Diligence is loving what you are doing accompanied with work...March 23, 2015

This week was pretty special!  We were able to listen to Elder Uceda (of the quorum of the 70) during a stake conference!  He taught a lot about temple work and the ability to go to temple.  I really missed not being able to go during that session.  They also talked a lot about the importance of ward council.  I can't believe the difference in the ward council here in Lucero compared to the last one!  It truly helps the missionaries if the ward council is specific and super detailed.  He also talked about the diligence of the members.  He said that diligence is loving what you are doing accompanied with work!!  I feel like many missionaries just have a switch and turn on and off when they wake up.  it drives me nuts!!!  It is real interesting what type of people work and how they work!  Today we went to some farm with Adolfo Vargas (my dad in Colombia) and his family.  It was super fun and relaxing!  Holy they have some pigs there and I really though they were cows laying down when I saw them!  They are sooooooo big!!!  We had a big old soup and just relaxed a bunch.  The mission is going good.  I am learning lots of things!  This week we helped a blind guy who I think had special needs cross a street.  Later that night.. my companion asked me.. "What if that wasn't where he was supposed to be going?!"  I guess the Lord knows and guided him to where he needed to go! .. I hope.. :)  It is awesome!!  Hope you all are doing awesome and love you all!!

Love, Elder Slack

Selfie with Elder Dos Santos

 

Vargas Family

 

Monstrous pig

 

Elder Slack and Hermano Carlos Pantoja (High Councilman who is the uncle of Sarah from preschool)

 

Elder Uceda is coming...March 16, 2015

Wow!  Another week down, not a whole lot left.  I'm getting nervous, like my mother feels in tight spaces!!  It is crazy how fast the time is going and all of things we have been able to do in this short time!!  Transfers flew by and I stayed in my area with Elder Mora!  We put aside our difficulties and just got to work!  We had an abundance of lessons this week but very little in the church yesterday.  I learned two lesson from this.. 1)Focusing on the person is one of the most important things.  2) Free agency is the best gift our Father in Heaven has given us.  But if we don't use it right, we end up worse off than where we started out!  This week in the mission and in the stake where I am working we have the wonderful opportunity to be able to listen to Elder Uceda who is a member of the Quorum of the 70 and our Area President.  The mission will be listening to him this Friday and then our stake will get to listen to him on Saturday and Sunday as our stake conference!  It will be a wonderful experience to help me prepare for General Conference and learn a ton!  I have a feeling that some big announcements will be made!! :)  I am doing awesome and hope you all have a wonderful week!!  If any of you have questions email my mother and I would be more than happy to respond to them in this email!!

Love, Elder Slack

Elder Dos Santos, Elder Cevallos, Aldofo Vargas and family, Elder Slack, Elder Mora

 

 

And, he got 'em

Oh, I am getting a big ole sack of repentance, humility, and patience...March 9, 2015

What a quick week!  I feel like yesterday I was sitting at the computer typing this darn thing but here I am again..  This week was super good.  We were able to have quite the lessons and to finish it all off we had a baptism on Saturday and about 20 people at church!!!  We baptized a young man named Elquin Velez.  He is from a part member family and is 10 years old!  Other than that nothing else is really new.  Transfers are tomorrow and so I guess we will see what will happen with those tonight with the phone call!!  This week I actually had a super neat experience.  We are teaching a family (not married) where the dad drinks a ton!!!  We were teaching the mom one night and saw about 40 bottles of beer on his table.  He then came out of his room, went to the bathroom, threw up, then yelled at us to bring his motorcycle in the house.  His wife couldn't do it so my companion and I brought it in and then left!  We then waited for him while he was with his friends a couple days later to talk with him.  We were asking a couple questions and his wife came into the lesson.  I was sharing some scriptures and my testimony and this man cut me off!!!  Man was a I ticked!!  I stood up and said let me finish.  I finished, told him if he wanted to continue listening we would talk in the chapel the next day.  He didn't come to church and I am not afraid to say that I won't pass for his house unless he contacts us..  However, I felt terrible about what I did so I was reading the Liahona for the month of March and came across a ton of things about repentance and then a phrase that caught my attention.  It said, "Jesus always declared repentance, never condemnation".. Yeah, I felt real dumb and humble and after that had a nice long conversation with my Father in Heaven.  I know that we can truly be forgiven of the things we have done in the past and that God is blessing us but sometimes an umbrella of sin, pride, and bad thoughts are shielding these blessings from us.. I love you all and am doing splendid here in Colombia!  Hope you all have a wonderful week in a life that truly is a gift from God.

Love, Elder Slack

**I had just asked Brady what he was learning on his mission when he responded with the title of today's blog.  Then, the blog email came through.  It is so great that he is learning and having experiences that will bless his life forever!

Elder Dos Santos, Elder Mora, Elder Cevallos, Elder Slack

 

 

Elder Slack, Elquin Velez, Elder Mora

 

 

 

Gettin' my farmers tan on!!...March 2, 2015

Another week down and out and I can't believe it!!  I feel like days are passing along like weeks literally and then I look back every Sunday and just think, wow!!!!  I am loving being here in Colombia!!  It is starting to get a little more hot and we are losing the wind a little but it is ok!!  Gettin' my farmers tan on!!! :) haha  Our area is doing really well!  We have, on a normal Sunday, about 18 people at church (a mix of recent converts, less actives, and investigators).  Members in my ward are super awesome and have invited us to visit with some super awesome neighbors!!  We have two more baptisms for sure and about 4 or 5 other people that just need to feel the spirit a little more!!  I can't believe the difference about the members!!  They are truly the source of our success!!  Not much has happened this week..  Still just eating, sleeping, and working like a horse!  I am learning and growing so much it is hard to believe!!  I hope each and every one of you can start preparing to listen to General Conference!  I am certainly looking forward to it!!  I love you all and wish the best for each and every one of you!!

Love, Elder Slack

Finished it in Spanish!...February 23, 2015

What a week!  Carnival is finally over and we got to leave and do some damage control with our investigators or see who else needed some repenting! ;)  It looked like it got pretty crazy and we definitley heard the craziness all night long and into the next day!  While we were shut indoors, our President challenged us to finish the Book of Mormon.  In 5 days I was able to finish it in Spanish.  Before I started, I made a goal to highlight every time it mentioned the Saviors name, every time a covenant was made (or a promise), obedience to a covenant, and the blessing or the consequence.. I am amazed at how many covenants are made and how many blessings are given.  It is almost as if he is just waiting to throw a blessing our way.  It made me think this week of the things I am doing to be able to receive the blessings that are waiting for me.  I am trying to be more of a consecrated missionary and it is was interesting to find out that every time someone was obedient, they made another covenant?!  I am amazed!  This week some things have happened with the people that were baptized and they have, unfortunately, chosen to do some real stupid things.  My companion and I have felt real stupid to have helped them so much and they progress so little.  I guess as a missionary you would just like to take away free agency for a little but I guess it will all work out.  My favorite part of everything we teach is Free Agency and Day of Judgment.  What are we doing to get better every day?! :)  I love you all and I am doing awesome!  It is starting to warm up here a little and we will hit the hot months here in April.  Only one more time with this heat!! Have an awesome week and  I hope your wildest dreams come true!! :P

Love, Elder Slack