We have a lot of good stuff to look forward to here in Tintal

Elder Kendall, Elder Espina, President and Sister Baquerizo

HO HO HO and a Merrrrrrrrry Christmas one and all!! Christmas was a lot of fun here, got some sweet experiences to tell you, but writing it would be too hard haha XD 

Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope you enjoy being 27 :D

Don´t worry mom, all of the package was still there, and I got all of my fantastic gifts, like the recorder, the belt, peanut butter, candy and all that good stuff. I have already eaten a ton of the candy XD I love the recorder you got me!! Already using it to record some of those stories that I was talkin bout. It was really really good to talk to ya´ll.

Speakin of Miracles in the mish, we have a lot of good stuff to look forward to here in Tintal. We have at least 3 people that we are teaching that we are working really hard to get them prepared to be baptized in January. They are Darwin, Alexandra, and Lorena, and all three are amazing people. We are hoping that all goes well so that they can each reach their goal of being baptized in January!!! Which of course they will, as long as we do all we can and they do the things that our Heavenly Father asks them to do, like come to church!!!! I love these people so much and their families, they each have demonstrated their huge faith in Christ to follow his steps. 

Darwin called us on Christmas to ask how we were doing and how our Christmas was, which was really cool since he called us to ask us. Which never happens. 

Oh yeah, also we had our Christmas dinner with the President on the 22nd, I have some great pictures to send you from that day, and the others :D but the dinner was really good, we got mashed potatoes!!! Which was heavenly to eat. After that we got to watch a movie!! And guess what one we watched!?!?! Lluvia de Hamburguesas!  In other words Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs!!!! It was so dang good, it's one of my favorite movies of all time, and it is really stinkin good even in Spanish!!! It was amazing to get to watch, although I won't lie, made me a little trunky XD

After we played fútbol and lots of other games, it was so much fun. It was a good good day.

So yeah, Christmas was a party, and the thing that Colombians like to do the most here for Christmas is to drink. Which makes it pretty interesting. But other than it being hotter than any other day that I've had here in Tintal without snow and only sun, Christmas was a blast and felt pretty normal. 

I'm lovin it! As unfortunatly McDonalds would say, life is good.

MUCH LOVE, A WHOLE LOT OF LOVE

Elder Kendall

Buenas y Feliz Navidad

Ho Ho Ho! I miss the snow!!

Yo no puedo comprender como es ya casi Navidad, y que voy a pasar ese este ano en Colombia!! 

 

Anywho, things have been pretty good, lots of crazyness here in Colombia with the impending party that is Christmas.

 

This week there are some changes with our schedules. We have p-day on Friday this and the next week, because it will be better to work on the Mondays the next two weeks than on Christmas and on New Year's day, so that is cool! (don't worry we will still write Monday) and it is just for these next two weeks. 

 

Tomorrow is our Cena Navideña with the mission president and all our zone La Libertad. We get to go to the temple and then we have activities all day with the president and his wife, playing games, eating food, and doing whatever else they do here in Colombia. Somthing diferent here as well is that the big celebration of Christmas is on the 24th, and not as much on the 25th. The 24th is going to be crazy here, they do fireworks and everybody parties and drinks, which is a great combination. There are going to be so many people, which is why we are going to skype on the 24th.

 

I got some good stuff saved up for the skyping by the way, so I hope that you guys are good with just sittin there and listening to my beautiful manly man voice and hearing all my stories that I got for ya´ll. Because its goin to be good.

 

This week was a little disappointing, we didnt have Darwin or anyone this week that could come to church. That is the hardest thing to get people to do, probably anywhere, is to get people to come to church. So Darwin's baptism will have to be pushed to the 2nd of January, and our other investigators dates for baptism will also have to be pushed back. We need to find some new people to teach, which we are working on to contact people more. 

 

Other than that this week was really good. We have had some really good lessons with Darwin and others, really the only thing that Darwin needs to be baptized is to attend church one more time, because he is reading and praying and has a testimony. He is such a cool guy. 

 

This week is going to be a tough one with Star Wars coming out and Christmas and all that jazz, but really it is going to be awesome with all the craziness and the fireworks here as well. 

I MISS STUDIO C hahaha, the 4 Wisemen sounds amazing. Is Star Wars already showing at the movie theater????? That's like 6 days early XD 

 

I´m really glad things are going great for you guys out there in the land of the cold. 

 

Realmente yo deseo que ustedes pueden saber que bueno es un mision en Colombia Bogota Sur, porque, mejor dicho, es el mejor 2 anos de toda la vida!!!!!!!!

