August 8, 2009

We had another busy week here in the mission. It seems like these weeks fly by. It continues to be hard keeping track of time but we are adjusting. We started off the week welcoming a new missionary into the office to replace Elder Olson as my secretary. Elder Olson will be hard to replace. He has such a wonderfully kind and pure spirit. I would love him to date one of our daughters but that discussion would be for another time. He will be a BYU study in about a year. We brought Elder Wilkes into the office to begin training for the assignment and he will be great. He is a very humble, hard working Elder who was surprised by the new assignment. We are excited to get to know him better. Elder Ho from Hawaii and Elder Vreeken, also from Hawaii will also be leaving this week for home. They have been serving in the office as well. Elder Ho’s replacement, Elder Vance has been here training for a number of weeks and is doing just fine. Elder Vreeken has been serving as one of my assistants and I will be assigning a missionary from Uruguay to replace him. This new assistant will has a very powerful, focused spirit and is highly respected by the other missionaries. He is older (27) and had to receive special permission to serve a mission at that age and he has made the most of it. He has baptized in every area he has served in and has developed into a wonderful teaching. He doesn’t know about his new assignment yet. I will call him tomorrow with the assignment. Sandy and I went over last night to the home of one of this elder’s recent convert families. They have a little boy of 10 years who had a high fever when younger which induced a seizure. It left the boy quite hyperactive and the bishop wanted me to interview the boy to see if he needed baptism or if he was not accountable because of the neurological damage caused by the seizure. We were met at the home by the mother of the boy. She greeted us warmly and thanked us for coming over to interview her son. We visited in the living room for a few minutes with the whole family. As we visited the 5 year old daughter brought little gifts to each one of us that she had found around the house. She brought Sandy a little paper flower and to me she gave a little pamphlet with different types of motorcycles that could be ordered. It was really sweet. The children here are just adorable. There little smiling faces just warm our hearts. It is hard to describe it but we can see them, as it were, through the Savior’s eyes and feel how He must have felt when he called the children to Him to bless them. We are especially grateful to know that the children of our members will have the gospel in their lives as they grow and develop. We regularly see the children of the streets, very poor and oft times alone, begging for money or selling something. The streets are so busy with cars and trucks and yet when traffic stops for a moment, these little ones weave their way through the cars tapping on windows seeking a response from the car’s occupants. We feel to give them all we have. We are left with such an empty, sad feeling for these little innocent children as we drive away. The challenge of poverty is very real here. It makes you long for the speedy return of the Lord to put an end to this. In the meantime we do what we can in spreading the hope of the gospel. As I had mentioned, we went to this home to interview the young boy for baptism. Sometimes I need to interview baptismal candidates because of special circumstances. This little boy represented one of these special circumstances. After a few minutes of visiting, the family, Sister Callan, and the missionaries left Jose and me alone for the interview. The mother brought some pictures of gospel subjects (First Vision, the Savior’s baptism, etc) that she thought could help me during the interview. As we began to visit, this hyperactive little boy sat down in a chair across from me quietly responded to my questions. I asked about the Prophet Joseph and after telling me that they shared the same name, he told me of the First Vision and that Joseph had seen the Father and the Son and that someday little Jose hoped to see them as well and live with them forever. I showed him the picture the Savior’s baptism and asked Jose what this picture meant to him. He said it represented the baptism of the Savior and then asked if he could be baptized like Jesus. He said he wanted to be clean like Jesus. Did tears come? You bet they did! My thought was only how much I hope that one day I can be as pure as little Jose was at that moment. I asked a few more questions and was satisfied. I told Jose that he would be baptized and be blessed with the Holy Ghost and asked him if he had any other questions. He only had one. “Will I get to eat cake after my baptism?” Wow! Jose and I then rejoined the family and I told his mother that I felt that the baptism of Jose would go forward. His mother was happy and excited. Her recently baptized husband, Jose’s father, would have the privilege of provided the ordinance for his son. Isn’t the gospel great! We left happy and edified.

