It's All Good...Cali and Baptisms This Week

Elder Welling and Elder Tauaese in Cali Saying "See you later."
Monday
Dec. 17, 2012                                                     

WHAT'S Good Family and Friends!
I can't believe how fast the weeks are flying by. Once again I will start with Tuesday and what we did. We basically got up super early in the morning to go to Cali and that was an experience, haha!! But we got there and had interviews with President Prince. We basically just talked about the work and Buenaventura. It was not really an interview, but nonetheless it was good to get to see some of the missionaries and meet some of the new guys. I will tell you why after.

But on Wednesday, we got some people ready for baptisms. So we went and taught the lessons to them, and made sure that they were doing well, WHICH they were. One of the men who got baptized is named was David, he is awesome - really ready for the gospel and really humble. SO that was awesome!

O
n Friday,the leaders of the zone came and did the baptism interviews with us, they both went great. But then the night time came, and let me tell you, impossible to sleep in the house with 8 missionaries, haha!!!  But it was solid and a good day overall. Then on Friday night we got to watch the conference of the missionaries singing in Cali for Christmas. So it was a pretty chill day.

Then Saturday came, and we had 2 baptisms, David, and a kid named Christian. I wore a pretty cool tie too...........shoutout!! ................





Elder Welling's Baptism Day for David and Christian in BV

Then on Sunday, yesterday, one of the elders got sick, and he is still feeling under the weather, which bring me to my next point... I am now in Cali!!  We woke up way early this morning, because tomorrow we have a Conference for 1 hour with President Prince, and then we will head back to BV.

Today was sad, though. It was great but sad at the same time.... We were playing sports and my other best bro in the mission is going home. Today was the last time I was going to see him again, so of course I cried again I don't like that part of mish for that reason, saying bye to people, it's hard to say goodbye!  But it will be great, because I will see him again soon.

The mish is really starting the fly by now! I can't believe it. I'm loving it and I will def miss the One and only Elder Tauaese!!!

Love you all, hope you have a great day! Now I am going to go sing to people in random parks.....O Holy Night!!!.....Another shoutout Bnap...all my family and my awesome friends, you know who you are!!   

Love you all.


--
Elder Tyler Welling

Slow Week...But Good



 Elder Welling with his 5 new missionaries in Buenaventura

                                              
Monday
December 10, 2012

Hey Family and Friends,

Hmm, what to say what to say. This week was good, but long also. I felt kinda lost in the area.

I will start with Tuesday, we had the normal district meeting. It went well. We put some dates up for some events that we want to do here in the branch in Buenaventura. One is that we are going to do a huge open house. PRES. PRINCE IS COMING TOO, ON THE 27TH in the evening to do the open house with us here in Buenaventura. We are thinking of more ways to invite a ton of people here in BV to come to the church. Hopefully this will work, our goal is to have over 200 people join us. I think we will do it, but it all needs to be planned out. 200 won't just come unless its planned well. Everything must be planned in the mission, that is something that will help me a lot in the future.

As for the week, it was hard, a ton of the meeting that we had arranged fell through. So that was a bummer and kinda disappointing. But that means we just have to change some things up, change the way we work. We want this great open house activity to have so many people that the church breaks......ok not really, but we want a lot.

Things are good though. The house, as in the missionaries that I live with (3 missionaries-my companion from the Dominican Republic and 2 newer gringos) was a little tense at times because people sometimes just get mad for little things. But it was good, because later we had a talk altogether, like an inventory meeting to get everything straightned out. So things went great after that!

Then on Sunday, the attendance dropped. I don't think we had quite 100, but it was still a good day. I gave a talk on the birth of Christ. I hope it went well. Everybody was saying to me that my Spanish has gotten a ton better, so I am super happy and thankful for that. Now I am typing on the computer the things I did last week, so I am going to stop typing now, haha.

Love you all and miss you. Hope your week's were great. And that is so awesome that my family got to see, meet and hear the best companion in the world, Elder Belnap, talk at his church yesterday!

Elder Welling

--
Elder Tyler Welling

Transfers.....





Elder Welling with his 5 missionaries and Branch President

Monday
December 3, 2012

Hey family and friends,

T
his week was alright. Weird having our house without Elder Belnap. SUPER weird But on Wednesday the new missionaries came, two new gringos, they have about 5 months in the mission and one dominicano, my comp, who has about 13 months in the mission. So, they came and we went out and got to meet all of the members and everything. Started to get going with the work here again.

