So, I finally have started getting better. You see, I believe I had parasites. Yeah, THOSE fun little guys that live in your gut and make life miserable. But, good news is, I took some weird yellow pills and now, I'm gaining weight! Por fin!!! I've been trying to gain weight almost all of my mission, but all I've done is lost weight. But now, my fate is changing. I hope. I´ll keep you posted.
So I had an interesting experience the other day. I went to get a haircut the other day and well, I was paying more attention to contacting the stylist than to what the stylist was doing to my hair. I don´t think I explained very well what I wanted and well, she kind of cut off almost all my hair. I now look like the newest member of the Colombian military. Well, gringo, but you get the idea.
Yesterday was fun. We got to teach priesthood, I got to play piano in sacrament meeting, my companion got to conduct, bore our testimonies, and we almost had to teah gospel principles too. All without any notice whatsoever. And after, when we went to lunch, we were served three plates of food.....each. And wouldn't you know it, I was still hungry after wards. What is my problem?
Also, life moves on here in Cañaveral. We are constantly running from end to end of the area, which btw, is huge. We are working with several people right now, but so far, Marucio is the only one whois really progressing. He's really cool and always really interested. He's a great investigator. He even came to our zone activity that we had today.
So for our zone activity, we played a lot of soccer, which I am really enjoying. I love playing it, I'm just not very good...yet. It will come with practice. My team actaully won the most games in the end, so I mean we weren't that bad. While we were playing soccer, the sister missionaries came by and cooked lunch fro the zone. They made something called "Completos". A completo is a hot dog with boiled onions, diced tomatoes, guacamole, mayo, mustard, and ketchup. Those things are good. As was the soda. We have several types of soda here that don't exist in the states. One of my favorites is Postobon Manzana. Yep, apple flavored soda. Also, Quatro, which is a kind of a cross between sprite and that grapefruit soda (of which I can't remember the name) is really good.
I think that about wraps it up for this week. I promise, next week, I will tak better notes so that I have more to say.
Love you all, and I wish you sucess in all your righteous endeavors.
Attentamente,
Elder (Gabe) Rallison
Monday, November 8, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Happy Halloween
So in response to all those questions out there, yes, Halloween exists here in Colombia. It´s terrible. Because of stinking Halloween, we had a terrible day yesterday. Everybody was either out with their kids trick or treating, or getting drunk/partying. As such, it was impossible to contact anyone, like seriously, ever tried explaining the love that God has for each one of us to Buzz Lightyear and a witch? It really doesn't work out very well. Also, no one really takes you seriously because they half think you´re just someone else in a costume. So after the bust contacting, we went around to attempt to visit some investigators and members. And NO ONE was home. We literally went through plan A, B, C, D, and E all in the space of one hour. A really effective day that. It´s like, I love Halloween as a normal person back home, but as a missionary it sucks.
Well, that day really wasn´t all bad. We had a countrywide regional conference by satellite yesterday. At first the signal was a little weak and cut out a bit, but in the end all worked out fine. We had messages from Elder Scott and from Pres Monson. Elder Scott has great Spanish by the way. He actually had several visual aids too that were really cool. He took a light bulb and turned it on. He said that this is you. You are literally a light to all around you. You have a protective covering, the glass of the bulb or obedience to the commandments, that protects the fragile filament, you, from the danger of the outside that would destroy it. Then took a screwdriver and began tapping the bulb. He said, "Sometimes we don´t outright cross the line, but toe it, toe it a little more, a little more, until....." He taps harder and harder until the bulb just breaks. "This happens". No bulb, no light. Don´t cross that line, don´t even toe the line. Don't for one minute think that you can lower you standards and still be safe. It doesn't work that way.
We've got a baptism coming up here. Were working with getting one investigator, Marucio, baptised. His sister, cousin, and grandma are all members, but just not him. Yet. He plans to be baptized in three weeks. Finally, were making progress. Were also working with another young man, Diego, to get him baptized. He´s just very catholic. He really likes all we´ve shared, and wants to ask a priest why they never talk about the Book of Mormon. We´ll have to see what the priest says.
=D. The last of the big fish in our teaching pool is Maria. She is a reference from a member of a bishopric in the other stake here in Bucaramanga. She always has good questions, but is a little hesitant to go and ask God. Ah well, we will be working with that.
