First, we had interviews with President and Sister Hacking. That was really cool. It's always nice to kind of touch bases (in English. hehe) and be reminded why I'm out here and to not lose focus and remember that even though I haven't baptized the whole area yet, I'm still an effective missionary. ;) Hehe. I love my president. He's a really cool guy. He's originally from Utah, but apparently he and his wife have been living here in South America for 13 or so years. Crazy! He was going to retire here, and then he got the call to be mission president. So they're going to retire next year when he's done being pres.
Oh, and I asked him about mail, and apparently you can send mail to Colombia fairly easily for about $1, but to get mail from here to the US is super-expensive and not very reliable. Colombia doesn't have a national mailing system. They're all private companies. So you pay through the nose (which doesn't really work on a missionary budget...hehe) and you can't even be sure it'll get where you want it. So excuse me if I reply by email to your snail mail. That's the only possible way at the moment. Another thing I found out though, is that you can send packages here to Colombia...although I'm not sure how. A tip I received, as funny and almost sacreligious as it seems, is to put a picture of the virgin on the package, and then people (central/south americans mostly) will be much less likely to mess with it. Crazy, huh? But whatever works, right? ;)
The work is going good. I am loving it here in Bucaramanga. I keep hearing that this is everyone's favorite area, because of the weather. The weather would be perfect...if I were wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and...didn't have to walk 10 miles a day. But it could always be worse. There are areas in the mission that are much hotter. :P
Speaking of which, cambios are coming up. Er, transfers. Pres. Hacking told me I'd be staying with Elder Rapalino for another transfer, but he didn't tell us if it'd be here or somewhere else. Elder Rapalino has been here for 6 months, so he thinks we're going to move, but I honestly have no idea. Maybe we'll go somewhere else here in Bucaramanga. :) That'd be cool.
The language is coming along. I'm not fluent, but I can say what I want probably 95% of the time, and can understand probably about 90% of what people say. Unless they're from the coast, Chile, or talk super-fast. And not that I have anything against Chile, but thier accent is really hard to understand. The funny thing is, my companion is from the Coast here in Colombia (Santa Marta), so he talks with the drop-all-my-S's accent. I kind of hope I don't pick it up. :P Heh. Costeños. Who needs 'em? ;)
Our investigators are progressing for the most part. We're teaching one family that has been super-interested (except the papá), and are reading the Book of Mormon and everything. They came to church, and we invited them to be baptized. It was a soft invitation, but still. I hope they get baptized. I probably hope that about everyone here in Colombia, but whatever. ;)
Did I tell you that I ate an intestine the other week? I can't remember if I told y'all or not. Definitely the most disgusting thing I've ever eaten. I didn't have the courage to ask what animal it came from, but I'd probably guess pig. Ulgh. It was slimy, and tough, and smelled...weird. Yuck. Other than that, the food here has been heavenly. Rice, rice, and more rice, plus some kind of meat, usually some platacones (spelling?) and a salad. Oh, and the juice. Can't forget the juice. Sugh. :) Jugo de piña, de tomate de árbol, maracuyá, mora, limón, banana, the list goes on and on. I would translate the names of those fruits, but I don't know all their names in English. I'm pretty sure they don't all exist in the US. :P But oh my goodness, how delish they all are. :) If they don't give us juice, they give us gaseosa. Uh...soda pop. Usually apple, pineapple, or orange. I think I've consumed more soda in this past month than I have my entire life. Holy tomato.
Everyone gets the same sized desk, little hitler.
I'm attaching some pics of our actividad de zona that we had today. I hope they make it. :) (The cake was delicious, btw's)
Well, the most important thing, is that I am in love with the gospel and with the people. Personal study is my favorite time of day, and lessons with investigators takes a close second. Knocking doors is a little bit lower on the list still...but that doesn't mean I do it less. Haha. We knock a lot of doors. All the houses here are pegados. Um. They're...close together. They touch. They don't have yards like they do in the US. The most they have is a little patio with room enough for a chair or two. We found my house on Google Maps with a member's cell phone the other day, and she was surprised at how huge it was, even though I had described it as pretty small, because...compared to other houses in the states, ours isn't that big. But compared to all the houses here, it's big. Even for 10 people. :P Count your blessings, eh? ;)
Anyway, onward, ever onward. I love you all. Don't hesitate to send me letters or Dear Elders, because they do get to me. Even if I can't send anything back. :-/
Love always,
Elder Moscas
P.S. I just don't see why you guys get all the waffles...
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