Saturday, December 25, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Laguna de Gautavita
familia mia,
antes que todo. I got your package, i just opened it to take out the what could be urgent, and put everything else right back in there to have a great christmas morning for me and my companions! THANKS!
I write today because we changed our prep. day so we could go to the laguna de gautavita (I bet you can wikipedia it). It was great. We had contracted a guy to drive our whole zone in a bus because it's pretty remote. The story is that it was a sacred ritual site of the native tribe that lived here before the Inquisition. The idea is that this place is special because it was a combination of the two creating forces of life --- masculine and feminine. Similar to spanish, every thing had a gender, the water being feminine, the mountians being masculine, so this little lake that resides in the top of the mountains was a fusion of the two forces. So they offered their gold to it. When the spanards found it they went nuts and cut a side out of the wall to drain the water and take out the gold. It's estimated that they took out over 8 tons of gold. resulting also in lowering the lagoon to about a half the size (the water got to about where we were standing before). So needless to say --- i was eating it all up, and the guide wanted to answer all my questions! And i hope you all remember how much I like to ask questions. The natives were concidently doing a rutual there to celebrate the end of their year, followed by a bunch of rich naturalist that wanted to help them out. The fun thing was as we watched these suposibly poor little indigeousness guys get secretly into their nice SUV. good stuff.
This week has been great. Last week i had the opportunity to go on interchanges with the whole zone, do to the fact that we are in a trio right now. I had some great experiences...
Yolanda and her 9 yera old daughter Natalia, have had nothing to do with the church for over ten years. Yolanda quickly inactived after being baptized when she was 16, but she always remembered the church when she saw the missionaries pass by, but every time they were never within reach. Two weeks ago, she saw them again, and gained the power necessary to greet them. This moment resulted in an invitation to go to christmas devotional where the spirit filled her, teaching her what she once had known, and even more. Her daughter, will be baptized the 1st of January.
... I ran out of time but i will tell you more when we talk this saturday!
JESS I'm glad your feelin better. you get that ear ready to hear my broken english saturday ok! btw the CD is great!!!!
i'm thinking 4 oclock utah time... ill call friday afternoon to verifiy...
I love you all, so much and can't wait to talk to you,
feliz navidad,
e. adams
p.s. it seemed like google talk was better, i guess we'll see!
antes que todo. I got your package, i just opened it to take out the what could be urgent, and put everything else right back in there to have a great christmas morning for me and my companions! THANKS!
I write today because we changed our prep. day so we could go to the laguna de gautavita (I bet you can wikipedia it). It was great. We had contracted a guy to drive our whole zone in a bus because it's pretty remote. The story is that it was a sacred ritual site of the native tribe that lived here before the Inquisition. The idea is that this place is special because it was a combination of the two creating forces of life --- masculine and feminine. Similar to spanish, every thing had a gender, the water being feminine, the mountians being masculine, so this little lake that resides in the top of the mountains was a fusion of the two forces. So they offered their gold to it. When the spanards found it they went nuts and cut a side out of the wall to drain the water and take out the gold. It's estimated that they took out over 8 tons of gold. resulting also in lowering the lagoon to about a half the size (the water got to about where we were standing before). So needless to say --- i was eating it all up, and the guide wanted to answer all my questions! And i hope you all remember how much I like to ask questions. The natives were concidently doing a rutual there to celebrate the end of their year, followed by a bunch of rich naturalist that wanted to help them out. The fun thing was as we watched these suposibly poor little indigeousness guys get secretly into their nice SUV. good stuff.
This week has been great. Last week i had the opportunity to go on interchanges with the whole zone, do to the fact that we are in a trio right now. I had some great experiences...
Yolanda and her 9 yera old daughter Natalia, have had nothing to do with the church for over ten years. Yolanda quickly inactived after being baptized when she was 16, but she always remembered the church when she saw the missionaries pass by, but every time they were never within reach. Two weeks ago, she saw them again, and gained the power necessary to greet them. This moment resulted in an invitation to go to christmas devotional where the spirit filled her, teaching her what she once had known, and even more. Her daughter, will be baptized the 1st of January.
... I ran out of time but i will tell you more when we talk this saturday!
JESS I'm glad your feelin better. you get that ear ready to hear my broken english saturday ok! btw the CD is great!!!!
i'm thinking 4 oclock utah time... ill call friday afternoon to verifiy...
I love you all, so much and can't wait to talk to you,
feliz navidad,
e. adams
p.s. it seemed like google talk was better, i guess we'll see!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
feliz cumpleaños
mi familia amada,
I would love to write to everyone but time is too short, so i send you all a big THANK YOU! I believe I had a new record for happy birthday messages. Soo great to hear from anyone. We changed our p-day to today because it was our turn to go to the temple and its closed monday. Nevertheless, it meant a lot to hear from all the people that I love.
