Two Years in Colombia

Friday, March 17, 2017

January 30, 2017 -

Hey y'all!

I hope you guys had an awesome week! This week was finally a little more interesting than normal. So first off Tuesday and Wednesday we had Splits with the Assistants that went really well. We have 4 Assistants here in Bogota South and 2 of them right now are just traveling around doing splits, primarily with missionaries who have less than a year and a half to help them grow as missionaries. But on Tuesday I was with Elder Stewart, from Colorado. Wednesday, I was with Elder Espinoza, from Ecuador. They are both really cool and excellent missionaries. Also, on Wednesday there was a worldwide missionary conference. It was about 3 hours and was awesome. They announced a change in missionary schedule which should be interesting. We don't officially have our new schedule until Friday after the mission leadership conference. Then I'll let y'all know exactly what's happening because every mission is going to have a different schedule. Today for P-Day we got to play bumper cars which was so fun! I ended up mostly just driving around trying not to get hit because it was fun to drive! I miss driving!!! Transfers are next week so we will see what happens with that. I finally have the computer that has an SD card portal so I'll send some pics! I love yall tons! Exitos!

Love Matthew

Elder Roque and I eating at this crazy expensive Peruvian place a few weeks ago!

Standing in the river in front of the Familia Gonzalezs' house (the white one).

Us with the Traveling Assistants!

Personal Study every day.

January 23, 2017 -

Alo Familia!

I hope all is well with all of you. This week went pretty well. We have some solid possibilities to have 2 baptisms next month! We had a branch missionary work activity last week where everyone in the branch was supposed to bring a friend and come and watch the Testaments. There were about 20 people there in total, which was better than the last one that we had! I love Colombia and Latinos!!! Other than that, nothing really happened this week! Tonight and tomorrow we have 2 of the 4 Assistants in our area working with us which should be interesting. Anyway, that's all I got for y'all this week. Sorry it isn't a lot. There just isn't much happening here right now. I love yall tons!

Matthew

Monday, January 16, 2017

January 16, 2017 - 6 MONTHS!!!

Hello,

Well, this week was really boring. Not much happening in general. We are contacting like crazy right now. I had intercambios this week so I went to the area of Elder Roque which was fun. For lunch that day a member with a lot of money took us to a Peruvian Restaurant because Elder Roque is from Peru and it was waaaaaay expensive! I felt so uncomfortable there! It was the most expensive place I have visited in about 6 months and it was just so weird to be there! On Friday I hit 6 months! Already! Time flies so fast here! It is crazy! It is weird to think about all the stuff that has happened in the last 6 months! It is cool to see the changes in yourself like that because usually you don't see it! It is funny that the Sisters that are just now getting here will leave with me and my group! Other than that not a lot happening. Still just working hard. Love yall tons! Hope all is well!

Love Matthew

January 2, 2017 - So I Baptized Someone This Week... But They Weren't My Investigator...

Hey y'all,

This week went really slow. Everybody here was drunk almost all week so that was a little hard. My new comp is doing all right. It is weird having a gringo around again. Almost all of our Zone right now is Gringos which is weird. They are always speaking in English, but it is fine. Pretty much nothing happened this week. On the 31st the Sister Missionaries in the Branch had 2 baptisms. An old guy who had one of his sons baptize him, and a Sister they have been teaching who wanted me to baptize her which was pretty cool. We spent the whole day cleaning and filling the font and other logistical stuff. Other than that not much happened this week. I'm hoping we can get back to normal life this week, but we'll see. Anyway, love y'all and I hope y'all have a great week!

Elder Gardner an I with Eliana (The Sister I baptized)

Elder Gardner an I with Eliana, her sister and her niece.

December 26, 2016 - PHOTOS!!!

Hey, so I talked to y'all less than 24 hours ago so I don't have a lot to tell you, but here are a butt ton of pics. I'll send another email later with a pic and some info about my new comp. Love yall!