February 13, 2011

Dear Family and Friends, February 12, 2011

Last week when we drove out to Ciudad del Este the check engine light came on in the car. We made it home on Sunday with only a few problems with the accelerator seeming to not respond when being pressed. Monday we had the car checked at the dealership and were told that Mark had worn out the accelerator sensor. When we had the car picked up after being serviced the old accelerator was in the car in the box of the new one. We had a good laugh that the young missionaries wear out their shoes quickly and Mark wears out his accelerator on the car. I’ve never heard of that happening before, especially in a two year old car.

Tuesday we spent the day receiving 18 new missionaries at the airport in two different groups. The group of twelve elders from the Argentina MTC arrived at 10:30 am. The six (4 sisters and 2 elders)from Provo arrived about 4:45pm. The day was spent feeding, orienting, taking photos, interviewing and getting to know the new missionaries a bit. In the evening after dinner we had a testimony meeting. The elders stayed at the mission office and the sisters came to our home. Everyone arrived with all of their luggage and smiling faces! They are a good group who were ready to work. The latins had time to go out contacting because they came earlier and they were so happy to see how friendly the people are and how easy it is to talk to the people here.

Wednesday morning bright and early all the new missionaries and the ones leaving went to sign their legal papers so they are legal to be in or out of the country. Afterwards we met with the trainers and then all the new missionaries joined the meeting and were introduced to their companions. It’s always fun to watch the companionships come together. Two of the new sisters were put into threesomes this time. We have received 8 new sisters in the last 6 weeks and will receive 3 more in the next change in 6 weeks. In order for the newer sisters to be with the most experienced sisters the threesomes were the best options. All the sisters need to learn quickly and the new sisters seem to be doing well with their language so that is good! Everyone was off to their areas by 10:00am.Then Mark finished interviewing some of the 16 missionaries who were leaving this week. At one point there were five elders in my tiny office as we chatted about their missions and life after the mission. We took the leaving missionaries out to lunch and then to the temple for a session. After the session we were able to attend the sealing of a family taught by one of the leaving elders, Elder Ale and Elder Steren, who still has some time left in the mission. It was so sweet as they brought in the 7 and 2 year old boys to see the family so happy and the elders too! That is the hope of every missionary – to see the families they teach make it to the temple. What a perfect way to spend the last day of their missions! Thursday we went to the airport 3 times to say goodbye to missionaries. We sent home some great missionaries in this group! We will miss them but their goodness remains in the mission as Elder Woodruff was an assistant and taught many missionaries great things and Elder Roberts was in the office and kept track of records for the mission faithfully and was a solid force for good.

Friday we went to visit an elder whose grandfather passed away so we could share the news in person. He was close enough that we could do that and he received the news with faith that things will be okay for the family back home. I’m impressed by the mature way these missionaries deal with hard things. I know the Lord helps them! As missionaries spend every day teaching people about the great plan of happiness when things like this happen they are better prepared personally and know where to receive the help they need to deal with their loss. We enjoyed learning a bit about the elder’s grandfather as he shared with us some of his memories of him.

Thursday our oldest granddaughter had her birthday. Callie turned thirteen so we now have a teenager as a granddaughter. I can’t believe she is that old! She is a wonderful young lady and a great big sister to her four younger brothers. We know she is a big help to her parents and will continue to help when brother number five is born in July! We will have 11 grandsons and 3 granddaughters in July. Lot’s of future missionaries!

With all the new missionaries it will be fun to have zone conferences the next two weeks. We love our missionaries and are grateful for the way they are working so hard to share the gospel with the people here. We hope you all have a great week! Love, Mark and Sandy

Pictures February 13, 2011

Elder Parke at the airport. He left before the group so he could meet

up with his twin bother in Argentina who was also finishing his

mission and fly home together. He was a great missionary!

All the leaving missionaries after testimony meeeting in the mission home.

Cute Centurion boys after being sealed as a family.

All the leaving missionaries at the temple.

The Centurion family after temple sealing with Elder Ale and Steren.

Elder Taylor, Woodruff and Evans hanging out in Hermana Callans office.

Elder Clement with his trainer Elder Durrant with Elder Roberts in

the middle.

President Callan with Elders Roberts, Facer and Guenther. Three

wonderful office elders who are all going home!!

All the new missionaries.

All the new missionaries with their trainers.

Hermanas Little,Tuitele, Lewis and Knapp.

The missionaries arriving from Provo MTC.

The missionaries arriving from Argentina MTC.

Pictures February 6, 2011

Florencia and her parents in Yaguaron, first baby born in the

covenant in Yaguaron branch.

