Week 20!

Hey mom! Thanks for writing me even though you're a real busy lady.  This week was pretty average other than the SKYPE CALL.  So that was amazing.  I literally just thought about it the whole day yesterday and today.  It's kind of weird how after a Skype call, we just go back to normal missionary work.  Like I feel like we should go home and be sad or something, but we just go to our next appointment, haha.  It was pretty weird.  We couldn't really do anything after because nobody wants to listen to the freaking missionaries on Mother's Day.  We kinda just visited some members, and went home a little early and played board games the rest of the night.  I was just on Cloud 9 the whole time because I got to talk to you guys.  It felt really good that it was just a normal conversation like we were just hanging out.  It just felt like we were just chilling and telling stories.  Other missionaries told me that their families invited like 15 people over and they couldn't even enjoy the call because everyone was trying to talk, haha.  So thank you for that.

So this week we had our investigator Wilfredo came to church with us.  I think he really liked it.  He told us he really loved it and he was there for all three hours! He even told us he wants to come next week.  The ward was also really good to him so I think he loved it.  He goes to one of those wacky churches where everything is like a really loud ritual and they chant and do weird things like yell AMEN during the talks and during the prayers, so it was a little different for him but I think he really liked it.  He told us about how he owes his life to God because God got him to where he is today.  He used to be an alcoholic, and wasn't really living the life he wanted, and when he found God in his life, he got it all together.  He really is the coolest guy, so I'm excited to see how we can continue to help him.

I'm kind of surprised how many people hear deny the missionaries.  The all pull the "I'm a catholic, and I don't want to change," which I guess I understand because it costs them like 200,000 pesos to get baptized into the catholic church.  THEY HAVE TO FREAKING PAY TO BE BAPTIZED.  Literally the catholic church is saying that if you can't afford to be baptized, then you cant go to heaven.  What the heck is that.  There are also churches here that require 50% for tithing.  People almost lose their house for it.  I just don't understand, haha, the people here love these churches, and are unwilling to change.  

The other day while contacting, we contacted a lady, and we were explaining the Restoration.  She goes, "Yeah, I know, I've already heard all of this" and we were like, "We also believe we have a prophet today," and she goes "Really? Who is your prophet?" and we told her Thomas S. Monson, and she goes, "Nope! Its William Santiago" and we go...well how was he called?  And she goes "By the guy before him," we said, "well who called him?" she goes "I don't know...I wasn't there" hahaha.  So we get all kinds of fun with these street contacts.  She also was pretty bugged that it doesn't say Joseph Smiths name in the bible....but it doesn't say William Santiago either, and she goes "Well yeah cuz he's new," and we are like...so was Joseph Smith.  Hahaha, good stuff.

Love you guys a ton!  I'm glad we got to talk two days in a row.  Thanks for being the best mom in the world!  See ya!

Love Elder Leishman

Week 19!

Hey mom! This week did worked really hard to find new investigators!  We found 6 total, which isn't a ton, but that's better than we were doing before! We also were able to get 3 people with a baptismal date!  So I'm really excited and hopefully we can get them to progress, and get to their baptism! 

Last week I asked dad for a good salsa recipe, and I gave it a try.  It wasn't nearly as good as dad's, but it did the trick! My comp loved it too, so we have made it a couple times and its been pretty awesome.  I'm tweaking my method to try and make it more like dad's, but it has still been awesome so I'm loving it.  

We also got a basically new zone this week! I'm super excited to start fresh with a new zone, and get our numbers up.  We got a new zone leader too named Elder Thompson, and he is the biggest stud.  He shared some good testimony with me the other day, and literally nearly made me cry while we were walking in the street, lol.  He is freaking awesome.

Also, I've been eating popcorn like CRAZY.  Literally I will make two batches a day and just eat it throughout the day, haha.  It has been awesome.  It's also dirt cheap, haha, so it's been pretty good. 

I am also making my own cherry coke, which everyone I share it with seems to love it.  It's no Cheerwine, but it's pretty good.  These people always turn their noses up at it until they try it' haha.  I'm not sure why cherry coke doesn't exist here.

Today we went to an old convert of Elder Gambini, and Elder Alonzo, from Piamonte (Elder Christensen's comp) and they made us lunch, which was really cool, except I'm pretty sure it was just a ball of pig fat...it was hard to down it, haha.  The rest of the food was great, but that was a difficult thing to eat.  Elder Christensen even had to sneak some of it into a napkin and hide it in his bag, hahaha.  Oh well, what can ya do.

