Email 3-26-12

2012.Mar.27

Hello all,  

This week has been a good and satisfying week.  Its hard to believe really that this change is almost over and that I will most likely be saying goodbye to elder Bingham pretty soon. Its kinda weird because president has been telling us that the older comps will be staying in the area longer and then he tells all the younger comps to be prepared to stay and to know their area.  Its sooo confusing because the president leads us on this wild rollercoaster ride of emotions of who will be staying or not.  AHHH its ok because I know Elder Bingham will do good wherever he goes. Ya we have had our tough moments but usually we could always come out with a laugh and just keep pressing forward.  This last week was more difficult in trying to find someone to teach.  I´m sure I have talked with everyone in my area this last week but not a single one really wanted to let us teach them.  It was really frustrating looking back and not really have accomplished anything, but then I look at the other blessings that the Lord gave us this last week.  We got everything all figured out for Jorge and Ivan´s baptism on this Friday.  As a companionship we are getting along great.  Just like brothers.  The ward isn´t angry at us.  And we are still both progressing spiritually.  

We had many experiences this last week of talking to people of many different characters.  One of the experiences that we had was that we were walking along one of the streets and right now the grapefruits are in season.  They are fairly large here, probably the size of a softball but a lot harder hahaha.  Anyway we were just walking and a group of teens started yelling at us as we were coming towards them.  We just thought that we would just ignore them,  mostly because they were yelling in Guarani and I could only pick out bits and pieces of what they were saying, but then they started throwing these grapefruits at us.  So we decided to run.  One hit my comp in the back of the head and he got a good sized goose egg on this head and one hit me in the shoulder.  I learned my lesson.  That if I was every in a food fight.... go straight for the grapefruits. J 

On Wednesday we ran into a crazy rainstorm from the north.  I think that I would have to say that I love the South American rainstorms because there is a lot of lightning and they are LOUD.  We were just walking around and all the rain started coming down with a ton of lightning and so we went back to the house to get our raingear and the lightning kept going and every time the thunder would come it would just shake the house.  It was pretty cool but scary at the same time.  We went to play soccer that night and there was nobody who came to play because of the rain.  But I guess the chapel just got a new................................ PING PONG TABLE!!!!!!!! WHOOT!!!!!!

We were so pumped to hear that we were getting a ping pong table.  I haven’t gotten to play on it yet.  All the Paraguayans say that they are sooo professional, but these South Americans are gonna get a taste of some gringo power.  I just tell everyone that really I was born in China and then they get scared hahahaha

On Saturday Elder Bingham finally got sick.  He hasn´t gotten his first shot of hard core diarrhea and this Saturday was it.  He was super super sick.  We didn´t get to leave the house mostly because he didn’t have the strength to leave his bed.  I felt bad for him for a second but then I had to remember that we all go through that stage and we have to get over it. hahahah ya that’s probably bad that I thought that but its ok because he got over it.  Its been pretty cloudy and raining ever since Sunday.  Which is a huge relief because the heat was just killing us lately with how humid it has been. 

This last week I have really been focusing on getting prepared for general conference that is coming.  Everytime I start thinking about conference I keep going back to the same thought about how today is the day and now is the hour to make the decision to do whatever the prophets will tell us to do this weekend.  Yes some of the stuff may be difficult, maybe even sad, but in the end it will bring us true happiness.  But if we make the decision now to listen and to ACT we won´t have trouble when that moment comes.  Also I think about council that we have received about having our ¨favorite prophet¨ This is a terrible thing that we need to get rid of.  The most important prophet is the one that God sends to us in that moment.  It could be the words in the scriptures or from past latter-day prophets, but we should get rid of the thought process that some prophets are more exciting than others or are more strong because they are all men sent by God and we all need to pay attention to their words because they are for us.  I am so excited to be able hear the council from the prophets for us.  I love you all and hope that you have the spirit with you this week and are striving to feel his presence.

