Week 91: To Change and Be Changed for the Better.

Hi everyone! Elder Lewis here in Bogotá, making another recording for the fam!

Well, this week has been…weird, really, honestly. I came from Cucuta on Monday, I left in the night and I left at 7 o’clock at night and got to Bogotá around 12 o’clock the next day. Ya… so it was about 15 ½ hours by bus. It was a lot of fun…but it wasn’t too bad. But I got to Bogotá and there was my new companion, Elder Arredia, and went straight to the area. It sure has been a hard adjustment to be honest. The last day in Cucuta I… wow that was rough… It was the only area that as I left, I just felt like it was ripping my heart out of my chest. I love that area so much. I love Cucuta and all the people that I have met there. It was the area that I had the least success in, as far as number go, but did leave the area better than I found it and I sure did meet a lot of people that changed my perspective on a lot of things. So I think that Cucuta was one of my favorite areas.

Anyway, Bogotá has been a hard transition changing back, I am in an area called Engativá, and Engativá is not too far away, like 50 blocks, alright it’s pretty far away from Suba. I thought it was closer than it really was but it’s not. I got a little bit of culture shock when I got here to Bogotá, because in Cucuta, like, you see everyone out in the streets, especially at night, and not everybody has a smart phone so they get out and play futbol, or soccer I should say, or something else. I got here and Engativá is an area that is pretty well off, compared to Cucuta at least. It really shocked me to get here and see that everybody has, like, furniture. Everybody has things. The majority of people have a computer in their house, which really… in Spanish its mediocosa. It kinda shocked me. But it’s really cool for the work, because you can go and you can show everybody the videos of the church where in Cucuta we had to bring everybody to Frank’s house to get on his television. Haha. But I got here, and first thing off I met our great family, their names are Juan Gabriel and Viviana. Juan Gabriel and Viviana have been investigating the church for about 5 months now and they have got a rock solid testimony. They have just gotta get married. We are trying to help them to get married, so we are going to be helping them, along with the ward, to make keychains made out of plastic that when you put them in the oven you draw on them, like an outline of the Angel Moroni or Winnie the Pooh or something and you put it in the oven and it actually like turns white in the plastic and turns hard. So we are going to try to help them to sell these javeros, keychains. Juan Gabriel drives Uber every once in awhile, but the thing is here in Bogotá, like if you have a car or a taxi (in his case his parents are loaning him a car) you can only drive it on certain days. There’s a law where you can only drive certain days because of congestion. It gets pretty bad here in Bogotá where there are like 10 million people in the city. Imagine that. They both, they have a little business doing that. They make clothing too. But we are going to try to help them sell those keychains so that they can get married. Here it’s about 650,000 pesos to get married. For them, because they both have children outside of their current relationship, that makes it more expensive actually. 650,000 pesos is like 200 dollars. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but here it is a lot of money. They have just got to get married.

We have another investigator named Harry that just got married, and needs to be baptized. His wife is a member and so we are looking at some cool people here honestly. I have met a lot of good people. It has been hard to transition back to Bogotá because it’s pretty cold here. First of all, physically it’s hard. Also the food is different here. It’s like.. I don’t know. It’d be like the transition coming from the dead of summer in July straight to November or October. Here in Bogotá it’s like October but everything is green. It’s really nice…. How do you say it… weather? It’s hard to get used to. I miss the heat and the humidity. Sometimes. I just don’t miss being sticky. Haha. So there you are.

What more can I tell you? Looking at my journal here, and I was really touched, Jessica, by what you did in that Relief Society Activity, it really touched me. I sat in that internet café and I was crying and everybody was looking at me weird, but it really touched me that you would do that and really, honestly, before the mission if I said I didn’t want a package, or at Christmas I didn’t want a present, really honestly, it was more of indifference. It wasn’t really because I was being selfless. But really, the biggest gift that I could have asked for is for help for the Venezuelans. That’s also something that I miss coming to Bogotá. There are still a lot of Venezuelans here in Bogotá just that the culture is not here as much. In Cucuta you experience Venezuelan food, you pick up on the slang and dialect, and everything like that. I actually started to talk a little bit with a Venezuelan accent, where you omit the S’s in just about everything. Haha. I was just really touched that you cared enough to do that. I really learned a lot from the Venezuelans because, I mean you get to their houses and, for example in La Conquista, the area that I would tell you guys about, and they don’t have furniture, a lot of them, you just sit on the ground or they give you a couple of bricks to sit on and you teach them and you really learn the real power behind the message that you have. Maybe it’s not going to help them as much with their physical status, but it will give them HOPE. It will give them the lifestyle that eventually will help them. But more than anything, you give them hope. It’s like what Moroni said when he wrote in Ether: he said that those that have faith can… how do you say it… they can hope for a better world. And really that is the message that we have, and it’s incredible and it’s something that I learned in Cucuta. The real value of our message. It really just set up the way for me to come here and see people with different needs. Maybe they’re not lacking in necessities of life, maybe they have food to eat, in that respect their needs are different from those in Cucuta. But they still have needs. For example, maybe their son is out in the street in drugs. The things that I learned in Cucuta help me to be able to help them.