Yesterday we got to help a family paint their house for a little bit.  It was cool.  Service is always fun, I think we are heading back later this week to help finish up the job.  

So I was thinking about it, and I figured that the next package I get will be for my birthday, so I thought I might ask for some REAL specific stuff.  If you guys could go to penwish.com and order a Waterfall, and a Buster CYL that would be prime.  If you can't figure it out, ask Koleman for help - he knows how it works.  Also, I can't get enough ties, so keep sending those.  It's kind of hard because I end up giving my ties to people, and I don't wanna run out, hahaha.  We will be going to Centro soon so I'll be able to buy some there too.  But I'll think about what other stuff I might need for my birthday ;) 

[this is in reference to Marci asking Tanner for some Tanner-ish songs] I also thought of some good songs to share with mom for her playlist.  The song Vivir La Vida, by Mark Anthony, and Ya No Me Duele Mas.  Sorry they're always in Spanish, but that's kind of all we hear down here.  I'll try and think of some good English ones as they come to me, but most of the time they are shizzy folk songs, haha.  

Thanks for everything, Mom! I love you a ton.  You are amazing! Thanks for writing me all the time. For skype, we will be skyping this Sunday, at 4:00 Colombian time, so just be ready at whatever time that is for you guys.  I'm not sure how it will go down, so you might be waiting awhile.  We´ll see, haha.  SO excited to talk to you guys.  Who knows if ill even be able to talk, I might just cry the whole time, hahaha.  Love you! Thanks for everything.

Love - Elder Leishman

Elder Christensen and Elder Leishman

Elder Gambini and Tanner

Week 18!

Hey mom! Things have been great!  I stayed in Bosa, but Elder Sotoski headed out.  I got a new companion named Elder Gambini.  He's from Argentina, Sante Fe.  He is pretty quiet and a little serious but I'm sure I can crack him.  He says he likes to play chess so I'm sure we´ll get along just fine.  He's also really good at rubix cube so he's gonna have to teach me that too.  

This week we talked with a family that we contacted in the street a few weeks ago.  They were super curious about everything.  They said that they recognized a lot of the things that were changed from the church that Jesus Christ established on the earth so they were curious to find out more.  The lesson went really well, but we had to leave them with a ton of questions because we didn't have a ton of time.  We set up another lesson with them for Thursday, so we'll see how it goes.  

For Elder Sotoski´s last day in Bogotá we did a little bit of celebrating.  We went and got burgers at a burger place we had been wanting to try for a while.  It was pretty good actually.  And they owner is a member.  We also ate a bunch of empanadas and visited some families in the ward.  It was pretty fun.  He has been here for a while and has wanted to leave for a while, but it seemed pretty rough for him to leave. Oh well.  They say you get used to the cambios.  

The other day when we were visiting a member family we got on the subject of food.  They asked me what food I really miss from my country, and I told her my mom´s cheesy potatoes.  After I described them to her she goes "OH! I know what that is! Next time you have lunch here I'll make it for you!"   So we got there and it was the nicest thing!  They LOADED my plate up with this stuff :) It wasn't quite the same, but it was still really good and super nice.  

This week I finished my training!!! Super cool.  Now I can have a little more authority in what we do, haha.  Before it was hard because when my comp wanted to just hang out, I couldn't really say anything or he would just be like "Tranquilo, normal" so now I can just be like "No! Let's freaking work!" So I'm pumped.  It's gonna be good.  

This week we said by to a fellow gringo in our zone, Elder Bowcutt.  He headed out to Soacha, so he will be missed.  But we did get another gringo, and I think another one will be coming too.  It's pretty cool because sometimes we can just speak English together.  Only when there are just a few of us though, because if we are all speaking English it's not really fair, haha.  So that's basically all that went down this week! 

Love you a ton, Mom.  Can't wait to talk to you on Skype!  If you guys could please set me up a Skype account that would be perf.  I only get 40-45 minutes to talk so that kinda sucks but oh well what can ya do.  Love you and miss you! Talk to you soon!

It was hard to say goodbye to Elder Sotoski!  These two got along great!

Cheesy potatoes!  

New companion!  Elder Gambini

Week 17!

Hey mom!!  Don't worry too much, I was a little sick but I walk everywhere and I drink a ton of water.  Hopefully I lose some more weight so I can be super in shape and lookin' good when I get back :) 

This week we didn't do much.  I feel bad because we get super busy doing intercambios and meetings and stuff that we end up not being able to do much.  I don't know.  I'm praying this week goes better.