rohyhu mi familia

--
Elder Beatty

Email 3-19-12

2012.Mar.20

Hello all,

How is it all going up there where it is nice and freezing and cold? Because we are cooking things up real good down here in Paraguay.  We have some definite baptism dates for 3 people and for sure they are going to get baptized.  Our investigator Jorge whose girlfriend doesn´t want to hear anything about the gospel or anything.  He was looking for answers on what he should do.  He was just flipping through the triple that we gave him and he came to DC 21.  Where it talks about leaving your family for a time so that the blessings can come.  He read that and he started praying about what he should do and the spirit told him that he should follow the advice that he received in DC.  And so Jorge has a definite baptism date for the 30th of this month.  All he is doing right now to prepare for it is just looking for a new place to live while he is working and everything.  He was worried because he didn´t want to leave his sons with his girlfriend but in the end he said that following the spirit was more important than following his own head.  It is truly amazing to see this man.  Also this last Sunday in the Church we were teaching a lesson about the life of Jesus Christ.  Jorge has really change so much in that he participates more in the classes than the members do.  He was just sharing some of his thoughts about how the family needs to be based on the example of Christ’s life.  And as he started sharing his thoughts he starting sobbing.  He couldn´t even finish what he was trying to say because he knew what kinds of blessings will come into his life because of his decision to be baptized and begin a new life.  I really hope that this action is the action that will show his girlfriend that he has changed and wants a united family.  He really has been such a amazing testimony in my life in that god can work his miracles for the people who are truly willing to drop their pride.  Jorge has stopped smoking, drinking, swearing, watching bad movies, and looking at pornography to just coming and being the 1st to the church.  Even before the bishop.  I just can´t wait to see him be baptized and receive the spirit.  Because he is putting in his part to have the change in his life.  And i know that god will bless him.  Also we have Ivan.  This little tyke he is such a trooper.  At first he wasn’t really very excited about his baptism but now he is so pumped.  Its so cool to see his excitement and learning capabilities.  His baptism date had to drop because he went to work with his dad for Sunday and so he missed church, so when we told him that he was sooo sad.  I thought he was going to cry.  He then told us that he can´t every go or do anything on Sundays because he has to go to church.  it was sooo coool to see the testimony growing in this little guy.  I hope that he can begin to shine and be the example that his family needs to come back to church and be a united family.

We got to go to the temple today.  At first I was a little nervous because everyone there was talking in Spanish and Guaraní and everything was so confusing, but after we entered in and the session started all those feelings of confusion left and were replaced by the spirit.  It truly was such a strong testimony to me that really the temple is that house of the lord and that we can always go to him to find the peace that we need in this life.  We also got to pretty much run the temple as missionaries.  They had missionaries.  There was just a bunch of missionaries running the baptismal font.  I probably baptized 110 names at least.  I was so tired at the end but really it was soooo worth it.  to know that I´m not only helping the people in this world come unto Christ.  It was a total missionary moment.  I´m so thankful for the chance that we had to go the temple and to feel that lords spirit.  I can´t wait for the next time that we go.  

Well I got to go, I hope that everything is going well and that you all can feel the lords love for you.  I also hope you can see the miracles of the lord that are happening all around us.  I love you all

Rohyhu familia

Elder Beatty

Email 3-12-12

Hello all,

WOW I’m sooo old.  I just wanna give a shout out to all my buds that have 20 years old.  May your days be prosperous and fruitful haha Thank you everybody for your happy birthday wishes your thoughts, prayers, and faith.  Don´t stop, believing.  Other than me turning 20 and being considered insanely old here in the mission, this week has really passed by without any BIG changes.  The same ol day in and day out.  This last week we have really been focusing on finding some new people to teach but as far as this week has gone it has been insanely hard.  I guess there has been some heat wave that has come in and it has been Very very hot.  All the people are nervous because its hot and nobody really wants to listen because it’s always uncomfortable to be outside.  So this week has been a week of rejection.  Which doesn´t happen very much here if I do say so myself.  We had president and his wife come by and inspect our house.  We got rid of representation of the Garden of Eden that was growing in front of our house.  It was a sad day but it was for the best.  Also I´m sure glad that I covered the stove with tinfoil but the Hermana was very happy that we had it covered.  It was a very stressful period of time but overall it went very well.  I´m just glad that I had a mom who taught me how things should be cleaned.  hahaha  

Ivan, our little 10 year old Ivan.  Man he is so legit.  We started teaching him a while ago and at first he wasn´t interested at all and it was super hard to get his attention.  But now whenever we see him he keeps asking us when we are gonna come by and ¨recite¨ with him haha.  Its soo sweet too because when we come to his house and clap he runs out and opens the gate and gives us both huge hugs.  I´m not gonna lie sometimes I get a little teary eyed because he reminds me so much of Larson, except that he is a Lamanite. hahaha Every time that we go to his house he just has a huge smile on.  It’s been great because as we have been teaching him; his brother has been there helping us.  Its been good to see his older brother´s testimony grow over the last 2 weeks.  We have gotten super super close to those two.  The older brother who is already a member is planning on baptizing him in a week.  He is sooo pumped and gets sad when we come by and he isn´t there.  He seems to me like an older brother that I never had.  Intelligent, funny, and loves sports.  It will be fun to stay in contact with him when I leave the area.  I hope that Ivan can keep going to church too so that he can keep growing up and become just like his older brother.  We also have been working a lot of the Barero family.  Its just sooo tough because the guys ex wife doesn´t want to get a divorce just to spite him.  AHHH sometimes women can just be such a bother hahah jk  But its really frustrating because they keep telling us that they will do anything so that they can get married and baptized but until they get that paper really we are in a stalemate and can´t move.  We just have to keep passing by and increasing their faith little by little so when the time comes they just make the decision without hesitation.  Its the same with one of our other investigators.  Jorge.  His girlfriend just doesn´t want to do anything with the church.  We have tried practically everything.  I can´t give up on Jorge.  He is just sooo close and is totally ready to receive all the blessings that he deserves but its just one little obstacle that just sits in the way.  I guess just like the other family we will just have to keep building his faith and hope and pray.