Well, with that contorted excuse for a well written letter, I end my epistle. May you, my brethren, continue firm in the faith. This is my prayer and hope.
Attentamente,
Elder (Gabe) Rallison
Well, that day really wasn´t all bad. We had a countrywide regional conference by satellite yesterday. At first the signal was a little weak and cut out a bit, but in the end all worked out fine. We had messages from Elder Scott and from Pres Monson. Elder Scott has great Spanish by the way. He actually had several visual aids too that were really cool. He took a light bulb and turned it on. He said that this is you. You are literally a light to all around you. You have a protective covering, the glass of the bulb or obedience to the commandments, that protects the fragile filament, you, from the danger of the outside that would destroy it. Then took a screwdriver and began tapping the bulb. He said, "Sometimes we don´t outright cross the line, but toe it, toe it a little more, a little more, until....." He taps harder and harder until the bulb just breaks. "This happens". No bulb, no light. Don´t cross that line, don´t even toe the line. Don't for one minute think that you can lower you standards and still be safe. It doesn't work that way.
We've got a baptism coming up here. Were working with getting one investigator, Marucio, baptised. His sister, cousin, and grandma are all members, but just not him. Yet. He plans to be baptized in three weeks. Finally, were making progress. Were also working with another young man, Diego, to get him baptized. He´s just very catholic. He really likes all we´ve shared, and wants to ask a priest why they never talk about the Book of Mormon. We´ll have to see what the priest says.
=D. The last of the big fish in our teaching pool is Maria. She is a reference from a member of a bishopric in the other stake here in Bucaramanga. She always has good questions, but is a little hesitant to go and ask God. Ah well, we will be working with that.
Well, with that contorted excuse for a well written letter, I end my epistle. May you, my brethren, continue firm in the faith. This is my prayer and hope.
Attentamente,
Elder (Gabe) Rallison
Bella Vista
Well, that was good. Long week, but rich with stuff. The only hard thing is that I lost my daily planner, and with that, a large portion of my notes as to what I would be writing home. But with all that said, there were several great events.
First, the noche de barrio (familiy home evening as a ward). It was organized by us the missionaries, to help the ward members to builf their testimonies and their desire to participate in misionary work. We shared the Joseph Smith story, though the DVD player died on us with the Restoration DVD. So we read it out loud. Everyone really loved it, especailly the games. I taught them all how to play missionary tag, also known as buddy tag. It was a major hit.
We have been working with several investigators right now, but with little progress. This past sunday the only one of our investigators to come to church was our deaf investigator. That was depressing, as we had about six lined up to come to church. But everyone has an excuse, I feel sick, my son is sick, I have to make lunch for the familiy, etc. But ah well, next week will be better.
Today we played soccer with our zone (Bucaramanga) and my old zone (Terazas). Man, it was cool to see all the old faces once again. We also played lots of Uno. Yep, Uno. The card game of colors and numbers. It is seriously the most popular game in the mission (well, after soccer).
For lunch today I ate.....McDonalds. What, did you think I was gouing to say something all gross? Funny thing is, here, McD's is high class. Really high class. Next time I'll have to send a picture. The McDonalds here is all stainless steel and black leather. Way different from back home. Only one sad thing.....the lack of the dollar menu.
I think that´s all for now. Sorry, there really isn´t more to say. Things are moving on as usual. I'm here in Colombia as a missionary, marriage counselor, English/Math/Science/Music tutor, maid, and many more. Love it all.
Un abrazo para todos,
-Elder (Gabe) Rallison
First, the noche de barrio (familiy home evening as a ward). It was organized by us the missionaries, to help the ward members to builf their testimonies and their desire to participate in misionary work. We shared the Joseph Smith story, though the DVD player died on us with the Restoration DVD. So we read it out loud. Everyone really loved it, especailly the games. I taught them all how to play missionary tag, also known as buddy tag. It was a major hit.
We have been working with several investigators right now, but with little progress. This past sunday the only one of our investigators to come to church was our deaf investigator. That was depressing, as we had about six lined up to come to church. But everyone has an excuse, I feel sick, my son is sick, I have to make lunch for the familiy, etc. But ah well, next week will be better.