We arose early Tuesday morning (3:00am) to get out to the airport for a flight to Buenos Aires for our new president’s seminar with the Area Presidency. We had a nice flight. We use a Brazilian Airlines company can TAM. Their planes are very modern and the service is very attentive. We were served a nice breakfast of eggs and sausage. We arrived on time in Buenos Aires, passed through immigrations and customs easily, and were picked up by a driver who took us to the temple in Buenos Aires. We left our bags in an office of the temple and prepared to attend the 9am session. As I got dressed before the session, I noticed a temple worker whose face seemed familiar. As I got closer I could read his nametag: Ronaldo Walter. This was the same Elder Walker who had served with me years ago in the Rosario Argentina Mission. I walked up to him and reintroduced myself to him and we embraced and shared a few minutes of sweet reminiscing about shared companions, cities we served in, and life since the mission. He was pleased to see that I had returned to South America as a mission president. The “Walker” name is a familiar name to members of the Church in Buenos Aires. They are Argentine members of English decent. The English were involved in the building of railroads many years ago in Argentina and many stayed in the country. The Walker family was one of them. I felt so blessed that we had been brought together again for a few minutes and thought about how Alma and the Sons of Mosiah must have felt upon seeing one another again. We were still strong in the faith and doing what we could to establish the Church wherever called to serve. Sandy and I completed the session and spent a few minutes in the Celestial Room. It is nice to have some quiet time and the temple sure provides that. After the session, we got word through Brother Walker that President Wilson (2^nd cousin) and his wife were waiting to see us at the MTC located across the street from the temple. We got our luggage and headed across the street. We were met at the door by two fine looking brethren who worked with the Wilsons at the MTC. They took our luggage and escorted us to where Gordon and Emolyn were. It was so nice to see them and to exchange hugs and greetings. They took us to the cafeteria area where we had a delicious lunch prepared by a wonderful staff in the kitchen area. We visited for a few minutes as the other new presidents and their wives arrived one by one from the airport. While Gordon taught a class, Emolyn took us on a tour of the MTC. We met many of the fine young Elders and Sisters in training there. We especially enjoyed meeting 5 missionaries in training who will be coming to our mission next week. The Wilsons sure work hard. The Spirit in the MTC is powerful. The facility is housed in one building. Many of the windows offer a beautiful view of the temple and grounds. After Gordon’s class we walked around the grounds of the temple and learned that it would be closed for several years for a major renovation beginning in November. We then visited in Gordon’s office and as Emolyn and Sandy visited, they learned that Emolyn’s family also had roots in Baker Oregon like Sandy’s. In fact, after visiting with Sandy’s mother upon our return to Asuncion, we learned that Sandy’s Grandfather Glen and Emolyn’s grandfather had hunted and fished together years ago in the canyons around Baker. Sandy and Emolyn were so happy to make that connection. After pictures and goodbyes, wour group of 4 new presidents and wives were picked up and off we went to downtown Buenos Aires to check into the Hilton Hotel where the training seminar would be held. That night we were met by the Area Presidency of the South America South Area and treated to a lovely dinner and conversation. These great leaders and their wives are truly impressive people. All of the presidency are members of the 1^st Quorum of the Seventy. President Shane Bowen (Idaho Falls) is the president of the Area with Elder Claudio Zivic (Argentina), 1st Counselor, and Marcos A. Aidukaitis(Brazil) as 2^nd Counselor. Wednesday was filled with great training by these Brethren and their wives. Our questions were answered as they helped us recognize the importance of the missionary effort and the responsibility we have to nurture and train the missionaries. We finished the afternoon session excited about getting back to our missions to implement the insights and impressions received. We had a few hours before having to head back to the airport so we all went for a walk around a beautiful waterfront area in a