March 31, 2014 Hola Again!

 So this week hasn´t been too eventful, but we had a few more lessons this week than the last few! Which is great; we have been struggling the past couple months to teach people.

One piece of news less-bacano: Gina decided that she didn´t want to have any more lessons with us. She was very polite, just said that she wanted to learn more and experience more of the world. Not exactly sure what that means. But all in all, she wasn´t ready. She said that she may have received an answer to her prayer to see if the Book of Mormon is true, she just didn´t really feel like following it and reading more. The sad part is that the member that lives in her home was absolutely devastated; maybe she will decide to listen again someday.

More sad news: I ate all of my Nutella!

So yeah, the work here in Tintal hasn´t been too easy. We have been working a lot with a family of recent converts of my first trainer that doesn´t want to go back to church. Nobody in the family had received an answer to their prayers, or had a real testimony; they just believed that the church was "buena." It is sad to see them without the desire to go back to church; they also have lots of bad feelings about the leaders in the church. They weren´t ready to get baptized, and now we have to leave them because there is nothing more that we can do to get them to go back to church. So that is sad, and the fact that we don´t have investigators is tough too. But this Sunday we had Fast and Testimony meeting because of General Conference next week (So excited!!), and when nobody was going up, my recent convert Alba decided to, and shared a fantastic testimony. It wasn´t the most eloquent, and she was nervous, but it was real, and the spirit was there. I needed to hear that; She is so strong in the church, even when she has doubts about certain parts of the doctrine, she just keeps holding on to and building the testimony that she has. She makes it all worth it.

So in the past couple weeks, I have started buying...fruits and vegetables to eat! Crazy, right? And I made my first juice with maracuyá, and also juice with tomate de arbol (tree tomato!). There are some really cool fruits here, and they taste great!

One more thing: We have started visiting all of the recent converts in the ward to teach them how to use a pamphlet called "Mi Familia," following the instructions of our mission president. It is a pamphlet about family history, where you can write down all of the stats of your ancestors in preparation of putting them in FamilySearch. And it has been really cool to teach! We always ask them about stories about one of their ancestors, and there is a special spirit in the room whenever they share them. I am super grateful to be able to help them work with their family history, even when there isn´t a family history center in the mission!

So that was my week! Talk to you all next Monday! 

Love,

Elder Toombs

Maracuyá

Tomate de Arbol (Tree Tomato)

March 24, 2014 Papa Johns!

Sorry, but that was a big part of this week. And sorry I didn´t write last week, I ran out of time... yeah it is pretty easy to.

So the past two weeks! They haven´t been too eventful. Johan decided last week that he wants to wait until the end of the month to choose a baptism date, because he wants to be sure that it is the right choice and that he can continue to live the commandments (like the word of wisdom) after his baptism. However, he hasn´t been going to church, reading the scriptures, or praying to know if this decision is right for him! He is a really cool guy (just bought a motorcycle and let me sit on it and start it up! We aren´t allowed to ride motorcycles, but the rules don´t say anything about sitting), it is just a little frustrating because he says he wants to put in the effort and believes that it is the right choice, but hasn´t prayed to know for himself.

On the other hand, Alba is doing great in the church! She has come on time each Sunday, and is really enjoying learning more about the gospel. She has had some problems with our understanding of the Bible because she had enjoyed a lot of the teachings of the Jehovah´s Witnesses, but she is really progressing and receptive to learn why we believe what we believe. I hope that her example will help Johan to improve!

So if anyone who has contact with Sister Harmer reads this, I would like to thank her for giving out her books of quotes from the general authorities about the Book of Mormon! It is a really great study tool, and I love the insights it brings.

And super thank yous to the Primary class in Farmington! All of the valentine´s cards were really appreciated :)

So in the past couple weeks, we have gotten a couple new investigadoras! One of them, Gina, lives in the house of a new member, which is great for having a member present in lessons. The other, Mari, well it is a longer story. So a few weeks ago we had a few appointments canceled and had nothing to do, so we went contacting a little, and found a young man named William who said he would love to listen to our message, and wanted us to come to his house Sunday morning to bring him to church! So we went that Sunday, and... nobody. When we came back in the past week, Mari answered the door and said that there isn´t a William that lives there, but that she would like to listen to us! So we had a good lesson with her yesterday.

One super cool thing about bananas here in Colombia is that I can buy 18 for just a dollar! And they are all doubled up like the one in the picture! ;) Ok maybe not that. But because of the price, I have made bananas one of my staple foods here.

And today is P-Day! So last night our zone leaders told us that we were going to go the temple this morning! So I woke up at 4:45 to start getting ready, and after showering and breakfast I saw we got a text saying....we aren´t going. So instead, Elder Giler and I went to the Mission House way north to get some new stuff for the kitchen. I knew that there was a Papa John´s nearby the house, so after asking some gringos in the street where it was (there are a ton of gringos in Bogotá Norte!), I got to eat my pepperoni jalapeño pizza! It was fantastic. Then, as we were walking back, we walked by a Maserati Dealership, with some flipping crazy cars! And then to make it better, I found the Hard Rock Cafe Bogotá! I know where I am eating next when I go to the Northside.

