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