Dear Family and Friends, June 25, 2011
This week started with the surprise early arrival of our new grandson Eli. He decided to come 5 ½ weeks early to wish his father a Happy Father’s Day I guess. He and his mom Jenny are doing well. He was 5 lb. 5 oz. and 18inches and only needed a breathing tube for a day. As I write this he is still in the NICU but hopefully in the next week he will be able to go home and join his family. His siblings had to wait 5 days before they could meet him but they were able to do that yesterday. I am so grateful for all the ward members and family members who are reaching out to help Jenny and Brian during this time. Jenny is back and forth to the hospital 4 times a day now and she’s getting tired but we are grateful for the help she is receiving. It is hard not to be there to help but we know the Lord is taking care of their family for us! We are grateful for all of our children, their spouses and future spouses and all of our fourteen grandchildren. We are grateful for the way they are reaching out to support one another during these challenging times. We are grateful for our covenants that bind us together and bind us to heavenly Father. The great plan definitely is a great plan of happiness!
This week all of our missionaries had the opportunity to attend a session in the temple. We are so blessed to have a temple here in Paraguay. It is so good for the missionaries to be able to attend not only for them personally but also to help them be reminded of the importance for all of the people we teach here to be prepared to enter and make further covenants after baptism. The missionaries love the two visits to the temple they are given each year. It was especially nice for the 24 new missionaries we received last week to be able to go to the temple here so soon after their arrival. I remember when we had been here 10 days and we went to a session in the temple. I had decided to go ahead do the whole session in Spanish and was so grateful for the understanding I had of the language there that day. I know a big part of that was because the temple is very familiar to me but it helped me have more confidence that I could learn the language better and be able to do what I needed to here in the mission. I love that calm, comfortable feeling through the spirit that I felt that day. For me the temple has always been a place of comfort and encouragement as I go through life with all its joys and challenges.
Our new missionaries and their trainers are the first group to use the new training program given to the missions recently by the church. We have heard good reports of the training going on and the way the very specific schedule is helping them. It includes an extra hour daily for study with very specific guidance for their study along with more language time. It is a twelve week schedule so the missionaries and trainers will have more time focused on getting the new missionaries up to speed and reminding the trainers of things they can improve on also.
We had a nice dinner last night here at the mission home with the mission presidency and our area seventy , Elder Di Giovani. We always have fun sharing our American food with them and hearing their comments on it. They seemed to like our family favorites and ate plenty! A couple asked to take home some Texas sheath cake with them. We have noticed here that the baked goods look very appetizing but they often don’t taste so good. The cake looked and tasted good!
This weekend we will be attending stake conference with the Fernando de la Mora Sur stake. Elder Foster of the area presidenc y will be in town and wants to stay with us tomorrow night too. We always love his visits and we saved some cake and baked beans and salads from our barbeque last night so he can have some American food also. Well, until next week! Love , Mark and Sandy
New missionaries during orientation at the mission office.
Dear Family and Friends, June 18, 2011
Well our change week has come and gone. What a fun week! We received 24 new missionaries on Tuesday and all the planning and preparing of the office elders for all the details worked out beautifully! We had a couple scares because the airport kept closing because of the air quality related to the volcano in Chile but everyone got here and those missionaries finishing their missions were able to fly out with only a few delays. Tuesday we picked up the 24 new missionaries in a bus and brought them to the office. There we had a dinner and then photos, interviews and orientation. Half of the elders slept in our dorm room at the office and the other half at a hotel. The one sister stayed at the mission home with us. She is from Paraguay and will be here until her visa for Mexico arrives. We received a great group of missionaries who were excited to finally get to Paraguay and begin working.
Wednesday we held a 1 ½ hour meeting with the trainers and then the new missionaries joined in for another hour of more training. We took a group photo and then the taxis came and off they went to their areas or the terminal to catch buses to their areas. Mark finished interviewing the rest of the 21 elders who were leaving and then we took the elders who were finishing their missions to lunch and then to the temple. Afterwards we came back to the mission home for dessert and testimony meeting. It is always so wonderful to hear the testimonies of the missionaries who have come to the end of their missions. They grow so much and our love for them grows also. We love to see the progress we have all made in the last two years. This was the first group we have had for their whole missions so we have been with them a long time.