Ha, the whole 21 year old drinking thing isn't a big deal down here, you can go buy a beer when your like 10 here.
My birthday was great and unforgetable for a couple of reasons
1. I forgot it was my birthday! I believe it was the only opportunity like that I'll ever have... it was like 8 oclock when one of the elders I live with wished me happy birthday.
2. no one else knew it was my birthday! Ha I know these things might sound sad, but theyre not! My whole zone knew and we wished me happy birthday in the zone meeting, sang happy birthday and gave me a cake. So that was enough for me. Then I went on interchanges with an elder that is finishing his mission tomorrow. So they didn't know who i was so they defiantly didn't know it was my birthday.
But it really was one of the greatest birthday's that i have ever had. We met and talked with amazing people, we were able to teach people by the spirit, and have these people teach us. I fill a lot better when i'm focused on others, than on myself, and what happens usually on a birthday is it becomes ''all about me'', but when there is nobody to focus on you, it call be ''all about them''. It is so much better to love than to be loved. Nevertheless, i know i am very loved by you all, and that means everything to me.
I'm loving this christmas season! we were able to sing in the choir for the stake christmas fireside. We have plans to go around to all the areas to sing christmas carols. its going to be great!
1) Can you skype again?
OF COURSE!
2) Can you call an 800 number in the states without too much trouble?
OF COURSE!
3) Can you call on the phone and be on skpye at the same time?
This a little more tough, but i'll work on it.
4) Any idea what time you might call?
No idea. when ever it would be most conveinent . it's a saturday and we don't have a baptismal service (yet).
I can't believe robert will be home for christmas and will be studying in january. i wish him the best.
You mentioned that you guys might want to come to pick me up? i'm down if your down. but we'll talk about that later i still got six months left to work my hardest!
thanks for the birthday wishes and gifts! I love you all so much!
love,
e. adams!
attch. it's a colombian tradition to have them try to take out a candle with their mouth and then you smashe their head in the cake. after being here for a year and half i've figured that one out but i just complied.
I would love to write to everyone but time is too short, so i send you all a big THANK YOU! I believe I had a new record for happy birthday messages. Soo great to hear from anyone. We changed our p-day to today because it was our turn to go to the temple and its closed monday. Nevertheless, it meant a lot to hear from all the people that I love.
Ha, the whole 21 year old drinking thing isn't a big deal down here, you can go buy a beer when your like 10 here.
My birthday was great and unforgetable for a couple of reasons
1. I forgot it was my birthday! I believe it was the only opportunity like that I'll ever have... it was like 8 oclock when one of the elders I live with wished me happy birthday.
2. no one else knew it was my birthday! Ha I know these things might sound sad, but theyre not! My whole zone knew and we wished me happy birthday in the zone meeting, sang happy birthday and gave me a cake. So that was enough for me. Then I went on interchanges with an elder that is finishing his mission tomorrow. So they didn't know who i was so they defiantly didn't know it was my birthday.
But it really was one of the greatest birthday's that i have ever had. We met and talked with amazing people, we were able to teach people by the spirit, and have these people teach us. I fill a lot better when i'm focused on others, than on myself, and what happens usually on a birthday is it becomes ''all about me'', but when there is nobody to focus on you, it call be ''all about them''. It is so much better to love than to be loved. Nevertheless, i know i am very loved by you all, and that means everything to me.
I'm loving this christmas season! we were able to sing in the choir for the stake christmas fireside. We have plans to go around to all the areas to sing christmas carols. its going to be great!
1) Can you skype again?
OF COURSE!
2) Can you call an 800 number in the states without too much trouble?
OF COURSE!
3) Can you call on the phone and be on skpye at the same time?
This a little more tough, but i'll work on it.
4) Any idea what time you might call?
No idea. when ever it would be most conveinent . it's a saturday and we don't have a baptismal service (yet).
I can't believe robert will be home for christmas and will be studying in january. i wish him the best.
You mentioned that you guys might want to come to pick me up? i'm down if your down. but we'll talk about that later i still got six months left to work my hardest!
thanks for the birthday wishes and gifts! I love you all so much!
love,
e. adams!
attch. it's a colombian tradition to have them try to take out a candle with their mouth and then you smashe their head in the cake. after being here for a year and half i've figured that one out but i just complied.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
No letter this week
I have been bugging Jake for a couple of weeks to send his testimony so that it can be read in the foothills ward Christmas program. He sent the testimony but no time to write the letter. I loved reading his testimony it was great!! I will post it after the Christmas program for those who follow his blog from the foothills ward.
