Dear Family and Friends, October 16,2011
This
week started at 4:30 am Monday when we got up so we could be in San
Ignacio by 8:30am for interviews. We met with 8 elders there and then
stopped to interview two more in Bogado. We ended the afternoon in
Encarnacion with four more interview with the elders from Natalio 10 and
Ayolas.
Mark
also had some interviews for the district while we were there that
afternoon. Tuesday we were back at the church in Encarnacion for 14 more
interviews. Some of the youth came to the church
that day selling bollos (Like round doughnuts with no holes) to earn
money for a temple trip. The temple is 5 hours by car but by colectivo
is probably 7 hours.
After
the interviews in Encarnacion we drove towards Ciudad del Este stopping
at the church in Santa Rita to interview 4 missionaries. They were all
happy and working hard. I continued giving my health and lesson planning
messages to each district of elders. Wednesday
we were in Ciudad del Este to interview the remaining 30 missionaries
from the zones there. By Wednesday evening all the interviews had been
completed. It was good to see the districts come in and get to work with
practices or planning sessions throughout the week while they waited
for their interviews. We try to help missionaries see the importance of
using every bit of time we have as missionaries and they are doing well
with that. We try to plan so there is not too much waiting time but
sometimes the interviews go a little longer than scheduled.
The
hotel we normally stay in Ciudad del Este was full for one of the
nights we were there so we had to try a new one. (Always an adventure
here!) We stayed in one called Casa Blanca and it was okay but we like
our normal one better. We did love the view though of the river
separating Paraguay and Brazil and all the trees on the river banks
behind the hotel.
Friday
we prepared for District conference in Coronel Oviedo. Saturday we were
up at 5am to get there by 9am for interviews for Mark with the Branch
presidents in the districts. We went out to visit some families after
the interview and met two nice families. One was a woman who is a less
active member who needed a little encouragement. We gave her a Book of
Mormon and asked her about her feelings when she initially joined the
church years ago. She said she had good memories of her time in the
church and said she would start reading the Book of Mormon again. We
also visited a family that joined the church about 4 years ago. The
husband had a stroke a while ago but they want to prepare to go to the
temple. We hope they can do the things they need to so they can receive
that blessing soon. They lived in a very humble home but there was a lot of love there!
Saturday
afternoon Priesthood leadership was help and at the same time we had
auxiliary training for the women. Mark, President Ocampo(his councilor)
and President Aguilera (District President)taught in the priesthood
training and I taught the women. I’ve given a zillion talks and testimonies but this was the first time conduct a two hour training. We
made it through okay and the time actually flew by . One of the sisters
told me today that that was the first time that they had had auxiliary
training given by a non latin sister and she said I did a good job. Next week I get to do it again in Ca’auazu. I’m really stretching!! It
is so fun though to feel like I can finally share anything I want to in
Spanish without having it all written down!! That was probably the
hardest thing for me at first and it’s the same for all missionaries ,
not being able to express our feelings and teach completely because of
the language barrier. The Lord helps his missionaries with their
language. I know I make lots of mistakes but oh well I just keep working
at it!
Sunday’s
meetings went well. We had a meeting with new members and investigators
before the general session of conference and we had 35 people there.
The general session was good also. The Saturday night adult session is
always low in attendance because people just have a hard time with
transportation issues when there too many meetings close together.
We
now are getting ready to receive 15 missionaries Tuesday and say good
bye to 15 more. These change weeks seem to be coming faster and
faster!!! Well, have a good week! Love, Mark and Sandy