Love, 

Elder Kendall

 

The card has Chewbacca "singing" Wish You a Merry Christmas... it's like the card was made for Elder Kendall :)

 

There is sunshine in Colombia today! and everyday.....

So this week has been really good, we found a lot of new people to teach and some of our people that we have been teaching are really doing well!

Darwin came to church again!!!!!!!! He is so good, we have taught him a couple of times in the gospel principles class (because we teach it each week when our investigators come) and he knows so much about Jesus Christ and has so much faith, I don't know how he hasn't been a member already. He understands and believes all that we teach him about the Gospel principles, and is applying them. All that he really needs to do is attend church one more time and he is ready to be baptized! I have so much love for these people of Colombia, they are truly amazing. 

How´s the snow?? I gotta tell ya I do kinda miss that stuff. But we get fireworks here for Christmas so that's going to be pretty cool. We have been using the Christmas video to get references, and it has been pretty good! It is hard to contact people here in Tintal, because everybody lives in Conjuntos, or apartment complexes that are always inside big gates that don't let us in unless we have the tower and apartment number. But we have found some great people.

My companion is another awesome missionary. I really have been so blessed to have such cool guys with me. He understands all English and he speaks it all the time, so we have a lot of fun talking in English. He says the funniest things in the whole world. We are working hard to fix our branch, because I also learned that Tintal has a lot of problems. But we are going to work hard and make things better.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So yeah things are going well, I'm having a great time out here. I can always feel the love Heavenly Father has for me, and especially for the people of Tintal.

D&C 18:11-14 I think. The part where it talks about bringing souls to Christ. It is the joy that I have begun to feel for these peeps of Tintal. 

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Kendall

P.S. I heard in the mall here the song GREASE playing, and I started grooving out a little bit. 

STAY THIS MADNESS!!!!!! (Gandalf quote)

 

Proof Zach is eating SOMETHING :)

Thanksgiving Feast :)

Further proof Zach is eating  :)

Fulfilled promise to Janica to wear the ugly tie she sent with him to be worn on her birthday (which is today)

Zach MADE this omelet... he is already growing so much :)

 

Alrighty, Mucho Cambios Este Semana

Yo yo, it's me down is the big city. I got some good stuff, I´ll start with new stuff.

 

That day that I was waiting for my new companion to come from Laticia, we waited from 9:00 in the morning til 7:30 at night, so it was a good amount of time to wait. But he arrived and he is pretty cool. His name is Elder Espinola, he is from Paraguay and he also speaks pretty good English, and of course a ton of Spanish. He also knows Portuguese, because there are a lot of people that speak that in Laticia. 

This week has been a big change and a big challenge without having Elder Ichuro to help me out with the area. It becomes a lot harder to know what we are going to do if our appointments fall, because I run out of people to visit, since I only know the area so well. But we have been finding some new people and we are getting along. It is a lot of hard work and a ton of learning, and it has been very good for me to focus on these people and figure out who we are going to teach. 

Side note, I still have pictures to send, but I cant because my computer doesn't have a USB for me to plug in, so hopefully next week.

Darwin is going good, we have had some really powerful lessons with him, about baptism and other such things. The only thing he faults is he didn't attend church yesterday, which was pretty hard and disappointing. Unfortunately he won't be able to reach his goal of being baptized the 19th of December because he still needs to attend church 2 more times. We aren't exactly sure what happened, we hope that we can meet with him this week and see how he is doing. I still have a lot of confidence he can continue to progress, and although it is difficult, I know the Lord is with us and I know that he will bless him. 

Also Star Wars is coming out, and it's been getting to me a little bit. There is a less active member that we have been visiting, and the last time we visited his 1 and a half year old daughter was wearing this jacket that was the perfect size for it to be a Jedi robe. It was flippin cool, she looked just like a padawan, a Jedi in training. 

Also Scriptures that have helped me this week 

Alma 17:13    Philippians 4:13 

That is pretty much it for this week, as always I'll pull a Nephi and say that I can't write one hundredth of what I have lived, but I can't wait to talk to you guys and tell ya about Bogota!!!

Love, 

Elder Kendall

Transfers, Lack of Turkey, and other such Things

ELLO GOVNA! yeah I just had to get that out of my system, anywho, this week a lot happened, and I don't have any darn pictures with me because I left my camera at our house because I thought I would be writing later. 

