"Sorry, I can't write this week."

Hola Familia, 

I am just writing to tell you that I can't write this week... I'm really sorry we just got back from the Zone  Conference in Palmira and now we have to go set up in the chapel for a baptism. 

It is possible I will be able to write either tomorrow or Monday...

Sorryyyy,

Elder Eliason 

Happy Mother's Day - Skype Highlights - COMING SOON

Skype You Tomorrow!

Hey Family!

Sorry I can't write much today, we are in Popayan for Zone Conference and right now I am in the terminal waiting for a bus to get here to head back up to Cali!

I just wanted to set everything up for tomorrow, I will be calling at 6:00 Cali time... I will be on Skype again making it 4 for 4 with the Christmas/Mother's Day Calls! You might get a chance to get to know a few Elders from the office as well because we have permission to use the office computers and the Internet is great.

Oh well, I guess we will be seeing you tomorrow then! Thanks for the pics of prom Dad, Bayla looked gorgeous! See you all tomorrow!

Elder Eliason 

"The Spirit is the real teacher, and when it is present hearts are touched and lives are changed."

Hola familia como les va?

With the news of Connor in the hospital with stomach pains I can imagine that being a little bit scary for everyone! I remember the time I ended up in a hospital after taking a dive off a mountain trying to ride a bike! The good part of this story is that Connor was conscious while entering the hospital and he was in Texas with the comfort of having Mom at his side! But I am sure glad everything is okay!

Well I will very briefly detail what has been happening this week so I will have time to write a few of you individually, it has been a while since I have done that!

This past week was really great, we are working with a wonderful family we found about 3 weeks ago. The Murillo Family! It is a little strange how the family is made up because it is actually 3 sisters and each of their 1 daughters. The whole family has been to church 3 times now and have also been going to the activities we have been doing as well. They are progressing spiritually as well as socially mixing with the ward. 

A great experience we had with them was when we went to verify the first time they read the Book of Mormon. They had all read together and when they did, they all started to share with each other what they had learned. We had given them 2 Nephi 32 which talks a lot about prayer and we felt that it would be perfect for what they needed. Well when we asked them what impression they had had while reading they commented to us that they had had the feeling that baptism is what they needed to do to enter the true path. This was a little striking to us because to be honest the chapter doesn't mention the word baptism even once. 

I instantly remembered something that Elder Bednar had taught us while he was here about a year ago, he taught us that the Spirit is the real teacher, and that it is possible to receive personal inspiration for your own needs that has little or nothing to do with what the speaker or teacher is teaching. This is true conversion. We helped them understand the answer and then helped them put a baptismal date for next Saturday! The Spirit is the real teacher, and when it is present hearts are touched and lives are changed.

In the mission right now we are getting ready to start the last zone conference tour in the President Prince era. The focus this conference will be "the method" by which we teach, the Holy Ghost. We have good practices and trainings set up that should make it a special conference for every one. 

I have learned so much being at president's side, it seems like I have a journal full of wisdom that has helped me in a lot of ways. We are also planning the Mission Leadership Council and that will also be a great meeting. I have learned something about setting goals, we have tried in the past to think of the best possible ways to set our goals to the point where they are reasonable, and stretch the missionaries. However, we learned that the missionaries respond better when they are the ones who come up with the goals. Instead of putting ones on them, they come together and commit themselves to a goal. When it is their idea they respond better. So that is what we will try this time to hopefully get everyone pumped up for the last 2 months of President Prince! 

Alright! Thanks for everything, see you next week! 

Elder Eliason 

"It is always important to remember the 'why' to everything we do and not just the 'what.'"

Hiya familia! 

How is everyone?

It's kind of funny all of what is happening at home right now! Connor starts driving and Haley is finishing high school! Those are two monuments in a teenagers life and I remember them both so well when I went through them. Shout out to Conno for rocking my kanye west shirt, what a classic. Thanks mom and dad for all the updates on everything, Go Mavs!

Well my week was a pretty hectic one as you can probably see from Herman Prince's blog. It was transfer week so that means a lot of planning and not a lot of sleeping. Tuesday started at 4:45 in the morning taking the old missionaries who are finishing their missions to the airport and waiting for the new missionaries to get here. This time we only had to receive 8 so that was so much easier than last time with 27. 

