Will's Bday!

Qué más familia?!?!?!  Bueno hay que hacer lo primero primero, así que, FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS WILL!!!!  Que los cumplas feliz!!!  Espero que pasa mañana sea un día particularmente especial!!  Te lo mereces!!  

Alright well its been an INCREDIBLE week here!!  So i actually have some good stories this week and pictures, here it comes.

First off, so i have one pair of shoes that are still pretty good, but they got drenched in the rain one day so i put on my other pair of shoes where one of them has a huge whole in the front that opens up like a mouth when i lift my toes... theyre still comfortable though... but ya so my comp and i were in a lesson when the investigators two little cousins like 10 years old were trying suuuper hard not to laugh, sitting there on the couch listening to us... the investigator told them to stop laughing and pay attention when one of them said ´´sorry i cant control it, its just too funny, he told me ´look, his shoes hungry´´´ and then pointed to the hole in my shoe... The investigator just lost it, he started laughing super hard too... 

So after a moment the kids kept laughing, so he told them to go into the other room and clean up so that they wouldnt distract us anymore... they left, we kept teaching, then after a few minutes i saw through a window that led to the kitchen that the kid was standing on the counter, dancing, and singing ´´Zapatico roto´´ which means broken shoe, and i couldnt help but laugh at that moment... but all in all, we managed to have a decent lesson and the investigator is progressing and my other shoes dried, so all is good!

Alright so on wednesday this week we went on divisions with some other missionaries in the district.  THat meant that my comp had to go visit the family weve been working with without me, and take all the iniciative, which he was a bit nervous about.  Furthermore, it was a CRUCIAL lesson with them... theyve been pretty slow lately with the marriage process, and we needed to give them a huuuge boost in this lesson to get them to schedule their wedding and baptism... so i just confidently reassured my comp hed be able to do it.

We met up at the end of the day after the division, and to my shock, my comp told me ´´ELDER!!  I DID IT!!  Were going to the center TOMORROW to setup their wedding with them!!!´´  So turns out at the beginning of the lesson, the family had said they wanted to wait until june to get married so that their son whos out of town can come to see the wedding, and cuz theyre tight on money, but my comp stepped up bigtime and explained that they cant just put off blessings that come from getting baptized and furthermore working towards going to the temple to get sealed, and in the end they commited to do it now!  So theyre getting married this friday and baptized next week, and they have a rock solid goal of going to the temple in a year to get sealed!!  weve seen soooo many miracles with this family its amazing!!

Así que, les testifico que El Señor obra milagros al diario aquí en ésta Su obra.  Nada me hace más feliz que saber que una familia se va a bautizar para sellarse también más adelante como familia eterna.  Sé que el poder para hacer ese sellamiento se ha restaurado hoy en día, en el nombre de Jesucristo, amen.

les amo

nos vemos

Élder Tenney

The Week!!!

IWhattsuupp family?!?!  TENAZ las noticias se vuelven aun más locas cada semana, CÓMO ASÏ que ethan izu va a ir a la MISMA misión que william?!?!?!  Wow ya siento que colombia es algo antiguo, como si ya hubiera salido de moda... ahora todo es chile... ajaja wow CONGRATS to elder Izu!!!

alright well its been another great week here in Colombia!!  K honestly there isnt too much news this week sorry. Weve got lots of big plans to help the family of ivestigators raise money for their wedding this week, and next week the real deal should go down!!  were SUPER stoked for them!!  

We went on divisions this week with teh zone leaders and the lady who makes them lunch every day is the mom of wills excompanion from Colobmbia, so i ate lunch with them their in their house which was cool!!!  Still cant believe that... small world... We learned a lot from the zone leaders too, it was a great day!!  We had some suuuper spiritual lessons and then finished the day with a fun family night, the best part was that one of my zone leaders was in my district when we both started the mission, Elder Jeffrey from Leyton Utah, super nice guy.  So we went on divisions once in Cali, both being newb gringos in the middle of colombia who barely spoke spanish, and now this time a year and a half later haha it was funny to see what weve learned since then

So my companion continues to amaze me!!  hes been taking just about all the iniciative and is doing a SUPER good job of it... i think back about how i was when i had two months in the mission like him and WOW theres a huge difference haha but thats good thats how it should be.  And ontop of everything, hes an AMAZING cook, he cooked ´´seco de pollo´´ a peruvian lunch yesterday and it was sweet!!

Bueno pues eso es todo lo que tengo por ahora.  Espero que sepan que tanto estoy disfrutando la misión.  Es INCREÏBLE ver todos los días la manera en que El Señor obra milagros en esta obra misional.  Sé que ésta es la iglesia verdadera, restaurada en su plenitud en estos últimos días.  Sé que Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador, y lo comparto en Su nombre, el de Jesucristo, amen.

les amo

nos vemos

Élder Tenney

Conference week in Colombia

Q´hubo familia?!?!  Cómo me les va?!?!  Allllí SIIII mucha conferencia sí o no??  uyyy aprendí muchísimo espero que también hayan podido hacer lo mismo!!!  Pues... qué les digo???  Ha sido otra semana EXCELENTE por acá en Tuluá, Colombia!!!