Transfers, so my dad and a really awesome Elder Ichuro left today for Florencia, which is like 13 hours away from Bogota. I`m pretty bummed that he has left, it is going to be really different without him. He is a really great Elder and has taught me a lot. My new companion, who hasn't come yet, is Elder Espina, he is from Paraguay and his last area that he was in is Laticia, so that is pretty cool. But he still hasnt come yet, and this week is going to be an interesting one. Since I'm the one that knows the area, I´m going to be leading everything, from who we are going to teach, where we are going to go, I make the calls, lead the way to the houses and lead the daily and weekly planning sessions of what we are going to do. Also, my new companion only speaks Spanish as well, which means that yes, everything is in Spanish, and I am leading it.  I hope that I can do a good job.

 

I have met the president a few times but I haven't talked to him a whole lot. We had a Conference de Zona last tuesday where all the missionaries is Zona Libertad y Kennedy met with the President to listen to him and learn how to be better missionaries. President Baquerizo is amazing. We don't have any senior missionaries, or any North American sister missionaries because they arent allowed to serve in the Bogota South mission. 

 

I have pictures of our ``Thanksgiving,´´ but I don't have my camera so I will have to send them next week. It was sad not having any mashed potatoes or turkey or anything like that, but hey, we did have a 3 liter thing of coke so that was pretty sweet. 

 

Darwin is amazing, and I want to tell you an experience we had with him this Sunday. 

 

We visited with him on Saturday and invited him to church, and he accepted so we made plans to meet him at his house at 9:30, and bring him with us to church. So that Sunday morning we left for his house and we passed by the park on the way to his house when Darwin saw us and called us over. It was the planned time of 9:30 and we talked for a little bit, then we asked if he was ready to go with us to church. But he said that he was waiting for a friend to come and couldnt come with us to church. We were pretty sad at this, but we told him how church didnt start till 10, and he could still come and meet us at the church when he was done with his friend. He said that he would try. So we left, feeling sad and not super optomistic that he would come. Also this Sunday I gave a talk, about the sacrifice of all things, which was pretty awesome, anyways, we where in the chapel, and 10 came and went, and no Darwin. So we went through sacrament meeting, and I went up and started my talk(in spanish). xD 

 

About halfway through, I saw my companion leave the chapel, and I thought, weird im giving my talk and my companion just left the chapel. But when he returned I saw that Darwin was with him. He came. So he was able to hear the rest of my talk and attend the whole 3 hours of church. He is really progressing and I truly believe that if he keeps this path he is going to be baptized this month. He is reading and praying and he is believing, and to watch that process is absolutly an amazing experience. 

 

My week has been crazy, with a new companion and all this. Other stuff too, but I don't have all that much time.  As Christmas is coming up, I know how important family will be and I hope you guys all enjoy the snow!!! 

 

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Love, love to much lovey love love,

 

Elder Kendall

The gift of tongues is real

So this week was pretty normal, I have gotten to the point in my Spanish where I can understand about 90% of what is going on most of the time, which is a huge blessing. The other night in our lesson I wasn't thinking about how I wanted to say things, I just said them. The gift of tongues is real, and it is the only reason that I can do anything out here.

Next week is transfers, yeah that's right I've almost completed my first 6 weeks in the field already. I don't know how it is going in Utah, but out here in Colombia I swear they all have the clocks set on extra fast mode because that is how the time goes here. I have already almost completed 3 months of my mission, I honestly cant believe it. I am really good though, my companion is seriously awesome. This transfer is going to be a little hard I think.

I'm not sure why my taste buds didn't work before because pancakes are flippin tasty. I have realized, there's a lot of food I have taken for granted, which is really good and is in America. I have also learned that Tintal is pretty much as nice of an area as it gets living and food wise. The people are rich here. I have learned there is a soup, where they put a chicken foot, and then all the rest of the organs of the chicken, and that is the soup. Also that there is a dish they do where they take vegetables, and blend up the intestines of an animal mixed with mayonnaise and use that for the dressing. And that's it. Pray for me.

But yeah anyways, next week is transfers, and I'm pretty sure that Elder Ichuro is going somewhere else. He has almost seven months in Tintal, so he is getting about ready to leave. Which also means that if he leaves, I will have to lead the area. Which is to say, I will be the one that knows the area more so I will have to lead my new companion around and decide where and what we are going to do, like what!?! It is going to be interesting, but I know that with the guidance of the spirit I can do all things. 

