Week 18: Goodbye Elder Zuniga, Living for Law and/or Principle

Hola! This week has been pretty good! Elder Zuniga has left, right now I am in my area, in Bucarica, but I am with Elder Aguilar. So after we are done, we are going to the bus terminal to pick up my new companion, Elder Hildebrandt. It’s weird, he's from Peru, but he has a Gringo name (pronounced in Spanish EEL-DAY-BRAN, pronounced in English: HILL-DUH-BRANT) I am gonna start from the beginning of the week.

Last time I recorded I realized that I sounded really depressed. To some extent that has been true. Last week was really hard. But I want you all to know that I am happy and healthy. That there are always good things that happen. A couple of weeks ago we went out to Santisimo, which if you remember the Christos in Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, its kind like that. I will send pictures next week. I don’t have my camera, and Zuniga has the cable (I was using his) So I need to go get one of those. Anyway, that was really cool. You have to walk a trail a little bit and then you have to take a cable car and its CLEAR up a mountain and a lot of jungle. Then when you get up there, (we went at night, we shifted our P-Day over) so our Zone went up there, and it was really cool. First of all, it’s a big tourist thing. There’s music, a light show and fountains, kinda like at City Creek but with a lot more lights and water, and a 200 foot tall statue of Christ looking over Bucaramanga, and you can take an elevator up the back of the statue and look out over Bucaramanga. There are also lookouts down lower. I got some cool pictures of the city at night. It was SUPER fun. Then, fast forward to this last Monday, we kinda just prepared for Zuniga to leave. Not a lot more than that. Tuesday and Wednesday, Zuniga was sick. The last little bit of his mission, his stomach decided “No more. I’m done.” Funny story: So Monday, we were invited over to Hermano Cuadros’ house for almuerzo. It was goat with rice and meat in it. Saturday, Zuniga told me what the meat was. Come to find out, there was intestine, stomach, etc. We are NOT supposed to eat that. It can make gringos REALLY sick. But Zuniga told me “nothing has made you sick so far, so I kinda wanna see if you die…” I thought “Gee thanks…” But I ate that and I was just fine, so Zuniga tells me that I can handle anything.

So Thursday, we had a really stinkin’ good day as far as lessons and everything. We got a couple new investigators. It was good day. We had a lesson that was really interesting. With the familia Bautista, Larice is a recent convert, and her non-member daughter Angie that we are teaching. When you baptize someone, you have to teach them all the lessons over again. We were in the process of doing that, and Angie wanted to know more. Then, her niece Paola came over and we shared a message with her. Then a friend came over, Andrea, and we were teaching about the Book of Mormon, because Angie wasn’t reading. Andrea then came out of the kitchen, and she said, “Ok, ok, ok, wait, I want to know more.” So we taught her lesson one. Our original plan was to teach the word of wisdom, but we went in there and Angie’s boyfriend was sooooo smashed. When he is sober he is pretty quiet, but when he is drunk he is not. He speaks pretty good English, but when he is drunk he uses a lot of movie quotes like “I’ll be back…”  Anyway, we started teaching the first lesson to Andrea, and he was so interested and ready to go.  But he got confused really fast. Like teaching a 5 year old. Big, big guy smashed out of his gourd. I don’t want to say smashed, because that sounds mean. I do love him. He got really confused and at one point he asked us “wait wait wait, so Joseph Smith is God?!” We had to clarify that that definitely was not the case. But we really enjoyed our lesson with Andrea.

Friday, we had a few lessons, and then Saturday, we cleaned the house. It was kind of a slow day like they are before a change. We had to go buy Zuniga a new suit because he ripped his. Sunday, we had stake conference that was really spiritual, then Sunday night Elder Zuniga left. That was really hard because I really do love him. Its hard when you get really close to someone, where you are together 24/7, times when you get along and when you fight… he’s like a best friend to me. So I stayed with the Elders in La Cumbre, the next area over, last night and it was kinda sketchy. Kinda sucky. I didn’t enjoy that. I like being in my apartment. I feel like this has become my home in Colombia. I feel the weight in having to direct this area now, so I could use your prayers. I feel like everything is on my shoulders, and its partially true. Keep praying for me!

