Chowing Down on Pig Ear

This week has been different. I will fill you in. Soooooo....... 

Unfortunately I do not have much to write about investigators. We did a ton of contacting this week. It was hot and sweaty, but I think it will bring some success. My knuckles did not bleed, but one day they got close. Haha. It is true!

 So an update on my body: All is good as of now. Things were bad. So I wrote you all on Monday. Tuesday I felt sick but fine. Wednesday night I got hit by a bus.... of sickness. I got home and was running a 39.5 fever. Run the math, Dad. Let’s just say it was a hot one. I didn`t get to sleep until 3 AM because of sickness. I felt horrible on Thursday, but the work progressed. A little, actually more like a lot, of sickness isn`t gonna slow us down. I feel bad now, but Elder Quispe wanted to say home in the morning one morning because he was feeling sick. I told him no and that he would be fine. Looking back, I let my zeal turn me into a jerk. That won`t happen again. That was a mistake on my part. Overall, I was sick this week, but now I feel fine. No worries, Mom.

Eating pig ear

 Also, I do not know if I have mentioned this, but I lead the music during Sacrament meeting. Not gonna lie, the singing isn`t the prettiest, but I love it. I want to sing a hymn in Spanish when I come home. I am learning to really love the hymns. They are truly prayers in song form. They are great.

Some notes on culture here: People love musica Christiana. There is Christian rock, rap, reggae, salsa, etc. It is ridiculous. An investigator showed us Christian death metal the other day. It is just plain horrible. I wish they would turn their religious zeal into a better form of worship.

Pig Ear

 Also, after almost 5 months of being in the mission, I am now finally legal. I received my Colombian ID. It is cool. I have been in Colombia with just a crappy copy of my passport. Luckily it has gotten me through every policia stop so far. It feels good to carry something legit now.

Chelsey, people here love their cheese. Queso is super big here. There are stores dedicated to cheese and nothing more. I have eaten some very strong cheeses. Not exactly my favorite. You would probably like it.

As to other crazy foods.... This week when teaching my favorite investigator, Fernando, he brings out a pig`s ear. He cooks Lechona, or pig, and serves it on Sundays. This is a major reason for the super slow progress that he is making. We have eaten the pig skin before and it is super delicious, but the ear wasn`t my favorite. It was huge, as you can see from the pictures, and was cold and crunchy. You had to put some major effort into eating it. Overall, good flavor, but just the thought of eating a pig`s ear wasn`t my favorite. Great though. 

 Dad, one thing that I have thought a bunch about this week is love, the most important commandment. I feel that this commandment is often overlooked in its difficulty. According to the Sermon on the Mount, we are supposed to love those that hate us, murder us, and wish the worst for us. We are supposed to put the welfare of those people before ourselves. In reality, this commandment, in my mind, is the hardest of all. How can I love someone that wants to kill me? It is so difficult to think about and comprehend. It goes to show how much God and Jesus love us. They love those that curse them. They love those who hurt their other children. For me, it is so hard to comprehend. Just my thoughts. Sorry if they are a bit jumbled.

So the reason why I didn`t write on Monday is because Monday morning we received a call that we needed to be in Tunja for interviews. Not gonna lie, I wasn`t too excited to spend my PDAY in a bus feeling sick. However, we did as were told. The interview with President Andelin was good. He pretty much said, how are you and how is your family. The interview didn`t last longer than 6 minutes. Nothing too special. Then on Tuesday we had the Zone Leaders in Barbosa for intercambios with Elder Galleguillos and Elder Carriel. Cool stuff.

Elder Quispe and I are good. Nothing is bad between us. He grinds my gears sometimes, but then again so do you all. Haha. We work well together and he is a great teacher. I am soaking up as much as his knowledge as I can. I can learn so much from him. 

Overall this week was another long and tough one. The sickness did not help and we had to drop a few more people. Right now we literally have two investigators, neither of which are progressing. No worries though. There will be a chapel here one day. I know it!