Our investigator Darwin is doing really well, we have taught him the first 3 lessons and the Word of Wisdom, and the only thing he has a problem with is coffee.  I have a testimony of the Book of Mormon. Darwin said in our last visit that usually whenever people come to him and tell him about another book other than the bible, he doesnt like it. But with the Book of Mormon he said that it is good, and that it is the word of God. He is so darn good, I can feel he has been prepared by the Lord. When we asked him if he would keep the word of wisdom and stop drinking coffe, he said of course, and he didnt have a problem with stopping. I can feel the Lord pouring his spirit upon this guy, all that he lacks so far is attending church. Which are going to help him by giving him a tour of the chapel and letting him see how to get there from his house.  We have his baptism set for the 12 of December, and I really think he will be ready by then.

Also, Elder Richens(James) is already a Dad!!! That is to say that he is already training!! He told me today that last week he picked up his son. SO COOL!!!!

We had stake conference this week, which was really good, I got to see Hermano Castiblanco from the CCM!! That guy is super legit. 

Also, next week I am giving a talk on "The Sacrifice of All Things." It's for 10 minutes, and that's right, its in Spanish, which is kinda weird, it almost feels like I'm in a country that only speaks Spanish. But there are some great scriptures for me to use and I am excited to give this talk.

Not to much this week, next week is going to be big!! 

Con Mucho Amor 

Elder Kendall

fotos de el ultimo semana

(Photos of the last week)

Pancakes Zach made for his companion's birthday

Con todo el amor en el Mundo

Alrighty, lets get down to business, to defeat, the HUNS (YAAAAH)! (From Mulan, if you weren't sure)

 

Alrighty Peoples, starting with My companion rulez!!! Seriously I love this guy, even though he speaks really fast and I don't know what he is saying or what is going on, I love the guy. He is a great help for me.

 

This week was kinda hard to be honest, it turns out we aren't really close with a baptism for Katerina, even though she has all the lessons and is totally technically ready, she lacks the desire to be baptized, which is kinda important for her to have, and is a little frustrating. However, we got to teach Darwin, who is a new investigator and is really awesome. He is a Coastano, which means that his Spanish is extremely fast and hard for my companion to understand, which means I usually understand nothing of what he says. However, he has been reading the book of Mormon and praying, and we have a strong feeling that he knows it is true. So I hope he can keep progressing. 

 

Man I don't know how to manage this time well enough to talk to everyone I want, and I don't have the time I want to write this week. But anyways, 

 

Today we also had an activity that we planned with our branch missionary work leader.  It was supposed to start at 10, but no one showed up until 12, including our leaders who had the keys to the church, which was a little frustrating. But after that, people from the branch came and it was a lot of fun.  We played fútbol, and I even scored a goal, which was a miracle because I can't play fútbol. None of our investigatores came, which was also hard because we really wanted them to meet the members and be able to make friends with the members. But, alas they did not come. Pero, it was still a great activity.

 

So yes, I suppose I should share with you I am really tired, because I couldn't sleep at all last night. I was a little sick, and I threw up this morning, but I am much better now. 

 

Something awesome that was also this morning, was we got to do service that we contacted while on the street. They are fantastic, and I'm hoping that soon we will be able to visit them. 

 

I'm going to pull a Nephi and say I cant write 1/100 of what has been happening these weeks, but that is what I have my journal for. Also I have only received one letter so far in the district meetings. 

 

Know that I am so happy as a missionary and that I really love the people in Tindal. The people in our branch  are so dang competitive I love them to death. They are all very good people. 

 

Also I have seen some snakes XD XD (Snakes are Colombian young ladies who like to hiss at handsome young Americans)

I hope that life is going good!

 

Con todo el amor en el Mundo,

 

Elder Kendall

This weeks edition of Elder Kendall life

Alrighty you ready for this weeks edition of Elder Kendall life, here we go.

My companion has learned how to say "you are my heaven" and "you got beef bruh!!" so you know that I have been teaching him quality phrases in English. Also I got my letter from the CCM finally, also I learned that you have to send anything that you want to send me to the Mission office, and then they will bring it to me at our district meetings.

 

Some of the points that I like or that I think are funny from the 34 Points on How to be a Happy Missionary (an article Zach got in his letter from the CCM): Point 5) hahaha that one is funny!! (Eventually you will get good at eating all the food on your plate)  Number ten about recipes. You should send me some recipes, some simple ones. We even have a croc-pot that we can use! I would love some real food to make ourselves. Point 12) with the piano, Oh how I wish I could play the piano, or that we even had a piano. In our chapel, we don't have one. But that does not stop the Colombians from singing, and they do it with all their hearts. I love the goodness out of these people, but they need a piano. But I love it because they sing louder than our ward does back home. I like numbers 20-22:Laugh. Cry. Pray. A lot, He understands. Another point, the one about dogs: There are dogs EVERYWHERE in Bogota. They are literally all over the place in the streets, and everybody, and I do mean everybody, has some sort of pet. I actually do have a small freezer believe it or not (for number 27:  You will have bad days, keep ice cream in the freezer for this purpose).

