Sept 26, 2010

Dear Family and Friends, September 26, 2010

Monday started off the week with lots of things going on here. We welcomed Elder Stearman into the office to begin training as the new secretary for President. He’s a very mature solid missionary who is already doing well in his new responsibilities. The secretary and secretary in training took half of the newest group of missionaries to downtown Asuncion to sign their legal papers. It was nice to see the new missionaries and ask how they were doing. They all looked good and most said their Spanish is coming! The process of keeping all the missionaries here legal is quite interesting at times. It seems whenever there is a change in people in the government everything changes. We just think we have the system down and then they change it or add new parts. It continues throughout the mission because they only will allow the signing to be valid for a certain amount of time and then they have to resign. It’s such a bother when we have missionaries 5-7 hours away who have to come in and sign. Oh well ,it is important to keep everyone legal so we do what we need to.

Monday we also said good bye at the airport to Elder Velluto ,a good missionary who was returning home . He served well! There were the usual phone calls about situations with missionaries that needed to be dealt with. Some missionaries seem to fight the very things that will bless their lives and help them forever. If they could just catch the vision of doing the Lord’s will now and forever things would go so much better for them. That day also brought the news that one of our sweet Elder’s brother had passed away. I am so impressed with the strength I see in these young missionaries who have answered the call to serve and do so even when things are very challenging and hard things happen. He told us that although the death was not expected, the spirit had prepared him a couple of weeks ago so it was easier for him to hear the news. He came into the office and spoke to his family on the phone and was able to lift and support them in their sorrows. What an amazing experience to watch a mature young missionary bless the lives of his family and provide comfort to them all at this very hard time. It makes me think about a message I heard from Elder Holland where he talked about vicarious blessings, the greatest of which is the atonement. He said vicarious blessings are those we receive because of the things other people do. We are blessed because of what the Savior did with the opportunity to repent and grow and change. When we attend the temple other people are blessed with the opportunity to accept the ordinances performed for them. When we serve in the church our families can be blessed as we fulfill our callings. The list goes on and on. When I see a young Elder anxious to give comfort to his parents I see the blessing that his mission is to his family and the wonderful way it can touch their lives as well as his own. I also know that as we are here trying to do what the Lord needs us to do , our family is being blessed and helped along the way. I am grateful for the true principle of vicarious blessings that our loving Heavenly Father so willingly gives to us.

I had a nice conversation with Lidu, our helper, the other day. We were talking about why some people remain faithful in the church and others do not. There are many on the roles here that we do not see in church meetings. She really cares about those who are not coming any longer. She said that for her it means that she has to just do what she knows she should no matter what is going on around her. Some people let the actions of another person determine if they will come to church or not. She said she could have been offended many times by what people say to her. She chooses to ignore those things and worry more about her relationship with the Savior and Heavenly Father. When President Monson spoke about not judging to the women in the Relief Society broadcast last night, it reminded me of my conversation with Lidu. That is exactly what Lidu was saying. If the church is going to grow and we are going to help less active members want to return to be with us , we need to teach with the Savior’s love and help people feel the spirit so they can truly be converted and have the strength to change and then be committed enough to remain faithful.

Saturday Mark met a great group who had come from Santa Rita to do baptisms in the temple. The missionaries have only been in Santa Rita since July but there are already 45 people attending their Sunday meetings. This trip to the temple will help them and encourage them to prepare to receive their endowments in the future. Elders Urmston, Fernandez,Bills, and Villegas are doing well there to gather in the existing members living there and teaching and baptizing more also. We have driven through Santa Rita the whole time we have been here and wondered why there weren’t missionaries there. It has been fun to see the excitement as the city has now been opened up for the work!

We are preparing for our second round of leadership training meetings and zone leaders council this week. We continue to focus on the new eight simplified lessons from Preach My Gospel recently given us to help prepare our missionaries to be better teachers. All the zone and district leaders and the trainers will be in Asuncion for three days and nights of lesson and practices. We counted about 74 people for lunches. It will be a great week with lots of energy all in one room! We love to see that part of the missionaries when they are working on being better teachers and then go out and help the rest of the mission.

Today our son Robert is blessing our sweet little granddaughter Rose Amelia in Provo. We wish we could be there with them along with Rachel and Jack . We are grateful for the good things that are happening in our family and even though we enjoy the joy of these events from far away the joy is still there. We love our family and the knowledge that we can be with them forever brings us great comfort as we are away from them for these few years. Have a great week! Love, Mark and Sandy