 So Bogotá is for sure a concrete jungle. It’s cold here, it hangs out around 70 or 75 degrees. It’s pretty nice actually. It’s always overcast, all the parks are very green. This part of Bogotá is different than Suba, Suba is… I don’t know how to describe it… it was dangerous. Haha. But this part, it’s still Bogotá but it’s a lot less dangerous. The streets are cleaner, and it’s safer. So that’s good. You still have to watch your back, but it’s normal. What’s hard to get used to about Bogotá is that life is really fast paced. Everybody is going to things that they need to do. In fact, we got on a bus, Alimentador, it’s a free bus that takes everybody to the terminals of transmilenial, the bus that they have in Bogotá. But we got in one the other day to go to District meeting and I was just bored because nobody was talking to each other. Like no one was talking in the bus. So I started talking with this older gentleman in a wheelchair, and I just said “hi! How’s your day been?” and we started talking and everybody just looked at us and we kept talking, and people started to ask where we were from, and I said “I’m from the United States, he’s from Ecuador” and I dunno, It just seems like everybody here…. I don’t think that they don’t know how to be happy, they just get caught up in worldly things sometimes. It’s very rare to be walking in the street and see someone smiling. It’s hard. The truth is, coming from hot land to Bogotá, especially. But there are good people wherever you go, and the gospel is always the same. We had a good number of investigators come to church yesterday, we found a ton of people and that was good because when I got here, I was like “alright, well Elder, what do we do? Whats the plan?” “well.. not a lot.” So this week was very tedious. There just wasn’t anything to do. So we found a lot of people to teach, and I am hoping to be able to retain them while finding more people this week. But like I said, there are also a few investigators that are further along in the conversion process. So that will be good to help them put that in concrete by helping them to be baptized, even though I haven gotten to know them up until now. I feel privileged to help them to feel… concresar concrete that commitment that they have with God.

Well actually I will read you a little part of my journal: 8th of June 2018. “Today was a lot better. We had 2 lessons in the street and 2 more that were planned. The Lord is leading us. We met a woman while we were buying avocados In the street and today taught her a short lesson on the Book of Mormon. We met her on Wednesday, left a pamphlet, and came back today, which is Friday, and she had read it all. She could progress a lot. We also met a people that were in a park in front of our house. They had listened to the missionaries some 20 years ago and thanks to their service, these people are now listening to us. God has an amazing foresight and plan. We also met Henry, who not even my companion had met, will be baptized on the 23rd. today was a better day. I still feel stressed, but with the Lord’s help, and a positive attitude, maybe this area will come out ok.” So that’s about how I feel. So if you all will, this week, pray for Viviana and Juan Gabriel, and also for Henry, that would be a real blessing. I just feel the need to take a lot of care of them.

Well this recording is long enough I think. Wow. Almost 20 minutes! So I think I am going to leave it there. I know I haven’t shared much at all haha, but here in Bogotá, living the life, and this will be my last area. I am going to try to leave it with a lot of people to teach and a lot of miracles. The Lord has already shown me a lot of miracles, I have really been coming to know my Savior and as I have taught other people I have realized that sometimes in the mission you feel like you have progressed a lot, other times you feel like you haven’t changed. I think it’s a mix of the two things. I do think I have been able to change and I am relying on the Lord to be able to retain that change and continue to change. This week we will be going to Bucaramanga, on Thursday in the morning, we will be going to see an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, Elder Stevenson. I am so excited to go do that. It’s the first time I’ve met an Apostle, and I am looking to receive a witness from the Lord about the Apostles. I know that He will give it to me. I am looking to prepare myself this week as President Laney has instructed us, to repent and to prepare. So I will be looking to do that this week.