 

So lunches are pretty hard for me, but that's because eating food sometimes is hard for me. Everyday we have lunch with members, and they cook pure Colombian food, and sometimes its a struggle bus for me to get through, but I am making it. We don't ever really cook, unless its eggs, but today I bought pancake mix, because thats something else that I've been converted to, is how GOOD pancakes are. We don't ever grocery shop XD Today was the first day that I bought some groceries, because I really wanted some other stuff to have. Every day we buy bread and that is generally what we eat for breakfast, which I'm okay with because the bread here is amazing. 

 

 

It has been raining a ton lately, so much so the other day that it flooded the streets a little bit. I am really greatful I brought that coat with me, I've used it quite a few times.

 

 

The other day, I had my first lesson where I actually talked a little more than my companion, it was really good because I found confidence in my Spanish, and though it was far from perfect I was able to teach the ideas that I wanted. I love the first lesson, it is my favorite, it was the one we taught. It is the one I can express the most about. 

 

 

We also had primary program, it was really cute, Mom, we are so blessed with are members in Utah. Along with a lot of other stuff. We had about 5 kids for our primary program speak, and they were all awesome. The rest of the time was filled with a couple talks by adults about the primary program. What a blessing it is to have the primary program. 

 

 

So, the other day we were meeting with a lady and talking to her outside her apartment on the ground floor, when all of the sudden... appeared a bunny!!! Yeah, I was thinking "Holy cow a bunny in Colombia, how weird!?"  Then another one popped out of nowhere, and ran over to the other bunny. And all I could think was, uh-oh there's about to be a whole lot more bunnies in Colombia, because ya'know, they're bunnies. 

 

 

On Sunday, I was having a real hard time with Spanish. I was not understanding anything and I also couldn't express what I wanted to say, I was also attacked with thoughts of my friends and home. But, like always, once I got to work, God showed his tender mercies to me. Our first Visit was with a less active family the Jemenz. We shared our thought, which came from Alma 50:1-6. which I also recomend to read because it is awesome. Anyways, once we were done, the Father asked me how long I had been learning Spanish. I told him for 2 months. He was said it was amazing how well I was able to speak spanish and express my thoughts about the scripture. He said it was so cool how in 2 months I was able to speak pretty good Spanish. I know that the gift of tongues is real. I know that my Spanish is far from perfect, but it is amazing how much I have learned in only 2 months. 

 

 

I can't write everything I want to, I will have to more next week.  Know that I am so happy, and that we also have someone we are hoping to baptize for the 14th!! Please pray that Katerine (our investigator) with have the desire to be baptized this Saturday!

Com Mucho Amor

Elder Kendall

Quiero Paz, Quiero Amor, Quiero Dulce, Por Favor!



Me on Halloween

The weather is actually pretty cold here, especially at nights. I end up using my sweaters pretty much every day, they are so useful.  Also it has been raining a lot the last few days, I have loved it.  It has been really nice.

Our area only has a branch, with about 30 active members in it, it hasn't grown into an actual ward. YET.

Here was my week:

This week was pretty good. I'm beginning to get the hang of this missionary life a little bit. I'm going to be honest, Spanish is a big barrier for me, it's real hard sometimes. But time after time after time I have seen the hand of the Lord, Guiding me. Always. Let me give you some examples.

Service. This week we have done a lot of service, which the only service that people let you do around is helping them move, usually up a lot of stairs. I'm not sure what it is about Bogota, but people move to different appartments ALL the time. But it provides amazing service, in which we can contact new people. Me and my companion had a special fast this last Tuesday to Wednesday, which at the end of our fast on Wednesday, we had our first opportunity to help someone move. Then again on Friday. Me and my companion also got to clean the Church this last saturday, it was good. 

Testimony: I have been able to share my testimony a lot this week. During fast sunday at church, I got up and bore my testimony to our little branch. I have no idea what I said, but by the looks on peoples faces it was something good, I was really glad I had the opportunity to share it. Many times during lessons this week, I have been able to express my mind more fully in Spanish, because I have a lot to share about this gospel, and I am finally begining to be able to express it in Spanish. 

