February 15, 2010

Hello family,
Another week has come and gone. We had a good week and it looks like are going to bring some new members into the branch. All is going well with my new comp.

At the start of the week, my companion was having problems with his inner ear. It seemed to be swelling up and hurting him so they had us investigate to see if there was an Ear Specialist here. We found nothing so they told us to leave on Tuesday and take a bus to Bucaramanga to see the doctor there. Soooo we drove down, got to the clinic, my comps ear was already feeling better, they gave him some medicine and we came back home.

This week until the last few days the intense heat kept up but now we've had a few cloudy days with a little rain. We had some cool experiences this week. One night we went with Sister Ramirez to visit a young mother from the branch who was having some difficulty with their living conditions etc so we shared a message with her and offered to help in what we could. On the way out of the neighborhood we saw an open house and felt impressed to talk to them. We found a lady and her husband who were very receptive and happy to have met us. We watched "The Restoration" the movie about Joseph Smith and the first vision and the wife said she really felt a peace as we talked with them and that she had always had the same question about why there were so many churches in the world and which was the truth. So we left them the commitment to pray and ask if what we taught was true and we have another lesson tomorrow to see how it went.

We also have continued working with the Caballero family; we had a lesson on Saturday with them. We invited John (17) who always goes with us and is getting ready for his mission and Gina (another YM from the branch). We had a really good lesson and taught about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We got to the section on baptism and taught it and invited the daughter (Saira) the son and the dad of the family to be baptized on the 27th and they all accepted. The mom has been inactive for a long time but is now starting to come back. Unfortunately on Sunday the dad didn't come to church so we are going to have to work more with him but the 2 teenagers came and really liked it and bonded well with all the youth here so they seem to be sure for the 27th. We’ll have to work hard with them because now is when the most temptations always come but things are looking good and I am very excited to have such great people who are receiving the gospel.

Sunday was also another good day. The classes etc are all functioning very well. One of the speakers didn't come so I spoke again, but I had a few things prepared on faith so it went well.

I am getting along very well with Elder Moreno, he is a very good guy so we have made good friends and he has helped a lot. It’s amazing how fast the weeks go. The transfer is already half over! It could be that I only have 3 weeks left here. I almost hope I get to stay a little longer. Although it’s a sauna here I really have gotten to love the people here a ton and it’s going to be tough the day I get transferred.

After I finish this letter, we are going to go play basketball with some kids from the branch and then it’s back to the battlefield. For this week, my comp and I have decided we want to work harder than we ever have and we have set a goal to teach 35 lessons. So I’ll have to fill you in on how it went next week.

I really know the church is true, it’s amazing how much the spirit teaches you and inspires you when you study and look and ask for it. My testimony has grown so much here. Well I love ya lots fam, have a good week, be of good cheer. Elder Barnard