I kinda ¨lost the fire¨ for the last week. IDK why but it was hard for me to get going again. But overall the week was good. My comp is cool and chill. He's from the Dominican Republic, his name is Elder Borg. I'm getting used to new Elders and getting to know them, the things they do, the things they don't do, the way they study and just everything. always an interesting process. But its all good.

Then, the other two gringos are cool, too. One if from California and the other is from Utah, Elders Chase and Hogan. They seem pretty chill, different from the way I am, but overall cool guys. I hope I can help them in the mission the way Elder Belnap helped me.

We had a great Sunday, there were 20 investigators at church overall, but we reached a total of 106!!!!!! That was amazing, the church was packed full!!! Also, one of the new gringoes can play the piano, so he played the piano and we actually had music. So that was amazing. I got the fire back during the hymms we were singing. And I am ready to attack this week in BV and do big things here again.

I hope that you all had a good week, sad my niners lost...lol, don't know what more to say. We are going to play soccer right now, but to be honest, I didn't really want tooo....idk why. lol.

Love you all, miss you all. Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!

btw, I want to change the way this mission does work, i want it to be smarter, better, faster, strong...na na na na now that that don't kill me, will only make me stronger. haha Kanye! . I will change it. :)

--

Elder Tyler Welling

Elder Belnap's Farewell...Hard Week Ahead


Elder Belnap and Elder Welling saying their "see you laters" as Elder Belnap left for Cali and home this morning. 
Monday
November 26, 2012

I don't really know where to begin. I guess I will start off by saying that today has been one of the hardest days in my mission so far. Elder Belnap left to go back to Utah, and it has been hard for me. He changed my mission. Not only was he the best missionary, but he was also my best friend here on my mission. Today after he left, I have felt empty and down. Buenaventura is definitely different without Elder Belnap.

But, now
I will rewind and go to Tuesday. On Tuesday, we went to Cali. There was a baptism for an old investigator of Elder Belnap's. Was really cool. We sang in the choir and man, it was amazing. We sang, and I felt pure, I felt clean. We sang Nearer My God to Thee in Spanish, and there is a part that says, Y Angeles Habrá....Right then, I felt the Angels come down from Heaven. The baptism was amazing. So amazing.

Then on
Wednesday, we had a zone conference with Elder Juan a Uceda. That was great, he talked a lot about listening and obedienece. Was really cool. I loved it. Then we got back onto the bus and headed back to BV. On Thursday, we did baptismal interviews to get some people ready for Saturday.

T
hen on Friday we had the big Noche de Talentos (talent night). Was amazing. The acts were awesome and especially Elder Carillo, he is a juggler and was just absolutley incredible. I loved it. Was such an amazing day.

T
hen on Saturday, we had the baptisms for three people and my convert now, Alexander, who's a stud. Was awesmoe. SO, those three baptisms were the last of Elder Belnaps.

On
Sunday the church had a nice meeting for Elder Belnap, and a lot of people said their parting words and gave Elder Belnap a hug. After the day we went around to all of the people that Elder Belnap wanted to go and visit. So we did that as a group of 4 missionaries and loved it. Then at night we had a nice going away dinner for Elder Belnap at the Branch President's house. It was really nice and special to have that time as the 6 of us and their two daughters eating together. Had a nice meeting then Elder Belnap said his goodbyes again. REALLY SPECIAL.  

Which now brings me to today,
Monday. This morning we said our "see ya laters" and Elder Belnap headed off for his last hurrah in Cali. Elder Belnap, I can say, changed my mission. He changed my life and has helped me in more ways than he can imagine. I know I will see him again in Utah, but for the time being it will be difficult to adjust. Just like when I left my Best Bros in Cali (California) and family in Utah. I just have to adjust and keep moving on, and do the Lords work. And do it to the best of my ability. Love you all.

Elder Welling.


-- Elder Tyler Welling

Elder Welling's last baptism day with Elder Belnap in Buenaventura
                                                        

Bogota Temple Week for Our Buenaventura Branch

Elder Welling and Elder Belnap with their great companions and Sister Maryam, who takes great care of them in BV.
Monday 
November 19, 2012

Hey family and friends,

This week was great
. On Tuesday the bus left for Bogota to go to the Bogota Temple. That was nuts!!! So my companion, and I had to go get the bigbus and drive it to the Capilla (our church). It was great, and my companion drove the bus! Then when we got to the church here in BV my companion parked the bus and we got everybody ready to get onto the bus.

