Hey Y'all

Dearest family and friends,

 

It's me again. Because today is Pday, so I'm here typing at you all. This week has been pretty good. (Hey white friend, try this. Hey that is pretty good.) The coolest things that happened were on Wednesday. We were contacting (knocking doors...we do that a lot here) and this guy came up to us and asked if I remembered him. I vaguely remembered him from several weeks back. I had been on intercabmios in Cañaveral with the Zone leaders, and we found this guy and talked to him and gave him a pamphlet and such. Well, he came up and pretty much the first words out of his mouth were, "What do I have to do to get baptized?" Haha...WHAT?? My companion and I looked at each other like, is this for real? But he was totally serious, so we started talking to him about taking the lessons and coming to church. He has dread locks, and asked us if he could be baptized if he wanted to keep them. We told him that we should try to look our best, especially as members of the church, but that anyone and everyone, no matter how they look, drees or do their hair are welcome in the church. He didn't come Sunday, but I'm hoping we can get in contact with him and teach him soon. He travels, so he doesn't technically live here. That was blessing number 1. Number 2 could not have been more than 2 minutes after we had finished talking with Eduardo, the dread locks guy. We touched this door....oh wow. Touched. That's my Spanish coming out. Tocamos una puerta and an older lady opened the door. We presented ourselves as misioneros de la Iglesia de Jesucristo do los Santos de los Últimos Días, and she said, "I know. I was a member of that church." That was another "Wait...WHAT?" kind of experience. She let us in and we started talking to her. She was baptized more than 20 years ago, but stopped going about 13 years ago. But she told us that she had been wanting to go back to church. We have a lesson with here tonight after we're done emailing. She didn't come to church this Sunday either. It's kind of a regular thing, being let down time and time again by investigators that say they're going to attend. Anyway, I think there are probably challenges with work and such, since she hasn't gone for 13 years. Hopefully we can get her and her shildren active. She also has twin granddaughters (spelling?) that were never baptized, so I'm hoping that we can talk to them about joining the church as well. :)

 

Those were the miracles of this week. It felt so good when we got home that night. Like we could baptize the world! Hehe. This work isn't all about baptism, but we focus on that, because that's the actual ordenance. Ordenanza. Hmm. But it's not all about the baptism. Baptism is a saving ordenance, but it doesn't save us by itself. The final and longest step of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to Endure to the End. That's what saves us. Along with the Grace of Jesus Christ. "For we know that it is by grace that we are saved after all we can do." We have to do everything we can, and then the grace of our Savior will save us.

 

Anyway, cool stuff. We got here late, so I'm out of time, but I hope you know that I love you all and you're all in my prayers. Thanks for all the prayers and support and letters and such that you send my way. I couldn't be more grateful. :)

 

Have a nice day, eh?

 

-Elder Cannon

 

P.S. I was about to make my frontal assault, when like 50 ninjas attacked me, and I had to like, beat 'em all up, and I did...

 

P.P.S. Also...I don't know why, but it's not letting me attach fotos. Maybe next week? :-/

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Mondays are Pdays now.

So...I don't know how clear I made it last week, that Pdays have officially been changed to Mondays. Kinda lamesauce, I think, because with Pday as Wednesday, the week went by super fast. Now it kind of drags... It's all good though. I guess it's just something to get used to. 

Hello all. I skipped my corny, monotonous intro today, so I'm putting it here. How is everything? I hope all is well. Things have been a bit tough here. We don't really have any investigators. I think I've been saying that for like...2 months now? But it's true. We search and search and contact and ask for references, and the people are never interested beyond the second or third visit. Sometimes not any more than the first. :-/ Anyway, the work goes on. We keep working, and trying and knocking doors, and talking to people. 

