Week One - Whew! That was a Whirlwind!

August 6, 2015

Whew! That was a Whirlwind!

Jonny's first letter from the Bogota, Columbia Missionary Training Center.  Obviously, he was either in a huge hurry, or English is no longer a priority....I am having flashbacks of proofreading his high school papers.  I had to squelch every OCD bone in my body not to edit before posting.  He really did graduate with honors.  Let it go Mom!!  

At least his humor (and sarcasm) remain intact.

Hey Fam! sorry, i dont have much time, so please escuse all the grammatical errors coming your way. So the trip down here was by far the longest day i had had up until my first day at the mtc. i got on that plane around seven in the morning and didnt arrive to my destinatiion until 2 in the morning. good thing i had elder hoopes to keep me company all the way down here. the days at the mtc are long as well, but have gotten much better since the first week. The first few days were super tough especially because the teachers here have no chill. they speak rapid fire spanish to you and expect you to understand it. i have never prayed for anything in my entire life as i did for the gift of tongues to activate the first few nights. i have slowly started to catch on, and its been rough, but i guess it has its highlights. some days being a missionary feels like being sarah in that i cant even. however, some days have been great. 

as for things that have been great not spiritually, its been awesome. my companion, elder jackman, is a boss and we get along really well. were always pulling pranks on each other, and ill tell you about them some other time. i have gotten the chance to play some soccer with the latinos down here (dont worry mom we take it easy, and my knee is fine). i have had some pretty awesome highlights, like doing a rainbow over some kid from argentina and scoring off it. needless to say, i have become very good friends with most of the latinos here. even more so, i believe, then all the nortes, or caucasions, or americanos, and whatever else they like to call us gringos. even though sometimes we cant understand each other, theyre still the most patient and loving people ive ever met. im really loving it here at the mtc. except the fact that were gated in and held down basically at gunpoint not to leave. its real chill otherwise.

last thursday, we did a session at the bogota columbia temple. ill send you pictures if i have enough time and gizmo to figure out how to do it. it was definitely one of the coolest temples i have ever been to. the only thing i could think of the entire time is how boise idaho really needed to step up its game. presidente duvall and hermana duvall are truly inspired. theyre knowledge of the gospel are unparalelled. my teachers all so awesome, and i am learning more than i ever thought i could about the spanish language and the gospel. weve been teaching a ruthless investigador, pero es realmente hermano Gonzalez, and today we got him to commit to baptism! (hopefully now we can get him to obey the word of wisdom and the law of chastity and stuff) 

i miss all of you so much. i think of you often in my prayers, and i pray every night that you will all be watched over, and that buster will know that im ok. Hopefully next time i can write to you longer. we only have 45 minutes to do so, because i dont think the people in charge want us sulking over our families and stuff too much. just know that i am safe, secure, and studying to prepare to be a full-time servant of the Lord. I love and miss all of you so much. ustedes son en mi corazon. ¡adios! 

Bogota Columbia Temple