Bogota Summer 2018!

Elder Donaldson and last companion (who is a stud) Elder Maravi from Peru!

Elder Donaldson has been sharing most of his experiences and adventures via voice recordings the past few months.  It's exhilarating to hear his voice, and we chuckle at his accent.  Here are the a summary of his pictures and happenings over this summer 2018.  He has loved his areas, his companions and the Colombian people.  He's a little thinner, a little less hair on top, but trade off for deep abiding testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ and His gospel.   Working hard.  3 more weeks!

New Mission President and my new Comp Elder Maravi!  Great day in Bogota. 

The Flia Montoya family baptsim!   Awesome day!

I like to eat. 

Lunch with the district!

I've learned so many things on the mission and I'm excited to share and talk in detail when I get home.   One thing I've felt and wished and worked towards as a missionary is to just genuinely love everyone.  We meet all sorts of people day in day out.   It's my desire to love them as Christ would love them.   Most of these souls are very good people, but it's sad the view they have of religious people, and even sadder in some cases their perspective is true. My belief is just treat everyone the same, love them, help them feel the Savior's love and stop labeling people as gay, less active, drunks, or whatever they are, and just treat them the same. The atonement is for all and it works and is real.     

Also I got Colombia Jerseys for the whole fam so we can take a cool family pic when I get back!

Love you all lots.   Thanks for everything!

Elder Donaldson

Back with E Amick!

April is awesome!  Back in Bogota with Elder Amick, my pal!!   It's going to be an awesome month!  

So my voice recorder broke, I'll try and fix it and hopefully be able to send you some stories next week. this week has just been busy getting to know the area.   We had a bunch of zone activities that we were in charge of too, and it turned out to be a lot more complicated than I thought. we had to go all the way to the offices one day to pick up supplies, and when we showed up saturday to do our activity the relief society also had an activity planned... sooo we just improvised the best we could doing our activity in the hallway.   We put up a big banner of Jesus in front of the bathrooms, and then used the classrooms for the rest of our presentations since the relief society had the gym and the chapel. after all was done, we got 2 references though so we will see how they turn out. anyways, highlights for the week;

Funny story, at least to us..... Elder Amick and I saw a dude in really tight skinny jeans on a skateboard, and just as we were smiling at his jeans when out of the blue he fell of his skateboard and did the splits.  We were dying trying to act compassionate and contain our laughing.  It was sooo funny.  He was okay, but then he didn't want to skate anymore and he started walking.

We also found a really cool family by accident.   We just starting knocking doors and we found a less active lady who hasn't been back to church for years.   She told us she had thrown away her Book of Mormon, and then she asked us why we had come.   We said we were looking for people to visit, and then she said a prayer thanking God for sending us and said that we had answered her prayers.  I'm not sure what she was going through but it wasn't a coincidence we showed up. We will begin  teaching her whole family this week. 

 

Had a great birthday!  Thanks for the $$ and all the notes.  We had fried chicken and ping pong.  As good as it get in the mission.  

 

 

Elder Amick are the zone leaders here, both coming from that assignment in other zones were just serving in.   Often I miss just being a normal missionry.  I have a lot more paperwork, math, and errands now that aren't my favorite.   But I have a great area and a great comp so I cant complain.

End of April:  Our new English classes worked!  We had like 60 people in our English class this week! Seven of those came to church on Sunday.   We have so many new investigators because of starting that class. 

Also we developed a new contacting strategy where we go ask people what they love most about their country and then record their response... its good   I'll send you the recording! 

 

We also had an intercambio this week and we also went preaching Parley P Pratt style.  I just put a chair on the corner and started reading the Book of Mormon!  Nobody listened but I did get two amens! 

Cristina and her brother got baptized this week!   I shared that on the recorder too! 

 

had a bunch of cool experiences finding investigators this week. One guy stopped us after a lesson and told hus he had just prayed the day before for a sign from God, and believed we were that sign.

 

Luckily my new comp speaks English and we can continue our English class. He ends the mission a month before me so we will probably just both end here, at least I hope so.

Loved chatting with all of you at Mother's Day.  You are all the best family.  I love you all.

Elder Gardner goes home this week.  Potatoe boy.

BBQ Chips in Giradot!

Holy cow Chuck is huge!! I love pictures so thank you soo much for sending them every week. Anyways, I made some voice recordings everyday at the end of each day talking about whats going on here in the mission so maybe you will like those cuz they give a little more detail than my weekly summaries.