Elder Snow and the large cake the stake provided for the

celebration after the baptism.

. Missionaries and all the people baptized February 5th at the CDE

stake center.

The group of members who came an hour from Santa Rita for the

baptism in Ciudad del Este stake.

All the Hermanas in the mission.

All the zone leaders after lunch in the mission home

February 6, 2011

Dear Family and Friends, February 6, 2011

This week on Tuesday we held the monthly zone leaders council meeting here at the mission home quincho. The zone leaders are working hard to help their zones achieve the goals they set in December for the year 2011. It is a time of accountability for each companionship to hear how they are doing and share ideas and all work together to improve. It was so nice to hear testimonies being shared of things they are doing that are working. One elder said he has really realized the amazing difference it makes in the work when we truly are exactly obedient. Others talked about planning and using their time better and hard work and how it has helped them achieve more. That is the purpose of the councils- to come together and learn from each other and go back to the areas stronger and better and ready to help their zones do the same.

Wednesday the zone leaders were joined by the district leaders, trainers and all the sisters in the mission for more training. The sisters were added to the group because we received 4 sisters last change and will receive 4 more new sisters on Tuesday. The majority of our sisters are fairly young in the mission and they needed a little extra training to help them get their skill up quickly. There was teaching done on doctrine and principles but the majority of the time was spent in practices. They focused on sharing the Book of Mormon and how to get a lesson started quickly and efficiently. The practices really do help the missionaries prepare to be better teachers. One thing that is always encouraged is to have an investigator in mind so the practices often become very spiritual for all those involved. The teaching skills are practiced but revelation for how to help the investigators can also be received that way.

Thursday Mark interviewed a potential missionary from a district here. The Area Presidency is asking that the number of missionaries leaving from all the countries in our area increase so that is also a focus for President. We also took Elder Steren and Smith out to lunch. They have both been serving in the office. Elder Steren , as financial secretary, and Elder Smith as the secretary in charge of recording dates, records for baptism and anything else relating to a zillion reports that are constantly being requested. They have both done an amazing job in doing all the office work during the day and then out to teach and baptize at night. The will both go out to the field and bless whatever zone or district they go to.

Mark has been out teaching with the elders this week a couple times also. It really helps him see how the teaching is going and how individual missionaries are doing. All of that is useful information when planning the next zone conference.

The stake in Ciudad del Este has been working hard to help in the missionary work and wanted to have a large baptism for the stake. We drove out Saturday to attend a service for 11 people and there were more being held at other locations that weekend there. The whole chapel was full of missionaries, members, investigators and those being baptized. It was a great night. They had empanadas and chipa and a huge cake to help celebrate the happy event. Saturday was also Jacob our grandson’s 11^th birthday. We spoke to him that evening on the phone to wish him a happy birthday. He is growing up so fast and we know he will be ready in a few short years to be a great missionary!

Sunday we drove home by way of Yaguaron. The branch president there had eight people ready for interviews for the temple. Four of the members were prepared to receive their endowments and the others were renewing their recommends in preparation for a district temple trip on Saturday. Since Mark presides over the districts he interviews all members who are preparing to receive their endowment in the 5 districts here. While he interviewed I had fun chatting with two sisters who have served as local missionaries (members who serve for a short period of time when we have uneven numbers of missionaries) in our mission in the past. One is the Primary president and the other is a counselor in the Young Women. They are both 21 and are preparing to serve full time missions. We talked about how their organizations are doing and I also learned a lot about the education system here. They will both be good missionaries when they get their calls. One part of the process that really slows some people down here is just the basic knowledge of how to get the medical and dental requirements taken care of. Many of the leaders have not been through the process themselves or with other missionaries so they need a little advice and pushing to keep the process moving forward. The district was preparing to have a leadership training after we left which is always good to hear that they are working on training their leaders. In Yaguaron we also met a young couple who had been sealed in the temple a while back and had a beautiful month old baby. The members were happy to tell us that she is the first baby born in the covenant in that branch. There is progress being made and the people are growing in the gospel there.

