HESSSS BACK!!!!!!

Alright well imma get right to it.  Heres the week for the blog:

First off, pharmacies are nooooothing like the pharmacies in the states here.... well first off there are legal pharmacies and illegal pharmacies here, i think you know what i mean, and we will just talk today about the legal ones, which are still crazy enough.  So theres no such thing as prescriptions for medicine here.  If you want something, you can just straight up buy it (again, both legally and illegally....) so we went with a member last night who wasnt feeling too good to the pharmacy across the street from his house, and he asked for acetominofen (after lots of practice i can actually pronounce that medicine name pretty well in spanish, im not even sure how you say it in english) and another medicine, and then the pharmacist told him to go to the back behind the little checkout desk... He goes back and we see just his feet thourgh a dorrway as he lies down on one of those doctor bed things, just without the sanitary paper on top.  Then the guy openes up a box on a shelf and takes out a GIANT needle, like the size (and shape too actually) of a mega squirt gun, and goes back through the doorway.  We then hear a scream, see the feet kick up, and they both walk out, our member friend limping and holding his side, but thanking the guy......  So ya haha i have no idea what went down exactly, i think ive just learned to not even be surprised by stuff like that every day here in Colombia, just part of the whole different way of life down here!!

Aright we had a wayyy interesting experience in a lesson this week!!!  Ok, we had lots, but one i will talk about right now!!  We were teaching a lady for the first time, a lady with lots of questions.  More than anything, she said she wanted to change her life and wanted to stop drinking, which she now realizes has been harmful in her life... so i had a ton of ideas of what to teach spinning around in my head, but honestly didtn love any of the ideas... so i prayed and asked what we should teach her... My comp and i started talking about the word of wisdom, and she just got really confused.  Then, trying to follow the Spirit, we felt like we should just, even though it didnt make any sense, felt like we should invite her to be baptized.  She had even said she was already baptized in the catholic church when se was a baby, and wed probably have to explain the restored authority and all that.... but we invited her to be baptized anyways, and the anwer was INCREDIBLE!!!!  She didnt just say yes, but she went on and on saying how that was EXACLTY the little push she needed in her life to start making the changes she wants!!!  It was amazing!!!

Asì que, es cierto todo lo que se dice de los susurros del Espìritu.  Aunque no tengan sentido, ni parezcan posibles, las cosas que el Espìritu nos aconseja que hagamos, simpre cumpliremos con la voluntad del Señor al hacerlo!  Yo vi un ejemplo perfecto de esa idea esta semana!  Sè que se requiere mucha fe, pero El Señor ha puesto la confianza en nosotros, Èl sabe que reconoceremos esos susurros, y si nosobros solamente demostramos esa fe en los demàs tambièn, ellos vendràn a Cristo.  Comparto este testimonio mio en el nombre de Jesucristo, amen.

les amo

nos vemos

Èlder Tenney

Asunto

Whhhattttsupppp?!?!  Im glad to hear everybodys weeks have been good!!! Its been another good week here in Colombia!!!  Heres the report:

First off, we welcomed a few new missionaries to the heat here in Buenaventura this week, and weve got a Little tradition for the neubies here.  Im actually not sure if i told you about this when i first got here in Buenaventura, but heres the story anyways!  o

We always have a welcome activity in the Little house chapel here so that the new missionaires present themsleves and all, then we play games and share a message and have a few refreshments and all... then we tell them we are gonna take a picture with them, setup some seats for them infront of the chapel, and have a few members sneak up from behind while they are looking at the cameras smiling and dump buckets of wáter on them!!!!  So that was pretty fun this week!!!

