Chocoramos are my fav.

There's this wonderful thing that Colombia has that no other Country does. Well, not that I know of anyway. It's called a Chocoramo. Pretty much imagine the most wonderful, delicious thing you've ever eaten, and multiply it by SIX!!! That's how wonderfully delicious Chocoramos are. It's basically just some cake-like substance covered in chocolate and sold for 800 Pesos Colombianos. Like $0.40. :) Open mouth, insert happiness. 

This week was pretty much the bomb. I loved it. We worked hard, had some amazing lessons, and found some powerful new investigators. I don't know if I ever told you about Paulina and Mayra. We contacted them more than a month ago, and could never get back in touch with them. Then one day, we passed by their house, and they weren't there, but we got their phone number from their brother. Well, the brother of one of them...they're both students, so they live in the house like an apartment. I don't think they're family. Anyway, we finally got in contact with them, went to teach them, and they had a whole bunch of great questions and comments. They commited to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, and also wanted to come to church. We arranged with a couple sisters in the ward that go to the same University, and they all came to church together. Pretty much the happiest day of my life. Haha. Tonight we have a Noche de Hogar with them, so I'm hoping everything goes well. Oh!! And what was even better was that when they got to the church, a different sister in the ward (who also studies at the same University) went up and gave Paulina a big hug. I guess their like best friends, and Paulina just didn't know her friend was a member of the church. Blessings, blessings, everywhere. 

I don't know if my email sent last week...I put 3 pictures and I usually only put 2. I hope y'all got it. I'll be sure to just attach 2 this time. 

Today I went to get my hair cut by Sister Ibañez. She has a Peluquería, so we always go there to cut our hair. Plus she charges us about $1.50 each time. Cheap, even for Colombia. After she cut my hair, she said she'd give me a manicure for free (as a late birthday present...). It makes me laugh sometimes, but the guys here in Colombia take really good care of their nails. So I said, what the heck, it can't hurt. Haha. Then before I realized, she started painting them red. Hahaha... I didn't leave it, obviously. Just long enough to take the picture. :P 

The other picture is of my companion and I with some of the most delicious hamburgers I have ever eaten...Well here in Colombia at least. They don't really know how to make a good burger here. We finally decided to just buy ground beef and make them ourselves. And thanks to the seasonings that dad sent me, they were that much better. :) Oh, and we made them 1/2 lb. each. ;) Delish. The fútbol jersey I have on is one that Elder Godoy gave me for my birthday. My collection is growing. Haha. It's from the Celtics team in Scottland. I didn't even know until we were walking across the Plaza Bolívar one Pday, and out of nowhere someone asks me in English, "Are you Scottish?" Hahaha... The best thing was that it was in an awesome Brittish accent. :) I started talking to the guy, who was from England. I told him I was from the states and that I was here in Colombia on a mission for the Church. It was a pretty randomly awesome experience. :) He said he was there helping in the English dept. in Boyacá, because the English level here is...pésimo. I offered my help, and gave him my phone number. He hasn't called me yet, but it'd be cool if he did. 

The work goes ever onward. I'm still about 1.82 meters and weigh about the same 81 kilos. I'm loving life as a missionary, and doing my best to preach and teach and work like missionaries do. :) 

Take luck, don't do drugs. Peace out, y'all.

-Elder Cannon

P.S. Now slam the door really hard. No...they can still see you. ...your elbow's still in...

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Hehe...one more thing.

I attached pictures of our activity in Barbosa...and then never talked about it. On Friday, the whole zone went to Barbosa to wash motorcycles. It was an activity to find more people and basically just do something different. My companion and I were quite a team. I didn't really talk to anyone, but I think I washed 10-12 motorcycles. And he didn't wash much, but he talked to 25 people in those few hours. It was a really neat activity. We found some really cool people, and had a lot of success. Hopefully Barbosa will take advantage of all those contacts and teach and baptize a la lata. ;)

Okay, I think that's all.

Peace out.

-Elder Cannon

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19 years, 364 days.

Actually, it's 19 years, 365 days, because it's a leap year...

Anyway...How's it going?