Something I have noticed a lot that is just one of the highlights of my week is when you email me some things that happen during the week, and they seem to be EXACTLY what I have been praying for during the week.  The power of prayer is pretty crazy.   It actually almost brings me to tears sometimes, haha.  So don't hesitate to hit me with a prayer list if ya need it. :)

 

So Élder Christensen tells me you and his mom are texting! That's pretty funny, haha.  You guys will have to get together for dinner sometime or do something fun like that.  You gotta go check out Chunga´s food in Salt Lake and meet Jonny Lugo, he's a stud. His mom always treats us real well.  She even invited us and Elder Christensen and his comp to lunch this week and she is going to make her famous Mexican tacos.  So we are all pretty pumped.  

Today we had to run up to the offices to get some stuff taken care of.  So we bought ourselves some McDonald's...thanks ma. :)  I think my comp loves it when we go up there because I always hook it up with the American food.  If I'm spending too much money on the card, just tell me and I will stop.  I never know if I am spending too much or not.  I know that it was only like 10 bucks, but here that seems like a fortune...especially to a missionary, hahaha.  

We have been loving the stuff from my package!  I forgot to tell you how much I love my watch.  I love it so much.  It's such high qual.  I can feel that it is gonna last me the rest of my mission.  And its even cooler because it has the days in Spanish!  I honestly find myself looking at it just to check it out.  Sometimes I don't even need the time, I just look at it to feel cool lookin' at my sweet watch.

Today we also played volleyball as a district which was a ton of fun, and we are allowed to play soccer again so we did some of that too. We weren't allowed to play soccer for a while because another missionary got injured so we couldn't play until he got all fixed up.  The crazy thing is that like 3 of the missionaries in my zone are finishing their missions this week, and a bunch more are getting transferred.  So next week we are going to have a whole new zone.  It's gonna be pretty crazy.

This is the last week of my training!  I can't believe how fast the time has gone!  I remember thinking the CCM felt like two years alone, but now I have already completed two CCMs.  The field is so much better, haha.  The hard part is that it means I will be saying goodbye to my mission dad, Élder Sotoski.  Oh well, they say you end up getting used to it.  The ward here sure is going to miss him too.  I hope that we can work really hard this last week so he can have one more really good week here in Bosa.  

Thanks for everything, Mom! You really are amazing.  I can't wait to hear more from you guys! Sorry you lost all your helpers [regarding yardwork].  If you guys need any help don't hesitate to call the Swags and ask them to help.  You might have to make them dinner or something, but I guarantee they will help you out, haha.  Love you like crazy mom! Can't wait to talk to you again.  Happy 117 days!!!  

Week 16!

Hey! I don't have a lot of time to write because we got lost on the freaking buses and now we have no time to write.  

Good news! I got my package!!  Thank you guys so much.  It felt so good to rip it open and feel a little bit at home.  The floral ties were choice, and the letters were great!  I wish you guys could have seen my comp...he was GIDDY.  He was so pumped that he got to pick a tie, and a shave soap, and a tie clip.  It was really cool.  You guys are awesome.

Also, we went to the centro today so my comp could get some shoes, I helped him out a little bit with the card, thanks.  It's hard to find shoes in his size (like 13) so when we found some we  had to grab 'em.  The guy even gave us an extra pair free so it was pretty cool! 

We also got to play paintball today.  Which was cool...but it turned out to be that it wasn't paintball...it was rock hard rubber ball.  This place just sweeps up all the balls at the end of the day and reuses them, haha.  It freaking hurt.  

The guy who wanted to learn English doesn't seem too interested in our message, but his family does, so we are probably gonna focus more on them.  The guy from Medellin is doing great, but we cant baptize him yet because he isn't married to the girl he lives with.  Hopefully we can get it all figured out soon. 

That's about all that happened this week!  Sorry I can't write more.  I feel bad.  I'm pretty chapped that we got home so late.  I love you guys! Keep me posted I love hearing it all!  Tell Jackson Gardner congrats [called to the Argentina Neuquen Mission]! 

Love you mom! You're amazing! Talk to you next week.

P.S.  The only snacks I'm really craving is beef jerky (doesn't exist here) and those Cadbury eggs (don't exist here either), other than that I'm pretty good.

Week 15!

Hey mom! This week was freaking LONG.  I'm still a little sick, so I don't know what to do, hopefully my package will make me feel better :)   We spent the first few days of the week in the house again, because Élder Sotoski was pretty rough, but we are feeling good enough that we are finally out and working again.