I've been having fun with our zone, trying to motivate and do lots of exchanges.  I love getting out working with the other Elders.  Colombia soccer played this week.  The city shuts down and it makes contacting difficult, but we still found some success.  And for the first time in 18 months I found BBQ chips!!!  Kind of Clover club brand like, but hey they were BBQ!

So everything is pretty normal here in the mission. Me and my new comp get along great, Hes teaching me slack line and I'm teaching him ping pong. We both like to cook. He hates mornings and studies and meetings just like me, but he loves to work, meet people, and be outside so we get along excellent. 

We have a family who is getting baptized this week! Its a woman named Miriam and her three boys, Alex, Jon, and Danny. Ill send pics next week.

 Also, our investigator Hector this week already told us he knows the book of mormon is true and wants to get baptized. I've never seen anyone converted so fast, but we still have to finish all the lessons so his date is the beginning of April. We honestly have lots of families we are teaching right now so we are running from appointment to appointment.

Here are a few experiences from the week. 

One guy we knocked on the door and he came out crying and explained he had just barely separated from his wife that day, and I guess God knew he was ready. We just invited him to read the Book of Mormon, and ask God for guidance. 

Another lady has to make a really important decision in her life, and she told us how the Book of Mormon helps her feel peace every time she gets stressed. 

Another lady we are teaching finally said her first prayer this week!   That is always neat.

Honestly, I love the mission.  I'm till toddling with the idea of extending because I'm having soo much fun.  But I also feel I need to move on with life at the same time.  However, I still feel like I have a long time left. We are getting a new mission president soon and I feel a little responsible to help lead the mission because I'm one of the older missionaries, but I trust the Lord will inspire President Palhua and Baquerizo during this time of change. 

You asked me how I've changed?   I would say I haven't changed, but the only goal I made for myself was to return a more humble man than I came.  I'm hoping that is true. 

Love you lots and appreciate all your questions!

Love,
Elder Donaldson

Missionary Moments in Giradot

Dear Family,

 

This was a good week. We found a lot of new investigators, and started teaching an English class for the branch here. We have had a lot of success contacting just inviting people to come learn English.  also this week was the district conference so we got to hear president give a talk which I learned a lot from.,

Experiences:
We went to one family to read the Book of Mormon, and well in the middle of the chapter, the little girl ran inside and then came back out with a pigeon in her hand. Apparently she had caught it earlier that day and now it was her pet. Haha!

I had an exchange and got to spend Wednesday in Melgar, a tiny pueblo about forty minutes from here. It was a fun day.  I was with and elder from California. We had to go on a hike to get to some investigators, they live clear at the top of a mountain, and it was really really hot. I was sweating like wrestling practice, just in my church clothes.  Mission life.

We have a baptism planned this week. Our investigator Johann finally committed.  He comes with us frequently on appointments. Great guy!   We found a new family, Miriam and her three kids,and they came to church!

We had transfers last night. Elder Gardner left, and my new comp will be getting here tomorrow.  He is a Brazilian. I'm really excited to serve with him.  I've talked to him before and he has stayed at our house a few times for conferences and such, so i'll send some pics next week. 

Our investigator Johann did get baptized, that was really cool! 

Next Week:

This week was a little crazy, Monday night we got a call telling us we had to be in Bogota for a conference Thursday and Friday, and those were the two days we had planned big activities here in the zone with all the missionaries.   So we had to just wish them luck, everything turned out good though in the end. 

The conference was with Elder Godoy, the area president here. I loved it, he was really down to earth. He talked about what motivates people to do what they do, what motivates us to go work and what motivates investigators to change their life. It really changed my perspective on the mission. 

Anyways, that's about a summary of the week. Just lots of running and organizing.  And well I was dying about Dad's family night lesson, tell him to be careful what phrases he uses!!

As far as after mission plans I'm still not sure when I am coming home, but Elder Gardner is going to try and hook up me and Elder Amick with a job harvesting potatoes up in Idaho. They make bank so that's the plan when I get back. Ill work out the details with the new mission president about the leave date, but keep your eyes open for other options, and tell Dad to have his prospective wife write me.  :)

So this week has been really good. My new comp is full of energy, and we get along great. Hes teaching me how to walk slack line for exercise in the morning.  I finally made it down the whole line today!

