January 1, 2011

Dear Friends and Family, January 1, 2011

Wow the last two weeks flew by! We are so grateful for the Christmas season in the mission. It really allows us to focus on the Savior’s birth and not be too caught up in the busy –ness that sometimes it is so easy for us to do at home. We enjoyed a nice Christmas eve by attending the baptism for Ryan Pierce . The Pierce family lives here in Asuncion while working at the US embassy. Ryan’s grandparents are Bert and Linda Margetts ,our friends from Farmington. It was so fun to see the family and be there as Ryan was baptized. An added treat was the musical number where Ryan and his two brothers along with Sarah their Mom played a Christmas hymn on their violins. They did a beautiful job and we felt blessed to spend a little time with them that day.

We enjoyed speaking with all of our children on Christmas day. It was good to hear their voices and see them on skype. It is always fun to see the grandchildren and see that they still recognize us! We also learned that day that we will be receiving our fourteenth grandbaby in July. That will be Brian and Jenny , our oldest daughter’s, sixth child. We are happy for the good things that are happening in the lives of our children.

The missionaries were all happy that they were given permission this year to use skype for their phone calls to their families. We received word from Salt Lake only a few days before Christmas that they could use skype, so some had to scramble to get set up for the calls. There were a few problems connecting but I think everyone eventually made contact with their families, if not by skype at least by phone. The phone calls are always a mixed blessing. It is so nice for everyone to be able to speak with their families but sometimes it increases the homesickness for some for a bit.

We attended church in our home ward on Sunday and the Young Women sang a Christmas hymn in Sacrament meeting. They also brought gifts into Relief Society for all of the women.

Monday we jumped right into preparations for change week , getting ready to receive 9 new missionaries. Elders Hatch, Henriquez , Holmgren, Ponce and Shaw and Hermanas Gonzales ,Lavaka , Paipa and Plummer arrived on Tuesday . They are a good group who are ready to work! We oriented them and then Wednesday they had some training and then they met their trainers and were off! We were excited to receive 4 hermanas and will receive 4 more next change. We only have 13 sisters so whenever we receive new ones the sisters are excited! It also means our percentage of new sisters is high right now so there is a lot of teaching and training to be done.The Sisters’ missions go by so quickly that they really need to go to work fast to get their language quickly so they can communicate. Once the new missionaries were off we went to lunch and the temple with the 9 missionaries who had completed their missions. Every change I love to see the growth that happens to the missionaries during their time in the mission. We had sweet testimony meetings with new missionaries on Tuesday and Wednesday with the returning missionaries. It is probably my favorite part of change week! I love to see the new missionaries speaking their new language as they bear their testimonies. For those finishing their missions, I love to think of each of them taking their strengths with them back home and continuing to grow and also helping build the kingdom in their home wards and branches.

We are grateful for our experiences here in the mission. There are many wonderful things that we enjoy and there are also hard, sad things we experience as we work with our missionaries. We really feel the love of the Lord for all of his children as we try to help these young missionaries reach their potential as missionaries and as children of God and future husbands, wives, and fathers and mothers. We truly do love our missionaries and want the be instruments in helping each of them progress. The Plan of Happiness is wonderful in the way we are given opportunities to learn and grow and progress as we work hard to do what the Lord asks of us. We hope you all enjoy a wonderful New Year of Hope, Peace and Joy! We love and miss you all!! Mark and Sandy