Oct 31, 2009

October 31,2009

Hello Family and Friends,

We hope everyone is well and happy. I’m writing this week since the schedule for Mark is increasing in intensity. He’s swimming hard trying to keep his head above water, but he’s doing well. Last weekend we spent our Saturday preparing for this week’s trip to the three zone conferences in three cities. This round of conferences Mark broke the mission into 6 different meetings so they could be smaller. It is nice to have a little smaller group but it means more meetings and more cities to stop in. We do love the time with the missionaries as we go around each cycle. I especially love to see the rapid progress the missionaries make with their language. When we see them each 6 weeks there is a noticeable difference in their ability to express themselves. What a blessing! Unfortunately my companion and I don’t always speak the mission language so I don’t seem to be progressing as fast as the young missionaries. I am an old woman with an old brain though. ! I can understand most everything in most places except certain people are harder to understand than others. I seem to understand best in one on one conversations and people are very nice to repeat and speak slower. It is amazing how the eyes are so important in communicating. Some days I feel like my brain works better than others. Some days I understand everything and others it is more difficult. Speaking is always more difficult but I get my message across usually. I think!

Any way, we went to another branch Sunday. We got confused on which building we were going to so we arrived in time to go to priesthood and relief society in the La Floresta branch. People are always so nice to come greet us and wish us a bienvenitos. In the afternoon Mark had a meeting with President Damiano, a stake president. Mark really loves him and he was excited to hear of a Christmas baptismal meeting they are planning to have in their stake. After the meeting we went home and packed for the trip.

Monday morning we went to the office so Mark could interview and then we had a staff meeting with the office elders. We hopped in the car and were off to Encarnacion- a four hour ride. Unfortunately everytime we head into Encarnacion we sing the song of the same name from Nacho Libre the movie- oh well we have to do a few silly things to keep sane! Mark interviewed from 6-9 pm and then we went to the hotel. The next day we were at the church at 7:30am for the zone conference and more interviews until 9 pm. Back we went to the hotel and the next morning we were on the road at 8am to drive to Ciudad del Este. Mark began interview at 1pm until 7 pm and we headed for the hotel. It’s funny they know us at all the hotels now and don’t even take our name they just take us right to our room. We had the zone conference there in Ciudad on Thursday and then traveled to Coronel Oviedo. We met some missionaries in Ca’aguazu’ to get some supplies from them and it was quite a site! We were driving to meet them and up the road come 4 hot sweaty missionaries each with a backpack and carrying a large box of Book of Mormons. They all smiled when they saw us and we took their boxes and put them in the car. The vison of them trudging up the road carrying their loads ,dirty and hot but smiling was such a picture of what it means to be a missionary. The life for missionaries is difficult and there is a lot of hard work to do , but the happiest missionaries I see are those who really work hard and forget themselves in the work.

Friday we had our last zone conference and interviews and then headed back to Asuncion. Mark loves the time of interviewing all the missionaries but he always is more pensive afterwards. There is always so much going on with so many missionaries-good and challenging.

So now it’s Saturday and Mark was up at 5am to prepare for his district conference in Paraguari. He went to make visits before Priesthood meeting and I will join him tonight for the adult session ,driven there by the office elders. We both speak tonight and tomorrow morning.

This experience is so interesting to both of us. In most callings you have the opportunity to watch and learn as you see other people who serve in the calling before you. This one is like being dropped in from another planet and everyone here expects you to know everything about everything .Oh and by the way they speak another language!!! The missionary work is one whole and complete work of its own and then you add the 5 districts where Mark presides and 5 stakes to the mix. There is no way the things that need to be done here can be without the help and strength of the Lord, and we do feel His help and love and guidance.

We’ve welcomed two large groups of missionaries so far. We greet another group of 16 on Tuesday and say goodbye to 5 on Thursday. We greet these scared young missionaries and honestly within weeks they become confident and accustomed to their surroundings. The process really is interesting to watch. Of course they all progress at different rates but if they are trying, they do make great strides forward.

Watching them is what gives us our energy to keep plodding along. We love being missionaries but we do miss you all very much. Sunday I saw a woman holding a little baby at church. I asked her how old the baby was. She told me her birthday was September 5^th , just a day before Colin ,( Wendy’s baby,)was born. Looking at her I began to think of Colin and I started to tear up and then I had to explain the reason for my tears. We are missing things with our family but I know we have a work to do here. The Lord is taking good care of us. We know he is watching out for all of you also. We love you all! Mark and Sandy