Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Feliz feliz Navidad
My thoughts while reading the letter:
50 years later and Uncle Dave still knows Spanish! I kid. No impressive. Close to errorless. Well done! I hope to be like him!
Oh and props to Danny and Lauren. Called it! And Zach and his BYU squeeze.
I especially enjoyed two phrases that I would have never thought would be said in the same sentence: Party at grandma´s house, and way out of control. Congratulations!
1) Where are you?
Im in Campiña, Suba, Bogota, Colombia! It´s a rockin. Quite possibly the biggest and best ward in Colombia! 250 active poderoso members. I felt like i was back in the states for a little bit with a piano on Sunday and a not-completly tone deft congragation. (p.s. i was wondering how many members are in our ward, people ask me frequently). If I haven’t mentioned before, tis only a very, I mean very select few that can sing here. Therefore, the hymns are a little rough here, but I love it. Anyways, lets talk campiña. Bogota is cold. Basically its late Utah fall right now. I really have no idea what the temperature is because they use Celsius here, and even with celcius, ha I still have no idea. all I know is I sleep with two blankets and my toes are cold most of the day. But I love it. We have a baptism and marriage of a couple this week. Fam Beroy, some allstar missionaries decided baptize the kids of the family ha like 3 between 8-12, instead of actually working and trying to get all the papers ready for there wedding. They´ve been attending church for a year, but nobody before my companion wanted to do the work to get them married, the birth and marriage system in this country is messed, its very hard to get everything ready for a marriage. Anyways, there were two families baptized the week before I came, and one this week, and were working on the papers for another family right now. Its sweet, finally get to work with families, all my investigators before were single. We basically work purely of references here. It’s the best. This past Sunday we went to church and by the end had close to the whole week filled with appointments. Oh and food is a lot better. They actually believe in serving something other then chicken rice and potatoes here. It rocks. There is salad with almost every lunch. FINALLY!
2) Do you have access to phone on Christmas day?
It´s business, it´s business time! So yeah, with much waited adeu, 11:30 utah time, 25 de December. Its on! It’s the final countdown! I´m going to call from an international phone booth. Let´s say we talk 2 hours. It´ll only be twenty bucks. I´m going to ask if I can barrow a phone and call from the apartment, would be better. I´ll email again if im going to do that so you can load up the phone card.
) Will you have access to Skype on Christmas day?
Ahh, we can probably for a little but, but don´t think its possible to do both at the same time. Hablarémos.
4) What time do you think you can call on Christmas day? (Your time)
Its 1:30 my time
5) How much do you weight now? (just thought I would throw that in)
I have no idea, like 185 kg? I´m pretty sure I´ve lost weight the past 3 months. I´ll I really know from whether I'm gaining or loosing weight is from how my belt fits. So I´ve moved two nouches down from where I was when I got here, ha if that’s any help. Everyone tells me that I look older then my photo from my farwell. Don´t know. Probably happened when I turned 20. viejo.
6) How many minutes do you have on you're calling card?
No idea! If I decide to use it, i´ll give you all the information
7) Did you or can you rent a cell phone for Christmas?
I´ll check!
8) Send us your calling card number so we can reload or you can do it and charge to credit card.
Deal!
9) Is there a number that we can call you?
Um you can try our cell phone. If I get back on I´ll send it.
10) How long can you talk, is there a limit imposed by the mission president?
I never heard anything, I think there might be a rule in the mission handbook, haha but i´ll read it after Christmas. I think 2 hrs is good.
Welp, if I forget something. We´ll talk right!!!
Love you all and I´m anticipating the chat very much so! Be ready for my horrible English!
e. adams
50 years later and Uncle Dave still knows Spanish! I kid. No impressive. Close to errorless. Well done! I hope to be like him!
Oh and props to Danny and Lauren. Called it! And Zach and his BYU squeeze.
I especially enjoyed two phrases that I would have never thought would be said in the same sentence: Party at grandma´s house, and way out of control. Congratulations!
1) Where are you?