Alright so yes fortunately i was able to see conference live and in english!! It was AWESOME!!!  One other gringo in my district here and I and a peruvian in our district who speaks super good english watched it together!!!  K i could talk ALLL DAYY about all the things that inspired me, but to list just a few, i LOVED how Elder Hallstrom helped us see the reality of the idea that were sons and daughters of God, its something i feel ive come to realize a lot more and depend on in the mission!!  I also LOVED just about every talk from priesthood session and every talk in the sunday morningsession.... oh and  Elder Renlunds talk, wow hes brilliant

k well teh weekly report... So we FINALLY got the birth certificates of the family were teaching sent here to Tulua, a bit of a tough process but they should get here this week and we should schedule the wedding and all!!!  the family is doing AWESOME!!  we have a family night with them right now!!

A few weeks ago, not sure if i told youy guys this, but it was raining super hard and we saw a lady trying to dig a little ditch infront of her house where the water was rising and starting to flood... so he helped her dig, contacted her, and have been teaching her... so last week she came to church for the first time, and then when she saw the ward mission leader went up to him and hugged him,,, turns out their COUSINS, and she didnt even know he was a member haha (hes a convert of like 2 yeears).  better yet, we went with a lady from the branch who lives near by to teach her this week and when we got there they both shouted each others names, ran and hugged each other as well... theyre SISTERS!!! no jk, but they are friends from like 30 years ago when they were growing up!!  Haha, so... AWESOME!!  ya so shes progressing well right now, after the lesson the other day her friend told us something we didnt know, she had a son pass away a few years ago so well go teach the Plan of Salvation and it should be a powerful lesson... i LOVE seeing peoples eyes opened up to the reality of the perfect plan The Lord has for us!!

So my companion amazes me sometimes!!  im trying to hand over the reins more and let him take the iniciative in everything we do and even though he gets a bit nervous sometimes and even though weve had some pretty tough situations, hes ALWAYS willing,... he always does his absolute best, no matter what, and ive learned a lot from him!  so ya, things are super good here in Tuluá!

Así que, testifico de Jesucristo.  Sé que Él es nuestro Salvador.  Lo he sentido.  Igual que Alma yo sé de estas cosas porque el Espíritu me las ha confirmado a mi corazón, y las comparto en el nombre de Jesucristo, amen.

les amo

nos vemos

Élder Tenney

Semana Santa en Colombia

Q`hubo familia?!?!  Què màs?!?!  Què me cuentan de la vida estadounidense?!?!    Sweet well im stoked to hear youve had another good week!!!  Ve!!  Esperen!!!  Còmo asì voy a tener otro primo ahora?!?!?!  Woooow la familia se nos està creciendo sì o no?!?!

K well its been another good week here in Colombia!!!  K so Dad you asked about the family who we commited to be baptized... good question i was planning to talk lots about them today!!  So this family is AWESOME!!!  We commited them to get baptized and all, theyve been reading the book of mormon everyday and they even told us they were married (rare in Colombia)!!!  But that was just the problem too... haha darn so we found out that they got married through the catholic church years ago and that they dont actually have any registers of their marriage.... sooo.... we are in the process of re-marrying them... haha

K but ya so this family is INCREDIBLE!!!  One crazy experience from the week!!  My comp and i were having a typical awesome spiritual morning with personal study and study in comp and all, when we started to talk about this family and what we should share with them!!  Elder Bednar taught that the most important part of a lesson isnt even the lesson in itself, but rather the preparation that we do for the lesson before hand.  evidence of that this week:  my comp and i both felt strongly that we should teach this family about the power of fasting... we prepared the lesson, went with a member and taught them on like thursday night, and at the end of the lesson, they seemed a bit worried... we asked them sincerely if everything was alright, and they told us that their oldest daughter was suuuper sick and in the hospital.... so sure enough, instead of waiting till sunday to fast with them, we started a fast with them the next night, and well ya their daughter is still in the process of surgery and all, but WOW they have testified to us of the peace that they have felt since they fasted, the peace that they know The Lord has given them to help them know that His will will be done, and that that will be the best for everyone!!

So besides that the mom, ontop of everything, quit her job when they wouldnt give her sundays free, and went to church with the rest of the family!!  So they are a perfect example of how The Lord lets us pass through difficulties just to strengthen us, and as they are being strengthened right now we are finishing up the process of getting their birth records and all so that they can get married and baptized next week!!  So we are seeing miracles daily with this family!!

Something real interesting that my comp and i are trying to apply in our area and with the whole district here is the importance of working with recent converts and les actives...  Us members often dont realize how big of a change it is to start to live the gospel the way its taught in the Church of Jesus Christ, but the recent converts and less actives are more familiar with that change and can relate much better to the investigators as they enter a whole new world, going to church and starting to keep the commandments...  I LOVE the hidden examples that there are in the Book of Mormon, such as in Alma 19 when Abish (a less active) runs out and tells everybody to come and see the incredible work Ammon was doing!!  Another is in Helaman 5 when Aminadab (another less active) helps people understand the words that they normally wouldnt have understood that tell them to repent and look unto Christ... We are trying to work lots more with these members in our area and are seeing results!!