It is a really fun process getting to know the new missionaries and seeing their expectations of how their missions are going to be. It reminds me quite a bit of the experience I had. I remember expecting excitedly for what my mission experience was going to be. I thought I knew what to expect but I learned quick it was nothing I had imagined. I remember the first day wanting to contact everybody I saw, didn't matter who I just wanted to do missionary work. I see this excitement in the face of almost every missionary who gets here, and it gives me that "new excitement" every time. The proselyting training we gave was really amazing as well, their was a lot of energy and passion at the beginning of these missionary's missions. 

It also reminded me of the importance of enduring. We have seen so many missionaries have that same excitement when they get here and then burn out when they face challenges. It's like the converts that when they first get baptized everything is exciting, but then the "burdens of discipleship" come and they would rather not "take up the cross" (Mark 10:21) and end up burning out as well. It is always important to remember the "why" to everything we do and not just the "what." I believe that is the difference between those who endure and those who burn out. I believe they both face challenges, but the ones who look forward with an eye of faith being transformed by the 'why' of the work, always find the way to keep going. That is something I try to apply even today, never forget the first day of my mission and the 'why' I came out in the first place.

Anyways sorry for the rant, after the great day with the new missionaries going to Cristo Rey, watching Ephraim's Rescue and going to a baptism, it was transfer day! We got up around 5:00 to get the terminal and await about 100 missionaries getting to the terminal from Pasto, Palmira, Tulua, Popayan, Buenaventura, and Zarzal. The preparation for that day is pretty intense, what with all of the logistics of where is everyone gonna stay and who has to go with who and where everyone is going and what not. There can't be a mess up or someone ends up where they shouldn't or bags get lost and a whole bunch of things. After all the craziness in the terminal we went for the training of the new missionaries which I already said was really really great.

And so now we are here planning for the zone conferences that are coming up. A big thing in the mission right now is putting the Lord's commandments in the place of being our own. For example in the 13th article of faith we state, "We believe in being honest, true, faithful...." but for all of us it says a lot more if we say, "I believe in being honest, true, faithful, benevolent...." We don't look at mission rules or commandments as outside forces that are being imposed on us, we see them as our own rules that become part of us. 

So that is basically what has been going on here, still having a great time in the mission. I love this time I am able to spend here, what a blessing it is to be able to serve with all of my time and attention.

Thanks for all the prayers, they are truly felt every day!

Have a great week, 

Elder Eliason   

"I know now is the time to give it all I have."

Pic of three crosses. 

There is a place at the top of the 3 crosses to do exercise, and I took advantage to start getting the strength back! Gettin' back to the Elder Eliason before he was elder.... haha 

This is Toro, the security guy from our apartment building, he’s hilarious.

Elder Belnap, the first missionary I met when I got to Cali, came back to Colombia with his wife and stopped by the office to say hi.

First airplane ride in the mission.

Los Prince getting on the plane.

Hola Familia, 

Como me les ha ido!

Great hear from the family every week, it gives me the boost I need to keep going strong! Thanks Dad for always being so good with the pictures. It is really weird to be hearing about Haley's Senior Prom? I feel like it wasn't that long I did that! Anyway, that should be  super memorable night for her! Looks like Conno is still ballin' hard! He sure has grown up quite a bit! 

So this week was a great week full of training interviews and more training. We finished up the whole mission with interviews and it was really a fun time getting to know literally all of the missionaries. We started the week going up north, I had never been up there so it was a good experience getting know more parts of Colombia. My companion and I also take advantage of always being in the car with president to ask tips and gain doctrinal insight on missionary work. It is really amazing how smart he is and all he has learned in his time here in Colombia. 

In other news, we had limited time in the area this week but we managed to use the little we had well. What happened in our area when we got there was what inspired the training in the interviews. We got there and realized that there were a ton of families that were investigating! It sounded great until we got there and taught the first lesson. We realized that the families we were teaching didn't understand the purpose of why were teaching them. They really weren't interested in committing themselves to the Gospel, they were just interested in the missionaries coming over and having a good time with them. 

We came to realize that they weren't the prepared investigators we were looking for, and that the missionaries had spent a lot of time there without any type of progress. The importance of talking about our objective as missionaries with the investigators is great because it gives them a vision of where we see this process going. we can also tell a lot quicker if the investigator is really interested in committing themselves or not. 

