Adventures in Paraguay!: 2009

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Pictures December 27, 2009

Christmas dinner with the mission presidency and their families

Water filled streets around the Mission office during a normal rainstorm

Missionaries around the Christmas tree in the office with their gifts of fruitloops

We hope you all had a good Christmas week. We did and we survived being away from our family during the holiday . It was not easy but we know we are where we are supposed to be. Mark has been especially sweet to me as he could see there were certain things I was missing, like watching my favorite old Christmas movies with the girls. He has sat through all of the movies with me and I think he actually enjoyed them. We have enjoyed learning about the traditions here in Paraguay also. Noche Buena is the big day here. Christmas eve is spent with the family having a big dinner late in the evening and then celebrating the birth of Jesus with fireworks. It was a loud night from about 10 pm until 2 or 3am. The gift giving originally happened later the first week of January when the kings arrived with their gifts for the baby Jesus. Now there is a mix of traditions of other countries included in the celebrations .

Monday we had a dinner for the mission presidency and their families. We had 18 people here for dinner and visiting. It was a fun night . Mark has some good men in the presidency who help so much. The families are nice and we’re getting to know each other better and better. One of the wives is in the Utah now to help a daughter with a new baby. She left around Thanksgiving and won’t be back until February.

Tuesday and Wednesday Mark spent interviewing missionaries and we did a few things to get ready for Christmas. I stayed home and baked a little to make a few treats for the office elders and Lidu (our helper )and her family . I was missing my tradition of clam chowder for some of our friends back home.

Thursday we took some little gifts and treats to the office elders and then went over to visit the Wades, the other mission president’s family. Their boys had all come for Christmas so we met them and visited for a bit. We came home and had a quiet evening together watching Christmas movies.

Friday we spent the day talking to our family one by one. It took most of the day to visit with everyone. We are so grateful that we could talk to each one. We received wonderful news that our two sons and their wives are expecting babies 4 days apart in August. What a wonderful Christmas gift to hear that our family is continuing to grow. We are grateful for the faith of our children to move forward with their families even while they are busy with school and preparations for their futures. We know we were blessed for having our family when we did. It’s fun to think of the future get-togethers with these cousins and grandchildren who will be the same age.

Saturday we spent out at the pool for a bit. Last time I didn’t seem to get much sun but this time I got quite red. I guess I need to be more careful next time. It was nice to relax and enjoy the sun during the Christmas season. It’s not something that we are used to in Utah.

One thing that has helped us as we are away from our family during this holiday season has been to hear of all the family gatherings that are still happening. We are so grateful that Jenny and Brian are continuing to make our home open and welcoming for Robert and Rachel and Jack and Laura and Sara and their friends. We are so grateful that they all want to gather and continue the traditions of the holidays. We love our family so much and are grateful for the way they are supporting us so well in the way they are living their lives and taking care of each other. Elder Bednar told us in our training in November that sometimes we as parents need to “get out of the way” so our children can learn and grow on their own. We see good things happening in the lives of all our children as we are surely “out of their way “for a bit of time now. We know the Lord is helping each of our children, their spouses and our grandchildren.

Our missionaries were asked to have a Christmas activity with their zones to celebrate Christmas this year. They were to include a fun aspect, some service and something spiritual. It has been fun to begin to hear their reports of what they’ve done. Some had games like jeopardy using Preach my Gospel info. Some played and learned games they could use for Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evenings) with new member s and investigators Some wrote letters of gratitude to local priesthood leaders, some wrote to their companion’s mother, some cleaned some people’s homes, some visited a hospital and sang Christmas carols to them. It has been wonderful to see how they took the assignment and made some wonderful memories for their zones. We have some great missionaries here who love the Lord and the opportunity they have to be here on their missions. We learn so much by watching their goodness and their testimonies in action. Our lives are being blessed by this opportunity to serve this mission together. Hope you all have a great start to the new year! Love, Mark and Sandy

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Pictures December 20, 2009

Departing missionaries

Ward Christmas Party

December 20, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

What a wonderful week we have had . Monday we spent preparing to welcome new missionaries and say good bye to returning missionaries. It’s always a time of mixed emotions for the missionaries who are going home. Most of them kind of wish they could stay longer but they know it’s time to move forward with their lives. Many are a little nervous and scared about the future. Sometimes while Mark is doing his final interviews I’ll visit with the ones waiting and talk about what is ahead for them. They often are curious about how Mark and I met and they want to know details about our courtship. They get a little surprised when I tell them that our first date was in November and we were engaged by Christmas. It’s a great time to talk with them about trusting in the Lord and not being afraid to move forward even when we don’t know all the answers, if we have a confirmation from the spirit. Anyway I love getting to know the missionaries and thinking about where they will all be in a few years.

