April 11, 2010

Dear Family and Friends, April 11, 2010

This week we began with a staff meeting with the office elders Monday morning. There is always a lot to do as we begin zone conference week. The office elders really do carry a big work load. They work hard to keep the mission business running during the day and head out the door at 4:30pm to preach the gospel. During zone conference week they arrange the lunches each day and make sure all the materials are ready for each zone (Book of Mormons, pamphlets etc.) along with packages that need to be dispersed. They keep track of all the records of baptisms and confirmations and other information. Elders Facer, Guenther, Roberts, and Bowns are doing a great job. Elder Wilkes finished training Elder Bowns last week as secretary so he is back out in the field. There are always things coming up that need to be taken care of and the office elders all work hard to take care of their responsibilities. We’ve been working on taking care of problems in apartments that we learn about as we continue our visits and that falls on their shoulders also. Many of them came with great skills and talents but I think they are all learning some good skills and abilities for their future lives.

Zone conferences for zones 1,2 ,3,4,5and 6a were held Tuesday ,Wednesday and Thursday from 9 am to 3pm. We had some wonderful experiences learning and sharing. Missionaries who were attending their first zone conference were introduced by their companions who also shared some of their companions good qualities. It was fun to see Elders Alexander, Nielsen,Clyde,Burley and Bills be introduced. The new missionaries reciprocated in their new language skills and it was great to see the progress they are already making with Spanish. Sister Lynes who will be finishing her mission in the end of the month bore her testimony also. She will be missed! The assistants Elders Pitcher , Urmston , Lytle and Woodruff took turns participating by sharing practical ways to share the Book of Mormon and how to obtain references from the members .The assistants are doing well as they go out on divisions with the elders and teach and help through practices to improve the teaching abilities of the missionaries. A wonderful part of the conferences was when missionaries would testify of the good things that are happening in their areas because of the good things they are learning. We have many wonderful missionaries doing many wonderful things!

Mark and I taught about the importance of watching out for our companions. We talked about the importance of everyone keeping all of the mission rules so that we can all be safe and protected. Preach My Gospel teaches us that with our callings come the responsibilities to protect our companions . We talked about using the motto in the mission of “You are safe with me!”, to help us remember to do our part in helping everyone be exactly obedient. Mark also taught about our purpose as missionaries , the doctrine of Christ, and how we can always be looking for people to teach so we are always helping more people find the Savior and his true church.

When we come together in zone conferences I always love the strong feelings of love we have for our missionaries. We really do want to help them be the best they can be and we want them to learn things here that will help the missionary work and also help them with whatever comes in their future lives. It is also is so apparent to me that the very happiest missionaries are the missionaries who have learned to throw themselves into the work and work their very hardest.

Friday and Saturday we were back out inspecting apartments and interviewing. It was fun to gather fruit along the way also. We picked a few grapefruits and mandarins in the yards of some of the missionaries. We ate a nice grapefruit for breakfast today.

Today we attended sacrament meeting in Kaaguy Rory where the family that was baptized last week between conference sessions was confirmed. What a sweet family! They were all smiles. The missionaries were the speakers along with Mark and they all bore strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and the wonderful plan Heavenly Father has for our families eternally. We ended the day with a staff meeting and prepared to travel tomorrow to the zone conferences outside of Asuncion. We also have a meeting to attend in the morning with the First Lady of Paraguay. We’ll tell you about that next week. We love you all and miss you but we know we are where we are supposed to be at this time. The Lord is helping us daily and we are grateful for that. Love, Mark and Sandy