So that is what we did, and we had to stop teaching a few of those families and focus the little time we have into finding the people prepared of the Lord. And this week we were blessed with a great family of 6 that we found through a contact when I first got here. Turns out that the hotel in Cali we use to shelter the new missionaries when they first get here had a worker that we contacted and finally were able to teach! They are really great and the first lesson we were able to talk a lot about our purpose and how the Gospel can bless their lives. We taught them the Restoration and immediately it was evident their interest in our message. You can tell the interest of an investigator when you are clear and direct with the commitments you extend them and how they react. 

We have also been using the members a ton here. With us traveling this month, they have helped us out quite a bit. We have had a ton of FHEs this week with the new families we have found. We basically gather about 10 or 15 members and go around house to house doing FHE with messages of Easter and games to get the members well involved and well entrusted with the families. We call it the Mormon Portable Party (MPP), it is a great tool to establish trust with the investigators and help them feel well fellowshipped. 

We headed up the mountain of the 3 crosses this morning with a few members of the MPP. It was fun about a year ago when we did it as a council, but this time I feel like I was in better shape so it wasn't as hard haha. I'll attached some pics.

Well that's it for now, I hope everything is going well back home! I feel like I am at the peak of my mission, with all of the experience gained and lessons learned, I know now is the time to give it all I have. I am really looking forward to what the Lord has prepared for me in these last 3 months of my mission. I realize I will never get the opportunity to be a missionary again and that the time will go by fast, that is what fuels me to give even more!

Thanks for the prayers and support!

Elder Eliason  

"I know it is not easy to be a disciple of Christ in these days but as Elder Holland said, "it's worth it."

 Freezing on the bus (forgot sweater) from Pasto to Ipiales with the comp.

  

In Ipiales with a convert family.

Our mission logo!

Hola Familia! 

I already wrote Codes to say Feliz Cumpleaños but I think it's appropriate to start the letter with another shout out! Happy Birthday Codes! You are the best big brother anyone could ever ask for! 

Another shout out goes to the fam for going to the Final Four! That is a wonderful check mark on the bucket list dad! The picture you sent me was breathtaking, I remember going the first time to the stadium and thinking that there are people who would probably buy a ticket in the nosebleeds just to watch the game on the bigscreen! Haha 

Also, I don't know how I feel about changing the tradition of Saturday night priesthood session. Dad, you don't fix what's not broken. Haha!

But what a great session of conference! I loved the talk by Elder Donald L. Hallstrom who invited us all to change as a result from what we learned in General Conference. The phrase "That's just the way I am" doesn't cut it on the road to discipleship. We are believers in the Atonement of Christ and as such, we should believe in His enabling power to help us change what is not right in all of us. Let's put that into practice! Without application, General Conference is just one weekend of fine talks that comes and goes every 6 months! 

I was also impacted by Elder Christofferson's talk on the Resurrection. I had never taken into a count all the wonderful things that we know and depend on as a result from the fact that Christ arose on the third day. 

 “The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.” 

I also loved Elder Ballard's talk about following up, he was teaching us while teaching us. Especially as missionaries we have such a great need to follow up with our investigators to help them progress. It is the same for everything else, we should all be people of commitment, committed to God and to living His Gospel, and constant following up with ourselves and others is the way we keep ourselves honest and measure progress.  

I could go on all day about conference but there doesn't seem to be enough time for that. As for what has been going on here in Colombia.

We started the week diving head first into interviews, Tuesday we started with Palmira which is a town located just about 20 minutes from Cali. As I said before we are giving a training to the whole mission about teaching more directly and being able to express our main purpose as missionaries and giving them the vision of where we see them going. It went really well, we feel like the practice is really helping missionaries to understand the importance of helping the investigators understand. It is also really fun getting to know and working with so many missionaries. And it is also great because Hermana Prince makes the greatest banana bread ever and when there is some left over after the interviews we get to take advantage! 

Wednesday we did two zones in Cali and then Thursday we took my first plane ride since arriving here to Pasto. It was insane. I felt uneasy the whole plane ride what with the plane we flew on being the smallest ever I had gotten on. The turbulence was just crazy, especially arriving at the Pasto airport. The runway getting to Pasto is like in between two mountains and the start of the runway is at the edge of a cliff. Haha it was definitely an interesting experience. 