Pues testifico de estas dos herramientas fuertes de la obra misional que son el ayuno y el trabajar con los conversos recientes y menos activos!  Sè que èsta es la obra del Señor y que Èl la dirige, veo evidencia de ello diariamente acà, y doy mi testimonio en el nombre de Jesucristo, amen.

les amo

nos vemos

Èlder Tenney

The Week...

Whattupp family???  Què me cuentan de la regiòn norte?!?!  Espero que todo les haya ido bien!!!!  All is good here in Tuluà Colombia!!

Alright well theres not too much to tell, its been a normal but awesome week!!  (sorry this keyboard is horrible)  Were continuing to meet as many families as possible here and share the restored gospel with them!!

So Ive been studying a lot lately a talk that Bishop Waddell gave a little while ago in the world wide mission training, he talks about extending invitations that let the investigators be agents, rather than objects.  My whole mission i had been taught the importance of helping the people make commitments, but i had never understood it before in that way.  My comp and i are looking at commitments with a new perspective and starting to leave behind all sorts of new commitments that then let the people act more and teach themselves, and its realy neat to see their progress!

This family that were spending the most time with right now, we taught them the importance of daily scrptrue study with the whole family, and we showed them how to use the bible dictionary and index of the scriptrues and all and how to prepare lessons for the family scripture study and things like that, and its incredible to see how much they are learning now as they make lessons for their daughters and become the ones who teach them, instead of us!  So we are helping this family to get married and as soon as they do they wil all b getting baptized together!!

Pues sì entonces testifico de la importancia de los compromisos en la obra misional.  El Evangelio en sì habla mucho de la importancia de autosuficiencia, o sea, la habilidad que tenemos de utilizar nuestro albedrìo por el bien (sin depender de nadie màs) y despuès aprender por experiencia al hacerlo.  Sè que es una parte sumamente importante en este plan perfecto, el cual hizo posible Jesucristo.  Lo comparto en el nobmre de Jesucristo, amen.

les amo

nos vemos

Èlder Tenney

lammeee.... sorry

K well famillly i LOVED the emails as always, thanks a ton!!!  im glad youve had a good week!!!  K all is well here, honestly im absolutely LOVING this area im in right now and things are good with the greenie!!  just one small problem, we got home at like 3 30 with plenty of time to shower, get dressed, rest a bit, and write, when my comp realized he lost the keys to the house..... soo, all is good, we found them, but we went running around the whole city for like an hour looking for them and as a result had like 40 minutes is al to write, and this computer is suuuuuper sloww... its all good, some days are like that, so soo sooo sorry for not writing more, ill write more next week, but know that im as good as could be here thanks!!!

love you guys!!

Stephen 

La Ventura de Tuluá pues...

Q´hubo familia?!?!  ¡¿Cómo me les ha ido?!?!  Parece que les está tratando bien la vida, me alegro de escucharlo!!!  

K well everythings going really good here in Tuluá!!  Élder Zevallos and I are trying to keep the members excited, taking them to lessons and all and looking for the people who are really ready to accept the gospel and help Tuluá become a stake!!!  wait que pena no sé si les conté de eso, idk if i told you guys, but Tulua here is about to become a stake, just need a few more priesthood holding tithe payers and BOOM!!  so we, as we have been doing, are really looking tons for families with fathers who are ready to accept the gospel and can help reach the goal!!!

Arlight so one big piece of news here, they unbanned soccer and basketball here in the whole mission!!!  (wait i did tell you guys right that a few months ago they banned soccer and basketball right?  sorry i lose track of what i write and what not...) so of course all the latino missionareis were dyyyiing to play soccer today. We rented a synthetic soccer field right before lunch and started playing for like half an hour is all till we all realized how out of shape we are haha.... but ya im stoked to be able to shoot hoops again!!

Ohhh we had an INCREDIBLE lesson last night with our best family of investigators!!!  WOWW!!!  k so this family went to church yesterday for the second time and is progressing really well, a mom and a dad and their 13 year old daughter, and the parents are totally ready to get baptized, but when we tried to set the baptismal date like a week ago they explained that they want to get baptized with their daughtet and that she isnt quite ready, which was true, so this week we went lots with the young woman leaders and got here excited fo the treck the youth are going to do here and all, and then we had a lesson with them last night where we knew we had to set the baptizmal date...  

So planning for the lesson, my comp and i were sort of stumped... i mean were decentish at teaching adults and young men, but cant seem to connect with this 13 yeard old girl... so after sitting there planning the lesson without any good ideas, we said a prayer, and my comp had the idea to simply ask her in the lesson ´´do you really want an eternal family?´´  to be completely honest, i thought that maybe wasnt enough, a simple question like that, without any scriptures or stories or testimonies or anything, but we went with it... we started the lesson with a hymn and prayer, and HOLY COW, when my comp looked at her and simply asked her that question, she lit up like wed never seen her do before!!  She almost jumped and said that thats exactly what she wants!!  She said the only things she wants is to not have to worry about losing one of her family members, and her mom started tearing up a bit when she heard that... we felt the Spirit bigtime, and took advantage of the moment and set the baptismal date with the daughter, then the parents, and BOOM!!  WOOWW it was amazing!!  My companion, with just 2 weeks in the mission field, recognized the inspired question we had to ask her, and it became completely obvious that that idea he had, to ask her that quiestion, was a heaven sent idea!!

