November 9, 2015

Greetings to all.

It has been a relatively calm week here in Horqueta.  The weather has been unusually cool, but very humid with a lot of rain and clouds (reminds me of University Place

On Monday we invited the Sisters and Elders to our house to use our Internet as the internet at the church is still out of order.  They like to use 2 hours each Monday to write to family and friends - the good news is that we have 2 laptops so it goes faster.

Tuesday was “Cambios”, or changes / transfers.  We go to Concepcion for the change meeting and all of the missionaries anxiously wait to see if they will be transferred.  This time the President changed the way in which transfers are handled.  Each of the missionaries stood up, and one by one were told to either sit down because they were staying in their current location, or to come forward as they would be leaving.  In the past each missionary who was leaving would be told where they were going and who would be their new companion.  There was always a huge amount of noise, phone calls, comments, rumors, etc that came from this approach.  This time all of the missionaries being changed were instructed to travel to the Mission Office in Asuncion and there they would be told where they were going and would meet in person their new companion.  It was truly a test of their faith but it did create a much better environment and helped everyone focus on their current companion, the members, and really cut down on the noise and the phone calls. 

In Ward Activity night we taught a lesson on Sustaining the leaders of the church.  We used the example of Moses, Aaron, and Hur.  During one of the wars, as long as Moses held the staff of the Lord above his head, the Israelites prevailed in their battle.  If his arms dropped, the enemy prevailed.  So Aaron and Hur held up / sustained the arms of Moses and the Israelites were victorious.  We had one of the youth come up and hold up hymn books while we read this story from the scriptures.   He got tired pretty fast.  We then had two other youth come up and help him hold up the books.  It was fun, I think they understood the point, and we enjoyed teaching them.

We visited several members this week, to deliver items we purchased for them in Asuncion, to see how they are doing, and to invite them to come to church.  It is always a challenge when they commit to come on Sunday, but don’t show up.  The excuses are many and quite common:  it is too hot, too cold, too early, too late, it is raining, it is election day, I was tired, I forgot, etc.  But we keep inviting and hope they come and feel the spirit and desire to come on their own.  Yesterday was a cold and very rainy day.  As we drove to church the roads were running rivers of red mud, it was windy and cool, and it was still raining.  We had visitors from the District and I was not sure how many members would come to church. The final count for attendance for Sacrament Meeting was 26 people, with 12 or so from the District leadership.  In Tacuati, our group we support, we had 9 people in attendance.  Kind of discouraging.

Yesterday we also did visits with the District leadership, had a District Council Meeting, showed the youth the church program “Face 2 Face with the Piano Guys”, and had a short Missionary Prep class.  We are tired today.

Oh, I almost forgot. The District President asked that Cheryl make a meal for the District leaders who had traveled to Horqueta.  She warned him that it would not be the standard beef and mandioca meal - so she made 'bowtie pasta chicken salad".  Most of the leaders, particularly the women didn't enjoy it much, but the President wolfed down 4 plates of the salad.  Cheryl did a good job with the food, the tablecloths, etc.  It was a good meal and we are still enjoying the leftovers. 

We taught an English class again this week to 5 young girls from the neighborhood - our 3 regulars and 2 new ones.  We probably wont be able to keep working with all 5 - just too many at one time

Well, we are doing fine.  We sure appreciate all of the support we receive from our family and friends.   We are far away and it is hard for Cheryl who still is struggling with the language.  We pray for all of you, for your safety, your health and your success.

Love you all,

Jerry and Cheryl