new section of Downtown Buenos Aires. It was sunny and just the right temperature. Many new buildings are being built in this area that has undergone a modernization project over that last few years. Many old waterfront buildings have been renovated and turned into shops and restaurants and condos. It was really quite impressive. I will send some pictures to Sara for the blog. During our walk we passed by a building that brought back great memories for me personally. It is the downtown auditorium called “Luna Park” which is like the Marriot Center on BYU campus. This was the site many years ago of a 4 country conference for the Church which I attended with Elder Carpenter and two investigator families. It was during that conference that President Kimball who was presiding, announced that the Church would build a temple in Brazil, the first in South America. It was a powerful experience that I will never forget. As I shared that experience with the other mission presidents and their wives, the wife of President Detlefson, from Argentina, reported that she had also been at that conference as a 14 year girl singing the choir! Small world! We returned to the hotel to await our rides to the airport and said our goodbyes until our November training meetings. Elder Bednar is coming to that meeting which will probably be in Uruguay because the temple in Argentina will be closed. We flew out of Buenos Aires late that night and arrived back in Asuncion at about 11pm. The Assistants met us and took us home. The next day we were back at the office conducting the business of the mission with interviews, making plans for upcoming training meetings, and working on transfers. We receive 20 new missionaries this week and send 6 back home. Today is official P-Day but I had a couple of interviews this morning of a young man for the temple and a branch president. The young man begins his mission this week at the MTC in Buenos Aires and I will set him apart on Wednesday. His name is Elder Zorrilla from a small branch, Ayolas, in the southern part of Paraguay. He came with his father to the mission office early this morning after an all night bus ride. He will go to the temple to receive his endowment this afternoon. I told him to tell President Wilson that he knows me. Today was the first time I have met the young man and he seemed quite excited and a little nervous about everything. We spent some time together visiting about the mission and the temple and then I conducted the interview. He will be going to Uruguay to serve his mission. I then met with a branch president who had a few questions about a welfare matter. Sandy and I then did our weekly grocery shopping and came back home to do a few personal things like writing this weekly letter. I spoke this week with the temple president, President Udall from Meza Arizona, about scheduling missionary temple visits and he was so kind and helpful. He likes the missionaries to come for 4 hours and he arranges for them to experience the ordinances of the temple and he speaks to them about missionary work and the temple. He is a former mission president in Buenos Aires and has been serving here for a year or so as the temple president. He and his wife are really sweet people. Well this week will be a busy one. Tomorrow we will be trying to meet another stake president and begin to establish a good relationship. Working with the members of the Church in missionary effort is really the key to lasting success so I really feeling a need to get to know all of the wonderful leaders and their wives here in the mission and offer our support. As I mentioned, we are gearing up to receive the new missionaries as we enter a phase of growing the size of the mission over the next few months. The work is progressing along but there is much to do to improve. We sense that there is a need to return to the fundamentals of missionary work as described in Preach My Gospel and that is what we are going to do here in the mission. We are in the process of updating a very outdated manual that the new missionaries have been receiving when they arrive here that predates Preach My Gospel and therefore doesn’t even refer to Preach My Gospel. To standardize the missionary materials we are eliminating much of what is contained in this mission manual and only retaining health and other materials relating specifically to this mission(currency, legal documents, culture, etc). All that the missionaries really need they have in the Missionary Handbook, the scriptures, the missionary gospel library, and Preach My Gospel.