HALLOWEEN!!! So Halloween is pretty fun here, it's more or less the same as in the United States, except with 8 million people in the streets. Seriously So many People. We had one lesson with a family, and then around 7:00 we had to return home because none of our other appointments were home, and the streets were getting kinda crazy. The kids here are hilarious, they have a saying to ask for candy that they ask EVERY single time before they get candy. It goes like this "Quiero Paz, Quiero Amor, Quiero Dulce, Por Favor!" It is pretty awesome. In english it means "I want peace, I want love, I want candy, Please!" and they have to say it every time or else they dont get candy. It is awesome. I sent a picture with my "Costume" So that you can see how awesome it is. Also, we got these marshmallow candy things, and decided we wanted to roast them. So we did, over the little flame of our gas stove, it was pretty awesome. I do miss american candy though, a lot. They have a lot of hard candy, little simple things, a lot for what they give out here.

 

How is it in America? Any crazy costumes of the little Ninos?

So yeah this week was really good, filled with fun and the spirit!!

Elder Kendall

 

Let me tell you I am really in Colombia

Okay so first off I got to tell ya about my last week in the CCM.

 

My district got the record for the most references for a district in proselyting!!! My district is amazing!!! We got 128 total references!!! Me and my companion got 30 references in 3 hours. It was one of the coolest things ever!! It was so much fun! We met a guy named Juan Pablo, he is about a year or so older than us. He was really funny, we taught him about the Book of Mormon, and he said "Wait, so you guys are happy with just this book?" We said yeah this book and our church is all we need!! He said " You guys don't drink or party, or get many ladies?" (He spoke English pretty well by the way) We said yeah! He said "But the women!! Guys the women!!" He was funny, I explained how we should have one wife for eternity. He said he would read the Book of Mormon and think about what we said. So cool.

 

A quote from Nacho Libre that we use all the time in the CCM

"You don't think I give a crap about the Gospel, but I dooo."

So I left the CCM, and I really miss my district because they were amazing, but now I am in the Field living the real Mission life!!

 

Let me tell you I am really in Colombia.

 

My new companion is Elder Ichuro, he is a Latino Elder from Bolivia. He speaks virtually no English, we do everything in Spanish. The people here talk really really fast! Most of the time its really hard to understand what is happening when we talk to people or go places. But the people are awesome!! I have met a lot of them, my branch president, the ward mission leader, a bunch of our investigators and members. Church this last Sunday was interesting. I didn't really know what was happening. But it was cool because it was exactly the same as if it was in America, just a lot smaller. My area is called Tintal, and my zone is La Libertad. I'm still in Bogota, but ya know, south!! I also met our district and zone leaders, one of the district leader's name is Elder Momberger. That is really his name.

 

Also, the way we contact sometimes is pretty fun. In Bogota there are like 8 million people or something like that, so a lot of people live in tiny box apartments that are stacked on top of each other, but sometimes people don't live on the bottom floor, there are just the stairs to get to the apartments, and the door to the stairs is always locked. So we can't get to the actual doors of people's homes. So we get a little pebble, and throw it very gently at their window. Then we have a conversation through their window and see if they want to learn more. We have done this a lot, along with other contacting. 

 

Mornings are really difficult, because my brain can't work Spanish, and my companion only speaks Spanish, so pretty much everything in the morning goes over my head, but I am learning.

Also, you'll never believe this, but I used my nail clippers to try and clip my big toe nail, and my toe nail clipper SNAPPED. I have literally grown and Iron toenail, I'm going to have to buy a new one so I can clip it.

 

I have seen some crazy stuff. An Elder the first day leaving the CCM said you see some crazy stuff, like apparently the women here just breast feed right in front of you. I thought, no way!! That can't be true!! But guess what..... I have seen things mom..... Yup that's right, a women in a family we were visiting just whipped it right out and started feeding, so yeah......

 

There has been a lot of stuff that has happened, but I am alive and I am eating food and I love my Area!!!!!

Elder Kendall

 

Me and Hermano Castiblanco

My best buds from the CCM

My new companion

 

And life is good.

So I'm going to start off with some funny stuff and end with some spiritual stuff.

 

So we have 3 red language learning books of different sizes, and we call each one a different Pokémon. The order goes from smallest to biggest, smallest being Charmander, medium is Charmeleon, and the biggest is Charizard. So yeah whenever we get those books out we are all like, do I need my Charmander or my Charizard for this battle? (With the language that is). Or Charmeleon I choose you!!!

 

And life is good.

Apparently I look just like Phineas from Phineas and Ferb. We had a district vote on it, and they all voted yup most definitely. So you can call me Phineas.

