25 years ago I began a mission to Barranquilla, Colombia, for The Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints.
With Dad just before I entered the Missionary Training Center (MTC).
With Mom just before I entered the Missionary Training Center (MTC).
With my first mission president (President Cavanaugh) and his wife.
My Colombian identification card.
All of my mission companions and the areas where we served.
One of the missionaries drew this for me. I wore a Colombian cowboy hat (sombrero volteado) my entire mission. Some people referred to me as "El Gringo Corroncho," which translates to "The Redneck Gringo."
Two years later I was released from my full-time missionary service.
23 years after being released from full-time missionary service, my brother (Joseph) and I went back to my mission. Here's Joseph practicing to give out copies of the Spanish Book of Mormon. He's saying, "This book changed my life. So, this book will change your life."
Here we are in the Salt Lake City Airport preparing to leave.
The view from our hotel room in Barranquilla. I joked that, because of the heat and humidity, my skin was already getting darker after only a few hours in Colombia.
We wanted authentic Colombian food for our first dinner. We were told to go to a restaurant called Cuckoo. Autocorrect tells me the restaurant should be called "Cuckoo," but the actual name, as you can see in the photo, is Cucayo. "Cucayo" is the hard rice you scrape from the bottom of a pot of cooked rice.
The food was amazing!
The yellow thing is called patacon. It's a piece of a large green banana (savory) smashed and fried. The dark rice is arroz con coco (coconut rice) with raisins. The green stuff is avocado with dressing on top and salad underneath. The three rounds of meat are tender, delicious roast beef.
The orange thing is platano frito (fried sweet banana). Joseph and I didn't like the platano frito. The white stuff is yuca (sort of like a potato). The chicken is some of the best chicken I've ever had. Amazing flavor and cooked to perfection.
The words on the back wall at the end of the video (La vida es como el cucayo. Dura pero sabrosa.) translate to "Life is like cucayo - hard but tasty."
After dinner we walked to a grocery store to buy water. I saw this bread in a bag and remembered the enormous quantity of bread I ate on my mission, particularly this type of bread - pan de mantequilla (butter bread). It's yummy! We bought a package for late-night snacking.
For some reason we were not tired our first night in country. So, we stayed up to play a rousing game of Phase 10. We ended up tying.
On the morning of day two we took a short taxi ride over to the Barranquilla, Colombia Temple, which was dedicated in 2018.
We also made a visit to a local market to purchase sombreros volteados.
I made a video for Sam just before Joseph and I entered the temple to perform baptisms for the dead later that day. Joseph did a great job with the Spanish names. In fact, he's been great with Spanish our entire trip so far. He understands 90% of the conversations and he greets people and speaks whatever Spanish he knows.
Rene Sarmiento (left - a stake patriarch) and Robert Bolaño (middle) attended the temple with us. In fact, they were the ones who coordinated for us to be able to attend the temple. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, which are much tighter than they are in the United States, only people who live within the temple district are allowed to make temple appointments.
I had the blessing of baptizing Robert on behalf of his deceased father, who passed away three years ago.
Rene Sarmiento (second from right) almost 25 years ago. I, with my baby face and much more hair than I currently have, am standing on the left side. I participated in teaching and baptizing Brother Sarmiento in December 1997. The sister in the middle is Mariela Ibarra, the mother of a friend (Claudia) with whom I still communicate now and then. Mariela passed away a few years ago. Claudia lives in the US with her husband and children.
Celebrating my birthday with two of my companions and Mariela (back middle), Mariela's mother (sitting next to me - affectionately known as "La Abuelita" (Little Granny), Jorge (back right - a family friend), Claudia (in front of Jorge), and I'm not sure who the little girl is.
Claudia, Jorge, Elder Perez, Mariela, Elder Ogden, La Abuelita - Christmas 1997
I have now done work in 100 temples. I was thrilled to have the temple in my mission be my 100th.
After our visit to the temple, we took Brother Sarmiento and Brother Bolaño out to dinner. Because the food was so good the first night, we decided to go back to Cucayo for dinner #2.
Patacones con queso (the fried savory bananas with cheese) - one of my favorite Colombian foods.