This week, I got to go on divisions with a gringo! Er, North American. Haha. His name is Elder Ure, from Morgan, UT. He's about 6 ft. 4 in. and he's a powerhouse missionary. :) He's only been out one cambio more than me, but I look up to him so much. We worked SO HARD that day we were together. We taught 5 lessons, contacted 25 people, received a reference from a member, and all without getting mugged! Hehe...I say that jokingly, but actually that day, I had my first real "Don't go that way" spiritual experience. We were walking down from on neighborhood to another, going the way we always do, when I got this feeling, and we both stopped right in our tracks. "No...let's go down this way." I told him. He said he had the same impression. It was a cool experience. I'm really glad we were both in tune with the spirit to be able to avoid whatever danger may have awaited us. Usually we're both with a Latino companion, so it's not as much of a danger. Walking with another gringo however, is a little more dangerous. So far nothing bad has happened. Nothing more than being sworn at in English. And probably Spanish, but I don't understand them when they yell at me in Spanish. Anyway...

Life's good. I've been really worried about Julian lately. I was reading in Predicad Mi Evangelio today about how after we teach the investigators and they get baptized, it's the responsibility of the ward mission leader and the ward missionaries to teach them the first 4 lessons again, as well as the 5th one. I asked my companion if that ever happened, and he told me that this is only the second ward he's been in in his whole mission where he's even had a ward mission leader, much less ward missionaries. Basically, all of that is our responsibility. President Hinckley said that the three things that every new convert needs are a friend, a calling, and to be nourished by the good word of God. At least...I think those are the three things. We can nourish them with the word, and be their friend, but when we get transfered, what then? They're left friendless... :-/ Anyway, if there are ever any non-members that attend your ward, go talk to them and be their friend, okay? That's how they're gonna stay active. It's the whole Endure to the End thing that the members can really help us out with. 

Anyway, just here...plugging along. Praying and working and studying and working and teaching and working...

And the person behind me is playing music really loud on their computer and it's really distracting. That's why they invented headphones.

I read Jacob 5 this week, and for the first time, realized that it has everything to do with missionary work. Y'all probably knew that, huh. Well I didn't. Don't judge. Heh. Anyway, It was amazing. Talks all about the gathering of Israel and all that cool stuff. 

I have fotos this week! Wow. Photos. Fotos is Español. Hope you enjoy them. And...I hope I haven't sent them before, because it's been forever since I've sent photos. 

Most of all, know that I love you all and hope that all is well (and that you're enjoying the nice, cool weather for me).

Peace out.

Joey

P.S. I was speed walking nearby. In a suit? Yes. It's called...formal speed walking!

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Surprise!

Hi there everyone. 

You`re probably wondering why I`m writing on Monday instead of Wednesday. We got a call yesterday saying that President Hacking was changing Pday to Monday, starting...today. So here I am, writing y`all an email.

This week has been pretty sweetawesome. We found some people to teach, and have also been working with some less active members. Yesterday we taught Annie, whose parents are members, but inactive. She went to church a couple times a couple years ago, but since then had lost all contact with the church. We taught her about the Restoration of the Gospel and she accepted a Book of Mormon to read. My comp every now and again will just kind of leave me alone during a lesson. Heh...it was awkward at first, because I`d get done with what I wanted to say, and then kind of look over at him, and he`d just stare sraight ahead. Ah! During the lesson with Annie, I did most of the teaching. It`s tough...because sometimes I get stuck in a hole and don`t know how to pull myself out, but I think it went pretty well. I commited her to read the Book of Mormon and to pray to know if it`s true. And my companion doesn`t leave me alone because he`s mad or anything. It`s so I can learn to kind of take command of the lesson. Because this next transfer I could be senior companion and then what? I`ll have to take control of all the lessons. Eek! Hopefully I`m not senior companion next transfer...but who knows? :P Jaymes Walters just got put in as senior companion, and he`s only been out 3 or 4 months. 

I think most of that made sense. I`m not feeling as...flowy as I usually do when I write. Have I just confused you all to death, or are we alright? 

I really wanted to send pictures today, but we`re going to Cañaveral to the Mall after this, so I didn`t bring my adapter. I was hoping they`d have a computer here that`d have an SD port, but nope. Nada. Hehe. Nothin. Zilch. Noodle. 

Nada. Naaadaaaa.

This week, Elder Pino from the 70 is coming to our zone conference! I`m excited. They also told us he wants to interview 3 Missionaries, and look at 3 apartments. Hehe...we`re going to be doing a lot of cleaning today. :P I think it`d be so cool to be interviewed by him. I love interviews. I don`t know why, but I have always loved interviews. They just give me a spiritual boost. Like a little "keep up the good work" sticker or...something. Yeah. Anyway... 

