Dear Family and Friends, April 23,2011
District Conference went well last weekend in Encarnacion. On Sunday there were 420 people in attendance which was great. The reality though is that there are 4500 members on the records there so there is a real challenge with holding on to members. There is so much work to do here in helping the members remain faithful and also work with the missionaries. We see progress but it is slow. There is always a need for more leaders who have an understanding of the important things needed to help people grow in their testimonies and desires to be committed to their covenants. A new councilor in the district presidency was called. Brother Horvath is from Argentina and he and Mark struck up a friendship early in our mission. He has been the executive secretary in the district and he will be a great asset in the presidency as he is willing to go the extra mile to reach out and serve.
Mark finished up interviews with missionaries in Encarnacion Sunday and Monday and then we were off to Ciudad del Este for more interviews. We finished there with the last 30 interviews and hurried home to Asuncion so Mark could set apart a missionary leaving from Ca’aguazu for Peru. We had to drive about three hours after dark which we try to never do. It was a long trip partly because many people were on the road getting ready for Holy week celebrations. There were many police out who love to randomly stop people and ask for documents or whatever adding to the traffic problems ,anyway we made it home in time to go to the office so the missionary could be set apart.
Friday we went to speak at a Young Single Adult conference in Ita’. It was a great group of young people. Two of the young men were missionaries in Argentina with Daniel Lord ,Sara’s fiancé. They came up to speak to us after the meeting to tell us what a wonderful missionary he was. It’s always nice to hear good things about our future son in law! We enjoy being with the youth of the church and encouraging those who have not yet served missions to prepare for it.
Saturday Mark spoke to another Youth group and then we had District conference the rest of the day and Sunday in Paraguari’. This season is so busy with all the conferences that Mark presides over. I don’t know how he does it! It is always good though to have an extra chance to see the missionaries in the conferences and to encourage the members to be more involved in the missionary work in their wards and branches.
Thursday we were thinking of Christian Callan our grandson who turned three. We spoke to him on the phone and he is growing up fast. Friday was also a special day for Sara and Daniel as they both graduated from BYU. Daniel’s family was in town so our children in Utah were able to meet them and celebrate their graduations together at a party the Lord’s held for Sara and Daniel. It sounds like they all had a great time getting to know one another! Can’t wait for our turn to meet them all! It’s hard to miss these fun times but we get reports on everything that we are missing so that helps us a bit.
We are grateful for this Easter season and the wonderful blessings we have in our lives because of our Savior , Jesus Christ. We know he lived and suffered and died for us so that we can change each day through repentance and become more like Him. We are grateful for the restoration of the gospel and the priesthood and the sealing powers that are on the earth today. We have great hope that if we are obedient and serve in the ways the Lord asks us to , we can be with our family now and forever! Happy Easter!!! Love, Mark and Sandy
Dear Family and Friends, April 14, 2011
This has been a good week full of good things. Sunday I had an interesting experience in Relief Society that I wanted to share. Our Relief Society meetings ( actually many meetings) seem to have a slow star as people don’t arrive on time. The meeting began with me and a sister missionary, a senior missionary who works with the perpetual education fund and a new member of our ward whose husband works for the US Embassy. All of us were native English speakers. The teacher hadn’t arrived so the President who is from Uruguay began to teach the lesson. She was trying her best to use as much English as she could because the other three didn’t understand Spanish. Eventually about 20 more sisters arrived so she could teach in Spanish for the majority who were there. It was just interesting to be here but in a meeting where the majority ,at least for a while were English speakers. The family who works for the embassy have three children who are 10,7 and 1 years old. None of the family speaks Spanish although they had a 14 week course through the embassy. What an adventure for them!
Monday and Tuesday leadership council and capacitation were held. It’s good to get the leaders together and make sure they are being trained in their responsibilities so they can help the rest of the missionaries. Elder Bradley Foster from the Area Presidency attended the Tuesday meeting and gave some great training on working with the members so we can be more effective in the work.
Tuesday we also said good bye at the airport to Elders Beramendi and Aris who were two of our zone leaders. They were heading home after completing their missions. Both were good missionaries who have great things ahead of them in their futures. We also got a nice letter from Elder Moreno from Panama who went home a month ago. He learned English well while here in the mission and was anxious to tell us that he had accepted a job with City Bank and because of his English skills he will be paid three times the normal salary. We really try to encourage the English language program with the latin missionaries and his letter was a great example of what can happen when they work hard and learn during the mission from their English speaking companions.