Tuesday morning we received 4 missionaries at the airport in the morning from Chile, Colombia, Uruguay and San Salvador . In the afternoon we received 9 from North America. We like to take the missionaries right to the temple to see where we are trying to prepare families to come. We can’t always get them up there because of flight schedules but we were able to take the morning group there for a short meeting and welcome on the grounds of the temple. As we were standing there a sweet brother we know ,Brother Falcon ,who is a temple worker and also a security guard for the temple came up to us. He joined the church 30 something years ago and was missionary years ago. Anyway he loves Mark and grabbed him and gave him a big hug and then we introduced him to the new elders as an old stalwart member of the church. He began to share some missionary experiences and gave some very great advice to the missionaries. He ended with a beautiful testimony of the gospel and the Savior. It was an amazingly wonderful experience for all of us. We were so glad he shared with us.

We spent the rest of the day with orientation and interviews and a welcome dinner for the missionaries. On Wednesday the new missionaries and their trainers all came to training meetings and then we sent them off. This time no one was in the back of a chipa delivery van looking out the back window at me for help, they were all in taxis or colectivos(buses). As soon as they were on their way it was time to go to lunch with the missionaries who were leaving. We went to the temple for a session and did some sealings after lunch. It was so sweet to watch this group of elders. It was a group of 14 elders who all came together. They were so tender and emotional as they greeted each other in the temple. Some groups seem to be more connected with each other than others and this was one of those. We came to our home after for dessert and testimony meeting. It was an especially sweet meeting with 14 spiritually mature young men bearing pure testimony of the Savior. What a blessing to be able to watch these young men and women grow in their gospel knowledge and testimonies. I always think about where they will all go and the strength they will take with them wherever they end up. Thursday we said goodbye at the airport to the leaving missionaries. We never know if we’ll see them again so it’s always a bit tender.

We have enjoyed hearing the missionaries experiences they have been having with the Book of Mormon since our last zone conference. Each missionary was given a new paperback copy of the Book of Mormon with an invitation to read it again and mark references to the Savior, doctrine, words of the Savior and his characteristics. The missionaries are telling us of how it is helping them be more focused and they are able to answer people’s questions better using the Book of Mormon. One companionship was walking down the road and felt impressed to go a certain way. They met a young man and began to talk to him. They asked if there was anyone who lived around there who might be helped by a message about Jesus Christ . He pointed to a house so they went and a man came to the door who said his wife had just died. He was very anxious to hear what they had to teach him. We know there are people prepared here to receive the message of the gospel. We just have to find them.

Friday we did a little shopping to get a few things and then Mark had interviews and I practiced with the office elders and assistants who were the entertainment for the ward party that night. They sang and I played the piano for them. They harmonized quite well and the ward loved them.

Saturday morning we actually had a P-day with the elders. They came over for ping pong and then we took them out to a Chinese lunch for their Christmas dinner. Fa-ra-ra-ra-ra ra-ra-ra-ra! (Remember the movie "The Christmas Story"?) The zones are all having activities for Christmas so we wanted to celebrate with them a little early. We also went downtown to some artisan shops to look around a bit. Shopping with 4 elders is not the same as shopping with my daughters but it was fun to go out and look around and see some things with Mark also.

We are looking forward to a dinner on Monday night with the mission presidency and their families. Right around Christmas day we will probably just be home alone making phone calls. That sounds good to me. We hope you all have a wonderful week and and a wonderful Christmas. We are so grateful for the blessings of the gospel that we see in our lives and in the lives of our family and friends. We love you all, Mark and Sandy

2009 Christmas Letter!

December 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

Our Christmas greeting comes to you this year from Asuncion, Paraguay where we are now living for the next three years. In February Mark was called to preside over the Paraguay Asuncion Mission for our church. Our life went into high speed as Mark sold his dental practice and we began to make plans to leave our home for a few years. We are grateful for all of the wonderful things that have happened to us in the last 10 months. Our children have risen to the occasion of supporting us in so many ways.

