la Familia Jaramillo

cumpleaños of the grandma! she turned 73! ha

10/19/15

A good week. we got a TON of rain here. one day it never STOPPED raining. it’s been nice and somewhat cold. I love it. but today the sun came back out.. so that’s nice I guess.

had a good week tho. went on an exchanged with my ZL from Mexico. he's an awesome guy and we had a lotta fun. found some new people in my area and had some great lessons. this guy we found started the lesson saying he had heard the JW and catholics and all the churches and he was convinced that religion was a joke and a competition and that he was just gonna believe in God and nothing else. and after teaching him the Restoration he committed to be baptized and in his closing prayer thanked God for finally revealing to him the truth. :) love when stuff like that happens.

still working with Alberto, he's getting more and more excited. his date is 2 days before transfers so i'm praying it all goes well and he can get baptized while i'm still here! its not certain that i will be transferred obviously. but i feel like i will be.

ALSO! yesterday this lady gave a talk in sacrament and she started by singing (horribly) haha it was hilarious! then she talk an inappropriate story about the "red skins" teaching her medicine and ended by confessing her sins.... shes like 80 something years old. me and my comp had to strain to not bust up. but EVERYONE was laughing.

over all it was a good week! and we are gonna have a better one THIS week. remember what we ALL learned in conf this year: there's ALWAYS something we can be doing better. Always something to improve. Work on these things. "Be Ye Therefore Perfect.."

i love and miss all y´all!

"Love At Home"

ELDER H. BIGELOW

Guitar!!

10/12/2015

really fast week.. honestly there are a few days i don't even remember. i just tell you everything i DO remember.

i remember Alberto telling us he wasn't gonna get baptized. again. he said he needed to wait another month. we have decided that if he does this again we are gonna just let him be for a while.

i remember praying for a miracle and we were given one. we needed somebody to teach, we had absolutely nothing. then we got a call from a lady who was taught by the missionaries about 2 years ago. we went to her house, taught her and her 2 daughters. and they accepted the baptismal invitation on the first visit. and she gave us the name of her other daughter as a reference. it was awesome. it made my day that day.

i also was able to go on exchanges with a new elder named Elder Baker from Orem. it was great. it made me miss training. he has TONS of energies. we taught about 7 lessons that day. felt really good but i was definitely tired the next day.

lets see, what else do i remember... oh yeah.. got sick from some bad pizza and couldn't get out of bed to go to church... but i was feeling good enough to do some visits in the afternoon. we visited a less active girl. shes 15 and has a 3 month old baby. kind of a tough situation shes in. but her grandma really wants her to come back to church. so we are gonna do what we can there.

that's really about it. I've been reflecting on conference as well. cant wait to read all the talks again.

weelllll. i love you all. remember that you are always being watched out for as long as your actions are in accordance with the commandment. (excuse my English)

"Abide With Me"

ELDER H. BIGELOW

Sunday Best!!

10/5/15

This week we had a plan that pretty much failed. sad i know. we decided to make the members a bigger part of the work here by only finding new people to teach through them. and in the transcurso of the entire week we were not given a single reference. haha gonna have to find a new method this week. we have also decided to have a ward Halloween activity and hope that people invite lots of friends! GUYS if there is a ward activity coming up back home, invite people! its perfect for the missionaries!

we had a good time getting to know our area well this week as well. we did tons of walking. most missionaries here are jealous of us cause we have the flattest area in Pereira. but its also the biggest area. I've been here for 4 months and i still don't know it all. we found this giant park with paint balling and zip lining and fun stuff so we are gonna go there today and mess around.

conference was amazing! i loved all the talks! i am sure we all found something new we can work on to improve ourselves. remember to share any goal you have with our Heavenly Father so he can help you out with them. 

Alberto came to conference! he loved it and we are still going good for his baptism this weekend! suuuper excited!

well guys i love you all! keep Alberto in your prayers. and remember that y'all are in mine!!! have an awesome week!!

"If The Savior Stood Beside Me"

ELDER H. BIGELOW

Elder Crispín. la familia Castrillón. and Alberto

New Comp Elder De La Torre

9/28/2015

Elder De La Torre seems like a good hard worker so far. we will see how this transfer goes. Alberto keeps putting off his baptism. been trying to help him out as best we can, we are just hoping that in the general Conference will will receive his confirming answer.

been doing some contacting as well and were able to find some new people to teach.

while waiting for my new comp i stayed with my zone Leader for a couple of days and had a lot of fun working with him. hes from hawaii, has a hawaian name and everything but hes super white. haha its interesting but he´s a great missionary.

this week went by really fast.. and that's pretty much all we did. wasn't really an exciting moment or nothing. besides when my comp had an allergic reaction during lunch one day..

other than that everything is great. i am REALLY excited for conference this week. cant believe its already been 6 months since last conference and October is this week though.

thank you guys for the package! i love the new tie! and now i got snacks for conference! haha

love you all. ask God for help with ANYTHING you need this week. because, if you do it with faith, your prayer will be answered by His prophet and apostles.

Have a great week!

