The week from Colombia

Alright well heres the report of the week!

So we had ANOTHER wedding and baptism this week!!!!  Two weeks in a row with back to back weddings and baptisms!!!!  Ive gotten pretty good at planning small colombian wedding receptions, again this week we had the wedding in the afternoon, the baptismal service after, and then opened up the cultural hall of the chapel which was all decorated to eat rice with chicken and cake and celebrate and all, we share a message, and then the colombians do their thing being colombians and they put on music and all dance andwe take off

What was soooo sweet this week though was that the lady we did the wedding for, her husband at first didnt want anything to do with the church.  He let us teach his wife but didnt even say hi to us... As we started planning the wedding he softened up a bit and atleast started saying hi in the house and stuff,but never listened to us, sowe told all the members in the branch that our goal was to get him to the baptismal service and help him feel the spirit there, and the members worked suuuuper hard with us there.  They invited him and got him to go,and HE LOVED IT!!!!  HOOLLY COWWW he had a complete change of heart,is now taking the lessons, and we actually got him to go to church yesterday and put a batpismal date with him last night!!!  <Yet another miracle that shows The Lord really is hastening His work!!!

Funny story real quick.  I heard a pretty good Colombian joke this week.  They were making fun of other countries such as ours and the chinese and japanese and our technology, itgoes like this... there was an american walking in the street and his shoe started ringing,sohe took it off andanswered it like a phone... then an asian walked by and his watch projected like a skype deal or something and he started talking to a friend... Then a colombian passed by who had just gone to the bathroom, and he had a piece of toilet paper hanging down from the backof his pants, when somebody told him he just said ``oh look, somebody sent me a fax...´´ haha well i hope you guys like that as much as i did,or maybe i just have horrible colombian missionary humor...

So a horse went crazy the other day,no idea what happened but we were contacting some peoiple in the street when some people started yelling ``LOOK OUT``!!!!  and we looked over to see a horse storming at us pulling a big cart infront of it, i bolted haha but then the poor horses cart got caught onto a pole and collapsed and the horse fell pretty bad... not sure what happened after that, we just talked a bitmoreto the people we were contacting and took off...

Entonces eso concluye mi informe semanal.  El tiempo està volando y hay que aprovechar cada momento y oportunidad aquì en la misiòn.  Las experiencias llenas del Espìritu que siempre tengo al diario aquì son irreemplazables y fortalecen aun màs cada dìa mi testimonio de que esta es la iglesia verdadera.  Sè que es asì, y lo digo en el nombre de Jesucristo,amen.

les amo

nos vemos

Èlder Tenney

Here comes the bride, the first

Whatsssupppp family?!?!?!   WOOOWWWW sounds like youve had an incredible weekend!!!!  Im glad, i wouldnt want Will to have anything less as his last weekend in the states with the family for two years, CONGRATS WILL!!!!

alright i gotta get straight to the point quick here, and ive got a story mom and dad are really going to like, here it is...

So we ate lunch with the member who always makes our lunch here, and being pday, we hung out a bit in their house and left at like 4 oclock, with two hours left of pday.  We were in normal clothes becuase we cleanded an old ladies house before lunch, and we decided to write to you guys first, then have an hour after to go back to the house and change... WRONG DECISION!!!  Guys, WIll mark and jared, im sorry, but i have to side with mom and dad here and say theyr always right, especially when they say first things first... We spent AN HOUR walking all over the town looking for an open internet cafe but it was all closed cuz its a holiday here, so after an hour, we had just an hour left to walk home (our house is in the farthest outer part of the city) get changed and maybe have half an hour left to keep looking for internet, doubting there was any open, but we then, after getting really frustrated, called a taxi to take us home just to see that the internet cafe next to our house, far from where we were looking, was open.... or in other words, had we gone home and showered and gotten dressed alll nice and pretty first, we would have had a full hour to write there in the internet shop....  so, FIRST THINGS FIRST GUYS!!!

alright so luckily we did still manage to get alittle time, so really really really fast i have to tll you about th INCREDIBLE week!!!!  THis week the couple who are the parents of the returned missionary here who weve been teaching got married and baptized!!!  Ive got pictures on the way, actually, not sure how many will make it this week but if not pictures next week!!  We had what was probably the best baptizmal service of my life with them, lots of people there, great messages from the members, and we all felt the spirit a lot!!!  The best part, i pulled a total deacon going to th temple for the first time..... i didnt take a change of underwear and so after the baptism my comp and i had a blast wringing out my wet underwear in the bathroom, it was hilarious, we actually did manage to get them fairly dry.