We all sang a song first, then they started to get on the bus. A lot of the members started to cry and knew their prayers had been an
swered. It was a really special moment. Then when they were all in the bus, Elder Belnap, and I entered the bus and took a picture of everybody. Then Jose(our BV Branch Presidente) came to us and started to cry and gave us huge hugs. It was a really special moment. We said some stuff to everyone, and then the bus went off to Bogotá. That was amazing!

God sometimes just wants us to work our faith a little bit harder. To do a little more. I learned a lot of lessons from that experience and
I am so happy that they got to go. During the week we taught a good amount of lessons and worked hard. Didn't find many new people, but stayed focused on those that have been progressing.

Then later the bus came back on
Saturday. We talked to all of the members and especially with Jose, our BV Branch President, that night. SUPER special, all of the members wrote their testimonies on a piece of paper about the experience, and I cried a lot when Jose was reading them to us. It was just amazing!

Then the next day, Sunday, it was a special sacrament meeting in the church. A lot of people went up to the pulpit and bore their testimonies about the experience at the temple. Some of my converts got the chance to go, and they said they understood now and want to invest themselves next year. They know more and said know that they will never fall away!!!! That was amazing and super special for me. I loved it. I cried during that meeting, too. The spirit was just overwhelming, and it is just awesome to see our Branch progressing in ways I never thought possible in only 4 months.

I am really learning what it means to be a missionary. Loving my time here in B
uenaventura, and I will never forget these experiences that I have gained. I hope also that my family never forgets how they blessed the lives of others in what you have all done for them, too!

Love you all and miss you!  BTW, this next week is super busy with a ton of activities and we get to go to Cali to have a conference with Elder Juan a Uceda de los setenta, estoy animado por eso y que tambien tenemos mucho bautismos por la semena que viene. Pero, la aproxima lunes seria dificil para me porque el elder Belnap se va por Utah. Seré muy triste, eso yo sé.

--

Elder Tyler Welling


Week...........................Que?????



Elder Welling before baptizing these two sweet boys in Buenaventura
                                

Elder Welling and Elder Belnap with their companions ready to baptize these 8 wonderful brothers and sisters.

Monday
November 12, 2012

Hey family and friends,
this week was great. I will try to explain better what i did this week. So on monday, i can't remember what we did. I am pretty sure that we just went to the parks here and played dunkball and things like that.

Then on tuesday, i did some baptismal interviews for the people who were ready to take the next step . Then ready for traveling to Cali at about 6oclock that night.

I love doing the baptismal interviews, you can really hear how a person is changing and how the gospel has really influeced their lives. I love it. Sometimes they really open up. So, the bus ride sucked, but we got to Cali at about 8 oclock, and went to go and see some of Elder Belnaps old converts. They were so excied to see him. It was way special. Then we headed over to the Familia Torrgersons house to have dinner. They made us some good ol stew!! It was soooo good. So, that was awesome.

Then Mitt ROmney lost that night. SO, ya. The next day was wednesday and we had a capacitaion with President Prince. i gave a little presentation. and i feel it was that great. But Belnap said it was fine. Maybe it was, who knows.

But then later we had the training and it was awesome . then we bounced, ate Burger King, it was delicious. then we headed back to Buenaventura. But we had to do some errands before for an investigator named Alexander to get married. He is getting married the 23rd then the 24th is his baptiism. So that will be awesome.

Then the rest of the week was normal, working hard, and doing all we can to get the people to come unto Chrst. Then on saturday was the baptisms. It was awesome. We had 5 baptisms, but only four got confirmed. but it is ok, the other will get confirmed on the 25th.

So that was awesome. and now today i am typing you all. But the family we bapti zed was a big family, so that was great!!!!!! Here are the pics, love you all. Thank you for Everything and Helping out the Saints here in BV!!!!!!!! 

Love you all and miss you all tooooooo!!                                  

--
Elder Tyler Welling



Week.........Que??

Monday
November 5, 2012
Elder Welling with Elder Belnap and their companions and Sister Maryam in Buenaventura

                                                                
Hey Family and Friends.

This week was fast, but also really long for some reason. I will start really fast with Sunday night. I was just in a bad mood and I don't know why...I'm sure it is because I was hungry. but idk. 


