12-21-15 to 12-28-15 FELIZ NAVIDAD!‏

Alright, since ive talked to the fam on Friday, i'm feeling a bit lazy to write a huge weekly letter haha.  sorry mom.  This week has been pretty good, just a tad bit slow with the Christmas season.  But we tried to take advantage of it to find some rad families! 

This week lots of investigators are asking about exaltation.  People obviously get defensive when they hear "The Mormons believe in becoming Gods".  So it's been really interesting to learn how to teach that profound of doctrine so that anyone understands.  and these 2 points have helped me a lot. 

1. God is our loving heavenly father, and as ANY parent feels, he wants us to become the best we can.  Even better than him if possible.

2. Us becoming Gods doesnt dethrone God.  Actually it gives him more glory.  Same way my mom and dad look like great parents because me or Tayler are successful in something.

All things on Earth were first created spiritually.  Yes, even the nature of families and parenthood.  OF COURSE we'll become Gods.  as CHILDREN of God.  It is our birthright!  Cool huh?

Christmas was actually really great!  We made a rad tree out of some paint, cardboard, Christmas lights and a tree branch and opened all our presents!  im super happy with my new ties, tie pins and pants.  thanks mom!

That night we tried to sing Christmas carols.  it was rather hard with all the people blasting drinking music every other house but we did it and felt a bit of Christmas spirit while we were at it. 

So that was basically my week!  Life is good, and i'm super excited to start working on a normal schedule after the holidays haha.  I hope everyone has a great New Years day!  Make some REALISTIC goals!  to end here are the 4 things ive learned to do it.

1. A vision

2. A goal

3. Plans

4. Accountability.

LOVE YOU ALL!

-Elder Welch

  With Elder Solorio and Elder Paskett

 Cute little Charlie Brown tree :)

12-15-15 to 12-21-15 Many blessings!‏

This week was great!  The 2 highlights had to be a family we found this week and the zone conference we had Friday. 

Tuesday was pretty average, we just practiced our Christmas song for the zone conference and taught some families that we had contacted. 

Wednesday we spent most the day contacting families in the street and we got a TON lined up for Thursday!

Thursday we taught 3 new familes and got 9 new investigators!  As a result we had 2 great miracles.  First we went to the house of a lady we contacted but her mom answered the door instead.  Turns out she listened to the missionaries 2 years ago and lost contact with them when the missionaries left and she changed houses.  We asked her why she thinks God lead us to her house again and she said "maybe to finish what i didnt do in the first place."  Amazing how God guides our path!  The other miracle was that we went to the address of a lady we contacted and I guess she gave us the wrong address!  But the gentleman who answered the door was very polite so we told him how we wanted to share a message about Christmas sometime and he was like "alright, come on in".  Haha we were like "OKAY!".  Again, oh how amazing is it how the Lord places people in our path.  It is a family of 4, both pàrents married, 2 sons ages 13 and 21 and theyre like 1/2 Catholic because they don't really know any other way to worship God.  For us that's like striking Gold hahah. 

Friday was the zone conference!  Every year President does a "fun" zone conference, and he likes to do it around Christmas.  We watched a movie, had a Book of Mormon Trivia and did skits/Christmas Carols.  it was a great time!  The zones present were Palmira, Tulua and Zarzal.  I got to see Lots of my mission buddies including Elders Muñoz, Solorio, Ludwig, Paskett and Inman!  It was a great time!  Tulua and Zarzal has a super Rivalry right now because the zone leader right now, Elder Rojas (my ZL from Ipiales and the old assistant) was Elder Gomez's comp so it was super tense!  But we beat them in the BoM trivia!  WOOHOO!  For our skit-carol-thing we sang With Wondering Awe, then changed into the classic Colombia "Cumbia" outfits and played a Christmas Version of "La Bamba" by Los Lobos.  It turned out great!  I played guitar, Gomez bongos, Elder Giles the cowbell, Elder Palma the Giro, Sister Panduro on the piano and Sister Magaña on the maracas.  We had fun but a district from Palmira won (i'm guessing because it was just too tense between us and Tulua haha).  But we had a great time.

Saturday we had a good zone meeting and talked about asking questions which actually helped me a lot (i was the one teaching haha) its what i needed to better myself.  Lately ive just felt blank in the lessons and having talked much but asking questions is getting me back to my old self!  This transfer has been strange haha but im good now.  That night we taught the Arias family (the golden family we found Thursday) the restoration and it went really well!  The spirit was super strong. 

Sunday we had 7 investigators come to church. Nabor and Mery with his family and The Arias family!  Wow we were happy that new family came it just proves theyre ready. Nabor and Mery couldnt get baptized because he worked, but im not worried because they're 100% converted.  The rest of the day was slow because Elder Gomez got super sick. 

