Bogotá is Awesome

These past few weeks have been pretty busy and I didn’t have the time to write a group email.

Last week Elder Caceres and I had the opportunity to hear one of the 70s speak at a Zone Conference and then later the same day for a stake conference. It was really good and the Elder Uceda of the Seventy was very animated and excited about the Missionary Work that is happening in our day.  He really got everyone’s attention with his sudden shouting!! The whole stake was dead silent with fear! He really pumped up all the Stake and Ward leaders to work harder and take their callings more seriously. He explained that the future of the church was dependant on the guidance that parents and church leaders maintained for the youth.

Later last week transfers came around and I was told I was leaving PieDeCuesta and was going to serve in Bogota city. I said goodbye to Elder Caceres, and to some dear friends and packed all my stuff to leave last Monday morning. I was in a bus for 9 hours and I got to Bogota and met my new companion Elder Andino. Elder Andino is from Honduras and is one of the coolest missionaries I’ve ever met!! We have a ton in common, and can talk about things like Drake and Josh, favorite movies, and have the similar humor! Elder Andino is finishing his mission on Friday and I’m going to miss him a lot. By next P-day I’ll be with another companion.

Bogota is awesome!! It’s cold here and rains a lot but also has some good sun!! I love our house and the Elders that I live with! I’m close to the Temple so I should be able to go soon. Bogota, being the Capital of Colombia, is the big city, and has lots of stuff like the US that the rest of the country doesn’t have! Like, Taco Bell and lots of the good food and candy.  Unfortunately there are no Wendys! :(

Elder Andino, Elder Cedeño (From Ecuador), and Elder Black (Gringo from Washington, USA), and I live in an apartment on the 8th floor of a big building! It’s a beautiful place and a lot more quiet than Pie de Cuesta.

Elder Andino is trying to help me memorize our area and our investigators so that when he leaves in 4 days I can be ready to lead my new companion!

I’m meeting some amazing people, members and investigators!  Our Ward Mission Leader is really cool and works really hard with the missionaries. There are a lot more youth in my new ward than in Pie de Cuesta. I’ve made a ton new friends in our ward! 

Elder Andino and I got robbed!!!  Last Wednesday, on our way back from lunch, Elder Andino and I were sitting on a bench, waiting for Elder Cedeño and Elder Black who stopped to speak to some people in a park.  Two men walked up towards us and asked if we were Christian.  I thought we were going to share a message with them or invite them to hear our message, as they got close. They stood in front of us and suddenly one of the men talking began speaking violently and pulled out a knife holding it closely in front of me! He said if we ran he’d stab us and demanded all of our money! So I thought I only had 2 mil pesos in my wallet as I had used up almost everything from the bus ride up to Bogota, costing 80 mil pesos for the big bus ride. I had also helped a Sister missionary pay for her ticket and gave her 30 mil. So I told the man I only had like 2 mil pesos in my wallet.  That’s about 1 dollar in US money. So I opened my wallet and I had completely forgot that I had about $30 bucks (US money) in my wallet, that I had moved to my wallet for my journey. The man greedily grabbed the little wad of cash out of my wallet and snatched the glasses I had sticking out of my suit pocket. My companion looked really mad as the man (with the knife) asked him to take off his nice watch! I was nervous and thought they’d take my clothes as well but they left after taking our cheap mission cell phone.

Another man saw it happen and he got a security guard’s attention who followed them unknowingly from behind. We found out yesterday that the guard informed the police where they were and the Police got them!! Haha

We haven’t get anything back, but I’d rather the Police have our stuff than these Gadianton Robbers!! I don’t feel like we lost that much.  They lost more.

I learned my lesson and leave my stuff in our apartment, and avoid the dangerous streets and parks!

Today for p-day, our district played soccer and I played the piano. My companion and I went to the mall after and ate at McDonalds!  Great Day!

Anyway, I’m loving my new area and being in Bogota is incredible!

Love Elder Zierenberg

Elder Zierenberg with Companion Elder Andino and a family.

It Made Me Really Sad!

Just another week in Colombia:

We had some great lessons with some less-active members this week and they ended up attending this last Sunday!  One brother bore his testimony in Priesthood and said that we brought him back! Pretty cool!

Elder Càceres and I have been getting really fluid with how we teach lessons together.  He lets me start to gain their attention and it’s really been helping my Spanish.  We learned that the more we feel the Spirit, the more our audience will.

Our zone has begun focusing on ridding ourselves of Mission Pride and in our Zone Conference we listened to a talk about pride and how it’s a worldwide sin. Everyone has some or even a little pride. If you don’t think you have any pride, it’s because of your pride... ;) Pride is the tendency to get angry and is increased when we put our will and desire above God’s.  Pride is the reason that Lucifer, one of the greatest, fell and lost everything.

I look forward to this week and the opportunities Elder Càceres and I will have to try to find more investigators.  Then will get to plan and study for each one of them.  It’s an awesome position we have to just focus on the Lord’s work!  

I saw an epic video on the church website about bullying! It made me really sad and if you watch it you’ll thank me. Life is hard enough without us making it harder for others and causing pain, and that’s what bullying is. There should be a word for the opposite: Helping make lives easier, and standing up for others. Christ lived it and died for it.

Anyway, I love you

Elder Zierenberg

  

1/4 Of My Mission Completed

It’s getting colder in Pie De Cuesta and I love it!  We’ve had a lot of clouds, rain, and thunder.  I carry my umbrella around with me everywhere now and sometimes it rains really hard. 

Elder Cáceres and I have been teaching Hugo a lot this week. We told him about the full-length Restoration movie and he wanted to see it the same day! So we opened the Chapel and invited him to watch it with us that night. It is really good, and if you haven’t seen it, watch it!! Hugo loved it and said it was really powerful.

We started talking about Doctrine and Covenants and showed Hugo some pages.  He got really excited about the fact that we can read Joseph’s revelations! We explained that many times the prophet would ask questions in his prayers and receive visions.  Hugo is starting to delve into The Book of Mormon and we’ve had great discussions answering his questions.

I had a weird dream last night and someone showed me that my name was is The Book of Mormon!!  I clearly read a verse in Ether chapter 11, and as I read a name it changed into Rod Zierenberg!! How weird is that!!! So I woke up and ran to my scriptures and looked around in the chapter but I couldn’t find what name had changed into mine.  I wonder what it means…

Anyway, this week we had an open house in our chapel! It was cool and we met tons of new people and taught them about The Restoration. 

There are two new gringos in our area, Elder Dickson, and Elder Duffy.

I’ve been out 6 months!!! That’s insane!! 1/4 of my mission is completed!  My birthday was cool and ¨I have 20 years now¨!  In Spanish they say how many years they have!! Spanish is a funny language.

One day a family fed us plates of rice, beans, and a ¨special fish¨!  Whole fishes, with the skin, the fins, and eyes!!!  I started dissecting it and learned a lot about a fish’s anatomy!!

People also eat pigs feet!!! It is disgusting and harry!!

I love you all

Love, Elder Zierenberg