November 14, 2009

November 14, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

Another week has come and gone. We left early Sunday morning to drive to Pilar to visit a branch and meet a District President there. It was a 4 ½ hour drive but it was nice to see a new city and meet new people. We will return there in a few weeks for a district conference so we also checked out the accommodations for the next trip when we will have a visiting authority with us. We saw some new wildlife. My favorite was a bird that had a head and neck that was bright red with a black body and red feet. There were some other birds that looked like small vultures. I really need to get a Paraguayan bird book so I can know what we are looking at.

Our drive out was a little interesting. One thing that happens here often is that there are national police who stop people randomly along the roads. Usually it seems they stop mainly trucks, we have been stopped once before but as soon they knew we were missionaries they let us pass on by. Anyway we were about an hour from Pilar and there was a policeman in the road waving us to stop , which we did. He asked if we were going to Pilar and when we told him we were he asked for a ride. He hopped in and off we went. We talked about his family and asked if he’d seen our missionaries in Pilar. Pilar is famous for it’s fishing opportunities so we talked about fishing. At the end of the ride he told Mark next time he comes to Pilar they ought to go fishing together. He wasn’t interested in us sending the missionaries to him but we gave him a bit of our message as we drove along. Mark gave him a card and said to call if he wanted to hear more of our message.

The rest of the week was spent with lots of interviews for Mark and meetings most evenings with his mission presidency, a stake president and the facilities people here in Asuncion. I always get to answer calls from ailing missionaries. This week we had lots of nausea, diarrhea, headaches, fever, dog bite, hurt arm caused by a cow charging the missionary , dizziness due to fasting , swollen foot, blisters and canker sores. Right now the biggest thing is getting the missionaries to drink enough water, which can be challenging for some. All the water we drink has to be bottled or filtered. It’s a little hard for the missionaries to carry enough water between good water sources, so we have to constantly be reminding them to drink lots in the mornings before they leave their apartments for the day and carry 2 liter bottles with them.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how the Lord knows each one of us and how he knows our needs. I have felt his influence so strongly in many ways the last few months especially. I was talking with a missionary the other day who is companion to a missionary who is having some struggles. He was telling me of an experience they had the other night. They were teaching a family and when they finished they pulled out the new gospel art booklet. They asked the family to choose a picture that they could then discuss. The picture dealt with exactly the subject that the companion who was struggling was dealing with. After the visit he said it opened a way for him to talk to his companion and his companion was really helped by the whole discussion and experience. I think that is one of the things I love about the gospel. When we are trying to serve in our callings and reaching out to other people the Lord is also mindful of us and can use the situations to bless our lives and help us. What a beautiful part of Heavenly Father’s plan. Everyone benefits and is blessed as we try to fulfill our covenants and do what he asks of us. I know there are many things I can’t do right now, with and for our family. I know that as I try to do what I can do here, He will take care of those things, again many times through other people who are reaching out to them.

We are heading off to a district conference meeting in a bit in Nemby. We will attend the meetings today with Elder Aidukitus who is visiting. In the morning we fly to Buenos Aires for 4 days of a mission presidents’ seminar with Elder Bednar and Elder Snow. We are looking forward to a wonderful 4 days. There will be 14 mission presidents and their wives there in attendance. It will be fun to catch up with the other presidents who started with us in July. We fly over with the Wades who are in the Paraguay north mission. They have been a wonderful help to us as we have been adjusting and learning here. Again, how wonderful that I have a friend 10 minutes away that I can call anytime and get the answers to my questions. Mark has also enjoyed having President Wade here to answer some of his question.

Well I better run. We love you all. We know this gospel is true and will help us all in our lives.

Love, Mark and Sandy