May 22, 2010 picture

Missionary's shoes before being retired

May 22, 2010

Dear Family and friends, May 22, 2010

This week passed quickly as we were busy with Mark finishing up the interviews for all the zones in Asuncion and preparing for the coming mission tour with President Bowen and his wife. Monday through Thursday was spent at the office. Most of the missionaries look forward to their interviews each 6 weeks. Because of the numbers of missionaries usually the secretary or I if we are on the road, keep track of time to keep things moving. A little knock on the door lets Mark know when it’s time to end unless he feels otherwise. Anyway it’s interesting to see how many missionaries try to convince the person doing the door knocking to forget to knock so they can have longer interviews. It would be nice to have more time for Mark to spend with each missionary but it just isn’t possible with 190 plus missionaries. Of course when there are special circumstances Mark does his best to spend the needed time with those who need it. It is wonderful to have cell phones for those occasions.

As a mission we continue to focus on the Book of Mormon in all teaching and also working with the members. In zone conferences and zone leader councils we have been talking about how to help the members share the gospel with their friends and families. The missionaries go into the members homes and help them list all the people they know who are not members of the church. They help them think of ways to share the gospel and then they focus on specific families and people with specific ways to share. It is really helping the members know how to be member missionaries and the missionaries are receiving references. It also helps them see how many people they are in contact with in their lives who need this gospel message. Some people have listed hundreds of names. It is great and the members are excited about sharing because they are being helped along the way. Thursday Mark went to a meeting at the temple with the Temple presidency, Elder Aidukaitis from the area presidency and stake presidents from both missions along with the other mission President. The stake presidents were telling him how excited they were with the way the members seem to be more interested in helping with the missionary effort because of the things they are learning from the missionaries. It is so important that the members take a bigger part in sharing the gospel with their friends and loved ones.

The temple meeting was also special in that 8 years ago from the day they held the meeting the first session in the Asuncion temple was held. The temple is such a blessing for the people here. The missionaries are encouraged to get all new converts to the temple to do baptisms as soon as they can after baptism. One new member from our ward went and did baptisms the very first week he was a member of the church.

Friday we spent preparing details for the week to come with the Bowens. We will have 4 zone conferences in four days with travel between the cities all done in the daylight. With it being winter here now the days are shorter so we have been fine tuning our schedule so we can get where we need to be on time and with a little food in our stomachs. We are looking forward to the time with the Bowens. We have a lot of driving time so we usually fill our brains with all we can when we have these mission tours. The Bowens are finishing up their time here in the area Presidency and have been assigned to go back to Salt Lake in July or August. We have learned a lot from them already and know we will not be disappointed this week.

The office staff is in high gear getting ready for the conferences and meetings that will happen with the Bowens here. We also are in the midst of training a new office elder. Elder Steren came into the office yesterday to begin training with Elder Facer as financial secretary. He has a big job because he has to learn quickly so he will be ready to train Elder Stringfellow, our senior missionary, when he gets here in July. Elder Steren is excited and ready to work hard. We also have a change in assistants this week. We are going back to 2 assistants from 4. We have needed 4 to help increase the training ability with so many newer missionaries that we have in the mission but now Mark feels like we can go back to 2 for now. Elder Lytle and Pitcher will be a great asset back out in the field but we will miss our closer association with them now. We are so impressed with the wonderful missionaries the Lord has sent to Paraguay. We are grateful for the good things they are doing. We learn so much by watching them as they diligently serve the Lord and the people here. Elders Urmston and Woodruff continue on as assistants.

They also are doing a wonderful job. It is so wonderful to see these young missionaries step up to challenging situations and with the help of the Lord be successful in the work. The missionaries truly wear out their shoes in the service they give here. We love our missionaries! Love, Mark and Sandy

May 16, 2010

Hello to everyone. We hope everyone is doing well and enjoying life. We miss you all and love to hear what is going on with everyone once in a while. Our week began with our office staff meeting. Afterwards Mark had a meeting with the assistants and I went to look at apartments with two of the office elders. We have a senior missionary couple coming to the mission in July and we are trying to help them get their housing figured out. We are hoping to find an apartment close to the office so they can get around without a car. Taxis are fairly reasonably priced and then they wouldn’t have to buy a car if we find an apartment close enough to the office. We saw a couple that were pretty good possibilities. We hope they are still available when it’s a little closer to their arrival time. We are excited to have the help in the office. They will receive training for office duties at the MTC so we have some adjusting to do in the office. It will be nice though to allow some of the young missionaries to get back out teaching full time. Elder Stringfellow served a mission in Argentina so he already knows Spanish and we hear Sister Stringfellow is studying hard so that will be great. The mission hasn’t had any senior missionaries here since February of 2009.