Life`s good. I don`t really know what else to say. Any questions? Comments? Chismes? Chistes? Dudas? Aclaraciones? 

What are you doing, Toothless? We need her to like us!

Welp. I think I`ve run out of things to say. I hope all is well back home. I pray for y`all every day. Onward, ever onward. :)

Love,

Elder Joey

P.S. Did you know that in Colombia, and many central/south american countries, it`s impolite to point with your finger? So you have to point with your lips. "You have to pucker up your lips, alike adis." ;)

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Peruano...

Hello all. :) How are you today?

This week was...different. I have a new companion, Elder Acosta from Perú, and he's way cool. He's been out 19 months, so he knows a ton. He pretty much teaches circles around me. But I'm not here to compare, sino que to learn. Saying "sino que" made more sense to me than saying "but" so I did. The Spanish is coming really well. I had kind of a funny experience the other day. We were talking with hermana Gladys, one of our recent converts, and while she was talking, I suddenly thought, "She's speaking Spanish. I'm understanding her. When did this happen??" Haha... Kinda weird, but cool. :) I have truly been blessed with the gift of tongues. Yeah, we went to Ecuador 6 weeks, and I studied 3 years in High School, but there are gringos here with more experience than that, plus half their mission here that still sound gringo. I'm not going to say I sound native, but the gift of tongues could refer to the accent, couldn't it? Every now and again, people tell me I don't sound gringo. One lady asked me if I was from Spain. I almost told her yes. ;) Anyway, I really do believe I have been blessed with the gift of tongues, and I am ever so grateful. It's wonderful to be able to communicate. My companion speaks English pretty well. Not...fluent, but he understands most things. :) It's fun speaking English again.

We haven't had much success this week. At least...not that we can see. We're short on investigators. As in...we don't have any. That's not true. We did start teaching one family last week, and they look like they might progress. Nubia and Alvaro. The only problem is the same problem that everyone here has. They're not married. "Unión libre" is an epidemic here. The difference with this couple is that they both want to get married. But Nubia hasn't divorced her old husband, so there are some complications there. Elder Acosta always says, "Hay que tener fe." You gotta have faith. I do have faith. I sincerely hope that we can get them married so they can be baptized. There's a notary here that they call the Mormon notary. Almost all of the people that work there are members. So, if someone needs to get married we have an in, and can help them out. The only thing we can't help them with is the money. Anyway, Hay que tener fe.

I'm pretty sure I've sweated off 5 kilos this week. Then again, we eat about that much every day. Yesterday, we went to a neighborhood called Belencito, or Little Bethlehem. It's basically at the top of a mountain. The interesting thing about the classes here is that the rich people all live in the valley, and the really poor people live up on the bench. The higher up you go, the humbler it is. Anyway, we went to visit a less active sister por allí. (This was about 2 hours after lunch...) This sister usually gives us food, but I wasn't expecting what she gave us. It was another lunch! But bigger than the first one. A plate full of rice, chicken, patacones (double deep-fried plantains. Yum.) and a whole plate of fruit salad. Then there was the jar (it was actually a beer mug, but she doesn't use it for that.) of gaseosa. Uh...soda. Carbonated beverage. Whatever. I ate all of mine, and my companion was struggling. He doesn't have a big gringo stomach like me... So I helped him out with half his salad and a patacón, and gave him some of my soda. It worked out, but wow. Lots of food. Lots and lots. We don't do enough walking for that amount of food. Haha. 

I'm sorry, I don't have pictures today. I forgot my adapter. I'll have to send them next week. I hope you're all enjoying Utah weather. I'm trying not to complain about the heat, because this last transfer, they sent a gringo to Barranca, and if you ask anyone around here, they all say it's an infierno. Super-caliente! So I'm just chillin here. Aguantando. And being grateful that I'm not in Barranca. 

