Week 20 in Porvenir

Week #82
7/27/15

Transfer calls were last night. I could hardly keep myself together. Its always such a stressful night, im not sure why. So the call came in, and Im staying! The whole zone only had one transfer, and Elder from our district will be going to Bogotá. Im way excited that I get to stay in this area for another 6 weeks and stay with Elder Chaves. I am ready to work super hard this transfer, and find tons of people. I think Ill also be wearing the same tie for 6 weeks, we´ll se if anybody notices.

So this week was normal. What we have seen in our area is that its hard to get people progressing. We had found a couple people who seemed to have potencial, but theyre not keeping their commitments, so we need to find new people. We knocked doors a little, and will be doing that much more this week. We have found that we lose a lot of time riding around, looking for people to visit that arent home. Weve decided were just going to stay in the sector we´re already in, and contact or knock on doors to find more. Hopefully we will be able to find people who are ready to receive the restored gospel. 

Knocking doors this week has been cool, because twice someone let us in right then and there to share a message. We are hoping that we can have more appointments with them in the future, and help them to come to church. 

Not much else has happened this week. Today we went on a huge hike up a mountain, and it was raining the whole time. We saw waterfalls and crossed steel wire bridges. 

I know that God loves us so much he respects our decisions, good or bad. He is also just with us, rewarding us with the same good or bad we choose. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. The spirit teaches me personally through it how I can improve and change. 

Thanks for reading!

Elder Beck

in the jungle, typical ´llanero´ outfit

Week 19 in Povenir

Week #81
7/20/15

Its crazy to think Ive almost been in this area for 20 weeks. Ive had the feeling this week that I will be leaving this area at transfers, which are next weekend. I would miss it here a lot, I love working in tierra caliente, but I would like the challenge of Bogotá again. The best part is that the Lord decides that, not me.  

 

This week was a good one. In our weekly planning we realized we have quite a few investigators with potential, but we are also seeing how they use their agency. So finding is becoming important again. Its been hard to visit investigators, and most of our plans have been on the weaker side this week. I have found that as I just do everything I can think to do, and not worry, things work out. Just doing my part and letting the Lord take care of the rest. 

The Rodriguez Lopez family got married on Tuesday, which was amazing. We got to the notary a little bit early, and about 20 people went to the wedding. it was very simple, and someone who worked there just read them the script, and they signed. Although it was very plain, it was a really special moment, and everything was really happy. 

They were baptized on Friday. The service started super late, but it was worth waiting for their family and friends. The branch president baptized William, Elder Chanves baptized Herminia, and I baptized Joseph. The service went well, and we ended getting home just at the limit. They were confirmed Sunday, and William received the aaronic priesthood! That surprised me!

We had a cool experience yesterday. I had called on Saturday a less active member someone had referred to us, and we went yesterday to meet her. She was really nice and open to our visit. She showed a real interest i coming back to church, and we talked a lot about the blessings of the temple to motivate her. At the end of the message she gave us 3 referrals for other areas. I decided to ask her what we call ´the golden question´, ´Who do you know who would be interested in our message, and would benefit from it?´. She told us about one of her neighbors, and took us there to meet her. It was way cool to see how much faith she had, and that she wasn't afraid to share the gospel. 

I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that he hears prayer. He will support us i all good things we do, and wants to help us change. I know that we apply Christ´s perfect sacrifice when we live the gospel, and it allows us to change. 

Thanks for reading!

Elder Beck

Week 18 in Porvenir

Week #80
7/13/15

This week began great. We got to Bogotá around 815, and went to sleep at one of the apartments near the chapel in Quiroga. We got a pizza and soda, and slept on some extra matresses they had there, but I didnt sleep very well. Being in Bogotá was cool, feeling the cold again. We had a meeting with President Baquerizo, the new mission President. He told us about his family, and his life story. We shortly introduced ourselves, and that was about the whole meeting. That was with all the missionaries in Bogotá. Then just our zone had interviews with President, and it was pretty basic. He impacted me with the love and humility he shoed us, and Im really happy. Tusday night we headed back to BogotáVillavicencio, and got home around 9pm. 

