Late December in Bogota

Two Months in Colombia

(December 15, 2019) Well, you would think that after about two months of working in Colombia we would have most of this figured out. Ha ha! No . . . not even close. Every week is a new adventure with lots to learn. 

On Monday, we were invited to a Christmas lunch with all the full-time workers at the temple, about 50 people (see pictures). The lunch was scheduled for 11:30 AM, and there was a lot of confusion about whether that meant to leave the temple at 11:30 or to arrive at the restaurant at 11:30. We rode with the president and he decided that we should leave the temple at 10:30 and assumed that the lunch would begin at 11:30. Ha ha ha! I HAVE lived here long enough to know that the lunch would not start at 11:30. Also, we did not know if we needed to wear suits and ties, so we asked. The answer was "causal" so we thought we might wear t-shirts and jeans. Well, we learned (ahead of time, fortunately) that "causal" means "business casual" and that we were expected to dress up, but not with a necktie. Long story short, our lunch began at about 1:30 and we got home at 4:30, worn out. In addition, our president also invited a large Venezuelan couple to ride with them, so Larry and I sat in these tiny "jump" seats in the back for an hour each way because the Venezuelans needed the bigger seats. We were so tired. 

Speaking of the lunch, I am so happy to be vegetarian here. Larry usually tries the favorite meats of our friends here, and so far, they have been a little gross. The Colombians like the brown chicken meat, and the ham and ribs are very different from what we are used to. On the other hand, the fruits are completely different from the ones I know so my non-meat dishes are amazing and exciting! I ordered a salad with all sorts of fruits and vegetables which I loved, but thank goodness, the dressing was on the side. It was pure mustard. Ha ha! It would have made the fruit taste so strange to me. For dessert, I had a traditional Colombian dish, canned figs stuffed with caramel. It was amazing! You can't even taste the figs; they are just an excuse to eat mounds of caramel. :) 

Back to the "timeliness" of Colombian meetings. Ha ha! On Saturday, Larry and I showed up for our 7:00 AM shift, having eaten a big breakfast of eggs, cheese, milk, fruit, etc. We worked until noon 30 (wrapping-up time), when we got a call that a busload of Colombians were on their way to the temple. We had no break that day, and we opened the door to these 50 people at around 12:30, worked with them until almost 3:00, and then collapsed at the temple. The leaders ordered some food for us at 3:00, and we had a good time eating and socializing. The temple leaders always order empanadas and also big bottles of gaseosa. Do you kids remember making empanadas for Spanish class? I always thought they were unappealing. But here, the dough is so fresh, and they fill the empanadas with seasoned hamburger and deep-fry them. Then they drizzle tons of guacamole on the empanadas while they eat, and they actually smell wonderful. Larry loved them! (I opted to eat vegetarian at home.)

Typically, at the end of a temple session, the people have to line up and exit one-by-one. Well, on Saturday at 2:30 PM, one man asked the woman in charge if he could go to the front of the line because he had to get on the bus. She moved him to the front, and then all the other men complained to Larry because (of course) they were all on that same bus. :)  Seriously? So that reminded us of a saying here. The Colombians are sarcastic when they say that people should be as "hard-working" as Venezuelans, as "beautiful" as Bolivians, as "humble" as Argentinians, and as "honest" as Colombians. Ha ha! The Colombians do not consider themselves honest. :) And yes, there is some truth to that. But I'm not going to share that "dicho" too broadly because it is not kind. :) During the week, the temple is very quiet, so I grabbed some scriptures to read while I waited for people to come. The leaders here are bossy, so one woman told me that I was not allowed to read the scriptures in that particular chair. I put them away. Then she came to me and wanted to practice her English. She said, "are you boring (meaning bored)?" Ha ha! Yup! Never boring here . . .

All in all, we are doing well. More and more people tell us that they love us, and we know that we are making a difference. We know we are supposed to be here, and we love it! On Friday, a woman went to her locker and brought out a jewelry box. She opened it in front of me (like a boy proposing) and presented me with a ring so that I would never forget her. It was so sweet. I could not believe it! Several women have told me that they feel so close to me, like we knew each other before we met. It is so special. One member of our presidency sent Larry a scripture about "intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence, like unto like . . ." and told him that Larry and he were brothers. He loves Larry so much. The love we feel for these people is so strong!! We will cry and cry when it is time to return home. And that is our report. We are tired, we get headaches, and we are deeply in love with these people and with this experience. We love all of you so much. Thank you for supporting us in this adventure. We hope that you have a wonderful week!