Thanks!
Shereen
Thanks!
Shereen
Monday, November 29, 2010
Drying shoes over stove
Don't you worry, I still got those those neutral autumn colors deep inside me. How could I forget about thanksgiving?
We thought about buying pavo (turkey), but it's just not microwavable. So after we got done planning, it was ten and I was thinking about how I could save thanksgiving... I ran to the fridge to look at what I could get delivered... I just picked the most american thing I could find --- baby back ribs with bbq sauce. So, I didn't have stuffing, turkey, nor yams, but my ribs were great!
I have heard things about the niña cycle? has it been raining and blizzards in the U.S.? because it sure has been here. It rains EVERY DAY in Bogota. I have a pretty killer umbrella that i have bought from a guy that repairs them, half price! what's up! That one's for mom and her bargain shopping!! I'm trying to find the best way to dry my shoes everyday. The hold-your-shoves-over-the-stove method has been working alright. But i just need to find my self a cheap hair dryer.
It's gettin to be snowboarding time. What joy! I tell the people here that snow is much better than rain but they just don't believe me.
There are 12 missionaries in our zone. It's going great. The assistants told me that I was here because I'm one the few who was here when suba baptized tons. This zone has gone down a lot in baptisms. It use to be the gold mine on the mission. There is a lot to do, but i got TOO many good ideas for activities to do for this christmas. I believe my Christmas inspiration comes from my mother.
My companion and I are doing great together, we are pumped because the bishop and the ward mission leader are pumped.
I got the birthday package. loved it! You guys are the BEST!
We are working our best on helping la familia torres move along on their way to baptism. This last week wer found all the the papers. This week we're going to go the notary to set a date for the marriage. German, the father, has a huge problem with smoking. We're praying for him and we made this pretty sweet calender on Word so that he could write the number of cigarettes he smokes everyday until he gets down to 0, and ready for his baptism.
Thanks for all your support. Estoy demasiado agradecido por ustedes.
I love you all!!
e. adams
We thought about buying pavo (turkey), but it's just not microwavable. So after we got done planning, it was ten and I was thinking about how I could save thanksgiving... I ran to the fridge to look at what I could get delivered... I just picked the most american thing I could find --- baby back ribs with bbq sauce. So, I didn't have stuffing, turkey, nor yams, but my ribs were great!
I have heard things about the niña cycle? has it been raining and blizzards in the U.S.? because it sure has been here. It rains EVERY DAY in Bogota. I have a pretty killer umbrella that i have bought from a guy that repairs them, half price! what's up! That one's for mom and her bargain shopping!! I'm trying to find the best way to dry my shoes everyday. The hold-your-shoves-over-the-stove method has been working alright. But i just need to find my self a cheap hair dryer.
It's gettin to be snowboarding time. What joy! I tell the people here that snow is much better than rain but they just don't believe me.
There are 12 missionaries in our zone. It's going great. The assistants told me that I was here because I'm one the few who was here when suba baptized tons. This zone has gone down a lot in baptisms. It use to be the gold mine on the mission. There is a lot to do, but i got TOO many good ideas for activities to do for this christmas. I believe my Christmas inspiration comes from my mother.
My companion and I are doing great together, we are pumped because the bishop and the ward mission leader are pumped.
I got the birthday package. loved it! You guys are the BEST!
We are working our best on helping la familia torres move along on their way to baptism. This last week wer found all the the papers. This week we're going to go the notary to set a date for the marriage. German, the father, has a huge problem with smoking. We're praying for him and we made this pretty sweet calender on Word so that he could write the number of cigarettes he smokes everyday until he gets down to 0, and ready for his baptism.
Thanks for all your support. Estoy demasiado agradecido por ustedes.
I love you all!!
e. adams
Monday, November 22, 2010
Almost companion
How is life with a gringo companion?
welp. about that. ha, in the terminal of bogota i was talking to one of the elder's and they told me my companion wasn't elder Gardiner, but indeed, was elder Huita. So instead of fixing my english, i'll be improving my spanish. much better. I got the rest of my life to live and talk with gringos.
Do you get along good with your new comp? Is he a hard worker?
I assumed that these two questions can be answered with one. YES. He's the best. He's from lima - peru, super cool, humble guy. We were actually here in the same zone of suba, at the same time last year. I always thought it would be cool to be companions with him.
Did you get a different leadership position with the transfer?
I loved being with the sisters last change in sogamoso. I was able to learn a lot. I'm now serving a zone leader with e. Huita. We're super pumped to help out our zone. We have a bunch of activities planned to hopefully find more investigators, along with encouraging and inspiring them.