Anyways. this week was good. We got started preparing for our baptisms that we are going to have this coming week. as of right now we have 8 dates. We have got to make sure and work hard that none of the dates that we have will fall through. And that they stay strong and are ready to walk into the waters of baptism. 


T his week will be really busy and we will go to Cali to have a mini conference with Pres Prince. I am sure that it will be awesome, and we are excited for that. 


B
ut this past week was good. We had some solid lessons with two girls, Tania and Nayi. They are really cool, but are really hesitant also. I think they have a testimony about the church. but something is holding them back. I am not sure if it is something to do with their family or what. But we need to help them a lot this week to progress even further with their faith in Christ. 


W
e also have an awesome investigator, Alexander. He is amazing. here an investigator asi is called a Pepa. He has done all of his genealogy, we baptized his children and everything, he just has to get married


Which reminds me of all of the miracles we saw this week. Absolutely nuts. Always look for the miracles of God, they come in many different ways. It was awesome to see those amazing things happen. 

God listens and answers our prayers when we put in all of our effort and have done everything we can do to fulfill our needs. That is when the hand of the Lord comes into our lives. 


That was our week and this next week will be nuts.
Love you all and miss you all. 


--
Elder Tyler Welling

What's Good in the Hood?

Elder Welling with Sebastian Brinez in Cali
Monday 
October 29

Whats good in the Hood??
First off, that is great about the Giants! Happy they won, But really it has been awhile since the Yankees won the world series. Need to get back in the swing of things.

So, this week was solid. We didn't get to teach many lessons, but we did a lot of important things. I will start with Monday, played Soccer and beat some Colombians 9-7 on a micro field. and then later that day went out and taught. It was great. We had a really awesome lesson with these 2 daughters of a member. We watched the Joseph Smith movie. It was amazing. I love watching things like that and seeing the first vision. I always get a testimony and feel it growing stronger every time. I know the two girls felt the spirit and the emotion in the movie. It was amazing. But they have something on their mind. I don't know exactly what it is, but I will find out.

This week BV was without water for 4 days......that was interesting. Luckily we had a reserve tank, so things were ok for us. But as for the city, it was bad!! haha. We didn't have any water to wash the dishes, which sucked. But we were lucky to have reserve water. 

Elder Welling with his fellow missionaries/companions in Buenaventura
                                                                                                                 






                                           
What else, we had a conference this week on Sunday. The area talked to us and also Neil L Anderson. It was great. He talked in Spanish, but totally sounds like a gringo, haha. It was really special though. He gave a blessing to the country of Colombia at the very end of his blessing, and it was amazing. It is so awesome that we actually have a prophet and 12 apostles today! I can't think of what the world would like be without a Guide. We, our LDS faith, would not exist had it not been for a prophet. So glad to know that we can look to their teachings to know what to do and how to receive happiness in this life.

Things are great here. As you have all seen in the pictures, Buenaventura is reallllllyyyyyy poor, and they can't grow anything here...why idk but it is difficult for Colombia to make a lot of money. So that is a problem here. But hopefully things will get better,. Colombia soccer is great and will hopefully qualify for the world cup next year. They have a good shot and oh yeah, when they play it is impossible to teach a lesson. haha Love you all, have a great day, and GO NINERS!!!!

Elder Welling.

--
Elder Tyler Welling

What Week Is It? Whoah...I Am In Colombia!!!

Elder Welling pondering many things...
  
Monday
October 22, 2012

Whats up Family and Friends,

This week was good, but also long. I will start with Monday. So this week we went to Cali reallly early on Monday morning. We had breakfeast with a couple missionary. They are awesome. They are from Idaho, so the breakfast was legit!!!! So then later that day we were in the Office, had our interviews with President Prince and stuff. Always awesome talking to him, just gaining knowledge on how to think, how to do things differently and ask for advice. So that was awesome. 



Elder Welling with new missionary couple from Idaho.
Ya, Pres Prince is having Elder Belnap, and I work in new companionships and area. I think it is because if we stayed working in only 1 area together it would be way more dominant over the other area. He said this is probably my last transfer in BV.

Then got my new companion and headed back to Buenaventura
. He is from Bolivia, his name is Elder Aldunate. He is chill, 19 years old and has about 5 months in the mission. But otherwise it is all good. Definitely hard to switch companions when I have learned so much from Elder Belnap. Just a different way to teach, and he has to get to know everybody and everything. It is just a process, but it is all good!!