I wanted to share the story of Hector this week. He was our only investigator who showed up at church. we contacted him on Monday, and he just started blasting us with questions. He wouldn't accept a Book of Mormon because he thought we there was a charge for it.  We gave him a pamphlet, and he read it, then accepted the Book of Mormon and has already read quite a bit. I was surprised when he showed up to church, he notices every detail.   He asked me if the color of the ties of the deacons who pass the sacrament has any meaning.  He is an awesome investigator.

Thoughts:
Well missionary life is same old. I am honestly starting to feel a small sense of sadness that its going to end, but the good news is we are busy so I don't think about the time too much. We have lots going on this upcoming week.  It's hard for me to write about it all but I'll share when I get home.
I've been thinking about extending because if I can't make the fall semester, might as well keep serving.  But I cant make any decisions until the new president gets here in July.

I read two talks this week about the character and grace of Jesus Christ. Its interesting the relationship that they have with our daily life, how we resist temptations, how diligent we are. I realize now all of the commandments, including the mission rules, aren't so much requirements to qualify for heaven, rather practice to become more heavenly. I have been really focusing my studies on the life of Christ lately, there is much I don't understand, but Ive come to realize in a great amount just how much He loves us, and the investigators.  That knowledge gives a new energy to the work.  A lot of times missionaries here just think that the mission is convincing people that our church is true. But if they never come to know the Savior, even being in His church, then they miss the point.

Johan got the priesthood, and accompanied us on visits almost all week. We had a couple fun service projects. One lady wanted us to take out a tree from the roots, and all she gave us was a machete and a shovel, and the tree was surrounded with cement!!    It was quite the experience. We have to go this week to finish.   Having lots of fun here not too much to complain about. Wish Sergio and Grandpa a feliz cumpleaños de mi parte por favor!

Love you all lots!!

Elder Donaldson

Bus Ride to Bogota

Week 70!

 

 

This week was really good. We have an investigator really struggling to take the decision to get baptized. She has almost all the lessons and appears to understand the gospel on an intellectual level but is missing something that is impeding her from getting baptized. She says the Book of Mormon is true, lives all the commandments, and much of her family is members of the church.   I think maybe she has fears of commitment, lots of people struggle with this here. The culture here is very day to day living.   People just wake up one day and decide to go on three or four month vacations... no planning, just living life.   It's super hard to make scheduled appointments.  We kind of just guess when we think people will be home.  We are praying and fasting of how to help her progress more.  She's a great gal that the gospel will only enhance her life.  

 

We have also made some incredible break throughs as well with some hard hearted people. There are a lot of part member families here whose spouses don't want anything to do with the missionaries or the church, they literally hide from us. They wont even say hi because they think we are just gonna start religous arguments with them.  That's where my cooking skills have really come in handy. I taught one family how to make Mcmuffins, and another BBQ chicken.   Then both the spouses accepted a Book of Mormon and the challenge to read it. Sometimes you just have to be a little creative with how you get it to them.  Food always worked with me, right?!

We spent almost all of Pday cleaning the house because a 70 is coming to the mission this week, and its very possible his wife and Hermana Baquerizo are going to inspect our house.  We are only 2 blocks from the church.

Anyways, That's rough about Katie.  that is one of my worst fears in life is getting a kidney stone. I'm really proud of Chuck.   Sounds like he had a tough bracket but he pushed through! Cant wait to watch him next year.   Tell him my only advice is to stick with it. Go to the camps in the summer and wrestle freestyle and he can really get good. 

 

That's also really exiting about Elder Bednar coming.  I read the book you sent me that he wrote. It really changed my perspective on missionary work, and led me to not stress so much about numbers and goals, but most importantly the one to one difference we can make.  If you get the chance, bring a tie to trade him for me. :)  It is on my bucket list to trade ties with an apostle. 

 

Thanks for everything you do for me, always.  Onto another week of serving my Savior as a missionary.

 

Love,

Elder Donaldson

Insights on Obedience with a little "Meaty" Flare

 

The highlight of this past week was our baptism with Nicol! She is 9 so cute and willing to learn.  We pretty much taught her all the lessons this week. She doesn't hardly talk, but after her baptism she got up in front of everyone and shared her testimony! It was really cool. 

 

Oh and the last Christmas package got here with Joel! Thank you soo much for the treats, and especially Charlie for the beef jerky.  Haven't had that in fifteen months..  It was neat to find the children's gifts included in the package too.  Nicol and her hermanitos loved the coloring books! I'm not sure why you sent me those, but that was their only Christmas present and they were very grateful for it so thank you.   Inspired you are!

