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| P-day: E. Nieto, E. Vergara, E. Sorensen & E. Bird |
Well, this week was pretty crazy and different from any
other week. Here in Bolivia this week was Carnivales. It’s kind of different in
each city which days they celebrate, but I’m pretty sure it’s only this past week.
For us in Betanzos, it was the biggest or craziest on Tuesday and even more
Wednesday, but still they kept partying the entire week and then Sunday they
all went to a different little pueblo to have like a Carnivales good-bye party.
It seems pretty awesome and fun, but for us as missionaries it’s... ehhh...
maybe a little annoying.
Well, martes/Tuesday we were in Potosi, and we couldn’t go
work so we kind of just stayed in Potosi most of the day, throwing water
balloons and such at people. It was super-duper fun, especially because nobody
really cared. Only one guy got mad at us (mostly because he was drunk). Later that
night we had our interviews with our mission president. He is super awesome,
and we had a really good talk. He seems really happy with how our area is doing
and how much the ward is progressing.
Mièrcoles/Wednesday we didn’t leave the house, except in the
afternoon when my comp wanted a haircut. So we left in normal clothes and
sprayed people with espuma (like silly string but it’s a foam), and there was a
parade passing and literally everybody was dancing and following the band. It
seemed pretty sweet. Hahaha.
Jueves/Thursday we again went to Potosi for our Zone
Conference. President Montoya gave an awesome lesson about what happens after
we die. It was super cool and interesting. Something I liked a lot was that he
kept saying something like, “Remember, we are not here to give people knowledge.
We are here to bring them to eternal life and all the blessings God has for
them.” I really liked that because there are so many people who want to know
answers but don’t really want to change. However, we should focus on bringing
them to Christ and not just simply answering questions.
Viernes/Friday, we really wanted to leave the house and work,
but we called all our investigadores or members that we would visit and
literally none of them were home (all at the fairs and such). But then later a
member called us, so we went to their house and that was pretty fun. We
basically just played with water and espuma and then played soccer.
Sabado/Saturday we had a ward activity (or party for carnivales)
so we went out to Tecoya for that. Nearly all the ward (or members that
regularly come to church) were there. We played soccer most of the morning, and
it was pretty funny and awesome to watch the older guys play. I was surprised
because they seem kind of older but actually play pretty good. It was also
funny to watch the hermanas play. We had lunch (literally just baked potatoes,
corn, aba? and meat). I loved it but my comp... not so much. I don’t know why,
but he doesn’t like that kind of food. After lunch we played with the kids with
espuma and that was fun. And then we played more soccer. We got back home
around 7p and called a few members who weren’t at the party. We were hoping to
visit them but learned they weren’t in town (hahaha otherwise they would have
been at the party they said).
Domingo/Sunday was pretty awesome. First, sacrament meeting
was kind of funny. The three speakers each spoke like 2 minutes each and after
they were done it was like 9:30a. I thought for sure the 1st counselor would
ask me to talk (because I was sitting on the front row). I kind of was making a
plan in my head of what I would say. Well, he got up and was like, “Well, this
is how our meeting is for today. I like what each speaker said. We will now end
with a song and prayer.” And that was
it. Hahaha. I was thinking, “Dang. When I’m at home, the bishop asks me to give
a talk on the spot to prepare me for my mission. Now, I’m on the mission, and I
don’t even get asked to give a talk on the spot.” Hahaha. It just made me
laugh. In Primary, the president actually came and had a lesson all ready. I
was surprised but super happy. Of course sacrament meeting ended at 9:30, so
she didn’t know how to fill up all the time so I helped, but still she gave
her lesson and it was pretty good. Also the presidencies of the Young Men and Young
Women came from the stake and helped organize and get those groups better
formed. They also helped plan a few activities and are going to return for
those activities and also to do a training for the teachers of the Young Men
and Young Women in our ward. It was pretty awesome and good to see the stake
finally helping and really doing something. That afternoon, we were tired of
being in the house so we left and went to visit some people we wanted or needed
to visit. Most were out of town or not home, but we did have a good lesson with
the Familia Perez and the later with Virgilio and Remedios. It made the day
like the best day of the week :) Later that night, Elder Bird and Nieto came
from Potosi. We made pizza and it was alright, but hopefully with more practice
it will get better.
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| P-day: E. Vergara & E. Sorensen |
This morning we got up a little earlier and went out to a
waterfall (that I´d been to before). It was pretty cool and we had a fun time.
And that’s really all for this week. It feels like we didn’t do much, but we
tried to stay busy and having zone conference and interviews helped a ton. I’m
close to finishing the Quechua language book, so that’s pretty exciting. This
week we also ate chicken stomach, which was pretty good. It’s been pretty nice
weather here too. That’s about it from me out here in Betanzos, Bolivia.
:)
Les amo!
Elder
Sorensen