So this weeek has been great, but with a ton going on.
To start, on Thursday, we were having our normal weekly planning, right? Well, we were finishing up when we heard a knock on the door.... who could that be? To our shock and surprise it was the....Zone Leaders...BUM BUM BUM!!!!! At first we were thinking uh oh, this cannot be good. But in the end, turns out all they wanted was to see how we are doing as a companionship and participate in our comp inventory (the whole evaluation of the strengths/weaknesses of the companionship and its members). Phwew. A bit of a shock that. Having your leaders come unannounced.
Not much on Friday or Saturday. On Sunday though, we had a baptism!!!! Stefanie finally got baptised. And better yet, my companion was the one to baptize her! Sweet. Nothing in the mission is quite as cool as seeing your investigators change into the newest members of the church. The Young Women organized the service and did an awesome job. They had an amazing musical number, a talk about the importance of following the path from baptism to the temple. Really cool in all. And in and of itself it was a bit of a miracle. When we got to the church, there was no water. At all. That is not usually a good sign. Then, when we were about to give up, after having tried almost everything, the water started shooting out. We didn't do anything. It just happened. There are miracles.
That night we had an experience a little less enjoyable. We had to move a sister from our ward to another house because the one she was living in was leaky. She is now living in a room with half functioning electricity, a room that is full of mosquitoes and is about half the size of my bedroom at home. Wow. I was left with a grand sense of gratitude for all that God had blessed me with. To me now, our mission apartment seems like a place. We have water, electricity, gas, everything. It's moments like this that really help a person to appreciate all that they have.
On Monday we did a big service project as a zone. We went to a farmhouse about fifteen miles outside of Bogota and spent the day weeding, moving literally a ton of sand, cleaning out a room full of food storage and floor tiles, pulling out a planting terrace, and more. The sister was really nice and made us pasta. Homemade pasta. She had one of those little pasta makers that flattens out the dough and cuts it into strips. Really was a lot of fun making that. After we walked to a nearby lake and enjoyed the weather, until it started to rain that is.
Tuesday...interviews. It was funny, we were told that we needed to be there at 9:30. We got there at 10:30. I was so nervous, afraid that President was going to cut my head off. But thankfully, he was taking a long time with the zone leaders and we actually ended up waiting awhile before we got in to see him. The interview for me is always a great morale booster. And this one was no exception. I am so pumped to work now!
Last, but not least, the temple trip today. We went to the temple really early, getting up at about four-thirty to get ready to go. As always, an amazing experience. We almost didn't make it into the session, and when we did, we almost didn't fit. They actually had to bring in several folding chairs so that there was space for everybody. All in all, it was amazing. Got several questions answered today. After, we ate in the temple cafeteria, and upon leaving, ran into another zone. One of my coolest companions ever, Elder Godoy was there. So cool to see him and several of the other missionaries again. Great experience.
Well, that was very long and I am now out of time. So, I will see you all next week. Love you all!!!!!
Elder (Gabe) Rallison
Monday, April 25, 2011
Qué más?
Life in Colombia is going great. As for the work, we have had Stefanie interviewed--she passed! Baptism this Sunday!!!!! So happy, so so happy. There is nothing in the mission quite like a baptism. Seeing a person make all the changes and finally take the plunge, nothing compares. As for the rest we are still working way hard to find new people and get them baptized. If you know of anyone, please let me know.
Apart from that, I've been spending a lot of time lately out of area. On Friday, I had an interchange in Dorado with Elder Francom, a new gringo who is still working on getting his Spanish down. It was fun, we contacted a lot and got soaked in a wonderful downpour. Also had another in Alamos with Elder Porflit. That was fun, except that the appointment to visit a family and have a family home evening fell through and we were left with the makings for Chilean hot dogs....well, maybe not that much of a sacrifice. We did enjoy eating a ton of hot dogs. Also had to go to the office yesterday. That was a lot of fun. An hour there and an hour back. But the good part is that we now have all we need to continue working with power for a long, long, time.
I still continue with a bit of a cough/cold going on here, but hey, at least it isn't dengue. Other than that, I'm okay, love hearing from each and every one of you.
So, I find myself kind of out of time.
Love you, will write more next week!