Jenny and Brian and their five children (Callie, Jake, Josh, Adam and Will) came to us the day after we received our callings and asked if they could live in our home. Jenny wanted to keep the home fires burning for Laura and Sara and the other siblings. She and Brian have done well to keep the family in Utah connected. A wonderful family is renting their home while they are in ours. Their children are attending Jenny’s old elementary school and are adjusting well to their move. We are grateful for Jenny and Brian’s willingness to help us with so much. They are raising a beautiful family.

Matt and Jessica are still in Williamsville, New York with their two boys James and Christian. Matt is in his second year of a six year oral surgery program. We visited them before we left and they are happy and doing well there. They are all busy and involved in their ward and neighborhood. Jessica is always cooking something good for somebody! Jessica continues to amaze me with her quilting skills.

Wendy and Kevin are in Flower Mound, Texas where Kevin took a consulting job with Bain. We visited them also before we began our mission in June. They are happy and getting to know the Texas I loved growing up in. Their Kyle started school this year so Anna and new baby Colin keep Wendy happy and busy at home. Wendy has enjoyed being in their own home and she decided she loves to cook like big sister Jenny.

Robert and Rachel are in Provo with their sweet little jack. Rachel graduated from BYU school last year and Robert will graduate from there in the spring. Rachel is a sweet mom to Jack and great wife for Robert. Rachel also has great sewing and designing abilities. She keeps their apartment looking nice. Robert has had fun working at KBYU radio this year combining his writing skills and love of music.

Laura is in Provo working at Provo Canyon School. She enjoys trying to help the girls who come from challenging situations. She has learned a lot working there in many ways. She has enjoyed being close to Sara and Robert and Rachel and especially Jack. We’re looking forward to a visit from Laura and Sara in the summer some time.

Sara is in her third year at BYU. She is studying communication disorders. She loves school and also works at the testing center on campus. She and Laura are having fun helping each other when they normally would be calling their Mom –if she wasn’t far away! They are both growing up nicely. They both think they are the favorite aunt to all eleven nieces and nephews.

We are so grateful for so many things this wonderful time of the year. We are enjoying the opportunity to serve a mission together. We are grateful for the help we are receiving from the Lord every day. We feel very inadequate much of the time but we know we are supposed to be here now serving this mission. We love our missionaries, all 190 of them. We are learning so much about ourselves and others as we serve. We are grateful for the opportunity we have to watch our children pull together and deal with problems and situations and also have fun together. It is true that sometimes when we “get out of the way” our children can do amazing things. Most of all we are grateful for the wonderful gift of our Savior Jesus Christ. He Lives and He loves each one of us. We wish you all a most wonderful Christmas! We love you all. Love Mark and Sandy

Our email is: drcallan2003@yahoo.com

We also have a blog of our mission if you are interested: adventuresinparaguay.blogspot.com

Sunday, December 13, 2009

December 13, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope you are all enjoying your December. We are watching the days fly by and thinking about how strange it is to have such hot weather at Christmas time. I’ve already mentioned that there is a lack of musical ability so singing in church is a bit different here. Another thing that we miss is singing the Christmas hymns the whole month of December. The only ones we’ve sung so far were in our zone conferences. Oh well. I’m glad we brought our Christmas CD’s.

This week Mark spent finishing up interviews from the last round of zone conferences. He interviewed here in Asuncion Monday through Wednesday and then Thursday we drove 2 ½ hours to Caauazu for interviews and then an hour back to Coronel Oviedo to finish the rest of the them. I really do enjoy the time with Mark in the car driving. It’s nice to visit with the missionaries also. There still are less medical issues since Elder Peterson was here giving medical advice . That’s been nice. He answered a lot of concerns and questions that the missionaries had about health. The country continues to be beautiful and flowery. Pink ,purple, orange and yellow are the colors of flowers we see now.

This is the week before change week so Mark has been busy getting all the missionaries placed in their new areas. We receive 13 new missionaries Tuesday and say good bye to 14 on Thursday. It’s such a process to get each missionary placed in the right companionship . Many missionaries tell me they know they have the perfect companion . They’ll tell me of struggles they are having and how their companion is helping them so much. Revelation is really a part of the process of putting the companionships together.