I received my first letters from home this week. From Mary and Kory, and another one from the Sunday School class from DaNeel Norr. The reason why things take so long to get here is that they search everything. It takes awhile. So quit sending the drugs….. just kidding haha.

The letter that Samuel sent me sure made me feel good. It was a picture of me with my arms open and him running towards me with my nametag. It said “I cant wait for you to come home!” You can ask Zuniga, I just about cried. It was really great. I felt very good. Also, all the letters were fantastic. I laughed really hard at Kory’s. I will write them and give them my thanks. It sure kept me happy.

As far as more of the work goes, Christian and Miladys will be baptized this Saturday, and I will have the pleasure of doing that. It was going to be a couple weeks ago, but it didn’t work. But I will baptize, and my new companion will maybe confirm. I believe they are truly ready and I am excited. The work of God goes on. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. I know that to be true.

I have some thoughts on Laman and Lemuel for this week. I have been praying about it and the spirit really brought understanding to my mind. Awhile back we had a training by one of the area seventy, and he talked about living for law or principle. And it talked about why we do things. Living for law is doing it because its what you are supposed to do. Living for principle is doing it because you have searched for the reason why and you know the blessings you might receive. So the question is… which one are we blessed for? The answer?... both. We are blessed for law and principle. The difference is that we will never be happy unless we live for principle. You can live for law and do the things you should, but you will never be happy doing them until you live for principle and know the reason why you are doing them. I believe that this is what Laman and Lemuel didn’t do right. They knew what was right and they went along, but eventually that wasn’t enough. They needed to do as Nephi did. They needed to ask. At the time that they left Jerusalem, where were Nephi, Laman, and Lemuels faith? They were exactly the same. The difference is that while Laman and Lemuel followed anyway, and that’s good because it saved them from destruction, but Nephi asked for answers for himself. He exercised faith. Nephi’s faith grew, While Laman and Lemuel’s stayed stagnant. We know that if we don’t exercise our faith, it gets weaker. So, they lived only for law. They received the same blessing in that they weren’t destroyed with Jerusalem. But Nephi was blessed more even in that he received glorious things from God. He even had the faith, when they went back to Jerusalem, to chop off Laban’s head. I don’t think we appreciate how hard that was for him. Even in ancient Jerusalem, that wasn’t normal. I think sometimes that we forget that. So Laman and Lemuel allowed their faith to be stagnant, so it slipped back until finally, they lost it. That is the difference. We need to obey, but we should also seek out the reason why. Not “why are you making me do this?” but rather “what mercy are you extending to me, Lord, by asking me to obey this commandment?”. Then shall we be blessed. Then the gospel will be sweet. Living for law, eventually, will not be enough.

So after that I will bear my testimony. I know the church is true. I know that God gives us commandments because he loves us. I know that if we will ask him the reasons why with real intent to follow, he will bless us infinitely. Not only will we be saved from destruction, but also we will be happy. This is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and He is the head of it. I know that with all of my heart. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. It was translated by a man named Joseph Smith who was chosen to restore this gospel in its entirety. Today we are lead by Thomas Spencer Monson, who receives revelation from God, along with the quorum of the 12, the quorums of the 70, and all other leaders. This is the kingdom of God. I know these things, and I extend an invitation, if you are living for law: If you are not obeying, start now. If you have to live for law for awhile, DO IT. Put the Lord to the test. See what living his commandments will do for you and your family. Secondly, if you are obeying the law, have the faith and take the time to ask why. Exercise your faith. Talk to Heavenly Father and he will answer you. Be willing to act on that answer. If you are living both these things, continue, endure, and enjoy to the end. I share these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love you all so much.