Así que, testifico de que podemos recibir revelación en todo momento, si es que nos mantenemos en un plano aparte del mundo, un plano en que los susurros del Espíritu no se mezclan con las distracciones mundanas que nos rodean.  Vi evidencia de ello esta semana, y aun más importante, lo sentí.  Sé que ésta es la obra del Señor, y que Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador, y lo comparto en el nombre de Jesucristo, amen.

les amo

nos vemos

Élder Tenney

sorry tshort this week, but ALL IS SUUUPER GOOD!!!

Heyyyy family whatssuppp?!?!?!  Saludos desde Tuluá, Colombia!!!!  K well i hop eyouve all had a good week, honestly things couldnt be better on the mish right now, I LOVE IT!!!  So as you know, on wednesday i picked up the new greenie, Elder Zevallos, and hes AWESOME!!!

K so Elder Zevallos is from Huancallo, Perú, is young, 18, member his whole life, and is suuuuper eager to be here on the mish and its been a blast this past week starting his training with him!!!  honestly he came pretrained, a lot of things hes already taught and done this week have amazed me, oh and hes a WAY good cook, always awesome}!!  The Poor guys not used to the sun of colombia or walking for 4 hours straight, or a nasty combination of the two, but hes adjusting suuper fast and theres lots of good work to be dont here in Tulua!!!

K so my new area is AWESOME!!  the branch president showed us around the area our second day, a way cool guy, he served his mission, guess where, southern california haha like ten years ago and his english is practically perfect.  Tuluá is actaully REALLY pretty, a river flows through the middle (ill have pics of it next week) with cool european looking bridges over it, its really green, and has cool hills and mountains on the horizon all around it.  the people are great, and our house is cool, big, on the fourth floor with a view of the whole city and valley!!!

k shoot im already running our of time sorry, but one cool thing, i had to talk in church yesterday, adn for the first time in my mission, as the last speaker, i was left with like 20 minutes for my talk haha so i sort of pocketed my plans and just talked about the atonement, and just that... I used an example i came up withearly in my mission of soccer ( i think i told you guys about it once, if not let me know and ill explain it next week) and talked about the importance of taking the sacrament every week to put the atonement in effect, using mainly alma 34 and 3 nephi 18!!

bueno pues estoy mu y muy contento con las oportunidades que me rodean acá en la misión, y sé que esta es la iglesia verdadera.  Sé que Jesucristo cumplió una expiación infinito, y eterno, en el nombre de Jesucristo, amen.

les amo

nos vemos  

Élder Tenney

What!!! Transfers!!!

Whattsupp family?!?!?!  Alright well, as the title says, you can probably guess, ya, IM GETTING TRANSFERED!!  So this was a surprise cuz i had only been in my last area for one transfer, and before they had always left me in every area for 3 or 4 transfers, but my new area should be WAY COOL so im excited!!!  Soooo... im getting sent to, GUESS WHERE WILL, thats right, TULUÀ!!!  Haha im going to the chapel of Wills companion, and maybe even the same branch (im not sure, there are two branches there)!!  the other big news, IM TRAINING A GREENIE!!!  haha so for today and tomorrow im in Pradera, a tiny little town just out side of palmira with anotehr missonary whos going to train and wednesday mornign we go together to Cali to pick up our greenies, and then wednesday afternoon ill go to the new area in Tuluà!!  Should be GREAT!!!

I dont know anything about my new comp yet, just that his names Èlder Zeballos!

alirght so after that news, heres the week!  First off, we had an interesting lesson on tuesday, we were teaching the restauration to a guy and his sister, all was going well, then their grandpa came and started listening too.  After a short while, he started to share an experience he had, and as he did, got waaayy into it, and stood up and was almost shouting as he told the story... and by the way these people have two parrots in cages towards the back of their house, so as he raises his voice, the parrots started making SO MUCH NOISE hahaha they started yelling and stuff, i didnt know parrots could make such loud noise, so somehow our spiritual lesson turned into a yelling fest of an old man and green parrots.... it was weird, i didnt know what to think or do, but ya he calmed down, we left a commitment for them to read the Book of Mormon and pray, and finished with a prayer... the family went to church yesterday though so all is good!!

K, another funny thing about Colombia, so our old house was on the fourth floor and had an elevator (a good sturdy one that i trusted), but so in colombia the people on the first floor always, ALWAYS get into the elevator to go up before letting the people already in the elevator out... no matter how full the elevator is, we get to the first floor, the doors open, and are about to step out when people come flooding in and cram us, and then we try to work our way out... doesnt make sense, its like tying your shoes first then trying to put them on...