It's absolutely amazing how fast time flies. I probably say something like that every week, don't I? It's just so true. Time just flies here on the mission. Although, I have some good friends now that have gone home after their missions, and they say that the time afterward passses even faster. Crazy. But life's good. We're working hard, and we've seen some amazing sucesses and blessings this week. I always think about the missionary in The Best 2 Years that's about to get on the train to go home, and he tells Elder Calhoun, "It passes by so fast. Just don't let one moment pass you by." It's true. I pray every day that I will be able to make the most of every moment of every day. It's hard sometimes, when we're tired or a little disappointed for one reason or another, but we keep working, and trying to find, teach, and baptize. Because as misssionaries, that's what we do.

This week we got a phone call from Diego. I don't know if I told y'all about Diego. He is a die-hard science nerd, student of medicine, and the first time we met with him he explained to us how he had proved with science the fact that God lives. But he also told us how he couldn't be "Mormon" because of one reason or another. Anyway, my companion and I saw a lot of potential in him, despite his concerns and excuses. When he called me on the phone, he said "I want a Book of Mormon. I think it can be a pillar in my life. Like the Bible." Aaaaaah! :D :D :D Ahem. So, we set an appointment and went to meet with him and his girlfriend. Luckily, we had 2 Books of Mormon (hehe...'nother Best 2 Years reference...), and gave them each a copy to read and pray about. Yesterday, they were both at church, and we set another appointment for this Wednesday. We're hoping and praying that they will continue to progress and accept a baptismal date. I think that Diego's biggest concern is his parents. They hate the Mormons and would literally disown Diego if they found out he had joined the church. For now, he's studying medicine, and depends on his parents for money, housing, etc. But as it says in Preach My Gospel, almost 100% of the doubts that investigators have come back to whether or not they have a testimony of Joseph Smith and the Restored Gospel. Because if they know that, their doubts and concerns won't matter. So we're praying really hard that they'll read and pray and get an answer that these things are true. If the do those things, it's not much of a question as to whether or not they'll get an answer. That's something that Heavenly Father has promised to all of His children (see Moroni 10:3-5), and when He promises us something, He fulfills His promises (see D&C 82:10).

We've been working with Pilar as well, but when we taught her about the Law of Chastity, she told us that she's living with her boyfriend, and that they didn't have any plans to separate or get married... We're praying to figure out what to do about that. I know that she wants to be baptized, because she told us so. But things like this always make the decision harder. People here in Colombia, and probably around the world, do things backwards nowadays. They think that living together for a few years (sometimes more than a few) is key to knowing whether or not marriage will work between you. It kind of makes me sad. I always have a Family: A Proclamation to the World handy to give out or read with investigators. Hopefully Pilar will have the courage to either break it off with her boyfriend, or at least start living in a different apartment, or to get married.

Things are pretty much back to normal around here. All settled down after Semana Santa. We have 2 new Zone Leaders, and new Elder in our District from El Salvador. He's like 6' 5". Gigante! And apparently he's a professional futbol player. haha. He'll probably squash us all when we play as a zone. Fun stuff.

I can't believe that I'm turning 20 tomorrow. It seems like just yesterday I turned 18, let alont 19. I think I must have skipped a few months in there somewhere. Hehe. This morning, I told my companion that I was going to go to neverland and stay young forever. Haha. We'll see how that plan works out. If I'm not wrong, it's the second star to the right and straight on 'til morning, right?

Anyway, thanks for all the birthday wishes. I also have to wish my awesome, buff, super-smart little brother Jorge a happy birthday too. Happy Birthday! I love you, lil bro! :)

I hope everything is wonderful in Utah. We've entered "winter" here, and it basically just rains every day. There's either rain, or lots of rain. "Are those the only choices?" Yes. Yes, they are.

Love y'all. Take luck, don't do drugs, stay in school, and remember to drink your ovaltine.

Love,
Elder Cannon

P.S. Superman wears Chuck Norris underpants.

P.P.S. I've been to the dentist 1,000 times so I know the drill...

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Semana Santa...

Hello.

