Bienvenido a Aguazul, Tanner!

Elder Correa and Tanner

 So there is a lot to write, I will get started.  First, it is a tough one to leave Bucaramanga. I love that city and the people there so much. I learned to love people that I did not think possible. The members there are really great, and I hope the converts that the Lord blessed us with will be faithful until the end. I really love Bucaramanga. I hope that maybe I can return to the city and serve in the other zone that is there. When we visit, Bucaramanga will be on the hit list.

So on to other adventures and other work. I already told you about how the trip went and stuff. But pretty much to fill you in the rest, I spent the majority of the day Tuesday with the zone leaders in Salitre. We did some stuff that they needed to do. Then I went to the trainer and trainee meet up meeting. It was pretty strange actually. It was me, the trainers, the trainees, the APs, and President Andelin. I was pretty much a misfit. It was funny. I was just waiting to get on a bus with a trainer and his trainee going to Yopal. We left Bogotá at roughly 10 PM Tuesday and arrived in Yopal 6 AM Wed. It was 8 hours to sleep on the bus. Not the best sleep.

So Yopal is a pretty big city, roughly 200 thousand people. Obviously much smaller than Bucaramanga though. To get to Aguazul, you have to take a 45 minute bus. It just takes you out to the middle of nowhere and that is Aguazul.

 Aguazul is really calm. Like too calm. The way I would describe it would be to watch a documentary on run down Detroit, then throw in some Colombian vibes, and you would have Agauzul. The people are nice so far.

So I thought that Barbosa was nothing, yep nope. Aguazul is nothing. It is a small city of roughly 30 thousand that is completely flat. It is just gridded blocks. I think that area wise it is bigger than Barbosa. It is just block after block after block. It definitely is poorer than Barbosa. Sometimes it looks like we are in a Colombian ghost town. It is cool though. Every house, literally every, has a fish net hammock thing called a Chincurrro. Every house. I will pick one up before I leave this city. Also, there are Iguanas everywhere. There are just tons of them. I want to try and eat one. I just need to find someone that wants to prepare it for me.

The apartment that we live in is actually pretty big, just really old and really dirty. I spent a chunk of time today just sweeping. It was gross how much grossness I picked up. I will try and tackle a different part of the house every preparation day. Hopefully by the time I leave it will be a bit better. We have not had any problems with water yet. From what I have heard, I arrived during the part of the year when it is on the colder end. Obviously, it is still extremely hot, but just less hot than normal. During this "cold" season there usually are not very many problems with water, so I should be good. The shower though produces very little water. It is hard to get really clean when the flow is very minimal. And of course, it is not hot water. I miss hot water.

Also, the last day in Bucaramanga I was served cow stomach and cow tail. Both were good, just a different texture. It was cool.

Church Building and Yard

As for the branch here, it is real small. There is an average of 35 members that attend weekly, many of which are young children. It is a house chapel but literally like a chapel in a house. It is cool though. Real small and the members are really tight. It looks like they actually want to progress and do their duties as members, unlike Barbosa. The gospel principles class is outside of the building under a Native American looking teepee thing. I will take more photos this week.

I am with Elder Villarroel from Bolivia. He is 19 and has 6 months in the mission. He is a good elder and the branch really loves him. He wants to do the work and be obedient, because his last companion was really a horrible missionary. We get along good and he teaches well too. I think we will have a good transfer or two together.

There are a bunch of investigators that we have. I think that we have a lot because we are in a small city, but I assume few will progress. We will have to see.

One investigator worth mentioning is Diego. He is roughly 32 years old and his body is a wreck. He has a ton of tattoos, scares everywhere, and is currently waiting for a surgery to close up his abdominal area that is literally just open. Someone tried to slit his throat before in the past and he survived. He also has multiple gun wounds. His body is like Frankenstein. The ab area is the thing that is most pressing right now. He is waiting to get it closed up and should be baptized after it heals. Just imagine all the skin covering your abs just gone, with all the insides just there to see. It is hideous, but cool. He is definitely a crazy guy, but he is changed a lot. His baptismal water will definitely be pretty dirty afterwards. I will keep you updated. There are others, but I do not know too many of them that well yet. We will do good work here.

One bad thing. Every time we have a zone conference, we have to drive 8 hours each way to Bogotá. That is gonna be rough. So Aguazul is really good. I am sure that I will learn to love it as I did with Bucaramnga and Barbosa. Definitely different though.