Well family, I sure love you a lot, and a shout out, tomorrow is Michael’s birthday, and Friday, I think it was, was Grandpa’s birthday. I forgot on Monday between all the change and transfers and everything forgot to wish him a happy birthday. So if you guys would wish Grandpa a Happy Birthday from me. And Michael, Happy Birthday tomorrow. I sure love you. I look forward to talking to you all here in a couple of hours. I love you all and let me know if there is something that I can do for you guys, alright? Let me know if there is something that you guys want me to bring back from Colombia. Alright? Well, love you so much, talk to you later. Chao!

-Elder Lewis

Mission Tour with Elder Zivic, Elder Lewis is the last on the back row, far right. 

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

Week 89: Fotos de Familias Especial y Precioso con Elder Lewis

Note from Jessica: Another week where the technology in Colombia didnt cooperate. But that's ok! enjoy the pictures!

This is the Familia Salazar. Bryam, Victoria, and Alberto, respectivally. I really love this family. We have exhausted ourselves trying to help them accept the gospel for the last four months, but now they are moving to Bogotá, and then later the US. Alberto is an ex venezuelan military officer, Helicopter pilot, and a host of other things jaja!

Luz fuentes and her daughter. Another family that I really love. We´re teaching them, and I´ve been tutoring her daughter in English, and guess what? They´re progressing, and she got an almost perfect score on her English test:)

Week 88: The Miracles of Miriam and Isabella

HEY!!!!

Well, it’s been another week here in Cucuta. We are walking right now to the internet so sorry if this sound quality isn’t that good. But this week has had a couple of miracles in it. I guess it was Wednesday that we went to an investigator that we have, her name is Miriam. She and her family have been listening to us for awhile now. Their traditions are Catholic, actually, they both have money that they have made selling beaded necklaces that they use to pray, they are called Rosarios. Also, statues of the Virgin Mary and the Saints. If you don’t know about that tradition, just ask Conrad. He will know. Los Santos. So their traditions are pretty set in. But we have had a lot of success with them lately, they have been reading, or listening to the Book of Mormon actually, I gave them my USB to listen to the Book of Mormon. So we went, and it was Miriam, who is kind of a large lady, and has had a couple of accidents where she has fallen down getting in and out of the house. So she was, I guess, walking through the outdoor patio which a lot of houses have here, and she fell and she hurt her back, her pelvis, and her head and when we got there she was in bed. So they just said: “hey, let’s just leave her alone for today.” And so we shared a message with the rest of the family, then afterwards we felt like we should offer to give her a blessing. So we went into her room and there she was actually sitting in a chair, but just like… I don’t know. You could see that she was in a lot of pain. But we talked to her and said: “hi, how are you?” and she said: “I’m really sad. It just hurts a lot. My pelvis, my back, and my head.” More than anything, I would imagine that she was just frustrated that she had fallen again. It’s frustrating when we have a physical disability because of a fall. It’s a hard thing to get over emotionally as well. So we went in and said: “Miriam, would you like a blessing?” and she said yes. I had actually given her a blessing a little while ago with Elder Prestwich. So my companion anointed her and I gave her a blessing. But before that I asked her: “Miriam, do you believe that we possess the Priesthood Authority of God?” and she said yes. “Miriam, do you believe that Jesus Christ can heal you?” she said yes. I said ok. I gave her the blessing and it felt right to just tell her “according to your faith, be healed.” Well, those were the words that were said, then we left. As we left, somebody came out of the house and they always give us food to eat. They said “hey come back, come and eat leftovers from lunch with us!” and we said that we had an appointment at 7, but we will come back. So we came back at 8 o’clock and there was Miriam, in front of her house. I went up to her and she looked up at me and said “you lifted me up.” That’s how she said it exactly. Then she starts to cry. Tears just came out. I sat down right by her and said: “Miriam, you know that it wasn’t us.” and she said “I know. I know that Jesus Christ put his hands on my head through you.” It was just really a sweet moment.