So today we just cleaned and organized the house because all the houses we were gonna rent wont rent to us for a billion different problems, so looks like we're passing Christmas 4 in a house.  Bummer. But everything happens for a reason!  

Have an Excellent Christmas this week and remember

#ASaviorIsBorn

Elder Welch

District Zarzal in traditional Cumbia outfits :)

12-08-15 to 12-14-15 Return to Andalucia

This week was pretty good!  We´re having a lot of sucess and a lot of great things are happening!

The highlight of Tuesday is that our district made a band!  We have to do a Christmas carol for the next zone meeting so we organized a band with me On guitar, Gomez on the bongos, the sisters on piano and maracas, and the other Elders on Giro and Clave.  its super rad! We have to do the presentation in English, and we have a "spice" on it that is gonna be fun! More news to come!

Wednesday, i went to Andalucia in Divisions with Elder Suyon!  It was fun to see my old investigators, and I had the privilege to interview Ana Maria and Vic for their baptisms!  Ana Maria needs a bit more time to pass but Vic passed!  He surprised me!  He has changed so much and is 100% ready to be baptized.  I was really pleased to see the affects of my work there.  That day in Zarzal, Gomez told me that our convert Cleyder is going crazy with the missionary work!  She lent out her Book of Mormon, is giving out pamphlets, and is presenting us to all her friends!  It is super rad!  She is an excellent convert! 

Thursday we ended divisions early to go to Tulua and have a meeting with the district president.  We made serious plans on how us as missionaries can help this district become a stake.  we have high hopes and want to do it FAST.  So we are gonna buckle down and get to some hard hard work.  But we are working with pure families here in Zarzal so the branch is growing faster and faster.  That night we also found a family where the wife is less active and her husband and son aren't.  It was a miracle find because they came from Chile and want to reactive/get baptized.  We are so grateful to the Lord for helping us find them! 

Friday we had a really busy day! We had a small competition with the other Elders in our apartment where each companionship had to contact at least 5 families in the street that day.  Who lost would buy pizza.  As a result, we contacted 11 families amongst us 4.  It was a great day and what we needed. 

Saturday was fairly normal.  We just did some service putting up Christmas lights and had a few lessons with investigators.  Nothing too huge.

Sunday was great because Nabor and Mery came to church and got their last attendance to get baptized!  It was a miracle because Nabor was working but came to church until he got on call, and they didnt call him until we were halfway through the 3rd hour.  So this Saturday we are gonna baptize a family! Woohoo! 

Today was just a nice lazy Pday, just what we needed because phew.  I was tired haha.  So yeah! love you all!

Elder Welch

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From my personal email:

I asked if he knows where he'll go to Skype us on Christmas Day.

Jake: this week we're gonna skope out skyping areas haha its strange, the more time i get in the mission, the less i think about home!  I almost forgot i got to talk to you all soon haha.  SUPER FOCUSED.

I told him I'm hoping to hear more about where's he living and maybe see some pictures.

Jake: Im with 4 other missionaries but its because they opened another area in Zarzal with 2 new missionaries, so me and my comp are kinda homeless until we find a house.  we¨re living in our suitcases which is a bummer but it's whatever.  I havent taken pics yet because i dont wanna get too attached to this house haha. 

Leadership Meeting with

Pres. and Sis. Pricoli

12-01-15 to 12-07-15 Cleyder's baptism!‏

This week i was quickly ushered in to a new world as zone leader haha but it was great. i had a baptism (and actually feel like i helped her get to baptism) so life is good!  What else could i ask for?

Tuesday we ran all over the place looking for the new elder coming from Pasto and i guess instead of going to Zarzal he went to another city called Roldanillo.  it was pretty funny haha.  I also met my next baptism, Cleyder!  She's 19, super strong in the gospel and her personality actually reminds me a lot of Tayler haha. 

Wednesday we had an interview with an investigator and sadly she didnt pass for something that happened a while ago, and she was super sad about it.  We were running around panicking because we had to go to Cali for leadership training but we couldnt just leave her all discouraged so we went with her to the church and i shared with her Alma 36.  After reading it, she said "this is the Book of Mormon?  Ive never read a scripture from the Book of Mormon that fills me up inside like this one." so she had a spiritual experience and i was happy to help give her a better testimony of the Book of Mormon. 