Something ive realized im not too good at but have been getting better at, i often worry about the lesson we have scheduled at a certain time and we only have like 10 minutes to quickly finish the lesson were in and run over to the other one, and ive learned that that my anxiousness to get to the next lesson doesnt let my comp and i follow the spirit as much... We had a cool experience with that this week, a young couple we contacted was finally home, so we went in to share something realy quick, but they were asking really really good questions and we wanted more time to explain everyting but had another suuuper importnt lesson in like 15 minutes, so instead of worrying about time, i tried to trust in The Lords timing a bit more, and follow what i felt we should do, not what my logic told me we should do... so my comp and i looked at each other, and nodded in agreement that we shoudl postpone the next lesson a bit and teach the whole first lesson... we did so, and WOW it was a spiritual lesson, and commited the couple to read the book of mormon and pray about its truthfulness, and they commited and all... then we went and arrived to the next leson like an hour late, but, the dad of the family there had just barely gotten home... had we gone when we had inicially scheduled the lesson, we wouldnt have even been able to enter the house... pretty cool how The Lord makes things work out, even cooler how we feel when we try to listen more closely to that guidance!

Espero que una de las cosas que màs aprendo en la misiòn sea eso, el poder escuchar al Espìritu y reconocer de verdad sus susurros.  Sè que de esa manera, no se cumplirà lo que nos parece ser lo mejor en el momento, sino lo que serà lo mejor para todos de largo plazo, y sòlo El Señor ve eso... Sè que podemos ser dignos de esa guìa del espìritu gracias a la expiaciòn, y lo comparto en el nombre de Jesucristo, amen.

les amo

nos vemos

Èlder Tenney

The Heat of Palmira

Whattssuppp family?!?!?!  Dang picture evidence of a good time you guys are having right now on the slopes, haha thats good im glad!!  Its ok i like the burning hot sun, right Will???  

haha k first off, JARED!!!  WOOWWW!!!!  MAJOR AIR on that jump!!!  AWESOME DUDE!!!!!  hahaha i realized the amount of air caught on a jump can better be measured by the expression on his face, particularly in the mouth, rather than the distance between his skis and the ground haha

Will i hear you man, haha ive learned though that on the mission its necessary to have weeks like that para que nos hagan ver què màs podemos hacer aun mejor para ayudar a las personas.... si tuvièramos mucha asistencia a la iglesia en primer lugar nunca tendrìamos que buscar maneras de mejorar tal como planear mejor y hacer mucho seguimiento como vos estàs haciendo con tu compa... asì que seguilo haciendo con esa buena actitud!!

Dang mom 3 miles!!!  WOWWW!!!  im glad the hip is doing better, and WAIT WHAT???  Vanessa and Jorge have another kid??  k im WAYYY behind on the family/cousin count...

Alright well its been another good week in Palmira, Colombia!!!  My companion and i keep doing something that Elder Grow from the 70 invited us to do a little over a year ago, and that is talk to every single couple we see in the street, and now it has payed off BIG TIME!!!  We have a family that is AWESOME that is progressing super well, seriously every time we go to visit them we walk out with the biggest smiles on our face, its AWESOME to see this family learn about their eternal potential that theyll reach with the guidance and council of a Latter Day Prophet and the Book of Mormon and restored priesthood!!  And now this week we met the sister of the dad of this family, and were SHOCKED when we found out shes married to the brother of the mom of this family haha, and they live in our area and were going to start teaching their family TOO!!!!  There really is nothing better than seeing an entire family as a whole accept the gospel!!

K so a really interesting experience this week.  Yesterday the mission leader in the branch got released, and he normally taught the gospel principles class.  but since he got released he didnt go to the class and they asked me to teach it, right then and there, like 2 minutes before the class started haha uh oh....  So i opened the book up to see what chapter we were to learn this week, and of course, well obvious, it had to be, i mean what other class would be harder to teach with two minutes of prep than, yup, the Fall of Adam and Eve....

hahaha so with the help of the other missionaries we started teaching the class, and the dad of this family were teaching had a lot of questions... we tried answering them, but werent having too much luck... then i realized we were going about it all wrong, trying to answer ourselves, and felt that we should simply go to the Book of Mormon... we read a few verses from 2 Nephi 2, testified, and the dad of this family literally BLURTED out ``WOOWW!!  I GET IT NOW!!!`` and then he practically taught the rest of the class himself and explained the entire lesson perfectly!!!  hahah we were AMAZED!!!  So ust goes to show, that the Spirit really does testify to our hearts and help us understand as we read and study the Book of Mormon, i cant even begin to explain how ive seen that time after time on the mission, and it still amazes me every time!!!

Alright well other than that all is good!!  We have transfers next week, but ill probably stay in this area.  We ate banana splits with the other missionaries today for pday and slept, it was nice, mom dont worry i put on bug repelant with DEET like 4 times a day and am eating TONS of garlic which the instructions you sent me last week say helps prevent SIKA, and no i dont no anybody with it here in this city actaully but well keep doing all we can to protect ourselves, all is good!!!

Me he dado cuenta aquì en la misiòn que el gozo que se siente al compartir el evangelio y tener experiencias espirituales es el ùnico gozo cuyo placer no se acaba con el tiempo... muchas otras cosas del mundo, que nos asombran al principio, ya con tiempo disminuyen en emocionarnos, pero el gozo que tenemos al compartir el evangelio, al aprender màs de èl, y al leer el Libro de Mormòn se puede aumentar cada vez màs.  Sè que es por ese gozo que nuestro Salvador, Jesucristo, pudo hacer lo que hizo por nosotros, y que tambièn fue por eso que Nuestro Padre Celestial pudo aguantar ver a su Hijo morir.  Testifico de que Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador, en el nombre de Jesucristo, amen.

les amo

nos vemos

Èlder Tenney

Sorry Sorry Sorry!!!

