6 Months!

Hi. So this week was pretty good. We didn`t find a whole lot of new people, but we found some that are pretty good. So let`s hope that they all decide to keep going. I hit my 6 month mark this last week, I know that I still have a lot to learn, but I do feel a lot more comfortable with everything.
I had an exchange this last week with my district leader. He came to our area and my companion went to his. It was fun and he`s really good. His name is Elder Zegarra and has the funniest little laugh and laughs all the time. He`s from Perú and lives on a little Island in the middle of the Amazon that you have to get to by plane because the animals around the island are too big to get there (that`s how he introduces himself) haha. I showed him a lot of our investigators including the 19 year old with two kids that breast feeds in lessons (she said a prayer while doing that this week, neat trick).
We started our dinner contract this week so we go to this member`s house every night and eat dinner, but it`s annoying because we have to take time out of the night to go and do it, but she cooks well and gives us vegetables.
We went to one lesson with a member of the bishopric to show him our really good investigator (Yaracuy) and when we left he said that we need to baptize him to help the ward out haha. Then on Thursday night we went with the bishop to the really dangerous part of the ward at night to visit a less active family. It was fun and the bishop talked about how this gospel does something amazing. It brings a gringo (as he points to me) into one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Colombia (didn`t know that til he said that) just to visit with a family. It was a neat experience.
I was in charge of the little mutual night activity thing again this week and taught them all about the gadianto robbers and then showed them how to fight against the bad guys in our day (Helaman 6:37) then helped them practice how to share with a friend. Then we played mafia, but I called it gadianton robbers instead haha.
Yesterday only 2 investigators came to church, but it`s good because their baptismal date is next Saturday.. Woo hoo!!
This ward is super weak, but I`m just so used to it that I love it now. Ward Counsel is just funny because our part as missionaries should be 15 minutes and then they SHOULD keep going, but yesterday we finished and I just said "so do we wait for the closing prayer or are you gonna keep going?" and they all laughed... then said the closing prayer haha.
So yeah! things are going good here in the old buena esperanza. I`m sending some pictures because I haven`t sent any forever. There`s some mashed potatoes that I made, some pictures of people dressed up (or down) for Carnaval, a picture of the gate on our front door (did you know every house has a gate on the front door?), and of everybody that lives in the house right now. AND! I got some neat scripture cases so I sent a picture of those. BYE!

So we don't know who these people are, but we do know that Cole sure loves his mashed potatoes!!

New Mission Rules

So this last week was pretty good and we were working pretty hard, but we got a TON of new rules this week in the mission. I don´t know why, but apparently this mission has a lot of disobedience so our president is cracking down on a lot of things. So yeah we already eat lunch with the members every day, but he gave us a new rule that he didn´t like people eating at night because it was a waste of time, so now we have to find a contract with a member to cook us dinner every night. It´s okay, but I don´t like it because I just never really ate dinner haha. Also in respect to money.. Our president said that if our family sends a package we have to pay for them to go get it. So.. Please don´t let this discourage packages haha. I have money to pay for them, I just don´t know how much it is and it will just take a lot longer because we have to give the money to the zone leaders to give to the office to go get it. They won´t get it until they have the money.. but it's okay. I´ll get my packages one way or another haha.
Only one investigator came to church yesterday so we had a lot of baptismal dates fall and so we´re going to be going out and reprogramming people this week and teaching them that church is important.
We have a lot of good, solid investigators but if the slightest problem comes up on a Sunday, they´re not going. We have another investigator too who just wants us to come all the time but never reads the Book of Mormon, so we´re going to be having a nice little chat with him soon.
I´m a little nervous because we have transfers in the middle of this transfer. So new Elders are coming this week so every could get moved around. And I´m just used to my current ward. It´s not the best, but the people here are so nice and they know that I don´t speak perfect Spanish, so we have a good agreement haha.
Sorry I don´t have a whole lot of time this week. I had some pictures to sent but our President sent us a new format to write and it took a lot more time today, so we are a little short today.
I love you all and love hearing the stories from home. I´m a little upset that you got rid of the plaid, blue couch... It was the BEST napping couch in the world.
And a drunk hobo hugged me 3 days ago.

Investigators, Mutual, and Shout Out to Bros!

What a week! We found a lot of new investigators which was great! But we`ll see who actually let`s us talk to them again this week. Our two super awesome investigators who went to stake conference last week, didn`t come yesterday, they`re still good but man....... oh well. We`ll keep working with them.
Question. Has a woman with a newborn baby ever fed the baby (if you know what I mean) in front of you before as she`s reading scriptures and talking to you about keeping the sabbath day holy? It`s quite the experience.
Our president just sent us all a letter with info about our new mission president and he`s from Idaho. I`m super stoked but I like our current president too.
Last week when I was with my mini missionary, I was contacting a ton of people in the street, and found one lady that just started saying she really wanted to help her family and then saw my Book of Mormon and said "hey I have that at my house somewhere. Somebody gave it to my dad but he didn`t want it." So I was super stoked to go and talk to her. We went to her house (FOREVER AWAY IN THE BLAZING SUN!!!!) and asked for her and got two very confused looks from two other girls at the door who said they were her daughter and daughter in law. They said she was home and invited us in. We went in and they all looked at us super confused, but after about 5 minutes they turned out to be super friendly and now they love us and want us to come over and teach them the gospel every day. And they came to church yesterday, woohoo! So we`re doing good over there. But every time we leave their house it`s like a movie moment decision. If we go one way it`s way faster, but through a wooded super poor area, or we can go the other way which is way longer but safe.... Don`t worry we go the safe way.... But it`s a rough decision every time.
So every week we have this thing called "Noche de Hermanamiento" (basically mutual but we do it because the ward is... not very self sufficient right now...) and this week I said I`d do it. So I took all the people that came on a private tour of life after death in the plan of salvation. We visited the spirit world, and the three kingdoms of glory. We read scriptures in each room and changed the lighting and didn`t turn on the fan in the spirit prison, so I think they got the point. And we had cookies in the celestial kingdom, so we`ll see where all of them end up in like 80 years.
Well that`s the weekly report from the blazing inferno. There was a nice breeze these last 2 months, but now it`s all coming to an end and getting hotter, so here we go!
Thank you to everyone who reads these and I hope all is going well.

Bros: Thanks for your letters every week, I try to read at least a little every week haha. And Peter, yes sister voyles is the worst. I`m an elder Bott fan myself. One of the Elders in my apartment said that his brother once as a zone leader did a training of "The best and worst of Elder Moreno" haha.
Edward: I miss you and I`m glad you`re there in the Philipines and that you got to hold a chicken, I haven`t held anything.. And I can`t wait to ONLY shake your right hand after the mission.
Addison: Your the man and I miss you