Well, I’ll finish off this weekly letter and, as always, we send our love to the best group of family and friends on earth. We feel so blessed to be here. We feel your support and thank you for all you do. Until next week……President and Sister Callan

Pictures!

This is a picture of the garbage man.
It seems so primitive but yet, he's texting on his cell phone in this picture! Mom and Dad say it's interesting how technology is everywhere.
People who live in just dirt floored huts still have cell phones!

If you look closely in this picture you can see red mounds. Those are actually ant hills. They can get up to 4 or 5 feet tall and as hard as cement!

Three of the office elder's had birthdays.

August 2, 2009

Long letter this week!

August 2, 2009

The week has flown by with many exciting and challenging experiences. Last Sunday we arose early (all of the meetings here begin at 8:30am) and drove down to Ita for another branch conference. I am getting to know the names and faces of the District leadership in the Paraguari district and that is nice. We arrived and were greeted by many wonderful Saints. In fact, the chapel for sacrament meeting was full including about 15 investigators. The missionaries are working hard there and should have a number of baptisms soon. One of the elders is from Fruit Heights and went to Davis High School. His name is elder Pitcher. The other is Elder Barney from Mesa Arizona. The Gospel Essentials class was taught by a young man who has received a call to serve in California as a full-time missionary. He did a great job of answering questions and teaching about faith. The week before I had been asked by the wife of a counselor in the district presidency to visit with their inactive daughter who left the church a number of months ago because of something a branch leader had said. After the meetings the mother had managed to get her to come to the church and I visited with her for a few minutes about the circumstances surrounding her leaving the church and then bore strong testimony as to the importance of looking beyond the weaknesses of the members and seeing how we all need to improve. I think I helped her to recognize that she was just hurting herself and her family because of her decision. It must have helped because as I escorted her out of the office she saw her mother waiting and they embraced and both started to cry. The daughter asked for her mother’s forgiveness for her actions. I think she will return. Sunday evening we had our regular staff meeting and dinner at the mission home. We planned the week and discussed mission operations and schedule. We are also dealing with the news that because of budget cutbacks, we will be reduced from 4 mission vehicles to 2. The office missionaries are struggling with this but I hope in the long run it will help streamline mission operations. We will just have to plan better our use of the vehicles. We will take one of the trucks to the PBO (Presiding Bishopric’s Office) tomorrow and I think the other vehicle will be taken in a few weeks. Sandy and I will be in Buenos Aires this week for 2 days and it will give us a chance to discuss this change with the Area Presidency. Our only concern is when large numbers of missionaries fly in and out of Asuncion as part of our 6 week cycle. We will have to rent transportation vehicles to transport the missionaries and their luggage to and from the airport. We also bring missionaries into Asuncion periodically to renew visas and those groups can be quite large so we will have to use public transportation as well. We’ll have to see it this will actually save the Church money in the long run but we are trying to teach the office missionaries to accept the direction of the Brethren and to not complain. It will also mean that Sandy and I will be traveling with our assistants in the car with us so we will lose a bit of our private time but it will work out. I have spoken with the Asuncion North Mission president and we were wondering if the PBO could maintain a truck or two that could be used occasionally by our missions at times when it is very busy. The north president has a family and his wife needs transportation as she takes the children around and he also has to occasionally visit an isolated branch that requires 10 hours of travel one way over almost road-less terrain and that requires two vehicles for safety. We talked about coordinating our schedules to make use of the 4 cars we have between us. Anyway, it is just an added item to worry about during our first few weeks here.