Elder (Gabe) Rallison
Apart from that, I've been spending a lot of time lately out of area. On Friday, I had an interchange in Dorado with Elder Francom, a new gringo who is still working on getting his Spanish down. It was fun, we contacted a lot and got soaked in a wonderful downpour. Also had another in Alamos with Elder Porflit. That was fun, except that the appointment to visit a family and have a family home evening fell through and we were left with the makings for Chilean hot dogs....well, maybe not that much of a sacrifice. We did enjoy eating a ton of hot dogs. Also had to go to the office yesterday. That was a lot of fun. An hour there and an hour back. But the good part is that we now have all we need to continue working with power for a long, long, time.
I still continue with a bit of a cough/cold going on here, but hey, at least it isn't dengue. Other than that, I'm okay, love hearing from each and every one of you.
So, I find myself kind of out of time.
Love you, will write more next week!
Elder (Gabe) Rallison
Thursday, April 7, 2011
General Conference and more
It has been wild the past week.
On Thursday we went downtown. We had to get there early so we got up at five, got on a bus, and got to the office. We got the papers that we needed so that my comp could got to the doctor for an eye exam. He really needs them. Seriously, I have not ever seen anyone with eyesight that bad. The prescription that the doctor gave him is about three times mine. And I thought I was bad. So he put in the order for those, and we finally got back here about lunchtime. So that was fun.
On Saturday we had conference. YAY!!!!! So, our president says that each missionary should watch conference in his own language if possible, but sadly, after going to not one, but two stake centers, there was none to be had for the first session. So, I just watched in Spanish. I understood it all right, it was just a little distracting watching as their lips say one thing and I'm hearing another. Ah well. In the end, though, we were able to get a TV set up with English! I was able to watch the rest of conference in English (except for part of the Sunday morning session when we lost the audio...). That was fun, we were running around in circles, turning this or that dial, attempting in vain to restore the audio. It didn't work, but somehow it miraculously came back for the last session. =D
And what great messages. I don't remember who it was but I remember an amazing message about the importance of desire. that when we have a desire, that desire will bring us to making choices based on said desires, which then become actions. For "all will be judged according to theirs works and the desires of their hearts. Also one that talked about the importance of be instead of do. "Everyone has to-do lists but very few have to-be lists. This idea of being instead of just doing, it relates a lot to the mission. You don't just do missionary work, you are a missionary. And what a message from Elder Holland. I had never realized fully the amount of inspiration that goes into a conference message. I can't wait to get a Liahona or Ensign and read them, study them (hopefully in English). Oh and as a final thought, I noticed a lot of talk about marriage, about not waiting, of the importance of actively looking and working toward said goal. New personal goal, get married as fast as possible after the mission.....by the end of 2012? We'll see.
So, that's about it, I guess. It rained a lot on Sunday as we were walking home, and I ended up getting really wet and cold, and ending up with one of the worst colds of my life. i spent most of the day on Monday in bed with chills, had a rough time on Tuesday as well. Now I feel better, but I have almost completely lost my voice. But, all is well. Really, it is all good.
Love you all lots,
Elder (Gabe) Rallison
On Thursday we went downtown. We had to get there early so we got up at five, got on a bus, and got to the office. We got the papers that we needed so that my comp could got to the doctor for an eye exam. He really needs them. Seriously, I have not ever seen anyone with eyesight that bad. The prescription that the doctor gave him is about three times mine. And I thought I was bad. So he put in the order for those, and we finally got back here about lunchtime. So that was fun.
On Saturday we had conference. YAY!!!!! So, our president says that each missionary should watch conference in his own language if possible, but sadly, after going to not one, but two stake centers, there was none to be had for the first session. So, I just watched in Spanish. I understood it all right, it was just a little distracting watching as their lips say one thing and I'm hearing another. Ah well. In the end, though, we were able to get a TV set up with English! I was able to watch the rest of conference in English (except for part of the Sunday morning session when we lost the audio...). That was fun, we were running around in circles, turning this or that dial, attempting in vain to restore the audio. It didn't work, but somehow it miraculously came back for the last session. =D
And what great messages. I don't remember who it was but I remember an amazing message about the importance of desire. that when we have a desire, that desire will bring us to making choices based on said desires, which then become actions. For "all will be judged according to theirs works and the desires of their hearts. Also one that talked about the importance of be instead of do. "Everyone has to-do lists but very few have to-be lists. This idea of being instead of just doing, it relates a lot to the mission. You don't just do missionary work, you are a missionary. And what a message from Elder Holland. I had never realized fully the amount of inspiration that goes into a conference message. I can't wait to get a Liahona or Ensign and read them, study them (hopefully in English). Oh and as a final thought, I noticed a lot of talk about marriage, about not waiting, of the importance of actively looking and working toward said goal. New personal goal, get married as fast as possible after the mission.....by the end of 2012? We'll see.
