Q'mas de Colombia

So, this week, we focused a lot on getting a couple baptisms wrapped up before cambios.

So, we've got two baptisms lined up for this coming week, and I'm psyched because I've worked super hard for these baptisms. Actually, basically everyone has told me that these people aren't progressing and I've been the constant through multiple comps and intercambios. Diogenes I've talked about a bit in my letters home, but from him I learned to just do it. He didn't come to church for like 8 weeks and we went to him and "defined" him, basically deciding to drop him or not. It was that talk that got him to go to church, and he started going and now he's getting baptized. The other is Gisel. She's taken a lot of perseverance. It's been slow progress. We contacted her almost my first week in Cereté, and it's been a roller coaster getting her to baptism, and it's finally going through. Sometimes it's good to really make sure someone understands your intentions and goals, how you're seeing the finished product because that gets things going in the direction you want, and clears up tons of confusion. 

It's been rough with these two, and it's rewarding to have it so close. They still need their baptismal interviews which are on Tuesday, but still. I've put a lot of work into them two, and we've seen a ton of change in them, and especially Gisel. She's the older sister of a JAS [young single adult] in the ward, and she's had the lessons before, but went to Barranquilla and didn't get baptized. When I got to Cereté, we did a service for the family and I started talking to her about prayer and religion. She didn't really want to talk, and expressed that she didn't feel that religion ni [nor] prayer were actually important, and that God could understand her desires and that was enough. We explained that desires aren't sufficient, and God expects action to show faith. (With "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" in the back of my mind) and still progress was very slow. Over the next month or two, we built trust with her and began to visit more and teach the structured lessons. Then she began to read the Book of Mormon and it progressed much more, and getting her to church, and everything has been a battle, and then going smoothly afterwards. Every comp I've had here, and in almost every intercambio, I've been told that she'll never progress but I've stuck with her, sometimes dragging Pezo to citas. It's been great to see her change and be always reading her homewrork, and trying to understand the passages. 

Today we've got lunch with two lesbian investigators, and it should be interesting. Cereté has taught me a ton in the last 6 months and I just don't know how to put it in words. I'm sure a bunch of you know how that is.

Always Great,

Élder Hicken

Lunch -- an hermana gave us a fish last week

some dog that followed Izquierdo and I for like 2km

the Caño Bugre, the big river of Cereté, dried in the sun and it smells bad too