So then we had divisions twice this week. and other stuff. But yeah, on
Thursday I noticed I was in Colombia again, sometimes it is weird like....Woah I am in Colombia!!!!! Lol!!!! But yeah, this Saturday we had a baptism. It was awesome. I attached a picture of the little girl who got baptized, her name is Nichole. She is sooo sweet, and quiet. But ya, so that was awesome.
Oh, on
Friday we had a goal as a companionship that we would start with finding 100 people in a day. So we went out like freaks ready to find and teach a ton of new people. But, it didn't work out to be 100. But we did in my companionship find 52 new people. Elder Belnap, and his companion found 54. So it was awesome. Really hard work. But awesome.

Then yeah, that is basically my week, have a lot of good people to teach, but won't bapti
zed for at least two weeks, so we will see how things goooooo.... Love you all. Miss you all.

--

Elder Tyler Welling

I'm in Cali...Just for the Day

Their special baptism day in Buenaventura of 10 new members.


Monday
October 15, 2012

Well, i am in Cali for the day. I just had my interview with President Prince. It was awesome. always has so much insight and knowledge in his interviews. So this week was great, but also terrible.

On Monday we didn't really do an
ything too great. We kinda just chilled in the house if i am remembering correctly. So it was a solid week. On Tuesday we had the reunion de distrito (our district meeting). It was solid, our numbers as a district were kinda down, it was a hectic week. Elder Patino gave a lesson, and finished his mission today. There were a ton of tears this weekend because of that.

So we worked hard this week. The branch is growing so fast that we have to make a lot of hard decisions
. Basically we need to pick if we need to strengthen the members if we are going to find new people, or help our investigators, which is really hard to do . So we did a little bit of everything this week. We found 13 new people to teach, but also we needed to get everything set up for the leaving of Elder Patino. That was on Saturday. he showed a great video of how his time in Buenaventura was, tons of pictures and photos of everything. So that was a really cool meeting. He was my Zone Leader in the mission, and really taught me a ton of valuable lessons in my mish so far.

It is so
amazing how the church has come to together so perfectly here in BV...new members coming out of the bushes, people waving us down saying they want to talk to us and everything, it is just nuts. We had one baptism this last Saturday, and we're having a few more baptisms this Saturday.

So I had my interview with President today which was great. He always helps me a ton
. One thing he said is that he feels closest to the Savior when he reads from the 4 gospels. Just the thought of the apostles there writing down everything. It is all true. We need to always follow the example and the teachings of the Savior. People that were there when the things the Savior did happened.

But also, he told me some really bad news...... Elder Belnap, and I have a division!!!! But not really, he is changing areas and I am staying in the same p
lace. so that was super sad. But, we are both still in BV, so i guess it is ok. 


Things are great here, though. I will continue to work hard and be the best that I can be, going for the grand slam. Love it here, Cali is awesome. Today, we aren't really doing anything, just chillin in Cali, then heading back to BV on a 3 hour bus ride... Love you all, thanks and write me some letters!!!!! Please!!!!!
LOVEEEEEE
-- 

Elder Tyler Welling




What's Up? Conference, Iguana and Jesus Lizard

Monday, October 8, 2012      


Iguana like the one on their church.

Hey FAMILY!!!

Whats up! So this week was busy and filled with a ton of stuff to do. We didn't get to do much teaching and things like that, because we were getting the church ready for General Conference. So basically on Pday we don't do much here....well, because there is not to much to do in Buenaventura. But it is still Awesome!

We were going to go to Cali for today, but plans changed so we didn't head out. But anyways, with this week we had to get the church ready and make sure everything was fine. We got cable put into the Church, which was a hassel, the guy that was supposed to put it in said he would be there two times, but was never there. So we could never really do it, and we would be waiting on him. It just wasted some valuable time.

Then later, we had to somehow make it so our Church had Water. The church only gets water in the afternoon, so that is kinda terrible and gross. Basically the bathrooms wouldn't work...get the picture?? So basically, we did a lot of running back and forth the whole week to make sure everything would turn out GREAT! During Conference over the weekend, Elder Belnap, and I were watching  the Conference talks in a different room of our Casa Capilla. Then BOOM, I saw a huge IGUANA on the roof of our Church house. It was pretty awesome, then it ran away.

