Easter - Semana Santa

Highlight of the Week: Boda y Baptismo! 

Ok, it wasn`t our baptism, but the elders in our ward had a wedding and baptism this Saturday, and it was great - we even managed to drain the font the day after too, so we won`t have to deep clean it before the next baptism. . . :) 

Easter (day) in Paraguay is. . . well, kind of normal. What they celebrate here is Semana Santa. Holy Week. I think it begins Monday, Lunes Santo. And lasts till Sunday (Pascua). Nobody has school, everyone`s on vacation in el Campo visiting family, and Viernes Santo is the holiest of the holy days, and NOBODY is in the streets. The colectivos don`t run, nothing is open. . . everything`s quiet.  And everyone eats chipa and sopa paraguayo. Homemade chipa`s a little tough, but it`s good. . . I much prefer the sopa paraguayo (kind of like cornbread, not at all like soup). 

We saw the biggest caterpillar EVER this week. It was as big around as my thumb. Kind of scary, but really cool. And it was outside, so todo tranquilo :)

We have cambios tomorrow, but I don`t think we`ll be changing. You never know, but I`m guessing we`re staying put. 

Favorite escritura ahora: Alma 7:10-13

cold toes

Highlight of the week: cold toes :)

I think we might be able to safely say that we're beginning winter here in Paraguay. Or maybe this is just what fall is like here. . . but it's been cold enough to wear a sweatshirt at night and want hot cereal for breakfast and I am so happy :) I feel like Christmas is around the corner. . . :)

I have made it a goal to baptize our neighbors: Antonio and Graciela: They collect and sell chatarra (scrap metal and . . . junk) and they are probably the most interesting people I have ever talked to. Antonio studied for a year with monks. He learned English from a short; redheaded Irish man. He's read the book of Mormon cover to cover. He mines for gems every now and then somewhere far away in the outskirts of Paraguay. And I really believe he actually did all of this. Graciela doesn't talk much. And their three year old son is just full of smiles and only speaks Guaraní. Yep, we're gonna baptize them; just you wait and see :)

Love you guys!

General Conference

Highlight of the Week: General Conference. Hands down. 

Nooooo!!!! I have to wait 6 MONTHS for the next Conferencia General?! It`s a good thing we`ll be getting the Liahona in a month or so :) Conference is so great. A little more stressful when the two hour break in between is spent speedwalking all over tarnation in who-knows-how-many-degrees Celsius trying to convince investigators and the less active that it really will be worth it to watch. But still amazing. 

I`m learning that pure Guarani is really complicated to learn from a dictionary. And that the word ´thunder´ is just full of hard to pronounce sounds for the general latino public, and that all of Paraguay is planted with Pomelos, but I don`t know why because they are so bitter! Grapefruit juice makes me sneeze. Like dark chocolate. 

We contacted a Paraguayan Messianic Jew the other week. We`re still working on the follow up. 

 

Alma 12 is fantastic! Currently my favorite chapter. You should all read it.

This is our district last cambio

this is the view from our house

This is me and Jon playing Ajedres :)

amanecer

this is the "culebra"

Making progress in Guarani

Highlight of the Week: Making progress in Guarani (Che, Nefi, chereñoi. . . :)

GENERAL CONFERENCE IS THIS WEEKEND!!!!! I`m so excited. I think General Conference is kind of like the Mundial (world cup) for missionaries. And it`s only 5 days away! 

Last week we had a service project in the Hospital Militar working with the Operation Smile organization - it was way cool, and we got to travel there in street clothes, which was just weird. First time I`ve worn pants in a colectivo :) 

We found a snake in our apartment this week. Scared us half to death - we were just about to finish studying when this big fat grey thing when cruising past my feet . . . I don`t have a problem with snakes. . . but snakes that don`t have eyes and look like gigantic worms and can make their way to the third floor are definitely not my favorite :) Maybe I`ll remember to send a picture of it next week :)
link to picture of snake
 

I`m determined to come home tri-lingual. And it`s actually really fun to ask the kids about Guarani, cause they all have to take the class in school, and they get excited about teaching a foreigner about it :) It`s a good ice breaker.

It was cold yesterday!

Ok. Really quick.

 

We had a busy week. Really got to know the colectivos. And it rained a lot. And it was cold yesterday! I actually need to use my covers now (yes!) and sometimes I even wake up with cold feet.

 

The time changed yesterday, and I`m suffering a little with it. I was super tired last night, and this morning I was wide awake way before I needed to be. . . yay for habits :)

 

I will explain more about flagging down colectivos in the rain next week.

 

Everybody here is gearing up for Semana Santa. I`ve heard we`re gonna eat a lot of chipa.

Totally missed St. Patrick`s day. Oops. Oh well. Everything here`s green anyway :) 

I`ll write more next week! 

I`m training (AAaaaahhhh!!. . . )

 

 

Highlight of the Week: Cambios! Well, ok, they were bittersweet. . . 

We had cambios this week. I`m still in Monte Lindo, and probably will be for 3 more months because I`m training (AAaaaahhhh!!. . . ) Hna Peña is ending her mission in a far away area, and all the members of Monte Lindo are really sad about it. But I think she`s gonna love it. 

My new companion is Hna. Zuñiga, and she`s from Peru, and she`s been in Paraguay 5 days. She`s great. And we`re learning a lot. The both of us :) And she thinks my Español is great :) Still need to ask her to repeat things every other sentence, but equal no mas :) I think I`m suffering a little because the Peruvian vocabulary is a little different than the Paraguayan vocabulary. She tells me sometimes a Paraguayan accent pokes through my North American one :) That makes me happy :) 

I have a new goal to learn Guarani. And I think it might actually happen if I really put my mind to it. Here`s a taste of it: Our District Leader`s area is Kaaguy Rory. It`s pronounced Kahwuhruhruh. Well, with a Spanish accent for the r`s, so more like Kahwuhduhduh. Facil :) I have a Book of Mormon in Guarani, and it`s gonna be my best friend these next few months :) 

 

 

 

 

Things I've learned in Paraguay

Highlight of the Week: Teaching Julio about Jesus

during Sacrament Meeting . . . on the front stand. . . during my comp`s talk :) 

We had `discursos` this Sunday.  I always worry that mine`s going to be really short, and then I end up taking up all the time. Oops. And Julio and his sister Clarisa came to church with us! They`re just 9 and 7. We`re working on getting their dad to church too. Next week :) They liked primary, but  it was hard for them to sit still through Sacrament Meeting. Good thing Preach My Gospel has lots of pictures :) And our family that plays piano was absent, so I got to blunder my way through a few hymns too (que vergüenza) 

Cambios this Wednesday! We`ll see what happens. . . 

Things I`ve learned in Paraguay:

1. How to use spray deodorant

2. How to eat cookies out of a tube

3. How to kill mosquitoes

4. That half my retainer is glow in the dark. . . :)