December 5, 2009

December 5, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

I’m sitting in a hotel in Caaguazu while Mark is in priesthood meeting for district conference so I will write our letter for the week. We spent a wonderful week with our area medical advisor and his wife. They came to give health presentations to our missionaries during our zone conferences this week. Elder Petersen also saw over half of our missionaries who had medical questions or concerns. What a wonderful sweet couple! They have served as mission President in Mexico, Area medical advisor twice now, among many other callings throughout their lives. They brought a sweet love with them and taught the missionaries well. The missionaries just flocked to them for medical advice. What a great example of love of the Lord and service. I especially appreciate the way Elder Petersen receives my many phone calls when I have medical questions about out missionaries. He is a great blessing to the 2500 missionaries in our area.

We always love zone conference week but it was especially fun to have the Petersens with us this week. We also focused on the Savior and Book of Mormon as we go into December. The missionaries came prepared, they had read and studied the things they had been asked to read in preparation for the conference and it showed in the way the Spirit could teach everyone. They were given an invitation to really come to know the Savior better through the Book of Mormon and every one accepted the invitation. We enjoyed singing some special hymns and the Christmas hymns also. We have some really great missionaries and we enjoyed hearing their testimonies during the conference. It was such a great way to begin the month to help us really celebrate the birth of the Savior.

We had two zone conferences and time for interviews in Asuncion on Monday and Tuesday and then left for Encarnacion Tuesday afternoon. After a 4 and ½ hour drive we arrived in Encarnacion for the night. Wednesday we had conference there and then left for a 3 hour drive to Ciudad del Este. Thursday we had conference and interviews and stayed the night again there in Ciudad del Este. Friday morning we drove the 4 hours back to Asuncion. We went to our home for lunch and some final information from the Petersens. We hope we didn’t wear the Petersens out too much. Most of our driving time was spent either learning about how to deal with medical issues or getting to learn all about the Petersens. We felt like we had spent the week with some dear friends – and we had. Their love and advice and years of experience were a great help to us.

On Monday before we left we had a big wind storm that brought us a visitor. I was sitting in the family room and heard something tapping on the sliding glass door. Our house is completely surrounded by a wall so no one should be out there. Anyway I went and looked and there was this large bird that I soon realized was a young chicken. He kept tapping like he wanted to get in. I don’t think chickens fly much but somehow he got over our wall. I don’t know where he came from, we live in a residential neighborhood, but who knows, we live in Paraguay ! Any way he’s very friendly and comes around whenever we are outside. I guess we’ll have to do something with him soon. We call him Charley the Chicken but he could be Charlene the Chicken . What do we know? I left the door open and he just about made it into the house before Mark got the door shut. We’ve never really had pets at home before so I guess this is just another one of the new adventures we are experiencing on our mission!

Today as we were driving to Caaguazu we were able to see one of the events that happen here around December 8^th. There is a city called Caacupe , where years ago a man said he was saved from injury by the virgin Mary. He made a carving or sculpted a statue of Mary and put it in the church there. So every December 8 the people walk from all around to give thanks for what she has done for them or ask for help. The whole 2 ½ hours we were driving today we saw people walking to the city. And it’s only December 5^th. We have to pass by there tomorrow to get home so we’re hoping we can get through, especially because we have to get the area authority who is with us to the airport for his flight. They say 300,000 people will be there eventually. It will be interesting to see what it is like tomorrow.

Well, I better close. We love you all. We hope you are all enjoying life and the good things the Lord does for each of us. Love, Mark and Sandy

Pictures from Thanksgiving!

November 29, 2009

November 29, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving ! I stayed home from the office Monday and Tuesday to make rolls and pies for Thanksgiving. It was so nice to be a homemaker for a couple of days again. We had our Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday because we had a missionary leaving on Thursday . We had 8 office elders, the two assistants, Lidu , our helper here at the home and her husband Luis who helps at the mission office all here for dinner. It was a pretty good copy of a normal Thanksgiving at home. I made the cornbread for the stuffing from scratch , had to chop the chocolate bar for chocolate chips for the pie, made the sauce for the green bean casserole (no cream of mushroom soup). But we did find the canned onion rings in one store. The missionaries were very happy and we all enjoyed the meal. The turkeys were from Brazil and they were very tasty. Anyway we lived through our first holiday away from home and things are going okay. Actually the hardest day was Monday and Tuesday when I was cooking and thinking about everyone getting ready to gather together but we were able to talk to everyone and have a good visit with the kids. Thursday we said goodbye to an elder going home to Woods Cross, Utah . I wanted to fly home with him , but I didn’t.