This week was Semana Santa. Basically just means that those who don't usually go to mass go this week, and those who do usually go, go even more. For mission work...it's a little difficult. Tunja is a city full of students, because there are 4 universities here. Most people are only here during the week, and when there's vacation time (aka Semana Santa) they all take off for their homeland. Then there's "Viernes Santo" which basically means it's a sin to do anything but breathe. They don't eat meat, except for fish. They don't work, they don't go shopping, they don't play soccer, nothing. It was really weird to go outside and try to find people to teach...when there wasn't a soul in sight. But our week went fairly well, despite the circumstances. Most of our investigators went out of town, and a bunch of members, but a few families invited us to breakfast, or dinner. It was enjoyable. 

Oh! We totally did tae kwon do this week. Haha. It was a blast. There are some young women in the ward that invited their tae kwon do instructor to church, and he and his wife came, and the Elders in Tunja Sur started teaching them. So they invited us to come to tae kwon do, and we went. I'm pretty much a black belt by now, so watch out. Haha...

Okay just kidding. Nada que ver. But I enjoyed it all the same. I'll try to attach some pictures. These wonderful internet cafés sometimes have a way to upload pictures, and sometimes they don't. So it's just a hit and miss kind of a game. 

Life's good. Last night they told us the cambios. Who goes and who stays. Us 4 in Tunja are staying another cambio. The only changes in the zone were 2 new zone leaders, and one change in Barbosa. That'll be fun. Elder Godoy, my good Argentine friend in Tunja Sur started his last transfer today. I can't believe it! It's incredible how time flies. He'll be in Argentina in less than 2 months... Crazy. 

I'm not really sure what else to write. I always think of things during the week to write, and then when I'm sitting at a computer, I forget them all. I used to write them down, but now I just go with what it ways in the mission manual. "No se obsesione por comunicarse con la familia y los amigos." So...it's important to write y'all and all that. And I'm always really glad to hear from you. But...I guess it's not... a priority? "We could be killed. Or worse...expelled!" "...She needs to sort out her priorities."

Anyway, I love y'all. Let me know how school is, how life is, how work is, everything. :) 

Still paddling the old knew,

Elder Joey

P.S. "Now I'm 'bout to find out what happened to captain hook..."

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And then let's pretend I wrote an email and you guys all read it.

So...I'm still here in Tunja. I'll be here for another 7 weeks, if my calculations are correct.

Life here is great. When it's not freezing cold, there's sunshine that burns 4 layers of skin simultaneously. It's great. Haha. Actually I do really love it. The sun, not so much, because it really does burn. I put sunscreen on every day to keep from frying. But the cold I love. My companion always wants to go out in a suit or a coat, and I want to go out in a short sleeve shirt. We switch off. ;)

This Saturday was General Conference!!!! In case you didn't know. I loved it so much. There were so many amazing things that were said, that spoke to me personally. Amazing how it always works that way, eh? ;) And sorry mom, but Elder Bednar spoke in the Priesthood session. :-/ You can read his talk when the Ensign comes out...

After the Saturday afternoon session and before the Priesthood session, we had a baptismal service. Diana Rojas was baptized. Yay! My companion baptized her, because her boyfriend was in Neyva. Or Neiva. I don't know how to spell it. But she was baptized, and everything went super well. We even had gas to heat the water this time, so no one got hypothermia. ;) Heheh... 

This week is Semana Santa. Holy Week. It's the last week of Christ's birth. Everyone has told us that it's one of the hardest weeks of mission service here in Colombia. And even more in Tunja, which is in the top three most catholic cities in Colombia. Heh. We'll have to see how it goes. :P We've had a few members invite us over for breakfast or dinner this week, so we won't feel too abandoned. Heh. But it'll be a fun week. I'm excited to see how Semana Santa is here. 

I'm about out of time, but y'all have to write or email me and tell me what your favorite conference talk was. Mine were Elder Holland's and Elder Cook's. We have an investigator, Diego, who has a very scientific brain. We visited with him a couple times this week, and he explained to us how he had proved with science that God exists. I guess that's progress...but he's bent on not becoming "a Mormon" because his parents hate our church and might disown him and stop paying for his schooling if he joins the church. He's a very intellectual person, and very eloquent. He can talk circles around me. I think he just needs to soften his heart a bit...(see D&C 109:56 and 124:9).