Monday morning left Asuncion early and drove 3 hours south to San Ignacio to interview the district of elders there. They meet in a small rented house for church services. I also met the branch president and his wife who asked to impromptu interviews during which they discussed their own marital problems. The president has been a member for a short time and his wife has been a member for 9 years. He feels she bosses him around and tries to run the branch through him. They haven’t received much support from the district leadership in that they are a bit isolated. I promised them that I would call them from time to time by phone and visit them when I was in town. Membership in the Church here means going to work right away in callings that require much faith and determination. Later that day we drove into Encarnacion to begin interviewing the missionaries there and the members requiring temple recommends. We were met by many members waiting for us and an equal number of missionaries. It was a bit overwhelming trying to stay on schedule with the missionaries and also tend to the needs of the members. Right in the middle of the busiest time my phone rang and it was a mission president in Argentina informing me that one of his sister missionaries had confessed to pre-mission transgressions with an elder currently serving in our mission. They were from the same stake in a South American country and it was serious. Because we were out on the road and needed to respond immediately to the matter, I had the Assistants call the missionary and his companion and have them travel to where we were so I could interview him. I then completed my interviews with the missionaries and members scheduled for that night and went back to the hotel for a bit of a sleepless night. The next morning we continued interviews and then I met with the missionary to discuss his life before the mission. After a period of time he finally opened up and shared a belated confession. I had him wait while I interacted with the missionary department, conducted further missionary interviews, visited with the Area Presidency in Buenos Aires, called the home stake president, visited several times with the other Mission President, and met with a number of drop in district leaders who had heard I was in town and wanted to bend my ear about a variety of matters. I had the missionary visit on the phone with his stake president and tell him what had happened and then sent the missionary back with his companion to their city to wait. Late that night word came to me from the Missionary Department that the elder would be returned home. I called the missionary and informed him and asked him to pack and that we would drive back to take him to Asuncion for a next day flight home. I called my mission secretary and had him make flight arrangements. Because we had planned on driving on to the next city in our tour we hadn’t made reservations for a 2^nd night in Encarnacion so we had to find another place to stay. We found a hotel down by the river and checked in for a 5 hour stay. There was literally no one at the place. It was a bit creepy so we locked ourselves in the room and made sure the sheets didn’t have any bugs on them and tried to sleep. We got up a 3am to drive back to the office, picking up the missionary and his companion along the way. We got into Asuncion at about 8am, took a shower at the mission home and ran to the airport to see the missionary off. We then got in the car and drove to the city that was next on our travel schedule. We had planned a rest day in the middle of the tour and we are glad we did because we used it to deal with this missionary matter. On our way to Ciudad del Este we stopped in Ca’aguasu to interview missionaries to save time coming home. We got into Cuidad del Este that night and checked into a nice place called Las Ventanas and had a wonderful night’s rest. We interviewed all day in Cuidad del Este and then stayed the night again at Las Ventanas. Sandy and I went down to the restaurant in the hotel and had probably one of the most pleasant dinners we have ever had. We were about the only ones there and were waited by a very attentive waiter. We had delicious soup and several varieties of fresh bread. Sandy had chicken crepes and I had sirloin “medallions” which were really two large steaks as delicious as I have ever had. We had flan with dulce de leche and strawberries for desert. The best part is that it was quiet and I was with my sweetheart and we could discuss the busy week. The next day found us interviewing again in Cuidad del Este, Herrandarias, Coronel Olviedo, and finally back to Ca’aguasu for interviews and an open house at the chapel. We had planned to go to Brazil for stamp our passports for future visits but didn’t have time. The open house at the chapel was amazing. We were met by the district president and given a tour of all of the teaching areas where visitors to the chapel were introduced to the various organizations of the church. President Duarte is a wonderful man who reminds us or our dear friend and brother, Gary Smith. He was so kind and attentive. He had everything well organized as we visited the chapel. Each teaching station was manned by wonderful members filled with the Spirit and excited to share. The full-time missionaries were at the baptismal font where they discussed this sacred ordinance. We must admit that when we were visiting the primary room and saw the little pictures that the children had drawn for the open house and heard the presentation by the sweet sisters about the church’s love for the children we couldn’t hold back the tears as we thought about our sweet children and grandchildren. Sandy and I visited with a number of the visitors before we left for the long drive home. In all, over 300 people not of our faith came to the open house! It was a great event and the missionaries are now following up with those who came. We will try to stage similar events across the mission in the months ahead. We got home late after our 1200 mile week and fell into bed. Today is Sunday and we decided to attend a ward in one of the stakes of our mission. We have sisters serving as missionaries there and it was nice to see them. There were several investigator families there and we enjoyed attending classes with them and discussing the gospel. By the way, we met a young man earlier in the week who had just opened up a restaurant in San Ignacio. He had lived in New York for a number of years and had brought home a few recipes that were on the menu. Anyway, I invited him to learn more about the church and he said he would like to meet the missionaries. Hope it goes well. The meetings went well today. Sandy and I bore our testimonies as part of the sacrament meeting. We continue to be impressed with the faith of our members. The first to share his testimony was a young man who was born with no feet and deformed hands and arms. We struggled up to the pulpit and quietly shared a strong testimony of the gospel. He left the stand and had to sit down to go down the stairs to return to his seat. The bishop of the ward was an impressive man whose testimony was powerful. We also learned of the sudden passing of a stake president in Asuncion after participating in a sporting event with the youth. His funeral was yesterday.

We learned yesterday that Elder Aidukaitis of the Area Presidency will tour our mission in September for a week. That will be wonderful. This week we are off to Buenos Aires for two days then home for leadership training with the zone leaders and preparations for receiving 20 new missionaries soon. Anyway, we love you all and feel your love and support. Take care and write when you can. We love the work and feel blessed to be here. Love, Mark and Sandy

July 25, 2009

Here's this week's letter!

