Pictures March 31, 2010

Pictures of the Leadership Council meeting held last
week at the mission home.

March 27, 2010

Dear Family and Friends, March 27, 2010

Monday Mark had interviews and a meeting with his 4 assistants to get the new week started. He is really enjoying having the 4 assistants right now. They are all wonderful teachers and are really helping the younger missionaries that we have in the mission get up to speed more quickly. We keep hearing comments from the missionaries about the good things they are learning from their divisions with them. Tuesday we went to a district meeting with district 1 in Zone 5 here in Asuncion. We were very happy with the great teaching and spirit we felt in the meeting. One of the things I love about the mission is seeing these young men grow into such strong men of the priesthood and thinking of the great husbands, fathers and leaders they will be some day . After the meeting we went and did apartment checks for their district. While Mark interviewed, we talked about how to clean their apartments and how to cook some basic food ideas. The missionaries seem to be happy to get the food idea printout I give them. One thing I have noticed also since we received the filter bottles for the missionaries I hardly ever get phone calls about diarrhea. That is so nice! We are slowly moving our way through the mission and I love seeing where all the missionaries live.

Wednesday Mark had interviews and then we ran to the store to buy food for the leadership meeting with the Zone Leaders. We also ran to the airport to say good bye to a young man from one of the districts here who will be serving a mission in Argentina.

We decided to hold the Zone Leaders meeting here at the home this time so that meant Lidu, our helper, and I prepared the food for 25 people. We held it out in the quincho which was nice so we could have the meeting part out there and come into the house for the lunch. It worked out well and we especially liked that it was a closer feeling here than in the cultural hall at the church. Anyway Lidu and I spent Thursday cooking and preparing so things were ready to go for Friday. The assistants came and moved chairs and set things up Thursday afternoon.

Friday was a wonderful day as 23 elders came to council together to be taught and to share. I am always impressed with the great young men we have as leaders. They were taught well by Mark and the assistants and they teach each other well and share experiences so everyone grows and learns. I gave a little message also. We met from 8:45 to 12:30 and then came into the house for lunch. The missionaries love to eat ! We had baked chicken, pasta salad, fried onion and corn, jello gigglers, rolls and German chocolate cake.

After lunch the elders sang “El Cristo Es”( This is the Christ) as a thank you to Lidu for all she does for the missionaries. She is such a sweet woman and she was in tears as they sang to her. We went back to the quincho for the rest of the meeting until 3:30pm. After the meeting we went right to the office where we had an office staff meeting.

This morning, Saturday , we had a nice preparation day exercising a little longer that normal and swimming for a while. It was wonderful!! We also took Elder Wilkes to lunch because he is leaving his service as secretary in the office. He’s a great young man and has worked hard to keep things running well in the office and keeping Mark on top of things. He assures us he has trained Elder Bowns, his replacement well!

On thing that we find interesting here is that in grocery stores and other stores the music we here is often 1970’s music in English. It is just so funny to me. While we were at the grocery store the other day on the American aisle they had Easter candy . A bag of reeses peanut butter cups miniatures was 41,000 guaranias or 8 dollars American. We did not buy them.

We are so anxious to hear General Conference . We hope you all enjoy Easter and conference also. What a great chance to invite people to come hear the prophet and apostles speak to us. The missionaries are so excited to be able to invite their investigators to the church to listen. We love you all and are grateful for the blessings we have. Mark and Sandy

March 21, 2010

Dear Family and Friends, March 21, 2010

This has been a week of lots of interviews for Mark and lots of reading/studying/alone time for me. Last Sunday we went to a ward in La Florista. It happened that the Hermanas were speaking so that was a nice surprise for us. Mark also gave a message and it’s always nice to meet new people and get to know the wards and branches a bit. As soon as we got home Mark and his counselors took off for a 2 ½ hour drive to San Ignacio for a priesthood meeting. He was excited to tell me there were 50 men in attendance. They met in a little house/church building and they were packed in . He said it was great to see so many there. They had traveled in from little branches around so it is always good for the members to feel uplifted by strength in numbers. One of the branches only has 7 -10 people who attend sacrament meeting. There are definitely many areas where the church is in it’s infancy here.

It was a long quiet day for me but I am trying to focus on reading and marking the Book of Mormon in Spanish so I had lots of uninterrupted study time.

Monday we began our apartment checks and interviews for Mark with the missionaries. We visited 6 apartments and he interviewed 14 missionaries.Only 90 or so apartments to go! It took us all day and then Mark headed to the office for meetings with the assistants. Visiting the apartments is interesting and we learn a lot about the missionaries by what we see there. Most were pretty clean- a few needed a bit of work. One was not so great. The apartments are usually mainly tile floors and solid tile bathrooms , really not too difficult to clean. I left each apartment with a printed cleaning list for keeping the apartments clean. I also pointed out areas of concern. I had also put together some easy food ideas to help give them some other food options. Mark spent time interviewing each missionary. The rest of the week we planned to do the same everyday getting 5 zones done……until the phone calls started coming which changed the whole week.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Mark spent in various interviews and meetings with missionaries trying to deal with situations. One thing I have learned here in the mission is that you have to be flexible because everyday can change in an instant when you are dealing with 190 young people. I made great progress with my Book of Mormon reading while Mark was tied up at the office. I also have been trying to spend a lot more time rereading and studying Preach My Gospel. That really is an amazing study guide for everyone. I especially have enjoyed studying the “questions of the soul “ in chapter 5 as I have been focusing on the Book of Mormon.