WHattsuup family!!!?!?!?!

IM SUUPPER GLAD youve all had a good week!!!

k so long story short, we walked around all over looking for innternet cafes ut all were full, so he got here late without much time and i spend just about all my time writing to Will who asked me a question about the misson and writing to Mark forhis birthday, so im suuuuper sorry i dont hve a good letter this week....

but im all good, im SUPER healthy mom dont worry, last week i simply had a small fever, the mission here is REALY responsible about Zika, we sleep with nets over our beds and walk with but repelant we put on several times a day, ill be as careful as possilbe, thanks!!!!

k well talk to ya more next week, love you guys TONS!"!!!

`Stephen

3 Weeks Down in Palmira

Whatssupp family?!?!  TIME IS FLYING!!!  haha wow i cant believe im already half way through the transfer here, and i only have two left after this one!!!  (there, i said it, it scares me, but i said it).  But alright im stocked to hear youve all had a good week!!  Mark, WAYY TO GO in BBALL!!!  Jared, igual que William, quiero ver videos de trukos allì con tu yoyo!!!  Mom and dad im glad all is well, yes dad the hawk looks HUUGGEE in the picture here haha WOW!!!

Alright mom so im going to be honest and not keep secrets, i woke up pretty sick this morning, with a fever, i dont think its the virus you asked about though, ive rested all day and am already feeling a lot better, all should be good tomorrow or wednesday!!

K the recap real quick!!  Saturday morning we had an AWESOME baptism (k not us darn it, the other elders in the branch with us) but it was really cool because the house chapel here has a portable baptismal font!!!  yeah THATS RIGHT!!!  haha cool no??  So we set it up in teh primary room, a bunch of metal bars and tarp, and did the baptism there, it was a small service but one of the more spiritual ones ive been in in the mission, really cool!!!

K to answer more of your questions mom, and they were good ones this week haha, no the meat is honestly pretty weird here.... dont tell any colombian i said that, but its still pretty good, but everything else is REALLY GOOD!!  The chicken especially is really good quality and affordable, i grilled chicken for lunch yesterday!!

yes we do exercise every morning, for half an hour, and ive gotten pretty good at pull ups, i just do pull up ands push ups and plyometrics sometimes, and sometimes we leave the house and jog around the neighborhood...

On pdays, well they banned basketball and soccer a few months ago, thats been rough, but we have a fun game we usually play in teh chapel with the zone with a hacky sack where we have to kick it three times and then we can peg people and eliminate them!  its WAY FUN HAHA!!!

yes i almost entirely use the book of mormon, i LOVE explaining it to people briefly and then showing them trhoughout the lesson how it is that it answers questions that people still have after reading the Bible... My favorite scripture is easily Ether 12:27, ive found SOOO many different ways to interpret it and apply it to life.... There really is no other book that moves us closer to The Lord than the Book of Mormon!!

Entonces con eso dejo mi testimonio de que el Libro de Mormòn realmente contiene la plenitud del evangelio eterno!  Me encanta la luz que se ve en los ojos de los investigadores cuando sienten el Espìritu y se dan cuenta que su familia puede ser eterna, que pueden llegar a ser como Dios, que Jesucristo comprende todo lo que experimentamos, y muchas otras bendiciones!  Comparto este testimonio en el nombre de Jesucristo, amen.

les amo

nos vemos

Èlder Tenney

He's Back!!!!!

Whattsuppp family?!?!  ¿¡Còmo me les trata la vida por allì pues?!?!  I hope youve had a good week!!  Daaaang dad ill take some of that east coast cold for ya, ive been in a 19 month summer of around 100 degrees here... mark, nice carry over haha no jk AWESOME picture there, i still cant believe you got pulled up to varsity and that youre getting minutes!!!!  

Alright so all is well here in Samanes, Palmira, Colombia!  We had an INCREDIBLE worldwide training this week all the missionaries, its was SWEET!!!  Danggg, its made me feel like a new missionary though haha it showed me soooo much stuff i can do better!!  K alright ill talk more about that in a sec, but heres to answer your questios mom:

