July 18, 2010

Dear Family and Friends, July 18, 2010

Last Sunday we went to a fireside in Fernando de la Mora Sur. I thought it was for young adults but it was actually for young men and young women. We were pleasantly surprised when there were 95 people there. We both spoke about missionary work and Mark spoke about how to prepare for missionary service. It was great to see so many youth there together. It still surprises me to watch the Young Women’s president ride up on a motorcycle. Many of the youth came in the back of a truck. Transportation methods are definitely different here.

Monday we spent the day preparing for the new missionaries and our daughters to arrive. They all arrived Tuesday morning at 10:30 am. It was fun to see them all and welcome Elders Martinez, Elder Sievers,Elder Boydston, Elder Merril, Elder Falepapalangi and Laura and Sara. Laura and Sara had the unique experience of watching missionaries from the time they left Salt Lake until they met their companions here in Paraguay. It‘s been fun having them here as they see everything that happens in the mission. We took the new missionaries to temple grounds for a bit and to lunch and then to the office for orientation. They went out making contacts with the office elders and then came to the house for dessert and testimony meeting. It was nice to hear their testimonies and get to know them a little bit better. Wednesday we went back to the office for a meeting with the trainers and then introduced the new companionships. I always love to watch the faces of the missionaries as they meet their new companions. They then went off to their areas to get to work. We took Laura and Sara to try Lomitos Arabe which is a missionary favorite food here. We made chocolate chip cookies that night, since the girls brought us some chocolate chips.

Thursday Mark we took Elder Strickland to the airport and said goodbye. He was a hard one to say goodbye to. He was so helpful to us when we began our mission as he was the financial secretary and did so much for the mission. Afterwards we went for a drive to show the girls downtown Asuncion and we went to a few shops there. Friday we took the girls to the grocery store so they could see where we shop. Mark has been spending every minute he can preparing for the Zone leaders council that is Monday and for the 3 day leaders training that will be Tuesday through Thursday.

Saturday we went to a baptism for two young women and a man in Fernando de la Mora stake. Laura and Sara sang Come Follow Me in Spanish for a musical number and also the young women of the ward sang a young women’s song. It was great to hear them singing Walk Tall You’re A Daughter Of God . Music of the church has a way of uniting everyone in the church wherever they are.

Sunday we went to the Cento branch. It was freezing cold and raining but the faithful branch members were there. There were a couple of BYU interns who attend there for the summer who were friends of Sara’s from Provo. Mark and I had met them at stake conference a while back so we planned to attend there today so Sara could say hello. Laura and Sara have had an interesting time living in a world of Spanish speaking people. We try to help them know the idea of what is being said without being too distracting in meetings. We are grateful that they are able to be here and see everything that happens here. We are so glad we get to have them here for 5 more weeks! It’s been a fun week! Until next week! Mark and Sandy