Oh! *That's* a Cartagena!

June 11, 2018

Zdravstvuyte comrades.

How we all doin'? This week was nowhere near as hectic as last week.

This was my first full week in my own area here in Cartagena. On Monday we had a fun little Cartagena excursion where we went to a couple different lookout points. Pics have been sent out. My area doesn't have any parts near the water, nor is there much of a "beach" within Cartagena. There's a big naval port which is pretty cool. That being said, it's humid, and the temperature is steadily rising; however, there is normally some for of breeze or air flow, so it's not horrible...for now. The temperature is still rising. We've also had some storms blow in to keep things nice and frescito.

A lot of our time has been spent on the street or knocking on doors because we have very little to go off of at the moment. This is a slow rebuilding process. When Elder Clark got here, nobody in the area had really been using the Area Book for months, so we're pretty much building from the ground up with only some map points to reference and whatever info was passed on to Elder Clark.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we had our exchanges with Elder Jamison and Elder Burnard. Elder Jamison and I had a pretty cool experience. Towards the end of our morning together, we decided to knock on a couple doors. On the second door we stopped at, an older lady named Isabel answered the door. After a little explanation on our part, she made the connection that we were Mormons and told us that she had actually been taught by missionaries before, that she was Catholic but always likes to talk about God and that she wouldn't mind if we came back another day. We'll see how that goes. That was pretty much the only solid future that was found among the efforts of all four of us.

Much of Friday and Saturday was spent out and finding. This is a doozy of an area. We will knock entire streets of apartment buildings and have nothing to show for it. I mean, that isn't too different from other areas where I've served, but it just feels different here. On top of that, a lot more apartment buildings are open, but that doesn't change the results. Elder Clark has been really good with keeping us going and keeping ourselves occupied by entering buildings, stopping at doorbells, or picking a destination to work towards on our map. The only person who actually gave us the time of day was this nice Ukranian woman who was asking all of the right questions like "Where are you from?" and "Are you also here studying or working?" and "Are your families here with you?" She seemed impressed by the fact that two young guys were willing to sacrifice two years of their lives in another country, speaking another language, and living with the sole purpose of sharing their beliefs with others. Although she let us know that she was Eastern Orthodox and her husband and daughter were Catholic, she said that she would like to come to our chapel when she can and was interested in our English classes. Her name was Olga.

As a part of my studies, I've started a sort of speed read of the Book of Mormon. I read/scan and underline in red any phrase or word where Christ, His doctrine, His gospel, His atonement, or His love is mentioned. I also underline in two other colors anything regarding virtue (good examples and bad examples) and the Holy Ghost (including what he does). I've found it to be quite an enjoyable experience. My mind is taking in the story, analyzing the words, and judging whether or not something could/should be highlighted constantly. I started on the 18th of May, and I am almost halfway through the whole book. This activity has actually made it hard to put the book down. I give myself 15 minutes of my personal study to do this, but I've found myself doing it in my spare time during the day, and wanting to just sit down and read. I'm quickly discovering just how often reference is made to Jesus Christ throughout the entire history of the Nephites, and much more, through this analyzation that I'm carrying out. The Book of Mormon is true, and I rejoice in how much that fact has been made manifest to me as I have read it in different ways throughout the course of my mission.

Sooo yep! That's all I've got for you this week. Have a good one!

Elder Jensen :)

Gag Reel: Guapo