Colton in Colombia

Hi all! Mama Rouse here.  Sorry this email isn't coming directly from Colton.  He's trying to figure out the best way to send weekly emails, but it's a bit tough because he does not have access to any computers.  He does have a smartphone that he shares with his companion, but typing emails on it would be pretty tough.  So he used it to make a video this week and sent it to me through facebook messenger.  His hope was that I could email it to all of you, but it isn't going through for some reason.  Maybe because it's 15 minutes long!!!   I finally decided to edit it to two minutes and send it that way.  Sorry you aren't getting the full video, but hopefully this segment will give you a small insight into how he is doing and what he is experiencing.  And fingers crossed we come up with a new plan for next week! Btw - here is bit of info from his 15 minute video ... He's been in Colombia for two weeks and is living in a town called So...

Que tal mi familia,  We are in the mission home right now and he told us all to write to our families.  So literally so much has happened in one day. The most important thing that I want you guys to know is that I am loving it so far. I can understand the language of everyone except people from barranquilla. haha. I had great and natural conversations with everyone on my flights. I was the only missionary who did not sit next to another missionary on any of his flights which I can consider a blessing. The person I talked to on the way to Barranquilla was from colombia. She was super nice and we talked together in Spanish and a lot of Spanish as well. Haha, we talked the whole flight and I was able to share my testimony and get her facebook account. It was a blessing for me because I gained a ton of confidence and learned a ton. All the missionaries are super nice and the leaders are awesome. We stayed in a super nice hotel last night. I was with a miss...

QUUUE MAAAS?!?!?!? I got a mean 5 days left till they send this gringo packing to Barranquilla Colombia. It is weird thinking I will actually be in a different country by then. Please do not cry for me too much. I will always be straight forward with you guys cuz you are my friends so we will see how it goes. I haven’t blessed you with my presence in over 2 weeks so this one will be longer.  The days seem to fly by super fast. Ya boy is still trying to learn the language and discover more truth for himself, so keep me in your prayers. Those two things are kinda sorta really necessary. Jaja. Some highlights...  Lightning? Ok let's climb up this tall metal thingy. Ya boy is still un poquito estupido. For my break day (pday) I got my friends together and we hiked in Black Balsam Knob.  On the way back I saw this tall metal tower on the top of the mountain and I said to myself, “It would be super cool to go climb that metal thingy”. The only problem was that it was thundering...

Qué tal?, qué pasa, hola, qué más, y buenas mis amigos. What is up my friends. Much has happened this week, but I will try to keep this one short so I don’t lose my fan base too fast.  Let me know how you guys are doing and if you have any out of the box missionary ideas. Also, I wanna know cool ways I could format my emails let me know! I will try to switch it up every week.  The Dance of the Cucumber-  In the grand at home CCM (MTC) experience you are exposed to all of the media your family watches, but (unfortunately) you cannot partake as a missionary. Consequently, you want to get you hands on any media that comes your way. So, I started watching this Veggie Tales Silly Songs with Larry called the Dance of the Cucumber. Half of it is in Spanish, so my dad and I both stared snickering and laughing like two teenagers that just saw something mildly inappropriate. Super stupid, but that is what I have been reduced to. Just watch it.  Knowledge vs Faith- ...

Qué pasa mis amigos, mis compañeros, mis hermanos, mis hermanas, mi familia, y mis parceros? It is ya boy, Elder Rouse. First things first, these emails will possibly make you cry, laugh, mourn, feel unconditional love, or possibly wet yourself in excitement, soo If you are not prepared for these emails to change your life then just shoot me an email and ill take you off of the list. I want these emails to be different and interesting, so if you have any ideas of cool ways I can send emails home, please let me know. I would love to hear from any and everyone of you no matter how close we were before.  Soo, I will try to be transparent with everyone by saying being a missionary is weird enough and being a missionary in your home is super weird. The first morning I woke up as a missionary I took a shower in the same bathroom, opened my same fridge, got me some of the same good ole raisin bran crunch, and went back to my same ole room to go to class with my same ole laptop from colleg...