One time we had one of those JESUS LIZARDS in our house! It totally ran on its hind legs. It was hilarious, Good Stuff!!  Also, in the neighbors house this week there was a big Snake. Soooo....now I am scared to go into the Church First...haha...lol!!! 

But things are great, Conference was awesome!! I had to watch the Priesthood in Spanish, but overall it was awesome! I loved President Monson's talk in Priesthood. But overall, I really loved Pres. Uchtdorfs talk on the first day. That was my favorite! 


In the Book of Mormon, I love Alma 23-26 when the people get a real repentance, and in Alma 26 when the sons of Mosiah talk about their Missions. Oh and man, I was shocked at Pres. Monson's announcement that missionaries can go at ages 18 for boys and 19 for girls now...haha Elder Belanp was like....why nowwwwww??? haha


But yeah, that is basically my week, love you all, miss you all. Hope everything goes great!!!! Elder Welling.

--
Elder Tyler Welling    

What's Up? An Earthquake and 10 New Members!

Elder Welling is 3rd from the right at their baptism with his fellow Elders and their 10 new members.
Monday
October 1, 2012

What up family and friends!

Chillin here right now in the computer store, frying from the heat here in BV right now- today. Tried to make chocolate chip cookies earlier, but the oven broke. The city smells bad, and it rains everyday. But man, I am LOVING IT HERE in this TOWN! I have had so much fun with great experiences, and it is just getting started!

So Elder Belnap, and I finished this month with 10 baptisms for our companionship here in BV :) We learned that no one has had 10 baptisms in one month in over 3 years here in our Cali, Colombia Mission! So, we were stoked, but we also know that some of our plans fell through, and we can work harder and do better!

Our 10 awesome new members we baptized are Christian, Emma, Maira, Michael, Johan, Junior, Christian, Ruby, Elkin and Marvin. We worked hard with them, and loved it!  All of these great people wanted a change in their lives, and realized that this was it - to be blessed with the Gospel!  It was AMAZING!  


Not to mention I am stoked, because the 49ers finally snapped out of their playing and dominated! Wooo!  But I am doing great here!!

We have some huge plans coming up for the next months, and I am just loving life here! A lot of the people who were also going to get baptized this week didn't, because their parents said, "no." It is different here that way, because their parents are already members of the Church, and everything. But I don't know, it's different that way.

YES, I DID FEEL the EARTHQUAKE, it was soooo AWESOME!! I like things like that! Why? I don't know!  But it was cool!  It was during the second hour of church, and some of the people and members were freaking out and everything. But it was fun to me, and I enjoyed it, haha! Also, on a serious note, some bad things did happen from the earthquake. Some houses of our members are falling now, because of it. And there are other problems now, too, such as the water.

Know that I am having fun, and love doing our missionary work. And I am loving Buenaventura!  I never want to leave here!!  There is nothing like this town!  Turin Turan!  But what else... today we didn't do anything special for pday, because there is nothing to do. But it is all good!

The kids here in the city are funny, because they say something in English, and we talk back. And of course they just look at us with a blank face. It is so funny:)

I Love you all! This was my week, next week will be better! Peace Pelados!



--
Elder Tyler Welling

An Awesome Baptism, Hectic Week





Elder Welling's Baptism Week (but this time in a pool)

Monday

September 24, 2012

Hey family and friends, 
This week was sooo stressful, but awesome, also. we had a good weekend, but i will start with Thursday. the zone leaders came here to Buenaventura to help us with interviews, and stuff for our baptisms this weekend. we went with Elder Tauaese. he is from the states in California, so he is cool:) basically Thursday was sick (great), because we were a group of three gringos in BV. but it was great, everybody was ready for our baptism weekend.

at the end of the night we went to go eat some delicious food from the street. we had eaten there 3 times before, but it was the first time for Elder Tauaese. so later that night the food got Elder Tauaese sick. that was bad for him, because he had a three hour bus ride back to Cali the next morning.


but other than that, this week was hecka tight. we didn't have a place for the baptisms until Friday morning at 10oclock, a day before the baptisms. so that was supér crazy!!!!  we were blessed so much though. the pool that we did the ordinances in was perfect, and everybody loved it. Elder Belnap, and I had 4 baptisms, and it was amazing. we had 8 as a district. and if everything goes as planned, we should have 9 more great people being baptized this weekend in my companionship with Elder Belanp.


it is amazing to see the changes in the lives of the people that have accepted the gospel. it's a wonderful thing to see. so this Sunday was great also. oh, but also on Saturday i bought Elder Belnap, and I some big juicy burgers. man they were delicious. well, actually they are really terrible burgers compared to the burgers in the US, but good for Colombia... i have been craving some costco hotdogs, haha... just American food. rice and beans every meal kinda gets old, lol...but it's all good....