Wednesday while Mark was interviewing I had a fun day with Hermana Wade, the mission president’s wife from Paraguay Asuncion North Mission. She picked me up at the office first we went to a convent that sells pesebres (nativities) that are carved by the Indians in the chaco. Next we went down town to a row of little shops that sell artisan items. Next we went out to lunch . It was so nice to get away from everything and just visit. Gina and her husband are in their last year here so she has much knowledge and understanding to give me. We call each other when we have questions or to share information . I usually do the calling! We usually cry a bit too. Anyway we were talking about missing our children at home. They have two boys here with them and the other 3 are in Utah and one is on a mission in Uruguay. As we were talking she just said how the reason we miss them so much is because of our strong love for them and how blessed we are that we love them so much. Then we began talking about how if we feel this strongly about our families, what must Heavenly Father’s love for us be like? It helps me want to do all I can to return to Him someday with all of my family. Anyway it was a good day and I’m grateful Gina has been here to help me see the blessings that we have as we learn how to deal with being away from our families.

Friday we had staff meeting with the office elders , took a missionary to the airport and picked up Elder Spitale ,an area authority who came for a district conference, at the airport later that night. He stayed here with us that night and we were out the door at 8 am Saturday morning to drive 5 hours to Pilar for the conference. I spent the day at the hotel while they had leadership meeting and other meetings. Sunday morning we had the adult session and general session of conference. We headed down the road as soon as conference was over just in time to get Elder Spitale back to the airport. This trip we saw an owl and met another policeman. He stopped us and said we were speeding. He said if we paid him it would cost less and if he wrote a ticket it would cost more. We never see speed limits and we have been warned not to hand money to policemen. Mark said we were just missionaries and the money would come from the church. He said if you have to give us a ticket to go ahead and write it. Then he let us go without a ticket. Go figure. I think they just hope you’ll hand him the money and not argue. Oh well. We did drive a bit slower through that area as we left town !

Well , this is a busy week coming up and then maybe we can have a bit of time to breath or something nice like that. We love you all and miss you a lot. Love, Mark and Sandy

Monday, December 7, 2009

Pictures December 5, 2009

Catholic faithful making pilgrimage to Caacupe to worship

Charlie the Chicken, Mom and Dad's new pet

The Petersens

Some of the missionaries

December 5, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

I’m sitting in a hotel in Caaguazu while Mark is in priesthood meeting for district conference so I will write our letter for the week. We spent a wonderful week with our area medical advisor and his wife. They came to give health presentations to our missionaries during our zone conferences this week. Elder Petersen also saw over half of our missionaries who had medical questions or concerns. What a wonderful sweet couple! They have served as mission President in Mexico, Area medical advisor twice now, among many other callings throughout their lives. They brought a sweet love with them and taught the missionaries well. The missionaries just flocked to them for medical advice. What a great example of love of the Lord and service. I especially appreciate the way Elder Petersen receives my many phone calls when I have medical questions about out missionaries. He is a great blessing to the 2500 missionaries in our area.

We always love zone conference week but it was especially fun to have the Petersens with us this week. We also focused on the Savior and Book of Mormon as we go into December. The missionaries came prepared, they had read and studied the things they had been asked to read in preparation for the conference and it showed in the way the Spirit could teach everyone. They were given an invitation to really come to know the Savior better through the Book of Mormon and every one accepted the invitation. We enjoyed singing some special hymns and the Christmas hymns also. We have some really great missionaries and we enjoyed hearing their testimonies during the conference. It was such a great way to begin the month to help us really celebrate the birth of the Savior.

We had two zone conferences and time for interviews in Asuncion on Monday and Tuesday and then left for Encarnacion Tuesday afternoon. After a 4 and ½ hour drive we arrived in Encarnacion for the night. Wednesday we had conference there and then left for a 3 hour drive to Ciudad del Este. Thursday we had conference and interviews and stayed the night again there in Ciudad del Este. Friday morning we drove the 4 hours back to Asuncion. We went to our home for lunch and some final information from the Petersens. We hope we didn’t wear the Petersens out too much. Most of our driving time was spent either learning about how to deal with medical issues or getting to learn all about the Petersens. We felt like we had spent the week with some dear friends – and we had. Their love and advice and years of experience were a great help to us.

