July 25, 2010

Dear Family and Friends, July 25, 2010
We have had a good week showing Laura and Sara what happens in the mission. Monday morning we had a zone leaders council meeting here at the mission home. It was the beginning of the training of all the leaders in the mission as directed by the missionary department. Mark spent the morning explaining the new interview and zone conference schedules and also the focus of the eight lessons everyone in the mission needs to be learning. These lessons will help all the missionaries focus on improving their teaching skills. It’s not really anything new, it’s all straight from Preach My Gospel but it helps in a more simple way to focus on key things the missionaries need to know and do. We had a lunch afterwords here at the house. We had apricot chicken, scallop potatoes, corn and raspberry kuchen. The missionaries were afraid of the kuchen at first, but as soon as they tasted it, they LOVED the raspberry custardy dessert.
Tuesday began the three day training for all the zone leaders, district leaders and trainers. There were 60 people at lunch each day. The full day was spent in meetings and then they went out to practice the things that they had been learning during the day, in the various zones around Asuncion. The missionaries are very excited to be refocused on improving their teaching skills and are anxious to go back to their zones and districts and teach everyone else. It was nice to be with all of the leaders for three days in a row and watch their enjoyment in being together in friendship but also in a spiritual setting. Mark has felt so good about the leadership qualities in the mission and he is confident these leaders will take this new focus and help everyone embrace it. He received many wonderful comments at the end of the week about the good things the missionaries were feeling and their excitement at the things that are happening in the mission. Mark had his presidency meeting on Thursday. Laura, Sara and I have had fun watching movies and catching up when we are not involved in his meetings. Every day during the training Laura, Sara and I would come over and help set up the meal (catered by Quatro D) and then stay for the afternoon session of the training. Laura and Sara both said that they are starting to pick up a few things and understand them, but most they didn’t.
Friday, Naomi Grau, the wife of Mark’s counselor, picked Laura, Sara and me up and took us around the city of Asuncion and to the city of Luque for some shopping and site seeing. She showed us some historical monuments, homes of political leaders, the government buildings, the most important Catholic church in Asuncion and many other things. She also helped us buy some typical Paraguayan items to remember our time here. Luque is famous for it’s silver, so we got some jewelry items. Fabrics and crafts are also typical items here and she showed us a few good places to shop for those. She was very nice to spend the day with us and help us. She and her husband are wonderful people.
Saturday we enjoyed the morning sun. The weather has been pretty cold since the girls have been here, so it was nice to have it finally warm up. We went to a stake missionary activity for the Fernando De La Mora Stake where young men came to the mission office to learn a little bit about the responsibilities of the Office Elders, and how the mission works. The Stake President spoke to them about mission preparation and we had a nice lunch. Later that night, we went to a baptism where a sweet mother and her three children were baptized. Laura and Sara sang Teach me to Walk in the Light in Spanish. Their accents are getting quite good, except then people think they speak Spanish, and start speaking to them in Spanish. Many people keep telling us how pretty our daughters are, and seem to be surprised, knowing we are their parents. But they also say that we have a lot of family resemblance. One cute little 5 year old came up to the girls and told them that they looked like North Americans. The girls are noticing how all the cute little children here are very friendly and wave and smile. We are definitely in the minority here, and people are always looking at us, but they are always so friendly and kind.
Sunday we attended the Barrio Herrera which is our home ward. It was fun to introduce Laura and Sara to the people of the ward. We tried to keep the girls informed on what was being said without being too distracting. We are preparing to head out to interviews tomorrow and the rest of the week. The girls are excited to see some things outside of Asuncion. Last week I failed to mention that our assistants changed. Elder Urmston who has done a wonderful job has a new assignment in a brand new city that just opened up called Santa Rita. We will miss him here around the office, but he is taking his goodness to the people there. Elder Centurion is the new assistant. He is a wonderful missionary from Argentina. He has a great sense of humor and a strong testimony and is an excellent leader. Again, one of the great blessings of the mission is getting to know all of these wonderful young missionaries. Laura and Sara are preparing to share the rest of their lives with hundreds of adopted brothers and sisters in the future, although they keep reminding us that they come first.
We hope you all have a wonderful week! We love you and miss you! Love, Mark and Sandy