This week should be super stressful, too. hopefully i don't die, because of the stress. Love you all, miss you all so much. Hope things are going great. PS, we get to play pool today on our pday. i got the recipe for chocolate chip cookies from my mama, too :)




Love yall, stay classy US....
--
Elder Tyler Welling

What's Up? Preparing for Baptisms

Monday
September 17, 2012


OK, finally i am here and ready to write about our week. So like i told you last week, we were called to be a Branch!  So awesome!. This week we did a lot of callings, and all that jazz. Luckily none of the missionaries have callings yet. Luckily we have a lot of Elders in the church who can be leaders. only thing is Elder Belnap, and i are teaching a class about how to teach basically. so that was awesome! 

this week we worked our tails off.  We had about 21 lessons, and just were always thinking about other ways we can get the members involved. If we were walking, we were on the phone with a member telling them to call so and so.  we did a lot of stuff. but it was all awesome.

this week we plan to do a ton of work once again. hopefully we can have everything ready to go as scheduled, and have the hand of the Lord in our work. really, we have to have help on high from the Lord again as we prepare for our baptisms this coming Saturday. but this week was super great. we had 16 investigators at church again, and it was really special. a lot of people who we thought would not come showed up and they loved it. super blessed to have had that happen.

we played soccer on Monday during pday, lost 7-9. but i really don't like playing on the small synthetic fields. i like to play on huge fields, but there aren't many. basically there are just huge fields covered with rocks and beer bottles. haha but its all good.

I love Bueanventura more and more everyday. and it's awesome that Elder Belnap is my companion. i keep learning so many things from him, too. Love you family and friends. this is my message for the week. hope you are all doing well. and i encourage you all to read the BOM,

Love you all!!!!!!!

--
Elder Tyler Welling


OH GO NINERS!!!!!!!!!!! NOBODY

Whose Got It Better Than Us? Nobody!!!

Elder Welling at the waterfall before their baptisms.
Elder Welling rides on top of a bus/van to Cali (I think).

 Monday
September 10, 2012


Elder Welling on a pday at the river.
WHATS GOOD FAMILY!, AND FRIENDS!!!

WOW; what a crappy week in the beginning, but then it turned in to be one of the best weekends of the mission. I will explain why. Starting with Monday night, I ate something and no me cayó bien. It didn't go down well at all. Then later that night, it all came back up...and up...and up...so that sucked a lot. I was held on the sidelines for TWO days!!!! It was terrible. I couldn't work on Tuesday or Wednesday!!!! I hated being in the house. But luckily Elder Belnap helped me a ton. But he was also sick a bit too. But not like me.


Then on Thursday, Friday and Saturday we basically just worked our tails off and went to town. And then on Saturday President Prince called, and told us he would be coming to our Church meeting the next day. Which was AWESOME!!! We had started fasting on Saturday and finished on Sunday, super hard fast being sick and frail. But it was totally worth it and worked!!!!!!! We fasted for INvestigators to go to church! Then we did all the work we could to get a lot, and in the end we ended up having 22 investigators at Church! There were 98 total at the church!!!!! It was awesome to see that outcome. And now when you work as hard as you can and rely on the Lord, that's when the blessings come.


So Sunday was just great! President Prince gave a little talk during the Church about the formation of the Church and everything, he said.........Buenaventura will now be a Rama (official Branch)!!!! AHHHHHHH SOOOOO SICK when he told us the news!!! I was stoked!!!! We had worked so hard here, and everybody was just so happy when that news came. The First Presidency of the CHurch Approved us here in BV, So awesome. Then we had lunch with President, and Sister Prince which was delicious and everything! Also Sister Prince brought Tortilla Chips, and Salsa which was like mana from Heaven, so freakin delicious.


So, basically this week was awesome, and the NINERS WON!!!!  WHose got it better than US? NOBODY!!!!!!!


-- I love you all!

