Trio...

Sup y'all?

I'm here in Tunja, waiting for my zone leaders to tell me who my new companion will be. Haha. They used to tell us on Sunday night, but they changed it to Monday night. Probably just to keep us in suspense a day longer. :P This whole week I was with Elder Godoy (Argentina) and Elder Sandoval (Colombia). We were in Tunja Sur basically the whole week. I only went to my area a couple of times with a young man from the ward. It was a pretty good week...but working in trio isn't the same. especially when I'm here in their house, and don't have half my stuff. I only brought 3 ties, so I've just been rotating. I do have other clothes...I'm not that gross. But I'm ready to go home. "Home." The apartment in my area. 

I've missed Elder Ochoa a lot this week. I called him a few times, and we chatted. He got his visa to the USA, and is heading to Utah in a few weeks. :) Chevere. I'm not really sure what else to write...this week I worked with all of Tunja Sur's investigators. I haven't seen Felipe in more than 2 weeks. :-/ I hope everything is alright. He studies a lot, and works as well. These past 2 Sundays he didn't come to church because he was working. Sometimes I think Satan works harder than us. Not harder than Heavenly Father, but sometimes harder than the missionaries. We just have to remember that only a 3rd of the hosts of heaven followed Satan. So really, for every devil tempting us, there are 2 angels keeping us from falling into temptation. Just some food for thought. That makes me want to read the Screwtape Letters again. I was going to read it again before I left, but I never made the time... Lastima.

The work here is good. The only thing is that Tunja Sur has a lot more support from the members than we do. I think that maybe the missionaries that were here before dind't work as much as they could have... :-/ But this cambio I'm going to try and work a lot with the members. Serving them in cualquier cosa, working hard and bringing investigators to church so that they can see that we are working. We'll have to see how it goes. 

Life is good. I'm kind of out of time, because I had to write the President today. But I hope all is well in dear Utah. Don't do drugs. Stay in school. And ignore that man behind the curtain...

Love you all,

Elder Cannon

P.S. Fine! I'll just pack my thing and go!

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Today isn't P-day.

Maybe you're wondering why I didn't email yesterday. Or maybe you enjoyed your monday without that annoying email you get every week from some guy down in Colombia. Hehe. Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up. Buttercup marry Humperdink in little less than half an hour.

Heh. Yesterday we had a crazy P-day. My companion and I woke up at 5:30, got ready, and drove to the Terminal. Bus station...place. We took some pictures, said goodbye, and put him on a bus to Bogota. :-/ He's going home! I really miss him. We're such good friends. I love it when my companionships are like that. They become more than just companions. More like life-long friends. Anyway, then myself and the 2 Elders from Tunja Sur got on a bus headed for Sogamoso. An hour and a half later, we met up there with the rest of the Zone and got on a bus headed for Playa Blanca! Playa Blanca (White Beach) is a "beach" at about 9,000 ft. above sea level. Give or take. I'll be sure to attach pictures. It was so much fun. It wasn't cold or anything. We couldn't swim, but they did let us get our feet wet. We played soccer on the beach, and later volleyball. It was such a blast! It was really hard to play soccer though...at that altitude. :P Anyway, when we left, we got back to Tunja around 6pm, and I went with the Elders in Barbosa for intercambios. Companion exchanges. So I'm here in Barbosa, which is about an hour and a half from Tunja. And...that's basically why I didn't email yesterday. Because we got here late, and didn't have time.

This week was pretty good. A little bit sad, because we spent a lot of time running errands for Elder Ochoa who was getting ready to leave. We bought luggage, because he had given his away. We said goodbye to all of our friends here, etc. Well...he said goodbye. I said, see you next week. Haha. We've been working more this week with Felipe. But it's hard to get ahold of him, because he studies, and when he's not studying, he's working. He didn't come to church this week, which worries me a little. MOstly because he has a baptismal date for the 3rd of March. We haven't really taught him all that much. And this week, I'm going to be in trio with Tunja Sur, so it'll be even harder to get over there to teach him. :-/ What's good is that he really has the desire to learn and keep his commitments. I'm just hoping he'll be prepared for his baptismal date.