This morning, I read 2 Nephi 3. It's a very personal chapter for me. It says my name 11 times. Heh. Actually, I really love it because it talks about Joseph Smith, and the Book of Mormon. Verses 12 and 15 are some of my favorites. I remember someone in the MTC telling us that the first word spoked by Heavenly Father in this despensation was "Joseph." God knows and loves each and every one of us. It's difficult at times to develop a personal relationship with God. I feel at times like He's so far away. But then I remember the primary song that says "but I feel Him close beside me as I pray." Or...something. Prayer is really the best way for us to grow close to our Father in Heaven. We need to be faithful in our prayers and communicate openly with our Father in Heaven. Then we will truly be able to feel Him close beside us. 

Well, I hope everything is well in Utah. And if you're not in Utah, I hope everything is well, wherever you are. Go to church. Pray often. Study your scriptures daily, and Heavenly Father will bless you in ways you can't imagine. It really is amazing how much He gives us for doing so little. Such a blessing, eh? :)

I love you all. Until next week,

Elder Cannon

P.S. Would someone please listen to Lex de Azevedo's "If you could Hie to Kolob" for me? Sure appreciate ya. :)

P.P.S. How many legs does a fish have? And how many wings on a cow? I wonder, yup. I wonder.

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Cambios...

Hey there everyone, it's me again. You know, that one gringo you sent to Colombia a while ago? Yeah...hehe. Well, I'm still here, just in case you were wondering.

I'm sure you're all curious about the cambios, but I have to write about Julian primero, so you'll just have to wait.

Julian showed up on Saturday without a single piercing. Ah! :D He chose me to baptize him, which was an amazing experience. Even though we had to redo it twice because his leg kept coming out. I finally just stood on his left foot, and that worked. Should've thought of that the first time. :P Anyway, he got baptized!!! It was such an exciting moment. What's even better, he was at church the next day super early, received the Gift of the Holy Ghost during Sacrament mtg, and he told us later that he had thrown all of his piercings away. How amazing is that? Thank you all for your prayers on his behalf. It really helped. Thank you thank you. :) It was really one of the happiest days of my life. Knowing that he was using his agency to choose to keep the commandments and to follow Christ by being baptized. :) Man. Chévere.

Anyway, now about the cambios. My companion is going to Bogotá. And me, I'm staying here. :) Elder Acosta will be my new companion. He's from Peru. Crazy. It's really kind of weird that my companion is leaving. Here in the mission, you don't call your trainer your trainer. You call him your dad. So, mi padre is leaving me and going to the "cold" city of Bogotá. Ha! There are days here when people say it's cold. Honestly, I've only been cold once in this area. And that was after 4 days of straight rain and no sun. I was cold until we left our apartment and started walking. I really would love to go to Bogotá and really be cold for once. Y'all will have to enjoy the snow for me, because I don't think I'll be seeing any this winter. Hehe..."winter." Winter doesn't exist here. People ask me sometimes, "in the United States, you have seasons, right?" Hah...yeah, we do. Then they start telling me about the seasons. "Fall is when the leaves turn colors and fall, and then there's winter, then...what's next? Oh yeah. Spring. Then summer." Haha. 

I distracted myself. Tomorrow, my companion will leave at around 8 am, and my comp will probably get here around 8 at night, if not later. Bucaramanga to Bogotá is an 8 hour drive, if you go during the night. During the day, it takes more than 12 hours. That's Colombian traffic for you. :P Sorry I can't say more about the cambios. Next week I'll actually have met my companion, so I'll tell you more then. For now, All I know is his name and his nationality. Which reminds me, my companion is going to be companions with an Argentine. Just...in case you wondered.

This cambio, we've been really short on investigators. And the majority of the ones we've had don't want to commit to baptism, don't 

want to keep commitments, don't want to come to church. I'm hoping that changes in these next six weeks. 

Well, I hope all is well in Utah. I love you all! :)

Love,

Elder Joey

P.S. Yes, my pinky promises...

