A Solid Week

Well, Hello to Everyone!

This week was good.  We had some solid things happen.

It started out last Monday by making a bunch of cinnamon rolls, which are a big hit down here in Paraguay.  Thanks mom your food is loved everywhere.

Tuesday we had divisions with the district leaders and we taught the Salines family, who were planning on being baptized and married this coming Saturday and we had a super good lesson about the temple, marriages and baptism.  But the Father continued giving excuses about money and not being able to provide a party for his family members and how his family would not step foot inside of the church.  But they ended still good for this Saturday.  However, Thursday we returned and talked to them and explained tithing and what the tithing is used for and Fernando continued to put excuses about the party afterwards and was talking about how some days they don’t have anything to eat. Well, I guess they want to wait.

On Tuesday we found the sister of the Aguayo Arisitedis family, whose name is Jenny, her brother, Osvaldo and his girlfriend, Nanci.  We talked for a little bit and had a super good lesson. They seem so great.  Nanci had a boy about 7 months ago and is struggling a bit.  We planned to visit them on Friday at 7, but were not there. Neither were they there Saturday morning, afternoon, or Sunday afternoon when we passed by.

On Wednesday night we had a great FHE in the house of Evalyn Godoy, who is investigating the church, thanks to her best friend, Vanessa.  We made pizza Paraguayan style and then we watched the Restoration video and shared our testimonies, explaining the need to read the Book of Mormon and asking God if it is true.  Evalyn was able to come to church this time, which is good, because her mom let her.  Her mother is super Catholic and is a nice one at least.

This week was great, even though we wasted a bunch of time looking for old investigators that had moved quite some time ago and that were unknown by their neighbors.

The Church is true.  We are so blessed to have the restored priesthood on the earth and that it is available to all. God is good.  He tries your patience sometimes, but he never leaves you alone or unblessed.

I love you all!
Have a great week.

Elder Call

Crazy Week

Hey Everyone,

This week was a bit crazy.  On Tuesday, we went out to Pindaty to eat with the Cardozo family. We had talked to Edgardo on Sunday about eating at his house.  We arrived there and sadly no one picked us up to take us there. Haha.  But we arrived and the Grandma, Irma (mother of Edguardo), told us to sit and then served us lunch.  We decided that Edguardo had asked his mom to make us lunch and feed us instead of with his family.  The house of the Grandma is close to the road and to arrive to the house of Edguardo you have to walk on a trail through the trees some 500 yards.  After eating and having a good chat with Irma and Juan we went to the house of Edguardo, in hopes of finding his son and asking him why he did not come to church. When we arrived, the wife of Edguardo asked us if we had arrived for lunch and told us that Edguardo had just left to work again!!!!! Pucha!!  So they had been waiting for us to arrive to eat while we were eating with Irma.  Well, hey, what could we do?  Gladly, everything was calm after some apologizing.

Later that night, we received a call from some other missionaries, with a reference for us of a guy who would like to be baptized and has gone to the church and met with the missionaries before.  His name is Agusto Uran and is super awesome.  The reason that he had never been baptized is that at that time he liked inviting girls over, but then one day he realized how bad that was and has now stopped.  But the guy did not come to church this week which made us super sad.

On Wednesday, a girl named Vanessa Vasquez invited her friend Evelyn to meet with us. It turned out being at the house of the 1st Counselor of the District and instead of a normal lesson, it was a Young Women's activity making Chipa, which is cooked over the fire on a stick and watched “17 Miracles.”  We had to call the President’s son to come and join us and we had a good talk about the difficulties and afflictions that we pass through and how we can stick to the faith and work through our trials.

Other than that, we have a family, the Salines, who is a sister of a recent convert and her boyfriend and their two children. The main problem with them is that they do not understand Spanish very well, because they speak Guaraní almost all the time, so we have to go with someone that speaks Guaraní. Also they need to be married and the dad wants to do something special but does not have the money to do like anything.

The Gospel is true.  God is real. He is your Heavenly Dad and He loves you. The scriptures testify of this and I know that it is true. He sent his only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to the world to provide us the way to return to him.  Read the Scriptures, they tell you how to walk down the road of life and apply what they tell you to do.