Today we played soccer with our zone (Bucaramanga) and my old zone (Terazas). Man, it was cool to see all the old faces once again. We also played lots of Uno. Yep, Uno. The card game of colors and numbers. It is seriously the most popular game in the mission (well, after soccer).
For lunch today I ate.....McDonalds. What, did you think I was gouing to say something all gross? Funny thing is, here, McD's is high class. Really high class. Next time I'll have to send a picture. The McDonalds here is all stainless steel and black leather. Way different from back home. Only one sad thing.....the lack of the dollar menu.
I think that´s all for now. Sorry, there really isn´t more to say. Things are moving on as usual. I'm here in Colombia as a missionary, marriage counselor, English/Math/Science/Music tutor, maid, and many more. Love it all.
Un abrazo para todos,
-Elder (Gabe) Rallison
Monday, October 18, 2010
What a crazy week that was....
I´m not kidding you at all with that title. Seriously, it was crazy.
Monday was the most normal. Went and played soccer as a zone in an awesome indoor football field with synthetic turf. Fun stuff that. I'm still not very good at football, the Latins schooled me (and all the other gringos), but all told I´m getting a lot better. After, we went shopping at a supermarket called Carrefour. This place was awesome. It seriously has everything. Including things that I´ve never seen before here in Colombia, such as Cambell´s Tomato soup, A-1 BBQ sauce, and the good old refried beans from home. The only sad part is that all of that stuff is prohibitively expensive for a poor missionary. For example, the Campbell's costs about 8,000 pesos. That's about $4.00. Now when was the last time you payed that much to have tomato soup with your grilled cheese?
Tuesday was fairly normal. That was also the day when I realized exactly how hilly this area is. It is seriously like San Fransisco, but a inland, Colombian version. We had several appointments fall through, but the last one still happened. Pedro is a reference from a member who is visiting from Bogota. He's 30-something, single, and loves paragliding. One problem. He's deaf. That makes it a just little hard to explain the message of the Restoration of the gospel. But we got to know him pretty well by miming and writing stuff. Will have to work on finding a more effective way to teach him.
Wednesday was also pretty cool. Taught a lesson to a family of recent converts, the Cortez family, who were baptized about a month ago. Who happen to have a little girl who has the biggest brown eyes I've ever seen in my life. She's two. It's like the Puss in Boots from Shrek, but in real life. She's so adorable. Going home later that night I saw something that sent me on a four hour long laughing fit. Here in Colombia everyone uses motorcycles to travel. Well, this night I saw a little old lady, probably about 80 years old, on a white three wheeled motorcycle, with Scottish-style plaid pants. I don't know why I thought it was so funny, but it was. My chest seriously hurt from so much laughing.
On to Thursday. We did our weekly planning and then went to work. Almost all of our appointments fell through, so we sent a large part of the day contacting. We knocked so many doors that day. In the end that was about all we did. It was then that I realized I was getting sick. Again. I hate it when that happens.
Friday...not much interesting. Contacted a Catholic priest who was here from Cuba on vacation. But other than that not much.
Saturday, talked with a guy who was baptized in Texas, moved back to Colombia, went inactive, and is now living with his girlfriend in his mom´s house. Oh and he also says that he believes that each person is his/her own church. AUUUGH. I liked the Catholic priest more.
NOW SUNDAY.....That was a weird day. To start, we went to church only to find that our investigator didn´t come even after we had called the night before to make sure she came. Even sent a member that morning. Worse, the main speaker in church that day was a no-show. What does that mean? That the Elders will have the pleasure of presenting a talk each with only a 15 min warning. That was fun. My companion talked about how we are examples, and I talked about gratitude (it kind of ended up being a hybrid of Pres Monson´s and Elder Holland's talks from general conference). Everyone says that it went well. Oh and I also played accompaniment in Sacrament Meeting and in Gospel Principles. Priesthood was one of those, "it´s a small word after all" moments. The high priest group leader was giving the lesson about baptism. He said, " I still remember the day I was baptized, more than 20 years ago." Then he whipped out a 22 year old wedding invitation. He continued, "I still remember the missionary who baptized me, Elder Clason. I am eternally grateful to him." I was like......" Oh...my....gosh....THAT'S MY STAKE PRESIDENT!!!!! Pres Clason, if you are reading this Cristobal Alvarez sends his "Saludos". Yeah. The word is that small. The guy who set me apart as a missionary is the same guy who baptized the high priest group leader in the ward I am serving in. After church we headed over to where Sonia, our investigator who missed church, lives. Turns out that she didn't come to church because someone tried to break into her house last night. Oh. So we were talking with her when her husband started fighting with some guy. People started to gather and things were starting to get heated there, so we retreated to the house of the second counselor of the bishopric, who just so happens to live on the other side of the street. In the end, a crazy, crazy, day.