We had a nice experience at the temple. There is a woman we have seen at the temple every time we have been in the temple since we came here almost two years ago. We have spoken to her before but this time she told us her whole history. Basically she served in the temple in Orlando, which is where she is from, for 4 years. She has also spent time working in the temple in Costa Rica and Guatemala. She has been here for 4 years. When she started she did 10 sessions a week but at the end was doing 12 each week. She found the church late in life and has a daughter and grandson who are also members. With tears in her eyes she said she hoped the offering she has made to the Lord with her temple service is acceptable but only wished she found the gospel earlier in her life. She was such a great example of really giving her all to the Lord and the church. At the end of the month she will be returning to her family in Florida. We will miss seeing her!
Thursday morning we were up early to begin saying goodbye at the airport to the missionaries. The airlines had some delays so one group of five latins ended up staying an extra day and then left Friday. The rest flew out as scheduled. Wow ,what a week of movement in the mission. Friday we spent assessing change week and seeing how we could improve things for next time.
This week we also welcomed a new assistant to the president. Elder Blake who has served so well returned home and Elder Fernandez from Chile will be working with Elder Roberts now as an assistant. He will be a great asset to the mission. We will miss Elder Blake. We also welcomed into the office Elder Stewart who is in training as the new financiero. Elder Rockwood will stay on to train for a while as his responsibilities are many and take a while to learn. We are excited to have a great group of new missionaries here to add to our missionary force and we are excited for the missionaries who have returned home to move forward in their lives.
We are grateful for the family we have. Our granddaughter Anna turned 5 this week so we had a little chat with her. We are also grateful for the wonderful fathers we both have and hope they have a wonderful Father’s day. They have both been great examples to us and have taught us well throughout our lives. We are also grateful for the wonderful sons and sons in law that we have. They are great dads to their sweet families and we count that as a great blessing in our lives also. We hope you all have a great week. Love , Mark and Sandy
Dear Family and Friends, June 12, 2011
Monday our baby Sara turned 22. I can’t believe Sara is all grown up! I guess it is only right since she is getting married in August. Sara has been a wonderful daughter and we appreciate her goodness! It has been interesting to be here as she’s been going through the wedding planning time of her life. It appears she is doing a great job (without us) and things are coming along nicely! We know she and Daniel have a wonderful life ahead of them! We love Sara very much!
For us this has also been a week of planning and preparing. On Tuesday June 14 we will receive 24 new missionaries. With that big of a group there are many things to do to be ready for them. Mark has spent hours planning and praying for inspiration to place all the new companionships together. It really is quite a process with each move affecting other missionaries and their companionships. We need 24 good solid missionaries who can be great trainers and then they need to be placed with the right companion. Usually he receives initial impressions but after actually meeting them sometimes there are a few changes. Some mornings he runs right to the board in his office here at home (where all the missionaries’ photos and information cards are placed by areas of assignment) to make changes that came to him in the night. The office elders are also busy preparing all the transportation schedules and supplies needed for the missionaries plus meals and accommodations for the night they arrive. At the same time we are preparing to say goodbye to 21 missionaries on Thursday. We had to rent a bus this time because the numbers are so big, where usually we can manage by borrowing the other mission’s van along with ours and our car and a man who helps move the luggage to the airport and back. Anyway it is a fun, exciting week made more fun and exciting by the large numbers!
This weekend we attended stake conference for the Asuncion Stake. It was a wonderful weekend. There are many strong people in the stake and the attendance was great. It’s fun now that we know more people and get a chance to catch up and visit when we see them at conferences. We also have 28 missionaries who serve in that stake so it was good to see all of them. Elder Spitale from Argentina was the visiting Area Seventy who presided. Usually the seventies fly from Argentina but this time his trip was a little unusual. Because of the volcano eruption in Chile last week and the ash in the air, the airplanes were not flying between Argentina and Paraguay. He took a colectivo (bus) that took him 20 hours to make the trip. He arrived just in time for the Saturday Priesthood meeting at 4pm without even being able to change his clothes. Luckily the planes were flying again today so he was able to fly home after the conference. The Area Seventies have a very busy life during conference season. They work full time at their jobs and then travel many weekends to preside at the conferences. We were really impressed that he made such a great effort to get to the conference and fulfill his responsibilities. We were also glad to hear the planes were flying again so we can receive our missionaries on Tuesday and those finishing their missions can fly home on Thursday. Mark and I both spoke on Saturday and Sunday and Mark taught during Priesthood leadership meeting also.
We are looking forward to a good week meeting new missionaries and some tender times saying goodbye to some other missionaries. Change is constant in the mission. Hope you all have a good week! Love, Mark and Sandy
Daniella and Julio being married by the judge.