This week we really didn't do much, so sorry I don't have any really cool pics for ya.  Saturday we were out contracting, and trying to find some new investigators.  Elder Sotoski tried calling someone to set up an appointment, and while he was talking, a guy came up to me and asked if we were American.  I explained that I am, and my comp is Brazilian.  He told us that he is studying English, and wants to practice with me.  So we tried talking a little in English which was pretty cool.  After that I explained (in Spanish) that we are missionaries, and that we´d love to share our message with him, and that I could help him out with his English. He invited us into his house, and we ended up teaching him and his family!  Really cool experience.  He called me again today, and asked if we could come back, and he hopes that we have enough time to study English.  His family was really receptive, and understood the doctrine really well.  It was actually pretty surprising.  Hopefully they will continue to listen, and understand.  

Yesterday, we got to church, and the stake president was standing in the hall with two people.  He introduced us to them, and they are 2 people investigating the church!  One of them is inactive, and we haven't gotten the chance to teach him yet, but the other has been investigating the church for a while, and he just moved here from Medellin.  He talked with us at church quite a bit, then we got to go over to his house after and have a lesson with him.  He already has super strong faith, and even told us he wants to be baptized.  Only problem is, he isn't married, but he lives with a woman.  He understands that he can't be baptized until he is married, so hopefully that gives him some motivation to get married.  Other than that little bump, which hopefully gets fixed soon, its been really cool that these investigators just kind of came into our lives! I think the Lord saw our desire to work and find new investigators, even though we were having a hard time because we were sick.

Other than that we didn't really do much this week! We got to play volleyball with our zone today, and then we got lunch afterwards, so that was a lot of fun!  I hope everything is going well at home!  Sounds like you guys had some fun for your birthday.  

You went to Beauty and the Beast? Was it a play? Or like is there a new movie? That sounds like fun.  Just so you know, I was a blubbering mess when I wrote your letter too.  It made me super homesick all week and I think that's why this week was so long.  I seriously just cried for the longest time.  I don't know why birthdays are so hard for me.  When I miss holidays its like, oh darn, I hope my family is having fun, but on birthdays I'm a freaking wreck, haha.  I love you like crazy mom!  Thanks for sending me a package :) It means a lot, I freaking love it.  Elder Christiensen and Elder Alonzo are going up to the offices tomorrow, so I asked if they could pick it up for me, so hopefully they don't forget 'cuz otherwise I gotta wait like a month for zone conference or something.  

Love you mom!  Thanks for writing me, I can't wait to talk to you again next week. :) 

Love - Elder Leishman

Week 14!

Hey! This week wasn't too interesting, because I've been a little sick with a pretty harsh cold because the weather is changing here, but getting to go to conference was great!  I got to watch it with the other gringos, so getting to watch it in English was awesome.  It's crazy how some of those talks felt like answers to my prayers.  I especially liked the Saturday evening Jeffrey R. Holland talk, and the Saturday evening Gary B. Sabin talks.  I think you should all listen to those.

Today we got to go to Montserrate!!  It was super rad.  It's a catholic church on top of the mountains in Bogota!! Super beautiful.  We got to go with our zone so it was a ton of fun!  We had to hike like 30 minutes down in our missionary clothes, but that's alright, what can you do, haha.

After that we went to a dinner buffet, which was great because they had food besides rice and chicken.  It felt so good to get through an entire meal without rice, hahaha. I had to pay for my comp, so sorry if I blew through too much cash.  It was really fun though.

After dinner we went to a sports store, and I really blew through some cash there, haha.  I bought a Colombian soccer jersey and its super cool, but a little pricey.  If anyone else wants one, I can take orders (family only please, haha).

MOM, YOUR BIRTHDAY IS THIS WEEK!!  I don't know why I'm so excited, on dad's birthday I bawled my eyes out, haha.  I feel like I'm celebrating it with you!  I hope it is awesome, and I hope you can wait another 20 months to get your present. :) 

We got a new gringo in our district Elder Christensen! He's from Salt Lake and he's super cool.  It's weird how much we are alike.  He had the exact same situation as me in the CCM! He was the only gringo going to Bogota Sur, and his comp was going to Medellin!  He also collects antiques.  Specifically tie clips.  It's pretty cool to have a new gringo to talk to :) 

I hope we can get a little more done next week! Not a lot happened this week because of this dang cold I got.  Things are getting better.  I'm sick of the days where we can't do anything, and conference recharged my motivation so it should start getting better.

Love you like crazy!  I hope your birthday rocks, and lasts all month long like you like it to!  You're the best mom that ever has existed, and I hope you know that.  Thanks for writing me! Ill try and upload more photos and videos to google drive.  Talk you you next week.  Love you!