Bogota, Colombia Tour ~ September 22, 2015

¡Hola!

¿Como estan? Everything here is going so great! Only 2 more weeks in the CCM!! I´m so excited to get out in the field! This last friday we went proseliting for the second time, except for this time we went out into the city rather than just walking around the CCM. It was so awesome! In just 3 hours Elder Glauser and I got 17 referrals! It was so cool! The people here are so nice and sincere. They are very interested in the gospel and even when they don´t want to hear the message right now they still respect us and are kind to us. I am so excited to get out to Barranquilla!

Today we went to the temple and did a spanish session and we went on Tour of Bogotá! It was so flipping legit! The best part of the tour was at the very beginning... wait for it... we rode a LLAMA!! It was so awesome hahaha! I will send a couple of pics of it. Then we went up a mountain to a Catholic church and a historical site of Bogotá. It was pretty cool. Then we went down the mountain to some shops and stuff. I didn´t buy anything. I wanted to get a Colombia Soccer jersey but the ones that were being sold were really cheap fabric. It was funny though because they cost about 15 mil pesos which is about 5 dollars. So I just decided to wait to get one in Barranquilla. 

It was crazy though today! Today they had a thing in Colombia where only like taxis and business cars can drive. Meaning everyone was walking or riding bikes so the streets were filled with people! It was crazy! Oh also today was another transfer day so there are only about 20 of us North Americans here right now haha. It was so sad though because I had to say bye to one of my favorite Latinos and friends ever. I only knew him for 2 weeks, but we became such great friends. His name is Elder González. He was so awesome because he helped me with Spanish so much. He spoke quite a bit of English so he was able to help me quite a bit. 

I am amazed at how much spanish I have learned in these few weeks. The hardest thing is remembering all the conjugations haha. They are hard. Just ask Matt and Bryce. Well I think they might think they were hard. ;) It is becoming harder to write in english. I can never remember when words have more than one letter right next to each other. For example, I couldn´t remember if anoint had 2 n´s or 1 like annoint or anoint haha. Pretty dumb right? ;)

I am loving this work. I am so excited to serve my brothers and sisters in Barranquilla. Keep reading the Book of Mormon. It has so much power! Also studying more about Joseph Smith is so awesome! He was so amazing! I want to become like he is because he was so loving and patient and just about everything that is great!


Well, I love you all! Until next time!


¡Ciau!


Love,
Elder Tyguy

Oh and ps. I just remembered. The other day I weighed myself and I have gained 10 lbs in these 4 weeks! Pretty crazy haha. You can add this to my weekly update thing if youd like. ;)

Spiritual Growth ~ September 17, 2015

¡¡¡HOLA!!! 

I´m so glad everything is going well at home! The concrete forms look awesome! I´m kind of sad I wasn´t there to help... :( Anyways, I´m so glad things are going well even though it´s crazy. Things here are going so awesome now! I´m starting to get the hang of Spanish I think. This last week after all the previous transfer missionaries left Elder Glauser and I got moved to another room with 6 Latinos! I was super nervous at first because I thought I wouldn´t know any Spanish to say and I wouldn´t understand them. But they have helped me so much with improving my Spanish! I still can hardly speak anything other than gospel stuff but it´s getting better haha. ;) The weeks and days are going so fast I cannot believe! I can´t believe it will be a month on Tuesday!! I am loving the work more and more even though I´m not even in the field yet. It is definitely hard, but it is so amazing how good I feel at the end of the day even though I´m so exhausted by the end of every day.

These past few days have been very spiritual, but also very sad. Sunday was probably the most amazing day I´ve had here. It was so spiritual all day and then to top it off, we watched the Joseph Smith movie (the new one). I love that movie so much! It is the most powerful movie I think that I have ever seen and the Spirit is always tremendously strong! I know Joseph Smith was a prophet and man of God! He is one of the most amazing examples of love, service, and power. I love the part in the movie when he stands up and rebukes the evil men (I can´t remember the right English word). Oh I love that show! It makes me cry every time haha. 

The sad part about these past few days is that a missionary got sent home... Elder Ruiz was one of the new latinos and he was so funny and nice. He would have me help him with his English too which was kind of fun. But I think it was Saturday night he had a terrible migraine. So bad that he had to cover his head with his hands. He went to the hospital twice and they gave him injections to help but they only helped a little. So Monday night they sent him home to get his migraines figured out. It was so sad though because Elder Glauser and I were like his best friends the few days he was here. It was so hard to say goodbye.

I know he will be ok though. God will comfort and bless him and his family. This work is amazing and God helps us so much in fulfilling it. I am so grateful for all he has done for me and for everything all of you have done for me. Thank you so much!
Well, I guess until next week!

¡Paz fuera!
Love,
Elder TJ Tyler

Immigration and Mission Calls September 8, 2015

Mommoo!!

(Can you forward this to everyone in my contacts? Also, can you add the people that want my emails to my contacts por favor?) :)

Oh my goodness everything sounds so exciting back at home! I am so excited for Robby! (Robby is Tyler's cousin who just received his call to serve in the Portland, Oregon Mission.)  Tell him congrats for me and that I love him and know he will be such an amazing missionary. Sorry, this hour for emailing is like the most stressful hour because we have to read everything, and write, and upload photos, and everything, so we are all writing very fast and have a lot of mistakes in grammar and such.  But, concerning emailing, I can write anyone and they can write me, so it's ok to give it to people. 