We have had another full week here in the mission field. Half of the time we just do not know what day it is. Sunday started off with an early morning trip south to a town called Yaguaron for a branch conference. Members living in a town nearby by the name of Pirayu came to the branch conference as well. I stood with my counselor in the mission presidency outside the doors into the chapel and welcomed members arriving on foot and bus for the conference. A member of the district presidency came flying up on a motorcycle, one of the common methods of transportation here. The members of the branch in Pirayu have been without a branch presidency for awhile and have been presided over by the branch president of the Yaguaron branch. We were ready during the branch conference to call a new branch president for the Yaaguaron branch and call the old branch president of Yaguaron to preside over the saints in Pirayu as their new branch president. He was also called to be a counselor in the district presidency. These are humble, good men who had been members for about two years. They bore sweet testimonies of the gospel after being sustained. Sister Callan and I spoke during the sacrament meeting. A group of young women sang a beautiful hymn in the Indian language of Guarani. After the meeting I set apart the new presidents. My counselor and the district president set the others apart. The newly called branch president of the Yaguaron branch then walked out of the class room after being set apart and down the hall and directly into an ongoing baptismal service and welcomed a new member into the branch. What the young leadership may lack in experience they more than make up for in faith and willingness. The man baptized is named Andres and lives a few blocks from the chapel. I bore my testimony and spoke at the conclusion of the baptismal service and spoke of the need for the members to fellowship Andres as a new member of the Branch. These are humble, beautiful people.

We also experienced our first 4 missionaries leaving for home after completing their missions. Two went home to Panama and the others to the United States. As part of their last day here I conducted interviews with each one and then we took them to the temple for a session. We met President Udall, the temple president, and visited with him for a few minutes before the session began. He mentioned that he would like to set me apart the next time I come to the temple to be a veil worker so I could help when our missionaries come in groups for their yearly temple session. President Wade and his wife from the north mission were also there going to the session with a number of their returning missionaries so it was nice to see them and visit. I met Javier Vitale who is serving as an ordinance worker at the temple. He is the brother Gordon Wilson taught and baptized in the 60’s while Gordon was serving part of his mission here. Gordon, Mom’s cousin, is now the president of the MTC in Buenos Aires. Small world. After the session, President Udall invited us to take our missionaries into a sealing room and with Sandy and I acting as parents and our missionaries acting as proxy sons, President Udall sealing a number of sons to parents. It was wonderful to look into the excited faces of our missionaries as we knelt at the altar together. President Udall then had Sandy and I stand with our missionaries and look into the reflecting mirrors as he bore testimony of eternal families and challenged the missionaries to plan for temple marriages and a righteous posterity. It was a powerful experience. A missionary from the north mission was also there. His parents came down to tour his mission with him before returning home. In the middle of the sealing session, Sister Udall brought them into the sealing room, having just arrived from the airport. We watched this mother and father embrace their son for the first time in two years there in the temple, followed by them kneeling at the altar to perform proxy sealings. Amazing! Anyway, after the temple session we took the departing elders over to Polistas, a popular restaurant a few minutes from the mission home. It is a Brazilian-style restaurant like Rodizio’s (sp?) where the servers come by the table with various types of grilled meats. They come by every minute with different offerings that are delicious. They also serve fresh fruit juices mixed by other waiters at the table. They also have a large salad and pasta area along with a desert section. Way too much food! All for about $9.00 US or about 50,000 guarani. I am still getting use to buying a loaf of bread for 15,000 guarani. After the dinner we took the elders to the mission home for dessert and a testimony meeting. Each shared a very emotional testimony of their feelings about the Lord and their missions. Sandy and I then concluded with our thoughts and testimonies. We can’t believe the love we already feel for these great missionaries. We then took them back to the mission offices for a short rest. Sandy and I fell into bed exhausted. We were up again at 3:45am to head out to the airport for our final goodbyes and to see them off. In a few weeks, instead of 4 leaving we will send 4 off but will welcome 20 new missionaries arriving on the 6:20am flight from Buenos Aires. Twenty new missionaries with all of their luggage! We hire a truck to haul the luggage back to the offices where we will orient the missionaries and introduce them to the mission and their new companions.

Much of this week has been spent in continuing missionary interviews. Every interview brings something new. As I have mentioned before, the strength of these missionaries is overwhelming. One young man, when I asked about home and family, said that when he left his parents in the United States were married and when he returns in a few months will still be married but to different people. I couldn’t believe it. He then asked about what would be his status as a sealed child as it relates to his parents cancelled sealing. Tears filled his eyes as he expressed gratitude for his mission and the gospel. Another young elder from Mexico who wears hearing aids and speaks in the muffled tones of one suffering from hearing loss spoke of how the hearing aids he received with the help of the Church had helped him teach the gospel more effectively. He said he was very introverted before his mission because of his challenges but now as a missionary he was happy to open his mouth to share the gospel. He said occasionally people make fun of his speech but it doesn’t bother him because the Lord is helping him not to be afraid. I don’t think I will ever complain about anything ever again!

