Not in our area

Mon., 7/30/2018 (Luque)

Well we had a great week this week!

Tuesday we had Zone Conference! Always dope to be learning a lot. We will be studying the Plan of Salvation in depth this change so I'm excited for that!

Wednesday we had a huge service project unloading boxes of wheelchairs from three 18-wheelers and we had the Elders from 3 Zones all there to help!

Thursday we spent half the day in Yukyry doing Baptismal Interviews; there were 3 but Yukyry reminds me of Yby Yau because it's biiiiiig and the Elders' Interviews were very far from the Hermanas' interview!

Friday we finally got a full day in our area! As a result we didn't get too much done as we would have liked to, but we put in our all.

Our main man Matias (sorry no pics with him yet) came to church. He is a 17 year-old who knows some of the other young men and really wants to get baptized! In church all three of our recent converts (people baptized in the last year) came which is hype because retention is a problem in some areas but (now) hopefully won't be! We had a good lesson in Sunday School yesterday about repentance, using an Elder Jeffrey Holland address at a BYU devotional. He said if people have repented, we shouldn't argue with them and then randomly pull out bricks (of their sins) from the past and throw them at the person; Christ payed for that already so leave it in the past! We should forgive and forget, and if it is remembered again forget again and again and again!

I hope we can all continue forgiving, because we all need to be forgiven by Christ! Thanks for the prayers (I know when y'all are praying; we can feel the support!) and emails! I love you all!

Pictures:

1 Coconut!

2 My mans Judas (they have dolls here that are made to burn and they call them Judas).

3 The sign for Judas.

4 Elder McEwan with dog marks on his chest....

5 The culprit.

6 Man's best friend.

7 Lomito run (all the pictures up to this one were from a couple weeks ago when my card didn't work).

8 From Zone Conference!

9 My man Elder Hermansen is going home this week! Crazy!

10 We sang a musical number for one Zone Conference. The guy with glasses (Elder Johnson) played piano.

11 Elder McEwan just keeps showing up.

12 Elder Bush (I know him from a long time ago) and his "son" Elder Toro.

13 Hna Coy and Hna Alegre from our district.

14 Elder Johnson and Elder Smith!

15 Long time no see, Elder Cartagena!

16 Shout out to the main man Elder Lovelace!

17 Star fruit! Carambola(?)

18 Out here doing interviews in Yukyry.

19 Gottem!

20 Hype Paraguayan candy bars!

21 With Elder Alvarado.

22 Service project during.

23 Service project after.

24 A cool tree.

25 Wheelchair service project- we had to unload three semis full of wheelchairs that the church donated here in Paraguay!

The week

Mon., 7/23/2018 (Luque)

Wow! Well time flie and so does cyber time so I'm going to be brief:

1. It's just great being a missionary like you just feel happy sometimesa

2. Elder Alvarado and I have just been working! We cut down a tree this week but I don't have pictures of that.

3. We had 3 members work with us basically all of Saturday; I've never had so much help from members in 1 day!

4. We learned a lot about repentance. Really baptism and everything else we help people do is repentance so they can come closer to God. That's the goal of this life, make our way back to God. He loves us and is always there to guide us! So we should all look for ways to always repent and come closer to him.

5. We went to the South American Soccer Museum, which is in our area! It was pretty cool, we got to see a few World Cups and a lot of other cool trophies!

6. Che ro'y! It's a little chilly here! We are, of course, in the middle of winter here! hahaha!

Well that's about it but the thing to know is that part 4 was the most important, I am happy, and we are working!  I hope y'all have a great week! I love you!

Pictures:

1. The sunset here in Bella Vista.

2. Sunday attire.

3. Power was out for a little while there.

4. Asuncion skyline.


5. Copa Libertadores! One of the biggest soccer trophies there is!

6. My man's Elder Alvarado with the pizza pajama jaunt.

7. Me with the Libertadores.

8. Just a World Cup, no big deal.

9. Another more modern World Cup.

10. With my boy Lio.

11. Rockin' it with Rocky (Santa Cruz).

12. James Rodriguez.

13. The OG soccer player Pele.

14. At the CONMEBOL (South American) Soccer Museum.

15. We wanted some pollo so they cut the chicken in half and gave it to us.

16. Uruguay lowkey has a ton of trophies.

[Answering questions from his mother:]
Q:  How is life different from the suburbs of Asuncion vs out in the country.

A:  Life here is kind of the same but way different at the same time. I feel more like a missionary missionary now. We don't have to do much for church, just show up, shake EVERYONE'S hands, and I play piano (kind of... hahaha)

Q:  How do you get around?  Walk?  Bike?  Bus?

