First P Day (ever!)

1.03.17

Happy New Year!! It´s 2017 which is pretty cool.  Man, this country is WACK.  For starters, they had to have a talk with all of us about having to flush your toilet paper...apparently here you just use it and throw it in the trash can because their plumbing sucks.  

   

The missionaries warned us that one of us would have to give a talk in Spanish on our first Sunday, and that they would choose at random during sacrament, so we ALL had to prepare a talk,  So of course, who do you think got picked.  ME.  I had to get up in front of everyone (only like 65 people) and give a talk in Spanish.  That was a pretty cool experience.  I must have done pretty well because Hermana DuVall (MTC presidents wife) came up to me afterwards and told me how great I did, she said she could tell i have been studying Spanish for a long time.  

I have asked EVERYONE here (including the natives) if anyone here is going to Bogota Sur, and no one is.  Which means I'm the only missionary here going to my mission.  I talked to the security guard, and he went to my same mission.  He talked about the snakes, and the crazy stuff in the Amazon.  But the worst of all, GIANT BIRD EATING SPIDERS!!! So we´ll see how that goes, because I hate spiders.  

I felt a real tender mercy this week, and it´s been one thing that helped me not die here.  My companion was playing soccer during physical hour, which isn't really my thing, so I just ran laps, and watched a little bit.  One of the teachers Hermano Escobar (yeah, Escobar) came up to me and asked why I wasn't playing soccer, i told him it´s because I am bad at it. He asked me if I play "Ajedrez" and I had no idea what he meant, and after a bit of translating I found out was chess.  Which was a total tender mercy.  I hadn't told anyone that i like chess, or I've been going through a chess phase, but God put Elder Escobar in my life as a way to help me out.  The CCM is hard, and God knew I needed a little push to get along, so I know that that was God´s hand in my life.

My companion and I live in the same room as 2 Latino Elderes: Elder Rincon, y Elder Valenzuela.  They are probably the two coolest Latin Elders in the whole CCM.  Elder Valenzuela speaks pretty good english, so we can learn a lot from him so that´s pretty good.  

  

I can´t lie, the CCM is REALLY hard. Today we went to the temple, and we talked with a missionary in the Bogota Norte mission, and he said "The CCM sucks, you just gotta make it out of the CCM" So I guess that's kind of where the endure to the end comes in.  I love you guys, and I can´t even begin to describe how much I miss you, and it's only been a week! I just wish you guys could come with me.  This place is so cool. There is graffiti everywhere, even on people houses, and they just leave it there.  The food here is good, but nothing compared to Mom´s cheesy potatoes and Dad´s steak.  #neverforgetti ​

Roommates - Elder Rincon, Elder Leishman, Elder Valenzuela, Elder Olson

Tanner and his companion, Elder Justin Olson

Hermana _____, Hermana Jerrica Thomas, Elder ______, Elder _______, Elder Justin Olson, Elder Tanner Leishman