July 7, 2014

Hello family and loved ones;) 

Lunes we went to the office and then ate empanadas but  nothing really too cool.  After that we went to the Achukarro Family's home and read the Book of Mormon with them.  It is really tough because they really want to go to church, but they really struggle waking up in the morning.  We are really trying to work with the dad who has had some personal difficulties.

Martes we had a district meeting about contacting and setting goals for 12 contacts every day and 10 references contacted every week which is a pretty good goal.  Then we went out and talked to the Britoz Family.  We are working with them through a member, Hermano Gil.  They are a really great family, but they don't really want to pray because they don't want to have God think that they are doubting their faith by asking if the LDS Church is the right church.  We figure that by working with them through reading the Book of Mormon, hopefully we can penetrate their souls. Then we went out and taught Hermana Jara, and she is super cool. She is an elderly lady. We always read the scriptures with her so that we can have the Spirit before we go teach her neighbor Belinda Dos Santos. Next we taught Belinda Dos Santos who is super, super cool and she wants to know the truth really badly, but wants to study everything so that she knows what she needs to do before she prays, and I understand that.  We are pretty sure she will be baptized, we are just not sure when. Next we taught the Family Vela, Gloria is the mom, Milton is the son, Melony is the daughter, and Megan is the niña (baby).   They lived in Connecticut, like 10 minutes away from Sandy Hook Elementary, crazy, right.  They said it was super scary when that shooting happened.  They are menos activo (less active) and we are slowly activating them.

Miercoles I had a division with Elder Lubomirsky and we found a family who was baptized solely because the missionaries who taught them cried and said that they need to get their goals. I guess about ten years ago the missionaries in Paraguay seemed to be more worried about trying to baptize than they were about teaching people the Gospel.  Then we had a lesson with a menos activo (less active) and I don't really remember her name, but she's not in my area. Haha. Then we went to lunch at the Hermana Binitez' house.  Then after lunch we went and talked to Suni and that was pretty cool.  She is super cool.  We talked to her about how we need to have faith to find the answers that we need.  Then we talked to another menos activo (less active) and she felt us "bay ooh" or something like that.  It is like flour and eggs and it is super good, but super dry. :)  Then we talked to Rey Mundo and he is super cool and is pretty golden.  The Elders are going to baptize him and his wife.  After the lesson we drank Mate Dulce with him which is coconut and milk with sugar added, it's pretty delicious.   Then we talked to the Lugo family and to her daughters and they are super, super funny and the missionaries are hoping their family will get baptized. That family consists of the Mom, Alicia, Sariah, Juan, and Yaniina, and they are all pretty awesome 

Jueves we went to Glady's home and talked to her and her son, Reuben, and his girlfriend, Mirta -- I am not sure of their last name.  After that we met with the Briotz Family, Julia and Gloria, and their son Jesus and Jorge and that was pretty cool.  We read 3rd Nephi with them and talked about obedience.  Then we went to see Hermana Jara and read the scriptures with her which is pretty normal.  :)   Then we talked to Jose Luis, which is super random because we never find him home, but we taught him about the Book of Mormon.  Then we to see the Achukarro Family and read the Book of Mormon with them. It was great because we were able to hit all of our goals. :)

Viernes we went out to lunch and then talked to Ariel, who is a guy lives in my old area.  He works in my new area, though, and so we are teaching him a little bit.  We taught him lesson one. Then we talked to Gladys (not sure her last name), but we were talking to her about the gospel and her friend, a lawyer, came and tried to confuse us about our doctrine.  He tried to us his big "lawyer words", but we understood him and were able to answer everything, which I am guessing is because we have the Spirit. :)  Then we changed companions with some other Elders in our District.  I had one hour to have two lessons, go to our house and get brownies, and then get to the other side of our area for another lesson -- and I was able to do all of it!  We had a lesson with the Achukarro Family, then the Family Vela where we taught the dad, Julio, for the first time.  I have talked to him a few times, and we are friends and it's super cool. ;)  During their lesson, we talked about Youtube videos and about music and he is starting to share with us so that is always good. ;) Then we taught about Helaman 5: 12 but it was all good but somehow my companion got sidetracked and started talking about baby baptism, and it went on for two hours.  I don't know why he talked about that, but it's all good and it was kind of funny.  Then we switched back to our regular companions ;), and we got 7/7 and hit our goals again. ;) 