One other thing, yesterday was Miriam´s birthday, so last night we went to her house and threw a surprise birthday party, and Elder Giler and I even bought a cake! It was really cool to see her smile, as she has had trouble going to church the past few weeks because she can´t walk well. So yeah, it was really cool!

Well that´s all I think! ¡Hasta luego!

Love,

Elder Toombs

March 10, 2014 Another Week Another Baptism

Hola!

Well first, I´ll talk about something pretty important...Transfers! We found out this morning who is staying and going and... Elder Giler and I get another cambio in Tintal! I´m not sure exactly how I feel about that, but I am excited to keep working here. We only had a couple changes in the Zone, including one of our Zone Leaders and my district leader, Elder Johnson. They had like almost 6 months here in La Libertad, so I think it was their time to go.

So yes, Alba was baptized on Saturday and comfirmed yesterday! It was great, she has really prepared herself in the last few weeks. However, we did hit one hiccup: last week, we found out she had been drinking coffee every morning at work! So we got that all figured out, and she has a strong determination to stay clean. And she knows how much the Atonement of Jesus Christ can help her with it! She is a great new member. Johan is also preparing for his baptism, which we are planning to have this Saturday! It all depends on his obedience to the commandments (Word of Wisdom!), and he has a little fear that after he is baptized, he might go back to smoking when he has stress. So we are working on giving him all of the knowledge and testimony that he needs to persevere, like he will have the Gift of the Holy Ghost when he is confirmed! It is all super exciting.

Yesterday we had lunch with Alba and Johan, and when they found out one or both of us might be leaving, Johan gave each of us... a little Minion statue thing, with a message on the bottom! It is so cool.

So as one of the rewards for having the baptism of Alba, I decided to go to the Top floor of the local mall where there is.... Dunkin Donuts AND Baskin Robbins!!! And today we had Dominos again! I am thoroughly (is that spelled right? No puedo escribir nada en inglés no mas) enjoying my American food haha.

A couple other things happened last week. So first of all, we recieved an email last P-day from the Presidente that we can´t play micro anymore... too many injuries and damages in all the houses. Everyone even had to turn in all of their soccer balls! It is a little sad, especially because I only got to use my new $10 shoes like twice. Also, our zone decided to make Jackets!!! They have "La Libertad" on the side, and our name on the pockets. Pretty sweet! Also this week, the mission maintenance guy finally came and fixed our toilet and shower! We have hot water again!!!! (¡Buenísimo!) 

Aaaand I made crepes with Nutella and bananas and sweetened condensed milk last week. That is all.

I´ll write you all next week!

Love,
Elder Toombs

3/3/14 ¡Sobreviviendo!

¡Hola!

This week has been the worst week yet in numbers. We have had to drop all but a few of our investigators, two of which are Alba and Johan (Mother and 28-year-old son), and the others we are having trouble meeting with, so we haven´t been able to have many lessons with investigators. Lots of people have been leaving town or having family emergencies, so it has been really tough to fill our time. And those emergencies aren´t fake. After the first lesson with our last new investigator, José, on his way home, he was robbed and stabbed in the heart. He is ok (incredibly!), the knife only penetrated the outer-most layer of his corazon. But yeah, that has been my week.

Also, Alba wasn´t able to be baptized on Saturday because, after the death of her father, she brought a niece of hers to stay in the house during the week, and this Saturday she had to bring her niece back home. However, she is super excited for her baptism, and has really progressed well! She started out having her testimony as this church is "buena." "Alba, do you believe that this Church is the only church that holds the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ?" "Sí, la Iglesia es...buena." But now, she has recieved her answeres, and she even has a friend who is getting ready to be baptised this Saturday in another part of Bogotá! And Johan is progressing incredibly, he came to church this Sunday more on his own accord because his Mom was away, and he is going with some of the other young adults to Institute to see whats up! He was going to be baptized this Saturday, but needs another day in the church... wee will see what happens!

So I almost got robbed for the first time on Thursday! The comp and I were walking down a dirt road in the most dangerous part of Tintal (which is less dangerous than half on the Mission haha), and we decided to turn around and leave the road in a different part a little sooner. On the way to that part, three young men and one of their girlfriends cornered us next to a ditch and pulled a knife on Elder Giler! One of them was all in my face, asking form my laptop and some other stuff I didn´t understand, then all of a sudden they stopped and started begging us not to tell the "locos"... Then they gave us high fives and walked off. Turns out two cops had just turned the corner behind us on their motorcycle. Crazy, huh! Everyone has a motorcycle but me!

So today, we went to some cool place in town with a bunch of political buildings, and I realized I had seen them before; on Google Street View! When you street-view Bogotá, it goes right to where I was haha. It was pretty cool! There are a ridiculous amount of pidgeons, and we were feeding them and letting them climb on us and stuff, it was pretty cool haha. Then I went and bought actual "food" from McDonalds for the first time in Colombia, a burger with the first bacon I have had here in Colombia, and they also had with the ketchup and mustard... Jalapeños! So I had a ton of those! It was pretty cool, and I spent way too much money there today )I also got an amazing Colombian McFlurry and some fries).

Well it has been a week of ups and downs. But now, more than ever, I have a testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel! I am so happy to be able to bring others to the knowledge that we have, to help them do the things they need to do in this life to be happy now and for eternity.

Love,

Elder Toombs