This last week my dad posed me a question of what is the difference between truth and knowledge.  After a little bit of meditating on the subject I came to the conclusion that yes there is a difference and it influences us very much.  Truth comes from heaven.  It is pure, it is perfect without fault.  It comes directly from our Heavenly Father through the spirit.  It is something that we can´t deny, but more of something that we fully don´t understand.  Knowledge is what we as humans can derive from the truth.  Our understanding in our unperfect state.  There are many truths that are spoken of in the scriptures.  There is one truth that we can all come to know and to understand even without much study and meditation.  And that is, God is our Heavenly Father,  He loves us.  He knows us.  We don´t have to have some big vision, or some angel come down to tell us this truth.  We can see it in every place, feeling, and person.  That yes, Heavenly Father, loves us.  It is rather strange to me that yes there are people who are so lost, who believe that God exists but believes that He is a person of justice and of hatred. That He hates because we are imperfect, that we are never to progress and return to our once perfect state.  Who can a view such as this seem to have hope?  How can a person with these feelings find joy in life and press forward with faith? He can not!  If we REMEMBER always the truth that we have receive from our Father in Heaven, the testimony that we have always received, and will continue to receive, that He loves us,  We will ALWAYS, press foward with love and happiness. 

I love you all and thank you soo much again for your prayers and comments on my very special day. hahahah 

Rohaihu mi familia

Elder Beatty

Email 3-5-12

Sorry this is really late, but I've had internet issues.

Hello everyone,

This week has been such a tough week.  I thought that the heat had all left and now we were going to get a little bit of a break as far as having to walk in the sun.  NOPE.  ha-ha The sun decided to be super strong this last week.  It was really tough to find people because everyone was so tired and sick of the sun that they just stayed in their houses and slept.  We did find some cool people though and we are hoping that they will progress.  

One of the funniest things that happened this week was that one morning it was SUPER hot. There was no power, so our fans weren´t working and we were trying to companion study  It was sooo hot that the sweat was just dripping off our faces and down our shirts and chests.  We just kinda sat there and looked at each other and just started laughing hysterically because it was soooo hottt.  I didn´t know if the heat was just getting to our brains or what but we just couldn´t stop laughing or sweating.  Finally we just decided to just leave the house and try and find someone to teach because inside the house we had ¨cabin fever¨ more like ¨crazy heat to the brain, can´t stop laughing fever¨  hahaha but it all went good.  

We found this legit little kid named Ivan.  Every time I see him it makes me a little sad because he is about as old as Larson.  I just want to hang out with him forever and be his big brother but, nope can´t do that.  We passed by and started teaching him with his older brother who is a member but is inactive.  We taught about how we should follow Jesus and do good things like get baptized.  We placed a date with him for the 27 of March but I don´t know how it’s going to work because the older brother told us that the dad (who is a member supposedly) wants to baptize him.  But the dad never wants to come to church.  Well I guess we will just see what happens with that.  But don´t worry I´m not giving up on my new 12 year old little brosif. 

It’s been tough this last week because we have a tonnnnnnn of people who we are teaching.  The problem is, is that they really don´t want to come to church.  It’s crazy because they are reading, they are praying, we do FHE with them with members and they love it.  But they just won´t come to church dang it.  It’s rather frustrating.  You think that they would at least come once to at least try it out.  AHHH but its ok.  We will just keep moving forward with them and their progression.  

The really frustrating thing this last week was that we have been trying to get Jorge baptized.  He has learned everything, he reads every single day out of the BOM, he prays every single day.  The only thing that he has to do now is get married with his senora.  The thing is that his senora doesn´t even want to see us.  She doesn´t want anything to do with the gospel and with the church.  She won´t even let her kids listen to us.  So of course she doesn´t want to marry Jorge because that means that she would have to be associated in some way with the church.  It’s really weird because her sister is a member that is really really strong.  Anyway so we fixed an appointment where a counselor in the stake presidency would come and meet Jorge and his family. We told Jorge to tell his wife that a leader in the church that was really high up was coming to meet them to just talk and get to know them.  Jorge said he would try.  We took the counselor to the house and the wife still wouldn´t leave the house.  So we left hoping that she would come out and at least talk to the president.  But she still didn´t leave.  AHHHHh Darn these people and their traditions.  It’s just hard because since birth I think the parents teach their kids to never talk to the missionaries.  They don´t tell them why, mostly because there isn´t a reason why.  Mostly say it’s because we look like spies here to rob people of their sweet water.  ahhhhhhh well that was super frustrating because Jorge´s date had to fall again.  We are thinking that we are going to try and bring President Callan and hope that, that, will bring her out of her house if we tell her that the most important man to us as missionaries is coming.  I hope that will work but who knows. 

Well gotta close up.  I love you all and hope that you all have the spirit of the Lord with you always.  

Peace.

Elder Beatty