December 5, 2010

Dear Family and Friends, December 5,2010

I really can’t believe the week is over ! Where does the time go? Monday began with normal staff meeting to plan the week and make sure all the details were set for the meetings planned for the week. Tuesday morning at 8am we met with the Area Medical Advisor and his wife and the Area Mental Health advisor. They were here to check out the facilities we use for medical needs. They also checked on a few missionaries from both our mission and the North mission. After that meeting we went to a district meeting in Nemby with district leader Elder Skinner . We enjoyed our morning there. It really helps us see the needs of the missionaries when we can be with them in those weekly district meetings.

Wednesday was our monthly zone leaders’ council here at the mission home. We have 11 zones now so we had 22 zone leaders plus the assistants here. We had a good morning of teaching and sharing and then a lunch of my Mom’s recipe of chicken dressing casserole. The elders thought it tasted like a thanksgiving dinner and that was my hope! After lunch Mark had the elders work on setting some goals for 2011. We left them alone to work it out between themselves and they told us it was a great learning process for them. They were anxious to share their goals with the district leaders and trainers on Thursday when we held our leadership training meeting. That was another full day and by the end we were feeling so wonderful at spending two days with some very wonderful leaders and missionaries. I was especially happy as I watched the zone leaders sharing and teaching the district leaders and trainers the things they had learned on Wednesday. I loved it when they bore testimony of the things they had learned and invited others to strengthen their own testimonies so together they could help the rest of the missionaries in the mission. There is great joy in watching these young men and women growing into the wonderful people we see them becoming. I always think of the good things they will be able to do throughout the world after their missions.

Friday we attended a sweet baptism in Nemby. The Servin family was so happy as the parents and two of the three children were baptized. The ward came out and supported them so well. They had cake and other refreshments and the members were so good to reach out to the new family as a part of their ward. There were probably 60 people there that evening. Saturday we also went to a baptism of a woman here in our ward in Herrera. She is hopeful her children and boyfriend will soon be baptized also.

Today we attended church in Ita after going to Paraguari for an interview. I visited the primary which had 5 children in it. They adapt the program to fit the numbers here but they are trying and doing their best. We are excited to hear the First Presidency Christmas devotional tonight. We leave in the morning to head to Ciudad del Este for specialized training with the zones there. It’s been a busy week but a good one! We are finding more time to spend with our missionaries in smaller groups and it has been nice as we see what is happening in their different areas. Hope you all have a good week.

Love, Mark and Sandy