Later on in the week we showed her the video “How to find faith in Christ”. We talked about the miracles of Christ and afterwards we talked about the Priesthood Authority and invited her to be baptized along with Luis, her husband. Now she still doesn’t want to commit to being baptized because of the traditions of her family. She says that she would have to get the whole family together and discuss it. Well, they’re very Catholic. I said: “ok, but Miriam, what greater sign can you have from God?” and she said “I know.” So that was a cool experience this week, I am very grateful that God has trusted us with his Priesthood Authority to be able to bless his children. And honestly, through it, the feeling that I felt going in to give that blessing was that the Lord simply wanted to heal her. This is the second blessing that we have given her that has worked. But this one was a little bit….i don’t want to say more effective, but it was more… it had a little bit more impact. She was really in a bad way. And we came back the next day and she was out actually visiting another neighbor that was sick. Imagine that. The day before she couldn’t even walk. I am a witness that the Priesthood Authority is real. I am a witness that Jesus wants to love us and has a great desire to heal us but the best healing that can take place is Spiritual Healing. In Preach my Gospel it says that to be forgiven of your sins is to be healed spiritually. Thus, the Doctrine of Christ: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Laying on of Hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end for a remission of our sins. These are the feelings that we need to have. We are trying to help them receive that healing.

Another cool thing that happened this week was with Isabella. Isabella, we were actually teaching a couple of references from Jairo, and she kinda peeked her head through the window a couple of months ago and was listening to us, and then we started teaching her. Now we are not teaching them, because they weren’t progressing (they liked to go out and party more than anything) So we started with her, and then she separated from her boyfriend I think it is, she is 17 and pregnant and she lives in a little house flat, and she takes care of her younger siblings while her older siblings and her mom are working all day every day. So it’s really been cool to teach her because in some ways we’re teaching her and some ways she is teaching us. She reads the Book of Mormon with incredible clarity, It’s not even hard to teach her because whenever we ask her to read she can give us a full on recount of the story of Nephi the first time we came. She told us that she felt like the first time that she saw us, she felt like she knew us from somewhere else. Especially my companion. She said “I felt like I knew you from somewhere else…” Also some of the people from the ward. She said that when she came to church with all of her little siblings, and she came with a small army of little kids, like 5 little kids, with Jairo. She said that “when Elder (?) taught, Elder Prestwich’s companion, I felt this burning and it wasn’t painful… but wow. Why do I feel like that?” It was really cool. So she is becoming converted at 17 years old, even thought she is going to have a child, She’s more adult than I think I am. We have to have permission from her mom to be able to baptize her. Which shouldn’t be a problem, we have actually talked to her mom one time. So we are hoping that will come to pass as well, so that they can repent and come unto Christ.

There are many miracles that happen. I know from my own weaknesses that we are not in this fight alone. I know that the Lord orchestrates the way that he does things absolutely perfectly. Being on the mission has put me in a place to know that and it makes me want to try to put myself in his hands as often as I can. Even if it means not completing his plan, because God’s plan is going to be completed whether by me or by someone else. But really, it’s for me to decide if I want to see miracles. If I want to be the means by which someone can see a miracle, even if that miracle is little or if it’s being completely converted to the gospel. Miracles do happen. They are brought to pass by him. Jesus of Nazareth still does miracles, even to this day.

Have a great week! Chao!

-Elder Lewis

The view from the roof of my apartment. It has an open patio in the back, and I can climb the wall. All of those trees are tropical fruit trees! Mango, Coconut, Mandarina, Star fruit:=)

 

This is Elder Goncalves modeling one of the two new additions to my bolivar bag collection! This one featuring bills of 100, 50, and 1000 jaja!

Week 87: "As Zion's Youth in Latter-Days..." (and Mother's day call report)

Note from Jessica: We got a chance to chat with Elder Lewis via skype for the last time in his mission on Sunday. He is looking great, happy, and dedicated to the work in Cucuta. We had a great time talking and listening as he bore a powerful testimony of the work in Colombia and Venezuela. He is, as always, true to the faith and sends his love to everyone. -The Lewis family

Hey!

So this week has been a little bit more of the same, like I told you yesterday…By the way, it was really fun to talk to you guys yesterday. It’s good to know that you are doing well, and the whole family looks different! The craziest was Michael! Crazy alto! He’s really tall! Bekah as well. I dunno, you all just looked really good. I hope you are all feeling good. Mike, you’re about done with your Junior year, moving into being a Senior…. And time is moving right on!