Today, didn´t do much. Practiced a bit of football on the court in our apartment complex. Washed laundry. Read a lot of Alma ( I am reading it out loud in Spanish to help me with my pronunciation) and am now about halfway through with Alma. And now, I am writing this email. With that I close.
Love you all a lot,
Elder (Gabe) Rallison
Monday was the most normal. Went and played soccer as a zone in an awesome indoor football field with synthetic turf. Fun stuff that. I'm still not very good at football, the Latins schooled me (and all the other gringos), but all told I´m getting a lot better. After, we went shopping at a supermarket called Carrefour. This place was awesome. It seriously has everything. Including things that I´ve never seen before here in Colombia, such as Cambell´s Tomato soup, A-1 BBQ sauce, and the good old refried beans from home. The only sad part is that all of that stuff is prohibitively expensive for a poor missionary. For example, the Campbell's costs about 8,000 pesos. That's about $4.00. Now when was the last time you payed that much to have tomato soup with your grilled cheese?
Tuesday was fairly normal. That was also the day when I realized exactly how hilly this area is. It is seriously like San Fransisco, but a inland, Colombian version. We had several appointments fall through, but the last one still happened. Pedro is a reference from a member who is visiting from Bogota. He's 30-something, single, and loves paragliding. One problem. He's deaf. That makes it a just little hard to explain the message of the Restoration of the gospel. But we got to know him pretty well by miming and writing stuff. Will have to work on finding a more effective way to teach him.
Wednesday was also pretty cool. Taught a lesson to a family of recent converts, the Cortez family, who were baptized about a month ago. Who happen to have a little girl who has the biggest brown eyes I've ever seen in my life. She's two. It's like the Puss in Boots from Shrek, but in real life. She's so adorable. Going home later that night I saw something that sent me on a four hour long laughing fit. Here in Colombia everyone uses motorcycles to travel. Well, this night I saw a little old lady, probably about 80 years old, on a white three wheeled motorcycle, with Scottish-style plaid pants. I don't know why I thought it was so funny, but it was. My chest seriously hurt from so much laughing.
On to Thursday. We did our weekly planning and then went to work. Almost all of our appointments fell through, so we sent a large part of the day contacting. We knocked so many doors that day. In the end that was about all we did. It was then that I realized I was getting sick. Again. I hate it when that happens.
Friday...not much interesting. Contacted a Catholic priest who was here from Cuba on vacation. But other than that not much.
Saturday, talked with a guy who was baptized in Texas, moved back to Colombia, went inactive, and is now living with his girlfriend in his mom´s house. Oh and he also says that he believes that each person is his/her own church. AUUUGH. I liked the Catholic priest more.
NOW SUNDAY.....That was a weird day. To start, we went to church only to find that our investigator didn´t come even after we had called the night before to make sure she came. Even sent a member that morning. Worse, the main speaker in church that day was a no-show. What does that mean? That the Elders will have the pleasure of presenting a talk each with only a 15 min warning. That was fun. My companion talked about how we are examples, and I talked about gratitude (it kind of ended up being a hybrid of Pres Monson´s and Elder Holland's talks from general conference). Everyone says that it went well. Oh and I also played accompaniment in Sacrament Meeting and in Gospel Principles. Priesthood was one of those, "it´s a small word after all" moments. The high priest group leader was giving the lesson about baptism. He said, " I still remember the day I was baptized, more than 20 years ago." Then he whipped out a 22 year old wedding invitation. He continued, "I still remember the missionary who baptized me, Elder Clason. I am eternally grateful to him." I was like......" Oh...my....gosh....THAT'S MY STAKE PRESIDENT!!!!! Pres Clason, if you are reading this Cristobal Alvarez sends his "Saludos". Yeah. The word is that small. The guy who set me apart as a missionary is the same guy who baptized the high priest group leader in the ward I am serving in. After church we headed over to where Sonia, our investigator who missed church, lives. Turns out that she didn't come to church because someone tried to break into her house last night. Oh. So we were talking with her when her husband started fighting with some guy. People started to gather and things were starting to get heated there, so we retreated to the house of the second counselor of the bishopric, who just so happens to live on the other side of the street. In the end, a crazy, crazy, day.