Monday night we had a nice Family Home Evening at the home of the Canetes along with the Graus. President Grau and Canete are Mark’s councilors in the mission presidency. They both have wonderful families and it was a sweet experience. Hermana Canete was having some surgery so all the men stood in the circle while her husband gave her a blessing after the lesson. The Canetes have three grown sons and a daughter. There was such a feeling of strength as the blessing was given. We have been blessed with the wonderful opportunity to get to know these families while we have been here. They serve well in the presidency and do so much to help the mission and stakes and districts here.

The rest of the week Mark spent in interviews pretty much every day through Friday. On those days I usually go to the office and visit with the missionaries a bit also. I also got lots of reading and studying done. I’m still working my way through the Book of Mormon in Spanish. The Book of Mormon in Spanish is 642 pages compared with 532 pages in Englis . That gives you an idea about the difference of speaking and writing in English and Spanish…more words. Anyway I’m enjoying the time I have to study during interview days.

Saturday Mark had a coordinating council with Elder Avila an area seventy from Argentina and the stake presidents in the mission. Sunday we attended our own ward here in Herrera. The ward is growing since we have a new bishop and there have been a few converts to join the numbers. Our office elders had made sweet cards with caramels attached to them for all the mothers in the ward because it is Mother’s Day today here in Paraguay. They are a good group of elders here in the office.

Mark has done an inventory of the things we have been able to accomplish with the Lord’s help in the last 10 months here. It really was a good idea because at times we only see the things we aren’t getting done or the things we would like to do. By making the list it helped us to see that we are accomplishing some good things. It was nice to be encouraged by that and energized to keep going and accomplish more. We are learning so much from this experience! We hope you all have a good week. We love you and miss you. Love, Mark and Sandy

May 9, 2010

Dear Family and Friends, May 9,2010

This week began on Monday with meetings in the office with the assistants and staff. We have some wonderful elders in the office who work hard in the office and out teaching. Our office has been greatly blessed by Elder Guenther and his organizational skills. He is in charge of supplies for the mission like Book of Mormons and anything else we need. He has taken our storage rooms and completely emptied them of all old and useless things and put in a shelving system that allows us to know exactly what we have and what we need. It is great. It is amazing to me the difference one person can make. I tried to tell that to the missionaries when we visited their apartments. One missionary who cleans well and organizes can make a great improvement in any apartment.

Tuesday we went to two district meetings so Mark could catch a few elders he needed to interview. It is always nice to see the district leaders teaching and training and helping their fellow missionaries improve in their skills. Elder Clyde and Martinez both taught good lessons and had some good practices.

Wednesday Mark had some interviews in the morning and then we came home for an afternoon of letter reading for Mark and a little birthday dinner and cake in the evening for Mark. He had some nice calls throughout the day from missionaries wishing him Happy Birthday. Two members from Asuncion and Encarnacion both called him and sang Happy Birthday to him in English. He enjoyed that!

Thursday we prepared for Consejo de Lideres(Zone leader’s council). I spent the day in the kitchen with Lidu preparing lunch for 24. We had the meeting here at the mission home again. It works well to have the meeting part out in the quincho and the lunch in the home. We had barbeque chicken, scallop potatoes, corn, jello jigglers , rolls and cake. They ate absolutely everything we put on their plates with not one bite of food left. The zone leaders are working hard and it’s nice to get them all together to share ideas and help each other and be taught by Mark also.

