1st Baptism!!! January 27, 2014

January 27, 2014

¡Hola! 

So as the title says, after almost 6 weeks in the mission (MTC doesn´t count), we finally got our first baptism! Her name is Miriam, and like I said last week, she has problems remembering things. But when she had the interview with our District Leader, Elder Johnson, she remembered everything, and was able to explain why she believes what she believes perfectly! So Saturday was the baptism, and it wasn´t the most normal of all baptisms. So we got there, and the water in the baptismal font was a little low. It was probably barely over halfway where it was supposed to be, and the Branch President, Pres Malagon, said it had been filling for 5 hours!!! The church had some problems with the water a few weeks ago, and maybe that is what was causing it to fill so slow. Oh well, we are missionaries! That can´t stop us! So we started filling buckets in the utility closet of the church, and one bucket at a time, got the water where it needed to be! So then the service started, Elder Garcia and Miriam got dressed in white, everything was going smooth, but as Elder Garcia and Miriam were walking to the water from the back, Miriam stopped and said, "That´s a lot of water!" (in Spanish, obviously). She had a crazy fear of water! So after a few minutes, we talked her down into the almost-waist-deep water and got ready to do the baptism. Elder Garcia said the prayer, and then... she wouldn´t go down! She was really, really scared. Then after a few minutes, one of the Zone leaders came into the water to help, but she was still having problems. SO after over half an hour of trying to help her overcome her fear, one of the members that wasn´t able to be there, a close friend of Miriam, called her and talked to her on the phone for a couple minutes, and then bam! The did it without a problem! It was a unique experience, for sure.

Yesterday was the day that we find out who is being transferred, and...... Elder Garcia and I are staying in Tintal! Which means, Elder Garcia will have SEVEN months here in the same area, of the 9 and a half months in the mission. Crazy, huh! Though we don´t always get along perfectly well, I am looking forward to doing more work!

Sorry I don´t write too much about my investigators, but we have a lot right now, and they all share similar problems of being busy often. Everyone here in Tintal is busy with work a lot! They don´t have overtime laws, so people can work 12 hours a day without getting paid any more than the normal wage! It is crazy.

So everyone that has sent me letters: Thanks you soooo much! They really mean a lot. I have written several letters here with the little time that I have, but the problem is that the nearest place to send letters is in another zone! Which means, I don´t even know when I will be able to send them! But I will ASAP!!!

And to Chantel and Sister Rathbun: Thanks you sooooooo much for the gift! It is incredible! :)

So I realized I start almost every paragraph with so. Sorry about that ;). But next week the missionaries will be having training with a Seventy, Scott C Grow (I think), so I will be writing you all on Tuesday instead of Monday!

I know this Church is true, and my testimony has been growing so much here! To anyone thinking about serving a mission, if you can, do it!!! There are hard times for sure, but it is worth it!

Love,

Elder Toombs

January 20, 2014 Tumix, or Looney Toombs!!!

January 20, 2014

Tumix, or Looney Toombs!!!

Hello! Sorry about the title, but that is how I have to introduce myself here. Nobody can pronounce my name right! But there is a type of gum here called Tumix, so whenever anyone is having trouble pronouncing my name, I just let them know that it is "como Tumiz, o Looney Toones." It actually helps!!!

So I am going to need to be really short today, sorry!

So we have an investigator preparing for baptism this Saturday! Her name is Miriam, and she is really trying to prepare. The problem is she has a really hard time remembering the lessons. Elder Garcia and I always have to repeat things often, and even then it is difficult for her. Please remember her in your prayers!

So this cambio (transfer) is almost over! My companion has been in Tintal for 5 months, so everyone expects him to be moving on. Entonces, I will probably have two trainers! I know I have been lucky to have an English-speaking companion, and I also know that next time I probably won't be so lucky.

Here in Tintal it has been hard to get progressing investigators because everyone has a problem going to church, even the branch members! And when two or three families don't show up to church, it is really noticeable, because we only have about 60 members in our rama /(branch). But we are working hard! We have been finding new investigators that are prepared for the gospel; hopefully we can help them realize the importance of the Sabbath Day!