It was great to feel the cool air of Nariño again but was also not too great because I forgot my old sweater I used in Ipiales, needless to say I suffered until a missionary lent me one of his haha. The cool part was I got to visit Ipiales again and the see the new chapel they built there! Easily the biggest and prettiest chapel in the mission. I've included a pic.

We just got back about an hour ago from Pasto and are facing a brand new week of interviews and planning for what is to come in the zone conferences and webcast trainings. 

I am feeling great right now, it is a wonderful time to be a missionary and I am just trying to get everything out of it I possibly can in these last 3 months!

I hope everything is going great back home, I love you all and want you all to know that I love this Work. I know it is  not easy to be a disciple of Christ in these days but as Elder Holland said, "it's worth it." I testify that that is true, it is true in the mission field and everywhere else. We must be able to endure tough trials of our faith with our ever so sure desire to give everything for Him who we love, Him who gave everything for us.

 I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Eliason 

"We want investigators to know and understand why we are teaching them, to help them come unto Christ by repentance and baptism."

Hola familia Qué mas!! 

The Lord has been very good to us here in the Colombia Cali Mission! This week was a blessing because we started it off going to Popayan on Monday and Tuesday for interviews with the missionaries there and I got to take advantage Monday night to visit all of the great converts there! Also the interviews went just wonderfully, we were able to train on the new retention focus and all about the responsibilities that we as missionaries have in that process. We also had a training on teaching clearly and completely, and also leaving clear with the investigators our purpose as missionaries. 

As Dallin H. Oaks said:

 "We do not preach and teach just to persuade people to live better lives. … We invite all to come unto Christ by repentance and baptism and confirmation in order to open the doors of the celestial kingdom to the sons and daughters of God. No one else can do this.” 

We want investigators to know and understand why we are teaching them, to help them come unto Christ by repentance and baptism. When they understand that, they understand better what our role is as guides in the process and what they must do to have success. If this isn't clear to them, we lose time because they are thinking we are just there to preach and they don't act and progress how we need them to. It worked really well and I felt at home once again being in Popayan. 

This week was also a blessing because we headed back to Cali Tuesday night and got to pick President Prince's brain on certain gospel topics and missionary tactics, that was the best haha. We got back on Wednesday and immediately got to work on finishing the planning for the Leadership council! It is such a cool experience planning with President and learning how he seeks revelation on how to better guide this mission. It is an experience I am really grateful for. 

The thing I have learned is that I need to be constantly thinking and analyzing and preparing to help him in that process. He is super busy with a ton of things that go on in the mission and he doesn't have all the time to think about all the details of what needs to be done in the mission. Basically our job is to make his job easier, and I am slowly getting the hang of it. 

The council went really great, we talked a lot about the importance of committing investigators with a baptismal date and how to use the members to help facilitate their spiritual conversion with a social conversion. If the investigators feel the fellowship of the members and feel at home in the church, they have a huge support system in which they can grow and be supported in their conversion process. Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor.

For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.
Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?
And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12) 

And now we are focused on next week's trainings in the interviews and also working a lot more in our area, should be fun! 

Enjoy the rest of Conference!

Elder Eliason 

I'll send pictures a little later!

"I think this is the key of being a leader, knowing the people you serve."

 

Baptism last week of Margarita and Harold

Funny picture of the comp haha

Baptism pics of Natalia

Heading to Tulua for divisions

Hola familia!!!!

3...2...1... and it´s over! The Green Bay Packers have won the first super bowl in NFL history! Oh, hi there, my name is Vince Lombardi... 

Haha of course I still remember my lines from the 6th grade wax museum! I guess I will participate in those group texts through my emails haha. 

Wow I loved getting that huge email about the Lake Tyler camping trip! I couldn't believe the family would keep trying to get a good experience out of that place... I guess everyone knows how I feel about camping. Everyone should recall the famous camping trip where at 4 in the morning the decision was made to drive to the comforts of our home due to the miserable night we passed haha. But I'm glad everyone had a good experience this time, nothing better than cherished time spent with the family. 

I cant believe Gma and Gpa have finished already! That went by so fast! That's awesome they were able to spend time with you guys for a little bit before they headed back to the tah. And don't worry dad, in three months or so I'll be there to whip those kids in shape... just get ready for family study at 7 am sharp. Yep, you heard me... 

