Through His Servants

Hey, is it really week 20??  KRAZY!

This week Elder Caceres and I have done a lot of ¨finding new people¨!  I love talking to people here in Colombia, and I'm amazed at what I can do with Spanish now! I started laughing one night because I hadn’t realized that I could so easily speak with my “only Spanish speaking” companion!  About 2 weeks ago the language fell into place and I can’t believe that I can understand easily and respond fluently without having to think about it!  When I speak Spanish, I think in Spanish!  I need to practice writing more so that I can visualize the grammar.

My companion told me that I woke him up last night while he slept on his top bunk, and that I shook him and said ¨Ay un perro en el armario!¨  LOL… That means ¨There is a dog in the closet!¨  I don’t remember that, but I do remember having weird dreams and waking up a lot. That’s been happening a lot lately! I dream that I’m with my friends and family!

That’s so awesome that my brother Jake has received his mission call and will serve in Cambodia!  He’s leaving in May. We’ll both be out at the same time and he’ll return just a couple months after I do!  It’s great that the Lord’s work is truly hastening and He is helping to save and change lives through His servants!! 

Elder Kirby and I have become really good friends and we have the privacy of English when we want it! We bought chocolate cookie mix today and made some delicious cookies!

Today we went to a nearby zoo! My idea, and it was really fun! There were lots of colorful birds! There was also a zip line and we all took many turns speeding down on a loop of leather! We took some pictures and had a blast!

Out of time again!

Love you All So Much!!

Elder Zierenberg

  

   

Really Good People

Family and Friends!!  How is everyone??

I’m doing awesome here in Colombia!!

Last Monday morning was ¨Cambios¨ (the day when some missionaries get moved to new areas and others stay for another 6 weeks, at least).

Well, I didn’t mention it last week, but my companion Elder Torres got moved to Cucuta and Elder Wong got moved to Bogota.  Elder Kirby and I were companions for the day and then later we met my new companion, Elder Càceres, from Guatemala. 

The next day Elder Kirby stayed the night with the Zone Leaders in Bucaramanga, because his new companion, Elder Panduro, arrived early the next morning.  Elder Panduro is a brand new missionary from Peru.  He’s a really cool kid, has a pure heart, and makes us laugh at whatever he does.  Elder Kirby was assigned to train him and he’s doing a great job.

Elder Cáceres and I have had some great success working together so far.  We visited a less active family last week that’s been going through some tough times.  The mother is the only active member and she’s been really emotional lately.  They had a young, bright-eyed, neighbor boy visiting when we showed up.  We started with an opening prayer and I shared a scripture from Mathew about Christ carrying our burdens. The boy became really curious and asked a ton of questions. He felt the strong spirit that was present and asked us to visit his family across the street!

The next day we visited his family and we realized by the way his parents treated us that he had said a lot of good things about us! We started sharing a message about our loving Heavenly Father and the importance of families.  The family is Catholic and really good people. They were surprised by how powerful and clear our message was!  The father got really involved and asked a lot of questions. The lesson was really good! They fed us and when we asked them when we could return to continue our message, they responded with ¨Tomorrow!¨.  The next day we talked about the need for Prophets, and The Ministry of Jesus Christ, and His Church.  We also explained about the Great Apostasy and shared many scriptures from the Bible. We explained that our message is about how Christ’s church was restored. We told them we’d be sharing it the next visit.  The family is very anxious to hear our message!  Brother Godoy asked if he could buy a Bible from us and we told him we’d get him one for free. 

I’ve got to go!

Love Elder Zierenberg

We Invite You To Ask For Yourself!

I had a great week last week!!!

I’ve been studying the scriptures a lot, especially The Old Testament everyday!!

Elder Torres and I have really been working hard to invite everyone we can to just listen to our message and to see for themselves if it’s true.  We are trying to help as many of our brothers and sisters here in Piedecuesta, Colombia to feel the love that God has for them, and to help them find the truth that brings the greatest happiness in the universe. 

We meet people in the streets and at their doors and introduce ourselves. We let them know who we are and what we are doing here in Colombia. We invite them to listen to our message from God. We boldly testify that we know our message is true, but we don't ask them to just believe us. 