K sorry somewhat lame but thats really the only somewhat funny story i have from the week.  That and this computer keeps correcting words into spanish, doesnt just put the squickly line under the words like usual, but automaticallly corrects them to spanish haha, así que creo que valdría la pena solo empezar a escribir en español... but other tan that there have been army hummers with huge guns on top just stationed all over the city this week, not sure why, i asked one of the military dudes standing by one but he woudlnt tell me why, so what do i do then?  i look at my comp and laugh, knowing he would be annoyed with what i was about to do, and i asked the guy if i could get a picture real quick!  so ya that pic is on its way

Ohhhhh so i got my package this week too!!!!  Thanks a toooonnnn!!!!!  Alrready finsiehd off the Candy hahaha k as cool as some of the food is here, it was pretty nice to just simply enjoy some ormal Candy from home again!  And the music is incredible thanks sooo much!!!  And the ties, and the christmas card is neat, and the flashlight i needed, and the nerf guns are a blast!!!!  Last night the other missionaries were running late to their house and closer to our so they stayed with us and the 6 of us (cuz we are already 4 in our house plus them) had a quick pre pday nerf fight haha!!!

Aright so we went back to Cali this week, my comp and i, for the big leadership conference we hae everymonth, and it was really neat!!!  I learnd something big i was looking for this week!  I had been, honestly, pretty irritated before because our misión president is really big on prayng lots about the goals we set, so that they truly are inspired and reachable goals, and then doing everything posible to accomplish what we know The Lord has prepared for us to accomplish (Nephi 3¨7 and 17:2-3).  My comp and i have been setting way high goals, but feeling good about it, believing we are setting them with the Sprit, and then doing everything posible to be perfectly obedient and work as hard as posible and efficiently as posible to reach them, but we still have been falling short.... So i started to really wonder why, not sure what more we could be doing, or if we should lower the goals, or what, just confused and looking for ways to work harder, and then i found something neat this week!  I was thinking aout it lots during a lectura with the president and then a question popped into my head.  I stood up and asked the presdietne if its necessary to not just have faith in the message we have, but in the investigators themselves as well.  I explained that of course i know that if the people choose to accept our message they will be blessed and their lives changed, but that sometimes i walk out of lessons having explained everything as clear as posible, providing the people with spiritual experiences and leaving them with commitments, but doubting that they will actualy make the tough decisions to change their life.  I have been doubting that they will cancel their saturday night plans to get to bed and go to church in the morning, doubting that they will kick out their girlfirend, no matter how awkward, and doubting that they will ever change and stop drinking coffee after failing to doso so many times.  My president then opened it up to aninteresting discussion on the quistión, and ive been studying the answers the rest of the week since then, and ive learned a ton!  Ive learned that even though the people have their agency yes, and i cant control them, i must do a lot more tan just teach them and make them feel the spirit, but actually love them and have faith in them and tell them i know they will do it, no matter how many times they fail.  Adnd as ive been learning this,ive realized so much more that thats exaclty how our Lord and Savior Jesús Christ Works, and our Heavenly Father!  

Entonces, yo podría hablar todo el día de eso si quisiera, y sí lo hago todos los días como misionero, pero quiero dejarlo allí para esta semana!  También, como en la pregunta que hice a Grandpa Tenney la semana pasada, y sí hice la pregunta a todos, gracias por su respuesta Dad, he estado tratando de aprender aun más de cómo puedo seguir la guía del Espíritu, y me veo aprendiendo muchísimo!  Quiero prometerles que estamos en la iglesia restaurada de Jesucristo, y dejo este testimonio en el nombre de Él, amen.

les amo

nos vemos

Elder Tenney

The Week!!!

Whats up family!!!  Howsss it all going?!?!?!  K soo the caps lock is broken on this key board and the shift is stiff so i think this letter might be quiter sounding than most my others which consist of mostly caps. Also, way good news for me thisk week, I SURVIVED TRANSFERS hahaha and am staying another 6 weeks in BUENAVENTURA!!!!!