So this week has been equally great, here in the office we have been really busy planning the zone leader counsel for this week and also the special training for interviews next month. We have also been keeping on with the heavy number of divisions and this week was for all of the zones in Cali. I must admit that at first it was a little strange adapting to the new type of work that is required here, but now I feel more comfortable and am loving the experience. And we have also been having a lot of time to proselyte normally so it hasn't been as slow as I might have thought it would have been. 

The ZL Council this week will be a lot focused on training the leaders we have in the mission. In the mission right now there is a lot of dependency on the District leaders, they are basically the motors of the mission because they have the most direct contact with the missionaries and have the tools with the district meeting and being closer to the missionaries. 

 

We are following the system that was talked about by Elder Tad R. Callister a few conferences ago...  

"In my mind there are at least three key factors that contribute to such dramatic growth in the mission years: (1) we trust these young men as never before, (2) we have high but loving expectations of them, and (3) we train and retrain them so they can fulfill those expectations with excellence."

The Counsel will be based in this idea, that the zone leaders can follow these 3 steps to get the most out of there leaders. It has been something I have been studying a lot as of late and I sure have learned a lot about leadership. There is one scripture that stuck in my mind this past week..  "And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you" (1 Thes. 5:12) 

I think this is the key of being a leader, knowing the people you serve. It is easy to be the type of leader with the title and nothing else, but it something else to have enough love and concern for your people to really get to know them and understand how you can help them. "I have given you an example … do as I have done." (John 13:15) "Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister." (Matt. 20:26) 

We also had a baptism this past week!! Her name is Natalia and her story is really special to us. She was born with a problem in her legs that makes it so she can't walk. But she is super blessed with the gift of faith, that is just super evident in the way she has accepted the Gospel in her life and her willingness to follow the Savior despite her restrictions. The service was incredible because of all the members that came! It was one of biggest services I have attended! I'll attach a picture so you can see her and everything. 

So that is pretty much what's been happening here in Colombia! I'm still loving it here and loving the work that I am doing. This is a very special part of the world, I feel like God has a soft spot for the people of South America. There are a lot of promises to these people made in the Book of Mormon and it is cool being a tool that helps them realize and take advantage of it! 

Have a great week!

Elder Eliason 

"I am as busy as I think I have ever been in my life."

One slide from a PowerPoint we did for training.

Holaaa familia!

How is everyone? It's a little weird not hearing from anyone! I guess the change from Monday to Saturday was just a little too much for everyone to handle... haha

Well this week we did just a ton of exchanges. On Wednesday I had the opportunity to go up to Tuluá with one of the zone leaders there to do an exchange up there. It went super great, it is so fun to get to know and work with so many missionaries and teach a ton of different investigators. We have been focusing the exchanges on managing time well... President has basically stressed over and over that the missionaries are to be using half of their time rescuing and retaining with recent converts and less actives and the other half with the investigators, and with so much to do we have to know how to use our time wisely. 

We set up a scheme of how we can be teaching up to 6, 7, or 8 lessons a day and we have seen some great results. When more responsibilities come the less time we have to put into the field, and it has helped me learn how to use my time wisely. 

I also got to stay here for a day while my companion went up to Zarzal. When we are in exchanges we dont work in the office that day we just spend the whole day in our area. It was fun to see what we could do with an entire day to proselyte. We actually have had quite a bit of success early on in our new area. The recent converts have been presenting us new people in our Actividades Hogareñas (Home activites FHE type thing) and we have been finding new people that way. We actually are going to have a baptism tonight, her name is Margarita and she was found through her son who is a member now for about 7 years. She is a really sweet lady, she was taught by the other elders who were here before us and handed over after the change. 

We also had a great webcast training this past Tuesday for all of the new missionaries and their trainers. We just basically went over the tools that we use in the mission to work with members. It was a little different giving a training looking into a camera but in the end everything turned out great! We actually showed an example of when elder Aldunate and I were in Buenaventura when we found Luis and Diana through the list of old members we had, used member families to provide fellowship and help them to the waters of baptism, and then through them we were able to find another family and do the same with them, I will try to send you the PowerPoint we used. 

The time is going by super fast ever since I have gotten here in Cali. I am as busy as I think I have ever been in my life. But it is great always knowing that I am doing so much to help this work move forward! 

Sorry this is short! Have a great week!

Elder Eliason

Wooh what a week I have had!...It was just a huge blur...