Tuesday night was a special night for us as we received a phone call from our daughter Sara telling us that she was officially engaged to Daniel Lord. We had a fun Skype conversation with Daniel last Sunday night when he asked permission and our blessing to ask her. It is an interesting place we are in to get to know our future son in law by skype, after receiving the invitation to skype with him by facebook. We are grateful for the technologies that allow us to be able to get to know him a bit even through the distances. He’s a wonderful young man and they both seem very happy. Now on to long distance wedding planning! What a blessing for us!
Today is our daughter in law Rachel’s birthday. We are so grateful for her and the wonderful wife she is to Robert. They are raising a cute family with their sweet little Jack and Rose. They are good to skype us occasionally so we can keep connected to them and the grandbabies! We are grateful for the temple covenants that bind us to our family!
We head off tomorrow for interviews and apartment inspections in one outlying town and then on to Encarnacion for District conference this weekend followed by interviews for all the rest of the missionaries there and then in Ciudad Del Este. We love to be with each of the missionaries as we go out to interview. We are happy to be here serving and we are grateful for the protection we feel as we travel around. The Lord is blessing us and the missionaries, this we know. We hope you all have a wonderful week! Love, Mark and Sandy
Dear Family and Friends, April 9, 2011
We received a nice letter this week from the parents of one our missionaries. They just wanted us to know their son a little better and learn about his family. It was nice to feel like we know him better because of it. We see the missionaries here doing the work and accomplishing so much but we don’t always know much about their lives before so it was nice. It is such a blessing for us to get to know and love these missionaries as we see them work to become the missionaries the Lord needs them to be.
We drove out to Ca’auazu and Coronel Oviedo Thursday for interviews with 22 missionaries and also an interview with a prospective missionary. It was a good day seeing all the missionaries there and the drive was beautiful .The weather was a little cooler which was nice. We left at 5 a.m. so we were able to watch the sun rise as we drove and we were reminded of Elder Bednar’s conference talk on revelation. That was such a great analogy of the different ways revelation comes. We are so grateful for all of the conference messages that we received. It is so nice to hear the missionaries speaking about the things they learned and how it applies to themselves and to their investigators.
In the mission there are always some who are struggling with different things and it is so wonderful to have living prophets teach us the things we need to hear now in our day that will help us. I know that for me personally certain messages jump out to me to either help me change or help me recognize the things I am doing correctly. It is so nice to receive that sweet , gentle guidance in our lives through the words of prophets carried to our hearts by the spirit. This life is the time for all of us to progress and during the mission we have the advantage to be focused on things spiritual all of the time and it is a great blessing to each of us as we try to become more like the Savior. I love hearing the testimonies of young missionaries who are learning more and more about their Savior and how to tap into his power and help. Some come already knowing how to do this and that is even better for the work so they can just get going!
My love for missionaries and members and investigators grows as I see them seeking to incorporate the word of the Lord to their lives. It takes courage to change sometimes but it is so good to see people trying to be in a better place with the Lord. We are grateful for the love and support we feel as we are here serving. We are grateful for the evidences of the Lord in our lives every day as He teaches us the things we need to know at this time in our lives. We hope you all have a wonderful week!
Love, Mark and Sandy
Dear Family and Friends, April 3,2011
This week was interview time for all the missionaries in and around Asuncion. Mark spent the whole week interviewing 108 missionaries. We really do enjoy the time with each missionary. While Mark was interviewing I spoke to each companionship about their Area Book , which is the record keeping book of everything to do with investigators and converts. I also looked at all their personal planners. Most of the Area Books are becoming better organized as we are trying as a mission to better coordinate them with the large maps of their areas so they can work smart and not waste time crisscrossing their areas. It also is interesting to look at their planners and see their personalities come through in the way they use them. We see progress in many in the way they use these tools to help them be better and more effective missionaries. I also gave a few teaching pointers to help them be more clear and direct and simple in their teaching methods. It was fun to hear of their excitement for upcoming baptisms and investigators who are progressing. It was a good week!
Mark also had a skype meeting with a district presidency in Encarnacion. They are getting skype set up with all the districts so he can have regular meetings with them all without having to travel the 4-6 hours to be there in person. It is a great way to have more teaching time with the different groups and it is much more convenient.
Conference has been wonderful! We love listening and learning. We love to hear themessages that touch us personally and also the direction we receive for our missionaries and their needs. Mark went to the Fernando de la Mora stake center with the office elders for Priesthood meeting. We have heard many reports of baptisms being performed between the sessions of conference yesterday and today. What a great day to have a baptism and general conference on the same day! It is such a great time for missionaries to bring their investigators to hear the words spoken to the world by our leaders. We hope you all have a wonderful week. We miss you all! Love , Mark and Sandy
