October 2, 2009

November 2, 2009 (I think my parents are so busy they can't keep track of the month)

It is Friday night here in Asuncion and we are listening to the BYU-Utah State game for a bit before we go to bed. It has been a busy week as usual with a variety of experiences, challenges, and successes. We started the week getting up very early on Monday morning (3:00am) and driving east to Cuidad del Este to help check a missionary out of the hospital. He had received emergency surgery last Friday night (the first emergency surgery for quite a few years for a missionary of our mission) and was being released from the hospital early Monday morning. We arrived at 7:20am and picked up the zone leaders for the trip to the hospital. The missionaries had been rotating around the clock staying with the missionary while in the hospital. I also had to pay the bill to get him out of the hospital. The total bill for the surgery and three day stay in the best room in the place came to 9,000,000 guarani or about $1700. The missionaries said that the doctors and nurses were heard saying “caso especial” (special case) throughout the weekend when referring to the missionary. I think they really tried to pamper him. The missionaries said the hospital staff thought he must be a pretty important person to have round-the-clock body guards with him. We Sandy and I showed up dressed so formally, they really hustled us through the red tape. As we were taking him out in a wheelchair, one of the nurses, an older woman, stopped us and just wanted to wish him well, pat him on the head and pinch his cheek. The best room in the hospital included bedding, food, medicines, and nursing care. The other rooms don’t. We drove the missionary and his companion to their apartment to pick up a few things and then drove them right back to Asuncion to recuperate here at the mission home. During the day this week we tried to keep the missionaries busy doing things at the office without overdoing it by the healing elder. His junior companion went out proselyting in the evenings with the office missionaries and had a good time meeting and teaching investigators and finding new people to teach. This morning, Friday, we felt good about sending them back to their area so off they went on a bus this morning. We called them after a few hours and they were doing well. I hope this is the last surgery we have here but it is good to know that for some things, there is reasonable care available. The rest of the week has been spent here in Asuncion getting ready for a leadership training meeting and attending to a number of district matters. We had the zone leaders in on Wednesday for a zone leader’s council. It turned out well. We focused on the proper use of time through proper planning and focus on our purpose as missionaries. We used a number of DVD clips taken from a series of training videos used at the MTC. I asked the assistants to take some time to discuss the purpose of missionary exchanges (old term was “splits”). We are now using a new evaluation sheet to be used by the mission leadership to help improve the training that should take place during a companion exchanges. I also took time after lunch to teach on the subject of teaching by the Holy Ghost. I asked the assistants to also teach a practice session on helping the head of the household offer his first prayer at the conclusion of a lesson. The Spirit was very strong during the sessions. We have 11 zones right now with 22 zone leaders. We got some good input from the zone leaders about the needs in their zones. We don’t seem to have a problem finding people to teach, but we do need to improve helping our investigators make and keep commitments. That will improve as we help the people feel and recognize the Spirit. I have spent a great deal of time this week trying to develop a six segment Mission Training Plan to be used in the future. It is suggested that this be done and based on the number of transfer cycles in a mission, each missionary will go through this cycle 3 times during their mission. Of course the focus in on teachings from Preach My Gospel and the supporting scriptures. We are also looking carefully at where to put the new missionaries coming in November. They represent an addition 14 missionary increase in our current number. The mission complement (the number we have been approved to have) is 190 and we are getting there quickly. I have interacted with a number of local leaders and have been carefully reviewing each area of the mission to see where the work in progressing well. I feel we need to concentrate on strengthening the stakes in Asuncion and the big district down in Encarnacion. I have also set the goal to replace our 3 missionaries currently serving as branch presidents with local leaders as soon as possible.

We got some good news this week. Sister Julie Beck, General Relief Society President, will be visiting Paraguay in about a month and we have been invited to a private luncheon with her along with the Area President, the Temple President, and the North Mission President and his wife. We have always admired Sister Beck for her clear and direct teachings and focus. It will be fun to meet her. She will be here for a few days and will meet with sisters here as well as visit the beehive clothing plant and a number of Bishop’s storehouses. They will also attend the temple. A week or so after that visit, Elder Bednar comes to the Area for our annual training in Buenos Aires. That will be fun. It will be the first time Sandy and I will meet the rest of the 14 mission presidents and their wives serving in our Area. The rest of October will be spent in another series of zone conferences (6) and interviews. I also have a number of stake and district conferences to prepare for. I spent a couple of hours yesterday reviewing the materials prepared for mission presidents to help us work with missionaries struggling with emotional challenges. The mission field can really exacerbate preexisting emotional challenges but it is also a place where these challenges can be addressed and with the Lord’s help, great progress can be made in helping these good missionaries move forward in great ways. The process can be excruciating and can give a mission president ulcers, but if progress is made and missionaries can succeed, it is worth it. One of the things that can cause a problem happens when preexisting emotional problems are not disclosed or addressed properly before a missionary begins their service. In some training we received before arriving, we were informed that when a missionary’s emotional problems are disclosed and addressed before they begin their mission, some 85% of these good missionaries are able to complete a full mission. I’ve learned that it is important to help missionaries take ownership of their problems, no matter what they are. We can offer support and direction and love but we do the missionary a disservice if we take the responsibility for their behavior away from them. I really like the materials the missionary department has put together for our use.

This morning I met a man over at the temple for an interview. He had been on a bus all night from Encarnacion and called me a few days ago to arrange an interview. I met with him a 7am at the temple. It was a beautiful morning and when I arrived I found him with his family outside the temple. The door to the temple was locked so we found a quiet place in the morning sun on the temple grounds and I conducted the interview. It was so peaceful. He has been a member for 35 years, having joined during the same time I was in Argentina. Brother Boaz is 69 years of age and really has a great spirit. I asked him to tell me his history and he shared with me what were obviously very tender memories of how the gospel changed his life many years ago. We embraced as I bid him farewell. As I drove out of the parking lot, the security guard came running over and just wanted to say hello. He is a temple worker and we have become acquainted during our temple visits. He was so kind in his expressions of appreciation for the mission presidents he has known over the years. The people here, especially the “pioneering” members are incredible.

Sandy and I did a quick grocery shopping trip this afternoon so we could listen to General Conference uninterrupted tomorrow. We were feeling a bit lonely as we thought about the sweet times with our children watching conference together at home. Sandy would always buy Halloween candy early and end up passing around the snickers and kit kats to everyone during the sessions of conference. We’re trying to keep a “stiff upper lip” but we must admit we do miss everyone. We went to a store to grocery shop that has one aisle marked with American Flags and publicized as the aisle with all the American food items. And what did we find? Bags of snickers and kit kats! So tomorrow, while we listen to conference, we will close our eyes, eat a snickers, and imagine our family surrounding us. We love you all more than words can express. We feel the Lord’s hand helping and sustaining our family. We feel your prayers and hope you feel ours. Love, Mark and Sandy