After th baptism we had a party in the chapel to celebrat their wedding, it was awesome!!!

ANother thing, WE SURVIVED TRANSFERS!!!!  my comp and i are staying a third transfer in this area, SO STOKED!!!  i havent talked enough about my comp with you guys, ELDER tolentino from peru, hes the man, i love him to death and we will seriously be good frinds the rest of our lives!!!

i saw a fat manican this week.... first time in my life, not fat as in pregnant with clothes for pregnant women, no, completely fat 

Alright well theres the week.  De nuevo les quiero pedir que me disculpen, sólo espero que aprendan que hay que priorizar las cosas más importantes, sé que estamos en la iglesia restaurada de Jesucristo, y este testimonio se lo hago llegar en el nombre de Jesucristo, amen.

les amo

nos vemos

Élder Tenney

Last week being the only Elder Tenney

Whattsuppp????  Hows are things in the states?!?!?!  Dang sounds like its been a good week athaeare!!!  alright i apoligize again for any extra letter ´´a´´s that pop up in this email, im using that same computer again that has the broken ´´a´´ button...

wwooowwwww did will seriously confirm jane?!?!?!  DANG thatas AWESOME!!!!!  And everyone gave their testimonies???  SWEEEET thats about the best news ai can ahere in a letter!!!

Alright i dont have too much this week but heres the report:

first off, hahaha athat vidaeo of the sumo wrestling suits is HILARIOUS!!!  hahaha aahhh good stuff.  i learned something important just now thoaughaa, the suits are very necessary... my comp and i atried the belly flop just now without them, not as fun...

Alright well one reallay coola thinag frm this week is the idea my comp and i had that we shared with our mission president.  So we went back to Cali this week for a laeadership meeting, and after the meeting we asked for an intervaiew with the president and the APs to propose an idea.  We always talk in the missino about the importance of looking for families, trying to teach families, and keeping them activae after baptism, so my comp and i had an idea that awe formulated into a little presentation for the presidaent.  We explained that converts dont just put on white clothes once in baptism, but three times, again in the temple, and finally in the celestial kingdom.  

We said that as missionaries we should have the privilaege of being in all three ocasions where our converts put on white clothes, in baptism, in the temple, and in the celestial kindgom,  So we proposed the idea to let the missionaries from this mission leave the mission area for a day ato go with their converts to the temple to bae in their cealing and do a session with them once thaey have a year of being memabers... We explained that athis would motivate all the missionaries to look for maore families an to naot just try to baptisme them, but to keep them active and keep writing letters to them after gettinag transfered and encourage them to make it to the temple (the aclosest one is in bogota, liake 10 hours away in bus or half an hour in plane)...  

So that was our grand idea, the presidaent lovaed it, but said that unfortunately its not allowed by the area 70... dang so for a moment we felt like our plane had a complete crash landing... our president said hes not even allowed to leave the mission area to go to the temple, and that missionaries cant swing by the temaple on their way haome either, that the area 70 is really strict, but he said it a super good idea anyways and we are still working with him to try to see what else we can do.  Weve got the ideas so far of letting the maissionaries spend the afternoon in Cali with their converts before and after they go to the temple, and skype their converts when they are their on temple grounds, but ya athe idea is still sort of forming...

one waaayyy cool thing though is that my president said other missions that have a temple close by do indeed do that, one of those missions being SANTIAGO WEST CHILE!!!!!  So... Will youve got to take advantage of a temple so close to your mission for me!!!

Entonces esta semana nos hemos enfocado mucho en el templo, y mientras yo estudiaba ese tema esta semana, encontré un pasaje en una liahona que me llamó mucho la atención.  Citó algunas partes de helaman en el libro de mormón y de 3 nefi en las cuales Nefi se pregunta a sí mismo por qué tenía que vivir en días de tanta iniquidad de su pueblo... pero más adelante él se siente bien por haber tenido la oportunidad de predicar a todos y ayudarles a encontrar nuevamente el camino correcto.  Así mismo me pregunté a mí mismo por qúe vivo en estos últimos días, y creo que tiene mucho que ver con el tener tantos templos disponibles por todas partes del mundo!  Aunque el templo queda lejos de mi misión, espero hacer lo más posible por mandar a muchas personas allí para que disfruten de las bendiciones tan especiales que esas casas del Señor brindan.  Sé que esta es la iglesia de Jesucristo, y que tenemos las llaves selladoras disponibles en los templos y restauradas por José Smith.  En el nobmre de Jesucristo, amen.

les amo

nos vemos 

Élder Tenney

Craziest Week of the Mission!!!!!!

