It is True

Hello, Family and Friends:

How’s the temp up there? Down here in Paraguay it is going fine.  We had divisions on Tuesday and on Friday.  On Tuesday I left the area and Elder Evans and Elder Lopez stayed and visited the area.  It was a rough day to say the least.  Near 4 o'clock, Elder Evans called me and explained that they had just finished teaching Jorge and his girlfriend (our family of gold) and in the beginning, it was awesome and they explained how they had talked and thought about what we had taught them and know that it is true and want to be Baptized!!!!!! YEA!!!! But, further into the lesson, they explained the Law of Chastity and everything went down the drain because Jorge is married to another woman =( nooooooo not only that but he also has 2 grand in debt that he has to pay the government before he can receive a divorce.  Really that hurt because they were our only hope for a great little while.  Well, we will still pass by for them and teach them to help them work towards the day that they can one day be a part of the Church of Jesus Christ.

We have spent this week doing a lot of contactos and FHE in the home of several of the most fiel (faithful) members.  We have found several familias that have some potencial in the long term future.  One of the which is the ex pastor of the First Evangelica Church in Pirayu!!! I hope sooo badly that he becomes converted!!!

Elder Evans and I are doing well and having a good time with the area.  Only 15 members came to church this Sunday and the others I don’t know what their big problem is, but, hey, like Hannah says, “Mountains of doubt and/or hatred can be destroyed and removed by Jesus Christ.”  Let us place our confidence in the All powerful.

I love the season of Christmas. Everyone seems to remember Jesus a little more in their lives. They look for simple acts of service and love that they may express towards random strangers as well as family members.

This week was good we found four new families that are very content in allowing us to share with them. Each one of them sadly had their firm one that didn’t allow the other to progress.  But all the other members of the familias understood really well and wanted to do whatever it takes to live with their family forever.

I really do love this gospel and am so happy to have been born in a family who taught me these teachings since i was young.  They are True.

I love you,
Elder Call

Happy Thanksgiving

Hello Family & Friends:

This week was another great week. Really I feel so good in this area and am having a great time. Sometimes I get frustrated, but not nearly as much here. It is weird, but I feel that anything really is possible here. I have never felt that before in my mission and I love it. 

This week was quite slow.  We were quite out of ideas and we have looked and found every member that has been baptized in this branch, while asking and looking for references and old investigators.  Elder Evans and I were not having any success and by golly; were we trying a ton of things because we don’t want this place to close down.  However, at the end of the week on Saturday we were looking for a member reference that an inactive gave us.  We could not find it for the life of us so we stop in the middle of the street and just start talking about what we could possibly do next and after about 10 minutes of talking and laughing, we decided to go back to a street that we had already asked around.  As we turned to walk that way the Spirit pushed me towards a house were a man was resting in his hammock.  When he saw me take two stumbling steps toward him, he sat up in his hammock and we decided that we would ask him.  He invited us into his home and it turns out that he had shared with the elders in San Lorenzo and had gone to church.  This man is named Jorge Ortiz and lives with his wife and two darling little boys.  He said he would come to church and he did =) =)  =) YEA.  That was awesome. 

This week 22 people were at church, nine of them were men and three were the children.  It was beautiful to see and it now means that we have a ton of work to do to help them clean themselves up and get rid of their bad habits. 

The family in the foto is the family Perira and we are preparing them to go to the temple and be sealed together forever. From the time that we have focused on the temples in their lives, they have really changed and they look so much better and really shine with happiness.

The gospel is true! The temple is the house of God!  It is what makes the church so amazing. We are so blessed to be members of this wonderful church.  May God be with you ‘til we meet again.

Love,

Elder Call  

Hot Week

Hey Everyone:

This week was HOT!!  Yesterday afternoon cooked me.  I actually almost took a shower from the spigot of a member’s house and Elder Evans at the end look like he really did.  So, yea, it is getting HOT.  The humidity takes it out of us, but today it is raining and so that is super nice.

Last Monday, we went to the Lake of Yparcari and enjoyed the beautiful view.  We had the desire to do some fishing and swimming, but kept the rules.

