Hola
mi amigos:
Como
están? Thank you for all your wonderful emails, I have loved being able to read
all of them. Anyway, the CCM is great, and I am going to just lay it all out.
We
had the interesting experience of going to immigration this week, which was
very difficult with our 3 weeks of Spanish under our belt. We spent about four
hours there, waiting in line, but it was great to get our permanent visas. One
amazing blessing we had after immigration was to have the single most American
thing on the planet, a nice burger. We went to Burger King and it was one of
the highlights of my mission so far. It is amazing that even a half decent
burger can taste like heaven when you haven't had almost anything
American. But it was awesome!
I
have had several great contacting experiences this week. Our CCM is surrounded
by a gate, and during my Pday I was playing soccer, none to well I might add,
and I headed the ball out as a goalie. I wish I could explain how that
happened, but I am at a loss for words. Anyway, a young man named Jonathon went
and picked up the ball and gave it back to us and we started talking with him.
What a blessing it was that he was studying languages and he knew a little English. Me and another Elder, Elder Sorbonne, talked with him for about an
hour.He was such a fantastic guy, so nice and respectful. It was great to just
talk with him about the world and Bogota. However he wasn't interested in joining
any religions but he did believe in God. We bore our testimony, told him a
little about our church, and gave him a Book of Mormon. The next day we got to
talk with him again, which was fantastic. He even read the Book of Mormon, and
had some questions, which we attempted to answer. He asked if we could teach
him that night, but a rule in the CCM is you can't teach outside the gates. And
unfortunately that was his last night there, as he had school for the rest of
the time. It was heartbreaking to hear, but we bore our testimonies, told him
we would pray for him, and waved goodbye. Sorry this is scattered, apparently
on Spanish computers you cannot go back and erase. But he didn't want to meet
with any other missionaries besides us. I hope and pray that he will read the
Book of Mormon and be taught by its simple truths. I know that it will bless
his life.
Another
contacting experience is with a man named Raul, who we met outside the gate. He
was way nice, and me and my companion stopped and talked with him for a little
bit. We gave him a pass along card, and later in the day he stopped and talked
with a couple of us about it, and he really liked it. We gave him a Book
of Morrmon, which he immediately started to read, and kept reading. We received
his contact information, and it was so awesome!! There is such a great joy from
sharing the gospel.
Anyway,
I am loving it down here. I hope all is going well with you guys, and thank you
for the prayers. I apologize again for the horrible spelling, and for the
changes in Espanol. I am still learning.
One
last piece of advice... if you can find arequippa, buy it. It is possible the
best caramel known to man, and may become the death of me. I promise you won't
regret it.
Tienen
fe
esperanza
charidad
y
todos las cosas
will work together for your good. I will try to memorize that
in Spanish.
Elder
Parson
P.S. Attached our some pictures of our Pday activity.