Friday we drove 4 hours to Encarnacion and Mark did interviews with missionaries. On Saturday morning we crossed the river and drove into Posadas, Argentina to pick up Elder Bowen,the area president who was coming to a district conference in Encarnacion. I spent the afternoon at the hotel while the men had Priesthood meeting . Mark picked me up in time for evening adult session of conference. Again the evening meeting is a bit sparse on attendance but Sunday the church was filled. It was amazing to watch busloads of people come from all around the area. They rent buses here for the branches so they can all come to the meetings. I bore my testimony Saturday night and Sunday morning and Mark helped with a question/answer session Saturday and Spoke on Sunday. I’m feeling more and more comfortable speaking and sharing testimonies and short messages without written notes. At first I felt pretty limited as to what I could bear testimony of but now the words are coming better so I feel like I can say more what is in my heart. Mark has always done very well with the language.

Today we drove home and now we are gearing up for zone conferences which begin tomorrow morning. We pick up the area medical advisor and his wife, Elder and Sister Petersen, who will be with us all week at our zone conferences. We are going to receive a medical presentation by them and they also make themselves available to all the missionaries who have medical questions. I have a list of my own questions ready to get some answers to help me better help the missionaries.We also will not see all the missionaries again before Christmas so this is our Christmas zone conference as well. We are excited to have a very Christ centered day with the zones this week that will hopefully set the tone for the whole Christmas season.

Today at conference I was speaking with a cute young mom and her 3 year old son. He had a paper name tag on his shirt that said “ Futuro Misionero” She said he has to wear his placard every week. She also said whenever he gets money he puts in a bank to save for his mission. He’s three years old!! What a sweet boy!

Well , December comes this week---amazing! We love you all. Love Mark and Sandy

Pictures November 21, 2009

Local Bird on Wire

Sunset from the House

Mark and Sandy at the Buenos Aires MTC

Mission Map at the Buenos Aires MTC (mom is excited to be there!)

The Bednars and the Bowens

Our friends the Wades

Elders Zivic and Aidukaitis and wives

The Bednars' and Elder Bowen

Elder and Sister Snow with Petersons'

Class of '09 Mission Presidents and Wives

Elder and Sister Aidukatis

With the Wilsons'

Off to the P-Day Activity

Large Argentine Asado (barbeque)

Argentine Guitarist

Local Gaucho Dance

Local Dance

Gaucho Show

Gaucho Riders

November 21, 2009

November 21, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

Last Saturday we attended the evening session for a district conference with Elder Aidukitus in Nemby. It is interesting that they try to keep the regular format for stake and district conferences here. The Saturday night adult meetings are not very well attended mainly because of transportation reasons. Most people can’t pay for buses Saturday night and Sunday. It seems like it would be better to hold more of the meetings on Sunday but I guess I’m not in charge! Anyway it was a good meeting and it would have been nice for more people to hear it. We always love to hear Elder Aidukitus teach.

Sunday morning we were up at 3 am to leave for the airport at 4 am. We met the Wades (from the other Paraguay mission) there and together we flew to Buenos Aires, Argentina for our mission presidents seminar with the other 13 mission presidents and wives. We knew we were arriving early and we had been invited to lunch at the CCM (MTC) in Buenos Aires with President Gordon and Emolyn Wilson (Mark’s mom’s cousin). We had a nice lunch and a nice visit with the Wilsons and Wades and had a tour of the CCM. They recently received some art work and furniture from the temple there that is closed for remodeling. Emolyn has arranged things beautifully and the artwork really adds to the spirit of the CCM. So we attended Sacrament meeting and relief society and priesthood meeting at the CCM and then our shuttle came and picked us up and took us to the Sheraton in Pilar (outside of B. A).