The week began well, on Wednesday we had a cool experience. About 2 weeks ago we were looking for a former investigator, but the adress was wrong, and when we knocked on the door a young man let us in, and we shared a short message with him. As we left, we asked him the golden question, ´who do you know that would be interested in our message, and benefit from it?´ He told us that his neighbor in front would, but we didnt go right away, because we had an appointment. We went back on Wednesday, and she let us in, and was really receptive. On Friday we had another lesson, and she´s married! That is not very common here. Se were excited to have found a married family to teach. 

The Rodriguez Lopez family is progressing well, and will be married on Tuesday, and baptized on Friday. We are pretty excited, and I hope they will decide that members, and not us will baptize them. We´ll see on Wednesday in their interviews. 

Yesterday we had another neat experience with a less active couple. The brother is an rm, and they havent ben to church in a long, long time. So last night we got to visit them again, and I hadnt any idea of what we should share with them. One of the lessons, or reading the Book of Mormon just didnt seem right. I decided to begin by explaining our purpose there, that we wanted them to come back to church. I talked about going back to church, and their potential to have an eternal family. I felt a little unsure, being so direct, but they responded positively, which was a huge relief. They commited to coming to church this Sunday, which gave me hope. 

I know the gospel is the only way to trulñy live free, and happy. I know that Thomas S. Monson is called of God, and the apostles have that same calling as those of old. i know the atonement is real, and that we can change our lives through Christ. 

Thanks for reading!

Elder Beck

Pic:

I found a 2lb tub of planter peanuts!

Week 17 in Porvenir

Week #79
7/6/15

Wow, its crazy to thing I have already been in this area for 4 months. Yesterday at lunch the distrcit counselor asked me how long id been here. I told him three months, march, april may, june, oh shoot thats four months! I cant believe it. 

So this week the Rodriguez Lopez family finally went to the notary. On Wednesday they got their childrens´ papers, and on Friday they set a date! Theyll get married on the 14th of this months, and baptized on the 17th! They have waited so long, and we are stoked to see that theyll finally be able to be married and baptized! We are going to work hard to get a lot of members there. William asked me if he could invite his family, which was funny. OF COURSE we want his family there. 

Yesterday in church, Oscar Franco got the priesthood, and was ordained to the office of priest, which was so cool to see! He has already had his second interview with the branch president, so we know that he´s in good hands. This week we got to start his family history with him. Although he didnt have a lot of information, we told him how he´ll be able to find more. I love family history!

Happy 4th of July to everyone by the way! I had thought beforehand to order a pizza at night, but we were fasting, so that didnt happen. We did, however go to Elder Wright´s baptism, which was great. The Palacios family got baptized after 5 years of investigating the church. They finally got married, and Nicholas, the dad was radiant. I could feel his joy, finally receiving the saving ordinance. 

The Grey family is doing well, and this week we also found some new investigators. One was a cool experience. We have done more contacting lately, but normally it isnt the most effective. People give us fake adresses and phone numbers, so finding hasnt been the easiest. We went to a lesson we had planned with a lady we talked to in the street. When we first got there her neighbor was looking at us a lot in the window. We said hi, and started a small conversation. We were interrupted when the lady we had contacted answered her door. She told us she was alone, so we set up the lesson for another day, when her whole family would be home. We were about to get on our bikes and leave, when we decided to invite the neighbor to hear our lesson as well. She said, ´sure, Ill listen to you.´ We met Meri(Mary) and Andres, her son. Andres participated a lot in the lesson, and was telling us how he wanted to change his life. It was specail to find someone who was really sincere, and who saw us as representatives of the Savior. 

That was pretty much all that happened this week. Today at 2 pm well get on a bus for Bogotá to have a meeting Tuesday with President Baquerizo, our new mission president, and interviews. 

I know as we live the gospel of Jesus Christ, we con improve our lives. I know that the Book of Mormon is like a roadsign, or a trailhead to mark the path we need to follow. I know it is the word of God, and he answers our prayers and questions. 

Thanks for reading!

Elder Beck

pictures: 

The selfie stick has come to Colombia, 

the district,

and the reception for the Palacios