This week we also began teaching Liliana and Didier (Dad, that name is french, isn't it?). They're really receptive, and we taught them about the Book of Mormon and invited them to read it and pray about it. I'm praying that they will. Because really there are only 3 ways to get a testimony of the book of mormon. Reading it, praying about it, and going to church to learn about it. It doesn't come by asking your pastor about it. It doesn't come looking up things on the internet. It definitely doesn't come just not doing anything. If you have the faith that God will give you a testimony, that faith has to have some kind of action. Without it, that testimony will never come.

Thanks family and friends, for everything. Thank you for your prayers, your words, your letters and emails, your love and support. I love you all. 

Love,

Elder Cannon

P.S. I have a machete. Right here.

P.S. Elder Ochoa flies to the US on the 17th of April. He has a letter for the fam that I sent with him, and he says he's going to deliver it by hand that week. You'll have to let me know if he comes over. :)

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Hey y'all...

I can't believe it's already been another week. It seems like just yesterday this week started, and now it's over. Well...technically we're in a new week. Yesterday it was over. Aaaanyway, life's just great. The past little while I've been looking for a soccer jersey from the US world cup team, and couldn't find one anywhere. I bought one of the Real Madrid team, but from the US...nothing. Elder Godoy, an Elder here in Tunja had one that another gringo gave him, and this week he asked me if I wanted it. So I bought it from him, and am now happy as a clam. :) 

If you didn't know, fútbol, or soccer, is basically the most important thing here. If you don't play fútbol, you're not really Colombian. Or Latino, for that matter. I've kind of been getting into the whole soccer thing, and I'm not latino, but I don't play too bad. Haha. We only play once or twice every 6 weeks anyway, but I enjoy it. 

The work is moving forward. :) Diana is getting baptized this week! My  companion is going to baptize her, which is super exit because it'll be his first baptism. :) Be-awesome. She had some doubts about whether to wait or not, because her boyfriend, who's a member, is out of town until who knows when, and she wanted him to baptize her. We talked to her boyfriend this week and he told us he had talked to her, and told her not to wait. He told us to take lots of pictures, but to not postpone it. Para nada. So she'll be baptized between the afternoon session and the priesthood session of conference this Saturday. 

Speaking of Conference!!! I am so stoked for General Conference this year. I read an article about Thomas S. Monson in the Liahona this morning that I loved. It was titled, "Have I done any good in the World Today?" I think. It was in Spanish. Every time I think about President Monson, I think about all of the many things he's done for so many people in this world. He doesn't hesitate for a second to leave the ninety and nine and go after the one. I love President Monson. He's my hero. Oh, and a quote from the article that I loved was by Elder Richard G. Scott. He said, "The Lord had to make President Monson big to fit the size of his heart." It's so true. :)

This week, we commited Pilar to baptism. She's planning on getting baptized in about a month. Around the 28th of April. We had talked to her a lot about baptism, and she never wanted to commit, especially because she didn't think her parents would really support her. But she took the step of faith into the dark, and we're praying hard that the Lord will light her way, and show her where to go. It worries me a little, setting a baptismal date so far off. It worries me because Satan is incredibly cunning. A month is a long time to wait for an ordinance as important as baptism. Satan knows that she can't enter into the presence of God without baptism. He knows that she can't really change her life how she wants without the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, and so he'll do everything he can to keep her from getting baptized. Doubts, fears, worries, excuses...just to name a few of the tools Satan uses to keep investigators from following through on their commitments. But with a little faith, a lot of prayer, and some careful teaching and guiding, I know without a doubt that she'll make it. I ask for your prayers as well. She needs them. She needs the gospel, and the only way there is to truly receive it is through the saving ordinance of baptism. 

Well dear family and friends, take care. Stay in school, don't do drugs, you know the drill (Nooo! Not the drill!!!).

I love you all.

-Elder Moscas

P.S. Haaaave yooooouuu....ever ever ever in your long-legged life seen a long-legged sailor with a long-legged wife?