We invite them to REALLY pray and ask their Heavenly Father if our message is true.  We invite them to use their faith, and to ask God… because we have, and we know that anyone that will ask, with real intent and with faith, that God will answer their prayer, will receive the witness of The Holy Ghost in their hearts and minds. They will know of its truthfulness and they will feel an answer in their mind.  People are listening and they feel our honesty and the Holy Spirit guides them to the truth. 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true!!  It's the same church that Christ himself organized with Apostles and Prophets and Leaders, with power and authority during his ministry.  (Ephesians chapters 2 and 4)

After Christ was killed his church was persecuted, His apostles and prophet Peter, were killed.  The Authority and Priesthood of God was taken from the Earth and Christ's church fell without its foundation.  The people were amazing and really wanted to continue with the church and with Christ's teachings, but they were lost in confusion without the revelation and authority of the Priesthood. After a while people disagreed with one another over important doctrines and teachings. People left the fallen church and started their own groups and with their own leaders. Many of these leaders meant well, but lacked the authority of the Priesthood. This time of apostasy was prophesied in the Old and New Testament.  (Amos chapter 8, verses 11 and 12) and (2nd Timothy chapter 1 verses 1-3) It happened!

Our message is about how Christ’s Church was re-established with God’s Authority and with His Priesthood, through the Prophet Joseph Smith.  Christ’s church is again on the Earth and everyone can know it for themselves!!

I testify that if you listen to our message and ask God, in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, if this is His church…  He will give you an answer and you will know, even as I know, that it is true.

I testify of this in the name of Jesus Christ, whom I represent!

Learning Through The Lens Of His Disability

I love Mondays!!!  I wake up everyday and do some pushups, walk over to a small tienda (shop) with Elder Wong, (Elder Wong is part of the other companionship living in the apartment) buy 2 eggs and a banana.  Then we walk across the street to a lady that sells bread, I ask and pay for 2 small loaves... but she always puts an extra one in the bag, and then I cook breakfast. After that, I shower and study the scriptures!! I love reading the scriptures in English. It’s refreshing!!! 

Then Elder Torres and I study till lunch and we eat at like 1:00 pm. We always have lunch with members, except for Mondays.  It’s usually some rice, chicken, vegetables, a strange juice from a fruit you’ve never heard of, and some more of everything I’ve mentioned!!  There are tons of weird juices that I’ve never tasted before!!  I love Lulo Juice!!!! It tastes like a kiwi smoothie!!!

On P-days we go out of town on a bus that takes us to the bigger city of Bucaramanga. There they have everything and huge malls and all the familiar restaurants!! We had Dominos Pizza today and Elder Wong and I split an Extra Large Pepperoni Pizza!! Delicious! I haven’t had real Pizza in forever!!  The pizza they sell on the streets is just some weird bread with tons of dry cheese!! No sauce at all!! 

After Lunch we get to work and we walk back and forth and across our area to our different investigators homes, teaching, sharing, and bearing our testimonies.  We’ve been focusing a lot on a man named Alberto and his 2 teenaged kids Samuel and Sylvia. They own the Internet shop where I Skyped the family on Christmas. Alberto is a recent convert and is trying to learn more and get his children involved in the church and to get them baptized.

Alberto is deaf and speaks with his hands in Colombian sign language.  His kids help translate everything for him at church and when we teach them. Yesterday was Fast Sunday and it was a really good Sacrament Meeting. Many people bore very powerful testimonies. Alberto got up and his daughter Sylvia spoke for him as he signed at the pulpit. He bore a great testimony and I could tell that his daughter Sylvia felt the Spirit!!

After Sacrament Meeting we had class with the newly converts and investigators. We all bore our testimonies about our relationships with our Heavenly Father. Sylvia bore her testimony and started crying. Her father Alberto started crying as well and she stopped signing for a while, but the Spirit translated. Sylvia is beginning to progress and Alberto is so happy.

We need to work with his son, Samuel, who’s an Atheist... I’m not worried though because I’ve become great friends with him, and he said he wants me to teach him.

Last night we had a good lesson with Alberto, who was alone without a translator. Believe it or not, Elder Torres and I actually understand him and we have been learning Colombian sign language insanely fast!!! We watched some conference talks and translated them along the way with many stops and pauses. It was an amazing lesson and Alberto is very smart! He understands concepts like the Atonement so well, its crazy what he has learned through the lens of his disability!! He’s a great father and example to his kids.

I’ve got to go,

Love you guys!!

Elder Zierenberg