Happy Birfday, David!

¡Familia Mía!

First off, Happy 29th Birthday, David! What are you gonna do for your birthday?! I love you broseph! And also, Happy Father's Day! I love you Daddio!

This past Saturday we had our Ward Talent Show! We had investigators come and a lot of inactives members too. The Primary performed a reenactment of Pinnochio, the Relief Society and some Elders did some really cool Colombian dances, little kids told some jokes, other youth and YSA sang. We invited the missionaries in our zone to help us, and we performed some funny skits that all the members liked a lot. And I sang ''Mas Cerca Dios de Ti'' (Nearer My God to Thee), with a youth in our ward playing guitar while I sang. It was a success and the members wanna have another activity like it!

Ok, big news. Guess what happened? There were emergency transfers and I'm getting transferred:( NOOOOOOOoooooooooo! Jaja, but seriously, I really didn't wanna get transferred. Que vaina... I have grown to love the people and the ward so much. I remember that during my first transfer here in the Alejandría ward, sometimes I wanted to leave and go to a different city. Bogotá was cool, but it always rained and there was never sun. And the members weren't helping us very much in the missionary work. But now Alejandría is like my home. It has stopped raining so much and there's more sun, and I'm cool with all the members at last. They've started telling me that they really appreciate me in their ward and that I mean a lot to all of the members in the ward. There's a Seventy in our ward (did I ever tell you guys that?), the Torres family, and they love me because I look a lot like their son, Mauricio, who's serving a mission in Utah. And his friends in the ward tell me the same thing - that I remind them of him. The mom gave us a gift two Sundays ago too, some really nice umbrellas that won't break for a good while.

And the members have at last started giving us references too! Things were starting to look up. We have been teaching La Familia Puello, who are references and very kind. And this past week we had some amazing Family Home Evenings with investigators and with members. La Familia Santa Maria are references of the bishop and we had a great FHE with them, the bishop's family, and two other families in the ward. And on Sunday they went to Church and were just raving about all the the things they loved. And we were teaching other amazing families as well that were all references from the members. Really cool huh? But now that things have changed here in Alejandría, I'm getting changed too. Perhaps my job here is done. I have helped strengthen the ward and we have had found some remarkable people who have entered the fold of God and the church of God, who also help to strengthen the ward. The members are doing more missionary work now, so that is a great accomplishment. I pray that it continues, and I'm pretty sure it will. I'm also gonna miss my companion, Elder Cardona, a lot. We're best friends, and it stinks that we only had a little bit of time together. Not even a whole 6-week transfer, because he arrived later in the transfer, and I'm leaving a little bit before the transfer ends. We were together to celebrate his birthday and we wanted to stay together this transfer to celebrate MY birthday. But I guess not. It's sad, but immediately when I heard about the transfer, I also knew it was for the best. I know that Heavenly Father leads this work and that He sends His missionaries where they're needed. I'm excited to get to know a new area and a new group of people and accomplish my purpose in that area as well.

Right now I'm serving in an area called Engativá. It's in the same stake, same zone. Two days ago a missionary finished his mission and left for his house in the U.S., so now I'm temporarily replacing him here in Engativá, and on Sunday someone will call me to let me know if I'm gonna stay here in Engativá or move to a different city. Wish me luck! I love you all! Sharing the Gospel is so great! And do not fear in sharing the Gospel. Fear has been one of the biggest stumbling blocks for me at times, and it is the opposite of faith.

Que estèn bien!
Élder Bogdan

{written June 16, 2011}