Alright sooo wayyyy lame this week sorry, dont really have any funny stories, but i have learned a ton this week!!!  also, sorry, but om already running short on time this week , sooo sorry, my comp and i always leave the emailing till last on pday and always arrive late to internet, i think we are gonna start writing earlier because of that... but anyways, the week:

My comp and i started something new this week!  We have been so fixed on providing investigators with spiritual experiences, so they develop the desire to learn more and act themselves, but it wasnt quite working as we wanted, so we changed ut up a bit... before we always taught the first lesson focuseing a lot on the restoration, its necesity with the authority that was lost, and then we just quickly mentioned at the end that theres anotehr book, the Book of Mormon, which they can read to learn more.... but we were going about it all wrong.... 

We flipped around the way we work this week and now, before anything else, are just briefly expaining to people that since The Lord loves us and still wants us to have the fulness of Christs doctrine, hes given us more scripture, and then we bear our testimonies, they feel the spirit, and then we identify what they are feeling as the spirit and tell them that its not us, but the truth that make them feel that way, and we make them promise us to read and pray, and its been working suuuper well!!!!  Everysingle person, every single one this week has had answer, now granted a few havent recognized it, or choose not to, but yes they have had it, but most are now doing super well!

Ive learned that its easy for people to think its logical to feel good around two young foreigners with white shirts and ties, easy for them to admire us (or my comp at least), but the real difference comes when they have to make a decision.  It starts with reading a bit on their own time, then again as they make the big choices with faith to stop drinking coffee and all, to kick out their boyfirend or girlfriend, to skip a saturday night party, get to bed, and come to church early in the morning, that they realize its not just two young clean cut kids preaching the word, but its actually God´s love and protection coming into their lives which He has always promised us and His son made possible for us...

Entonces sí ha sido una semana llena de experiencias espirituales, pero me di cuenta de algo importante esta semana.  Aprendí que me gusta escuchar de las experiencias espirituales y PERSONALES de los investigadores más de lo que me gusta estar en esas experiencias con ellos en las charlas, y al buscar las maneras de tratar de que ellos tengan estas experiencias, he visto más resultados también!  Además, no puedo medir mi éxito en los resultados de los que enseño, sino en mi propia conversión, y sé que me he convertido a mí mismo más esta semana, sé que Cristo es nuestro Salvador, y que ésta es su iglesia restaurada, en el nombre de Jesucristo, amen.

les amo

nos vemos

Élder Tenney

ps sooooo sorry for not sending pictures in  two weeks now, ive got some good ones that i promise will come next week!  

8 Months Down!!!!

Alright the weekly report: 

First off, NEVER GET A HAIR CUT in a barber shop that DOESNT EVEN HAVE A MIRROR!!  Haha last pday we were walking back from the internet cafe whith a little spare time and we walked by a littel barber shop in the street and my comp said he wanted to get his hair cut.  He did, and his hair actually looked pretty good after, so even though i judged the place to not be very good at first, we had some time so i though i might as well get mine cut too, but as i was about to sit down with the guy who cut my comps hair, his buddy came out from the back and said it was his break and he took over to cut my hair.... should have walked out then..... oh man do these two friends have opposite ways of cutting hair or what.... so i thought after 8 months i had gotten pretty good at saying how i like my hair cut in spanish, not sure where we got lost in translation, but the result wasnt pretty... He started by shaving me almost completely bald on the sides, if it wasnt already hot enough the fear i quickly developed made me sweat even more... then, afraid he was about to shave the top just as horribly, i quickly asked him to not cut it so short on top, and to do it with the scissors... mistake number two... im pretty sure it was the first time this guy had ever used scissors to cut hair. no scratch that, it was the first time he had ever even seen someone use siccors, the first time he had heard the idea haha oh man, he just got my hair, already wet from sweat, even more wet and then combed it straight up, all of it, and just started snipping away, without holding it up or anything, oh no, just letting some of it fall right back flat agian without getting cut and chopping at whatever remained.... im pretty sure he was standing on one foot while he did it as well... i imagine it was something like those ``whack a mole`` games where as soon as you see the little guys pop up you just smack them, ya any part of my hair that stayed up he just happily chopped at whatever length he wanted... i will let you imagine how it turned out....

