We had a baptism this last week!! It all worked out and was a relief to get it through!! I had been really nervous because it was 50/50 if he was going to be baptized. First, the district leader made a sacrifice and cancelled an important cita with some investigators and came to the church to do the interview, Jeffer was actually late but that was a good thing in retrospect because some members showed up really late, which is reasonable because it was a Wednesday night. The reason for the weird date is because he and his less active girlfriend got married earlier that day and they were leaving for Brazil the next day and Jeffer wanted to be baptized before they left because his non-member parents, Colombian, would be there for the marriage and the baptism, so he wanted them to be there. So I was able to get wet again and it all worked out. :) So he should be confirmed the next Sunday.
Wow, what a week you all had!! First off, congrats, Braden, on your stellar performances in the play. That sounded awesome and it would've been fun to have been there. Wow, tournament madness, and way to go BYU, even though we lost it's always a good feeling to make some history, haha. I received your package!!! Thanks so much. I'm going to try to savor them for as long as possible. (I sent a bunch of those small Jif To-Go packages of peanut butter) Also received a lot of letters, especially the pictures and the letters from mis amigos! Thanks. The pictures looked really good and especially the eagle project. Wow, from a distance it looks like a professional painted it!! haha Camryn's hair is longer! at least compared to the pictures that I have! Oh, and Tanner looks good in 13, haha, but yah I can't wait to see you in that 13 with double the muscle size!! haha Then congrats on the scouts and congrats on the eagles otra vez. :) Wow, it was fun reading the letters from my friends and it was cool to think of them having their own experiences, like mine, all over the world!! haha Have they had a chance to read any of my letters? Anyways, that would be nice to receive something like that every couple of months to keep up on them.
Wow, so me, hmm well I'm making it. It is still so hot down here and so humid!! I was reading about the cold weather stories and I was thinking wow, I'm down here sweating it out not even sleeping with a cover! It's been nice because there really isn't a bug or mosquito problem down here. Elder Giannini doesn't like sleeping with the fans so we sleep without them. I guess he's just used to not having them. It's just one of those things that you have to get used to when you have a companion from a different background. Haha, but we are good down here.
Monday, was frustrating!! The line was super long to send your package, but was worth it. Then we had to borrow the church plunger to unclog our toilet. That was stinky, and I had to do it because Giannini had no desire to do it. Then we had a run around looking for a place where we could send a fax, to fax the registros of Jorge and Gladys. Oh, and it was pouring rain all day and so we ended up not doing anything special, just making pancakes in the pension and resting. But we found a new investigator named Cristian. He is actually a referral that we received the last transfer but he didn't want anything to do with us, but then he had a stroke and his outlook on life changed and he let us in. Actually we got the call, so he is healing really fast and has a ton of faith! He wants to be better before he goes to church so we have to wait on that.
Tuesday we had district meeting, those are always fun and I enjoy meeting with the other missionaries because it's fun to share experiences with them and be uplifted with the vision. That's what we have been focusing on down here, receiving the vision, both personally and for our areas. The vision to baptize and the vision to find new investigators. So that's what we have been praying for, and it's still coming. But, I am finally understanding more and more Spanish!! I'm getting really good at just understanding it, I'm not fluent but it's way, way better than a week ago. Haha I've been working in the work book that we received in the MTC and that is really helpful. It's just been basically helping me with repetition of grammar principles and other things that I can apply to my everyday language, because right now that's what I lack --is the everyday vocabulary and sayings. haha But it'll come.
Wednesday we went to the wedding for Natiala and Jeffer. It was a small, simple ceremony with a couple friends and family. The building was a government building and super old, but it was fun to see them happy and especially since we were going to baptize him!! haha Then we had spaghetti and then went to the Flia Vallejos. We are currently working on the less active daughter and son-in-law. Then we went to the church and met up with Elders Rose and Stocking. We had the font filled and everything ready and no one was there. Oh, they were nice enough to bring my stuff, the package and mail, oh and tell Brother Carlson thanks for the notes and news. haha I really needed that. Then the peanut butter was an awesome surprise and two are already gone. haha Then they all showed up, he passed the interview and we had the baptism. So all the stress for the happiness of a baptism--so worth it! But now we are in a funk without any dates right now, we have a couple that are progressing but are still waiting on some other things to work out. Oh, and a shout out to my buds where ever they are, "keep up the good work and I'll catch up with you later, sorry I can't stay and chat but I have to go baptize!" :)
Thursday was a normal day, weekly planning, so boring, but really necessary. haha Then we had lessons with Jorge and Gladys, so it was a good day. I made pancakes with peanut butter and Dulce de Leche, super good!!
Friday, different day because we went to Medico. Elder Giannini has a problem and is getting it fixed right now, so we made the super long trip, like last week, and then came all the way back. But I was able to meet Teresa Arcos, she was a teacher at the MTC when I was there, didn't know her then, but now it's fun talking to her, in English, haha. Her mom is a person that we are working with right now, but it was fun to talk about the MTC and reminisce, haha. I actually miss some parts of the MTC, it was long and sometimes boring, but we always had a huge, good meal and lots of time to have fun with our new friends, but then again what would I give up to be out here right now!! I love the freedom and the baptisms, that is what makes this work so worthwhile, just seeing the changes in people and the happiness that it brings. You can especially see it in Gladys' eyes, she's so much more happier.
