Hello from Popayan

WELL,

I’m not going to lie; This week has been the hardest week I have had in the mission. Today especially... 

Today I took Elder Borg to the bus terminal. Yeah, that was a lot of fun.

Not going to lie we had become really close friends, he is like a brother to me and we may have shed one or two tears…
Or it could have been the awesome cold flu thing I have contracted. It started Wednesday. I sound like a 100 year-old chain smoker, ha-ha.

It’s really easy for me to get tired which is AWESOME as I live in the hilliest area in Popayan, which I do truly love, really. I have the best area. 

Some cool stuff that happened this week:

I WENT TO TIMBIO, which is always a highlight for me. I really love Timbio… And drum roll please, are you ready:

Sergio Perez came back to church and received his mission call!

Can you believe it? The same Sergio that walked with us everywhere for like 1 month straight and then went inactive. He will now serve a mission and wants to serve a mini mission with me. 

This week:

The Familia Astudillo got baptized. Which is a miracle.

Camilo Astudillo, age 15, he has been my focus in this family. It is a family of 6 girls and him. He has been kicked out of every high school he has studied in for fighting, misconduct and the what like. 

We started with his ear piercings and then we worked on his language. Little by little we began to see a huge changes in Camilo. He is a little punk, but now is one of the only boys who goes to church in a suit. It’s incredible to think that he made this change in less than a month. He still has some work to do, but the change is real. 

Yersson Florez was baptized, the same Yersson who we met 4 months ago. His Dad is a less active member and his mother is WAY Catholic. His little brother is preparing to take the first communion. Yersson was baptized and his entire family went to the baptism and his father then went to church. 

Mario Bojorge got baptized. This is a family that belongs to the other missionaries but is really close to all of our hearts. The Familia Bojorge is huge now, about 20 have been baptized, and we are teaching 10 more right now.
Mario had a huge change in his life.
His son, daughter, and wife were my first baptisms I saw here in Colombia. Mario had a huge problem with alcohol. We were teaching him but it has always been a bit difficult because well, he would disappear for month at time drinking. After the change he saw in his oldest son, who was baptized a month ago, he quit drinking. The change has been incredible. 

We had more baptisms but these were my favorite.

I received a few incredible emails this week. 

These emails have strengthened my testimony, thank you.

Now what exactly is a testimony?

That is my job as a missionary. To help others understand what is a testimony and how to grow their own. As a missionary my job is not to convince you, it is to give you a few pushes, to tell people to pray on their own and ask God for help. That is my job. My work here is fairly simple. I do exactly what I feel prompted to do. I trust in the Lord. I lead others to help them achieve something that they can reach on their own, a testimony. 

To gain a testimony at first isn’t easy. Neither is anything at first. Is it easy the first few times you begin to work out? No. How does one get so strong?

Time

Effort

Endurance

In the scriptures faith-testimonies are constantly referred to as a seed.

We can plant the seed in our garden and wait for it to grow, but we will be ultimately disappointed. 

We can plant the seed; give the seed good water, good soil and sunlight. Then we can sit in front of the seed and wait again for it to grow and still ultimately we will be disappointed.

We must wait patiently, doing the things correctly, and before we know it our little seed has grown strong roots and will begin to bear leaves. Keep it up and soon the fruits will appear and the fruits to bear the tree through any storm. 

I know that this gospel is true. I live it every day. I see and feel its miracles. I know we can do great things in the Lord. Be useful in his hands. 

Challenge

Read the scriptures, every night. 

Pray every night. 

Pray with your family every day.

LOVE YOUR SAVIOR WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH

Blessings are coming. 

Patience and endurance. 

I love you all 

Elder Lyle