hahaha so remember how i said the place didnt even have a mirror, ya id say that was the worst part cuz i could have just asked him to fix it up, if i had known how bad it was, but no i didnt realize how bad until i got home, hahaha then my comp and the other missionaries in our house and i all laughed a bit and they tried to help me clean it up a bit with our own sciccors at home, and ya its half decent now, i just have to comb it all towards the middle a bit on top so certain long parts dont hang down too much, but im tall enough anyways that im pretty sure the poeple dont see the top of my head very well....

alright thats really the only funny and typical colombian adventerous story i have for the week, other than that, ive learned a lot of other neat stuff.  So ive talked a bit about an investigator whos down right amazing right?  The one who i talked about last week who i know will be an amazing member, we just have to help him and his wife fix up a few things and get legally married... to put it in dads words, believe it or not dad here in colombia we have the opposite problem, too many indians and not enough chiefs, well this guys an excellent chief with an even more excellent testimony!!  So we fasted early in the week for them, and WOW has that fast been and is still being answered or what!!!  We had an AMAZINg lesson with them on, i think it was thursday... when we finally found out the root of the problem with them, and then they told us (this is how awesome they are) they straight up told us ``alright we know you guys are truly missionaries from God, and we know The Lord God will put the right words into your mouths, heres our problem (they told us everything) and now talk´´ and my comp and i both just had our mouths filled with words, and they looked stunned with what we said, and then applied everything we told them to do, and within just a few days now they are looking soooo much more like a couple ready to get married so that they can then get baptized, which they are sooo ready to do!!!

alright, on that same night, we finished the lesson a litle before 7 ockock, and then took off for the chapel for a meeting.  But as we were in the bus, my comp and i, almost at the same time, said that there was one other thing we had to share with that couple, so we were like ``are we crazy or should we ditch our meeting and run back there``, we both quickly said a prayer, and nodded in agreement, got off the bus, and then having the last of our money spent on the bus ride, we started a fairly distant walk back to their house.  We got there, shared a bit more, it went super well, and then called it a day, but one other really neat part is that when we next saw the branch president and apologized again for not going to the meeting, he said to not worry, we woudlnt have been able to meet anyways cuz he ended up being swamped with interviews all night, so it was a guidance from above indeed to ditch the meeting and hurry back to our investigators...

k id like to connect this with something neat though that ive maybe told you guys before but want to say agian, something i learned form a talk from Elder Bednar, somet6hing neat about following the Spirit.  Bednar says somewhow the though has developed int he culture of the church, but not in the doctrine, that we have to have some overwhelming and obbious sign to know it was a prompting from the Spirit.  He says though that as long as we are honoring our covenants and keeping the commandments, that sometimes we will have no idea where we are going, what we are doing, or why, and that we will do it all without a big and obvious prompting, and that it will still indeed be the Spirit guiding us.  So ya we didnt have anything overwhelmeing when we hopped off the bus and went back, but we did indeed see results afterwards that we had been guided!

Entonces ese es mi testimonio,que el Espìritu Santo siempre nos guìa. Despuès de haber pensado mucho en ello, creo que, ya que todo lo bueno viene del Señor, que cada buena cosa que hacemos, sea algo inpirado por una señal obvia o no, pero cada buena cosa que hacemos, es inspiraciòn de Dios.  Eso es lo que la doctrina que se encuentra en Abraham me lleva a creer, ya que somos Espìritus que eran inteligencias pero ahora tienen cuerpos, creo que lo ùnico que hacemos que no es inspirado por el Espìritu es la utilicaciòn de nuestro albedrìo.  Usamos ese don divindo del Señor para decidir hacer lo bueno que el Espìritu mete en nuestras mentes, y testifico que es ese mismo Espìritu que nos testifica de la veracidad de la Iglesia Restaurada de Jesucristu, y es mi testimonio que comparto en el nombre de Èl, de Jesucristo, amen.

les amo

nos vemos

Èlder Tenney