Vacation

Hi all family and friends.

This is just a short note to let you know that I will probably be unable to post regularly for the next little while. We are going to Europe on a vacation for four weeks and will probably have only limited and sporadic use of computers. I am so excited that I can hardly stand it. I can't believe that we will be leaving tomorrow morning. We are all packed up and ready to go. I will try to post a few things when I am able. Bye for now.

Will is a new Trainer

Some beautiful pictures of the Colombian countryside thanks to Elder Lee.

Elder Barnard and Elder Lee leaving Bucaramanga




Hola querida familia,

Well I have been transferred to la capital (Bogota). They have called me to be a trainer. I will be working with a greenie named Elder Larson. I am very very excited and nervous. All is going very well up to this point and I’ll try to write a little about the last week. I am in the same zone as all the Mission Home people.
I got my stuff all packed up pretty early so I wasn’t up all night packing suitcases and at 5 30 I was up showering and getting ready. We lugged our suitcases ( Elder Fernandez and me) down the stairs of the apartment and took a taxi to the bus station. There were about 8 elders and 1 hermana that were heading to Bogotá so we all got tickets on the same bus. It was kind of ironic because I got to sit with Elder Lee and we talked about how 5 months ago we arrived on a similar bus without any idea about the mission or being able to speak much Spanish and now we were leaving to start the next part of the mission on a similar bus. I said goodbye to my comp and the other Elders and we headed out at about 8 30.
Coming to Bucaramanga it was the middle of the night so I couldn’t see anything but this time I was able to see all the little villages and Colombian scenery as we drove. We stopped at about 1 for lunch and they showed 2 movies during the ride but they were both kind of dumb so I didn’t watch. It was a very long bus ride and we got into Bogotá at about 7 30 but Bogotá is gigantic so we got to the bus terminal at about 8. I was a little nervous as we started to drive through Bogotá thinking about being a trainer and starting in an area we know nothing about. We got to the terminal and our zone leaders were there waiting.
They hauled me off in a hurry and we took a taxi to our apartment. We got to the house at about 8 30 and headed upstairs to the apartment. It’s an apartment complex somewhat like the other I had but it’s designed differently. It’s got like curvy stairs that lead up to little balconies where all the doors to the apartments are. We live in Apt 307. It turns out that there are 9 new American Elders. They hadn’t arrived yet so we waited at the house about 15 minutes before they got there.
My son (haha that’s what the missionaries say when you train someone) was the first one up the stairs. His name is Elder Mike Larson from Kaysville Utah. He is awesome. He is about 5 10 and has short blonde hair. He has been to BYU for one semester. He used to play sports but in 10th grade he had an accident that messed up his ankle so he couldn’t play after that.
But anyway they opened the doors and we got the first view of the house. Haha after the nice apartment in Bucaramanga with open roof deck and lots of space you could say it’s a downgrade. Haha but its a nice little apartment with a little kitchen and dining room, a little bathroom, 2 bedrooms and a tiny study room. It’s got a beautiful view of some rusty tin roofs of some shops that are next to it :) But it’s the only apartment I've seen in Colombia with carpet so that is good. The sisters left it quite messy with extra clothes left behind and dirty plates and stuff but not too bad. From there the other Elders headed out and I got to know my comp a little bit.
My comp has a very good attitude and wants to work hard so that’s very good. He is very humble and he seems to be a very nice elder. His Spanish is good for a greenie but he still doesn't understand things because everyone talks so fast. I remember those days ha. We talked a little in English to get to know each other but we put the rule in place that first he will try his best to say something in Spanish and if he can’t then I can tell him how. I know that he will learn it much faster that way. It was so good for Elder Lee and me because we had to speak Spanish from day one. We got a little sleep and spent the morning getting the house all cleaned up. We bought some eggs and bread and I fried them and made egg sandwiches for breakfast (my cooking skills are very limited). After that we studied a little and headed out to walk around the area a little bit.
The temple is about 6 blocks from our house and the chapel is about 4 so its a great location. Its not in downtown Bogotá but it's somewhat close. Its pretty easy to figure out the directions and stuff because it's all basically a perfect grid which is a lot different than my other area. We got to know some of the members and they are awesome. It is a ward where the church is very strong. About 160 to 180 people attend church every week in comparison to 60 to 70 in my old ward and the leadership is very very good.
The area presidency of Colombia Venezuela and Ecuador live in our ward and many of the temple workers also. The members are great and we have met some families that are very very very firm in the church. We met the bishop and he was great and said he wants the goal of everything the ward does to be to help the mission work so we are glad for that. The ward has 2 companionships because the neighbor ward dissolved because of lack of priesthood so about half the members from there got put in our ward along with the missionaries. The district Leader Elder Alvarado has been here for a while so he has helped us to get to know a lot of the families and a lot of them have friends that want to learn the gospel which is great but has been stressing.
Ha The first 5 months here in Colombia, I have been a junior comp so I could just let my comp handle things. But now I am the person that communicates with all the members, organizes all the references and questions they have and make sure every thing goes well. I also have to communicate with the district leader and zone leaders.
It really has been a little stressing but at the same time I’m very excited to have more responsibility and I know it’s a blessing. Well I love you all, I think I’m learning faster than I ever have because I’m definitely being challenged but I’m loving it. Thanks for all your support, out of time. Much Love Will

Probable Transfers

Hola querida familia,
Things are going great here in Bucaramanga. Sounds like hectic times there but all the travel sounds cool. That is awesome about the trip to Europe, what cities are you going to see? This has been a busy week but again a very good one.

We had interviews with the president. Went on companionship interchange with the assistants and of course conference. The interviews went very well, and after President Camargo told me that I was going to be leaving for another area. Ha, he said he had already done the transfers and he didn’t remember where I was going but he thought Bogotá, but we will find out tonight.

The conference was very cool. The first two Saturday sessions we watched in Spanish in the terrazas chapel. It was cool because I was able to understand everything they said, but it’s just not the same as hearing president Monson or Uchtdorfs voice. For the priesthood session they had a TV set up in the chapel with English so we watched that in English. The talks by the first presidency were amazing, I loved Presidente Uchtdorfs talk about the little light in the airplane. Sunday morning we watched the first session in English again and right as the second one started the power went out. It was kind of funny because in the English room were Elder Lee, Wagstaff and I, and a few Colombianos who served missions in the states or who learned from gringo companions so we sat there for a while and they practiced English with us. The power came back with about half an hour left so we will have to wait for the Liahona to read what was said.

They really talked a lot about the economic problems. This was a total surprise to me. What is happening in our country? And what is it that is causing the problems? If you could tell me in the next letter because I really am out of it as far as what’s going on there.

Today for PDay I spent most of the time getting my suitcase ready and I've got about two thirds packed so I won’t be up all night on Tuesday. Ha, I don’t think I have ever packed before the last possible second in my whole life for basketball camps and trips. I guess that’s because of the mission.


Bueno to the questions. I have plenty of space in my email inbox but I do delete lots of the letters so I hope you keep saving them. The mail here tends to come in big piles about once a month or once every three weeks so when I get stuff there is usually quite a lot but they have been arriving just fine, only slow. I’m about out of time but they call pretty late with the transfers.

Thanks for everything family. Much love and keep on being happy and healthy.