"My Redeemer Lives"

ELDER H. BIGELOW

Zone Jersey's

9/21/2015

sadly no baptism again.. we are having to deal with a few difficulties our investigators have. and Alberto, was supposed to be getting baptized this Saturday but yesterday in our lesson he kinda seemed a little less interested than normal. STILL working with him tho! and Luz Adriana is working on recieving her answer. we taught her this week about

how she has to DO rather than just want. she´ll get it tho. i got faith.

spent some time this week contacting. with poco success. we did find this guy named Herman Muñoz. hes about 55 years old and just moved back here a couple months ago from living in New York since he ws 20. He is absolutely hilarious. My comp doesnt understand him bien because he speaks half english half spanish. he asks me how to say some words in spanish sometimes too. he told us he wants to know what we have to say because he wants to make sure we arent confused. also said he found Jesus while he was "in the pit" for 12 years for murder. reminds me of the guy that took us out on the dingy in the middle of the ocean to fish halibut. he didnt come to church tho. kinda stunk. but we will visit him again this week.

ALSO cambios came last night and im NOT leaving. my comp is! so i get ANOTHER new comp, Elder De La Torre from Bolivia. i met him at the beginning of my mission and we have shared Zones a couple times. hes a good missionary so it should be a good transfer. im pretty excited.

another thing, my latest convert Luz Delia had an interview with the bishop yesterday and gave her a calling. she seemed excited about it. obviously she didnt tell me what it was, so ill find out next week in church. i was also supposed to give a talk yesterday but at the last minute the bishop told me i didnt have to give it because some people from the stake come to talk. i was happy haha.

well, i love you all. i hope that this was good and detailed. if you have any questions all answer them! the church is true! the atonement is real! 

Amen!

"Jesus Once Of Humble Birth"

ELDER H. BIGELOW

That is a snake!!!

P-Day!!

9/14/2015

had a sick week. but we got some work done. sadly luz adriana was working in Bogotá all week. so no progress there. and Alberto said he wants to take things a little slower. lo mas probable is that he gets baptized in October. if it all goes well. keep him in your prayers! been looking for some new people to teach as well. making sure to find people who really are prepared so we dont lose any of the little time we have here.

didn't end up doing the exchange because one of the assistants came so we were all in a meeting Thursday morning. i was talking with him too and he told me i am most likely gonna be transferred next week! kinda crazy. i dont feel like i've been here all that long but its already been more than 3 months! it'll be good to get to know a new place though.

thats pretty much it for this week. we took fotos but i forgot my camera cable.. maybe we can come back later to send them.

i love all you guys! hope you are all studying the scriptures and applying everything you learn! remember that that's what they are for!

"The Morning Breaks"

ELDER H. BIGELOW

Eating Breakfast!!!

Hunter with his Zone Leader, Elder Cedillo 

9/7/2015

it got HOT this week... nothing like it was in the coast but for this part of Colombia it was pretty bad... we made all our citas close to each other so we wouldn't have to walk as much. got a good amount of teaching done but didn't get to see the results this week...

didn't have anybody got to church... and we had a few baptismal dates fall... gonna have to work hard to finish this transfer with a baptism. we will see what happens tho. there are some problems with a companionship in the zone so i will be working in another area all week to help them out... hope everything goes well in my area while i am gone. it should be fun though. i really like the missionary i will be working with. he is from my group.

and as far as the week goes that's mainly it. worked a bunch and it made the week literally fly. i loved it. a year ago this week i left the ccm and came to the field in medellin. i honestly still feel new in mission. but over half the missionaries here have less time than me. this week i hit my 10 months left week. it is absolutely true what they say about time going faster when you hit a year.

remember everyone to love every minute of this beautiful life that God has given us. it is extremely important to love and be obedient. but that in NO WAY is a restriction. as a missionary it sometimes seems like that. but i know that that is what gives us our freedom. try it. change what needs to be changed. and y'all will see.not my promise, but the Lords.

love you guys!

"I Need Thee Every Hour"

ELDER H. BIGELOW

Add caption

Lake!

... I'll look good and you look like a goober!! That is what must have been said, right??

8/31/2015

8/31/2015

well we did a lot less finding and a lot more teaching this week. We´ve started teaching a girl named Luna León (Moon Lion). shes really cool and playes fútbol really well. shes kind of shy though. we are trying to get the young woman in the ward to make friends with her so she has another motive to come to church, but the yw here are rebellious. its weird, normally the young men are the rebellious ones that don't participate or think they are too cool for somethings... but in Colombia its the girls. haha. but we did get the twins to come with us to teach her i think it helped. but Luna didn't come to church because she had a fútbol tournament.

we´ve also been teaching this old guy named Alberto. hes really funny. he came to church because hes in love with and old single lady in the ward who told him they could only be together if their goal was to go to the temple... at first we were a little iffy about it because it seemed like he was only doing it for her.. but he has progressed A TON. and he knows now the real reason why he should be baptized. his baptism will be the 12th of this month.

can y'all believe its September?!?! last September i left the mtc and arrived in Medellin! feels like that was just a few weeks ago. weird to think i will probably only have about 2 more areas and 4 or 5 comps.. Whhaa? haha

definitely had a much better week this week. played a lot of guitar. not being DL now gives me more time in the night to relax before bed. i kind of like it.

oh and i cut my own hair again!

Remember: Fear God, Love your neighbor, and Repentance is Change. Read "The Miracle of Forgiveness"

i love you all! and miss you a bunch!

"A Green Hill Far Away"

ELDER H. BIGELOW