Today, didn´t do much. Practiced a bit of football on the court in our apartment complex. Washed laundry. Read a lot of Alma ( I am reading it out loud in Spanish to help me with my pronunciation) and am now about halfway through with Alma. And now, I am writing this email. With that I close.
Love you all a lot,
Elder (Gabe) Rallison
Monday, October 11, 2010
Bucaramanga
So, this will likely be short.
Yes, I am here in Bucaramanga. For the the first time in my mission I am serving in a ward instead of a branch. The cool thing about this area is that part of it is really rich and the other a little more humble. For example, our lunch the second day here was a seafood soup with rice and a lime wedge. Yeah, seafood. Like shrimp, clam, mussel, oyster. Wow. I don't remember the last time I ate something like that. Then, later we went knocking doors in an area a little more humble. We found Sonia, who invited us in , we taught the Restoration, and then invited her to be baptized on the 30th. She said yes! In the first lesson! That was a good day.
Oh, as a side note, we moved house on the first day here. Had to take everything from the fifth floor apartment and load it into two trucks. Then move everything into the new apartment. Which thankfully, is on the first floor.
Oh, I have a new companion too. Elder Godoy, from Argentina. He's from a small city about an hour south of Buenos Aires.
Well, that sucks. I'm out of time. Sorry, this keyboard has really sticky keys and it is really hard to type anything.
"See" you all next week.
Lo mejor,
Elder Gabe Rallison
Yes, I am here in Bucaramanga. For the the first time in my mission I am serving in a ward instead of a branch. The cool thing about this area is that part of it is really rich and the other a little more humble. For example, our lunch the second day here was a seafood soup with rice and a lime wedge. Yeah, seafood. Like shrimp, clam, mussel, oyster. Wow. I don't remember the last time I ate something like that. Then, later we went knocking doors in an area a little more humble. We found Sonia, who invited us in , we taught the Restoration, and then invited her to be baptized on the 30th. She said yes! In the first lesson! That was a good day.
Oh, as a side note, we moved house on the first day here. Had to take everything from the fifth floor apartment and load it into two trucks. Then move everything into the new apartment. Which thankfully, is on the first floor.
Oh, I have a new companion too. Elder Godoy, from Argentina. He's from a small city about an hour south of Buenos Aires.
Well, that sucks. I'm out of time. Sorry, this keyboard has really sticky keys and it is really hard to type anything.
"See" you all next week.
Lo mejor,
Elder Gabe Rallison
Monday, October 4, 2010
CONFERENCE!!!!
And so we continue. Another week gone. And as of yesterday, five months living in Colombia. I can´t believe how fast it´s all gone. But ah well, such is life. It´s always doing this thing of moving forward even when we don´t want it to. But all good things must end. Including my time here in Barranca. Yep, I´ve got transfers!!!!
Tomorrow I´ll be heading to my new area in Cañaveral. It´s part of the Zone of Bucaramanga, a city that is known as being paradise. A "perfect" climate, or so they say. I´ve heard that my new area is supposed to be really great and, for the first time, I´ll be serving in a ward.
One of my favorite parts of this past week was Conference. By far. We had a great experience here. We got to watch it here in the church building in Barranca by satellite. And better yet, in English. Yeah, me and the other gringo here in Barranca, Elder Larson, got to watch it in our own little room in English. It was really cool. I loved all the talks and took plentiful notes, but regrettably I forgot them in the house. But still, I had several favorites. The first talk was one of my favorites. The "Thank You" from Elder Holland. I actually cr¡ied when he said "Thanks Mom and Dad". That made me feel very trunky. I also loved Pres Uchdorf´s talk about how sometimes we just need to slow down. It´s when we get over scheduled and overworked that we start to get stressed. When we feel that we are not progressing as fast as we should. Just slow down. Simplify. These are just two examples of all the amazing messages that I got from the last conference. And really, to me, it didn´t feel like ten hours. It felt more like ten minutes. It was all over so fast.