I usually eat scrambled eggs for breakfast and if i have time i make some cool juice with the amazing fruit here, my favorite is guayaba, lulo, and mango... i just cut up the fruit and blend it with water and a bit of sugar... ahhhh its WAY GOOD!!  I stay away from the milk haha funny you ask, the milks pretty weird here in my opinion... i havent dranken straight milk in a long time... they sell it in bags, weird, and they dont refrigerate it, its got so many chemicals mixed with it here that it doesnt go bad... so they say... i only use it with cereal once in a while or with mango juice... yes they put ice in their drinks here, it lasts for about 2 miutes and then its gone cuz its sooo hot here, no we arent in as much of a drought as we were a few months ago, our house has had plenty of water, but yes the mission president has been telling us to keep buckets of water full in our houses in case they start cutting the water, but dont worry haha its all good.  How many miles do we walk each day?  ha, good question, ive been wanting to know the same thing, i have no idea, id guess like 5... i remember the time when we went to new york and walked from central park to time square and back to the hotel.... we easily walk that distance every day haha!!  This might be my last area yes, its possible, but honestly i hope it isnt haha id like to get to know one last area, in the south hopefully haha cuz ive spent my whole mission up here in the north, but im fine with whatever, where ever The Lord needs me, im ok with finihing the mission here too.  I speak english with the other gringos in the zone an a little bit with my comp (his english is actaully really good, i need to speak more with him) and thats it haha, very little.  Ya im not teaching english classes right now but i want to get some started up here, publicating it is the tricky part, and im not sure where id teach them here cuz the chapel is kinda far, but well see. No theres nothing specific i plan on buying here and taking home, just a few small things like t shirts and otehr little decorations... the members in this branch, WOW, have really surprised me!!  In my other areas thereve always been a few who work well with the missionaries and give us references, but here there are LOTS!!  So we still find lots on our own ya but we try to make our priority finding with them, teaching their references... An yes my health is actually really good!!  I had a fungus grow on my leg haha i guesss i forgot to talk about that, but nah they gave me some medicine for it a few weeks ago and its pretty much gone away, im all good!!!

Dang sorry so im out of time now haha, but ya so as i said we had an INCREDIBLE training this week, and as weve tried to put in practice what we learned wevehad a ton of spiritual experiences!!  Ill try to talk more about them next week, but i hope you know all is good here, i couldnt be happier and love hearing that you guys are good as well every week!!

Siento tanto honor al saber que tengo la comañìa constante del Espìritu al trabajar aquì en la misiòn.  Es una de las cosas que màs aprendì en la capacitaciòn esta semana.  Obviamente el Espìritu es el que enseña todo, pero su habilidad de hacer que el mensaje entre en el corazòn de las personas depende tambièn de nuestras aptitudes como maestros del egangelio, asì que, me esfuerzo cada dìa por enseñar con màs claridad y màs testimonio, y veo que estoy comprendiendo mejor el evangelio al hacerlo.  Sè que Jesucristo es nuestro salvador, y lo comparto en Su nombre, amen.

les amo

nos vemos

Èlder Tenney

Samanes Palmira!!

Whatssupp fami... WHATTT???? RV TRIP?!?!?!  WOWWW haha that must have been a BLAST!!!!  Wooww good stuff!!!  Alright well by week doesnt beat that but it has been another week full of spiritual experiences and sweat here in Colombia!

K first things first, Will, yes it is hotter here in Colombia.  haha jk, but even if its not, the difference is that its hot ALL YEAR ROUND here haha ive had a 19month summer.... but all is well

Alright well things are good here in my new area!!  We found a lot of new investigators, were slightly disappointed when only one came to church yesterday but its all good we already have lots commited for next week and we found an AWESOME family thats progressing well1!!  The only thing better than seeing someones eyes fill up with hope and joy as they feel the spirit is seeing that same light in the eyes of every family member as they sit around the missionaries and are fully engaged in the lesson.  There really arent words to desribe that feeling, as a missionary, you just simply know you couldnt be doing anything better with your life.

K so about the area a bit more.  Palmira is a big city, but im in the northern most part where its turning into farms and all, so its actaully pretty quiet and a werid change because all my other areas have been suuuuper loud with constant salsa music!!  honestly i miss that haha but its all good.  So its a tiny branch here of like 50 church attendance weekly, and we just have a small house chapel, its actually pretty though and works well, but again a big change becuase i was in the biggest ward in teh mission (church attendance average 270) in my last area with a HUGE chapel... but its all good, the members seem like really sincere good people here and have already helped us  a lot!!  So its actually one of the wealthiest areas ive been in too, some parts are normal but most are really really nice homes

So one of the investigators asked us an interesting question the other day.  We were teaching tithing (honestly, i LOVE teaching tithing, just because it makes SO MUCH sense when taught right with matthew 6 or 3 nephi 13... ill talk more about teaching tithing another day) and she asked what the scripture means that says that those who preach the gospel will live off of it, if it doesnt mean we live off of the tithings for being missionaries... and i told her that it means that the talents and lessons we learn and develop as we preach the gospel then in turn make us more capable to work and gain a living in our job... she didnt quite get it, so i used two personal examples.  I told her that ive had the privilege of learning spanish, and that that will help me big time as i work in my country later on in life, and i told her that one of the most important things ive learned in the mission is simply to not get discouraged.  And i didnt even realize how well i had learned that till i explained it to her the other day. I explained that after months of walking from door to door and having the door shut in our face or people act like theyre not home and all in the blazing hot sun, i truly have come to know that it does no good to get discouraged, but that its just evidence, and i can use it now as motivation, to work even harder.  I love the scripture in 2 Nephi 32:8 that says that the Spirit of The Lord invites men to pray, and the spirit of the adversary invites men NOT to pray.  Well i use that with everything now haha,  the Spirit of The Lord invites us to keep going, the other spirit invites us to get discouraged, and from there its easier to decide which spirit we will follow...