This week on my end, not a whole lot has happened. We fasted two weeks ago, and we fasted this week as well to try and help our investigators to progress. We have seen a couple of miracles from that I think. Isabella, who is reading the Book of Mormon like you wouldn’t believe, she’s 17 years old and she is pregnant. We are teaching her and her family but up till right now it’s been her that has been most interested. Her boyfriend or her husband isn’t really that interested. He is more interested in going out to drink and party. So they separated, for family problems, and looks like she will be able to progress now. It’s hard when you are 17, and you’re going to be a mother, and…. I don’t know. I feel like they still want to do teenager things. But we are going to try and help her as much as we can. That’s how it is. People make mistakes. Pretty bad mistakes. But they will get worse if they don’t start living the commandments NOW. That’s our mission with her and her family. Her family is not really that interested. We are going to keep trying. We have been trying to work with the members more lately, the young men have actually really stepped up and have been giving us good references. Sure is cool to go out with young men, teacher, priest age and they give us good references. It’s just the people that they have talked to. They aren’t even good friends of theirs, just like “it’s my friend’s mom that found out that I was Mormon and she asked me about it so I want you guys to come over with me and visit her.” That’s really cool! We are going to try to start working more with the young people. They’ve been encouraging us to stop using as much… like if a young man has a problem or a young man needs fellowshipping, then we should go to the President of the Teacher’s Quorum, not the President of the Young Men. The President of the Teacher’s Quorum has Priesthood Keys, so what are we doing going to the Young Men’s President when he is just an advisor? So, they told us that from the Stake. So its’ really cool when you go up to a young man and say: “Hey, President, I need your help with a young man” how they really step up and they help. The youth of the church are amazing! It’s funny because here in Cucuta, this is like, they are starting up the second generation of the church. The first generation is getting older and they are about ready to pass the torch to the next generation. So they are telling us, “hey, we are not good leaders. We didn’t have the gospel when we were young. But these kids have the gospel while they are young, so help them become good leaders.” So we win because we get references and GREAT fellowshipping, and they win because they get to learn how to lead and how to really care about someone else. So it’s a really good situation.

Let’s see… we have really just been learning the value of references, or referrals. We are also teaching an English class, and I want to start a piano class because I think I could bring some people in for that. But ya… that’s about it for this week. Ilvanis, we have been able to talk to her husband, Richard, a little bit more this week. We are hoping to continue. There’s not a whole lot else. This week we have a good bunch of stuff planned, so we’re looking good. Well, what else can I tell ya? I think that’s my recording for today. Today for P-day we went up into the remote parts of our area up past La Conquista to go and see what the countryside is like. The countryside is actually pretty desert-y. Where inside the city is green you would think it would be like a jungle outside, but there’s patches the size of your house out there. It’s a green desert. It’s really weird. Maybe I will show you pictures. Before, that’s what all of Cucuta was like. Frank was telling us that when he was a kid, you had to go from one place to another with a machete. Not because of thick forest, but because of thick, thick brush. Not brush, it’s like foliage. It’s not like jungle-y it’s just thick. Thick green desert. I’ll have to send you pictures. But I cant even imagine trying to get through that.

Well, I think that’s all for today. We went to the house of Frank and ate arepas reginas, you take arepas like normal, and like a BLT with arepas. I will have to make it for you when I get home. But ya, I have learned how to make Venezuelan arepas. Really good.

Well family, I will let you go then. I love you all and it was good to see you yesterday. Have a great week. Chao!

-Elder Lewis

Elder Lewis and the zones of Cúcuta at Multi-Zone conference. 

Elder Lewis showed us (his family) this photo on our video call yesterday. The mountains that you see in the background are the city of Ureña, Venezuela. the distance from where Elder Lewis stands at the top of this hill to those mountains is only about 15 minutes by car. 

Week 86: The Death of the Fan

Note from Jessica: Elder Lewis' recording didn't transfer this week, so we have some pictures this time and probably a 2 for1 next week, along with a Mother's Day call report. Stay Tuned, and enjoy!

Bolivar Bag!

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"because the money is worth less than the paper it's printed on..." 

In memory of our beloved fan... Delgadito. Fallecido a las 2:40 de la madrugada, 7 de mayo, 2018...

We woke up to hear our faithful fan dying in the middle of the night and smelling burnt plastic. 

Worse was the prospect of sleeping without a fan... 

That moment when you come back to the house at 1:00 in the afternoon to finish weekly planning, and you both have to hang up your shirt to dry...

Week 85: Cultivating the Heart of a Servant in El Salado

Hey!

So this week has gone really well. We started out the week with Elder Prestwich because Elder Gulla, the… how do you say it… the Filipino, went to Bucaramanga. We had transfers this last week and we were with him for the first part of the week and we enjoyed getting to know his investigators. Had a good time, I don't know what else to say about that haha. But then on, I think on Thursday, we went to the terminal to pick up his new companion who is actually DUN-DUN-DUN-DUUUUUN! (fanfare sound) Venezuelan. He is a Venezuelan that came over here, to Colombia, he went to Cali, which is a city in… well it's pretty dang far away from here. As I understand, it is one the west side of Colombia. He passed through Cucuta on his way there, so he already knows Cucuta pretty well haha. So it was just funny. His name is Elder Mayér. And he is a good guy.