It has been really cold here this week. We hear from the citizens that it is colder than ever. We heard that it was snowing in the central part of Argentina yesterday. Some were thinking that if it rains on Sunday here, it could turn to a bit of snow. That would be unheard of. We continue to get bits and pieces of USA culture dropped into our daily lives around the city. The other day we were in a little German grocery store and as I looked over the items available, the sound system started playing “Handy Man” by James Taylor. We had a Big Mac and fries at McDonalds today and it tasted the same. Here the parking lot of McD’s was filled with Mercedes and BMW’s. McDonalds is considered upper crust dining. We found a Mexican food restaurant that is quite good. We celebrated the 24^th of July with dinner there.

Well, with the great blessings come the challenges as well. I informed a new missionary of his grandmother’s death yesterday. I called a worried mother today to assure her that her son’s discouragement would pass. Tomorrow we will experience our first missionary returning home early from his mission for personal reasons. I didn’t get much sleep last night worried about this young man and what to do to help him. I know we have much to learn and many more experiences to grow from. This is the Lord’s work. Of that I am sure. We love you all and pray for your well being. Your prayers are much appreciated. God bless you all our dear family and friends……I better sign off for now……Love, Mark and Sandy

Asuncion Temple

Sandy's Make-shift office

Office of President's Secretary

Multi-purpose room in office

Missionaries leaving

Dad's office

Missionaries Leaving

Departing Missionaries at Asuncion Temple

Stake Youth Missionary Activity and Paraguay BBQ

Here are some of the latest pictures from Mom and Dad. They recently helped with a Stake youth activity that focused on Missionary work and getting the youth excited about serving missions some day. They also had a nice night with the newly called counselors of the mission presidency. They were kind enough to teach Dad how to use the BBQ at the mission home!!

Libertad Youth Missionary Activity

Hermana Callan and a new friend

The whole group at the activity

Future Missionary

Enthusiastic youth on mission day

Elders training the future missionaries.

Elder Bararet teaching young future missionaries

2nd counselor and family

Counselor's wives and daughter

1st Counselor and Daughter

The meat is almost done!!