 

Funny story for the week, we went to go ask one of our investigators why he couldn't come to church, and when we got there he was skinning some lambs with his kitchen knife in his underwear.  Yep.  We arrived just to see him rip the guts out and throw the kidney and meat on top of the counter where he also washes his clothes.   It was at that moment I realized that's how they process meat here.  After about fifteen months of eating the meat here... haha I'm pretty sure my stomach has gotten stronger or I would be dead by now.    He also told us about his nephew went who crocodile hunting.  If he kills one I'll get to try crocodile meat!   Sounds like an adventure!  I'll update you on that next week.

 

New week:   This one was kinda tough.  The holidays (Christmas through New Years) here are just a long party.  It's the summer vacation here, so it was really hard to teach people.   We were finding every day and following up with our contacts but not too many lessons. 

 

We just passed transfers and Elder Gardner and I have six more weeks together!!  I'm super stoked because we are really good friends.   I told you we went hiking with our district on P-Day.  Found a wild Lynx and a wild dog (chupacabra!)  Hot, sweaty, beautiful scenes and refreshing to get out. 

 

A little tender mercy for us this week which both Elder Gardner and I were so grateful for.  We had to travel to Bogota this week and the bus terminal was super packed because everyone and there mother was leaving to Bogota as the New Year's festivities had ended.  After an hour of waiting we still hadn't even entered the terminal.  I took a chance and  Joel's parents and just so happened they were going to Bogota!  They gave us a ride, and it was our little miracle because you have no idea how bad the bus rides and traffic are here... last time we were on a bus with chickens... haha.  Seriously our little miracle.  

 

I've had some great studies lately and definitely some things on my mind as to how I want to live out the rest of my life.  Once in a while I've noticed my testimony of the commandments sometimes gets hit with doubts.  But I've made the decision to obey them to the best I can the rest of my life. I've learned that tithing or whatever commandment isn't an investment in blessings, as some people think, but rather a sacrifice to submit our will to God's. That way of living brings peace of mind, and stableness in the home.  And maybe that is the blessing even bigger than divine miracles that sometimes happen. Either way, I've committed my life to obedience and trust.  Thank you Mom and Dad, for your examples to me.  I came from such a home. 

 

Thank you, also for the pictures, love, support and everything.  I am blessed with an awesome family.  I love hearing how Chuck is doing with wrestling.  He was a little kid with a squeaky voice when I left.  I could just sit on him when needed.  I'm going to have to up my game when I get home!  I'm really proud of him.  And all of you for your examples.  Know I love my Savior.  I'm working my best to serve him here.  Love this opportunity in my life.  Love my Colombian friends.

The gospel is so true.

 

Love,

Elder Donaldson

Joyful Christmas 2017!

Hey FAMILY!

Fun to see everyone on Skype! Sorry the connection was so bad and hard to understand, but I loved seeing everyone.  The Arias family are great here and nice to host us on Christmas Eve.  Thanks again for the extra packages and stuff to share with those here.  My Christmas was the best.  We made BBQ chicken for the entire zone Christmas day.  :)

Christmas BBQ Chicken for the Zone

We did a lot of Christmas caroling this last week.  I'm not very good at singing so I'm pretty sure I offended some people.  One day we decided to go with the whole ward choir, so we walked to all our investigators and some less active families to sing to them.  One family was having a really heated discussion when we showed up, and while they were yelling at each other we were singing "Joy to the World" and wearing Santa hats... hahaha it was pretty awkward. 

For the mission conference week we went to go to Bogota for an exchange with the Assistants! One of them is from Sugarland, Texas, Elder Mohr.  Not sure maybe Aunt Kathy and Uncle Ray know him. It was a lot of fun and loved working hard up there.  We were pretty much contacting all day long, but we had one lesson with a big family.  The spirit was really there. 

We also had a few more interesting experiences this week discussing with people about the Bible.  I get really frustrated at how one minded people can be sometimes, but the trick always has been and always will be the Book of Mormon.  If people read it and ask God, he always tells them its true. The problem is they don't read it.....that's my two cents for the week. 

Weekly P-Day Ping Pong Squad.

I forgot to mention there was a pretty big earthquake here Saturday.  It shook the whole house... I think it was a 4.9, me and my comp ran outside during studies.  It only lasted like five seconds but it was really strong... but no one died or got hurt, so everything is fine.

We sleep on the patio in our hammocks because it's so hot!

Cleaning time.  The apartment we moved into smelled so bad.

Love the gospel, Love the Lord.  Have a good week!

Elder Donaldson