October 17, 2009

October 17, 2009

We send our greetings to all! We had quite a week with many new experiences. Early last Sunday morning we drove 4 hours south to visit a number of remote branches. Our plan was pretty ambitious in that we wanted to visit three branches that were several hours apart and the weather wasn’t looking very good when we got to the first branch. Each has a history of having a missionary serving as the branch president and my desire is to find local leadership. We drove into Bogado at about 8:45am and picked up the missionaries who were waiting for us at the local bus station. We headed over to the small rented house being used for the branch meetings and were met by a small group of members. It is always inspiring to meet the members who attend these small branches. I was quite surprised to see a number of solid Melchizedek priesthood holders in attendance and I felt a strong impression that I would meet the members of a new branch presidency during our planned interviews. After Priesthood meeting, I began interviewing the brethren there and after 3 interviews, I called my counselors on the phone and discussed my feelings about reorganizing the presidency that very day. I also visited with the District President by phone and with the support of these good men, I began the process of issuing the calls. By the time sacrament meeting began, I had called a new branch president, 2 counselors (assigning one of our missionaries to be 2^nd counselor) and a branch secretary. Each of these men is temple-worthy and along with their wives, very excited about the opportunity to serve together in the branch. It is interesting to note that the new secretary informed me that he is a former stake president who had just moved to Bogado on a work assignment. He will be in Bogado for about a year and was very well known by my counselors. He assured me that he would do all he could to help train these new leaders and to help get the branch fully organized. The new presidency was sustained during sacrament meeting and set apart by me after the meeting. Our missionary who had been serving as president was so happy with the changes. He and his companion can now focus their attention on finding new members. I really feel good about the future of the branch. I told the members in my remarks that I was excited to return in the future to visit them and to see how things were going in the branch. I challenged them to unite their efforts to “grow the branch”, to borrow a phrase from President Hinckley. We headed out the door and jumped into the car and headed north on a dirt road. We were headed for San Pedro where we currently have a missionary serving as the branch president in the San Pedro/ Artigas Branch. The drive took us through a number of small, dusty, rural towns connected by a winding, rutted road that also took us through cultivated fields of wheat and soy. We had packed some food before leaving so just before arriving in San Pedro we pulled over and had a sandwich and a drink. We drove on into San Pedro and met the missionaries at the only gas station in town and headed over to the small rented building to meet with the members. It was a small group and included two investigators. We sat in a little circle on folding chairs on the brick and dirt floor and chatted about their needs and the history of the branch. It was a history that included a time of rapid growth years ago, followed by economic challenges that forced many of the men to leave the area in search of work. Three of the branches in the area have now been combined into two. The members miss the old days when activities were held regularly and the meetings were well attended. We shared our testimonies and read the scriptures together. We listened as a member who had recently lost her sister to cancer, shared how hard it was for her. We did what we could to encourage her. I saw little of local priesthood leadership in the group. We prayed and bid them farewell. We then visited a less-active family in the area in their humble home and encouraged them to come back to the church. I was proud of Sandy as she smiled and maintained her composure while an ugly, flea-bitten dog paid undue attention to her and the wife nursed her baby in front of us. As we left the home it started to rain. We called the missionaries in Bogado and they informed us that it had been raining hard for 30 minutes there and the storm was heading towards us. The road would be impassable if we tried to head south. A member of the church asked around about another route out of town and we were told that we could drive north and, if we stayed ahead of the storm, would run into the main route that would get us to Obligado for our planned evening interviews there. The member jumped on his motorcycle and told us he would show us the way out of town. He flew down the road with us close behind and as we reach the outskirts of town he pulled over and pointed the direction down a dirt road and called out “Suerte” (Goodluck) as he waved us on. I don’t think I saw much confidence in his face as he turned around and headed back to town. That’s when the prayers started. We were flying down the road as we tried to stay ahead of the heavy rain. We had thoughts of getting stuck in the deep red mud and spending a night in the car. After about 30 minutes we finally hit a paved road and after getting some directions from a gas station attendant, found the way to Obligado. We met the missionaries at the rented building and started interviews. The storm had knocked out the lights in the town so we felt our way up the stairs to the second floor meeting space. There is a balcony on the north side of the building so I interviewed three potential branch presidency members out there as the rest of the day’s light slipped away. Perhaps with some training, one of the brothers could serve but his testimony needs strengthening. We thanked them for coming to meet with us and we headed over to the apartment of the missionaries to do a quick check of their living conditions. The lights were still out so we looked around with a flashlight and bid the missionaries farewell. The rain really hit as we headed down to Encarnacion to spend the night. I have never seen it rain so hard as we drove the 45 minutes to the hotel. We checked in, reviewed our email, finished off our packed sandwiches and fell into bed, completely out of energy. What a day!

The next morning we got up, ate breakfast, filled up the gas tank and headed north to Cuidad del Este. The missionaries told us of a bakery started by German immigrants located back in Obligado so we stopped and found it. Missionaries always know where to find the best things to eat. We bought a few fresh items and enjoyed them in the car. The day was nice so we went back to the church building and took a few pictures and then headed back to the main route. The drive was beautiful. The wheat fields are ready for harvest and we couldn’t resist taking a few “missionary” pictures in the fields “white already to harvest” (see our blog). We drove into Cuidad del Este and went to the zone leader’s apartment to dropped off some packages from home and headed on to the hotel for an afternoon of conference preparations. Early the next morning we crossed over the Puente de Amistad (Friendship Bridge) into Brazil to have our visas activated (they are now good for 5 years) and to run over to Iguazu Falls. The road signs were adequate and after about 20 minutes of driving, we entered the National Park and parked. From the visitor’s center we took buses to the various view points on the Brazilian side. What an amazing natural wonder this area is! The water is really running high right now so the falls are just spectacular. There are so many different falls (300+ when the water is running high) that it is hard to take it all in. The day was perfect for viewing. The sky was clear and the temperature was in the 70’s. We walked along the paths and after about 2 hours got back on the bus and headed back to the parking lot. Before we knew it we were back over the border into Paraguay It was early in the day so we decided to drive back to Asuncion. It was a quick trip but we felt we got a lot done.

The rest of the week has been spent here in Asuncion working with the missionaries and members. I had a mission presidency meeting the other night and reported on my trip and my counselors reported on their weekend trips to other parts of the mission to support the districts and branches. We have an isolated branch that is struggling with “chismes” (gossip) right now and it has created quite a division in the membership. I have asked my 1^st counselor and the district president to visit the branch and address the matter with the members next Sunday. One of the biggest challenges I have is resisting the temptation to try to be personally involved with all of the district and branch matters. If I allowed it, the districts and branches would take all my time. But I am blessed with capable counselors and some pretty solid district presidents. This morning I received a call from the missionaries in Obligado where we had just visited. They reported that there had been a fire early in the morning at their apartment and they quickly got their stuff out but were OK. Evidently a power cable shorted out where it enters the house and the roof caught on fire. The local fire department finally arrived and put out the fire. The missionaries were joking about it but I was silently offering a prayer of thanks that they had been protected from harm. It is technically our P-Day today but we spent most of it finishing preparations for upcoming conferences and working on transfers. Tomorrow, Sunday, I will be interviewing a missionary going home after ward meetings and addressing some district matters. I’ll finish this letter now. We turn our clocks forward tonight (spring forward) so we better get the clocks changed before we retire. We love you all and trust all is well. Thank you for your great examples to us. Life is great and the Church is true! Love, Mark and Sandy