Im in Campiña, Suba, Bogota, Colombia! It´s a rockin. Quite possibly the biggest and best ward in Colombia! 250 active poderoso members. I felt like i was back in the states for a little bit with a piano on Sunday and a not-completly tone deft congragation. (p.s. i was wondering how many members are in our ward, people ask me frequently). If I haven’t mentioned before, tis only a very, I mean very select few that can sing here. Therefore, the hymns are a little rough here, but I love it. Anyways, lets talk campiña. Bogota is cold. Basically its late Utah fall right now. I really have no idea what the temperature is because they use Celsius here, and even with celcius, ha I still have no idea. all I know is I sleep with two blankets and my toes are cold most of the day. But I love it. We have a baptism and marriage of a couple this week. Fam Beroy, some allstar missionaries decided baptize the kids of the family ha like 3 between 8-12, instead of actually working and trying to get all the papers ready for there wedding. They´ve been attending church for a year, but nobody before my companion wanted to do the work to get them married, the birth and marriage system in this country is messed, its very hard to get everything ready for a marriage. Anyways, there were two families baptized the week before I came, and one this week, and were working on the papers for another family right now. Its sweet, finally get to work with families, all my investigators before were single. We basically work purely of references here. It’s the best. This past Sunday we went to church and by the end had close to the whole week filled with appointments. Oh and food is a lot better. They actually believe in serving something other then chicken rice and potatoes here. It rocks. There is salad with almost every lunch. FINALLY!
2) Do you have access to phone on Christmas day?
It´s business, it´s business time! So yeah, with much waited adeu, 11:30 utah time, 25 de December. Its on! It’s the final countdown! I´m going to call from an international phone booth. Let´s say we talk 2 hours. It´ll only be twenty bucks. I´m going to ask if I can barrow a phone and call from the apartment, would be better. I´ll email again if im going to do that so you can load up the phone card.
) Will you have access to Skype on Christmas day?
Ahh, we can probably for a little but, but don´t think its possible to do both at the same time. Hablarémos.
4) What time do you think you can call on Christmas day? (Your time)
Its 1:30 my time
5) How much do you weight now? (just thought I would throw that in)
I have no idea, like 185 kg? I´m pretty sure I´ve lost weight the past 3 months. I´ll I really know from whether I'm gaining or loosing weight is from how my belt fits. So I´ve moved two nouches down from where I was when I got here, ha if that’s any help. Everyone tells me that I look older then my photo from my farwell. Don´t know. Probably happened when I turned 20. viejo.
6) How many minutes do you have on you're calling card?
No idea! If I decide to use it, i´ll give you all the information
7) Did you or can you rent a cell phone for Christmas?
I´ll check!
8) Send us your calling card number so we can reload or you can do it and charge to credit card.
Deal!
9) Is there a number that we can call you?
Um you can try our cell phone. If I get back on I´ll send it.
10) How long can you talk, is there a limit imposed by the mission president?
I never heard anything, I think there might be a rule in the mission handbook, haha but i´ll read it after Christmas. I think 2 hrs is good.
Welp, if I forget something. We´ll talk right!!!
Love you all and I´m anticipating the chat very much so! Be ready for my horrible English!
e. adams
Monday, December 14, 2009
Benchmarks this week
1. Finished 6 months in the mission. Wow, and based on how fast this last change went, I’ll be finished before I know it. Sacres me how fast time passes.
2. I turned 20, thus im half way to 40. Wow. Vejito.
3. I’m not going to experience my first transfer.
Thanks so much for all the love that I found in my email box this afternoon, filled with birthday salutations. I’m pretty sure I have the best family ever. I would love to send you all indvidual thank yous, but consider this like a mass text message you think is just for you!
Note: I’m sorry, I really don’t know how to talk normal in English anymore. In Spanish, many words are similar to words in English, but they are words we don´t use as often, such as, salutations. So if you feel like I talk in 1900’s English, that’s probably why.
It really is when you don’t expect change, it happens. I was pretty positive I had one more change here in Central. but, I was wrong. tomorrow, I’m Bogota bound. Its in a zone called Suba, and the name of my area is called Campiña. It was the second area of E. Moreno, my companion right now, and he said it’s a rockin area. It’s in a gamelo (rich) part of town, but the members work like crazy, thus the have a lot of baptisms there. My new companion will be E. Fernandez from Chili, ha and guess what, it´ll be his last change, meaning he´s going home in 6 weeks. Another trunkie! Woosh. I hear he’s super funny. So maybe we can active the great saying : Work hard. Play hard. WHATS UP!
