Oct 31, 2009

October 31,2009

Hello Family and Friends,

We hope everyone is well and happy. I’m writing this week since the schedule for Mark is increasing in intensity. He’s swimming hard trying to keep his head above water, but he’s doing well. Last weekend we spent our Saturday preparing for this week’s trip to the three zone conferences in three cities. This round of conferences Mark broke the mission into 6 different meetings so they could be smaller. It is nice to have a little smaller group but it means more meetings and more cities to stop in. We do love the time with the missionaries as we go around each cycle. I especially love to see the rapid progress the missionaries make with their language. When we see them each 6 weeks there is a noticeable difference in their ability to express themselves. What a blessing! Unfortunately my companion and I don’t always speak the mission language so I don’t seem to be progressing as fast as the young missionaries. I am an old woman with an old brain though. ! I can understand most everything in most places except certain people are harder to understand than others. I seem to understand best in one on one conversations and people are very nice to repeat and speak slower. It is amazing how the eyes are so important in communicating. Some days I feel like my brain works better than others. Some days I understand everything and others it is more difficult. Speaking is always more difficult but I get my message across usually. I think!

Any way, we went to another branch Sunday. We got confused on which building we were going to so we arrived in time to go to priesthood and relief society in the La Floresta branch. People are always so nice to come greet us and wish us a bienvenitos. In the afternoon Mark had a meeting with President Damiano, a stake president. Mark really loves him and he was excited to hear of a Christmas baptismal meeting they are planning to have in their stake. After the meeting we went home and packed for the trip.

Monday morning we went to the office so Mark could interview and then we had a staff meeting with the office elders. We hopped in the car and were off to Encarnacion- a four hour ride. Unfortunately everytime we head into Encarnacion we sing the song of the same name from Nacho Libre the movie- oh well we have to do a few silly things to keep sane! Mark interviewed from 6-9 pm and then we went to the hotel. The next day we were at the church at 7:30am for the zone conference and more interviews until 9 pm. Back we went to the hotel and the next morning we were on the road at 8am to drive to Ciudad del Este. Mark began interview at 1pm until 7 pm and we headed for the hotel. It’s funny they know us at all the hotels now and don’t even take our name they just take us right to our room. We had the zone conference there in Ciudad on Thursday and then traveled to Coronel Oviedo. We met some missionaries in Ca’aguazu’ to get some supplies from them and it was quite a site! We were driving to meet them and up the road come 4 hot sweaty missionaries each with a backpack and carrying a large box of Book of Mormons. They all smiled when they saw us and we took their boxes and put them in the car. The vison of them trudging up the road carrying their loads ,dirty and hot but smiling was such a picture of what it means to be a missionary. The life for missionaries is difficult and there is a lot of hard work to do , but the happiest missionaries I see are those who really work hard and forget themselves in the work.

Friday we had our last zone conference and interviews and then headed back to Asuncion. Mark loves the time of interviewing all the missionaries but he always is more pensive afterwards. There is always so much going on with so many missionaries-good and challenging.

So now it’s Saturday and Mark was up at 5am to prepare for his district conference in Paraguari. He went to make visits before Priesthood meeting and I will join him tonight for the adult session ,driven there by the office elders. We both speak tonight and tomorrow morning.

This experience is so interesting to both of us. In most callings you have the opportunity to watch and learn as you see other people who serve in the calling before you. This one is like being dropped in from another planet and everyone here expects you to know everything about everything .Oh and by the way they speak another language!!! The missionary work is one whole and complete work of its own and then you add the 5 districts where Mark presides and 5 stakes to the mix. There is no way the things that need to be done here can be without the help and strength of the Lord, and we do feel His help and love and guidance.

We’ve welcomed two large groups of missionaries so far. We greet another group of 16 on Tuesday and say goodbye to 5 on Thursday. We greet these scared young missionaries and honestly within weeks they become confident and accustomed to their surroundings. The process really is interesting to watch. Of course they all progress at different rates but if they are trying, they do make great strides forward.

Watching them is what gives us our energy to keep plodding along. We love being missionaries but we do miss you all very much. Sunday I saw a woman holding a little baby at church. I asked her how old the baby was. She told me her birthday was September 5^th , just a day before Colin ,( Wendy’s baby,)was born. Looking at her I began to think of Colin and I started to tear up and then I had to explain the reason for my tears. We are missing things with our family but I know we have a work to do here. The Lord is taking good care of us. We know he is watching out for all of you also. We love you all! Mark and Sandy

Picture

Sister Callan and Lidu (Our wonderful friend who helps with the needs at the mission home)