This is the TEAM that makes it all happen

The Office - March 2014
(following photos and captions courtesy of Hermana Prince blog)

Elder and Hermana Aagard...Health secretary and mission nurse

Elder Aldunate...Assistant to the President

Elder Longorio...Materials and Housing secretary

Elder Eliason...Assistant to the president

Elder Mosqueira...Registry secretary

Elder Gallardo...Secretary to the President in training

Elder Sanhueza...Financial secretary

Elder Miranda...Secretary to the President

Our New Assistants

Elder Eliason and Elder Aldunate

With Presidente Prince!

Some recent converts in Terron! 

Hello from la oficina!

Filling out the brackets for March Madness

is NOTHING

compared to receiving 27 new missionaries at one time!

The logistics are overwhelming!

Here are a few of the things that have to be figured out...

1.  A bus big enough to move them and nearly 54 pieces of luggage from airport to the various points of drop off for the luggage.

2.  Getting Visas registered at immigration when they only allow 6 a day from your group!

3.  Having enough beds to sleep them the first night they arrive so they can have training the following day...and NOT put the sisters with the Elders.

Meeting their trainers and having enough tables and chairs for everyone to sit and eat together...that was lunch for 68!

Hola Familia!!!

Wooh what a week I have had! It all started getting to the office on Sunday and from there it was just a huge blur....

Monday- was spent learning a bunch of the new duties and tricks on Excel, picking up all of the informs and putting them into the system, Office meeting with president and all of the secretaries, getting all of the logistics ready for when the new missionaries were going to come, and finally heading out to our new area which is called Terron Colorado. It is an area up in the mountains and so it is pretty chilly at night, and we also have some cool sights walking up the mountain of all of Cali. We got to know a few members, a few recent converts and investigators to help us get started in a new area. This is the 3rd time in my mission I am having to open an area (or when 2 missionaries arrive at an area where they haven't been) and I am super excited to see what we can do with it. 

Tuesday- Got up at about 4:30 to go to the airport to receive all of the new missionaries... ALL 27 OF THEM! Took us a good while to get them all set up with their bags in the huge bus we rented to accommodate them all. We gave out a little breakfast that Hermana Prince bought for them, and headed to Cali. We got there and set them up for interviews with President. While they were all waiting we gave a little introduction to the mission and a training about ward council that we had in the last zone conference. We want the missionaries to be able to be a strength for their wards and branches from really early on in their mission. After that we went up to Cristo Rey to sing " Called to Serve." That moment was super weird what with that being my first time being up there since I was the new missionary singing. After that we returned to the office to watch Ephraim's Rescue and then plan with President the training for the new missionaries the next day. Then in the office till about 11 planning logistics for transfers. 

Wednesday- Got up at about 4:30 again to help coordinate transfers in the terminal. That was super hectic, so many tiny details that go into that making sure no one gets left alone and making sure we don't send a group to the wrong place. So that lasted about till 9 and then we headed back to the training of the new missionaries. While the trainers are getting their training we were explaining rules and administrative stuff about the mission. 

Then the trainers came over and the fun part began of shutting their eyes and putting their trainers behind them and then having them turn around to see their new trainer.. a great moment! Then it started to rain SUPER hard and caused the room to flood. It was the first time that had ever happened in the history of the mission. So we called it a day and did everything we could to get everyone out of there and in their areas. We took the ones leaving Cali to the terminal and sent everyone off. After not being able to believe that everything was over, we were able to go to Terron to meet more members and investigators. 

And Thursday and Friday were regular days in the office planning the webcast training for the new investigators to make up for the rain delay we had. Also for the specialized training we are going to give to all the district leaders about divisions, baptismal interviews, daily verification and district meetings. 

I am learning a lot in this new assignment I have been given... it is quite a bit different than what I am used to, but it is also fun thinking of all the ways we can get better as a mission and how to best transmit President's vision to everyone. 

I live in the nicest house in the mission now, with 5 other missionaries in the nicest part of Cali. Cali is just gorgeous, I have been without a camera this week because I left in Popayan.... hahah. But I get it this week and I'll snap some pics of the scenery if I can! 

I am so happy right now and really excited for this upcoming week because we start our divisions with the zone leaders! We are going to be traveling all around the mission these next 2 weeks and I am super excited for it. I am ready to give it everything I have for these last few months of my mission, I have been at it a while now and I know the Lord has saved something special for me in this last part! I love this Work... enough said! 

Have a great week!

Elder Eliason