Elder Lewis

Week 17: Trials of Faith

Hola! This week has been a little bit of a rough one. First of all, we thought that we were going to be able to baptize Christian and Miladys, but that didn’t end up working out. We will baptize them on the 21st, or at least that is the plan. Just a couple of frustrating things happened that weren’t necessarily their fault. A lot of things have happened this week that were very sad, but also some that were very encouraging. First of all, we had 18 lessons this week, we are getting better, and we will keep climbing. The mission wants us to focus more on lessons with members rather than investigators right now. So were working with that. It’s slow going. I have been saying that tough things have happened this week and its true. We have certainly seen the power of the Devil in Bucarica. I had an experience that I would have liked not to have had; I really hated this experience. We had a recent convert of probably about 10 months apostatize. When we stop living the commandments we forget things, and it gives the Devil room to work. This was the case. but… I don’t know. I really saw the importance of keeping the commandments and reading our scriptures all the time to guard against the attacks. She had just given up. She let her faith weaken to the point where the lightest wind blew her over. We went in her home and started teaching a lesson about Sabbath Day observance, something common that we teach less actives, this is a referral from the ward counsel. We went in and started to teach her this and she stopped us and tells us basically that she wasn’t convinced anymore that she had felt something. Then she started to throw some insults at us. Some pretty hard things and low blows with no foundation. I am not going to get specific, but as things went on, basically she said that she would return to the church but right now she felt that she couldn’t. My companion, filled with the spirit, told her that if she doesn’t return now, if she doesn’t read her scriptures and return to the church now, that she never will. I know this to be true. And a couple minutes later, she told us that she doesn’t believe that Christ is the head of this church. In that moment, the spirit left. It was offended and we were instructed to bear our testimonies, call to repentance, and leave. I’ve never seen such pride. She didn’t care. This is salvation for heavens sakes! It made me so sad and so sick. I really had a hard time. When we left I felt like sitting on the curb and crying. She said the thing that pushed her over was that the members weren’t “doing things well”, that the members didn’t live what they preach. That is NEVER an excuse. That is a lack of testimony because people with a testimony know that this is not the church of the Bishop, they find excuses and this is the most common one. So they leave, some never to come back. This was super hard. I hesitate to share this with you, because I don’t want you to think that everything is bad, because its not. There are good things every day. Lots of good lessons, and lots of good people. This is just one of those experiences that I would like not to have had.

After that, feeling as down as we did, we went to another less actives home and same situation. “I have been offended by the members”. Me and Elder Zuniga and Hermano Cuadros, he saw it in our faces. “No. Not again. Not another one.” But this time, she was open. She was open to the spirit, she was open to our teaching, but more importantly open to the Spirit. A NIGHT AND DAY DIFFERENCE. I felt the spirit filter back into my heart from the previous experience. Like a sunrise. It filled me. It made me really appreciate it, because without the spirit I couldn’t do anything but despair. Those are strong words, but I am only describing what I felt. So that night ended pretty well. It was an experience unlike anything Elder Zuniga had had, and it was certainly something that I had never experienced. It was tough because it piled up. We were supposed to have a baptism that day and then at the time we were supposed to have the baptism that lesson with that inactive went down… It was certainly not the way that we had expected to feel that day. BUT we are looking forward to a good week with goals and making Elder Zuniga’s last week in the field a good one.

SO I have been doing the Book of Mormon challenge with you guys in Spanish. I am just a little bit behind because there are other things that I have to study, but I’m not too far, one or two chapters. I just want to share my feelings about how important this is. That we not let this opportunity, this family book of Mormon reading pass us by. It’s so important. We have set our hand at the plow. If we look back, the Devil will have the power to stop us. Don’t let it happen. Don’t give him an inch. Please. I’m just tired of watching it happen to people. I know it wont happen to you. I know you are all stronger than that. I know that this is something that you are in it to do, and you will do it. And I know for a fact, that as I live and as God lives, that you will be blessed through this. (Explanation: The Davis branch of Elder Lewis' family has begun a 90 day Book of Mormon Challenge, where we read the Book of Mormon in 90 days start to finish. We read scheduled chapters together throughout the week and discuss once a week as a larger family. It has been a great experience, and we challenge all of you reading this blog to gather your families and do the same. It will bless your lives and bring your families together through the truths of the Gospel.)  

My message is guard always from the attacks of Satan. He is constantly on each one of us. Especially those that are trying. Be strong you guys.

On a bit of a lighter note, we had a lunch today with Hermano Cuadros, He is just a wonderful member (If and when I come back to Colombia someday after my mission, he’s one of the people I want to visit.) He gave us Almuerzo, (Here that is bigger than dinner.) We were eating goat. It tasted like lamb. It was SUPER GOOD. The thing about Colombians is that when they say “do you want a little more?” be careful what you answer because I said yes and she gave me a full plate again if not more. I walked out of there barely able to walk. We called a taxi to take us home because I was dubious about whether or not I was going to be able to do it!

