Wow - One more week and 5 days!

The AMAZON

Boarding plane to Florencia Zone Conference

Elder Gomez & Elder Ricks selfie

#BOSS

More travels

Mission Offices

My Beloved Family,

Wow..... one more week and 5 days.... Time is just flying by and I cant wait to see you all so soon! I'm not given up though, haha I have been soooooo busy and am just enjoying it to the max.

This past week has been just crazy and the one before just the same. This last Monday Elder Gómez and I went on up to the offices to have a meeting with President Baquerizo. We talked a lot about the transfers that are coming up and we talked a lot about some of Presidents plans for the new AP and so forth. It was a wonderful time and I began to slowly realize how fast time was really going and it was kinda a reality check. I will miss being with President Baquerizo so so much. I will miss our meetings, eating together, the way he even eats a candy, how he whistles every hymn after we sing it for about 15 min. everything.... I love him so so much and haaah don't even get me started on his beloved Wife. This past week I ended sharing my testimony in all of the multi zone conferences we had and I just balled like a baby as I thanked her for being my Mom here in the mission. (Stories to share). That Monday night, Elder Gómez and I had to stay in the house of the Elders that live close by the airport because we had to be in the airport on Tuesday morning at 6:15 am. I lined up a private taxi for us at 5:30 am and we were out the door right on the dot. We got to the airport, met up with President and Sister Baquerizo and we flew to a place in our mission called Florencia. It is the most dangerous place in our whole mission were it is just filled with drug trafficking and so forth... I was the first "gringo" american to step foot there in about 15 years (as a missionary). HOW ABOUT THAT!!?? It was so so fun. We had an amazing zone conference with them and then we came right back to Bogotá for my safety issues. Tuesday night Elder Gómez and I had to travel in a taxi to Marruecos Usme here in Bogotá to spend the night there because we had another multi zone conference at 9 am. We woke up bright and early, got all ready and were out the door by 7 am to go and prepare the chapel and get everything ready and to set an example. We had another amazing zone conference and afterwards we got dropped off by President at a mall so that we could pull out our assistant fund to buy some food and to have enough money to head home. Turns out our fund still hadn't gotten there in time... we had about 50 mil pesos that wouldn't be enough for dinner and a taxi home... We were walking out the door to just head home hungry and a young couple came up to us she started speaking to me in English and then in Spanish. It was a young couple that the husband was from Canada and she was Colombian, but had lived in Canada for the past 10 years. She got married and they came to visit Colombia 2 years after. They have been members for about 15 years and she said, "My mom gave me one assignment when I left here to visit Colombia, she told me that when I see any set of missionaries I had to give them at least 20mil pesos" She pulled out 20mil and gave it to us so that we could eat something... I know, I know, I KNOW, that God is aware of me. By something so so small he blessed us in so many ways. It was such a tender mercy of the Lord to send us that amazing couple to allow us to eat that night after traveling so much and not eating. I will always serve like them and follow the simple promptings of the holy ghost to bless the lives of Gods children. 

Wednesday night after being able to eat and head home, we went right to bed because we had another multi zone conference in Soacha the next morning. Thursday morning, we got right up and spend about 35 min. trying to find a taxi, no one wanted to take us there. We finally found one, got in and he took us more or less close to where we needed to go. We hooped out of the taxi and started walking (we were about 30 minutes away from our destination walking) and we hopped into a bus. We payed four mil to the bus driver and about 35 seconds later the buses' engine literally blew up, there was a huge cloud of super black thick smoke and then all of a sudden we were in a cloud of white smoke. Me and Elder Gómez just hopped right out of the bus and on we went walking.. hahah It was crazy. We finally got there and had another amazing conference. We bought 50 subway sandwiches for lunch and just had a good time. It was the final conference of the transfer/my mission.

Friday morning Elder Gómez and I had the opportunity to go up to the offices to make a few errands and to do a little work up there. While there I picked up some souvenirs from a Bishop here in Bogotá and one of them is an amazing present for my beloved parents and their anniversary TODAY!!!!! APRIL 9TH!!!! Mom and Dad Happy Anniversary!!! I sure love you to and am so grateful for what you two started 28 years ago. I am so grateful and blessed to be your son, and I want you two to know how much I love you, adore you, and miss you. I can't wait to see you... Happy Anniversary!!!! We then came on home and we decided to take today Saturday as P-Day. We ate some lunch at TGI Fridays and I bought some last minute souvenirs for the Holden's and a few other people ;). I am beyond happy and just working ohh so hard until the very last second. I have been taking so many pictures of EVERYTHING and I am just trying to take it all in so that I can remember it forever like James told me. I still don't feel like this is all really happening. I sure love my mission and have been so so blessed here. I can't wait to see you all though! I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!!!!

    Élder Michael S. Ricks

Misión Colombia Bogotá Sur

The Amazons....

Runway selfie....

Boarding selfie.... So so fun!!!! Amazing Experiance