I love you all and search the scriptures every day.

Love Elder Call

New Area -- Cnel. Oviedo

Hey Everyone,

As for this week, on Tuesday I did receive a call and I was called to leave the area of Leopardi. Wednesday morning I left Leopardi and got to the terminals, where they tell everyone their changes and I was sent with Elder Vega, from Ecuador, to Coronel Oviedo. The oficinistas (office staff) gave us the keys and the phone and told us to have fun in the whitewash. So we took a 4 hour bus ride, wondering how we were to find our apartment. But the district leader was waiting for us and showed us where we needed to go.

I love my mom.

This past week we have spent our time searching for the members that live in our area, which is huge. We have over 15 km to cover, but the towns out far usually don’t get visited and I don’t know if there are members there.  The elders that left the area did not leave behind registros (records) of their teaching or ways that we can communicate with them.  My mom is the best.  So that kinda stinks, but the members are super nice and helpful.  We are in a Rama (branch) that has a asistence (attendance) of about 70.  The tempuratura (temperature) is perfect right now.  But yea the week was great and had a ton of miracles happened.

I have the best mother in the world.  Happy Mother’s Day!

I love you all!
Love, Elder Call

God Has a Plan

Hello everyone,

This past week we have worked more and more, trying to get everything moving in the mission field, putting a focus on receiving references from the members and helping them feel comfortable sharing the gospel with their friends.

The highlight of this was that one of the references turned out to be good.  The wife of the Stake President gave us a reference for her brother-in-law, named Jose Luis Romero and his family.  The only problem with them is finding a time when they are in their house.  The Dad works hard and long and the wife works harder and longer and we have not been able to teach her, only Jose but the lesson was good and he was super good to us.  They did not end up coming to church this Sunday and blamed it on the rain, even though they have a car!!!

With Derlis and Sandra!! This week was aaaa exciting. I guess you could put it everything was going good.  We went and celebrated the birthday of Sharon on Wednesday and this same day some old acquaintances of Nestor and Derlis moved in right next to them.  Friday, was a holiday for Paraguay and no one was working, so the ward planned a service project to help clean up a member’s house that has become bedridden. Derlis and Nestor both came to help and so did about half the ward.  I was not able to go because we had divisions and I went to Paíñu. When I returned I heard that after the service project Dertlis went home and the old friends invited him to drink with them and he did.  He became super drunk, did some really stupid stuff; is now kicked out of the house, and it does not appear that he is going to return. Sandra was really stricken with all this and is tired from all the hassle of keeping Derlis around.  None of them came to church this week because it was raining really hard and they did not want the young, young kids to get sick.

This upcoming Wednesday we have changes and it is very possible that I will go, so I really don’t know when I will skype you guys.

This week I came to understand more fully what entails the plan that God has for us. Before I had always thought the plan as something really broad and generalized and never really realized that for every choice I make and for everything that I do, God has it planned out as to how I can change and become better and it is only thanks to My Savior, Jesus Christ, that we have the chance to be complete with the Plan of God.

I love you all,
Elder Call

A Solid Week

Hello everyone,

This week was a solid week we had divisions again and I went to Paiñu and enjoyed a day with Elder Een and this Saturday we planned out an Open House for the church, that went quite well and we will do that again in a couple of months, exhorting the people to use it as an opportunity to invite their friends to the church in a more relaxed environment.

Derlis and Sandra we talked well with them about baptism and about marriage and about the Word of Wisdom.  On Friday, Derlis committed to quit drinking and smoking in order to marry Sandra because he loves her a ton and it is the only reason that she does not want to marry him. Sunday was the birthday of Derlis and as far as I was informed he did not drink however he did smoke during lunch and surely a bit later.

As for Matias, he is now in France.  He left Thursday in the morning and it will be the last that we hear from him.

We found a new family that is at least listening to us.  The mom is named Miriam and her children Fabian, Claudia and Camila.  The mom became interested in religion when her son did his First Communion in the church Catolica and found an openess in her soul that needed filling up. Her schedule of the day reminds me of the schedule of an American mom driving around all over the place, getting things done, which is the first time that I have run in to that feeling here.