Elder Tyler Welling


Beautiful Baptism Pictures, New Goals and Karaoke

Baptisms in the beautiful river last week. Elder Welling is in the back helping the Sister. These are their 9 new members.
Monday
September 3, 2012

OK, another week down the tube, filled with a ton of work! But it was solid. 

I will start with this morning really fast, we got permission to go fishing at 5 in the morning, but didn't catch jack squat! It stunk. Anyways, this week was great! I was sick for a bit, but feeling much better now! 

Starting with Tuesday, me and Elder Belnap posted some goals to accomplish this week, so we can get closer to our mark that we have set for this week. We put up 2 goals. One was to find 20 new investigators, and the other was to post 9 dates for baptism. And on Sunday, we finished both of those goals. We worked our tails off and stayed focused all of the time. It was great to finish those goals we had set!!! 

So now we have a lot of dates for baptism, but we cannot let up on the work, or forget why we are doing this. Learned a good lesson last time. 

But, the week was great. Had a sickkkkkk activity this last Saturday. It was a night of Karaoke, and we got permission to sing, too!!  The church was packed with about 120 people.!!! SOOO COOOLLLL!!!!! Everybody was singing their minds out, and just having a great time! So cool, I sang Thriller by MJ, so I learned that I don't know the words as well as I thought I did.....hahah And Elder Belnap sang Billie Jean. Overall the night was a huge success!!! Loved it. 

Then the next day the Capilla wasn't too filled, but we still had about 65 there at church, including our new members. Overall it was a solid week, and we will continue to work hard to see how things goo!!! Love you all, thanks for the letters and yeaaaa...

--
Elder Tyler Welling


Their beautiful baptism day in the river of Buenaventura last week. Elder Welling is in the middle helping a Sister back.

A Week of Ups and Downs, Awesome Baptism Day!

Monday
August 27, 2012

Elder Welling and Elder Belnap in the river after their baptism evening before sunset.

OK, this week had a ton of ups and downs. 
I will fill you all in on what happened here
in Buenaventura. 
 
DURING THE WEEK, it was solid. We had a 
good fun time, and were working really hard 
on a lot of things here. We didn't have much 
time to relax. Speaking of, I was the most 
tired of any week in the mish. 
 
But anyways, I had my first interviews on Wednesday.
I did 4 and they all went well. And not to mention,
it was a really cool experience for me. I loved it a 
lot. Nobody failed or anything. But it was awesome. 

Then on Thursday the APs came and helped us
finish some interviews, because we had to do 
a lot. So it was really cool hanging out with them 
and working with them, too. But overall it
was a really fun day with them. 
Then on Friday in the morning they bounced (left). 

So, then on Friday we had the English class in 
the Sena,which was absolutely crazy and fun. They 
are nuts kids, and I am pretty sure that they don't 
ever study in that school. Anyways, it was fun being 
around a bunch of college kids and trying to teach 
them English.haha 

Then, came Friday night, where we hurried and 
finished interviews and what not. Then Saturday morning 
came. The day of the baptisms. We had scheduled to have 
about 20 baptisms. But oh my gosh, somebody (we know who)
worked hard so these people didn't get into the water. About
11 people fell through,and didn't get baptized. I was super 
sad! So, Elder Belnap,and I had 5 people we baptized, and 
our other 2 awesome missionares had 4 people. So, that was 
super sad to have 11 people fall through right before the 
baptisms. But, we had 9 great people baptized, and it 
was awesome!

But we went in a Chiva. Which is like a school bus
that is all decorated out and colored, but then 
boom, we hit a huge traffic jam going to the river.
And by this time I was getting stressed,
thinking we were never going to get to the river. 

But eventually about after one hour in the traffic, 
and not moving at all, the bus finally started to go, 
which was great. Then we arrived at the river and
everything was great after that. The ordinances were 
great, and the river was BEAUTIFUL! I loved it!

Then we returned home and basically went to bed. 
But I was still sad about the other 11 people
falling through! Elder Belnap, and I had a 
long, good talk about what had happened and ya. 

But anyways, that was the weekend. 
We still had about 80 people at the church, which 
is a good problem. 
I will send all of the pics, well hopefully. 

It was like Alma in the Waters of Mormon. So awesome 
and beautiful! I loved it! This next month will be so 
much bigger and better. We just got our
feet in the water. Now we are going to dive in!!!
-- 
*Elder Tyler Welling*