Hunter says that these little girls and Makenli would be best friends :)

4/20/2015

i remember a time when time wasn't something i thought about, it just passed unnoticed. but here on the mission its definitely noticeable. i remember when a year seemed like forever and two was almost an eternity. even at the beginning of my mission i kind of thought that way. but I've come to realize (and it might be the mission or maybe its just cause I'm older) that 2 years is nothing. ill have to admit that my two years that i lived in Alaska were the best two years of my life, starting over, meeting new people, exploring new places, setting and accomplishing new goals etc. but reflecting back on those two years made me think about THESE two years, in Colombia, and how much i want these two years to be even better. yeah its blazing hot (#bythewayautumnitsalothotterandmorehumidhere #110degreesdaily) and living conditions are a bit different. but here too i am learning new things, meeting new people, and doing MY best to make THEM happy. if there is ANYTHING i want Elder Wadley to learn from me, its this, that these should be the best two years of our lives. and that its all up to us to make it that way.


although some things didn't go as planned this week we really tried to make the most of it. we had our interviews with the pres this week. we put a baptismal date on a lady we are working with. we took her to see "Conozca Los Mormones". we started teaching a new family. and overall, attempted to prepare our investigators for church on Sunday so they could progress and work towards baptism. and even tho we went to the investigators houses to pick them up, none of them came. but we learned a lot this week. i learned that even after doing MY best, sometimes things don't go how I plan them. these people obviously have their agency, but i don't want to let it get me down. we just put new goals and will start working again this week.


remember that God wants us to succeed. in everything. that He loves us, as His children. that's why He has given us EVERYTHING we need to get back to Him someday. i absolutely know that's true. and i love all you guys!! have an awesome and successful week!


"Rock Of Ages"
Elder Bigelow

Elder Bigelow and Elder Wadley.... Hunter just had to take him to the sketchy bridge over the poop canal?!?!

Yep... he will teach anyone who will listen!!  Hopefully Elder Wadley wants to play the guitar :)

The Roof! (I jacked pictures from Elder Wadley's blog because they are better at pictures when they first go out!!

Kitchen!! Hunter loves this part of the house :)

The bathroom... It looks like a bathroom shared by 4 boys/men :)

Living area?? Lots of fans!!

4/13/2015

Going to Medellin this week to get my new comp was awesome. it was a weird feeling tho cause when i got there i had this "I'm home" kind of feeling. which i guess makes since cause Medellin was my home for almost 6 months! haha. i actually kind of felt cold there. i cant imagine whats its gonna be like going back home to Alaska. IM GONNA FREEZE! haha. but it was really cool to be down there, we got to talk to the pres. we had a trainers meeting (i got my Easter package and a letter) AND GUYS! haha i got a gringo! my new comp (my hijo) is elder Wadley from Lehi Utah. he doesn't speak a lick of Spanish but we are working on that. I've also started teaching him guitar. its so great. honestly my mission changed. its cool to not only be teaching the people but also teaching another elder how to teach the people. and elder wadley is awesome. he reminds me so much of kade and all my goof ball cousins. i had never met him before the mission (even when we lived really close) but i feel like I've known the guy forever. its like working as a missionary with my brother. I'm so glad i have this opportunity.


the rest of the week flew by. we basically just spent the week introducing elder wadley to all the members and investigators. and on Friday night when we were planning for Friday we had an empty hour in the schedule so i said "we can just knock some doors for an hour" and the wadley looked at me with a kind of worried and surprised face and said "we´re really gonna do that?".. "yes" i said. and then he smiled so big hahahaha. Hes freaking awesome. i love the energy that the new missionaries have even tho they don't speak the language and everything about this lifestyle is new to them. and we had some success when we knocked doors too. we found a new family and are gonna start teaching them this week!


but yeah, that's pretty much it. just remember tho guys, that no matter who you are God has a plan specifically for you and has given you skills and talents that are meant to be shared with others, so find yours and SHARE IT!!!


"I Hope They Call Me On a Mission"
Elder BIgelow


#autumnusedtoomanyhashtagsinheremail #trainingagringo

Zone before transfers!!

Hello Elder Wadley!

Teaching the ropes!!

District!!!

Yes he is already teaching his new companion the guitar!!! He didn't really have a chance :)

I am pretty sure that is Elder Bigelow's "I absolutely love this and I think I am going to love this guy" face!! and I was right he loves his new companion... He says he reminds him of  Kade :) so it is like serving with his brother!!!

intercambio with romeu

birthday of hna gertrud

4/6/2015

the last week always goes by the fastest and is super busy! i did exchanges
a couple times and then spent the weekend in the stake center watching
conference. so not much to report. none of my investigators came to the
conference tho :(


but conference was awesome! i learned so much! i loved the talk about
listening to the music not just learning the dance steps. haha it made me
laugh but its so true and its something we have to really apply. do you
really feel the same spirit you felt when you were baptized? did you think
it was even possible to feel it again? being here in Colombia i have
realized there  are so many people with these exact doubts and that's why
they leave the church. in the south America north region there are over 1
million less active members of the church. they, and all of us, need to
realize that its doing the little things that increase our faith and
desires to be active in the church, and learning and understanding the
atonement is how we grow love for God and our Savior and what gives us
desires to keep the commandments. Don't go inactive! any of you! God will
always help us if we do, or if we mess up. but just think about all the
blessing we would miss out on even if we left the church for a few months.
NOT WORTH IT.

ill talk to you guys next week! and send photos with my new comp who will
be arriving directly from the mtc!!!! woohoo! haha I'm training! 