Sabado we taught the Family Britoz otra vez (again), and read 4th Nephi with them and taught them about how we need to always obey God and whatever he puts in front of us, and sometimes we don't want to, but we always need to. Then we talked to Juani and she was kind of cranky with us and talked about how we were "slaves" for our religion, and that the church is exploiting us, and it was pretty crazy, but we were able to sort everything out.  I think she was just a little bit tired, but I listened and didn't try to fight back.  I know we will be able to work things out because we listened to her and didn't try to fight her back on anything.  Next we taught Estele Martinez and her husband, Javier, and they said that they would go to church.  After that we went to see the Achukarro Family which consists of Gil, Marta, Daisy, Richard, Vanessa, Yelin, Ada, Christian, and Richard.  We teach them a lot and always read the Book of Mormon with them.  We got our 7/7 goals again.

Domingo we went to church and then did our studies.  None of our lessons we had planned worked out, but I was really feeling like we should contact a house that had already been contacted four times.  My companion didn't really want to do it, but he agreed to do it and we found two investigators, Mirian and Estelle, and they are super cool.   Next we contacted into Roman and taught him lesson one and he is super cool. ;) Then we talked to Ronald and Yeni Sanchez.  They made us tortilla, which is like fried eggs and cheese and dough, and its really good. :) Then we went home and slept. :)

Lunes we shopped for the week, and then went to eat.  While we were eating, a bunch of Africans were eating too, and one talked to me in English about the church and how he believes we need a prophet and how he doesn't believe God can change.  He said he has a Libro de Mormon (Book of Mormon) and but can't really read it because he doesn't speak Spanish.  He said he was in Paraguay for three days to be a missionary for his church, and I  told him to find the Mormon missionaries in Africa and they will be able to help him with all his questions, and I also told him to go to lds.org to find his answers.  It was such an incredibly spiritual experience but it was super hard to talk in English about the gospel. ;) After that, we went to the Museum of Mythology and that was pretty cool,  They have very interesting myths here in Paraguay -- I will send you the pictures next week. Now I am here emailing you.

Questions of the Week:

1. Names of your investigators (first and last) and how things are going with each.  

Jorgelina, I don't know her last name - it's going super good, but it's hard to teach her.

Yeny Sanchez and her son Ronald -  they are progressing but its super hard cause they are always busy..

The Martinez Family - they are good but falta mucho (not much) still

 

Juani - I dont know her last name, but poco y poco (little by little) she will progress.

Belinda dos Santos and Lisandry dos Santos - they are progressing well but haven't gotten to church.

2.  What was your favorite moment from this week and why? I was able to talk to a guy while we were eating

3.  Who is your favorite person this week and why? President Holland he is really good at telling it like it is.
 

4. What was your most spiritual moment this week and why? Talking to the guy in the restaurant or contacting the house that the missionaries had already contacted four times
 

5.  What was your most challenging moment this week and why? Not having people in church because it's a little cold. Haha
 

6.  Is there anything we can pray for you about? That we can get people to go to church
 

7.  What was your favorite toy as a child? Legos or Hot Wheels or Playstation. Haha
 

8. What toy would you throw over and over again at a wall if you could? Furbies
 

9.  What is your favorite kind of cereal? Cinnamon toast crunch :) 

Jon burned his tie to celebrate his "Bump Day" (six month mark) in his Mission on July 2nd!  It's hard to believe it's been six months already, but I am super excited for the next 18 to pass!