All the zone leaders, assistants and President.Dear Friends and Family, June 5, 2011
This week was the once a month council meeting with all the zone leaders. They all came to Asuncion for a five hour council meeting. It is a time to teach and train and help the zone leaders be able to fulfill their responsibilities in lifting and helping their zones. Since we just finished zone conference last week it was also a great time to remind everyone of the focus of zone conference and keep teaching those messages of being totally committed and working hard always. We have some great zone leaders who want to be good leaders. Teaching and training is a constant in the mission. These young men need to learn now the things that will bless them and their families forever. As they see the importance of follow through and knowing how to help others achieve their potential they can grow into the future leaders the church needs. For some the future is not so far away. We had one elder leave the mission in March and within a month he was a councilor in a branch presidency. He was a good zone leader and I’m sure he was ready to serve well!
Saturday we attended a wedding and baptism in Barrio Herrera. It is quite common here for people to not be married so there often needs to be a marriage before a baptism can take place. The missionaries in Barrio Herrera have two more families lined up for baptism in the coming weeks. The ward members were so good to come and help get the couple ready for the wedding. Someone from the ward loaned Daniella a wedding dress and Julio a suit. They had great support from the ward and that is exactly what new members need, ward members reaching out and including them so they can make the adjustments they need to be members. Julio cut his hair for the wedding and baptism and looked great. It is interesting to watch the new members try to change inward and outward to feel more a part of the church. The elders in Barrio Herrera are working hard and it shows in the people they are finding and teaching.
Sunday we went to stake conference in Nemby. It was good to see all the missionaries there. Many brought their investigators up to meet us. President Benitez is a great stake president and there was a great spirit in the meeting and the members came prepared to learn and they brought with them a wonderful spirit. The chapel was full but it was very reverent the whole meeting. The meeting focused on the preparations youth need in their lives to be on the right path and the important part parents play in their progress. Mark spoke about the importance of members in missionary work and what they can do to be involved more. Two returned missionaries bore their testimonies and gave great messages of being prepared before their missions and remaining faithful afterwards. One of the young men introduced us to his fiancé after the meeting. They will be married in September in the Asuncion temple. They will be a great strength here in the church!
We have had a good week. There are always challenges in life and in the mission but the Lord helps each of us as we strive to do our best. We are grateful for the reality of the atonement which allows each of us to change and improve daily.
Tonight we are going to meet one of our daughters’ future in laws through a skype conversation. Hopefully we will meet our other daughter’s future in laws soon also. Interesting world we live in!! But is a wonderful world with many great experiences. We love and miss you all! Love, Mark and Sandy
Dear Friends and Family, May 30 ,2011
This was our second week of zone conferences. We began the week in Asuncion and drove to Encarnacion after meeting with the office staff for our weekly meeting. We held zone conference on Tuesday with 28 missionaries from zones 7 and 11. Wednesday we drove to Ciudad del Este and had conference on Thursday with 32 missionaries from zones 9 and 10. Friday we were up early for a conference in Coronel Oviedo with the 20 missionaries from zone 8 who serve in Coronel Oviedo and Ca’auazu. At the end of the zone conference cycle we felt much gratitude for the way the missionaries had prepared themselves for the conferences. The spirit was able to teach well because they came ready to learn and listen. We heard sweet testimonies throughout the conferences from all the missionaries who will be leaving in June. It was so good to see the growth in all the missionaries. They all begin their missions at different levels spiritually but every missionary who applies himself will learn many things during their time here and be better prepared for life after the mission. After seven zone conferences it felt good to be finished for this cycle.
Saturday we were up and on the road to head back to Ciudad del Este for a stake conference. We had a nice experience with the stake there. We both helped in the training held on Saturday afternoon for the priesthood and women auxiliary leaders. They are fairly strong in number in Ciudad del Este and we had a great meeting before the general session on Sunday for all the new members and investigators. There were probably 40 people there plus the missionaries and it was great again to see many families in the group. During one point in the Sunday morning session Mark had all the missionaries serving in the stake stand and when all 32 stood it was an impressive sight of strength and power. You could hear people responding to the sight. It was great! The members here are gaining the vision of the importance of working with the missionaries and it is showing in the number of people the missionaries are able to teach. Elder Foster from our area presidency was presiding and we always love to see him. We had a nice dinner with him after the Saturday night session at our favorite hotel there. Sunday after our meetings we zipped back home again to Asuncion. We have been on the road a lot lately but that means we get to see missionaries more so that is good.
The weather has been perfect here lately. We have blue skies and the temperature is great. It seems to make everyone work harder and be a bit happier which is always wonderful! Well ,we hope you all have a great week! We love you and miss you! Love, Mark and Sandy
