Elder and Hermanita Weatherford: Late October in Bogota

Then we got sick . . .

Incident # 19000792602 Policy/ID# W254551195

Buenos dias,

Le adjunto la Garantia de Pago para uno de los misioneros.

Aetna Intl Carta de Garantía de Poliza//ID# W254551195

La contraseña para abrir el documento adjunto es la misma que siempre.

Agradezco de antemano por sus servicios y atencion de este nuevo caso.

Jenny at the clinic

(November 1, 2019) Dad and I think about you all the time in the temple because of the experiences we have that only someone who attends the temple would understand. Here are a couple of things we have experienced --

At the veil, I had the amazing opportunity to work with a young woman who was going through for the first time. Thank goodness Dad was nearby because on the other side of the veil was a worker who insisted that I say she was in the temple representing a dead person. This man insisted that I talk as if she was a proxy for a dead person, so he would not move forward with the veil ceremony. Our temple president did some training and told the workers that if the person is standing right there, then please do NOT say that they are dead. :) Anyway, Dad helped the veil worker understand that this was a living ordinance. I think a few of the workers hear my English accent and they freak out and they assume that I'm making mistakes. They forget to stop and listen and take it slow. Learning to communicate is interesting. Some people know that they must slow down and give me the benefit of the doubt. Others freeze up and stop trying. I understand that my language can be intimidating.

One group of very poor members came on a 22-hour bus ride to spend a week at the temple. They did two endowments every morning and two every afternoon. Larry and I came to know and recognize them. On Saturday morning, they came to do their last endowments, and some of them had tears in their eyes. Dad and I just cried, too. It was so beautiful! The youth who came got the vomiting and fever thing that Dad and I had, they call it the gamboo. They came to the baptistry with masks on their mouths. I just smile and thank Heavenly Father that I'm not sharing the baptismal font with them. :) I don't want the gamboo again.

They do a pretty cool thing here. After a person gets the new name, they go through a door to the chapel and the door counts them and puts the tally on a screen. That way we know how many men and women are going on the endowment session. When I was the woman who helped lead the endowment (the seguidora), I saw that no women had come through the door, according to the screen, yet there was a woman waiting in the chapel. At the time, I figured that she had come through right after I looked at the count. But, no, after the session started, she raised her hand and told me in Spanish that she had not received the new name ceremony. I pulled her into a sealing room and gave her the ceremony in Spanish (thank goodness I have almost everything memorized) and then we went forward with the endowment. It was almost a panic attack. :)

Things like this are a rush for Dad and me. Wow! Every night, we get home and we compare notes. Did you meet this person? Did you ever experience this problem? Our temple mission is amazing and intense! Just today, Dad and I talked about how happy we are here, we are so happy. Even though our feet ache, we are always hungry, and we are always being scolded for making mistakes. :) Ha ha! Colombians are very vocal about everything, they ALL love me tons, and they all like to tell me what to do. Anyway, Dad's insight was that we are fulfilling the sacrament prayers, the ability like never before in our lives, to ALWAYS remember Him, and the blessings of being constantly reminded of our Savior and His Atonement are real. He's right. This experience has been incredible. We love it; we also count the number of weeks until we can go home and sleep in our own beds (for 8 hours) and eat American food, and have a desk to work at, and know that there will be hot water in the shower in the morning, etc. :)

Dad has some great stories, too. There is a young man here who has a mission call to California in December. He follows Dad everywhere and speaks English; he loves Dad. Sometimes Dad just needs a little peace, so he (and I do this, too) grabs some scriptures and opens them and bows his head so that he can rest for a minute. We have been able to read the scriptures a lot in the temple. Some days when we finish our work at the temple, it is pouring rain, so Dad found a little tunnel that we can take to get to our apartment. Then we climb 4 floors of steps. Whew! Also, every night, Dad and I leave the temple all sweaty in our white shirts, while the Colombian women leave in a puffer coat, a scarf, a big snow hat that covers their mouth, gloves, and more. They tell us they are freezing, and Dad and I just smile. This usually happens when it is 60 degrees outside. :) I am almost never cold here, and I LOVE walking in the rain.

I have been learning more and more Spanish, but I still have a long ways to go. Ha ha! I'm sure the Colombians will ask me to give a talk in Sacrament meeting. Yikes! I am the ward chorister, and today we sang a hymn that is not in our English hymn book. It had 3 formatas, which the Colombians do not understand. In fact, they do not really adhere to the rhythm, either. Ha ha! But they sing with SOOO much passion! I play the organ in the temple for our preparation meetings and Dad leads the music. One time the workers were singing so badly that the president stopped the song and told them to look at the little italics instruction, which said to sing "with fervor." He said, "Are you singing with fervor? NO." Then he made us start again. It was tough. Ha ha!

Ah, I will continue to gather stories and send them to you. All I can say is that we love it here, and at the same time, this is probably one of the hardest things we have ever done. Even the temple president's wife says this is harder than being mission president and companion. Ha ha! We will never forget this experience, and we are so grateful that you pray for us and that you love us enough to support us in this adventure. Thank you. :) I love you!! Have a great week!

(Larry) I’ll just add how much we are growing and loving this mission, even though it challenges us so very much.

I like to say that “I eat a healthy portion of humble pie and meek salad every day!”

I am putting together some insights and thoughts on being washed clean by the blood of our precious Savior Jesus Christ, that I’ll share with all of you.

We love and miss you so much!