ELDER ALVARADO IS TRAINING

Mon., 9/17/2018

Alright well I already sent the big news for the week [Elder Alvarado is training] so here's the rest:

Monday we played some soccer with some investigators then taught some lessons.

Elder Alvarado and I were not stopped by the rains here; we ended the week totaling more lessons than any week in the last 12 weeks!

I got to give a talk this Sunday! We also got to church before 7:30 for Ward Council, only to find out that it got cancelled (church starts at 8:30) and it was dumping rain. Well everything happens for a reason. Turns out they had taken ALL of the chairs to the Stake Center for a Conference with the Relief Society and Young Women General Presidencies (1 sister from each Presidency). The people returning the chairs put them all in one place so we just distributed them all back to the classrooms! And just in time to start welcoming everyone to church!

It was pouring buckets and that's the CLASSIC excuse for people not showing up to church, and one of our members who is the uncle of an investigator wasn't going to go to church but his nephew Martin got him up and they went together! Martin should be getting baptized this change; he has all the lessons and his attendance, as well as his cousin John Fitzgerald! Soooooooooo hype

We learned how to make mbeju!

We ate asado (cookout) twice!

We had changes this week, I'll be leaving Bella Vista, which we had thought might happen, but it's all good because Elder Alvarado is training right out of his training, so I'll be getting a mission grandson on my last day! I'm so proud of him! Elder Morris is also training so technically I'll also be getting a mission great great grandson. That's goooooooooooood! Tomorrow I'll be with my new companion, his name is Elder Piriz from Uruguay. [For those that didn't get this humor, I went home having completed two years in Paraguay the day after/2 days after writing the email portrayed in this post, and Elder Piriz was the Elder assigned to be my companion for that last day hahaha!] He was in my first Zone in the mission, and will be going home at the same time as me.

So Saturday and Sunday we went to visit some of the dopest families here because I'll be getting changed out! [Because I came home. I didn't want to mention that, as I still had a couple of final visits to make and wanted to be focused]

Tonight we have a Family Home Evening where we will try to find a rat. If we get it out, the family will return to activity and the Hermana said she'll never miss a Sunday again! Maybe a slight exaggeration, but nonetheless hopefully they'll come back to church! Also I'm going to try to carry chipa in my baggage so y'all can try it!

Thanks for all the support and all y'all have done for me, have a great week!

Pictures:

1 ¿Flat screen in the bathroom?

2 My boy Zeke

3 Jesus loves you (all of you)!

4 GDTBATH!

5 Inside of a colectivo

6 The Bella Vista squad

7 Colectivo roof was too low

8 One of the less active members here fishes a lot; here's a Pirana!

9 Service with Catalino, building his house!

10 Some ype lapacho flowers

11 Color parade

12 With our investigators Martin and Nayeli. Nayeli's parents won't let her get baptized yet, but Martin is super close! He cooked some asado since I'm going home

13 Saying goodbye to Zaira!

14 Rainy days are still fun.

15 Goodbye Fm Melgarejo!

16 Goodbye Fm Acuña!

17 Mbeju with Hna Marta Sosa!

18 Goodbye Fm Miranda (the son Cesar, always went with us as well as them all; good missionary family)!

19 Bye Arturo!

20 Bye Fm Villalba!

21 Bye Fm(and Bishop) Oliveira!

22 Bye Fm Bogarin!

23 Bye Fm Vera!

24 Bye Hno Leo

25 Bye Fm Paredes!

26 Bye Fm Meza!

27 Bye Hna Inocencia!

28 Bye Heber!

29 Same photo again whoops

30 Bye Fm Hermosilla!

The week (September 10)

Mon., 9/10/2018

It's been a good week. I don't have much time but here are the highlights!

1 Last P-day we hiked up a big hill and the rock on top of it in Aregua. The hill is named Cerro Koi.

2 We had Zone Conference on Thursday and as usual it was great; we learned a lot about the Plan of Salvation.

3 We attended Stake Conference and there were 10 speakers! It was my first Stake Conference in my mission! The talks were great, with 2 things I got most out of it:
- We can always just do our calling, or we can do our calling and do MORE Always ask yourselves, CAN I DO MORE?
- Sometimes, kids give us the example... some of them are more reverent than us in church! We shouldn't take every excuse to get up during church! The speakers and teachers have prepared a lot for us!

4 Elder Cook held a world-wide Young Adult Devotional and we were invited to watch! A lot about the Restoration and early church!

5 I got to have an interview with Pte Evans today. He is inspired of God!

Listen, I just have a quick testimony. I know that Jesus Christ is divine and lives. I know that just like Abraham, Moses, John the Baptist, and all them, Joseph Smith was and Russell M. Nelson is today a prophet of God. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, as is the Bible (when translated correctly). I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is literally the Church of Jesus Christ, and nobody can, has or ever will prove that wrong. What does that mean? Well it looks like a path to me. If you're on it, good. If you're not on it, come on over, because we all need to be on that path. Have a good week, I love you all.

Pictures:

1The Pday hike in Aregua.

2 On top of the hill!

3 The squad

4 The view

5 With my boy Elder McEwan.

6 Elder Andrade from Argentina! (If you couldn't already tell from the jersey! hahaha)

7 With Elder Taigen and Lake Ypacarai in the background!

8 pt 2

9 Sometimes you gotta get your hands dirty.

10 On a big rock.

11 On another big rock

12 The descent

13 Aregua is known for it's strawberries! So here's some strawberries and cream!

14 My empty strawberry empanada.

15 Our Stake President's dad always has references for us! What a beast!

16 One of the families here, Fm Miranda loads up on the pineapples...

17 My old comp Elder Cartagena.

18 Elder Paredes from Argentina.

19 The young gun Elder Taigen.

20 Elder Skelton

21 Elder Paredes again

22 With Elder Alvarado (the dream team)

23 Elder Johnson and I looking to the temple.

24 With Elder Johnson

25 posted up at Zone Conference

26 With Elder McEwan again

27 With my man Beto. He's a recent convert whose not a recent convert anymore; he was the last baptism here in my area before my time here (a full year ago).

28 For those that eat their noodles with just cheese.

29 Fm Benitez Silva, we've had a couple of service projects with them and they gave us asado after Stake Conference!

That's it!