Here are some pics of the lake:

Elder Evans is fine this week and so am I.  However, the former branch president of the branch arrived from Argentina on Tuesday and has been visiting all the members.  The only bad part is that he has a hatred for the current branch president and is completely against him. We sadly dropped down to only 13 members that came to church.  Many were working or used the excuse that yesterday was the day of “voting for the leaders of Paraguay.  So also we saw a lot of drunk men and women last night.  It was super sad.  This week we did actually find a few new investigators, some that have already dropped investigating but we are working with several others.

We had divisions on Thursday and went back to teach Rosa and Jorge and we shared straight up only of Jesus Christ from the words of King Benjamin and they showed great desires to marry and get baptized. That was super exciting, however, we have to convince Jorge’s mom to support them and give them help, not tear them down or it will never work.

I have seen the strong power of the words of the Prophets testifying of the love of Jesus Christ and change even the hardest of hearts.  Although, I have also seen others similar to Korihor who after hearing them, knows that they are true and deny’s them again.  It is sad to see that happen.  But when they harken unto the words of God they achieve the immense joy of the redemption.

I love you a ton and hope you all have a wonderful week.
Love,
Elder Call

Hannah shared the pictures sent to her.  Remember the lunch a couple of weeks ago with the cow head?

Blessings of the Atonement

Hey Family and Friends:

This week was pretty good.  On Monday, Elder Evans still didn’t feel very good and woke up Tuesday feeling super bad, so we went to the hospital and got him fixed up and good to go.  We spent that night in the officina because of a protest from the bus drivers wanting better condiccions.  We got back Wednesday and got to work.  We found some old investigators that almost were baptized but then didn’t because their grandma doesn’t like it. However, they said that they wanted to go to church again and learn more. They are Claudia and Mishel.

This week we also had called and set up another appointment with Carolina and Noemi but after walking 3 km to their house and waiting for them for 20 minutes, they said that there was no male in the house soooo, we couldn’t teach them.  They insisted that they were going to come to church but didn’t make it.

On Saturday, at about 8:15, we were on our way home and we felt a strong impression to applaude (knock) at a house and a BIG man is leaving the house, sees us, and says, “ELDER’s come on in.”  So we entered into his one room house and got to talking with him and his wife.  It turns out that Pirayu does have someone endowed.  The man had served a mission in Argentina and had become inactive for some time.  We shared about the Atonement and the sacrifice that Jesus had done for us and the room filled with the Spirit and changed his heart.  Sunday, he and his wife showed up as we began singing the opening hymn and they enjoyed their time back in the church.

Well this week 5 of the others didn’t make it to church and 3 new ones did go, so the attendance was 22 this week.

Oh my scripture this week is Ether 2:14.  I love it because of the importance that the Lord has for prayer.

Love you tons!
Love, Elder Call

Ether 2:14 And it came to pass at the end of four years that the Lord came again unto the brother of Jared, and stood in a cloud and talked with him. And for the space of three hours did the Lord talk with the brother of Jared, and chastened him because he remembered not to call upon the name of the Lord.

Joy, Rain & Migraines

Hey Mom, Dad, Family and Friends:

This week was another joy filled week with LOTS of rain and lots of migraines.  My comp has had a migraine since Wednesday night and has lots of problems with his back.  Two of his cartilage between his vertebras has disappeared and is one little bugger for him.  I worked him until we took the Sacrament to a lady that doesn’t have the means to partake of the Sacrament and then we rested Sunday with the hope that it would get better.  We will see where it goes.

The Pirayu Branch President lives in a different branch, but serves in Pirayu. We do have several potencial (potential) holders of Sacerdocio (Priesthood), they just need to repent and make some considerable changes in their lives

As for the past week, we worked a lot with the members and when we were not with them we were applauding (clapping or knocking) at doors and learning the area.  We found 2 potential members of the church named Carolina and Noemi, who are actually related to some members here.  They accepted the baptismal invitation; however, they did not make it to church.

On Saturday, we received a phone call from some members that live 6 km from the church, inviting us to come and eat the head of a cow with them and that was a sweet experience.  I think I will prepare that for you guys when I get home so that you can try it out!!!

Really, we feel super good here in this area.  My comp is amazing and blessings are pouring in.

Thanks for everything and my scripture for the week is Heb. 10:32, which reminds me of the great fight that Satan puts up after we receive spiritual confirmations and revelations.

Love,
Elder Call

Hebrews 10:32 But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;