The Great Apostasy

Highlight of the Week: Being told we`re going to have an investigator baptized next week :) 

Yep. We got a reference this week from the Elders along the lines of, "hey, This guys come to church 2 times now and is way excited to be baptized next week. . . he lives in your area, good luck!"

So we`ve been working with Andres Smith (the Paraguayans say "Esmít" :) and he is just super ready. So we`ll be pulling off a baptism this Saturday (yaaaaaay) and working a lot with the dear sisters in the ward so that we can finish up the lessons he still needs. 

AAAAand we had cambios this week. I sent poor Sister Ross to the grave (metaphorically speaking, of course) and I am now with Hermana Palombo de Utah. We get along well.

 This is going to be a good 6 weeks :) 

I`ve really been impressed during my studies this week by the fact that the more one knows about world history, the easier it is to clearly see and understand the great Apostasy. 

Maybe I`ll take a history class when I get home. . . :) 

Jackolanterns and Pumpkin Pie

Highlight of the Week: Carving a Jackolantern (no me importa si era tarde :) No! Algo mejor - Hna Puma found a Gospel Principles manual in Guarani. Love that girl :) 

I made pumpkin pie this week. And discovered that Hna. Ross is a bit sensitive to large quantities of pumpkin. Like throwing up kind of sensitive. Can people be allergic to pumpkin?

We ended up staying en casa for the day so she could recover. 

But we made up for it by working crazy hard the rest of week. 

It tormented on Friday, but we stayed in studying because we had a zone meeting Thursday. 

I`m getting near the end of Jesus the Christ. I really want to read the last few chapters, because I know they`re going to be fantastic, but I`m not so excited to not have more of it to read.

Maybe I`ll try it in spanish this time :) 

tini baby frog plague

Highlight of the Week: RAIN. I love the rain. 

The rain is nice, mostly because it`s not the sun. And even though it makes the whole world deathly humid (think sauna) it`s still better than the sun. And luckily it`s been really only raining

 in the mornings when we`re studying. 

And it`s tiny baby frog season. There`s a family of members that lives by the arollo (stream) that runs through our area, and when we went to visit them we discovered that their whole yard is just full of the tiniest little frogs. SO AWESOME. You have to be careful not to step on them,

 It`s like a mini plague of Egypt. :) 

The elders in our ward had a baptism this week, and institute happened to be at the same place and at the same time. . . it was so weird to get a glimpse of the single adult life. . .

I am so glad I have a few more months before I have to worry about all that again :) 

Apple pie and pictures

Highlight of the Week: 2 less active families came to church!

The chapel in Amambay is being renovated, (ok, that`s impressive that I was able to pull that word out of the dusty English archives of my memory, just saying)

and so we have to travel a bit to go to church, and there are a few less actives because of it.

But two families with whom we work came this week! 

Also, Wednesday we taught Hna Cordone to make apple pie. . . but in the process

 I managed to drench the both of us in grasa de chancho.

I promised her that wasn`t normal procedure and that the pie would still taste good,

 but she was a little skeptical. . . luckily yesterday we confirmed that it turned out ok in the end :)

And I will never try to half a really packed bag of melted lard again. :) 

 



me covered in grasa de chancho. . . pig fat :)

making apple pie with Hna. Cordone.. . :)

 

Learning how to dance the Galopera. . . with cantaro. :)



 

Me in front of my new home (well, since three weeks now. . .)



I don`t know if you can see it well, but there`s a chicken with curly feathers in this picture. So cool. 

 

zoom in and crop of the curly feathered chicken



 

 

Hna. Zuñiga (mi hija), Hna Flores, me, Hna Lino (comp. in Villeta) right after General Conference in Ñemby

 



The Gonzales Family



Montse, my almost convert of Villeta

 



 

 

trunky papers

Ok, rapido.

 

I got my "trunky papers" today, which means they`ll be buying my plane ticket home soon. But don`t get too excited, because there's still a good 2 1/2 cambios to go :) 

Ben got to watch Meet the Mormons?! I´m jealous. 

My comp will be home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. . . it`s weird. 

It was really hot this week. REALLY HOT. I am going to be so tan. 

New area called Amambay

Highlight of the Week: Our investigators got to listen to the Primary Program!!!

It was perfect. The primary kids perfectly summarized all of lessons 1 and 3,

with a bit of 2 in there as well.

And I need to learn the primary songs in Español si o si :) 

I`m in a new area called Amambay. It`s known to be one of the nicest sister areas. It`s pure city, and almost in downtown Asuncion from what I`ve heard. We plan a lot of appointments, because not a lot of people are ok with just inviting us in on the spot. And the members have cars here. And like to feed the missionaries.

 Life will be quite different this cambio :) 

We live in a building named Tupasy. Tupa is god. Sy is mother. So after looking it up in the guarani dictionary we confirmed that we do indeed live in an apartment complex named after the Virgin.

But we`re chill with that. 

Funny story - I left behind Montse in Villeta. She still hasn`t been able to be baptized because she still doesn`t have her Aunt`s permission. But it just so happens that we`re teaching a 13 year old Monse here in Amambay too! She and her mom came to church this Sunday.

 I`m pretty excited about it :) 

And we ate a really strange fruit this week. I`ve been dying to ask someone what it's called for nearly my whole mission now, and at least now I know what it tastes like :) It was kind of gritty like a really ripe pear. . . but less sweet. And with an odd aftertaste. And lots of seeds. 

half of Women`s Conference

Highlight of the Week: Getting to see half of Women`s Conference :) 

We missed our colectivo Saturday in the morning. So we didn`t get to watch Korean children singing. But we did manage to get our 5 contactos done and get to Ñemby in time to see the last half :) 

I loved conference. (as every missionary does :) And I even watched the last session in Español, which I was pretty excited about. I only had to ask Hna. Zuñiga what an hacha was and what agua portable was :) 

We made friends with a young woman from the next town over who is just really really willing to help us with lessons, which I`m going to count as a small miracle.



learning to dance with cantaros

with the founder of Villeta

The Jara Family

with Hermana Lino