Thursday we were in Cali all day at my first Leadership conference.  it was long and kind of boring but im glad i got to learn more about my responsibilities.  Honestly i just make sure missionaries are working and do dumb errands, but i like it haha its fun.  That night we stopped by Andalucia to get the matt's Elder Muñoz and i left in the house but then we realized there werent any more buses going to Zarzal so we stayed the night with the New elders.  But it was a good opportunity to help them plan.  Of the 10 missionaries in this zone (including me and my comp) 6 have 4 months or less.  Theyre all super excited to work but theyre all noobs haha.  Its fun to help them though, they learn fast. 

Friday we finished the plans for Cleyder's baptism and she passed her interview!  It was a good day!  We also have a lot of other solid investigators.  We're gonna baptize a ton!

Saturday was Cleyder's baptism!  It went really well.  I played hymns on the guitar, we sang, and the whole service was really organized.  She was beaming in her eyes, it was a great experience. 

Sunday was Fast Sunday, and all the testimonies were great.  Cleyder even got up there and talked how she wants to be a missionary.  We had 10 investigators come to church and 2 are familes!  Couldnt be happier.  That afternoon we had a meeting with the district president and the ZLs from Tulua to talk about our plans to turn this district into a stake.  We have our fair share of work ahead of us.  But it feels good to have so many good responsibilities.  I hope we can fulfill our callings as zone leaders.  So life is good, i'm keeping an eye on Andalucia (since its my zone) and we have lots of baptisms coming up!  Success!

love you all, Elder Welch

He also reports that he got all three Christmas packages I sent! Happy mom :D

Last picture with Elder Muñoz 

 Cleyder's Baptism

With his new companion, 

Elder Gomez from Oklahoma 

(His first American comp since the MTC.)

11-14-15 to 11-30-15 Transfers!‏

This week was a good one, lots of our investigators were progressing.  Hoover (I spelled it Hubert last week, but i was wrong haha) went 4 days without drugs, and it getting stronger at avoiding temptation!  Also, Vic is doing super good coming to church and lots of activities.  The truth is, I'm super short on time because transfers came so this is gonna be short.  I got transfered to Zarzal and am the new zone leader with Elder Gomez.  Elder Muñoz got transfered to spend his last transfer in Buga.  Truth is we're both super upset and I honestly am not sure how i feel about being zone leader, but the good news is Andalucia is in my zone so we're gonna do divisions and I'm gonna being calling a lot to check in on my investigators haha.  But dang, I wanted to pass Christmas in Andalucia with Muñoz.  I'll still send him the gifts.  But as i always say, I'll do as the Lord asks me. 

Elder Welch

11-17-15 to 11-23-15 Saving druggies‏

This week has been pretty good.  And as the subject line depicts, ive had to break out the Word of Wisdom pamphlets!  We've found quite a few drug addicts as of late!

Tuesday was another weird day where we had no appointments, and just wore down the soles of our shoes.  Something funny is there is this pitbull dog that really loves us and follows us around everywhere haha.  He waits for us outside appointments and goes with us everywhere!  He call him "woody" because of the song in Toy Story "You've got a friend in me".  haha!

Wednesday me and my comp decided to take out the lists of "Old Investigators" and "future investigators".  We found a WHOLE lot of people that weren't very happy to see us again, but we did have some good lessons.  We taught Cal a really good lesson, he's super excited to learn how to pray and everything.  We set him for a baptismal date for the 12th of December (we'll have to move it back because he had to go to the hospital for an appointment during church Sunday). 

Thursday was a pretty good day! I went in divisions with Elder Gomez (zone leader/ex assistant) and Elder Winchester (Current Assistant).  It was a great spiritual, busy day.  We had a great lesson with Seg that morning, and something i learned from Elder Gomez was to ask lots of good questions.  It makes it way more affective to teach to their needs.  Ive always kind of done it but he helped me do it better.  Later that day we found a new investigator named Hub.  He's a great guy but has an addiction to drugs.  He really wants to change.  We're working hard with him.  On our way over we ran into the 14 year old druggy kid and he was with another girl and they were huffing their shoe glue!  They started following us asking for pesos but we didnt give any.  Then the girl asked Rodrigo for a kiss and he said no and she started crying!  it was a circus.  But wow we're finding so many druggies. Later that day we visited the Marias (M and AM), and they're super excited to be baptized again!  I dont know what happened but i thank you all for the prayers!  They both came to church too, and didnt seem bugged this time! 

Friday was calm and uneventful compared to Thursday.  We taught Maria (M) the Word of Wisdom because she has a smoking issue.  We also had a really nice visit with Cal and we brought the 1st counselor of the branch and the elders quorum pres.  He's such a great guy, we're excited for him. He's changed a lot! 

Saturday we had  a pretty good zone meeting on working with members and using the book of mormon to invite the spirit.  Later that day we met a new guy named John whos also a druggy.  He's pretty good, but kinda nuts.  The drugs he told us he uses are kind of sketchy... but he wants to change so we're gonna help.