Friday we made a sad trip to the airport saying goodbye to two missionaries and then did our grocery shopping. We spent time preparing for the coordinating council that we attended the next day on Saturday. The coordinating council was an expanded version including the stake and district auxiliary leaders along with the presidencies. Elder Avila an area seventy taught everyone for two hours and then the women went to another room and Sister Avila trained and I spoke also. Most of the people attending the meeting traveled 4-5 hours each way for the meeting. Mark was happy with the attendance from the stake and districts. It could have been better but he was pleased. We got home and I threw some potatoes to bake in the oven and just and they were done the oven made a popping sound and spit out some black smoke from behind it. I turned it off and it’s a good thing I wasn’t planning a big dinner today for myself since Mark is gone again from 8 am to 11 pm. He and his counselors drove 4 hours to hold a priesthood meeting in Encarnacion.

Well another week flew by. Our testimonies are growing and we are learning many things about ourselves, the missionaries, the gospel and the beauty of the great plan of happiness. We are especially grateful for the help and guidance and understanding we feel from our Savior. Without our faith in him we could not do the things we are trying to do here. We are grateful for the sealing powers that bind us to our families and want the people here to hear the wonderful message of the restored gospel. We are grateful for the opportunity we have to try to help the missionaries here not only teach the message but incorporate it into their lives as well. We love you all! Mark and Sandy

March 13, 2010 pictures!

Group of new missionaries. All are very prepared!

New missionaries after testimony meeting at mission home.

New missionaries with trainers.

New missionaries heading out to new areas. (see new pillows)

Faithful departing missionaries after final testimony at mission home.

Four assistants together at temple

March 13, 2010

Dear Friends and Family, March 13, 2010

Another fun week has come and gone. Sunday was a nice day spent visiting the ward in Amamby. The church building there is the second one built in Asuncion. When they split the original Moroni Ward the ward there was formed. After church Mark went with his counselors to Coronel Oviedo a 2 ½ hour drive for a priesthood meeting. I had a quiet afternoon preparing for our dinner with the 7 office elders and 2 assistants. It was a nice evening. It still amazes me how much the elders can eat! We have some excellent elders in the office and also serving as assistants. This week we also welcomed two new assistants to help in teaching and training all the new missionaries we have received over the last few months.

I spoke on the phone with our daughter Jenny in the afternoon and she told me about a sweet experience she had at Relief Society. She sat by a woman she hadn’t met yet and chatted with her a bit. The next week she sat with her again. It was a friend of mine and Jenny told me how she was enjoying getting to know the people in the ward and getting reacquainted with the people she knew growing up there. Later that day I got the sweetest email from my friend Janet saying what a breath of sunshine Jenny was. She said sitting by Jenny those two Sundays was just what she needed. She also said that our missionary service was blessing her life because she was able to meet Jenny and feel of her great spirit. I am always grateful for the way the Lord works in all of our lives to help and bless each one of us. I was also able to speak to our Wendy, Sara and Laura that day. It’s nice to be able to speak to the family and stay connected while we are here. We spoke to Matt and Robert later in the week.

Monday morning we welcomed the new assistants Elders Woodruff and Urmston to the office and we had a staff meeting .Mark also had a training meeting with the assistants. Everyone in the office was busy preparing to receive the 6 new elders that came on Tuesday. There is always a lot to do the week of changes and it’s always amazing how things usually work out okay!

Tuesday we picked up the new missionaries at the airport and went right to the temple to talk about where we want the people we teach in Paraguay to end up –at the temple, sealed as families. Our flight times don’t always allow us the ability to go straight to the temple but I love it when it does. It helps the missionaries be focused from the first hour they are in Paraguay as to their purpose- Bringing people through the temple to Christ. We spoke a bit outside the temple and bore our testimonies and then we were invited to come in the temple for a minute so the missionaries could see the baptismal font. We went straight to lunch and then to the office for orientation and interviews. The office elders and assistants took the new elders out to do some contacts and then we all came to the mission home for dessert and testimonies. All the new missionaries bore sweet testimonies in Spanish and it was so wonderful to see their excitement to finally be here in Paraguay.

Wednesday we met back at the office for training meetings with the trainers and then the new companionships were introduced. They were all off to their new areas by 10:30 am. At noon we took the fieles (faithful missionaries ready to go home) out to lunch and then we went to the temple with them. We attended an endowment session and did some sealings and then went to the mission home for dessert and testimonies. I always love the contrast of the two testimony meetings back to back. There is so much growth that happens in the time that the missionaries are here. The gospel plan is so beautiful in the way that we are given opportunities to serve and when we do, we benefit so much even as we are helping others. The two hermanas (sisters) spent the night here at the mission home and the elders stayed with the assistants.