Paraguay Asado

July 17, 2009

'It has been a full week for Sister Callan and me. The highlight was the three days spent interviewing about a third of our missionaries. The opportunity to sit done with them one on one was wonderful. We are interviewing the missionaries who are serving here in Asuncion first and will finish those interviews this coming week. The following week will see us back out on the road to interview the remaining missionaries in the one stake and 5 districts outside of Asuncion. We have missionaries from all over Mexico, Central and South America serving in the mission as well as a few from Canada and the United States. We also have a missionary serving from Wales. He speaks Spanish with a British accent. It is hard to put into words the strength and faith of these missionaries. Many, especially those from Latin America, are the only member of the Church in their families. They have been members for a few years and here they are on missions. Many receive no support from home. Their fellow missionaries have become their family. They have few possessions other than their clothing donated by others but their hearts are filled with a love for the Lord, His work, and their fellowmen. It has been interesting to hear the variations in their way of speaking Spanish. I must admit that I have needed to ask a few to slow down a bit in speaking so I could understand them. They are so capable but also just young men and women still capable of doing dumb things. Their energy is boundless and if directed properly can accomplish amazing things. My love for them continues to grow. Sister Callan and I need to be on our toes with the missionaries. They come to interviews with many questions from their gospel study and missionary work.'
'I met again with my counselors in the mission presidency for our twice a month presidency meeting. I issued my first three callings this week and was so impressed with the immediate acceptance of these new callings to serve in the various districts of the mission. Tomorrow we invited my newly called mission counselors and my mission executive secretary to come over to the mission home for a dinner and also to be set apart. We invited their wives to join us along with any available children. One of my counselors wants to show us how to us the barbeque on the patio. He is bring the meat and we’ll supply the rest. Sunday morning we will drive out to Yaguaron for another branch conference. Tomorrow morning Sister Callan and I have been asked to speak to a youth group in one of the wards here in Asuncion. They are gathering for a youth missionary activity and the bishop called yesterday and invited us to share a message with them. It should be fun. The office missionaries prepared a map and wished us well on this solo venture outside of familiar surroundings. There are few street signs to help navigate around the city so the office elders prepared a google map and made sure we knew the directions. I’m sure we will be able to make it.'
'We went to lunch today with President Terry Wade and his wife Gina of the Paraguay North Mission. They are sweet people who have presided over their mission for about two years now. They lived in Farmington years ago and Cam Arrington was their bishop. They took us to a nice Chinese restaurant they knew and we had a great time discussing our lives here in Paraguay. We visited their home and the mission office. I can tell I will learn a lot from President Wade. He offered to share a computer program one of his office elders developed a few months ago that has really helped him keep track of all of the keys statistics of the mission and the missionaries. I am also in the process of converting all of the weekly letters from the missionaries to me from paper to email. I will be able to more quickly read the letters and respond to them if the missionaries email their letters to me each week.'
'Sandy and I will be heading back to Buenos Aires in a couple of weeks for a two day new president’s training with the Area Presidency. We also heard that in November Elder Bednar will conduct our Mission President’s training in a city yet to be announced. The temple in Buenos Aries will be closed in November so we will go to another city for the training. Attending a temple session is part of the training meetings. It will be great to see the other new presidents and their wives who were with us in the Provo MTC.'
'I finally got the exercise bike put together that we shipped down here and have been able to get in a few sessions. Sandy has a treadmill that she uses next to my bike out in the exercise room. It feels good to get the heart rate up a bit for reasons other than the mode of driving here. Well, I better get to bed. Please excuse any incoherent sentences or misspelled words. It has been a long day. We have to get up early to get out to the youth activity. We love you all very much and share our testimonies that the Hand of the Lord is moving the work forward in this choice country. We continue to pinch ourselves as we look around and realize that we are really here. Take care of yourselves and drop us a line now and then. We pray for you fervently. Reciba un abrazo virtual…..Mark and Sandy'

July 12, 2009- Weekly Letter

Well, Mom and Dad are going to try and write every P-day from now on which is on Saturday. I'll try and get anything they send posted by Sunday. Here are some excerpts from their letter this week. They were also able to go to a welcome party this weekend and here are some pictures from that!

"This morning Sandy and I followed my counselors in the mission presidency down to a town called Paraguari about an hour from here. We have a branch there and today was the branch conference. My counselors brought their wives and one brought his daughter who served in the Spain Malaga mission just after Robert left. They were so careful to make sure we didn’t get lost along the way. When we arrived I was escorted into the branch president’s office where the branch president carefully and very formally reviewed the agenda for the branch conference with me. He humbly asked if I had any changes to make in his agenda and seemed relieved and more relaxed when I pronounced the agenda perfect. His name is President Alverez and I really like him. I really love the people here. The leadership of the units is composed of men and women of great faith and humility. I will learn much from these wonderful Saints." "During sacrament meeting Sandy and I sat together on the stand (I love that part) with the branch president to my left and my counselors and the district presidency behind us. I realized that during the business of the conference I would be sustained for the first time by members of the Church in Paraguay. As their hands were raised in a sustaining vote I must admit that I felt great love and appreciation for their acceptance of their new mission president. I really want to serve these wonderful people as well as the fabulous missionaries we have serving with us. Sandy and I both spoke at the close of the sacrament meeting. Sandy is getting better by the day with her Spanish. We heard today much more Guarani being spoken by the members of the branch. The Sunday School Instructor who taught the Gospel Principles class would teach a concept in Spanish and then teach it in Guarani. Many in the country towns speak primarily this Indian language. The Church just finished a second more accurate translation of the complete Book of Mormon into Guarani. The missionaries and members in many of these rural towns are thrilled to have the Book of Mormon available to them in its complete form." "Sandy continues to care for the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of our missionaries. She will become quite the nurse. In three years she will have seen about every health challenge. I’m really proud of her as she lovingly and firmly works with the missionaries. Friday night Sandy and I were invited to a welcoming party at one of the wards. The youth prepared native dances and we ate a delicious meal. The members have been so kind." "Sandy and I send our love to you all. The gospel is true and it is exciting to contribute our small part in establishing the Church here. We pray all is going well for you back home."