you say it… suggestion or invitation and apply them in your life. I have a firm testimony that he is the Prophet of God. I will share with you when I get home exactly how I know. It sufficeth me to say that the Lord has told me through his Spirit that he is the Prophet of God.

I love you all, have a great week.

-Elder Lewis