Temple Full-time Workers and Employees Luncheon

Advinculas from Cucuta

Chacons from Venezuela

Delgados (fm Bogota) and Sanchez's (Medellin)

Diego Sandoval, Bro Castro, Flor, Neiffy, y Rafael Lopera (counterclockwise)

Jenny with the Gonzalez

Bro Ruiz (on right)

front row: Flor, nice laundry gal, Br. Castro, Ibon

back row: Neiffy, nice laundry gal, Rafael Lopera, Joanna, Manuel Olaya (recorder), Diego

Carlos y Ligia Sanchez

right to left: Sis Tobon (Bogota), and Naranjos (fm Bogota) 

Pte. Javier y Maria Elvira Tobon (between Sis. Naranjo y Sis. Chacon)

Early December in Bogota

Beautiful Relationships

(December 8, 2019) Well, this was another CRAZY week! Dad and I are so tired. But very happy. We have really hard days, to be honest, but if we could choose, we would come all over again. We have no regrets. 

Last night was the Night of the Virgin Mary, so our temple president's wife took a few of us to see the lights, the fireworks, the music, and the candles that people here light for Mary. It was absolutely beautiful (see pictures). We also had a party and ate bunuelos (little fried cheese balls) and natilla (caramel pudding) to celebrate Christmas. The people in Colombia love Christmas, and it is really fun to celebrate with them. This morning we walked to church in beautiful sunshine, took pictures on the temple grounds with other missionaries, and then this afternoon we enjoyed pouring rain. It is always so beautiful here when it rains. I look at Facebook, and I see that the weather in Wyoming is SOOOO cold. But here, the weather is so beautiful. We love it. The altitude, location on the equator, and the weather here make Bogota a paradise. Ha ha! But, yes, paradise has its problems . . . 

The young people here just love me. Most of the time, I feel like an exhibit in the zoo. Ha ha! They like to touch me and to practice their English on me. That is so sweet. It melts my heart. So I usually am assigned to work in the basement in the baptistry. Well, this week, the elevator broke. Unfortunately, the elevator and the stairs in this temple go all the way from the baptistry in the basement to the roof with Angel Moroni. So a big part of my job is to ride on the elevator with the young people when they are ready to leave the baptistry, so that they don't ride the elevator all the way up. :) That means that this week I climbed up and down the stairs more than I can count because I needed to accompany youth who might have been able to climb the stairs all the way up if they were not chaperoned. My feet hurt a lot! Because Dad's Spanish is so good and he is organized, almost every day this week, the temple presidency put him in charge of the men's work (Shift Coordinator). He basically has to make sure that everything in the temple is running smoothly. That is not easy. :) Especially when someone decides to bring hot chocolate. We have this kitchen in the basement, and quite often, someone will start cooking a big pot of hot chocolate. Well, then all the workers say, "chocolate" in Spanish and go downstairs for a party. The workers disappear. Ha ha! And it is hard to find someone to do the work while the chocolate is being served. 

Also, this week on Wednesday, the city had another protest (mostly students paid $20 by Venezuelan and Russian operatives to protest) and the protest means that the buses cannot run. The protesters crowd the streets where the buses run, and they threaten the drivers. So Wednesday night, we had 5 women and 7 men to run the entire temple because no worker could come on a bus. Thus, we had no participants from Bogota, but the housing was full of people who had contracted a bus to bring them from Cucuta, 18 hours away. So we had 50 people wanting to attend the temple (from the housing -- Cucuta) and only 12 of us to run the whole Temple--baptistry, sealings, initiatory, and endowments, etc. We usually have about 40-50 workers. We worked so hard. As usual, Dad was in charge of the men. We were so blessed. A couple came from Brazil (yes, Amy and Nathan, they were wonderful) to pick up their daughter who had served a mission in Bogota, and they stayed in the temple housing and helped us with baptisms, etc. They love us so much, and we love them, and they invited us to their home. We might visit them, in the southern part of Brazil (Curitiba, and then see Igausu falls too). 