A:   We walk everywhere, using buses on P-days and to get to companion exchanges. Our area is one of the bigger ones but the colectivos only go around the outside [of the city] and such so they aren't as useful in the area . We get occasional rides, and NONE of the missionaries here have bikes  because the areas are a LOT smaller than in the Chaco.

Q:  How many missionaries are in each ward? How big is your district?

A:  There are 2 companion-ships in our ward, and another ward, Yukyry, has 2 elders and 2 sisters that are in our District also!

Another week in Bella Vista!

Mon., 7/16/2018 (Luque)

Well I'll be pretty short as there isn't much time! We had a good week this week as usual! Here are a couple of highlights:

1. We got a copy of the Ward Directory. 28 pages of legal paper.... there's a literal BOOK of members just in Bella Vista!

2. I got to have a division with Elder Ollero, from Peru. I've had a few divisions with him before, and this one was really good!

3. Of the 4 speakers assigned for Sacrament Meeting, all 4 didn't show up, so Elder Alvarado and I both gave talks. It was his first on-the-spot talk on the mission, but he did a really good job!

4. Our AC broke, but luckily we have a fan and it's the middle of winter here so I think we'll cope! hahaha

5. Honestly sometimes in the mission you just work and have lessons and that was this week.

6. One of our investigators, a young mother named Paola, came to church yesterday and is super excited to get baptized, so watch out for that!

That's pretty much it! We are doing good here in Bella Vista! I did want to share a scripture real quick: D&C 58:42-43. I gave a talk about the Sacrament and Atonement of Christ, and among other things used the example of the bread as showing how Christ didn't just suffer a pain or something general like that, he suffered specifically for every single one of us, and that suffering was different as we all are different. Nobody is perfect, but we all are united in the fact that we need Christ. That's why I'm here,because many people don't know who they are (Children of God) and why they are here. We missionaries are here to help them learn that and help them become happier! Thanks for all the emails and prayers! I love you all!

Pictures:

1. Our AC broke; good thing we have a fan ft. our bedroom door that's actually just a blue tablecloth

2. Elder Alvarado with the selfie.

3. Just getting buckets here in Bella Vista.

4. Random graffiti in Luque.

5. In the airport with Elder Alvarado.

Happy 4th of July!

Mon., 7/9/2018 (Luque)

Well as usual the week sped by! We had a very good week here in Bella Vista! Here are some of the highlights:

1. We had a Baptism! Over the last change we worked on reactivating the Fm. Chamorro Diaz, and their son Ramses got baptized! It was super special because Elder Alvarado had his first baptism, and he got to baptize Ramses! Ramses had a good number of family members attend his baptism, and I got to conduct. (Somehow I always end up conducting meetings.)

2. I had a division with Elder Morris! He's from Utah and has about 7 months in the mission. Always good to get to know new people!

3. That division was on the 4th of July, and we (along with Elder Alvarado and Elder Torres) sang all three verses of the National Anthem and said the Pledge of Allegiance!

4. I had a division with Elder McEwan; we were companions in Neuland! He did the baptismal interview for Ramses, then we proceeded to set 6 new baptismal dates!

5. It rained a few times but we just used that as an opportunity to receive blessings and go out and work.

6. It's still kind of weird to think that I'm training, but it's very rewarding, and we just treat each other as equals anyways.

To sum it all up, we're just working up a storm here in Bella Vista, especially really just working with members, focusing on receiving references and putting baptismal dates with them instead of focusing on contacting and numbers of new investigators. The shift of the focus of our mission is changing here, to use our time more effectively, which basically means, it's just a lot more fun and rewarding. All in all it was a good week, and just a lot of work and a lot of fun getting it done.

I also really had the song 'Carry On' (Hymn #255 in English) hit me this week, as really it's so important. In life, we can't just SOMETIMES be good people and follow God and go to church and serve others, we need to ALWAY press forward and really always do our best to be good people and come closer to God!

Thanks for all the emails and prayers! It's always the best getting on the computer on Mondays and seeing your emails! I hope y'all have a great week (especially Steve for his Birthday last week!)

Pictures:

1 The family tie.

2 Shout out to an Elder Wilkinson for starting the tie! Don't worry; I don't actually wear it.

3 10 years later, I am the owner of this bad boy!

4 "Thank you Saint Expedito for favors received."

5 Ramses's baptism!

6 With his family too! Thumbs up!

7 The water was cold but the spirit was strong!

That's all folks! Have a good week!