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

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