When we get to someones house instead of knocking or ringing the doorbell you just yell buenas until someone comes out! Also instead of getting invited into their house they grab some chairs and since its always so nice outside you teach them on their front porch! The MTC didnt prepare me for all the loud motrocycles and cars driving by during the lesson! One time there was a jack hammer right next door so it was really hard to teach.
My companion is Elder Moura! He is from Brazil and has been out for 20 months! He looks like a gringo but he doesnt speak much english haha. He is super nice and not shy of talking to anyone which is awesome.
In 6 days this week we got 5 people to commit to baptism!! It was a super awesome first week. One of the baptism dates name is David. His story is super cool and also creepy.. He is 19 years old and moved here from Venezuela. He moved in with a member family. They tried to get him to join the church and he wouldnt. He then said if this is the true church the roof would collaspe. Literally the next day theirs and their neighbors roofs collapsed... After that he then knew it was a sign from god probably and met with us. He read everything we gave him and has now gone to church a few weeks in a row! He is getting baptized this Saturday and Im super super excited!!
One of our other investigators name is Alfonso. He is 72 years old! He lived in America so he spoke a little english! Man I just love him so much. We taught him the first lesson and he committed to baptism and then attented church with us!
The ward here is amazing. We met with a family and she gave us a full paper front and back full of names and addresses of references! We have been working on it all week and have barely gotten down the list cause they are all amazing people and listen to us. Ugh I just love the people here!
Our apartment is the one bad thing here haha. Barranquilla is always 90 degrees everyday with hummidity. Our apartment does not have AC. As you may think this is a problem. Our apartment is always a cozy 90 degrees. We do have one fan that we point on us when we sleep which cools us down. I feel bad for Elder Moura cause the fan doesnt really hit the top bunk. My mom told me before I left not to get addicted to the Coca Cola. Luckily for her our next door neighbor is a Convenience store that sells 2 liter bottles for 1 dollar. Sorry mom.
I just had the best week of my life! I hope everything is well!
Love Elder Nethercott
(Questions & Answers we asked him following the pictures)
Just off the plane in Barranquilla with Elder Merrill
Elder Moura, Leonardo, me
Elder Moura & me in front of the Barranquilla temple
in front of the Barranquilla temple!
FOOD!
Breakfast
APARTMENT
We are a few blocks away from the church. We live in an upstairs apartment of a member.
Here's a pic of the church taken from google maps :)
Here's a google map photo of the street the church is on. Grayden said he's a few blocks from the church so this is what his neighborhood looks like.
Q: Companion?
A: My companion is Elder Moura, he is from Brazil and doesn't speak much English. I like him a lot so far. He is really by the book though so the dumb rules can get frustrating some times.
Q: New Area town’s name and how it feels.
A: My first area is a new area. We got whitewashed into it. It's called Ciudadela. It is a poorer part of Barranquilla I think.
Q: Is it is hot as you expected? How is it similar or different than KL?
A: It is so hot here. The mornings and afternoons are miserably hot, then around 5 or 6pm its perfect temperature.
Q: How many lessons did you teach your first week?
A: We teach about 3 or 4 lessons a day. WE GOT 5 BAPTISM DATES. So thats super cool!! I'm not sure if that is a lot or not haha.
Q: Did you have to bare your testimony in church?
A: I didn't have to bear my testimony but i have to give a 7 minute talk next week so wish me luck.
Q: Are you in a branch or ward? How big?
A: We are in a ward i think. A little bigger than KL. The ward is awesome.
Q: What’s your apartment like? Bed comfortable?
A: Our apartment is decent. I'll send pictures later, there is no ac and we only have one fan so its always really really hot so that's when i sweat most is when we are chilling in our apartment with no fan cause its about 90 degrees according to my clock.
A: My weight was exactly on, so no extra fees.
Q: What’s your first impression of your mission president? Did he talk to you in English?
A: Mission President is really really strict but seems cool. He doesn't speak English to us.
Q: What did you do in the mission home?
A: We just chilled in the mission home for a few hours. It was boring.
A: We just met when they announced us as companions.
Q: How many ended up being in your group?
A: There were 12 in our group.
Q: Is the other American in your group picture one of the office staff or APs?
A: There's one other American besides Merrill. one AP is from South Carolina.
A: A lady in the ward cooks lunch and dinner for us everyday. Nothing weird just rice and meat with some type of really yummy fruit juice. She's been trained and stuff how to keep the food clean and stuff.
A: I have itched exactly 0 times. Sleeping is decent. I wake up sometimes because it is too hot. Haven't had super strong allergies yet. I've done a good job of avoiding certain fruits but I definitely can still tell it's there. I take my probiotics every single day so I hope you are proud of me!
Q: What time do you wake up and go to sleep each day? Does your comp exercise at all?
A: We wake up at 6:20am so we can roll in our bed for a few minutes. We jog over to the exercise park. They are all over Colombia. It's like those old people work out parks that are easy to use. Get what iI'm talking about? There's one at Draper park.
Q: What time do you leave the apartment to go out?
A: We leave the apartment around 10 am.
Q: Are you streeting or housing mostly for new contacts?
A: I haven't knocked any door we haven't known yet which is kinda odd. We get stopped by people and that's how we talk to them there were 4 or 5 that stopped us!
Q: Any sisters in your district?
A: There are 2 sisters in our district. 3 sets of missionaries total.
All is well! Hope that answers the basics.
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