Oct 25, 2009

October 24, 2009

It is late Saturday night and we are exhausted. I just finish writing our weekly mission bulletin and reading our weekly letters from each missionary. We are halfway through our two weeks of zone conferences and I better get this letter written or we won’t get one out this week. I am listening on the internet to the last part of the BYU loss to TCU. We have met with three zones through the week and conducted interviews of all of the missionaries in Asuncion, around 90 missionaries. Monday we will head out for three more conferences in Encarnacion, Cuidad del Este, and Coronel Olviedo involving around 80 missionaries. We have also been gearing up for the arrival of our new missionaries in 10 days. Our mission is very young now and many of our younger missionaries will need to be ready to take on more responsibility as senor companions and trainers. We have been blessed with many wonderful missionaries who are accomplishing great things. They have such faith and diligence. We are very proud of them and feel a very deep love for them. As we entered the chapel for each zone conference and greeted the each missionary personally, I was surprised by the rush of emotion I felt just to be with them again. They come to the conferences ready to learn and you feel such a responsibility to be lead by the Spirit in planning the teaching that occurs during the various parts of the conference. Our focus this cycle has been on the wise use of our time (Chapter 8 of PMG), teaching by the Spirit, and in the afternoon we held two hours of practices that included contacting people on the street and also helping parents to pray at the conclusion of lessons. I conducted interviews while assistants and zone leaders oversaw the practices. Sandy spoke in each zone conference and really gave great messages about the Holy Ghost. I’m forgetting now that she is speaking in Spanish. She is doing great with the language. After our zone conferences next week we will be involved in a district conference in Paraguari on the weekend. I have been asked by the visiting authority to speak in two sessions and to train the priesthood leaders in another session.

A number of our missionaries struggle with a variety of challenges in their lives. I have had a number of special interviews this week also to assist missionaries with these challenges. I was giving a blessing today to a missionary in my office and it was really raining hard outside while I was giving the blessing and as I blessed him to recognize the power of the Lord in his life a bolt of lightning hit our metal gate outside my office window. Our ears were ringing as I concluded the blessing and the missionary had quite a surprised look on his face as he stood up to shake my hand. I don’t think we will forget the experience. Last week I listened to a weekly teleconference involving the Area Presidency and the other mission presidents in the Area. I feel so inadequate at times in this calling especially when I consider all of the work that in needed. It can get quite overwhelming but the Lord is kind and loving. Two of our sisters were out finding families the other day and they came upon a single woman and her children who invited them in spite of the fact that she was just leaving for work. She listened to a lesson and received a Book of Mormon and a pamphlet and set another time for a visit. Her husband passed away a few years ago and the sisters shared a message that really lifted her spirits. When the sisters returned for the next lesson they were received warmly by woman who shared with them something remarkable. The week before the sisters first came by, this woman and her fiancé had gone to the Catholic Church in search of inspiration and direction in their lives. They wanted to become active in a faith after their marriage. They didn’t get much out of the service they attended and then prayed that they could find something more. After the first visit from the sisters, the woman called her fiancé to tell him about the visit and message. She told her fiancé that even though she was late for work, she felt she needed to listen to the sisters, feeling that perhaps the Lord had answered her pray in sending the missionaries. She told her fiancé about the materials she had been given by the sisters and he asked for a description of them. He then said he had been given the same materials by two missionaries in another part of town where he lives. It seems he had been contacted about the same time as she had been by another companionship. We see things like this happen regularly. We feel the Lord’s hand in the work. We are so grateful to be here. We thank our family for their support. Thank you for your prayers. We heard that our grandson Adam told his family that Heavenly Father lives in heaven over Paraguay. We thank our Heavenly Father everyday for our wonderful family. Thank you for the pictures. Everyone is growing up and changing. We are strengthened by your testimonies and faith. Until next week….Love, Mark and Sandy

Letter from Mom

Dear Family and Friends,

I thought I'd share a few of the events of this week. On Sunday we attended our ward here in Asuncion , the Barrio Herrera . I was so happy that it was the Primary program. The primary probably had 15 children and three leaders.The children were so excited and just like at home the attendance in the meeting was the best we have seen there since we came. The children were well prepared in their talks and music. They used the recorded music for most of the songs. There were two older Primary girls who took turns leading the music. They had one child sing at the microphone as the others sang along. It was sweet and just like the programs at home, only in spanish. There were sweet children singing and sharing their testimonies with us. The messages of eternal families is so important and it was nice to see some families there with the dads. There seems to be a problem with men staying active here. There are many strong women but they are so sad their husbands either aren't members or are less active.