Thursday we took the missionaries to the airport and said goodbye. They are always a bit nervous and excited but they are so happy when they have served well and done their best during their missions. Friday we read and studied all day. Mark was reading his weekly letters and he shouted for joy when two missionaries he was concerned about both wrote that they were doing well. One bore strong testimony of the atonement and the Savior’s ability to understand and help us through our challenges. That is what the mission is all about—helping everyone , including the missionaries, understand and be changed in our lives because of the atonement of the Savior. What a great week!

I took my normal calls from missionaries. One phone call began with “Don’t worry Hermana (Sister Callan) we got the bleeding stopped!” He then proceeded to tell me a new missionary had a run in with some barbed wire. Luckily the damage was minimal and he was doing fine. Sometimes the missionaries are pretty excited about the great stories they get to write home about when they have injuries- I always hope they don’t exaggerate too much and make things seem worse than they really are.

Well, today was our preparation day and we spend the day reading and studying and running to the grocery store. There isn’t ever enough time to really prepare for all we need to do, but somehow things usually work out. We are receiving much help from Heavenly Father and for that we are always grateful. We love you all! Mark and Sandy

March 6, 2010

March 6, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

We had some wonderful experiences this week and we hope everyone also had a good week. We attended meetings on Sunday in our own ward and then Mark headed off to Priesthood meetings in the afternoon. That night he met with a stake president. He is supposed to meet about monthly with all 5 stake presidents. He is enjoying getting to know the presidents. He also is busy each Sunday for the next little while with Priesthood meetings in the 5 districts.

Monday morning we had a staff meeting at the office. There is always so much to do to keep things coordinated. The office staff works so hard, so they can get out the door to teach by 4:30pm. Between details for zone conferences, change week when we receive new missionaries and send others home who have finished, keeping track of all the 95 apartments and everything else that’s happening in the mission , they really have a lot of things to do. It is pretty amazing how well they usually do their jobs. They are young men and it shows sometimes but they are all learning some valuable lessons for their futures.

Tuesday we were off to the temple with two zones of missionaries. Two times a year all the missionaries are allowed to go to the temple. The temple sets up a morning where they can do an endowments session, baptisms, confirmations, ordinations, initiatory and sealings. It’s a great way to help them be focused on where we are trying to help people prepare to go. It was a great day. I am so grateful for our temple covenants that bind us as a family. I am so glad there is a temple here. The missionaries love temple day and look forward to it every six months.

Wednesday we spent time at home and at the office preparing for future meetings and for a dinner with Fernando and Romina. Fernando is the man that Mark baptized last September after he challenged him to be baptized. He and his wife challenged us to a cook off so we invited them to the mission home for the big event. Fernando wants to be a chef and he cooked a chicken and vegetable meal that was very tasty. We cooked our chicken curry dish that we love and they enjoyed it too. They are a great young couple who are growing in the gospel. They serve as Presidents of the Young men and Young women in the ward. They are planning to be sealed in the temple in September. It was a nice evening.

Thursday we welcomed Elder Bowns into the office to begin training to be the secretary. Elder Wilkes has done a wonderful job and he will spend a month training Elders Bowns to be an equally wonderful secretary.

This week Mark spent time with a couple more elders who needed some encouragement. They are doing well and we are hopeful they will be more and more focused on other people so they can be even more effective missionaries. I think often of what President Hinckley’s dad said to him because it is such great advice. “Just forget yourself and go to work.” A couple of the elders call me once in a while for a little encouragement also. Sometimes they just need to talk a bit to feel like they can keep working hard. One elder has a native speaking companion and he’s new and he told me he just needed to speak English with someone for a bit. That’s something I can so real well—speak English!

Friday we went to lunch with a church attorney who was in the area and also with the Paraguay North mission president and wife. I’m already missing The Wades and they don’t even leave until July. They have become great friends already and they have helped us so much!

Saturday Mark was at the temple at 6:30 to interview 10 people. He then went to meet with another stake president. I was home cooking for the dinner we are having Sunday for the office missionaries and assistants. We are going to have barbeque chicken and I wanted to make potato salad. I had to be a little creative because celery is kind of hard to find at times. I seeded cucumbers and sprinkled celery salt on them and it’s a pretty good substitution. We haven’t had a dinner here with the elders for a while and they are all excited to come and eat American food.

We also attended a nice baptism in our ward Saturday. The missionaries found a young man on the street and began talking to him. He had started having the lessons in the north mission and then they moved here. Our missionaries continued teaching him and tonight there were missionaries from both missions involved in the baptism. Roberto’s wife had been a member for 15 years and she was so happy that her husband was baptized. It’s such a testimony to me that Heavenly Father knows each of his children and he watches over them even if they move from one mission to the other . He helps the missionaries find those who are prepared and ready for the gospel in their lives. We hope this is a good week for you all. We love you all we are grateful for the things we are learning and experiencing.

Love, Mark and Sandy