Sunday night we had a dinner and an introduction to the seminar by the South America South area presidency and Elder Steven Snow and Elder David Bednar. We spent the next three days being taught and fed by the spirit. It was wonderful! We still are feeling very overwhelmed much of the time and it was so nice to have the spirit confirm to us that the Lord is helping us to be able to fulfill our callings. The whole seminar was so spirit driven and that message rang so clearly to us. In order to do what the Lord needs us to do we need to have the spirit with us continually. He not only will help us know what to do and teach but he will help us know how to do what we need to. The real key is that there is an urgency to the work and without the spirit we cannot accomplish what needs to be done efficiently. As we help prepare ourselves spiritually and help the missionaries do the same, miracles can happen. It was quite amazing to be taught for three days by Elder Bednar and Elder Snow. They both are wonderful men and teachers. We felt blessed to be in their midst. We were told at the beginning of the seminar that this was the last time the apostles would be attending the mission president’s seminars, so we felt especially blessed that we were able to be taught this last time. In fact ours was the very last of the seminars for the year for all of the seminars. The church is growing so big they just can’t be everywhere so they will teach the area presidencies in April now and the area presidencies will teach us. I’m grateful for the things we were able to learn, it will help us in so many ways.

As part of the seminar we went to an Argentine estancia. It is a horse ranch/dinner show. First we had a dinner with salads and asado (barbeque). After dinner was a little show of Argentine dance and singing. Then we went out and watched the gouchos ride the horses and showed us their skills. The same men cooked and served the food, sang and danced and then rode the horses. It was a fun break from the seminar. It was also fun to catch up with the other new mission president’s and their wives and meet all the other ones.

We returned to Asuncion Wednesday night late . Thursday was spent preparing for zone leader’s council . Friday we had the 18 zone leaders in for a conference from 8am to 2pm. We have some good missionaries hear and we are grateful for their strength and desire to work. Saturday we attended our own stake conference. Mark did some of the training at priesthood session and we both attended the Saturday night session and Sunday session. We both spoke on Sunday. There was a choir for both sessions made up of adults and youth all dressed in white shirts and blouses and black pants or skirts. They sang with the spirit about the importance of families. We were able to meet a lot of the investigators that the missionaries had brought with them . It was a great meeting for them to learn a bit more of the importance of families.

Well, I bought a couple little turkeys the other day and I think we’ll have a Thanksgiving dinner this week. We’re not sure which day. It’s not a holiday here but we will celebrate with the office staff . I think we’ll be able to have the complete meal pretty much like at home. Only the most important part will be missing!! Our family! I am thankful though for our wonderful family and we will miss you. We are so grateful for all of the Lord’s kindnesses to us .We are learning so much. At times we are pushed so far out of our comfort zone but I feel the kind prodding of a loving Heavenly Father who knows what we can do and become, even if we can’t always see it ourselves. We are grateful for good friends and family who are helping our family at home. We are grateful for the good people of Paraguay who are reaching out to us in love. Most of all we are grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the hope that it gives us in our lives. We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! We are thankful for you all! Love, Mark and Sandy

November 14, 2009

November 14, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

Another week has come and gone. We left early Sunday morning to drive to Pilar to visit a branch and meet a District President there. It was a 4 ½ hour drive but it was nice to see a new city and meet new people. We will return there in a few weeks for a district conference so we also checked out the accommodations for the next trip when we will have a visiting authority with us. We saw some new wildlife. My favorite was a bird that had a head and neck that was bright red with a black body and red feet. There were some other birds that looked like small vultures. I really need to get a Paraguayan bird book so I can know what we are looking at.

Our drive out was a little interesting. One thing that happens here often is that there are national police who stop people randomly along the roads. Usually it seems they stop mainly trucks, we have been stopped once before but as soon they knew we were missionaries they let us pass on by. Anyway we were about an hour from Pilar and there was a policeman in the road waving us to stop , which we did. He asked if we were going to Pilar and when we told him we were he asked for a ride. He hopped in and off we went. We talked about his family and asked if he’d seen our missionaries in Pilar. Pilar is famous for it’s fishing opportunities so we talked about fishing. At the end of the ride he told Mark next time he comes to Pilar they ought to go fishing together. He wasn’t interested in us sending the missionaries to him but we gave him a bit of our message as we drove along. Mark gave him a card and said to call if he wanted to hear more of our message.