Also I had to convince everyone in my district that my tie with Captain Moroni and the Title of Liberty is really him, because they say its just a guy holding a flag.

Doctrine and Covenants 6:36 en Espanol "Elevad hacia mi todo pensamiento; no dudeis; no temais."

 

Now a wonderful rendition of my life in the ccm in spanish

Mi vida en el CCM es no facil, pero Yo me gusta las actividades de el CCM. La comida es mas o menos bien y a veces es muy dificil para mi a como, pero muchos de tiempo es muy sabroso. Cuando mi companero y Yo ensenando nuestros investigadores, Yo siento muchos ama para ellos. El helado en Colombia es muy muy delicioso, y mejor que el halado en Utahh.  Excepto el Helado de Kravers. Yo estoy saliendo el CCM en cuatro dias!!!! Pronto yo estare ensenando los investigadores ea realidad!!!

 

I don't think it's all 100 percent correct XD

So in our district for a district meeting we did an activity where we all took a turn to sit in the middle of everyone else, while everyone else in the district would find scriptures that applied to the life of the person in the middle. It was amazing, these are the scriptures they picked for me:

 

Daniel 5:14 Mosiah 5:15 1 Nephi 3:7 DandC 75:2-4 DandC 58:27 Alma 36:20

 

And Elder Scott even wrote his own scripture about me:

 

"And now behold, Elder Kendall is and shall be a ray of overwhelming happiness filled jollified creature that is at high risk of infecting all the inhabitants of the earth with the total and incontrollable inability to frown. And this it shall be forever and always, amen." 

Wow right?

 

 

Temple today

 

 

Kicked out of the Hobbit Hole

So yeah I only have 2 weeks left in the CCM! Then its off to real life missionary work in the big old world of Bogota South!!!

 

Here are some of the things I did and saw.

 

There was this guy who was just in the middle of the street juggling, he was really good at it.

 

We went proselyting again!!! This time we went for 3 hours and it was an amazing experience!!! Me and Elder Marsh made a goal to get 15 references (which is peoples contact information) and we got 17!!!! It was really cool, we talked to A LOT of people. Most were really nice, others just didn't have time to listen!!! 

 

We ran into some Jehovah witnesses, but my companion didn't realize who they were, and I didn't know how to signal him without offending them. So Elder Marsh tried to get their contact info while I stood there awkwardly and the Jehovah witnesses tried to share a book and some of their pamphlets with us. It was really funny after we finished talking to them and I told Elder Marsh who they were. He had no idea.

 

Elder Holland's talk was my favorite!!! IT WAS AMAZING!!! I just love Elder Holland!!! Also Elder Bednar's talk was fantastic. 

 

So for the last 4 weeks in the CCM I've been in the same class and the same district, and our classroom became affectionately known as the Hobbit Hole. Because it is so comfy and small.  However, these last to weeks they kicked us out of the Hobbit Hole!!!! But, to make up for it, they combined the 2 districts that they split off at the beginning, so now I'm in one big district with all the Missionaries that I flew in with!! Which a super cool blessing.

 

 

We also went on tour!!!! I have a lot of pictures of different stuff, so I will be spending time sending those to you.  I SAW A LLAMA AND I RODE IT!!! You got the pictures right? You saw the pure glee in my face!?!?!

 

 

I hope you know how much being a missionary has made my life awesome!!! I enjoy it a whole lot!

 

 

My dreams will come true shortly...

Some random facts about stuff here.

The best thing to eat are the cheese filled croissants, which we get each Sunday before the next group leaves. 

I am almost on my last 2 weeks!! Then I'm really going out there as a missionary!!!

So if you can please send me some peanut butter!!!! They have cero peanut butter down here, and I didn't even realize how much I missed it!! haha please if you can send like 2 jars XD.

I'm really bad at shining my shoes.

It gets cloudy pretty much every day and mostly stays that way, but not Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs unfortunately.

The people here are really pretty nice, unless you are driving in the traffic.

Next week we get to go on a tour of some of the city, and I hear that you get to ride a Llama and take a picture!!! SO basically my dreams will come true shortly.

Also I've been playing a lot of volleyball, every time we have gym in fact. I am really bad, the Elders y Hermanas say its pretty funny to watch.

General Conference is happening!!! I literally cannot wait. It is going to be so good!!!!

We  watched Elder Scott's funeral, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, and I nearly cried because it reminded me so much of Choir and so much of High School and my friends, it was really powerful!!!