LOVE  YOU GUYS!
"I Believe In Christ"
Elder Bigelow

Seriously delicious looking cherry lemonade!!!

She was tired.... and 18 yr old boys will be 18 yr old boys!!

Church!!

Shoes aren't making it!!

3/30/2015

this week was a bit different.. and interesting. we found out that the
couple we are working with aren't actually legally married. so we spent a
couple days selling pastries to raise money for their wedding. they are
awesome and their kids are too! its honestly a blast teaching them and
watching them learn. I've never taught anyone like them before. the spirit
is there with them. its really cool to feel the love God has for his
children and see how much He wants them to progress.

happy to be here tho guys. we have transfers next week and I'm pretty sure
me and my comp are both gonna stay. its possible that he could be leaving
but not likely. who knows tho.

ha something funny happened the other day too. we were in a lesson with
Jorge and Genis and the bishop came with us and while he was teaching a man
walked in all stumbling and whatnot and started laughing. i thought maybe
he was a friend of theirs but then jorge asked him what he wanted and who
he was. and then he look and us a said (rough Spanish translation because
he used bad words too) "i too am a servant of God, and I'm drinking liquor.
I'm sorry for what i have done. i love all the gringos. and I'm drinking
beer." and then he left!!! haha it was hard to hold in our laughs but the
bishop continued talking and we tried to retain to spirit there.

well i love you all! y la mexicana tambi! jaja te ine con
fuerza!! hoy llevo mi camiseta mexicana :)

stay strong! keep the faith! love your neighbor! and remember that the best
way to show them that love is to give them something that will bring them
happiness  THE GOSPEL!

"From All That Dwell Below the Skies"
Elder H H Bigelow

Feeding a monkey!!

Hello!

He is bring one of these home for me :)

Monkey's!!

It's a blue shorts kind of P-Day??

Found a boat....

ya... he is doing this!!

With the Hermana's

3/23/2015

had a cool week. last Monday after reading we went to a park down by a
river and there were a lot of monkeys there so we fed them bread that a man
was selling... it was cool.

AND GOOD NEWS!!! apparently the couple we have been working with and
helping to get married are already married and they didn't even know it. its
kind of a lot to explain, but basically they live in a government paid home
and in order to live there you have to be married so when they signed the
papers for the home they were legally married. so the goal now is to
baptize them this week!!! if not, then the week after conference but we
want to do it this week because after conference we have transfers and
aren't sure who is going and who is staying. that was cool too! ha

we also went to a baptism of the other missionaries in the district. they
are really new in the mission. one has 4 months and the other has one
month, and it was their first baptism. and when filling the font they didn't
pay attention and flooded the chapel haha so we had that to clean up. it
was a little less cool.

I'm having an awesome time here tho guys. I'm not yet accustomed to the heat.
but besides melting, everything is awesome! i love finding new people and
seeing their reactions when we tell what our purpose as missionaries is.
God really wants us to be successful in sharing the gospel. hes working
with and preparing people to be put in our lives so that we can help they.
but we gotta be living faithfully in order to receive the blessing of
helping others come unto Him.

The church is TRUE! DOUBT YOUR DOUBTS! LOVE your neighbor! BEEEEE HAPPY!

love you all
"Love One Another"
Elder Bigelow

"The Field"

"The Tree"

Iguana

Camera shy investigator!!

3/16/2015

well GOODMORNING!!

this week was the fastest week in my mission. I'm not sure why, but it
really doesn't feel like today should be p day.

this week i spent 3 days on exchanges with Elder Tragante from Brazil and
we got a lot done in both mine and his area. we found a new family and have
started teaching them. I've come to realize that everything really goes
according to the will of God and in his own time. the father of the family,
Leonardo, started taking the missionary lessons 6 years ago and was
attending church regularly for 4 years! but it just wasn't his time. we are
hoping and praying that that time was his preparation for US to come here
and baptize him. THE GOAL! THE DREAM! haha

I'm not even gonna bother with complaining about the heat. I'm sure you all
get it by now... but it got over 100....

anyways, I've realized how much my Spanish has increased and how much i
still have to learn. i love it tho. i am so blessed to have been able to
learn and become comfortable so quickly.

HNA!!! hay cambios =C3=A9sta semana cierto? donde vas?? ULTIMA AREA!! que
chevere! jaja te quiero!

well guys, i love you all. and miss you all. im so happy to be here and im
super happy i got my sister and friends out serving too!! sigan adelante!

"I Am A Child Of God"
ELder Bigelow