Cucuta is a town on the border with Venezuela, and so many of our participants last week were Venezuelan. These three cute little boys came (about 11 years old) to do baptisms every morning and every afternoon, and I got to know them quite well. On one afternoon, I got a complaint in the baptistry that there was too much noise and it was coming from the men's locker room. So I asked a man (Pte. Tobon) to go check. The three little boys were all in the one shower together laughing and wrestling and sliding and having a blast! The man asked them to finish showering and to be more quiet. He then came and explained to me that they did not have hot water in Venezuela, and they had never had such a good time in water. Can you imagine? Later, the man in charge of the baptistry told me that he had to leave and would I please take care of the "negritos"? I had no idea what he meant, last week I returned some black bracelets to a girl who lost them in the locker room, so that's all I could think of -- little black things. Then, the man pointed at the three little boys, and I realized that they had African ancestry, and in Colombia, there is no shame in calling them, "negritos." Things are so different here, and yet, still the same. People are people. 

On Friday, the group from Cucuta got on their bus and rode back for 18 hours. Dad and I were not there, and so we did not get to say good-bye. The youth sent messages with several people to tell us that they love us. It was so sweet. We cried. This week, it will all start again, with another bus full of Colombians who have ridden for 12 or so hours through the night to live in our Temple housing and attend the temple. Some groups are so special to us that we will never forget them. After a week of living and working together, we really grow to love these people. By the way, last week, some church leaders (Elder Gong of the 12) were in Cucuta observing our program for getting food and medical supplies into Venezuela, and that made me so happy! There are so many good people in this world trying to help Venezuela. In fact, the nation of Colombia has an open-door policy for Venezuela, as far as I understand it (they estimate there are 2 million Venezolanos in Bogota alone). That's not easy at all because refugees need so much assistance, but that's love. 

On Friday, Dad and I had the day off, and our president and matron told us to go to a craft fair where the native Colombians sell their artistry. Well, we loved it. But the traffic here is so horrible that it took about 1 1/2 hours to get there and another 1 1/2 hours to get home -- it was only 7 miles away. We were exhausted from our shopping trip. We almost hate to go anywhere because the traffic is horrendous. We spend hours in cars. Everyone honks their horns, and some of the vehicles have terrible exhaust. I always take two dramamine. But we got something for each of you that we hope you will like (see pic below) :)

There is one family in our ward from England. I love to talk to them because it is a relief to speak English. They are going back to England for a month and they have offered their car to Larry and me. We are going to drive outside of Bogota to do some sightseeing this next month--a lake (Guatavita), a salt cathedral (Zipaquira) and a beautiful monastery (Montserrate), and I'm excited! Yes, we will be spending hours in a car. :) That's okay.  (See pics in "Early January" post) 

From Amy --
Hi Mom and Dad!

Today the Light the World challenge is to call your parents and tell them what you love and appreciate about them. Since I can't really just call you up, I still wanted to email you and let you know what amazing parents you are. I am so beyond grateful for you both! The Bogota temple is lucky to have two such dedicated and hard-working people serving there, and even though I miss you a lot, I am so grateful for your example. I hope you had a good day of service in the temple, and know that your baby daughter loves you with all her heart. ♥

From Esteban Duran --

Hi!!!

I wanted to write to you for a long time, I'm trying to write in English, but it's hard for me because I don't know many words,entonces escribiré en español, jeje.

Desde que llegamos hemos estado haciendo muchas diligencias para que todo esté listo cuando tenga que viajar al CCM . Ustedes también deben estar muy ocupados con toda la rutina en el templo, sin embargo si le es posible leer el mensaje, quería decirle que además de extrañarlos mucho a usted y a su esposa, les admiramos y los apreciamos mucho Y quiero agradecerle profundamente el gigantesco amor de ustedes dos por la obra del Señor  y su especial atención hacia mi. Gracias por su mucha ayuda al enseñarme  y ayudarme tanto los primeros días en el Templo, una de mis experiencias favoritas en ese lugar sagrado, fue conocerlo a usted en el bautisterio, ese fue uno de mis días favoritos. Usted tiene ese don especial de hacer sentir bien a todas las personas que lo conocemos, gracias también  por ayudarme con el inglés. `Lo practico todos los días y me esforzaré por aprender a con más diligencia ese idioma, antes de ir al templo no era algo tan prioritario pero después de conocerlo a usted, se que  es algo que  tengo que incluir dentro de mis prioridades porque aprendí a amar ese idioma. Extraño mucho todo en la casa del Señor. Pienso en lo afortunado que soy de no recordar mi vida preterrenal porque supongo que, sí ya no estar en el templo ha sido tan difícil, no quiero imaginar cómo sería el alejarme de la presencia del Padre.