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[Note: Tree tomatoes are not the same as regular tomatoes from the USA. Tree tomato juice was Joey's Mom's favorite jugo in Ecuador. The whole fam loved it. So, Joey sent his Mom the following email. So far, no luck in finding tree tomatoes in the USA]

Today we made tree tomato juice, and I'm sending you pictures, as well as instructions...in case you happen to come across some tree tomatoes? I don't know if they even exist in the US. If they do, the juice is super-fácil to make. First, you boil the tomatoes. We used a pound of tomatoes, and it made enough for 5 people. Boil them for 10 or so minutes, then let them cool (the freezer helps speed up that process for the less patient). Peel them (the skin should come off really easily after boiling them) and put them in the blender with the water you boiled them in, as well as milk. Blend it up until it's nice and frothy, strain the seeds out, add sugar to taste, and there you have it! Piece of cake. It's not an exact recipe, but my comp doesn't cook from recipes, just from his head. Like you, Mom. :) Anyway, maybe the pics will help. ...maybe.

I made this for you.

Hello all. :)

How is everyone? I'm doing fine, thanks for asking. This week has been amazing, and crazy, and...amazing.

First of all, Hermana Marina, that got baptized last week, moved to another ward during the week, and attended church there, so we didn't see her get confirmed. But the Zone leaders called and told us that it still counted as our confirmation (it's not that I care about the numbers, that just meant that we had to fill out the baptismal registry. I'm just glad she got confirmed). On Sunday, we were visiting Martina, a recent convert, and Julian was there. Julian, in case I haven't told you already, is a really cool guy. Almost as cool as Julian Smith. ;) Hehe, jk. He's super-chill, and we taught him for several weeks, and even commited him to baptism, but when we asked him to live the law of chastity, he never did. Now, don't go thinking bad things about Julian. Let me finish. He has 2 piercings in his eyebrow, and another in his ear, and when we talked about the law of chastity (that includes piercings), he never got rid of them, so he could never get baptized. Well, Sunday, we were chatting with him, and he asked us, "When's my baptism?" Haha. Every missonary's dream, right?. ;) We told him that as soon as he started living the law of chastity, he could get baptized. He told us it wouldn't be a problem, and that he wanted to get baptized this Saturday, because cambios are this weekend, and this is probably the last chance he'll have for us to baptize him. Ah! :) Haha. The next day, he had gotten rid of all of his piercings, and was doing just great. But when we went back yesterday, he had put one back in his eyebrow, and told us that it was because it was getting infected, and he had to put it back. We told him he just needed to trust in the Lord and have the faith that God would help him be able to keep this commitment he had made. If you can, please pray for Julian. I'm worried about him. Pray that he'll be able to live the law of chastity until his baptism and forever after. He just needs a little extra help from heaven.

Other than that, the week's been pretty average. We taught a new family yesterday, which was cool. We've really been lacking investigators this cambio. Although, we've had a lot of success, especially compared to the rest of the zone. Some cambios are just more fruitful than others. We keep working though. Working and working and working. Trying to find people to teach, trying to get the people we're teaching to come to church, to commit to baptism. Work, work, work. :)

So, I found a talk by Elder Holland in my scripture case the other day, and it has become my absolute all-time favorite. It's called "And High Priest of Good Things to Come." There's a Mormon Message about it, I believe. It brings me to the point of tears every time I read it. Just the part near the end, where he says, "Don't give up, boy. Don't you quit. There is help and happiness ahead--a lot of it...trust in God and believe in good things to come." Sigh. I love Elder Holland. I absolutely love him. His messages are always just so inspiring. Anyway, I reccomend you read that talk. It'll help you out, whatever trial you're facing. :)

Cambios, like I said, are this weekend. They let us know Sunday if/where we're going, and then Monday is P-day. So if you're going to write me (wink wink...you should write me), you'll have to do it before then. Tuesday, those who are leaving leave, and those who are coming come. I honestly don't know if I'll be going or staying, but I am pretty darn sure my companion is leaving. He's been here 7 and 1/2 months. I'm pretty sure I would laugh my head of if he stayed though. Hehe... Not in a mean way, just in a...loving, companion-type way. ...that didn't make sense. Oh well.

Anyway, life's good. Just here...working and working. Praying and walking and teaching and learning and preaching and baptizing. ¡Que te digo! Haha. I hope all is well, wherever you may be. God bless and God speed. :)

Love,

Elder Cannon

P.S. Don't drink that racist coffee! Actually, just don't drink coffee at all. Hah, that reminds me, we got offered coffee last night. :P You know you're in Colombia....

P.P.S. I never would have invented my fireproof pants! ...still working out the kinks.

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