The week was filled with three zone conferences here in Asuncion and also interviews for Mark with the misionaries. I love the conferences when we can see all the missionaries and share messages with them to help them stay excited about the work. Mark taught well about planning and using our time well and how to be more effective missionaries through using the spirit. The assistants and zone leader led the missionaries in some practices to help improve their missionary skills. I spoke a bit too, also about the Holy Ghost. I enjoy speaking with the missionaries while they are waiting for their turn to interview with Mark. It gives me a chance to get to know them a little better and many ask medical advice at that time. I never knew so many people could have so many rashes! We have some wonderful missionaries here who are trying hard to do what they are supposed to . I ask about their apartments , we've been out to check quite a few. I also like to find out how they are doing with preparing food. For many of the missionaries here they have lunch appointments, which is nice. They really only have to worry about breakfast and a little something at night. The noon meals are the big meal of the day here so it works well for the missionaries. Some of the missionaries ask me cooking questions. Or they like to tell me the strange things they've eaten. One missionary had mondongo(beef stomach or intestines-I'm not sure which) and crocodile within the first few weeks of coming here. Another one had anaconda steaks. The Hermanas were telling me they had bought some breaded chicken patties at the grocery store and when they were cooking them they realized they were pidgeon and they weren't sure they could eat it but they did.

The weather has been hot a few days but cool and rainy others. When it rains it pours here. The other day the elders went out to take a picture of a street near the mission office. They called it River Road. The street was totally full of water and it was running just like a river. The drainage systems are not very good here so when it rains hard the roads quickly fill. It makes for great missionary pictures.

We are always amazed at how quickly the days go by and the many things we feel like are left undone at the end of the day but we just keep plodding along. I do love the companion I have and I am grateful I don't have to change companions like the other missionaries! Mark and I look at each other often and say how glad we are that we are in this together!! Hope everyone has a good week! We love you. Sandy

Clip of Iguazu Falls

Pictures October 18, 2009

German Bakery in Obligado

Little boys selling baked goods

Oblidgo 2nd Floor chapel

The Harvest

The Field is White Already to Harvest

Type of Racoon at Iguasu Falls

Iguasu Falls

October 17, 2009

October 17, 2009

We send our greetings to all! We had quite a week with many new experiences. Early last Sunday morning we drove 4 hours south to visit a number of remote branches. Our plan was pretty ambitious in that we wanted to visit three branches that were several hours apart and the weather wasn’t looking very good when we got to the first branch. Each has a history of having a missionary serving as the branch president and my desire is to find local leadership. We drove into Bogado at about 8:45am and picked up the missionaries who were waiting for us at the local bus station. We headed over to the small rented house being used for the branch meetings and were met by a small group of members. It is always inspiring to meet the members who attend these small branches. I was quite surprised to see a number of solid Melchizedek priesthood holders in attendance and I felt a strong impression that I would meet the members of a new branch presidency during our planned interviews. After Priesthood meeting, I began interviewing the brethren there and after 3 interviews, I called my counselors on the phone and discussed my feelings about reorganizing the presidency that very day. I also visited with the District President by phone and with the support of these good men, I began the process of issuing the calls. By the time sacrament meeting began, I had called a new branch president, 2 counselors (assigning one of our missionaries to be 2^nd counselor) and a branch secretary. Each of these men is temple-worthy and along with their wives, very excited about the opportunity to serve together in the branch. It is interesting to note that the new secretary informed me that he is a former stake president who had just moved to Bogado on a work assignment. He will be in Bogado for about a year and was very well known by my counselors. He assured me that he would do all he could to help train these new leaders and to help get the branch fully organized. The new presidency was sustained during sacrament meeting and set apart by me after the meeting. Our missionary who had been serving as president was so happy with the changes. He and his companion can now focus their attention on finding new members. I really feel good about the future of the branch. I told the members in my remarks that I was excited to return in the future to visit them and to see how things were going in the branch. I challenged them to unite their efforts to “grow the branch”, to borrow a phrase from President Hinckley. We headed out the door and jumped into the car and headed north on a dirt road. We were headed for San Pedro where we currently have a missionary serving as the branch president in the San Pedro/ Artigas Branch. The drive took us through a number of small, dusty, rural towns connected by a winding, rutted road that also took us through cultivated fields of wheat and soy. We had packed some food before leaving so just before arriving in San Pedro we pulled over and had a sandwich and a drink. We drove on into San Pedro and met the missionaries at the only gas station in town and headed over to the small rented building to meet with the members. It was a small group and included two investigators. We sat in a little circle on folding chairs on the brick and dirt floor and chatted about their needs and the history of the branch. It was a history that included a time of rapid growth years ago, followed by economic challenges that forced many of the men to leave the area in search of work. Three of the branches in the area have now been combined into two. The members miss the old days when activities were held regularly and the meetings were well attended. We shared our testimonies and read the scriptures together. We listened as a member who had recently lost her sister to cancer, shared how hard it was for her. We did what we could to encourage her. I saw little of local priesthood leadership in the group. We prayed and bid them farewell. We then visited a less-active family in the area in their humble home and encouraged them to come back to the church. I was proud of Sandy as she smiled and maintained her composure while an ugly, flea-bitten dog paid undue attention to her and the wife nursed her baby in front of us. As we left the home it started to rain. We called the missionaries in Bogado and they informed us that it had been raining hard for 30 minutes there and the storm was heading towards us. The road would be impassable if we tried to head south. A member of the church asked around about another route out of town and we were told that we could drive north and, if we stayed ahead of the storm, would run into the main route that would get us to Obligado for our planned evening interviews there. The member jumped on his motorcycle and told us he would show us the way out of town. He flew down the road with us close behind and as we reach the outskirts of town he pulled over and pointed the direction down a dirt road and called out “Suerte” (Goodluck) as he waved us on. I don’t think I saw much confidence in his face as he turned around and headed back to town. That’s when the prayers started. We were flying down the road as we tried to stay ahead of the heavy rain. We had thoughts of getting stuck in the deep red mud and spending a night in the car. After about 30 minutes we finally hit a paved road and after getting some directions from a gas station attendant, found the way to Obligado. We met the missionaries at the rented building and started interviews. The storm had knocked out the lights in the town so we felt our way up the stairs to the second floor meeting space. There is a balcony on the north side of the building so I interviewed three potential branch presidency members out there as the rest of the day’s light slipped away. Perhaps with some training, one of the brothers could serve but his testimony needs strengthening. We thanked them for coming to meet with us and we headed over to the apartment of the missionaries to do a quick check of their living conditions. The lights were still out so we looked around with a flashlight and bid the missionaries farewell. The rain really hit as we headed down to Encarnacion to spend the night. I have never seen it rain so hard as we drove the 45 minutes to the hotel. We checked in, reviewed our email, finished off our packed sandwiches and fell into bed, completely out of energy. What a day!

