November 6, 2010

Dear Family and Friends, November 6, 2010

November is here and again the seasons just don’t match the weather here. It’s been in the eighties and hasn’t been humid yet so it’s been quite nice. After we exercised today on our preparation day we spent some time in the pool which was wonderful! We have a baby bird out on the patio in a bush and have fun watching the mother swoop in with her worms for the baby. It’s a beautiful time of the year!

Last Sunday we attended our home ward here in Herrera. We don’t attend there very often because we are out visiting other wards and branches often but it was nice to be there with more people we know a little better. In the afternoon we went over to meet the Pierce family who live about 10 minutes away. Sarah Pierce is the daughter of our friends from Farmington Bert and Linda Margetts. Sarah and her husband Benjamin and their 4 children will be here in Asuncion for 3 years with an assignment with the US Embassy. The children are 9, 7, 5 and 1. Three boys and a girl. It was so fun to meet them and visit with them a bit. They are a wonderful family and will be a great asset to their ward. Examples of good strong families are so needed here. They both speak Spanish so they are adjusting quite well.

Monday we had a staff meeting and took Elder Bowns to lunch. He has served as the secretary for Mark and he was finish training his replacement so he went back out to the field on Tuesday. He served well and helped us in many ways. He was especially talented with computers and helped with quite a few things in that area.

Tuesday we said good bye to Elder Bowers who was heading home to Utah. President interviewed him and he was off to life after the mission. He had served well and we will miss him. After the interview , we went to a district meeting with the Pinoza’ district. Elder Swenson was very impressive in his directing of the meeting . We like to attend district meeting as often as we can so we can see what is happening during those meetings. They are all held on Tuesdays so we try to attend them whenever we can. That is where we see the leadership skills of the missionaries in action and get a little more time with missionaries in smaller groups.

The rest of the week was spent preparing for our upcoming zone conference and mission tour with Elder Foster and his wife from the area presidency. They will arrive Tuesday and be here through our whole zone conference cycle. We are excited to have them come!

We have spent a lot of time reviewing all of the notes we took at our mission presidents seminar also. I typed up 16 pages of notes that I had taken so I could read and study and review them more easily. We received so many wonderful things that will help us so much. We have felt direction as to the things we need to focus on with the mission and it is exciting to feel the direction we need to take to further inspire the missionaries to accomplish all they can for the mission and for themselves personally. It has been wonderful to see the many opportunities already where we have been talking with missionaries and we have remembered specific things we were taught that were exactly what the missionaries needed . The spirit is such an amazing gift for each of us. I know as we study and prepare and try to learn he helps us remember what we need to know exactly when we need it. When we are teaching about obedience I remember something Elder Aidukaitis said to us . He said, ”When we aren’t obedient we say “No Thank You” to the help we could receive from the Lord.” That is so true! The Lord wants to help all of his children and we just need to qualify for the help by doing what he has asked us to do. I know we all could receive much more help and direction if we were more obedient in our lives. I’m so grateful for the things I am constantly learning here through this experience. Well ,we hope you all have good week. We plan to! We love and miss you all! Mark and Sandy