So then we got to work on our area uninterrupted for a couple of days and then one day, I think it was on Friday, or maybe Thursday, (even though I battled a migraine on Thursday and then going to the terminal doesn't help because it's so chaotic…) Cucuta's bus terminal is ridiculous. It's like that movie you've seen… I dunno. So chaotic. If you aren't careful, you're going to get run over. So that didn't help my migraine. Later that day, we were gonna go contact in an area called Panamericano. Our area is a series of like 3 hills. On the other side of one hill, if you stand on the top of the hill, you see the city of Ureña. Ureña is in Venezuela. Our area borders Venezuela, and there is a part down below called El Salado that we felt inspired to go to. It's right on the border with Venezuela. We went down and we knocked on a house, and nothing happened. We went to the next house and they said to come in. so we went in and shared a message with 6 people and we have had the determination to be more in touch with our investigators this week, more constantly, so that they can stay progressing. So we went back a couple of days later to see how they were and found that they had already been sharing it with their family and friends and coworkers. So it was really good. They are a really good family. We should have some good news with them. We are going to try to stay in contact with them every day. But as I have tried to keep in contact more with my investigators, I come to love them more. There are sometimes when you don't get around to seeing your investigators for like 3-4 days between appointments. So, you just need to hit them up with a call, or go see how they are, you just need to go be in contact with them. We have seen a lot of miracles from that. We have seen miracles from reading Preach My Gospel. But ya, we found the familia Puerto, like Puerto Rico. 

Well, today for P-Day we went to a place called Calobos (?), and we played soccer. Then, half way through we started playing American Football, because Elder Wood brought his American Football, so we enjoyed a little game of two-hand-touch. It was fun! My companion was just about dying because he hadn't played football in a transfer, but he is alright. He is functioning again haha. He had a shot of football, so we're good. Haha.

I am very happy to be here in Aeropuerto. Very grateful to see the progress of our investigators, like we had another family, her name is Rosemarie, and his name is Luis, and they are kind of older, and they don't read very well, so we downloaded the Book of Mormon on my USB drive, and dropped it by their house. They have been listening to it non-stop for the last couple of days. So we are super excited about that. I am just so happy to be here. I just hope that President leaves me here for awhile. They made me District Leader again, which is a great opportunity, I was reminded how it was being a Zone Leader last night when I was making all the phone calls, when I was filling out the call-in reports, and I am really happy to be a District Leader because I learned a lot from being a Zone leader, but now I get to apply it with a smaller group of missionaries. So I am really excited about that. We are going to see what we can do.

Let's see… what else… Frank made an amazing dish the other day. It was funny because we got there a little early so that we could see him make it, and it was like pork with mango, with pepper and onion and just a ton of salsa. It was SO GOOD. I found out that he is actually not coming to the United States this year, because the missionary that baptized him invited him to go to Barranquilla to see the new temple dedicated here in December. So he is going to go do that in place of going to the United States. But he is going to come the next year is what he says. I guess we will save him a place at the table for Thanksgiving or something like that. I just know that it is his dream to see Christmas in the United States.

Well, that's all for my report today. I am grateful for you guys, I heard that the play was a hit, so congratulations with that, I know that makes a great difference in the lives of those kids. If nothing else, to see something well done through hard work and the effort. That's something that I really appreciate about my family, is that when they do things, they don't just do them halfway. I am trying to learn how to do that myself. What else can I tell you… I'm not sure what you guys want to hear from my recordings…I don't know if I am telling you what you want to hear or whether I am missing the mark completely, so tell me. I am grateful for all of you. What I have learned this week is about the patience that Christ has with all of us, that He has had with me and not given up on me in these two years. I am starting to be a different person because of it. May we never give up on a worthy cause. Somewhere deep inside me the Lord saw someone who could be a good missionary, and He has been very patient with me and allowed me to become a better missionary; and will continue to be patient with me as long as my transformation process takes. I know that extends beyond the mission, so we have no reason to think that it stops right there.

Well family, I love you guys a lot. There wasn't much in this recording, but I love you. I love my Savior. I love this Gospel. I also love Colombia with all my heart. I am grateful for everything. Talk to you later then. Chao!

-Elder Lewis