Progressing Investigators are the beeeest

Hey everybody! I hope all is well in the rest of the world. Life in Zipa goes on rainy but great!

SOOO Belén is awesome! She didnt get baptized this past week for some stuff that was going on with her fam and husband, but we got to visit her a lot this past week and she is super awesome. Totally progressing in the lessons and her faith is really growing. We laid out a new date for her for the 18th of May and she accepted with like some serious joy. It was super fun. She had been waiting for a big answer (like dream or big sign in the sky or something) on the Book of Mormon and the church and we talked to her about how the Holy Ghost works in a more simple way with our feelings and stuff and she realized that she had been getting some serious answers through her feelings and it was real nice. The next day when we went back, she told us that she had a dream that night that she got baptized and was studying the scriptures with us and was like super pumped and could fly and stuff. it was basically the coolest feeling ever. Before we left that day, she said, "Well now when people ask me what religion I am, I´m gonna have to say I´m a Mormon!"
Also I finished reading the book Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage yesterday. MAN that is a really cool good bok. reeeeeally cool. 10/10 would recommend.

So this one day we were at a members house and eating lunch and just talking a bit and the husband (who is like 35, married with two little daughters) was asking me alot about where im from. Usually i just say Southern California or close to Los Angeles or something like that, but he was wanting like much more specific so I was like um okay yeah cool sure. After a bit of time of that, I turn around too look at him working on the computer and he has Google Earth looking at Huntington Beach! With a bith of my guidance, we found our way to my house, which Google Earth has a Street View of so I got to see my front door and car and all. Preeeeeeetty weird but also crazy awesome. I miss technology a lot its so COOL.

Keep on being cool and supportive and stuff. Sorry I can´t send more personal letters to you all but just know you´re in my thoughts and prayers! I love you all!

Elder Flat (i dont understand why my name is so hard)

Giving talks in church in a language you don´t know is fun

Hey fam and friends! I hope you're all doing just dandy!

This week was another pretty strange one. On wednesday, we went up to a little pueblo in the mountains (like a 3-4 hour bus ride from Zipa) to visit a guy named Livardo. He somehow (i dont remember) got a Book of Mormon from someone in passing and has been communicating via telephone with our mission president for a while now. He is a real awesome guy. He had never met with missionaries, but he had already read the Book of Mormon twice (and studied it, like the dude had notes and was quoting scriptures to us), the Doctrine and Covenants once (and was on chapter 62 from his second time through when we arrived), and the Pearl of Great Price once. And the dude knows his stuff. We went and brought him a bunch of gifts from the mission pres- more books and magazines frmo the church for him and his family, including 12 Books of Mormon he asked for to share with his friends- and it was a super cool experience. He lives in really humble circumstances on a farm up in the mountains, but the guy really recognizes the blessings he has received from the Lord and really wants to follow him. Reall really awesome experience. He already knows like all the doctrine from the missionary lessons we were planning on teaching, and more so has a testimony of them and the church. It was real real powerful to hear him testify of that stuff. We are gonna head back up this week to talk with him. WHAT A GUY
Another fun thing that happened this week - INTERCAMBIOS. I went to a little city called Sesquilé that is part of our district (about 1-2 hours from Zipa) and spent 24 hours with a different companion- a GRINGO. His name is Elder Salisbury and he´s from Washington and super cool. He has been out on the mission for about 5 months and his spanish is a bit worse than mine, so that was fun. We definitely got help from above that day because I could understand all the spanish wayyyyy better than normal and we had some pretty killer lessons. Also we got to chat in english, which is a new experience hahah. Really awesome stuff. 
I GAVE A TALK IN CHURCH and i think i did pretty well. I think my grammar was actually alright and i got some compliments which is always nice. maybe someday i wont have to worry about how to say things and can just say them haha.
Also, the Branch President here in Zipa, Pres Asprilla, totally remembers an Elder Gubernick (pretty sure i spelled that wrong and im sorry) from about 15 years ago. that was like so so cool to hear that. FV2 LEGACY LIVES ON IN ZIPAQUIRÁ.
So that´s and lots of teaching is what my life was this past week. Pretty cool stuff. Its crazy powerful to be out here seeing people change their lives and seeing how they light up when they here about how they can be forgiven of their sins, how they can live with their families forever, and how they can really comunicate with their Father in Heaven and receive personal guidance. It´s a huge´blessing to be able to take part in their learning process and get to leave my testimony of the things I know with them. SHARE THE GOSPEL - if it makes you happy, it´s gonna make other people happy. Just give them the chance to hear it.
I love you all, keep my and Zipa in your prayers!
Elder Gringo (preeeeetty common one. during the intercambios we had, Elder Sanahuano told me that a bunch of people asked - Where´s Elder Gringo?)