The rest of the week was spent with lots of interviews for Mark and meetings most evenings with his mission presidency, a stake president and the facilities people here in Asuncion. I always get to answer calls from ailing missionaries. This week we had lots of nausea, diarrhea, headaches, fever, dog bite, hurt arm caused by a cow charging the missionary , dizziness due to fasting , swollen foot, blisters and canker sores. Right now the biggest thing is getting the missionaries to drink enough water, which can be challenging for some. All the water we drink has to be bottled or filtered. It’s a little hard for the missionaries to carry enough water between good water sources, so we have to constantly be reminding them to drink lots in the mornings before they leave their apartments for the day and carry 2 liter bottles with them.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how the Lord knows each one of us and how he knows our needs. I have felt his influence so strongly in many ways the last few months especially. I was talking with a missionary the other day who is companion to a missionary who is having some struggles. He was telling me of an experience they had the other night. They were teaching a family and when they finished they pulled out the new gospel art booklet. They asked the family to choose a picture that they could then discuss. The picture dealt with exactly the subject that the companion who was struggling was dealing with. After the visit he said it opened a way for him to talk to his companion and his companion was really helped by the whole discussion and experience. I think that is one of the things I love about the gospel. When we are trying to serve in our callings and reaching out to other people the Lord is also mindful of us and can use the situations to bless our lives and help us. What a beautiful part of Heavenly Father’s plan. Everyone benefits and is blessed as we try to fulfill our covenants and do what he asks of us. I know there are many things I can’t do right now, with and for our family. I know that as I try to do what I can do here, He will take care of those things, again many times through other people who are reaching out to them.

We are heading off to a district conference meeting in a bit in Nemby. We will attend the meetings today with Elder Aidukitus who is visiting. In the morning we fly to Buenos Aires for 4 days of a mission presidents’ seminar with Elder Bednar and Elder Snow. We are looking forward to a wonderful 4 days. There will be 14 mission presidents and their wives there in attendance. It will be fun to catch up with the other presidents who started with us in July. We fly over with the Wades who are in the Paraguay north mission. They have been a wonderful help to us as we have been adjusting and learning here. Again, how wonderful that I have a friend 10 minutes away that I can call anytime and get the answers to my questions. Mark has also enjoyed having President Wade here to answer some of his question.

Well I better run. We love you all. We know this gospel is true and will help us all in our lives.

Love, Mark and Sandy

Nov 7, 2009

November 7, 2009

We are sitting in the dark on a Saturday morning in the mission home waiting for the city works people to finish repairing a transformer outside that must have been hit by lightening last night during a powerful storm. I am hoping the lights come on soon ! We’ve had the power go out a few times now. We need to figure out if the electric sliding door in the wall around our house has a manual way to open. There is a door we can open with a key but we can’t get the car out with the sliding doors shut. The mission home is very comfortable and we feel very safe here but it is a little complicated to get out once we are safely inside. There is a government leader that lives across the street who has a guard for his home. He also watches out for us. We pay him a bit and also take banana bread or cookies occasionally. The other morning I walked out into the living room and saw cars driving by in the street. That was odd because when the sliding doors are closed you can’t see out. The wall is about 20 feet tall. Anyway we quickly realized the gate had been left open all night long. We remembered that the night before the car lights had flashed and we could see the relflexion in the window. Any way Mark had his keys in his pocket and when the car lights were flashing he was also opening the gate . So we closed the gate . A bit later we left and the guard flagged us down and was all upset because we left our gate open. He tried to ring our bell but we don’t hear it when we are in the back of the house. He cautioned us to always lock our gate. We assured him that it was an accident and we would be more careful. We both felt like we were being scolded but it’s nice to know he’s looking out for us. He got extra chocolates that day and Mark takes his keys out of his pockets when he’s home now!