The next morning we got up, ate breakfast, filled up the gas tank and headed north to Cuidad del Este. The missionaries told us of a bakery started by German immigrants located back in Obligado so we stopped and found it. Missionaries always know where to find the best things to eat. We bought a few fresh items and enjoyed them in the car. The day was nice so we went back to the church building and took a few pictures and then headed back to the main route. The drive was beautiful. The wheat fields are ready for harvest and we couldn’t resist taking a few “missionary” pictures in the fields “white already to harvest” (see our blog). We drove into Cuidad del Este and went to the zone leader’s apartment to dropped off some packages from home and headed on to the hotel for an afternoon of conference preparations. Early the next morning we crossed over the Puente de Amistad (Friendship Bridge) into Brazil to have our visas activated (they are now good for 5 years) and to run over to Iguazu Falls. The road signs were adequate and after about 20 minutes of driving, we entered the National Park and parked. From the visitor’s center we took buses to the various view points on the Brazilian side. What an amazing natural wonder this area is! The water is really running high right now so the falls are just spectacular. There are so many different falls (300+ when the water is running high) that it is hard to take it all in. The day was perfect for viewing. The sky was clear and the temperature was in the 70’s. We walked along the paths and after about 2 hours got back on the bus and headed back to the parking lot. Before we knew it we were back over the border into Paraguay It was early in the day so we decided to drive back to Asuncion. It was a quick trip but we felt we got a lot done.

The rest of the week has been spent here in Asuncion working with the missionaries and members. I had a mission presidency meeting the other night and reported on my trip and my counselors reported on their weekend trips to other parts of the mission to support the districts and branches. We have an isolated branch that is struggling with “chismes” (gossip) right now and it has created quite a division in the membership. I have asked my 1^st counselor and the district president to visit the branch and address the matter with the members next Sunday. One of the biggest challenges I have is resisting the temptation to try to be personally involved with all of the district and branch matters. If I allowed it, the districts and branches would take all my time. But I am blessed with capable counselors and some pretty solid district presidents. This morning I received a call from the missionaries in Obligado where we had just visited. They reported that there had been a fire early in the morning at their apartment and they quickly got their stuff out but were OK. Evidently a power cable shorted out where it enters the house and the roof caught on fire. The local fire department finally arrived and put out the fire. The missionaries were joking about it but I was silently offering a prayer of thanks that they had been protected from harm. It is technically our P-Day today but we spent most of it finishing preparations for upcoming conferences and working on transfers. Tomorrow, Sunday, I will be interviewing a missionary going home after ward meetings and addressing some district matters. I’ll finish this letter now. We turn our clocks forward tonight (spring forward) so we better get the clocks changed before we retire. We love you all and trust all is well. Thank you for your great examples to us. Life is great and the Church is true! Love, Mark and Sandy