Saturday we had District conference in Paraguari’. Mark had meetings in the afternoon and I joined him for the evening meeting. Sunday we went back for the final session. The weather was cool but good so we had pretty good numbers. One thing that is interesting here is that if it rains many people don’t come to church. For many it is difficult because of transportation so we always hope it doesn’t rain on Sundays. Another week has come and gone. On this Mother’s Day we are thinking of our own dear mothers and the good things they have done for us in our lives. We are also thinking of our 2 daughters and 2 daughter in laws who are such wonderful mothers to their children, our grandchildren. Our family is so important to us. Today in Mark’s message he said that it wouldn’t be a celestial kingdom for him if he couldn’t be with his wife and family. What a wonderful thing we have in our knowledge that because of the sealing powers of the priesthood and through our righteous living we can be together forever as families. That is the good news of this gospel and church! We love you all! Mark and Sandy

Pictures May 2, 2010

Crane like birds

Companionships are important!

Black and yellow birds making a lot of noise.

Cows have the right of way.

Cows on red clay road

Cow pulling cart

Old, weakening bridge to Yuty

Man with duck on back of motorcycle

Wild bananas

Pigs loaded into a truck

Office elders wishing us a happy anniversary after our trip.

Outside of card

Inside of card they made for us.

May 2, 2010

Dear Family and Friends , May 2, 2010

This week began and ended with the final visits to apartments and interviews there. On Saturday we visited the apartments in Zone 6A which is about an hour and a half out of Asuncion. We got home in the evening and packed for the trip we left on the next morning. Sunday we were up and on the road before light to head to Pilar. There are 4 missionaries there so we met with them there and then went to their apartment for inspection and interviews. The drive out to Pilar took 4 and a half hours and it was an interesting drive. The area is swampy and full of birds and wildlife. We saw birds that look like flamingos but were white and red and black. One bush had about 25 black and yellow birds that were beautiful. We saw a crocodile that had been hit by a car and many more different types of birds and animals. We met with the 4 elders there and then headed on to Ayolas and San Ignacio to see two elders in each city. We had been to the apartment in San Ignacio before and we were happy to see that it was cleaner and more organized than the first time we saw it. We ended up in Encarnacion for the night.

Monday we saw 10 missionaries in and around Encarnacion. It is nice to see some different parts of the cities as we visit the apartments. Usually we come into Encarnacion and go right to the church or hotel. It gave us a whole different idea of what the city is like. The next day we drove out in the country more to Tridnidad,Obligado and Natalio 10. It was a nice long drive with beautiful scenery. Tuesday night after we were back in Encarnacion Mark had interviews with 12 people who were preparing to receive their patriarchal blessings. Wednesday we drove out to San Pedro and Yuty. This is an area that is not accessible when it rains. They are working on some roads but if it rains no one can get in or out. When the new road is done it will be nice. This trip took us out into the country where there were banana plants full of green bananas and divided dirt road where you have to stop to let the cows pass. There is an old wooden bridge we had to pass over and we could see the concrete pieces of a new bridge that will be wonderful when it is done. The missionaries call it the death bridge! We were following a motorcycle at one point,which is very common here. We often see families of up to 5 people on 1 motorcycle. This motorcycle had two men on it and as we got closer we could see the head of a duck or goose that was looking at us from a backpack on the man’s back. People are very creative with their motorcycles and what they carry on them. I’ve seen lawnmowers on the back of a motorcycle, large boards , gas tanks and anything else you can think of. When we opened the freezer at the apartment in Yuty we were greeted with a snowman holding a sign that said “welcome to Yuty”. Some missionaries really like us to come visit them in their apartments. Most have been clean and nice and pretty decent. There have been a few that needed some work. Only a couple that we found were apartments that we would like the missionaries to find something better. We drove on to Ciudad del Este that night.

Thursday we saw all 8 of the apartments in Ciudad del Este area and 18 missionaries. Friday we finished up Coronel Oviedo,Villarica and Colonial Independencia and crawled on back to Asuncion.

We figured we drove 1300 miles, saw 70 something missionaries in 21 cities in 7 days. We felt good that now we have visited every apartment in the mission within ten months of starting our mission. One missionary who lives in Pilar , which took us 4 and half hours to get, asked us if we were always going to do interviews this way from now on. We looked at each other and smiled and later said to each other we would die quickly if we tried to do that. Luckily normally the interviews happened at zone conferences when everyone comes together in zones.