The Spanish is coming along well, there’s a scale that the mission uses to describe where we are at, it’s a scale of 1 to 6, 1 being able to say a couple of words, 6 being able to communicate confidently. I am at a 4 right now, I am able to communicate, I am able to have a conversation about myself, basic business, make telephone calls fairly easily, etc. There’s an Elder, Elder Robinson, that’s in La Cumbre, the area over from us, he is one transfer behind me and he is closing the gap. Right now he is understanding 50% of what he hears, right now I am able to understand almost everything I hear. There is still a lot of slang and stuff I am still picking up, but everything I read is in Spanish, and its kinda funny because me and Elder Zuniga and I will switch into Spanish and its kinda weird because I don’t even realize I am speaking Spanish. I am by no means fluent, but I am getting that way more and more everyday.

Looking forward to this next week, I hope you all are doing well. I got some great letters from you all, keep sending them! I really enjoy them. They lift my spirits. I love you all, and I hope you have a great week WITH ALL THAT SNOW! It’s nothing but green here J I’ll have to take pictures. Super pretty. Anyway, love you all and talk to you all next week. Ciao!

Week 16: Exciting News in the New Year!

Hola! Como estan? This week has been very good. I have some great news! Christian and Miladys are going to be baptized this Saturday! We didn’t expect that. We were actually on “inter-cambios” (Missionary Exchanges, So Elder Lewis had a different companion for the day) what happened was that Elder Robinson and Elder Zuniga visited them on Tuesday and taught them a bit and then Christian asked when they could be baptized. Elder Zuniga was going to ask that but she asked first. We had previously scheduled to do the baptism on February 4^th because of some paperwork for a divorce. But they are ready now. Elder Zuniga said “we can do it tonight. We can do it right now. We can teach while we are walking.”(We had two more lessons to teach) I can’t explain the joy that fills my heart as I think about them joining the church. They are perfect investigators. They read the Book of Mormon. They know its true and they let nothing stop them. So, that was one of the best parts of the week. I might have just screamed in my head like a little girl when Elder Zuniga told me they were going to be baptized. They are great investigators and have already given us tons of referrals. We are going to teach their family, so that’s really good!

In other news, New Years was very interesting. We went over to a members house in La Cumbre  and La Cumbre is up on a mountain. It’s a mountain literally. We took a taxi there and this taxi was driving up this road and I kid you not, this was a 45 degree angle or worse. I thought we were going to fall back and roll down the hill. But we went to the members house and the houses are built on a hill. They are kind of stacked on top of each other. Anyway, we had a great time. I actually learned some Latin dancing, and that was really fun. Its kind of funny, they were teasing Elder Leiffer, Elder Robinson and me with “No Tenemos Sabor!” which means you don’t have “flavor”. We were gringos. But by the end they said that I had “Sabor”. So there’s that. They actually said that I had rhythm, I was really proud of that.

When we returned to the house, man, it was a panorama of fireworks at midnight. Super cool fireworks. SUPER LOUD. We have 2 bars right down the street from us blasting music, and cars with subwoofers blasting music. So we didn’t sleep much. I don’t know what was more impressive, the dancing, the fireworks, or the next morning, it was still going on. There were some guys singing at the top of their lungs till 9. Sometimes the Barrachos, The drunks, their friends are real jerks and they get the drunkest guy in the group to do something dumb like go sing to a random lady or something. It was interesting to watch…. We could hear the belching from down the street… on the third floor with windows closed… It was interesting. Everyone in the neighborhood, and Colombia it seemed, tuned in to the same countdown, and when it reached midnight, HUGE panorama of fireworks. Since we were on the third floor we could see them all. It was cool.

Gracias Todos, Big things next week! I love you all, have a great week and a happy New Year!

-Elder Lewis

Week 15: Merry Christmas/ Feliz Navidad from Elder Lewis!

