As always it's been a really fast week! Here's the latest! Sunday we went to Asuncion for Zone Conference. We learned a lot about a lot of stuff, but the highlight is the Ilumina el Mundo video! The church every year has a campaign for Christmas so that people can think more about the real reason for the Christmas season. This year the theme is "Light the World" with your service! Zone conferences are always the best. I always get to see other missionaries I haven't seen in a long time. We traveled back to the Chaco in the night Tuesday, and got home Wednesday, but we had a division and I went with Elder Parker. It was a good day and allllllmost rained but never really opened up. He is a new missionary and was excited to be in Neuland. Thursday we had to end that division and start another one, this time Elder Whipple (our district leader) and I, but we were counting on 2 buses crossing and stopping so we could get off one and on the other. It's a long story, but we didn't make it and were stuck in Filadelfia, so we went contacting with the Filadelfia Elders a bit. I spent the day with Elder Hermansen. It was a lot of fun. Friday Elder Whipple and I left for Loma Plata for our division. We contacted a good amount, but also visited a lot of their investigators. They only have a group that has been open for 3 months, and they have a 1 room house/apartment with the chapel next door (another 1 room house/apartment). After the division, we went back to Filadelfia on Saturday really early, but there were no colectivos. We were saved though, because Carlos Colman (the maitenaince guy for the chapels in the Chaco) gave us a ride home, as he was in the general vicinity. Sunday we had 31 people in church, and we had 2 hours of church! (I gave a talk, led music and we taught Sunday School, and we got the opportunity to show one of our recent converts how to bless the Sacrament. Church went really well! Today for P-day we are here in Filadelfia.
Lessons learned this week:
-Always look to serve others. The new video Ilumina el Mundo shares that message, it should be coming out soon.
-Prayers are answered; I lost my wallet in a colectivo and we couldn't find it, but we said a prayer and someone else found it in about 20 seconds.
-Always look to be a missionary; the gospel is that important.
-Sunday is a day of rest for the Lord. It is NOT a day of rest for US, its a day of rest FOR THE LORD. That is because we are doing his work for a day. Our mission president, Pte Evans, made it clear with doctrine from the scriptures. If it isn't focused on the Lord, it isn't ok (i.e. using phones during Sacrament Meeting). Just being there in church isn't enough,. We have to be focused on the Lord.
-Drugs, including alcohol and smoking, are bad. They ruin lives, they ruin families, they're just bad stuff, OK?
-God loves us and wants us to be happy. It's honestly 100% true! Have a great week all of y'all!
Pictures:
1 Us eating watermelon thanks to our investigator Heinz Braun.
2 Some of the Book or Mormon languages used here in the Chaco.
3 Ilumina el Mundo part 2 with my good friend Elder Schmidt (he was in the MTC with me and is now a Zone Leader).
4 Elder Silva, my Zone Leader from when I was back in Pedro Juan. He will be heading home to Peru when he finishes his 2 years at the end of this change.
5 Elder Grey who was my Zone Leader in Juan de Salazar a long time ago.
6 Elder Pereza who is from Guatemala and I had to get a photo with our
German name tags. He's the Cartero (Librarian?) for the mission.
7 Elder Villacresses and I have been at Zone Conference together for just short of a year now. To follow the tradition, here is a picture with him. He is still an assistant to the President.
8 Elder Parker from Loma Plata came to Neuland for a division. He is really new in the mission and is from Utah. He's learning spanish and we had a fun division.
9 We went contacting in Neuendorf, one of 20 German aldeas (communities) that is part of Neuland. We contacted for a little while and left when someone let out their dogs.
10 I have no idea how it doesn't just rain! (It drizzled for a few minutes though!)
11 Sunset in Filadelfia.
12 I had a division with Elder Hermansen in Filadelfia because Elder Whipple and I weren't able to make it to Loma Plata on time for our division.
13 There weren't actually bike locks so we made it look like it and nobody stole the bikes!
14 So the cheese here isn't exactly the best, but the missionaries here have learned that a bit of salt, cumin, and other spices make it taste not too bad in a frying pan. Elder Whipple (our district leader) and I cooked up a bunch because they didn't have any more food in the house. We call them Cheese Fritters.
15 This last one isn't my picture but I thought it was kind of cool. One of the other Elders from my MTC group, Elder Lovelace, is a Zone Leader in Pedro Juan Caballero. Do y'all remember that place called Santa Clara from a loooooooong time ago where they just had a little roof on poles for the church? Well they built them a tiny little chapel like some of the ones in the Chaco! It was pretty cool for me to see that. Those members are really cool!
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