Saturday we were able to attend a nice baptism here in Herrera Ward. That is really what this is all about. Helping people find Jesus Christ and preparing them to make and keep sacred covenants. The missionaries are working hard and we are grateful for their goodness. We all can improve but that is what this life is all about- learning and growing and improving every day. We are grateful that now when we hear about a missionary in a certain place we can know exactly where he or she is. We have taken photos of all the apartments as we visited each one and will be compiling a book so we can refer to it if (or when our memories fail us!) we need to. We also took an inventory of any items that were needed in the apartments so our office staff can take care of those things shortly. It takes a lot to keep 95 or so apartments furnished and kept up.

We found out this week that in July we will receive a new missionary couple to serve in our mission. We are excited to put them to work as there are so many things that they will be able to do here in the mission. Mark’s cousin Scott Sringfellow and his wife Julie will be a great addition to the missionary force here.

Today we attended church in Villeta. It was a nice little branch where guarani is spoken by many people. It’s always interesting for me to be listening and understanding Spanish and then the guarani pops in and I’m lost. Many people go back and forth with Spanish and guarani so you can kind of at least keep up with the general idea of what is being said.

This week Matt graduated from medical school in Buffalo. We again are missing some important things in the lives of our children but we know the Lord is helping us and them during this time. This gospel is worth so much to us and we are grateful for the opportunity we have to help a bit with the missionary efforts here in Paraguay. We love you all. Mark and Sandy

April 23, 2010

April 23,2010

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday began with an office meeting to plan the coming week of changes. Tuesday we welcomed two missionaries . This was our smallest group we have received since we began our mission. Sister Cozzens came to us from North Carolina and Elder Paladines is from Ecudaor. We greeted them at the airport and went immediately to the temple. We spent a little time getting to know them and then shared our testimonies of the importance of the temple and the wonderful blessing it is to have a temple here so close to the people we teach. Our sweet friend Brother Falcon one of the first missionaries to serve in Paraguay from Paraguay came over to bear his sweet testimony also. We went to lunch and then went to the office for orientation and interviews. Sister Cozzens understood Spanish well and they were both anxious to meet their companions. After a quick bite of dinner in the evening we came to the mission home for dessert and testimonies. They both seem ready to go to work. Elder Paladines went with the office elders for the night and Hermana Cozzens stayed at the mission home with us.

Wednesday morning we headed to the office for instructions for the trainers and the new missionaries. By 10:30 a.m. they were off to their areas to begin to work. At noon we took the four missionaries who are ending their missions out to lunch. After interviews we went to the temple for a session. It is always nice that the missionaries last night in Paraguay is spent at the temple. I am also grateful that we have a temple so close. I always feel rejuvenated after attending the temple. While we were outside of the temple taking a few photos there was a young couple from the Encarnacion district taking photos who had just been sealed. Mark had interviewed them just a week or so ago so it was nice to be there and be able to share a few minutes with them and take a photo with them. They had travelled by bus 5 or 6 hours and were at the temple by themselves with no family to share the experience. That is the way it is here for so many as many are the only members in their families. It was nice to see a new eternal family being created. Afterwards we went back to our house for testimonies and dessert. Again I love the contrast I see as I look at the groups of missionaries beginning and ending their missions. The new ones are a bit nervous and excited to get going. The returning ones are sad to leave but excited and full of joy for the service they given and the growth they’ve received also. I love to see how Christ centered and Book of Mormon centered the testimonies are of the returning missionaries. We always know by their testimonies how deeply the gospel became engrained in their hearts as they served. Hermana Lynes stayed at the mission home with us and the elders went to stay at the office. On Thursday we said goodbye to two of the elders. One elder is leaving in a week and Hermana Lynes will leave on Sunday.

Friday we were going to resume apartment checks but some things came up Mark had to take care of so we will head out Saturday and be traveling through next Thursday or Friday. When we return to Asuncion we will have seen all 95 or so apartments. The ones we will be visiting this week are more spread out. Some we will be driving 5 or 6 hour to see one apartment and interview 2 missionaries. I understand these apartments are a bit more rustic because they are in smaller places and the choice of apartments is quite limited. It will be nice when we have in our minds where all of our missionaries live.

Today Robert graduated from BYU. We are missing some wonderful things that are happening in the lives of our children but we continue to be grateful as we hear the way the family is helping and supporting each other in our absence. Have a good week! Love, Mark and Sandy