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope you had a fun and safe holiday. We got the privilege of talking with Elder Lewis for quite some time on Christmas day. He is happy, healthy, and safe and loving the work of the gospel. He sends his love to all of his family and friends that read the blog. Here is some of what he had to say about it, and below are some pictures that he sent: 

About talking to the family on Christmas: I really enjoyed talking to you all, It seems like everything is going well. I am praying for you, Dad, for your surgery on Tuesday, but I have confidence in Dr. Murphy. I am not worried about it. Cici and Carson have sure grown up. Carson is a big chunk of man! He’s a big kid! He also has a lot of hair too. I also really enjoyed talking with Conrad in Spanish. That was a real treat for me. I was super excited about that. Also, Andy and Carol it was good seeing you guys and your kids. You seem like you are doing great. You deserve that! Thank you all for singing O Holy Night for me last night for two reasons, One, Colombians don’t really have a sense of pitch whatsoever at all. Great rhythm, just no pitch haha so it was really nice to hear your voices. That sounds really conceited…. But one thing is that when they sing here they sure mean it. The other thing was the message of the song. I sure do appreciate that message more than I ever have as I come to know my Savior.

Elder Lewis talking in Spanish with his brother in law, Conrad on Christmas Day. 

(Jared's Spanish is getting very good, and very fast!) 

Details about P-Day and the pictures included in the blog today: Today we went out for our p-day on a really old bus. There was an old lady who didn’t know how to drive it. A couple missionaries wanted to kick her out of the seat and drive it, but we aren’t allowed. So we had to push it at least 85 times. Then it stalled going up a hill. Eventually we made it up the hill to where we were going. In the picture you see a house, that’s the house of the people that own the land that all the waterfalls are on. You go up to the house and ring the doorbell, and they were home, but they didn’t want to come to the door. So after about a  half an hour we went back down to the bus, where the lady that was driving the bus was using her brakes so much that they started smoking. Some of my mechanic knowledge kicked in and the people thought the engine was blowing up, and I thought “No, its just the brakes, you’re just not sure how to use the bus.” So we pulled off to the side of the road and just leave it for a minute to cool off. While that was happening, by the side of the road there were some little falls, and that’s where all the pictures were from. The other missionaries were too lazy to climb all the rocks haha. But Zuniga and I did. The water, where it pools, is pretty deep and it has a blue tinge to it. Its so green. I don’t know if you consider it jungle, but its so green. Then we came back down and we were tired. We went back to the house for lunch and crashed for awhile and then here I am writing you!

The house described in Elder Lewis' writing

Waterfall

Elder Lewis and the guides and missionaries (blurry but you get the idea)

Elder Lewis 

His New Year’s Message: My message to you all today is this: This time of year is a great time to establish some things that we can do a little better. One thing that I have learned here is that we shouldn’t expect perfection of ourselves. Just try to do a little better every day. A lot of the time I would stress about being a perfect missionary. Elder Zuniga has helped me realize that that isn’t reasonable. That I need to set more reasonable goals. So as you set your New Years resolutions, just do the small things this year. Not this week but in the next month or so, as you start to take down the Christmas decorations, its always a little depressing, but I hope that we never forget Christmas and what it means, and how it brings people together. If we can accomplish being as generous and thoughtful as we tend to be in this season all year around, then we can accomplish great things. Well, I think that’s enough preaching. Love you all and I will talk to you soon!

-Elder Lewis

Week 14: Lead me, guide me, walk beside me, help me find the way....

WHEW! this one is a long one folks, but its great! enjoy!

*ps. The Lewis Family will be speaking LIVE with Elder Lewis via Skype on Christmas Day! SO... nows your chance... want to ask him a question? hows the mission? is is his spanish coming along? whats the food like? etc.... leave it in the comments, and we will read him those questions and get you an answer! 

Its been a great week! Zone Conferences this week, and lessons throughout the week…. Wait there’s a lizard on the wall… Anyway, 3 zones, and had trainings with President Laney and the Zone Leaders. I really learned a lot. And then we taught lessons again. We had a lesson Thursday. We went to the familia Bautista, they are all members except for Angie, and we taught her the plan of Salvation. At the end we challenged her to be baptized. She looked at me with tears in her eyes and said “I would love to, but I sin too much.” She has a little girl and is pregnant, and is living with a guy. He is actually a good guy. So she has some problems. But in that moment, the spirit was in the lesson. Elder Zuniga and I testified with all of our hearts, with all the power of the Spirit that we could muster, that His grace is sufficient. That we cannot go too far and that his arms are always waiting to receive her, but that yes, it might be hard, but it is never too late. And when we testified we truly felt the love of the Savior. She was crying and I was crying. As we did this and closed in the name of the Savior, after a moment of silence, I realized right then that I am powerless to help these people, that it is all in the Savior, that he is all powerful. It is one of my favorite moments when this happens. Next time we will teach her about the 4 principles of the Gospel. I am excited for that.