So, that's about it, I guess. It rained a lot on Sunday as we were walking home, and I ended up getting really wet and cold, and ending up with one of the worst colds of my life. i spent most of the day on Monday in bed with chills, had a rough time on Tuesday as well. Now I feel better, but I have almost completely lost my voice. But, all is well. Really, it is all good.
Love you all lots,
Elder (Gabe) Rallison
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Howdy Y'all
Life goes on. This has been a long past week with a lot of crazy happenings. We have been working like crazy and are finally getting results. We've got several of our investigators now preparing for baptism in the coming weeks and hopefully all will come through. The members here have really started to take part in the work. One sister took us to meet her cousin and her family, they now have baptismal dates for the last week of April. Love it when everything just works out like that.
This past Friday we had a ward activity that will bow be taking place every Friday. We call it Super Friday! Cool right? In this past one, I jumped rope! I actually did pretty well for someone dressed in shirt and tie. Go about 15 good hops in before they went and sped up on me. No fair, but oh well, what's one to do.
This Monday was fun as we had a zone meeting that morning. Only problem was that they called us about half an hour before to let us know that the meeting was in Funza (very far away) instead of in Alejandria (relatively close). So we went running out of the house and took a bus for and hour to get there and guess what, we started half an hour later because the zone leaders got there late. Well, yeah, it was good, but quite the journey.
Today we played soccer (again I know), ate pizza, and played ping pong as a zone. One of the missionaries, Elder Porflit, actually played semi-professional ping pong in Chile. I'm proud to say that I scored against him. Once. Final score 1-11. Yay!
So without more news to share I'll have to stop there, with a commitment to you all to take better notes so I know what to write.
Love you all,
Elder Rallison
This past Friday we had a ward activity that will bow be taking place every Friday. We call it Super Friday! Cool right? In this past one, I jumped rope! I actually did pretty well for someone dressed in shirt and tie. Go about 15 good hops in before they went and sped up on me. No fair, but oh well, what's one to do.
This Monday was fun as we had a zone meeting that morning. Only problem was that they called us about half an hour before to let us know that the meeting was in Funza (very far away) instead of in Alejandria (relatively close). So we went running out of the house and took a bus for and hour to get there and guess what, we started half an hour later because the zone leaders got there late. Well, yeah, it was good, but quite the journey.
Today we played soccer (again I know), ate pizza, and played ping pong as a zone. One of the missionaries, Elder Porflit, actually played semi-professional ping pong in Chile. I'm proud to say that I scored against him. Once. Final score 1-11. Yay!
So without more news to share I'll have to stop there, with a commitment to you all to take better notes so I know what to write.
Love you all,
Elder Rallison
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Crazyness
Two weeks news in one email. See how this goes.
So, I'm now starting my fourth transfer here in Engativá and I'm continuing with Elder Quiñonez. The last two weeks have been really busy work wise, but with rather few results. We have been working a lot with getting the members here involved in the work as well as looking for new investigators. We've got a great family that we are working with Diego and Maijorie and their son Diego Jr (he's 8, I love how perfectly the things work out). They are good, but only the Diegos could come to church last Sunday as Maijorie was in bed sick. Hope we can get all of them to church this Sunday. We've also got Estefani, who we are going to baptize on April 9th. She actually is pretty much a member of the Church, she lives with her grandparents who have been members for more than 40 years and only hadn't been baptized before because her Catholic father didn't want her to. But now, she is going to get baptized so that's all good.
On the Sunday of stake conference, everything went....well....it went. I did my part well, but the choir was the most mixed up, off key, group that I have ever heard. Sister Kennedy would have cried had she been there. The talks were good though, especially, Sister Hacking's. She talked about making sure we are in places and in a state of mind in which we can feel the subtle promptings of the Spirit. She shared the story of when Christ came to the Americas (3 Nephi 11) and when God introduced Him from the heavens. God announced it three times, but the people didn't understand it until the third time when they were attentively listening. We all need to be sure that we are listening to hear that still small voice when it comes. There is not much more important for us missionaries than the Spirit.