It’s been a bit different/difficult for the past 8 weeks, felt like, and really was doing everything here in Central. oh well. Hopefully I can help my new companion finish his mission of strong. When I was in the MTC, E. Jefery R. Holland came and talked to us, and told us that ‘the success of your companion, should be more important to you than your own success.´ I just remember that quote this week, and i´m going to do my best to apply it for the rest of my mission. Before when my companions didn’t want to work I would just say, welp, I guess ill do it all then. I´m sure there is a better way. I’ll try to find it.
I got to talk to E. Reynoso on the phone yesterday, it was great. We had our difficult times, but we left being great, great friends. I love forming lifelong relationships.
Oh yeah, about my birthday, ha well I didn’t really remember it, thus I didn’t really tell anyone about it. Ha but one of my favorite families here found out and bought me a cake, and sang to me. It was great. Then we sang and ate more cake with the elders from pinos, when we got back to the house. I´m going to miss them all.
As a matter of fact, I’m really going to miss everything about Bucaramanga and my plentidud of great friends here. Honeslty, it feels like a home to me. Like its what I know, the streets, people, and sounds. I hope to feel the same love for my other areas to come. Today felt like those days before I left on my mission, saying good bye to the people I love, Feelings of sadness and anxiousness for the things to come. I hope to come back here on my mission. But I know that the Lord needs me in Bogota. Faith is always in the future.
I hope I was a little less missionary and a little more detailed oriented for the request my dear mom this letter!
And I’ll let you know how things go this week in Campiña. IM SURE ITS GOING TO ROCKKKK!
Love you all
L8r sk8rs.
e. adams
it seemed like there were a couple of questions about Christmas call. Honestly, the details are yet to be reviled, but next week I promise!
photos to come!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Because they know not
That adds a little bit of a twist to my exit interview with the Stake President after my mission now that it is Pres. Clayson, he served here in bogota. I believe you said that he served here, in Bucaramanga,if so, please try and find out what barrio (sector) he served in here.
Everything is going great here in central. We continue to be placed in the path of great people who are ready to here the gospel. As of lately I have found so much truth in d&c 123, which talks about my friends ‘’who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it.’’ I then find out what now is my responsibility for these people from the following versus ‘’Therefore, that we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven— These should then be attended to with great aearnestness.’’
I love this work. The hand of God is in my every day life. There are so many little miracles.
WE HAD SOME FAMILY THAT WANTED TO DONATE TO JAKE ON HIS MISSION THIS CHRISTMAS. HE WANTED TO TAKE THE MONEY AND HELP THE WARD MEMBERS.
Concerning the majority of us like to see where our money goes, and out of complete gratitude for the generosity, here is where the Christmas money has gone thus far…
The ward temple trip was this weekend, and due to the financial situations of many here in barrio central, quite a few well deserving people just couldn’t make it on their own. I talked with the bishop and I let him know that there was help, we made sure that no one else knew where the money was coming from. The relief society president and her husband wanted to be sealed, but the money just wasn’t there. Their daughter began to question if the help from God would come. I’m not saying that it was divine help, but I know that God puts peoples in paths to help them and sometimes answer their prayers. They got back Saturday night, and Sunday happened to be fast and testimony meeting. I listen as Sis. Moreno (relif pres.) bore pure, beautiful testimony of the blessings she had received from the temple, she testified that that Sunday, here in bucaramanga, she knew more than ever that this is the church of Christ. I knew as I looked her in the eyes as she walked back to her bench, that she had been changed, there was a grand light in her eyes and I know that only the comfort and power that is in the House of the Lord can provide that. It was followed by the rest of the members who receive the blessings of the temple. In total 5 people were able go and feel the Love of the Lord Jesus Christ more fully than ever thanks to the generosity of our family. It was the most powerful testimony meeting I have had the privilege of being in, due to the sacrifice they had made and how they were able to bring a little bit of that pure perfect love that is in the temple in to our little chapel.
I love you all.
Aloha, (elder au, who is from Hawaii, taught me today that aloha means hello, goodbye, and I love you)
E. Adams
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