It did not rain this week. TEMPLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are awesome!  So, they are finally making it official.  It brings back memories when it was first announced and everyone went crazy.

Love you all!
Elder Call

Another Week in Paraguay

Hey everyone,

I did receive the birthday package on Tuesday and it was sweet. The highlight I think would have to be the Jensen Family Calendar and all the pics of the family that updated me a little bit.  Please tell Grandma, “thanks” for me.

I have not tried making ice cream and do not know if I will, but it is good to have the recipe, so that by chance I do have a real desire to make some, I can.

Mate Dulce is 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup water and 1 liter of milk; drank in a similar manner as of terere, but in place of the yerba you use coconut. It is quite good.  I think Justin made it for us when he arrived from his mission.

Cream.  Yes, I can get cream in Paraguay, at least heavy cream.  I should take photos of the store we do our shopping in.  It is huge, but yet, it is nice.

This week was Miguel’s birthday. On Thursday to be exact and so I made the cake that you sent me and we celebrated in the church, because it was ward night that night, and I gave him the little toys that you sent as his present.

As for church, this week we had none of the people we are teaching show up, which puts a bummer on the whole week. To talk about Nestor and Diana, the parents of Sharon and Miguel, the sister of Nestor is in the middle of a divorcement and said that there was a way to do it much cheaper and quicker. So they are super excited to do that so that they can marry one another.

Derlis and Sandra.  We really ride roller coasters with them and honestly I am confused as to what to do with them or better said how to help them.

Other than that, we have found several new people this week that could be potential work in progress.

Well, keep it up.

Love you all!
Elder Call

Things I Learned

For the report:

The things I learned. . .

How to make mate dulce
People do not drive well while drunk
If you are not careful you lose your chances
Keep your bag in front of you while on the buses
Paraguayans do not crash often because they drive slow
And a little about Armegedon

This week we had interviews with Presidente Agazzani and divisions with the zone leaders. On divisions with Elder Een, We tried to get permission from two parents of some kids they are teaching. One group we were told went to live with their mother in Ciudad Del Este. The other mom thought that her daughter was too young to make the decision and told us “no” quite firmly.  Also, we went to Tres Bocas to do an interview for the sisters.  Over there, everything went just fine and we got things ready for the baptism on Saturday.  Saturday morning, the sisters called us up and asked if we could baptize the girl.  We said 'yes,' but then she was a no show and her parents started lying a lot to the sisters and they dropped her.  We also came across a guy that had gone off the road and became stuck in a pile of burnt stuff.  He was a funny guy and would swear to his life, that he had only had a little to drink.  It was fun to help him get out.  It was also a good thing that he has some good friends that came to help.

Sandra and Derlis!! What a week with them.  On Wednesday night we taught them about fasting and reviewed the Word of Wisdom and we all planned to do a big ol' group fast with everyone to help Derlis quit drinking and so that Gisella (their 5 yr old daughter) recuperate from some cough.  Everyone was on board until Saturday night when we there to begin it. Derlis had gone to help a family move and Diana and Nestor did not have the faith that they could do it so they did not do it. Sandra wanted to start Sunday afternoon but I am afraid she did not. The whole family came to Church except Derlis and Geraldo (2 yr old son) because he (Derlis) had come home wasted from the moving party.

Alex is good, but he goes back to Argentina sooner than we thought, like this Wednesday, so he will be out of our reach in a short period of time.  We were not able to teach Claudia and she acted as though she would not like to meet with us.

We were able to meet some really cool people this week and on Sunday afternoon, so we will see where it all goes.

God lives. He is your Father. He loves you and as such has given His only Son, so that we, unworthy creatures, can be saved from the eternal punishments of God and receive His glory.  It is only possible, if we complete the requirements that Jesus Christ has set for us to do.  God has prepared a way for every one of his children to keep all of His commandments. Try to do it and do not fear.

I love you all!
Have a great week.

Elder Call