Well, as I forgot my notes of the conference and of the week, I really can´t remember what more I had to say. Oops. But those were the important parts.
One more. I love you all and am eternally grateful for all that each of you have done for me.
Hasta luego,
Elder Rallison
Tomorrow I´ll be heading to my new area in Cañaveral. It´s part of the Zone of Bucaramanga, a city that is known as being paradise. A "perfect" climate, or so they say. I´ve heard that my new area is supposed to be really great and, for the first time, I´ll be serving in a ward.
One of my favorite parts of this past week was Conference. By far. We had a great experience here. We got to watch it here in the church building in Barranca by satellite. And better yet, in English. Yeah, me and the other gringo here in Barranca, Elder Larson, got to watch it in our own little room in English. It was really cool. I loved all the talks and took plentiful notes, but regrettably I forgot them in the house. But still, I had several favorites. The first talk was one of my favorites. The "Thank You" from Elder Holland. I actually cr¡ied when he said "Thanks Mom and Dad". That made me feel very trunky. I also loved Pres Uchdorf´s talk about how sometimes we just need to slow down. It´s when we get over scheduled and overworked that we start to get stressed. When we feel that we are not progressing as fast as we should. Just slow down. Simplify. These are just two examples of all the amazing messages that I got from the last conference. And really, to me, it didn´t feel like ten hours. It felt more like ten minutes. It was all over so fast.
Well, as I forgot my notes of the conference and of the week, I really can´t remember what more I had to say. Oops. But those were the important parts.
One more. I love you all and am eternally grateful for all that each of you have done for me.
Hasta luego,
Elder Rallison
Zone Conference...and the rest
¿Comó estan?
Here in Colombia, life is moving along. Each day, and every moment, there is something new. On Wednesday, we had intercambios here in Barranca. I went to the area of Elder Gamarra, up in the northern parts of the city, which went really well. We went around doing good, and preaching the gospel. Also stopped for a bit of water, because it was hot. Then we continued teaching. This continued for much time. Wow. That sounds terrible. That night we traveled to Bucaramanga for zone conference.
We had a two day zone conference on Thursday and Friday. This zone conference was literally a spiritual feast.
The assistants shared a scripture from the parable of the vineyard in Jacob 5:48. They then shared about how often some exterior and relatively unimportant things can be branches that, while in themselves aren´t bad, can outgrow and sap strength from the roots of a strong testimony. They then shared with us a manner in which we can make sure that we have strong testimonies. They then challenged us to read the scripture that so often we leave for our investigators, 3 Nephi 11, to meditate in the words of that chapter, and to pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true. There are three roots that compose a strong testimony. The Book of Mormon. The Atonement of Jesus Christ. The Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ.
As I read that chapter that night, I thought and felt as if I was there. As if I heard a voice from on high, testifying of Christ. As if I saw Him. Touched His hands and His feet. As if I listened to His mandate to be baptized to to baptize, to comply with His doctrine. To have faith, repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and then to remain firm in this commitment.
I prayed. I asked. I found. I felt. The promise of Moroni 10:4-5 is true. All who sincerely ask will receive an answer. I know. I have received it. If he talked to me, I know he will talk to you.
The next day was equally spiritual, with a ton of practices focused on helping people commit to baptism, verification of commitments, inviting people to pray, and resolving concerns. All of this was mixed with thoughts of inspiration from President and Sister Hacking. After everyone did the 3 Nephi 11 challenge the night before, President Hacking asked three missionaries to come and write "The Book of Mormon" on a piece of paper. One wrote with a three hundred dollar fountain pen. Another with a hundred dollar ballpoint. The last, with a twenty five cent BIC pen. The writing implements were all very different, about as varied as the missionaries in attendance, but each one wrote the same words, just as each of us bear the same testimony to the world.
As an afterthought, I will also include that it wasn´t all meetings. A game that is growing in popularity in the mission is Ninja. For those who don´t know, it is a very active game that is played in a group. Each person is ninja and the object is to eliminate all the rest by hitting them in the hand. Each person can make one attack in their turn and then has to remain in that position until their next turn unless someone attacks, in which case they can dodge. When you lose both hands, you´re out. It´s really a lot of fun. I´ll see if I can´t get you all the pictures.