So last weekend we went to a District conference in Paraguari with Elder Avila a visiting authority from Buenos Aires. He was a wonderful man and taught the people so well. Saturday night there were 60 people or so. On Sunday morning there were almost 500. It is so difficult to travel for many people here that they can only come to one meeting. Anyway before the meeting one of the families came up to Mark and told them that the father of the family was planning to be baptized the next week. It was the same family that we ate lunch with our first week here. The little boys in the family sang to us when we had lunch and they always come say hello to us when we visit their branch. The little boys, who are about 4 and 6 told Mark that they knew the second verse of the song that they sang to us last time. So they sang it for us. As they were singing Elder Avila came up and listened also. During the Sunday morning session Elder Avila had the boys come up and sing for everyone. It was so sweet and everyone was quiet as could be as they sang. They were so cute in their white shirts and ties. It’s so great to see that sweet family with their dad being baptized now and they can move toward preparing for the temple.

Monday brought a day of interviews for Mark and preparations for receiving 16 new missionaries. This time the missionaries arrived in two groups. The South American group of 7 arrived Tuesday at 10:20am and we took them to the office for lunch and training. At 4:30 we headed back to the airport to pick up the second group who were all North Americans. Back to the office for training and dinner for everyone. Mark interviewed all 16 and then we brought the hermanas here to sleep and the elders went to a hotel. The next day we met with the trainers of the new missionaries at 8am and then introduced the new companionships at 9am and sent them out to their areas. It’s quite a process getting everyone where they need to be. The trainers come to the office and all the other missionaries who are changing assignments go to the bus terminal. There is an army of taxis waiting to take all the new missionaries with their luggage and companions either to their area if it’s not far or to the terminal if they need to catch a bus. Sometimes the office elders are quite creative. There was one group that needed to go where to a certain city and for some reason they had arranged for a delivery truck to take them. It was a mini van but smaller. Anyway I went out to watch everyone take off and there were 6 elders getting into to back of the van with all of their luggage. There were no seats, just one lawn chair. All the luggage was piled high blocking all air flow- from the windows. The elders were smashed in the back facing backwards. As they started to leave the office parking I could see their faces looking at me like they were saying ”Help us!” I couldn’t stand it so I told the elders to find a better way for them to travel. They were so grateful! The office elders carry a big responsibility and many times they do things because it’s always been done that way. They were able to get them all to where they needed to go using buses and taxis that they thought wouldn’t work and it did. The mission in many ways for the office elders is like running a company. It’s is amazing to watch them rise to the occasion and solve problems and accomplish so much and still get out the door by 4:30 pm to teach the gospel.

Wednesday we took the missionaries who were leaving out to lunch and to the temple. After the endowment session the temple president likes to let all the missionaries experience the sealing ordinance to help them prepare for the future lives. He likes to do it in the native language so they can hear the words in their own language. First he did a sealing in English and then he did one in Spanish. As he started the Spanish one I leaned over to Mark and told him the sealer forgot to switch to Spanish. Mark looked at me and said “It is in Spanish.” Spanish is becoming more and more natural for me.

Thursday we took the departing missionaries to the airport in two different shifts . In between we were invited to have lunch with the Asuncion North mission president and his wife, temple president and wife, Area president and wife, and Sister Julie Beck and Sister Matsumori , of the General Relief Society and Primary. It was nice to visit with them. I have always loved Sister Beck. She teaches so well. It was so nice to have a bit of time away from the missionaries. We returned to the office to be greeted by the news that the office elders had been in an accident with the mission van! So much for a keeping the nice peaceful feeling from lunch with us for long. No one was injured but now we get to deal with having the van in the shop for I don’t know how long. Life is never dull around here! In the evening I went to a training meeting for Relief Society leaders and Priesthood leaders. It was wonderful to see so many people there to learn how to better serve in their callings.

Friday we left at 6am and drove 2 ½ hours to finish some interviews and then back to Asuncion. Mark also met with a district president while we were there. We went by the office on the way home and bought groceries and got home at 8pm. Now we’re back to Saturday when the lights went out. Mark had a coordinating council meeting today and then we said goodbye to another missionary. It’s time to go to bed now so I can sleep some before the alarm rings at 4am. The pace is amazing here, but what is more amazing is how much there is to do every single day. And even more amazing is that the Lord gives us the strength and energy to do it. There are so many people who still need to hear this wonderful gospel message. What a blessing that we can be hear doing our little part. We love you all. Until next week…Mark and Sandy