Ustedes sirven con un amor puro y verdaderamente Cristiano en el templo, todos lo podemos sentir siempre.  Los admiro mucho y espero que a su hijo le este yendo  muy bien en la mision, estoy seguro que es el mejor, porque tiene unos maravillosos Padres.

Por último quiero desearles una feliz navidad, que milagro  poder haberlos conocido, ojalá disfruten  mucho la navidad en el templo, debe ser super chévere.   Muchísimas gracias les amamos mucho y espero que nos volvamos a encontrar pronto, mis abuelos les envían saludos, ellos también los quieren mucho a ustedes .  Don’t stop filling all those around you with light.

And excuse my English, jeje. Chao!!

Security guards were everywhere in Bogota, even a parking lot

Our shopping cart for weekly runs to Justo y Bueno, Canasta Campesina, Tienda D1, etc.

Our favorite salsa to mix in with our morning eggs

A favorite fruit--guanabana--known as soursop in USA--hard to prepare, but delicious to drink (we started buying the frozen pulp--see below)

Twizzy car--1 seater

There is one mosque in Bogota, but we never saw even one woman in a veil

This park is light up for the Virgin Mary and Christmas

A favorite park in Usaquen--a little excursion with Hna. Gonzalez and the Delgados (1st Counselor/Asst. Matron)

Late November in Bogota

Paro Nacional

(November 22, 2019) Okay, please do not worry about us. Soon you will be reading about riots in Colombia, and I just want to reassure you that the church is being very careful and conservative with our safety. But I will say that we are on a somewhat high-alert status. Ha ha! When we thought about a small adventure in Colombia, we didn't expect this. Dad and I are pretty much confined to our apartment and the temple this week and we use a tunnel to get back and forth. With our big beautiful golden angel (as the Colombians say) we might be a target for protesters.

Police helicopters flying near the Temple

So it all started on Monday when the temple presidency told us that there would be planned demonstrations on Thursday. We were expecting three buses of participants, but two of the groups cancelled because of the protests. The only group that came is from Larry's old mission (Pereira/Manizales), about a 12-hour drive. The cute people got here on Tuesday, and we worked with them. There were about 30 women and 10 men. One guy got his own endowment at age 79. He is pretty deaf, so Larry got him head phones and Larry gave him the initiatory ordinances by speaking VERY loudly. :) I had the opportunity to go on a session with the headphone guy. Larry gave him headphones that hung on his forehead awkwardly. Then Larry turned the headphones up full blast. The guy was so small and with those headphones he looked so funny. Well, then, during the session, when people were instructed to think of something silently in their minds, this guy thought of everything out loud, and so did his deaf buddy, another guy with headphones. So during this very quiet ceremony, these two guys were talking out loud and they thought that everyone else was talking out loud, too. They reminded me of the two old guys on the Muppets, and I was struggling so hard not to laugh. The leader of the session kept swinging his hands, trying to get these guys to follow the protocol. :) During another session, Larry was trying to demonstrate how we pray for people in the temple and he looked right at a young woman getting her own endowment and held up the names of people for the prayer roll. This girl thought that he wanted her to come forward, so she did, and Larry felt bad for embarrassing her, because he had to send her back to her seat. This whole group was very new at temple work and so the week was pretty exciting. Every morning, all 40 of them would show up and need help and we would be running around like chickens with our heads cut off. This group was also very naive about the protests, and we are trying to find a time to send them home on the bus when the freeways are not closed with protests. They probably will have trouble getting home. Some of our workers are stuck here and are staying in the housing until the roads open and taxis are functioning. Thank goodness there is food in the cafeteria. Last night, the temple provided empanadas for the people who were stranded.