Sunday was Excellent!  on our way to get some investigators for church we ran into a guy named Vic, whos also a drug addict!  He told us he wanted to change and come with us to church! (he always said he'd come but never did).  But he really liked it and is starting to take some steps!  He surprised us!  We're getting excited because it looks like we're gonna have lots of baptisms in December!  Merry Christmas!  that night Vic also went to a meeting with the men.  We didnt even stay, but he liked it.  

Today we didnt do anything!  We're just so tired that we slept haha.  But tonight we have 2 family home evenings so all is well! 

Just so you all know and can pray, the Mina family from Cali is passing through some false legal charges and as a result, the kids are with members and the baby was sent to a shelter.  I realize we cant help much but pray for them.  They're wonderful people and were ready for baptism when it happened. 

Thanks!  Love you all! 

Elder Welch

In honor of Thanksgiving, I challenged Jake to be grateful in any circumstance and to find 5 things he's grateful for in any challenge or trial. This was his reply:

I WANNA EAT I wish there was thanksgiving here.  but its chill, your challenge is super easy.  because im super grateful :)  being in Colombia and seeing the people im around makes me grateful for 1a decent home 2a stable family 3plenty of food 4health 5the true church in my life. i could go on and on.  but being in a poorish area brings those things to mind haha. love you mom!  have a great week!

11-10-15 to 11-16-15 Friday the 13th

This week was great!  A bit harder but what's the mission without trials, am i right?

Tuesday we had a zone meeting and i got my "hump day" package!  thanks mom!  we also got some crazy new rules, the biggest being no more soccer nor basketball in the mission, and we can no longer reactivate single women less actives.  only men and familes.  That night we went with some members of the ward to bless the house of an investigator because i guess a witch is cursing her house (don't ask me) and we had a really nice family home evening with her.

Wednesday was good, Elder Muñoz and I felt like knocking some doors, so we did and met some cool people!  It was pretty funny, one guy said "i have something of yours" i brought sister Alzamora's name tag! haha i guess he is a car driver and her nametag fell off and he found it cleaning the car.  What luck!  But it was nice meeting some new people. 

Thursday we had to go to Zarzal to do some baptismal interviews for the zone leaders.  it went well, but we barely got back to the car in time to go home! 

Friday the 13th was classic!  We had the worst of luck!  No one was home, the city cut the water without saying anything, and me and my comp started getting sick!  But the one good appointment we had was super rad.  It was a new kid we met named Seg.  He's a super analytic person and accepted a baptismal date for December.  We're getting excited!

Saturday Elder Muñoz and i got SUPER sick with colds!  Both of us!  It was rough, we wanted to work but we just had no energy to do it haha.  But we still ended up having a really good lesson in the park with a guy we met named Cal.  He's a super rad dude, he used to be a bum we saw passed out at the bakery, but i guess a month ago he had a nasty fall when he was drunk and he broke his arm pretty bad.  He said after that moment he swore to change. So he rented a house, hasnt drunk in a month, shaves, wears clean clothes and sells candy to get by.  He's super humble and was so excited to come with us to church Sunday that he was waiting in the park since 7 in the morning haha.  We're excited about him.

Sunday was kind of a bummer because none of our investigators with baptismal dates came to church and we had a hard time finding people to teach that night.  But we did have some interesting experiences.  First one was when were walking in a dirt road neighborhood, a businessman type man came and asked for help.  He explained how a robber stabbed him the head, how the doctors surgery couldnt do anything and how he had no money to get home.  His head is part shaved where the doctors worked, he had a huge lump with the KNIFE STILL IN HIS HEAD!  It was cut from the doctors but still there.  Gives me chills thinking about it.  So we gave him 6000 pesos (like 2 bucks) to get home.  Crazy! the other was while were walking through a ghetto part and some drugged up 14 year old came out wanting to improvise with Rodrigo.  (Rodrigo improvises rap super good) so Rodrigo schooled him, the kid asked for my ring, I told him no and he ran off sprinting. never a dull moment. 

Today we had a branch activity with Zarzal in a rad farm up above in Andalucia.  It was fun but most of it was swimming so me and my comp felt kind of left out. But it was cool. 

Love you all, hoping this week will be more active appointments-wise.  See ya!

Elder Welch

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A LITTLE Q&A:

Wendy: Was Vanessa's baptism in the river?

Jake: you betcha

Wendy: Are you good? Like really good? Can I pray about anything YOU need just for you? 

Jake: im super good!  just a bit tired.  whipped all the time!  But thats normal for a missionary haha love you mom!