July 10, 2010

Dear Family and Friends, July 10, 2010

This week much of the time was spent in interviews for Mark. Monday was our normal staff meeting to plan and prepare for the week and upcoming events. Zone 5 had an activity so they had fun playing a little football (soccer). The only bad part was one bloody nose! The soccer excitement is still in the air even though Paraguay is out of the world cup. They are already talking about the next one in Argentina in 2014.

Tuesday through Friday Mark interviewed 102 missionaries. The time he spends with each missionary never seems to be enough in the eyes of the missionaries but the guideline now is 10 minutes or so for an interview. It would be nice to have unlimited time with the missionaries but that’s not the way it is. Mark was drained at the end of the week but he loves to interview the missionaries. It is always good to see the missionaries. Most seemed happy and they are working hard. I get to hear of a few physical problems as they stop by my office on the way out of Mark’s. We really have seen a great decrease in illness as the missionaries are working harder and feeling happier about the things they are accomplishing here.

We attended two baptisms this week. Both were good young fathers. They both hopped up and bore wonderful testimonies after their baptisms. The missionaries are working hard to improve the baptism services and we see some great things happening. We are seeing a lot of men join the church and that is a good thing. Both of these baptisms were well supported by the ward members. It was so sweet to see the relief society sisters helping the non member wife of one of the men baptized with her baby so she would not be distracted during the service. There were couples at both services ready to support these new members. That is the ideal in missionary work. Members working together with the missionaries to help people continue to learn and grow in the gospel.

Friday we had a huge rain storm filling the streets with water. We were so glad the rained stopped for all the Saturday baptisms. In Paraguay when it rains no one goes anywhere!

Sunday we will go to a young adult missionary fireside. We are excited that more and more of the leaders here are trying to help with the missionary work. There are many young people who help their families financially and so they put off serving missions a bit. We see such a need for good strong returned missionaries here. They come back with a greater knowledge of how to help strengthen the church here.

Our daughters Laura and Sara will arrive Tuesday with 5 new missionaries we will receive. We are excited to greet them all! We continue to be grateful for the good young men and women who are here serving with us. What a blessing for us to be missionaries! Love, Mark and Sandy