Friday, we had half the mission come to Bucaramanga, to a chapel that is about ½ an hour away from here. Expensive by taxi. About 1200 Colombian Pesos, which is roughly $4.00. so super cheap, but expensive. We went there and an Area Seventy spoke about living for the principle not for the law. Am I obeying just for the law or am I looking for the principle? We will only be happy if we are living for the principle, doing things for the purpose not the law. The good thing is that even if we are living for law right now, we can find out the reason why. There is always a reason, and when we find out we are grateful, and when we are grateful, we are happy.

After that, we went and played games. I got to see Elder Watts who was in my CCM group, which was super cool because we were both talking in Spanish, which was way more than we could have done a month and a half/ two months ago. Right now, me and Zuniga, who speaks perfect English, we have started to alternate between English and Spanish, and it just kinda happens we don’t even notice it. I have started to screw up my English just a little bit. The other day I was asking somebody where they were from and I said “Que Este.. . Where?” and Zuniga laughed at me and I said “what?” and he said “really?”. I mess up sometimes. Anyway, if you have never played games with a group of Elders and Sisters, its super fun. We also did sketches. Ours was a huge success!  We also did gift exchanges! I got an American Football from Elder Lopez. The thing was that it was double wrapped in tape, so it took me a good 15 minutes to saw it open with my teeth. He was laughing the entire time.  We had a dinner as well, and each zone prepared an American Christmas Carol. After that we all got together in our native nationalities, and we talked about our Christmas traditions. A little trunky, but cool. Then we got gifts from the mission. We got a tie and a hymnbook cover, that is personalized with my name and mission on it and a directory with all the missionaries in the mission on it.

Then Saturday we helped move some things for a member in a store right by our house. Whats nice about living here in Floridablanca, is that there are a lot of things very close. Sunday we went to our meetings and then had a lesson with an Investigator who was having a hard time with her son, and she wasn’t going to celebrate Christmas. Well, we walked in and all her decorations were up! This was kind of an emotional moment. The son was really kinda despondent, he didn’t want to talk a lot, and then Zuniga started joking with him and I chimed in. We taught from Jarom in the Book of Mormon, and Elder Zuniga told him that he wasn’t reading his scriptures, that’s why he had fallen away, after only 6 months from returning from own mission in Bolivia. So we talked to him and I felt the spirit fill me and I talked to him about his mission and what he did. He said I just cant find the motivation to read the scriptures. The spirit is kinda funny, sometimes it prompts you like “say this”, and other times it just takes over and the words just come. This is what happened this time. I talked to him about his mission and how every morning its hard to exercise, and shower because its cold. But in the end it feels so good. But by the next morning, we forget again. And then I asked him “Have you forgotten? Do you believe what you told those people those 2 years? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior?”  He got uncomfortable and said “ok, ok I do believe with all my heart, but when I came back everybody expected me to be some superhero. I just cant live up to that.” So he fell away for a short time. He told us that he was insecure about that. After he said this, it was a moment where we felt “NOW we can help you!”  Now we call him every morning and tell him to get up and read his scriptures. So that was really cool.

We had a lesson with familia Uribe, a couple of cool things happen. First, Sofie, Andres' daughter, (reminds me of Cici), her Spanish is so funny! Anyway, we asked her to say the prayer (she is 2) and she did!  And Andres and Elisa were standing in the doorway, watching her pray, and I know that they felt something because Andres walked back in with tears in his eyes. Anyway, we talked to Hermana Uribe and her daughter about “is the gospel still beautiful to you? Have you forgotten?” and they felt something. We are working with them and are seeing progress. Hermana Uribe is like a mom to me here in Colombia.

Anyway, We will talk to you all on Sunday. Hasta Lluego!

Elder Pace and Elder Lewis