Gotta go! I love you all! The church is true, and is the only that has the fullness of the gospel on the Earth today! I am so blessed for my opportunity to be here!

Love,

Elder Toombs

PS Sorry no pics! :)))

January 13, 2014

Hello!

So I have to be quick, out of time as usual!

This week has been pretty good, we have lots of investigators making their way! It was tough moving into an area without any upcoming baptisms, or people serious enough to work changes into their lives to accept the Gospel and the commandments. But we are making progress!

Today we went to play Zone vs. Zone micro soccer! It was pretty cool, but the park is an hour and 20 minutes away. Farrrr! 

So last Wednesday, I had my first intercambio! The district leader, Elder Johnson, switched places with my companion and I led him around Tintal. We ended up contacting for a little, and because we are both gringos, we did pretty well! It was nice to get a mix up with companions to learn a little about other teaching processes, and to get a break from my companion for a day ( I love him, but when you are with someone 24/7, breaks are always nice (: ) 

So then on Saturday, Elder Garcia and I went to visit one of the contacts from Wednesday, but she wasn´t there. So we started walking back to another appointment when we heard someone calling "Elders!" Then a young women came up, said she was recently baptized in another part of Bogota, and didn´t know where to go to church (She was literally 2 minutes walking from church haha). Her parents aren´t members, so we have a lesson with them later this week! I know that the Lord puts us where he wants us to be, when he wants us to be there.

Sorry I couldn´t write more! And my computer won´t send pics, I´m going to try another.

Love,

Elder Toombs

Missionary that stayed with Nathan and his comp, and his Branch President

Cool Christmas Tree

January 6, 2014 Happy New Year!

Hiiii!

So today marks my two month aniversario! And I have almost three weeks in the mission field! Crazy huh!

People have been asking about the culture here, so I will do what I cantowrite it: I can't seem to get my camera working with the computer here. o whenever I need to access the internet (mostly just for writing home), I go to one of several Internet Cafe's! It is like 50 cents an hour, pretty sweet huh haha. So Tinal is a bunch of giant apartment buildings, all locked and secured with tall electric fences, and you need to talk to security guards to get into any of them. On the streets are tons of vendors that sell food and random stuff (toys, movies, shoes, etc), and we aren't allowed to buy food from them because we don'0t know if the food is good to eat haha. There is a ton of traffic on all the main streets, and when we need to get somewhere somewhat far (like the stake center), we cram into these little ''busetas'' that are pretty much small busses filled with people. THere are tons on the roads, so you just have to look at a sign on the front of the bus to see if the bus is going where you are going, then wave your hand and hope they pull over haha. They open the door just long enough for you to get in, then start driving, whether you are secure or not haha. You hand the bus driver money through a little window, and just find a place o stand without too much body contact with others. it is usually unavoidable haha.

So there are also tons of stray dogs here! They all seem to be friendly, they just dig through trash and look for food. One even found its way into the church building on sunday! He jsut kinda walked around then left haha. There aren't too many stray cats; maybe they all get eaten by the dogs haha.

Most of the streets here have a bunch of kinda feo buildings on either side, with bunches of apartments and similar stuff. I will try to get more photos to you next week.

The food here is pretty good, but there are always two starches (almost), a combination of rice, potatoes, yucca (which I llike haha), and spaghetti. Then they have some sort of vegetable and a piece of meat, usually not the best quality haha. I also get soup fairly often. I haven't found any foods yet that I really don't like, which I am very gratyeful for haha.

One more thing: The bread here (pan) is reallllyyyy good! I am going to get so fat off it haha. For just over a dollar, I can get like 10-15 roll sized pieces. Bueno.