P.P.S. Red eye flashes twice!

P.P.P.S. The fotos are of Elder Godoy and I with some of the youth from the ward. We played Fútbol last Pday. The other is an example of what the doorbells look like a lot of times in high rise apartments... We rang all 13 of them, and only one person came out to talk to us. :)

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Sup?

Hey y'all. Mi querida familia.

Life here in Tunja is great. Cold, wet, with lots of work. :) We've been working a lot with Diana. She's basically a pre-wrapped baptism (Pre-blessed!!). We just need her boyfriend to come back into town so he can baptize her. I hope he comes back before the 31st of March... This week we taught her about the Word of Wisdom, Law of Chastity, and Tithing. She was already living every one of those laws. Tithing maybe not, but she's not really earning anything, so I guess technically she is. That's life the deaf parrot that repeated every word it heard. ;)

This week we had Zone Conference with President Hacking and the assistants. I enjoyed it a lot. Elder Nuñez is the new assistant, and in my opinion, is doing a lot more than the previous assistants do. It's like that scripture in D&C 121 that talks about the man that gets a little athourity (is that how you spell that? ...autoridad), starts to exercise it in unrighteous ways. Sadly, lots of Zone Leaders or assistants think that because they have their "more important" duties, (maybe I just need a better duty!) they can excuse themself from the work they should be doing. Unlike others, Elder Nuñez has been working hard, and even had a baptism the other week. 

I feel like all of my good mission friends are all leaving. :-/ I can't believe that I've been out so long. Even though I've still got a good ways to go. I still feel like a new missionary. Haha. 

This week I interviewed 4 people from Tunja Sur to be baptized. During the interview, I always ask them who they want to baptize them. One young man, Brandon (12 yrs) said "I want you to baptize me." Haha. I asked him why, and he said, "No sé...me caes bien." So I baptized Brandon on Saturday. It was a really neat experience. There wasn't any gas to heat the water, so we baptized in cold water. Luckily it wasn't that cold. Normally the cold water here in Tunja comes out with little chunks of ice. Haha. jk. We celebrated with cheap hamburgers afterwards. :) 

Training is going well. My son is a very hard worker, like I'm sure I've said before. It seems like they only send the most prepared out into the field nowadays. I remember it took me several weeks to get over the fear of contacting people, and he had it down in a few days. He says it still makes him scared a little, and sometimes he doesn't know what to say, but I think he does it great. 

This work is wonderful. The greatest thing about it is that every day, if I trace my steps carefully, I can see where the Spirit guided us, and how the Lord led us to the people that really needed to hear our message. It's a beautiful experience, really. Every day, my companion and I look back on the day and count our blessings. Yesterday, for example, we took a bus to a really far area to visit some contacts we had made the week before. None of them were home, and we were going to turn back when I remembered the Carreño family, a family of old investigators that an hermano had told us about. We went to their house, and they invited us in. That same visit, we ended up intiving them to baptism. It's just amazing how the Spirit talks to us as missionaries. Sometimes we don't even realize that it was the Spirit speaking until after. Sometimes it's days or weeks after that we realize that we had been guided by the Spirit. It's like the story that Elder Bednar tells about the 20 Marks he gave to Elder Packer in Germany, not really thinking anything of it. Only years and years later did he find out that that money had saved Elder Packer and his wife from a very dangerous situation. It's amazing how the Spirit works. I pray every day that i will be more and more in tune with the Spirit to be able to find and teach those people that are prepared to accept the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Anyway, thanks for all your support. Your emails and letters and Dear Elders and packages full of candy. ;) Even if it's just a post card with a "Hi how's it going," I'm always glad to hear from my family and friends. :) I love you all so much. I hope everything is well, doquier que se encuentran (I think I said that right...). Take luck. I'll probably be back to talk at you all next week.

Love from,

Elder Cannon

P.S. At home sittin' in my favorite nook...

P.P.S. One of the pictures is of my companion and a "pavo real" or royal turkey. Peacock. Hehe. We visited a member who lives super-lejos and she had some pretty amazing animals. The peacock spread it's feathers, so we had to get a picture. :)

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