Alright its been an absolutely INSANE week, not sure ill have time to include everything but ill try...

First off, one day this week my comp and i were in a taxi, he was up front and i was sitting in the back when another lady hopped in aswell, no problem right??  Just that she had a grasshopper on her knee, still not a problem right??  Well, the grasshoppers are THREE TIMES the size here that they are in the states, and they bite here (dont verify that on the internet, just trust me), so i start thinking ´´do i tell her?  nah, if i tell her shell scream and then it might jump onto me...´´ so i just sat there calmly for a good 6 or 7 minutes until she moved a bit to stick her head out the window and then the grass hopper jumped onto me and i screamed and started squirming around until it fell on the ground in the car and i managed to stomp on it... THRE TIMES THE SIZE!!!

Alirght before sharing this next story i want you guys to get a plastic bag from ralphs or la ara or something (wait sorry they dont have la ara there) and try to write with a pen on the plastic bag... doesnt work to well right??  Ya so we had to send some baptismal forms to the office in Cali this week, and when we went to the post office, they explained to us that theyve stopped using the typical paper envelope, who knows why, and ya so they handed us a plastic bag... the plastic bag has a little slot to seal it closed like an envelope and a tiny, absolutely tiny place for writing the direction... it was IMPOSSIBLE hahaha completely impossible to write the whole long direction in the tiny spot on a small plastic bag, so who knows if those are actually gonna make it to Cali, well see, but ya just one of the many small but funny differences about Colombia, who needs envelopes when youve got plastic bags...

Alright so i realized this week that a good way to describe the mission is by comparing it with the movie 17 miracles... In short and simple words, the mission can be tough at times, but its just The Lord strengthening us in those moments, and in the end He always perform miracles that all in all keep the work moving forward... There was a perfect example of that this week!!  We have an investigator right now who she and her grandson are really the only ones interested in the church, and shes not married.  She seriosly gained a testimony super fast when we first started teaching her a few months ago and has read the book of mormon and prayed about it every day since and attented every church activity since, and is awesome, but shes not married to the man she lives with... So we explained shed have to move out or get married... the situation got pretty difficult for a while, her husband didnt want to get married and their birth records are in different cities somewhat far away... but long story short her husband decided to get married and they had everything arranged except for her birth record, which we couldnt find... She went to the city where she was born and still couldnt find them... So she got discouraged, and we showed her 2Nefi 25:23 and promised her that a miracle would happen since shes done all she can do, and sure enough the next day we heard word that one of the members here was on a buisness trip in the city where she was born, and we called the member, she was able to swing by the government building (notaría, not sure what you call that in english, Will help!!) and sure enough she found her birth record!!!  It just perfectly worked out that the next day was the investigators birthday, and she had been planning to wash her couches with super well with a hose and all infront of her house, so we went over with cake, pday clothes to do service and clean the couches, and we surprised her with her birth record, and now weve got two weddings and baptisms planned for next week!!!  Pictures included below, oh and, ya we sort of boke out into a food fight with the cake...

Entonces como les dije, la obra misional es como la película diecisiete milagros, y también creo que la escritura que se encuentra en 2 Nefi 25:23 lo describe bien, en el sentido de que tenemos que hacer nuestra parte, la cual siempre requiere un esfuerzo tremendo, normalmente más de lo que pensamos que podemos superar, pero que en fin El Señor siempre entra en nuestras vidas y Su gracia nos salva y hace que la obra se siga haciendo!  Vi evidencia perfecta de ello esta semana, pero aun más importante, lo sentí, porque eso es lo que hace la conversión.  Le agradezco al Señor cada momento que tengo en esta misión, y les agradezco a ustedes por haberme preparado toda mi vida para hacer esto.  Sé que estamos en la obra correcta, y lo digo en el nombre de Jesucristo, amen.

les amo

nos vemos

Élder Tenney

ps yes i hit my year mark this week!!!  HOLY COW!!!  I dont even want to think about it, its gone by wayyy to fast!!!  Its nice to know well be back together soon but lets make sure we do everything we can to keep working hard until then!!