We finally got back to the house late Friday night. The next day, on Saturday, it was back to work. We visited several less actives, one of which was painting his house and didn´t have time to talk to us. The other was better, and wants to go to church this Sunday.
GASP. I almost forgot. But how....!? Yeah, this weekend is GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited that this email can´t contain my excitement. Everyone has to watch conference and then tell me about their favorite talks. I still don´t know if I´ll get to watch in Spanish or English, but whichever, it will still be awesome. I have seriously never been so excited for a conference in my life.
Well, that´s about it. I haven´t done anything interesting today. Just cleaned up the house a little. But other than that, nothing interesting.
Well, love you all a lot. Hope you´re all doing well and will write me when you have the time...=D
Con mucho cariño,
Elder Gabe Rallison
PS... Spencer turns 20 tomorrow. =D Saludos a él.
Here in Colombia, life is moving along. Each day, and every moment, there is something new. On Wednesday, we had intercambios here in Barranca. I went to the area of Elder Gamarra, up in the northern parts of the city, which went really well. We went around doing good, and preaching the gospel. Also stopped for a bit of water, because it was hot. Then we continued teaching. This continued for much time. Wow. That sounds terrible. That night we traveled to Bucaramanga for zone conference.
We had a two day zone conference on Thursday and Friday. This zone conference was literally a spiritual feast.
The assistants shared a scripture from the parable of the vineyard in Jacob 5:48. They then shared about how often some exterior and relatively unimportant things can be branches that, while in themselves aren´t bad, can outgrow and sap strength from the roots of a strong testimony. They then shared with us a manner in which we can make sure that we have strong testimonies. They then challenged us to read the scripture that so often we leave for our investigators, 3 Nephi 11, to meditate in the words of that chapter, and to pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true. There are three roots that compose a strong testimony. The Book of Mormon. The Atonement of Jesus Christ. The Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ.
As I read that chapter that night, I thought and felt as if I was there. As if I heard a voice from on high, testifying of Christ. As if I saw Him. Touched His hands and His feet. As if I listened to His mandate to be baptized to to baptize, to comply with His doctrine. To have faith, repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and then to remain firm in this commitment.
I prayed. I asked. I found. I felt. The promise of Moroni 10:4-5 is true. All who sincerely ask will receive an answer. I know. I have received it. If he talked to me, I know he will talk to you.
The next day was equally spiritual, with a ton of practices focused on helping people commit to baptism, verification of commitments, inviting people to pray, and resolving concerns. All of this was mixed with thoughts of inspiration from President and Sister Hacking. After everyone did the 3 Nephi 11 challenge the night before, President Hacking asked three missionaries to come and write "The Book of Mormon" on a piece of paper. One wrote with a three hundred dollar fountain pen. Another with a hundred dollar ballpoint. The last, with a twenty five cent BIC pen. The writing implements were all very different, about as varied as the missionaries in attendance, but each one wrote the same words, just as each of us bear the same testimony to the world.
As an afterthought, I will also include that it wasn´t all meetings. A game that is growing in popularity in the mission is Ninja. For those who don´t know, it is a very active game that is played in a group. Each person is ninja and the object is to eliminate all the rest by hitting them in the hand. Each person can make one attack in their turn and then has to remain in that position until their next turn unless someone attacks, in which case they can dodge. When you lose both hands, you´re out. It´s really a lot of fun. I´ll see if I can´t get you all the pictures.
We finally got back to the house late Friday night. The next day, on Saturday, it was back to work. We visited several less actives, one of which was painting his house and didn´t have time to talk to us. The other was better, and wants to go to church this Sunday.
GASP. I almost forgot. But how....!? Yeah, this weekend is GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited that this email can´t contain my excitement. Everyone has to watch conference and then tell me about their favorite talks. I still don´t know if I´ll get to watch in Spanish or English, but whichever, it will still be awesome. I have seriously never been so excited for a conference in my life.
Well, that´s about it. I haven´t done anything interesting today. Just cleaned up the house a little. But other than that, nothing interesting.
Well, love you all a lot. Hope you´re all doing well and will write me when you have the time...=D
Con mucho cariño,
Elder Gabe Rallison
PS... Spencer turns 20 tomorrow. =D Saludos a él.
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