This week, I talked with my companion about a lot of deep doctrine. It's stuff that doesn't really help us as missionaries...because our job is not to tell the investigators everything we know. Our job is to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ and simplify it to the point that a child could understand, and teach that to them. Only the things that are necessary for them to gain a testimony and to be converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, I have always believed in the importance of personal revelation. There are points of doctrine that we never hear about in General Conference, that we won't usually see reading the scriptures, but that are true. Those points of doctrine will only be given to us on our seeking them out and praying about them. I don't really know why I got off on this topic. I just love the fact that we believe (or should believe) in personal revelation. It's real. If we ever have a doubt about something, or a question to be answered, the first place to look should be our Father in Heaven. Because He knows everything. :)

Anyway...I'll get off my soapbox now. I love you all. Thank you all for your support. Your emails and letters and DearElders. They mean a lot to me. 

Take luck. :) 

-Elder Cannon

P.S. "Code: Send in the brainbots!" "You know, the whole point of a code is--" "Oh, just do it!"

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Dear Family,

It's been a whole week since I wrote you last. Isn't it wonderful to be able to email so often? Modern technology is a great blessing. 

Okay, I just have to say, the fingers on my left hand really burn right now. My peruvian companion wanted to make aji de gallina today. It's a really delish peruvian food, and you make it with aji amarillo, which is actually anaranjado. But whatever color it is, it's really really picante. Spicy. Hot. I had the job of cutting them open, and taking out all the seeds and veins and such so that it wouldn't be as spicy. After cutting it up, my fingers started to burn. Now, 5 hours later, they still do. They told me I should scrub my hands with sugar, because the sweetness gets rid of the spicy. I'm not sure if it'll work, but I'm willing to try it.

This week we finally committed someone to baptism. ¡Por fin! I was beginning to feel like we weren't ever going to find someone. It's been a little more difficult in "tierra fria." Cold land. The people here are more closed. More...cold. Heh. Anyway, Carol, our most recent convert, introduced us to her cousin, Felipe. He's kind of shy, but he's super-juicioso. Righteous? Good. Well-behaved. Something like that. Anyway, we taught him about the Restoration and then about baptism, and he accepted a fecha for the 3rd of March. The only thing that worries me is his parents. He's only 17 years old, so he'll need his parents' permission to be baptized. We'll have to see how that goes. We're hoping and praying that they'll let him be baptized. What would be even better would be if we could talk to his parents as well and have them baptized as a family. :) That'd be wonderful. Oh, and btw's, if you want to commit someone to baptism, use 2nd Nephi 31. That's my favorite one to use. Starting from verse 5 until verse 11. It explains how Christ, even though he was perfect, was still baptized to fulfill all righteousness. Then it says in verse 10, "Follow thou me." "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, how can we follow Jesus Christ save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?" And then in the next verse it gives the commandment: "And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son." Anyway, just a little missionary tidbit for you. :) The Spirit is always the strongest during 2 moments in teaching. During the First Vision, and in commiting them to be baptized. :) 

It rained today. The rain here in Tunja is like the early spring rain in Utah. Cold. It hasn't really rained all that often though. They say it's still summer. Winter starts in April, I guess. Maybe I'll still be here. Who knows? Beginning next transfer, we're getting 40 new missionaries in the mission. If I end up training (santa vaca...) which I've been told is likely, I'll be here another 3 months. Fun stuff. :) 

This week went by so fast, and it didn't really feel all that productive... :-/ My companion is trying to get his visa to go to the United States, because his family is there at the moment, so we've been running all sorts of errands. :-/ But this coming week's going to be a lot better. Because I decided it would be. I decided that I need to lead out more in the companionship. I feel sometimes like I just do whatever my companion says. This week, I'm gong to take more of an innitiative and just do stuff. "That's called taking the innitiative, son. I wish I had 10 more like you." I'm half the companionship, so my opinion and hard work and dedication makes a big difference. Lots of times I want to contact, but it's hard sometimes. Especially because our area is really really spread out. There're a lot of open fields and huge hills to climb. I need to get better at contacting people on the street. I can do it, it just takes a Nike attitude. "Just Do It!"

Anyway, I'm out of time. I was going to attach some awesome photos today, but I don't have my converter thingy. It'll have to wait until next week. :-/

That's all for now, folks!

Love y'all. Take care. :)

-Elder Cannon

P.S. Does anyone have the music to Lex de Azevedo's "If you could Hie to Kolob?" I would love a copy of it. :)

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