Last Wednesday I went to the center of town with another gringo from my zone so that he could do his trunky shopping. I found some cool stuff, such as knock off cologne that costs $2.50. How cool is that! And it actually smells really good. Can't beat that deal.
Today we took it a little easier and just cleaned house and played card games such as Monopoly Deal and Uno. Also went and got groceries and we got haircuts. Mine is short, but still not as short as that one time....
I'd like to thank you all for your loving help and support in this work. Thank you for you prayers and your love. It means more to me than you could imagine. Really.
Love you all,
Elder Rallison
So, I'm now starting my fourth transfer here in Engativá and I'm continuing with Elder Quiñonez. The last two weeks have been really busy work wise, but with rather few results. We have been working a lot with getting the members here involved in the work as well as looking for new investigators. We've got a great family that we are working with Diego and Maijorie and their son Diego Jr (he's 8, I love how perfectly the things work out). They are good, but only the Diegos could come to church last Sunday as Maijorie was in bed sick. Hope we can get all of them to church this Sunday. We've also got Estefani, who we are going to baptize on April 9th. She actually is pretty much a member of the Church, she lives with her grandparents who have been members for more than 40 years and only hadn't been baptized before because her Catholic father didn't want her to. But now, she is going to get baptized so that's all good.
On the Sunday of stake conference, everything went....well....it went. I did my part well, but the choir was the most mixed up, off key, group that I have ever heard. Sister Kennedy would have cried had she been there. The talks were good though, especially, Sister Hacking's. She talked about making sure we are in places and in a state of mind in which we can feel the subtle promptings of the Spirit. She shared the story of when Christ came to the Americas (3 Nephi 11) and when God introduced Him from the heavens. God announced it three times, but the people didn't understand it until the third time when they were attentively listening. We all need to be sure that we are listening to hear that still small voice when it comes. There is not much more important for us missionaries than the Spirit.
Last Wednesday I went to the center of town with another gringo from my zone so that he could do his trunky shopping. I found some cool stuff, such as knock off cologne that costs $2.50. How cool is that! And it actually smells really good. Can't beat that deal.
Today we took it a little easier and just cleaned house and played card games such as Monopoly Deal and Uno. Also went and got groceries and we got haircuts. Mine is short, but still not as short as that one time....
I'd like to thank you all for your loving help and support in this work. Thank you for you prayers and your love. It means more to me than you could imagine. Really.
Love you all,
Elder Rallison
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Howdy y'all
Great week, not much new, just the normal.
Sorry, I'm sending this a little late, but our area was without electricity for a good part of the afternoon.
Choir practice went....well..... this week. The men are singing a little better as we had to change them to singing melody with the sopranos instead of singing the tenor part. I guess this is easier for them (for Kolob). They are still entering offbeat in the other song, but hope that all gets worked out. We've got another practice this Saturday to (hopefully) finalize everything and get it sounding good. Please pray for them (and me) we are going to need it.
As well as musical practice, I had interchanges on Monday with Elder Ponce. He's good, but we didn't have much of a chance to work as I was stuck in the bathroom almost all day with some stomach bug. I feel better now, but still am missing a little to be 100%.
Well, that´s it for now. Not much, but you know what they say, no news is good news.
Love you all lots,
Elder (Gabe) Rallison
Sorry, I'm sending this a little late, but our area was without electricity for a good part of the afternoon.
Choir practice went....well..... this week. The men are singing a little better as we had to change them to singing melody with the sopranos instead of singing the tenor part. I guess this is easier for them (for Kolob). They are still entering offbeat in the other song, but hope that all gets worked out. We've got another practice this Saturday to (hopefully) finalize everything and get it sounding good. Please pray for them (and me) we are going to need it.
As well as musical practice, I had interchanges on Monday with Elder Ponce. He's good, but we didn't have much of a chance to work as I was stuck in the bathroom almost all day with some stomach bug. I feel better now, but still am missing a little to be 100%.
Well, that´s it for now. Not much, but you know what they say, no news is good news.