It was a busy week and it would be nice to take a break- ha! Ha! We have 18 new missionaries coming Tuesday and 16 going home Thursday. Another busy week ahead! Oh well it all works out and some how we get most of what we are supposed to be doing done. The Lord is helping us daily. We know this missionary work is His work. We are grateful to be here doing what we can. The missionaries we have here are great and we love them! Have a great week ! Love, Mark and Sandy

January 30, 2011

Dear Family and Friends, January January 30, 2011

This week we attended a district meeting in Ytororo. Elder Nichols is the district leader and he is leading well. We enjoyed doing some practices with Elder Nichols and Falapapalangi. We learn so much about the teaching abilities of our missionaries when we go out and practice with them. They both did well in listening to us (as the investigators) and our concerns and worries and addressing them in their teaching. We try to go to district meetings every Tuesday that we can. Wednesday we had Sister Sapuyes here in the mission home overnight so she could have her last interview and then she flew out on Thursday. She was leaving a bit after her group so we had to make an extra trip to the airport. It’s times like these that we are glad the airport is only 15 minutes from the mission home. Mark had Presidency meeting that night while I worked on some messages I needed to prepare for upcoming meetings.

Friday our helper, Lidu’s daughter Cristy was married. Here in Paraguay they are required to have a civil ceremony before the temple sealing. They are the only members in their family so Friday night’s ceremony was for the larger group of family and friends. It was held at an event center an hour from our home in Itagua. We left with plenty of time to arrive but ran into some traffic problems. A wreck on the main road caused everyone to detour through neighborhoods. There also was a lot of Friday night traffic as people head to their country homes for the weekend (it is summer here). Anyway we arrived an hour and 15 minutes late. My children know how much I do not like to be late! Anyway the wedding was over but we arrived in time for the couple to dance and have dinner with everyone. We felt so bad to miss the wedding but we tried! It took us just as long to get back home so it was an interesting night.

Saturday morning we were up at 4am to drive 2 hours to Coronel Oviedo to speak to a youth conference there. There were about 40 youth from the district along with their leaders and district president. It was held at a place that was an old rock quarry that a family developed into a camping area. There were huge rocks on both sides of the area with a lake/pond in the place where the rock had been removed. There were some interesting things there like a Swiss looking cabin and a huge rock that had been divided into sort of a slot canyon type place you could walk through. There was also a river the kids were tubing in. It was a place unlike any other we have seen here yet. Driving out to it we were driving on sand half of the time and rock the rest. It kind of reminded me of St. George or Snow Canyon a bit. There were also some boy scouts camping there. The church here does not use the scouting program but it was interesting to know that there are scouts here in Paraguay.

We zoomed back and went to the temple for Cristy and Joel’s sealing . There were about 10 of us there for the sealing. It was sweet to see the second generation of Lidu’s family to enter the temple. They were all so happy! It was a wonderful day and we felt blessed to be able to share that day with them.

Saturday night we went teaching with the elders from our ward. The couple I met last week, Anna and Luis are progressing nicely. The elders found out that Luis had been baptized many years ago but has not participated in church for a long time. Anna is 23 year old and very interested and is so happy and excited to learn everything she can. They have set a date for marriage and baptism in February. Mark likes to go out teaching with the missionaries whenever he can, mainly so he can observe their teaching and evaluate with them how they can improve. We always enjoy being out where the actual teaching is happening. There is a real push for Mark to be out as much as he can so he is trying real hard to get out every chance he can.

Mark is in San Ignacio for his final District priesthood training for this round. The last five weeks he has put a lot of miles on the car and spent a lot of time with the local leaders. We are grateful for the good people here who are trying to learn their duties as priesthood leaders. We are also grateful for the good missionaries who are trying to support the local leaders as they hold their ward and branch councils. There is so much to do in the church here in not only sharing the gospel with investigators but fortifying the members, many of whom are new members themselves. The district president we were with at the youth conference has only been a member 11 years and it’s a similar story for many people here. The work is moving forward and the Lord is blessing the people here and the missionaries. We hope you all have a great week. We love and miss you all! Love, Mark and Sandy

Pictures January 16, 2011

Elders Reveron, Clanton,Phelps, Buhidar and Ramirez made some

beautiful music as they spent some time together!

Elders Tyler, Vasquez and Parker outside President's office.

Elders Boydston ,Fowers and Vasquez in the conference room.

Hermana Cozzens, Lavaka, Gonzales and Quartino catching up while

waiting for interviews.

Pictures January 30, 2011

Luis, Lidu , Cristy and Joel at the temple.

The Galeanos with their new son in law

Cristy and her dad Luis Galeano dancing at her civil wedding.

Cristy and Joel after their sealing

Paraguayan cowboy, his buddy helping him didn't have a whip but

shook a machete at the cows and they took off running!

Road to the campground.

Man made slot in very large rock wall.

Young women in the river.

Cabin on property.

Camp ground in Coronel Oviedo.

Pond under rock quarry at camp ground.

Presidente Callan with the youth conference in Coronel Oviedo.

Hermana Callan with the youth conference in Coronel Oviedo.