Hello all I have a lot of news to give but
I just wanted to answer a few questions so that I could get my brain working
again.
1. Are there any traditional foods that the Paraguans like to eat at Christmas
time? Special treats, candies? I Think I talked about this last time. Here
around Christmas time they all like to eat Fruit Salads. Because it’s super
super super hot. They can´t really go for anything food wise because it raises
your body temperature and that really is no fun at all. As far as candy goes….
Not really. What they do for the little kids is that on all the little stores
on all the corners, they sell little fireworks. All the kids beg their parents
to be able to give them a little money so that they can set something on fire
and blow it up. It gets a little scary at times knowing that you have a handful
of firecrackers in the hands of a 3 year old but I am not their parents. We
have to sometimes avoid the teenagers when they get on fireworks or else they
will throw them at us. Not cool! There are some pretty big ones that make some
pretty large explosions. Kinda weird seeing little kids playing games to see
who can hold it in their hand the longest. hahaha
2. What is the tradition that the children follow as far as Santa Claus goes?
Well as far as presents, they believe in Santa Clause but he isn´t the dude
that they get many presents from. They mostly believe in the three kings that
came. I guess 3 days after Christmas that’s when the kings come to the houses
and drop off all the gifts. Its kind of cool because it makes it more of a religious
thing but still they don´t focus too much on Christ here during Christmas. Really,
here in Paraguay, Christmas is all about getting all of the family together. It
doesn´t matter how far away you live or if you hate your family. You HAVE to
come home for Christmas. Usually they have a huge dinner and party. It’s cool
because it’s like the only time in the year when all the family gets together.
3. Tell us about a service that you provided for someone this week. Do you get
many chances to give service?
This last week we helped a family move from one of their houses to the next. It
was super super tough because it was super super hot and they had us lifting
all the super super heavy things. I can´t lie but I have lost a ton of muscle
here and I’m mister skinny now. We usually have a service project planned out
every single week. Its gonna get cool because people are gonna start painting
their houses for Christmas so we will be able to have lots of work to do.
4. What type of jobs do most people have that live in your area? How do they
provide for their families? What is the most common occupation?
Well in CDE everyone works down in the central of where are the Brazilians come
in. They sell stuff. All the Brazilians come in with their money and they buy
lots of stuff at a super super super cheap price and then they take it back to Brazil
or take it to other countries to sell at a higher price and make lots and lots
of money. That is the most common occupation, that you just working in selling
stuff.
Ok so what has gone down this last week? Really it’s been one of the most
tiring weeks of my entire mission. I have never worked so hard and talked and
called so many people in my entire life. Every night usually while we were in
our last lesson I would be falling asleep and then while we were planning I
could barely stay awake. I really feel that this last week I have given it my
all and I was on the verge of death practically. I was transferred. I was sent
out of CDE and now I was resent back into one of my old Zones. Nemby. Really
this zone is struggling a ton right now. There are about 26 missionaries in the
zone and they aren´t having practically any success at all. President wrote me
in my email and told me that he wants me to get things moving here in the zone.
I got here on Wednesday and my new comp is Elder Hugie from Logan Utah. He is
an awesome missionary and just finished his first change as a zone leader. I
got here in the zone and we could see right off the bat that the missionaries
weren´t working with any of the members and their attitudes really aren´t what
they should be. We did divisions my second day and I went to part of my old
area because it got divided. I was able to work super super super hard in that
area because I already knew the members and the area. We taught a good amount
of lessons and talked to tons of people and there were a few people who looked
like they had the chance to progress. The missionaries have all heard that here
in Zone 3 its super super hard. We are going to change that attitude and make
this zone the highest baptizing zone in the mission. We have a lot of work to
do and a lot of stuff to change But I know if we just keep working hard and
keep trying to be obedient the Lord is going to bless us in our efforts.
We also got here in the area and really there weren´t any investigators and the
members hadn´t been utilized so their whole attitude was really kickback and
relaxed. We called them and we left with them and we worked. Really I felt like
I had to use all of my capabilities and talents and my whole being just to keep
moving and working because that’s what I want to do here. I want to make a
change. We saw a ton of miracles though. I want to tell you a few of them.
My first day we went and got a reference from a member and as we went to
contact it, we talked to the dad and he was an awesome guy. We taught him
lesson one and gave him a baptismal date. He said that he would read and pray.
So we were super super pumped to come back on Saturday and meet his wife. They
have 4 kids. We came back on Saturday with the member that gave us the
reference. The dad wasn´t there and so we couldn´t stay but the member was able
to stay. We talked to that member on Sunday and she said that the wife is super
super prepared. She hasn´t been baptized in any church and is looking for the
true church. Whooohooo We had a hardcore miracle with that. So we are going to
work with that family this week. Also another miracle that we had was on Saturday.
We had taught and clapped and gotten references from like 50 people and we were
starting to get a little disappointed. We talked to this guy who was just
taking some beer into his house to start drinking. His wife let us in and we
talked about lesson 1 and the family. Wow. It was a huge miracle. We asked the
mom if she would like to know if the message was true. She said that she
already knew that it was true. We were a little startled from that response and
so we asked her how she knew it was true. She said that she just felt it was
true and didn´t know why. WHOOOOOOOO I would have to say that that lesson was
probably one of the most spiritual lessons that I have had on my mission. After
talking about the restoration and the first vision, I just started testifying
of what a huge blessing it was for them and their family to have 2 representatives
of Christ in their home and that the gospel was going to be a huge blessing to
their family so that they can someday live forever again. They were speechless.
The spirit was palpable. We just left it in silence after me testifying and
really I knew and could see that they had more light in their eyes and they
were smiling. It was such an awesome and fortifying experience for me and my
companion. We are going to keep looking for miracles like these families and we
are going to have many many more baptisms.
We are starting to meet with the new district leaders to make sure that they
are talking with all their missionaries so that we can just keep working
together as a team. We are super super pumped to be together this change Elder
Hugie and I. We know we are going to be consecrated missionaries and help the
whole zone and this ward just take off and reach the potential that God wants
it to be. It’s funny because we have been hassling the members here a ton about
leaving with us and so it leaves an impression that we are super super serious
missionaries. They ask me how much time I have and I tell them that I only have
about 5 months left and then they freak out as to why I don´t slow down and
just relax a little bit to end my mission. Then it’s sweet because I can bear
my testimony to them about how much I love the Lord and my Heavenly Father and
that They do everything so that I can be happy. And They haven´t asked me to
¨slow down¨ So I’m going to work with all my heart, might, mind and soul. Its
soo sweet to see the look in their eyes. Some of them get scared but a lot of
them really can feel the importance of the missionary work here in the area. I
just would like to say that I love the mission. I wish that every single person
in the world could go through an experience like this. Yes it is very very
hard. You get rejected and you are stressed and you have trials. But its all
true isn´t it? So what else matters? I love you all and hope you have an
awesome Christmas season, because I´m going to have the best one in my entire
lifetime, here in Paraguay teaching the gospel. What could be a greater blessing?
Rohayhu Paraguay ha rohayhu familia
Elder Beatty
No comments:
Post a Comment