All the missionaries that I came into the CCM with are singing a hymn during Sacrament the last Sunday that we are here. Its called OH MI PADRE but we are singing it to the tune of Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. It sounds really good and I know how to sing it.

So yeah life is good!! Also we get Oreos every Sunday and I have started to save them because they are really good and I need a stockpile!!! So yeah one day if you could send me some American food, that would be cool but it is not required.

We eat SO much rice!!!! I love it!!!!XD XD

Some cool flowers

A cool bridge thing (Zach's exact words)

The gate that keeps us locked in for time and eternity!!!

What they call here MY LOOK... So in class one of the Maestros wrote in Spanish "Satan is trying to distract you" and I made a face and a point to go along with it.  So whenever Satan is trying to distract us, I literally point it out and do that face

A cool truck

Me!!

Two weeks down already!!

Time is really starting to pick up here!! in 4 weeks I will be out and about in the good old streets of Bogota (maybe I think who knows I could go anywhere). 

So on Saturday we went proselyting for 1 hour in the actual streets of Bogota by the CCM!! It was kinda terrifying because of the huge Spanish barrier but we got used to it after a while, and the first guy we talked to just so happened to speak some English which made things a lot easier. We ended up talking to about 5 people, and got 4 referrals! It was really cool to get to know each person and what their thoughts were, and even cooler that we were able to somewhatly speak enough Spanish to have them understand us. It was a really cool experience.

I also did a Spanish session in the Temple and that was really interesting, I had to kind of pick out the words that I knew and also had to pay a lot of attention. But the amazing thing is, I still feel the same spirit and it still teaches the exact same thing even if its in another language.

Today me and 5 other  Elders went through immigration to get our visas or get permission to live in the country, that kind of stuff. It was pretty interesting. 

As the weeks go on I am learning so much more Spanish and so much more how to teach as a missionary, and I love it. 

That's all I got for this week, I hope you all remember, no matter what happens in our lives, God does not abandon us. EVER!

Elder Kendall

Hurrah for Israel!!!!!!!!!!

We went to the Bogota temple :)

Hello from the CCM!!!! Life has been fantastico! The days have started to go pretty fast. By the way, I'm already forgetting how to spell stuff in English (also I'm just bad at writing), so if you end up not being able to read what I wrote, I do apologize. So much has happened in the last nine days! The first day I flew in with a bunch of nortes (that's what they call us here) and there were a lot of them! There were 14 missionaries that all flew to the Bogota CCM together. My companion Elder Marsh, is from South Jordan, Utah. In fact the latinos (that's what we affectionately all call the native missionaries that are at the CCM) all say that anyone that comes from the US is coming from Utah. And they are pretty much right XD We have been doing lots of practicing Spanish, mostly by teaching lessons to investigadors in Spanish. It is terrifying!! some of the things that you want to say, are really hard to say in Spanish. 

Also i am still alive because I am eating the food!!! I know what your all thinking.... COMO??? (HOW???) but yes i actually enjoy a lot of the food here, even though it is a lot different. That first morning for breakfast with a hotdogs, hot chocolate, sweet rolls, and to drink we had yogurt. Also, if you dip the sweet roll in the hot chocolate, it tastes really good just in case you were wondering. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day here. 

We went to the Bogota Temple and it was really beautiful, I learned that during the session there was one of the Seventies in our session which was pretty cool. Then I realized that I sat next to him, THE WHOLE TIME! I had no idea, but yeah h sat next to the temple president and a Seventy the entire time. So yeah, life is good, and I Love Being a Missionary!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love you all,

Elder Kendall 

P.S. if any of you are feeling down on yourself, or like you don't know how to carry on, I want you to read Alma 26. Yeah that's right the whole chapter. Its one of my favorites of all time and I know that it can help you find the many reasons we have to REJOICE!!

Hola!

I love the CCM!! (MTC) The people I came to Colombia with are fantastic and I love them! My companion is named Elder Marsh, and he's from Utah, too. We are roomed with four other missionaries who are all natives and pretty much only speak Spanish, it's a lot of fun! The breakfast this morning was pretty interesting I got two hot dogs, just the dogs, and we drank hot chocolate and also yogurt. Yeah we drank yogurt like it was a soda!! I just got my name tag and am learning Spanish already. 

So yeah life is pretty much the greatest being a missionary. 

Yo estoy muy bien!!!

Love you,

Elder Kendall

Leaving on a jet plane

It finally came!  Feels like Elder Kendall has been waiting forever for this day!  We put him on a plane to Bogota, Colombia.  He is so ready to get to work.  We will miss him, but are so proud of him.  Love you, Zach!