It has been a good week. My companion can get on my nerves sometimes, but I love him haha. So in our rama (branch of the church), we had a missionary who was set apart last Tuesday! However, because he didn't have any priesthood members in his house, we got permission from the Mission president to stay with us! We have a couple extra matresses in our casa, so he slept there, then we had a normal missionary day (wake up, exercise, study, proselyte). Then en la noche, we went with him, the stake president, su mami, y su sister to the airport! My companion felt like hopping on a plane to Peru haha. But all in all, it was a good day!

So last Friday I had to go to the mission office to recieve my (insert name here) haha I forgot the name, but it is a Colombian ID card that I need to carry at all times so I don't need to carry my passport around. I giess a gringo passport can be worth up to $10,000 American dollars on the street. So we took thae long Trans-Mileno bus ride to the offices, O got my card thing, then we went to the mall across the road and I got to eat Taco Bell! Woo for american food!!!!!

Church is at 8 in the morning this year! It is pretty early ( I have to wake at 5:30 because it is like a 40 minute walk haha), but it isn't too bad. Then I have a little more time during the day to teach! This sunday we taught the less active mother of the missionary that jsut left, and she seems to be more interested in coming back. She attended church on sunday! Woo!

Today was a prettry sweet P-day! This morning we got to go to the Temple! It is the first time in two months that the rest of my zone has gone ( I went just like 3 weeks ago haha), so it was a really special occasion! I had to wake up at 5 this morning to get ready and go, but we got there on time, and it was a great experience. I am so glad that God has given us temples to worship in, perform ordinances, and get blessings! Then after the temple, I ate Subway AND a mcflurry from McDonalds! More woo for american food! Then my comp and I went to the stake center in a buseta to play futbol with some guys from the zone! It was pretty sweet haha.

Well I need to go! Love you all! I know that God and Jesus Crist live, and that we have been provided with a plan and instructions to be able to live with our families forever! I am so blessed to be able to share that message! Talk to you next week! :)

Love, 

Elder Toombs

December 30, 2013

Hello!

I am running out of titles haha.

I don't have a lot of time, so I need to be quick!

Merry Christmas by the way! I love giving Chistmasy gospel messages to the families out here. It really is a great time of year to think about our Saviour and preach the gospel!

So Christmas Day Night (I hope that makes sense haha) We had a gift exchange! I got some cool candy, then one of our zone leaders gave every elder a tie! Thanks elder Elmer!!!

I also had lunch at an older couple´s house, and they are temple workers. They have done like 190 names in the temple! If you don´t know what temples are or what they are for, I think mormon.org can help you out haha. So I was looking at their family names, and the spirit just hit me like So strongly it was crazy! I am so happy that we are able to do temple work to help spread the gospel to everyone.

We went to Monserrate today! It is a church way up on a hill by Bogota, I´ve got pics showing hte view! I went with a lot of the elders in my zone, it was pretty sweet. Although I got some pretty bad sunburn haha.

I am slowly getting better at Spanish, I am understanding a little more each day. It is flipping tough haha. But I am getting it! And I was able to share my testimony last night about how I found out for myself that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true and how I decided to go on a mission, and I did almost all of it without help from my companion!

I know that la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días is the only Church on the world that carries the fullness of the Gospel! I love the opportunity that I have to be out on a mission! I miss you all!

Love,

Elder Toombs

December 23, 2013

December 23, 2013

Hola!!!!

So yeah... I am officially in the field now! Its super crazy!!! And I don't have a lot of time, so please excuse any errors! :)

So my Zona is Libertad, Tintal area! It is realllly different haha. There are zero homes, just a bunch of "conjuntos", pretty much a ton of apartments in their own little gated areas! And to get into any of the areas, you need to go through a security office and tell the sec. police what you are doing and who you are seeing. They always let us through haha.

The church here is so small, we only have una Rama! (branch). There are I think like 50ish members from Tintal.