So today, I was working at the front desk, and all of a sudden, people started securing the windows and front doors with steel bars. All the security men and some workers went outside to watch the temple gate and fence, and the rest of us just stayed put in the temple. We were on lock down because a big group of protesters came marching by. The temple is very close to the autopista north. It was pretty exciting, and because I don't speak Spanish, I was pretty scared. Everyone was so intense. But Larry explained things to me. The temple security were being very careful because the protesters were close. In fact, we finished our work in the temple and went home. Right now from the apartment, I can hear the protesters outside, a few blocks away. Isn't that crazy? And we hear a few helicopters. The biggest problem that Colombia has is the infiltration of a minority and operatives from Venezuela and Cuba, who want to stir things up, and the protests which were supposed to be peaceful, included some looting, throwing huge rocks at police, and in Cali, 300 miles and 10 hours away from us, three people died trying to loot stores. This makes our friends here so sad. They do not want this kind of violence in their country. In fact, the missionary training center here has 40 or 50 missionaries from Cochabamba Bolivia who have been reassigned to a "safer" mission. :) We got to meet many of them a couple of days ago. Ha ha! They came from Bolivia to Colombia because it is so much safer here. I sure hope so! 

So we are still doing great! We are safe. Either life here will go back to normal, or we will come home early. :) I can't imagine that Colombia will become unsafe. The people here elected Ivan Duque and they can vote for a new president in 2022. Dad and I are optimistic that life here will settle down in a few days. In the meantime, we are happy to love and support our Colombian friends who have such great hearts. Life is not fair, and sometimes I feel so small compared to the injustices in life. I suppose I can love the people I meet, pray for them, and always remember the most beautiful things in life. Those things are you -- my family!! I love you all so much. :)

Email From the US Embassy

November 21-23, 2019

Location: Bogota

Event: Demonstrations (called a “paro nacional,” or nationwide strike) are expected to take place in major cities throughout Colombia on Thursday, November 21.  A wide range of interest groups, including students, transportation providers, truckers, the judicial union, and social leaders are protesting a range of policies.  Many schools and universities will be closed on Thursday, November 21, and Colombia has closed land and river border crossings with Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, and Venezuela until 5 a.m. on Friday, November 22.  U.S. citizens may encounter disturbances, heavy police presence, the use of tear gas, and/or significant traffic delays.  U.S. government personnel and U.S. citizens are advised to avoid demonstrations.

The city government of Bogota declared a citywide curfew beginning at 9pm, Friday, November 22, until 6am Saturday.  Bars, restaurants, and other public locations will be closed starting at 9pm.  U.S. citizens should remain inside their residence after this time. Colombian National Police will enforce the curfew and anyone outside their residence after 9pm may be subject to detention or arrest.

Multiple sources are reporting an ongoing protest at the Parque Nacional (Cra. 7 and Calle 34).  Police have deployed tear gas to disperse protesters.  U.S. citizens may encounter heavy traffic and increased police presence in the area.

Actions to Take:

* Monitor local media for updates on demonstrations and security conditions.
* Avoid areas of demonstrations.
* Exercise caution if unexpectedly in the vicinity of large gatherings or protests.
* Plan for alternative travel routes or remain in place if planned travel is inhibited.
* For emergency assistance, contact the Consular Section at the U.S. Embassy using the information below.

A lightning strike (during a typical afternoon thunderstorm) hit Angel Moroni's arm, face, and trumpet

Our Thanksgiving feast thanks to Jenny's ingenuity

The cool "pesebre" they display every year

Stake Conference in Duitama

Pte. y Hna. Gonzalez invited us to come with them to Stake Conference in Duitama and Sogamoso on November 16-17.  Larry helped drive on this trip (3-4 hours each way) and let's just say 'it was crazy'  We really loved the scenic countryside in Boyaca department.

Hotel Estelar in Paipa (with thermal hot springs)

Horseback riding at our lovely lakeside hotel

Jose Luis y Monica Gonzalez

Jenny y Monica

Larry at Duitama Stake Center

Typical Boyacense Village

Lot of pineapples

Sunday open air market on our way to Stake Conference

Jenny in the Sogomoso chapel--all the chapels we saw had pictures of the Bogota Temple hanging

Stake Conference (Duitama/Sogamoso)--so cute!

Famous Colombian Revolutionary War history with Simon Bolivar (pics below)