Will loves being at the MTC in Provo. We cannot believe that he has been there for almost six weeks now. He will leave for Bogota on October 21. That is only three weeks from now. WOW. We missed him so much that first week. When we got his first letter, we realized that he was very happy to be in such a special place and learning so many wonderful things. It makes it easier to know that he truly loves to be where he is at. He says the Spirit is so strong and his spiritual knowledge and testimony are growing continually. He sounds so grown up and just like a real missionary.
He has already had some amazing experiences with contacting people around the country through the Referral Center. They do this on Sunday afternoons. He says that talking to them and bearing his testimony on the phone, has resulted in a number of requests for the local Elders in their areas to visit them.
He is studying and learning the Spanish language every day. He acknowledges the Lord's hand in acquiring this knowledge and talks about how humble we need to be. These new Elders have opportunities to teach Spanish contacts there. They have their teachers with them to help with the language. He says that he can hardly wait to get to Colombia - he feels such a desire to teach the people there. Bogota alone has ten million people so there's a lot of work to be done.
The Colombian Mission was re-opened to foreign missionaries two years ago. When Will and his group fly out in October, the first group of 10, that are there now, will be returning home.
We feel at peace and try not to worry about any possible dangers there. We have been told to only send inexpensive watches, cameras etc. because things can get stolen. Will has a money belt to wear inside his shirt with his debit card, driver's license etc. They should only keep a few dollars in their pockets. The present Government is trying to clean things up and things are better than they were a few years ago.
We are so proud of our Elder Barnard. What an absolutely wonderful opportunity for him and for us. We are all looking forward with happiness and optimism to the next two years.