At the moment, we are in Bucarmanga! for the zone leader conference. we left from bogota yesterday at 230 and got here at 1230. We just played soccer, btw my soccer skills are slowly getting better. I Had lunch and I believe were going to to have a ping pong tournament tonight, tomorrow we are going to have a training meeting. My companion and I were asigined to train. I found this quote by Hugh Nibley while preparing, and thought it would be great for my managment family.
“Leadership is an escape from mediocrity. All the great deposits of art, science, and literature from the past, on which all civilization has been nourished, come to us from a mere handful of leaders. For the qualities of leadership are the same in all fields, the leader being simply the one who sets the highest example; and to do that and open the way to greater light and knowledge, the leader must break the mold. “A ship in port is safe,” says Captain Hopper speaking of management, “but that is not what ships were built for,” ... calling for leadership.”
As for my area, we both came at the same time so we get lost a lot, but still loving it. We are working on getting a family married They are called la familia Torres. They are great, the best. They a very humble. We sometimes just don't understand how much God has given us, until we see those who don't have the gospel. The teenage kids discribe the church as ''Perfect``. They are inspiring. They never miss church.
Mom would love colombia because the christmas season starts before Thanksgiving. but then again, they don't have thanksgiving. I guess you can't have your cake and eat it to. Thinking about this christmas, really I'm fine. I don't need anything. Mom, go ahead and keep buying those white shirts, but i bet it would be better if you keep up stocked up, I have enough here and and they get thrashed, so i probably will just come home with the shirt on my back and give the rest to others. But I would love if we could help others out. The missionaries in my zone, or district or companion. The Torres Family. I don't know how but I know that the majority of the missionaries in my zone won't be recieving packages this christmas. I don't know what we could do for them, maybe we can brainstorm! But, I do have all that I could ever need.
I love it here, and I love you.
Thanks for everything,
e. adams
welp. about that. ha, in the terminal of bogota i was talking to one of the elder's and they told me my companion wasn't elder Gardiner, but indeed, was elder Huita. So instead of fixing my english, i'll be improving my spanish. much better. I got the rest of my life to live and talk with gringos.
Do you get along good with your new comp? Is he a hard worker?
I assumed that these two questions can be answered with one. YES. He's the best. He's from lima - peru, super cool, humble guy. We were actually here in the same zone of suba, at the same time last year. I always thought it would be cool to be companions with him.
Did you get a different leadership position with the transfer?
I loved being with the sisters last change in sogamoso. I was able to learn a lot. I'm now serving a zone leader with e. Huita. We're super pumped to help out our zone. We have a bunch of activities planned to hopefully find more investigators, along with encouraging and inspiring them.
At the moment, we are in Bucarmanga! for the zone leader conference. we left from bogota yesterday at 230 and got here at 1230. We just played soccer, btw my soccer skills are slowly getting better. I Had lunch and I believe were going to to have a ping pong tournament tonight, tomorrow we are going to have a training meeting. My companion and I were asigined to train. I found this quote by Hugh Nibley while preparing, and thought it would be great for my managment family.
“Leadership is an escape from mediocrity. All the great deposits of art, science, and literature from the past, on which all civilization has been nourished, come to us from a mere handful of leaders. For the qualities of leadership are the same in all fields, the leader being simply the one who sets the highest example; and to do that and open the way to greater light and knowledge, the leader must break the mold. “A ship in port is safe,” says Captain Hopper speaking of management, “but that is not what ships were built for,” ... calling for leadership.”
As for my area, we both came at the same time so we get lost a lot, but still loving it. We are working on getting a family married They are called la familia Torres. They are great, the best. They a very humble. We sometimes just don't understand how much God has given us, until we see those who don't have the gospel. The teenage kids discribe the church as ''Perfect``. They are inspiring. They never miss church.
Mom would love colombia because the christmas season starts before Thanksgiving. but then again, they don't have thanksgiving. I guess you can't have your cake and eat it to. Thinking about this christmas, really I'm fine. I don't need anything. Mom, go ahead and keep buying those white shirts, but i bet it would be better if you keep up stocked up, I have enough here and and they get thrashed, so i probably will just come home with the shirt on my back and give the rest to others. But I would love if we could help others out. The missionaries in my zone, or district or companion. The Torres Family. I don't know how but I know that the majority of the missionaries in my zone won't be recieving packages this christmas. I don't know what we could do for them, maybe we can brainstorm! But, I do have all that I could ever need.
I love it here, and I love you.
Thanks for everything,
e. adams
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