My companion is Elder Garcia (in the pic), he is a really cool guy, and speaks PERFECT English! It is pretty great haha. I still try to speak Spanish when I can, but whenever I don't know how to say something, my comp is there. He is from Lima, Peru, and is an awesome trainer! The only prob is, he is sick, and has been since I met him Wednesday. He has a cough, and was feverish for a few days. He seems to be doing better now, but the other day, we had to go all the way to the mission offices to get him checked out by the doctor. It is more than an hour of bus riding! Bogota has a system called the Trans Mileno, it is a bus that goes faster than all the other traffic because there is a lane dedicated specifically to them. It was super crowded though. But then we got to eat subway in the city! That was flipping great haha.

So Spanish is WAY harder when not speaking with only teachers and gringos in the MTC. On my first day we had a lesson, and I understoood like nothing haha. Teaching is a little easier, because the investigators and families listen more than they talk, and most of the vocabulary that I have learned is in gospel language :) And in the past few days, I noticed I have been understanding significantly more (though not much haha)

So we have quite a few investigators, but in the past few days here, a lot of our lessons have fallen through. But the members here are a real help! And they like to feed us, another bonus :) We have one couple that is ready to be baptised, but they need their martimony papers first, and they are too expensive! I pray that they will be able to find a way soon; they are strong in the church and their testimonies, but I want them to progress and really fortalize themselves in the church before they start to dwindle!

The other day we went to this store called Éxito, pretty much the equivalent of a Walmart here. It is pretty different, but still carries a lot of the same things. They have Nutella here!!!!! Bad news though: it is like 13 mil pesos. Like flipping almost $8 dollars for a little jar! Luckily I still have a jar and a little more left thanks to Mom and Shelbi!!! Also, shampoo is pretty expensive. But we get enough money every two weeks to make it :)

So I came down here to Colombia with enough bug spray to fight an army, and I think I have received only one bug bite this entire time. It is pretty sweet haha. And the weather here in Tintal is pretty nice. It rains every day, but it hardly ever gets too hot during the day. Sweater weather pretty much all the time! I love it. Especially because we walk like a lot haha.

So today is my first P-day! So my casa is an apartment on the third floor in a building in one of those compounds, and we don't have a washing machine. Entonces, we call a guy to bring one to us! He rides a bike with a washing machine on the back to our complex, carries it up the stairs, and installs it for us haha. We paid 5 mil pesos for 3 hours! (Roughly $2.75). It is pretty cool haha. During that time we ordered dominoes and ate an extra large pizza! That was pretty sweet haha. Then after the laundry was done, my Comp and I took a bus over to Casa Blanca to play micro fútbol with some other elders in the zone! It is just soccer with a little ball on a basketball court haha, but it was pretty sweet!

Thanks everyone who has been giving me support out here, it really is appreciated! I miss you all, talk to you next week!

Love,

Elder Toombs

Nathan and Elder Garcia

Bogota Temple

Granadilla Fruit!

December 13, 2013

Hey all!

I have very little time right now haha. So I´ll be quick!

I have been with my new Latino companion for the past however long since my last email! His name is Elder Carvajal, he is a Chileno that speaks absolutely no english haha (He and I are in the pic!) We get along alright, and things are going good! My Spanish is still miserable, but I know enough to get by a little haha. So we have mock investigator lessons almost every day, usually two in the same day. I found out it is wayyy easier for me to follow what is going on when I am teaching with a gringo than with my latino, he gets talking fast, and then the investigator starts talking fast, then I just don´t know anything! haha It´s all good though.

Today we actually had steak for lunch! Like real steak! Lunch is always the biggest meal of the day here, and whenever we have ´´steak´´, it is pretty bad haha. But today we went to the temple, then steak right after! It was a good day haha.

So we also went to the temple on Wednesday, so I have gone 5 times here! It is pretty sweet. 

So the CCM here has a fence going all the way around, and people walk by every once in a while. My companion and I were outside, and there were this kids outside the fence, and they started asking us questions, and we ended up giving them a Book of Mormon and a couple pamphlets! They clean cars for money throughout the day, so we see them every day or so. It is pretty cool.

Gotta go!

Love,

Elder Toombs