Day 3 - I had the pleasure of visiting Jorge, Hildegar, and Milagro. Jorge (Gallardo) and Hildegar (Heins) are married. Milagro is Jorge's sister.
With Jorge, Hildegar, and Milagro 24 years ago.
Hildegar is sitting in the middle. Milagro is standing behind her. Jorge is in the front-right.
We had a wonderful time catching up. I told them how impressed I was by the fact that they haven't changed much after all these years. They look great!
Hildegar made patacones con queso for me, with a delicious glass of jugo de maracuya (maracuya juice). We don't have the maracuya fruit in the States. While I visited my friends, Joseph was back at the hotel watching Encanto. What better place to watch a movie about a Colombian family than in Colombia? 😁
Ivan and Selah (friends who came to visit from Arjona - a small town three hours away from Barranquilla), me, Joseph, and Cesar (a friend who came from Santa Marta - a city two hours in the opposite direction). Guess where we ate dinner for the third night in a row? Cucayo! Why change restaurants when we know the food is excellent at Cucayo?
Me, Ivan, Selah, and Joseph. Ivan and Selah are not members of the Church. We enjoyed talking about food, family, religion, trials we endure, and the need for more love and kindness in the world.
Ivan is not yet a member of the Church, but 24 years ago my companion (Elder Hamilton) and I baptized Ivan's mother and three sisters. His mother (Olivia) and two of his sisters are still active in the Church.
Elder Hamilton, Olivia, Leiden, Ingris, Kellis, Elder Ogden. I think the boy on Elder Hamilton's shoulders is Ingris's son.
A typical breakfast at our hotel in Barranquilla - scrambled eggs, rice with various things in it, bollo limpio (a type of corn cake), and I enjoyed putting two kinds of yoghurt drinks into a bowl and eating it with bread.
Day 4 - Cesar's wife (Jackiee) came from Santa Marta with her children and mother to participate in another session of baptisms for the dead with us.
Oliva (Jackiee's mother), Maria Isabel (Jackiee's niece), Ana Paulina (Jackiee's daughter), me, Jackiee, Cesar, and Mateo (Jackiee's son). We love this family!
With Oliva and family 23 years ago - Me, Jackie, Oliver (a young man who was interested in the Church at the time), Elder Vargas (my companion), Leonardo (Jackiee's younger brother), Edgardo (Jackiee's older brother who died of COVID-19 in 2020), and Oliva (front right).
Last month I had the pleasure of re-connecting with Jackiee and her family (in person) when they came to Utah for the sealing ceremony of Jackiee's daughter (Maria) in the Jordan River Temple.
I got to take them around Temple Square for a few hours before they flew back to Colombia.
Left-to-right: Cesar Alejandro (aka Cesar Jr. - Jackiee's soon-to-be-missionary son), Ana Paulina, Cesar, Jackiee, Mateo, me.
Back to Colombia
Another picture with the 100 flag.
Oliva, me, Joseph
We stopped at a mall to eat lunch before heading to Santa Marta.
After lunch Cesar, Joseph and I went back to the hotel to get our luggage. Joseph had a diarrhea attack and we had 20 minutes to make it back to the bus terminal to catch the bus to Santa Marta. He took some Peptol Bismol and we made it to the terminal in time, barely. We were praying Joseph wouldn't have any issues during the two-hour bus ride to Santa Marta. Our prayers were answered according to our desires. We made it to our hotel in Santa Marta and he's doing okay now.
Oliva has a great sense of humor. She did "bunny ears" to me when I took this picture.
Not much leg room on the bus for two gringos.
These images will give you an idea of where the aforementioned areas are located.
The small town of Arjona is located about 45 minutes south of Cartagena.
Our two-hour bus ride from Barranquilla to Santa Marta.
We are halfway through our trip and thoroughly enjoying it. I should mention something about the heat and humidity. My joints feel great here. My entire body feels great! I'm constantly surrounded by a wonderful, warm blanket of humidity. I haven't used any lotion or chapstick since we arrived. My skin is perfect. I sweat a lot when I exercise in the morning. I love it.
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