Love you all lots,
Elder (Gabe) Rallison
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Not much new...ah well, maybe a bit
Went and worked with one of the newbies from the MTC this past Saturday. Was cool, he didn't talk a lot though. He was a little shy. But that's why they send 'em here, so they can change. I learned a bit too. Like, when it rains (and hails) and half your area loses electricity, that is not a good time for contacting.
We had choir practice this past Sunday. It lasted three hours. The problem was that the men kept on entering late each verse of "If you could hie to Kolob" and several weren't even singing their part. Instead, they were off singing melody with the sopranos. So, the chior director put up a bet, to see if they could possibly pull it together. They didn't, and now they have the privilege of bringing five fried chickens (complete with fries, arepa, and plátano) to the next rehearsal. =D Epic win (for me)/epic fail (for them). And all in all, epic feedback (I am not sure how many of you will understand that, but okay).
On Monday we visited a cool family. The Linarez family. They are cool. The grandparents are members. Well, a bit more than just members, they are pioneers in the church here in Colombia. They've only been members for 41 years now. The sister Linarez shared the complete history of the church in Colombia with us. It only took about an hour and a half. Funny thing is, their grandchildren (thanks to the father) aren't members yet. We are working with them, and ...we...are....going....to...baptize.....them. Someday. The older of the grandchildren (has sixteen years) loves aptitude puzzles. They are supposed to show how outside of the box you think. Well, I got.....3 of 10. But really, they are weird, and in Spanish (so I have a handicap, it's not my native tongue).
Yesterday it also rained a lot, so we had a hard time getting much done. We had a great appointment with Maijorie, an investigator that we found knocking doors. So we entered and she asked us if we wanted something to drink. We said yes, and she came out with two steaming mug of....coffee. Yikes! So, we started out explaining why we don't drink it, and ended up teaching the Word of Wisdom and the Restoration (as she didn't really understand it the first time). She was really impressed. Especially with the promise of long life. So she asked, how long does someone live doing this? Well.....President Hinckley lived until 97. She is like, no way. Yeah way. Suffice to say she is now committed to follow the WoW. Now we just have to get her married to her boyfriend. Grrrr. Later that night the electricity went out (but this time for only four hours, on Saturday it was six hours). It was a little creepy without the light, but we lived.
Well, that's all folks. But don't cry, I'll be writing again in a week.
Love y'all.
-Elder (Gabe) Rallison
We had choir practice this past Sunday. It lasted three hours. The problem was that the men kept on entering late each verse of "If you could hie to Kolob" and several weren't even singing their part. Instead, they were off singing melody with the sopranos. So, the chior director put up a bet, to see if they could possibly pull it together. They didn't, and now they have the privilege of bringing five fried chickens (complete with fries, arepa, and plátano) to the next rehearsal. =D Epic win (for me)/epic fail (for them). And all in all, epic feedback (I am not sure how many of you will understand that, but okay).
On Monday we visited a cool family. The Linarez family. They are cool. The grandparents are members. Well, a bit more than just members, they are pioneers in the church here in Colombia. They've only been members for 41 years now. The sister Linarez shared the complete history of the church in Colombia with us. It only took about an hour and a half. Funny thing is, their grandchildren (thanks to the father) aren't members yet. We are working with them, and ...we...are....going....to...baptize.....them. Someday. The older of the grandchildren (has sixteen years) loves aptitude puzzles. They are supposed to show how outside of the box you think. Well, I got.....3 of 10. But really, they are weird, and in Spanish (so I have a handicap, it's not my native tongue).
Yesterday it also rained a lot, so we had a hard time getting much done. We had a great appointment with Maijorie, an investigator that we found knocking doors. So we entered and she asked us if we wanted something to drink. We said yes, and she came out with two steaming mug of....coffee. Yikes! So, we started out explaining why we don't drink it, and ended up teaching the Word of Wisdom and the Restoration (as she didn't really understand it the first time). She was really impressed. Especially with the promise of long life. So she asked, how long does someone live doing this? Well.....President Hinckley lived until 97. She is like, no way. Yeah way. Suffice to say she is now committed to follow the WoW. Now we just have to get her married to her boyfriend. Grrrr. Later that night the electricity went out (but this time for only four hours, on Saturday it was six hours). It was a little creepy without the light, but we lived.
Well, that's all folks. But don't cry, I'll be writing again in a week.
Love y'all.
-Elder (Gabe) Rallison
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