Thank you for sending that stuff for me though! I wasn't able to check the price of the pants today because the DC (Distribution Center) was closed. But I won't need them until I get out in the field anyways. Also could you send me my other Called to Serve red journal and also a picture book with pics of our family and stuff. I can't believe I forgot to bring pictures! 

Things here are going a lot better though. These first two weeks have flown by so fast I cannot believe it. This morning practically all of the missionaries left for the field. There are only 12 missionaries here until more latinos and other missionaries come tomorrow.

Today we went to the Bogota temple again! It was so awesome! And so hard because we did it in Spanish! It was hard to understand, but it went good. After the temple we had our "cultural experience", immigration. It was soooooooo loooooong. We waited for 3 and half hours to get our visas and passports and such approved. My head hurts so bad right now because we didn't have water. But, afterwards, we went to SUBWAY!!! Oh my goodness that was the best subway I have ever had! It was the best meal I have had since being here actually! We almost got to go to Burger King but then we ended up not because traffic was crazy... it made me sad... But subway was great!

So, traffic here is so crazy! There are lines and such for lanes, but nobody uses them. It is basically a sea of cars and motorcycles. There are a TON of super nice motorcycles down here! It´s crazy! Anyways, so basically traffic works like this: if you can fit, you can go. It´s quite exciting riding in the buses and vans around here I´ll just say that haha.

Anyways, my toe is doing a lot better! The nail is still on my toe. I don´t dare clip it off. But I was able to play basketball yesterday without too much pain! Except for when they dribbled the ball onto my toe... Still no soccer though :( Probably not for a while... 

Oh! I found another scripture I really like! Matt sent it to me and it made me cry, but it gave me strength because this has definitely been the hardest thing of my life. It´s Moroni 7:33. When I read it I wanted to put that one on my plaque but I think I will stick with DyC 11:21. Spanish is coming a lot better. Elder Glauser and I have been able to teach our "investigators" with a lot more power because we are learning quite quickly actually, which is a huge blessing. Oh! This last friday we went proselyting for the first time! It was so fun and interesting! We got 6 referrals! It was fun. Anyways, yeah, the Spanish is coming along great. Right now the toughest thing is figuring out when to use por or para haha. Matt and Bryce will understand I think. ;) 

Well I don´t have too many pictures to send this week because the only time we really get to take pictures is at the temple on p-days, and today we didn't really have p-day because of immigration. But one is of a picture I started to draw on the plane ride here and I finally finished it Saturday. And then there are just a couple from the temple and stuff. One is in the bus last week on p-day and one is from today at immigration.

A side note about p-days, I think they are placed every other Tuesday and Thursday because of transfer times and such but I really don´t know. And I will probably have a different emailing time each week so I don´t know when I´ll be on email or not. 

Well I love you guys so much! Thank you for your love and prayers and support! This is very challenging but I know that with your love and the love of God I can do this.
¡Animo! ¡Exito! ¡Trabajo!


¡Paz fuera!


Love,


Elder TJ Tyler T-rex Jesse Tommy Ty Oobie Doob Scoobie Doobie Banoobie Hales ;)

Bogota, Colombia CCM- September 3, 2015

Momoo!!

Things are going great here! It has been very difficult, but I am pushing through and things are getting better. Spanish is super hard, but I think I'm starting to get it. We went to the distribution center today and they had white pants but i didn't check how much they were. I just bought a set of spanish scriptures and a little spanish hymn book. Elder Glauser is my companion and he is 6 foot 6! He is our district leader also. There are only five of us in our district. I wrote about it in my letter to everyone. Hopefully you guys can read it.

I think I have chosen my scripture. D&C 11:21. About seeking first God's word before declaring it and then having the power of the convincing of men. Sorry it is hard to type with the spanish keyboards. A lot of the symbols like for and and stuff don't work.

Anyways, I love you guys so much! I'm so glad things are going well there and I hope they keep getting better!

I love you soooooo much and I miss you guys a whole lot!

Until next time!

Love,

Elder Tyguy

Oh and thanks for the pictures!

Bogota, Colombia

Hola!
Things here are going so great! The plane ride was long but I had quite a few other missionaries with me so it was good. I was really surprised when I got off the plane here in Bogota because it was actually quite cool and not as humid. But everyone is saying that Barranquilla is going to be very hot. Oh, one thing before I forget. I forgot to bring my white pants, tie, and socks, so if you could send those for when I get out of the MTC that would be great! I have some pictures I will have to send next week. My first pday will be next thursday Sept. 3. Then the next will be Sep 8, 17, 22, then oct 1. I am so excited to be here! The missionaries in my district are so awesome! My companion is Elder Gauros. He is the tallest Elder here. He is so awesome though! The MTC president, Presidente DuVall is so awesome, and his wife is great too. The Spirit is so strong here and I am so excited to get working hard.


Well, until next week. Tell everyone I say hi because I don't have time to write everyone.


Thanks so much for everything! I love you guys and hope everything continues to go well!


Paz fuera!


Love,
Elder Hales