St Patty's Day, oh wait, nobody down here knows that, haha. Anyways, this morning I had fun teaching Elder Giannini the English alphabet. I had asked in the past, but now he wants to learn, so we will see. Then we had lunch, an actual lunch with a family, the Flia Pucheta. They are a young, fun couple and have a great spirit for missionary work. We had chicken milenesa and rice with hard-boiled eggs mixed in, it was really good!!! Then we had a guy wave us down in the street and ask us about dispensations, haha, so we tried to describe it better than the last missionaries, but we have a cita with him tonight. His name is Juan. Then we were walking down the street and a minister from a Baptist church, down here from Wyoming, yah a little far out of place, anyways, he started Bible bashing us in the street, haha, in the broken Spanish that I would be speaking. But we got the opportunity to share our testimony of Jesus and the Book of Mormon. It wasn't anything special but it was just something that I didn't think would happen down here, some American crossing the street, saying hey, you Mormons, wait up! The Book of Mormon is false, the Bible says this, and so on. I just thought that I would share that with you all. :) Oh, it is hot in here, I'm sweating writing your letter! haha
Sunday was long. We didn't get much sleep because there were people partying all around us until 4:30am -- all the neighbors just having their weekend fun. It's sad because every Sunday morning, walking to church, is just dead silent because everyone is sleeping, in their beds or the street, and then there are always the drunk ones walking the streets or riding in taxis. It's just super sad because of all the sin that goes on here. It's a pretty city but is dirty and sinful. But we are set apart from it and church was great. The total official attendance was 116. We learned about the teachings of José Smith in priesthood and then in principles of the gospel class we learned more about the life of Jesu cristo. Then they had talks about seminary, it started today, haha, so just a normal day of church. Then we had a 2 hour ward council meeting, haha. Our Bishop likes to talk, but is a good man. Then we taught Jorge in a park about the priesthood and ended up walking around for an hour for the rest of the day because of a cita falling through and then getting stood up by people at their timbres haha. Remember, there is no door to door contacting down here.
So overall, a great week with a baptism. To answer some questions, I actually haven't been working out as much but I've lost weight and I'm down to 84 kgs, the walking is the exercise, haha, and the sweating. umm hmm... Some observations, the culture down here is super different, I'm getting used to it every day and hopefully I'll get the language down too. But I just want to bear my testimonio to you all. Yo sé que ésta iglesia, La Iglesia de Jesucristo de Los Santos de Los Últimos Días es la Iglesia verdadera. Yo sé que uds. están teniendo un tiempo dirvertido y todos están aumentando su fe. Te amamos mucho y oro para uds diariamente. Uds. están en mi mente espero mucho pero, sé que ésta obra es muy importante y tengo que estar acá para bautizar y confirmar a todas de las personas que no tienen el Evangelio en sus vidas. Yo sé que Jesús vive y les ama mucho, ore a Él y les guiará.
St Patty's Day, oh wait, nobody down here knows that, haha. Anyways, this morning I had fun teaching Elder Giannini the English alphabet. I had asked in the past, but now he wants to learn, so we will see. Then we had lunch, an actual lunch with a family, the Flia Pucheta. They are a young, fun couple and have a great spirit for missionary work. We had chicken milenesa and rice with hard-boiled eggs mixed in, it was really good!!! Then we had a guy wave us down in the street and ask us about dispensations, haha, so we tried to describe it better than the last missionaries, but we have a cita with him tonight. His name is Juan. Then we were walking down the street and a minister from a Baptist church, down here from Wyoming, yah a little far out of place, anyways, he started Bible bashing us in the street, haha, in the broken Spanish that I would be speaking. But we got the opportunity to share our testimony of Jesus and the Book of Mormon. It wasn't anything special but it was just something that I didn't think would happen down here, some American crossing the street, saying hey, you Mormons, wait up! The Book of Mormon is false, the Bible says this, and so on. I just thought that I would share that with you all. :) Oh, it is hot in here, I'm sweating writing your letter! haha
Sunday was long. We didn't get much sleep because there were people partying all around us until 4:30am -- all the neighbors just having their weekend fun. It's sad because every Sunday morning, walking to church, is just dead silent because everyone is sleeping, in their beds or the street, and then there are always the drunk ones walking the streets or riding in taxis. It's just super sad because of all the sin that goes on here. It's a pretty city but is dirty and sinful. But we are set apart from it and church was great. The total official attendance was 116. We learned about the teachings of José Smith in priesthood and then in principles of the gospel class we learned more about the life of Jesu cristo. Then they had talks about seminary, it started today, haha, so just a normal day of church. Then we had a 2 hour ward council meeting, haha. Our Bishop likes to talk, but is a good man. Then we taught Jorge in a park about the priesthood and ended up walking around for an hour for the rest of the day because of a cita falling through and then getting stood up by people at their timbres haha. Remember, there is no door to door contacting down here.
So overall, a great week with a baptism. To answer some questions, I actually haven't been working out as much but I've lost weight and I'm down to 84 kgs, the walking is the exercise, haha, and the sweating. umm hmm... Some observations, the culture down here is super different, I'm getting used to it every day and hopefully I'll get the language down too. But I just want to bear my testimonio to you all. Yo sé que ésta iglesia, La Iglesia de Jesucristo de Los Santos de Los Últimos Días es la Iglesia verdadera. Yo sé que uds. están teniendo un tiempo dirvertido y todos están aumentando su fe. Te amamos mucho y oro para uds diariamente. Uds. están en mi mente espero mucho pero, sé que ésta obra es muy importante y tengo que estar acá para bautizar y confirmar a todas de las personas que no tienen el Evangelio en sus vidas. Yo sé que Jesús vive y les ama mucho, ore a Él y les guiará.
Oh, and good luck with everything this week and I can't wait to hear from you all again!! And I hope that you receive the DVD and stuff, it should be there Wednesday or Thursday. :) I love you!!!
Love,
Elder Ryan Pittard
Love,
Elder Ryan Pittard
I'm guessing this is zone conference during the first 6 weeks,
when his companion was Elder Secretan
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