DISNEY IN DUITAMA

Elder Mickey Mouse

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY TWIN BROTHER, JASON.   Eat some cake and ice cream for me!  For my birthday gift from my Ward Family and other blog readers, since you can't send me any Twix or Butterfingers, please email me at Justin.bandy@myldsmail.net and please share my blog and create your own missionary moment and share it with me. 


The week was fine for Easter. I was working like normal and we didn´t do anything special. Holidays seem to lose their meaning on the mission.   We remember them but we have the work and we just focus on that.  I'm good with money. I don´t use a whole lot of my personal funds on the mission.  I´m turning into a scrooge with money.




We  helped someone move the other day and I have a picture of that taking everything in the truck to the new house.  It was raining and my shoes got all muddy.

Helping someone move.

Good luck to Emma and Lauren on their missions.  You will love it! 

Hicimos pan

This week we did a lot of searching and found some good people.  A member whose husband isn´t a member asked us to teach him and he is super ready to listen and accept the gospel now.  They have to get married but he´s willing to do everything to prepare himself and we are hoping that the last week of this transfer they can get married and the day after he can get baptized.  His name is Oscar and he's pretty cool.

Farming

Friday we had an activity in the church where we read the scriptures with the less actives and investigators and it was really good, they were super excited and we got some references out of it.


The area is progressing little by little and I´m getting the idea of what is expected of me as a leader here in the calling I have, just have to find the ways to magnify it.  I like all my areas because they are part of my mission, but I´m getting used to this area and I´ll be sad to go to another when it comes time to go.

Mi almuerzo el martes pasado, con spinach

PONCHO BANDITO

PONCHO

GALE AND JUAREZ...EATING TACOS AT THE HOUSE

SALISBURY AND ME

ELDER LLANOS AND ME

ME AND SOUSA

ME AT THE TEMPLE

As for the week, I couldn't write because of the transfers, sorry.   We had a lot of the guys moved to different areas.  I got the shoes repaired.  They turned out pretty good so I will have the other shoes repaired.   The area is coming along little by little.  But the last few weeks were good.

We had the conference and i was super happy with the priesthood session.  It was a great session on so many parts of the gospel.  I was surprised that Elder Oaks told us that the keys of Resurrection and Creation haven´t been given to us yet as a church.  But the conference on satellite was great and I can´t wait for the next one in October.   I was happy that I was able to listen to it in English so that I could understand everything.  I know that I would have understood the majority in Spanish but I prefer listening in English to get the most out of the messages. 

THE ZONE

Mario is doing good, and Raphael is progressing little by little.  I played pool the past week and I have to admit that I played horribly, but it's good, it's just fun to play.  Where I´m at is pretty good weather, not super hot and not cold, but it goes from like 15 degrees to 25 during the day, (in celcius).

HAPPY EASTER: BECAUSE OF HIM!

I'm sorry everyone.  I've been super busy with my new calling that I didn't have time to write this week.  I hope that everyone has a HAPPY EASTER.  I hope that if anyone that reads my blog and wants to know more about my beliefs contacts me via email at justin.bandy@myldsmail.net  or asks my family for more information.  I am very happy with what I am doing and with who I am.  I know that you can be happy too!

Welcome to my newest cousin...little Natalie May!  Congratulations Shawna and Vinnie and grandparents Rich and She-She.

THE GEAR SHIFTER IS WHERE?

Shifter is in a weird place!

Different kind of car!

The week was fine, we had a lot of good appointments and found some good families.  The area is progressing, we are finding more and more people everyday, we just need to be able to meet with them.  We set the appointments and for some reason they always seem to forget that we´re coming, so its a little disappointing.  But they are all progressing at their own speed and we´re working on getting them all to the church so they can start progressing for real. The new area is good just have to get used to the people and relearn the area, I get so lost here but I just need a little more time to figure it out.  The difference is that it's hillier, greener, colder and above all a concrete jungle.  But I love that we live super close to the chapel and the market so I don´t have to walk a lot to buy things.  But otherwise it's the same, the people are just a little colder, but it just means I have to be more certain of the message and share my testimony more.  The best part of the week was when we taught a Joven of 21 years old, and he told us that perhaps he is going to be baptized on the 12th, which is better than when he was saying that it wasn't going to happen, so little miracles. I get to go to the temple this week so I´m super excited for that because I haven't been for more than a year without going to the temple.  But the time is going to go by fast now, I´m going to try and work harder and hopefully I´ll receive the blessings whether it be greater understanding of the scriptures or more people that are ready to be taught, I just want to recognize them and use them well. 

Birthday girl Rosio who is investigating.

Cooking with a new family.

Perro Eddy

Me and Walter

The soup has caramel corn in it and it was delicious!

Pirate Bandy...Arg!

I just turned my shoes in today to get them fixed, but if I don´t like how they turn out I´ll buy new ones.  Today we got our hair cut, went shopping and we are helping the sisters move out of their house tonight.

Well I´m going to get home and throw some golf clubs around because I´m not as good as I used to be and it is too expensive to play out here and I don't have time to play a round of golf.  LOL  But no really, I´m going to throw clubs around because I will be so bad at it.  But as for the whole ritual of burning clothes, I don´t believe in it, doing it means that you want to go home and that is the opposite of what we are trying to achieve here.  I can burn my suit when I get home since it´ll be so bad that I won´t ever want to use it again. 

As for the week we were teaching a family that we were thinking didn't have any interest in listening to us and so we weren't going into the lesson with the grandest expectations, but we started talking about how our Heavenly Father (God) is real, that he loves us and has provided the means of allowing us to return to live with him.  We had left the first pamphlet of the restoration with him, we got there with the expectation that they hadn't read it, but as we were teaching he had the question, who is José Smith? We were a little confused until he explained that he had read the whole pamphlet and was wondering people had really seen our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  We were like, WHAT!  He actually read it and had questions.   Raphael ( the investigator) told us, "I have been praying for 3 years to know if this is real and if there was a church that I can use to unite my family, that will bring us the happiness that I have been searching for."  I was thrown back, I was thinking that nobody was going to say anything like that.  I hear stories of missionaries that have investigators that say it but I was thinking it was a myth, something that happens in every blue moon, but we were feeling the spirit strongly in the lesson and I was so happy to be able to be there with my companion to see this change and feelings.  We also had a youth called Mario that we have been teaching regularly that tells us that he isn't going to get baptized until he receives an answer, but he told us the other day that "perhaps he´s going to get baptized."  Reminds me of a story from Sister Beale I believe when she said that when an investigator changes from "no" to "maybe." that it´s progress, and it´s true, for us it's the same as a yes, he just needs a little more understanding  to do it.

I hope everyone watched conference.  

P.S.  Congratulations to our new American citizen.....Sister Otto.