Hello
to everyone. We are doing well and enjoying a few days of cooler
weather as spring comes to an end. We take the blankets off of our beds
when it gets so very hot, then we have to drag them out again when it
gets cold (60 degrees or so).
We have had a very good
week, On Tuesday we attended the change meeting for the missionaries
and much to our surprise two of our missionaries transferred out.
Sister Valdivia, who has been a rock since have been here, was
transferred to Asuncion, and our District Leader Elder Munoz transferred
to Pedro Juan. We will surely miss them both and love them much.
Sister Aguilar from Ecuador is now here as well as Elder Mendoza (from
Riverton, UT). I am sure we will grow to love these two missionaries as
well.
On Wednesday we were the only missionaries in town as
changes were in process so we prepared a lesson on the Book of Mormon.
The missionaries challenged all of us in the branch to read the Book of
Mormon but not many folks have been reading. So we used the challenge
and promises issued by President Hinckley to try and help motivate the
members. Pres Hinckley promised that those who read the Book of Mormon
will receive 1) a greater portion in their home of the Spirit of the
Lord, 2) a stronger resolve to keep the commandments of God, and 3)
receive a stronger testimony of the reality of Son of God.
Late
Wednesday evening we received a phone call from the mission office
asking if we could drive to Tacuati to pay the rent on the Elder's house
which is empty right now AND on the house the Group is using as a
chapel. Since there are no longer missionaries there, the office forgot
to pay the rent and the landlord was getting anxious. We took money
out of the bank and drove 90 minutes to Tacuati to pay the landlord. In
the end, after paying the late fees, everything turned out just fine.
We suggested to the office that they consider using Western Union next
time.
We spend an hour teaching English to some of the
neighbor girls, Brisa and Nahiara. They are both 9-10 years old and
already speak Spanish and Guarani and want to learn English. We enjoyed
the time with them. We also drove to Concepcion for the District
Presidency meeting where we finalized the plans for the District
Conference on Sunday.
Friday we went visiting with Daisy, the
Young Women's president in the Branch. She is a wonderful young lady
who completes her schooling in December then plans to go on a mission.
She is 24 years old and very well grounded in the Gospel. We also met
via phone with Gary Teran, our financial advisor. We have not checked
up on our finances since we left home and although the market is not
doing that well right now, we are still doing fine and look forward to a
long retirement. We have found that the dollar continues to get
stronger against other currencies - for example - when we arrived here
you could purchase about 5,000Gs with 1 dollar. Now we can purchase
about 5,600, or about a 12% increase in purchasing power here in
Paraguay. Our mission president said that two years ago the rate was
3600Gs to the Dollar. Wow!
Saturday we had the first sessions
of District Conference - leadership training and Presidency meetings.
The President McMullin used a very interesting approach to teach the
leaders about their stewardship and where they should be during meetings
on Sunday (not in their office!). He brought leaders up in front to
represent each of the groups / classes / quorums, and then led the
Branch Presidents and their counselors by the arm to where they should
be during each of the meetings on Sunday. Very simple, yet very
effective.
Sunday morning early we woke up to rain,
lightening, and thunder. Big time thunder. We thought - oh no, no one
will come to our conference in Concepcion today. If it rains, it cold,
if there are elections, etc, no one comes to church.
Fortunately,
the good members from far away arrived by bus and we were able to start
our meetings about 20 minutes late. Some of the folks from Santani /
Santa Rosa / San Pedro had to leave home about 2:00 am for the journey,
and the members from Tacuati left home about 4:30 am. Bless their
hearts. The conference turned out fine with many good talks and the
District Choir sang for the first time in the Concepcion District. Our
good members in Horqueta were quick to point out that it started out as
the Horqueta choir and grew into a District Choir.
After the
conference we came home and finished preparations for our dinner with
the McMullins. President and Sister McMullin invited themselves and
their son Bryant to dinner. We had Sweet / Sour chicken, jello,
cornbread, and Strawberry shortcake for dessert. We spent abut 2 1/2
hours eating, talking, sharing stories, etc and Sis McMullin said it was
the most relaxed she has seen the President in a long time - perhaps in
2 years. It was truly a blessing for us to have them in our home.
Today
is preparation day and we chose not go to to Concepcion for the Zone
activity today - we just had too many things to do. We do plan to drive
to Concepcion later to pick up a package from home (Yeah!) and maybe
buy some frozen vegetables. We love the freeze dried veggies we have
received from Lori and others, but the frozen ones aren't bad either.
We
are looking forward to General Conference. We are all anxious to see
who is called to fill the vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve. We
plan to use our internet wireless router at the church to show all 5
sessions on Saturday and Sunday. The Branch is so grateful that they
don't have to rent a bus to go to Concepcion to watch a few sessions of
Conference. They can now go to the chapel!
We love and
appreciate you all. Thanks for your support, your prayers, and for
taking time occasionally to visit with us by phone.
Love - Jerry and Cheryl / Mom and Dad / Elder y Hermana Cranney,
The photo is of Fernando and Roberto - taking a picture of me!
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