On Monday before we left we had a big wind storm that brought us a visitor. I was sitting in the family room and heard something tapping on the sliding glass door. Our house is completely surrounded by a wall so no one should be out there. Anyway I went and looked and there was this large bird that I soon realized was a young chicken. He kept tapping like he wanted to get in. I don’t think chickens fly much but somehow he got over our wall. I don’t know where he came from, we live in a residential neighborhood, but who knows, we live in Paraguay ! Any way he’s very friendly and comes around whenever we are outside. I guess we’ll have to do something with him soon. We call him Charley the Chicken but he could be Charlene the Chicken . What do we know? I left the door open and he just about made it into the house before Mark got the door shut. We’ve never really had pets at home before so I guess this is just another one of the new adventures we are experiencing on our mission!

Today as we were driving to Caaguazu we were able to see one of the events that happen here around December 8^th. There is a city called Caacupe , where years ago a man said he was saved from injury by the virgin Mary. He made a carving or sculpted a statue of Mary and put it in the church there. So every December 8 the people walk from all around to give thanks for what she has done for them or ask for help. The whole 2 ½ hours we were driving today we saw people walking to the city. And it’s only December 5^th. We have to pass by there tomorrow to get home so we’re hoping we can get through, especially because we have to get the area authority who is with us to the airport for his flight. They say 300,000 people will be there eventually. It will be interesting to see what it is like tomorrow.

Well, I better close. We love you all. We hope you are all enjoying life and the good things the Lord does for each of us. Love, Mark and Sandy

Monday, November 30, 2009

Pictures from Thanksgiving!

November 29, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving ! I stayed home from the office Monday and Tuesday to make rolls and pies for Thanksgiving. It was so nice to be a homemaker for a couple of days again. We had our Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday because we had a missionary leaving on Thursday . We had 8 office elders, the two assistants, Lidu , our helper here at the home and her husband Luis who helps at the mission office all here for dinner. It was a pretty good copy of a normal Thanksgiving at home. I made the cornbread for the stuffing from scratch , had to chop the chocolate bar for chocolate chips for the pie, made the sauce for the green bean casserole (no cream of mushroom soup). But we did find the canned onion rings in one store. The missionaries were very happy and we all enjoyed the meal. The turkeys were from Brazil and they were very tasty. Anyway we lived through our first holiday away from home and things are going okay. Actually the hardest day was Monday and Tuesday when I was cooking and thinking about everyone getting ready to gather together but we were able to talk to everyone and have a good visit with the kids. Thursday we said goodbye to an elder going home to Woods Cross, Utah . I wanted to fly home with him , but I didn’t.

Friday we drove 4 hours to Encarnacion and Mark did interviews with missionaries. On Saturday morning we crossed the river and drove into Posadas, Argentina to pick up Elder Bowen,the area president who was coming to a district conference in Encarnacion. I spent the afternoon at the hotel while the men had Priesthood meeting . Mark picked me up in time for evening adult session of conference. Again the evening meeting is a bit sparse on attendance but Sunday the church was filled. It was amazing to watch busloads of people come from all around the area. They rent buses here for the branches so they can all come to the meetings. I bore my testimony Saturday night and Sunday morning and Mark helped with a question/answer session Saturday and Spoke on Sunday. I’m feeling more and more comfortable speaking and sharing testimonies and short messages without written notes. At first I felt pretty limited as to what I could bear testimony of but now the words are coming better so I feel like I can say more what is in my heart. Mark has always done very well with the language.

Today we drove home and now we are gearing up for zone conferences which begin tomorrow morning. We pick up the area medical advisor and his wife, Elder and Sister Petersen, who will be with us all week at our zone conferences. We are going to receive a medical presentation by them and they also make themselves available to all the missionaries who have medical questions. I have a list of my own questions ready to get some answers to help me better help the missionaries.We also will not see all the missionaries again before Christmas so this is our Christmas zone conference as well. We are excited to have a very Christ centered day with the zones this week that will hopefully set the tone for the whole Christmas season.

Today at conference I was speaking with a cute young mom and her 3 year old son. He had a paper name tag on his shirt that said “ Futuro Misionero” She said he has to wear his placard every week. She also said whenever he gets money he puts in a bank to save for his mission. He’s three years old!! What a sweet boy!