As i told all of you on Monday, Tuesday i shipped out of
Ipiales for good, and bused to Cali ! So i found out though my zone is called San Fernando , my area is
Jamundi! Jamundi is a smaller town
outside of Cali
about 15 min, and theres only 4 missionaries here. But We left that morning on Tuesday and bused
12 hours to the terminal in Cali . From there we took another taxi for an hour
to Jamundi. Wowww what a long day.
I was bummed to say bye to Solorio, he was the best comp in
the world, but its cool. OH, i also
found out my comp is Elder Ortiz from PERU not from Bogotá! So he's a different Elder than the zone
leaders told me! What luck haha! Elder Ortiz is even in my group! (that means they left the MTC at the same
time). He was in Pasto , so that means we're opening this
area. shoooot!
That night we rolled into the apartment at about 9 oclock
and wow is it hot! 82 degrees at
night! we have to sleep with mosquito
nets over our beds haha. Just part of
the experience i guess! Wednesday was
our first day and we just went with the other Elders. Elder Bautizta from Peru and Elder Neilson from Price Utah (we live in the same house). They took us
around to meet some of the people and the most interesting man we met is Ar. He lives about half an our into the country
side by bus and he bought tons of land and built his own shack by hand. Its a wayyy cool place. He is an investigator and will baptize as
soon as he can marry his wife. He's
super golden. He also plays guitar way
well and we listened for a while while he played songs like Stairway to heaven
and Pink Floyd and stuff hahaha. It was
a good time.
That night we called a member whos a taxi driver because he
takes us places for free. He was wayy
funny and nice! He kept yelling out the
window at people he didnt even know and was way fun! The culture here is SOOO much more open and
friendly.
That night we went and met an investigator. He was kinda strange and when he said the
opening prayer, and said "Dear loving Joseph Smith" i knew he was a
member pranking us haha. His name is
Abner and I guess he does that to every new missionaries! I knew better though, past missionaries fell
for it hahahah.
Thursday we had to travel to Cali for a zone conference which is about an
hour by bus because buses stop so much, and it was pretty good. Other than that we just visited members all
day to try and make some friends to aid in opening the area. It was a good day.
Friday was great!
That morning we had to travel to Cali AGAIN for the new initiative of
the Church called GraciasAQueElVive, or "BecauseHeLives!" Its kinda like the "He is the Gift"
campaign but this time focuses on the Resurrection. I like that because we can use it all year
round! Its a way beautiful video, check
it out if you havent yet! Friday Elder
Ortiz and I also went out and worked on our own for the first time! (well, we
brought a member haha), but it was cool!
We got to know an investigator named Luz and her daughter. Theyre a great family but also have been investigating for a
while. We just need to take away their
doubts and BAM baptisms. That night we
went to another members house for Elder Neilson's birthday, had a barbeque and
nailed him with eggs and had a water balloon fight haha it was a good
time.
Saturday was pretty slow.
Elder Ortiz and I searched out people on a list we had all day so we
walked a TON. But its good to learn the
area. Just kinda hard, but part of
opening the area.
Yesterday was Sunday, and it was the first day we got to
know the ward. Today for Pday we went to
Cali and played
volleyball and soccer as a zone, and after, me and my 3 other comps went to
McDONALDS! No lies, it was the best
McDonalds Ive ever eaten, i was sooo happy.
I got a double angus cheese burger.
Oh the Joy. First time in 6
months haha. So ive enjoying it here! Its a lot hotter than Ipiales, but the
culture is funner, the people are nicer, and im really enjoying it! Theres lots of pretty mountains and birds
here! So Ill keep you all posted as we progress with
the area but yeah, theres my week!
Love
you all!
Elder Welch
The sweet pensionista that fed him lunch everyday
while he served in Ipiales.
View from the new apartment in Jamundi
View from the new apartment in Jamundi
This was his caption for this picture. All in caps:
"MCDONALDS! IN CALI
DREAMS COME TRUE! HALLELUJAH!"
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