Con eso dejo mi testimonio de que Nuestro Padre Celestial nos ama tanto y nos conoce tanto que nos provee oportunidades perfectas, segùn nuestras necesidades, de crecer y llegar a ser mejores personas a medida que nos esforzamos por hacer la obra de Èl primero.  He experimentado eso acà en la misiòn, y el Espìritu me lo ha confirmado.  Sè que El Señor tiene un plan perfecto para cada uno de nosotros, y que aunque no lo entendamos en todo momento, es para nuestro bien.  Lo comparto en el nombre de Jesucristo, amen.

les amo

nos vemos

Èlder Tenney

Samanes Palmira!!!

Whattssupppp familia?!?!  Les mando saludos desde la Rama Samanes en la Ciudad Palmira, Valle del Cauca, Colombia!!!!  Dang alright well i wish i could have heard moms talk, i bet it was AMAZING!!!  Mark, congrats with that project and ill be praying big time for uncle Robert.  Thanks for the emails as always!!

Alright well sure enough after six months in the area i loved, Guaduales Cali, i got transferred.  So im opening up a zone that had been partially closed and partially connected with another zone.  Im in a small branch called Samanes that attends church in a small house haha but it should be sweet!!!  My new companion is Èlder Herrera from Bolivia, my first bolivian comp, and hes AWESOME!!!  He and I already knew each other somewhat well and are stocked to be working together here!!! 

So a bit of info of my area real quick.  Its like an hour north of Cali, in between Cali and Zarzal where i was last year... Its just as hot here as every other area ive been in, but im used tothe heat haha so its all good. My house is SUUUPEr nice here haha WOW!!  My first house with an oven so time to make cookies brownies and pizza!!

Alright well unfortunately we spent most of the day helping other missionaries get to their new areas with transfers and all so i dont have too much time super sorry!!  But i know that, as ive felt in every other area where ive served, i know that i am exactly where The Lord needs me to be, and that im with the people He needs me to be with.  As always i didnt want to have to say goodbye to so many great people there in Cali but i know that there is no other place in the world where i could have more spiritual experiences than those that im going to have in Palmira, Colombia.  Im stoked to try to meet as many families as possible here and give them whats blessed our family so much, to try to change their lives, and i know that as i do so, my life will be changed even more as it already has so much here in the mission!

Siento mucha gratitud con mi Padre Celestial al saber que Èl tiene confianza en mì para que enseñe el evangelio a las personas acà!  Aunque sè que no serè yo que se lo enseño a la gente, sino que es el Espìritu, y no hay nada que me encante màs de lo que me encanta el sentimiento que tengo cuando puedo ser un intrumento por el cual ese Espìritu testifica a las personas.  Sè que èsta es Su obra, en el nombre de Jesucristo, amen.

los amo

nos vemos

Èlder Tenney

2016!!!

FELIZ AÑO NUEVO!!!!!  WOOOOWWW no puedo creer que ya haya llegado el año 2016!!!  Dang well you guys celebrated a little bit more than i did haha, looks like its been an awesome new year there!!!!  WOWWW the pics look good up in Deer Valley!!!  WHAT!?!?  Christian Young is MARRIED?!?!  and Braden Richards has a GIRL FRIEND?!?!  DANG haha!!!

K well the new year was INSANE here in Colombia but whats new haha... so my comp and i were super tired and went to bed at 10:30 and didnt see much of it, fire works started going of all over the place at like 10 and kept going off all night but we actaully slept well!  But the next day, walking all around town, there were still tons of people in the street with the salsa music blasting as usual dancing with the little energy they still had... haha its was crazy

Alright well ive lacked funny stories lately but finally this week I have a few.  First off, my comp and i were walking to a lesson the other day when we saw a dog walking around the front porch of a house that had a daiper on, yes, a daiper, the kind Mark sleeps with... So then the lady who lived there walked out just in time for us to ask her why, and she simply said that she got sick of picking up after the dog so she always puts a daiper on him haha....

K, the better part, a few days later we walked by the same house and sure enough there was the dog walking around, and then, in the middle of the porch, it just stopped, lifted up one leg for a sec, and then kept walking around hahaha.... poor guy still lifts up one leg when he.. ya...

K darn i had another good story but my times already running out sorry!!!  Next week!!!  Oh, speaking of next week, we have transfers this weekend and ill probably be writing from a new area next week.  Ive been in this area here since july haha, a long time, but ive absolutely loved it!!!  Ive met people here who i will always remember, who have changed my life!!  It will be sad to leave but i know that wherever The Lord sends me, there will be even more opportunities to do His will, and His will is always better than mine!!

Entonces seguimos teniendo muchas experiencias espirituales esta semana!  No hay nada mejor que el levantarse por la mañana, sabiendo que todo lo que vamos a hacer en el día es enseñar el evangelio y cambiar vidas para lo mejor!!  Sé que esta es la iglesia de Jesucristo restaurada en su plenitud hoy en día, que Nuestro Padre Celestial y Su Hijo Jesucristo realmente se le aparecieron a José Smith para que por medio de él, se estableciera la iglesia nuevamente en la tierra.  He disfrutado de las bendiciones de ello, y he tenido aun más gozo al poder ver esas bendiciones empezar a derramarse sobre la gente colombiana también.  Dejo esto en el nombre de Jesucristo, amen.

les amo

nos vemos

Élder Tenney

ps im having problems with the battery in my camera.... sorry ill try to get that fixed and some pics sent next week