December 21, 2015

Hello to everyone. I hope that everyone has enjoyed your preparations for Christmas, which is just around the corner.  We plan to celebrate little but try and focus on the Savior this Christmas.  As we have explained earlier, there is not much happening here for Christmas.  We might have the Elders and Sisters here for dinner on Christmas day, but it is basically another day for missionary work.

Last Tuesday was Changes for the missionaries in our Mission, and 5 from our Zone got transferred.  It was a shock to some of them who have only been here for 1 change (6 weeks).  We received some new and pretty enthusiastic missionaries, including 2 new zone leaders and one new District Leader.  The work had been going very slowly, so it must have been time for a change.

I spend quite a bit of time this week preparing materials for our Branch Presidency Training meeting scheduled for this Sunday.  We are discussing year end activities and the Area Plan for 2016.  This plan covers the South America South Area, including Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay.  There are 4 main areas of focus:  The Work of Salvation / Missionary Work, The Sabbath Day, Being Self Sufficient, and Focus on the Temple.  Elder and Sister Guterres, the other senior missionary couple from Brasil joined us and it went quite well.  It lasted 3 hours (at least an hour too long) but we will do better next time.

On Friday we drove with two of the missionaries to Tacuati to “reopen” the area.  The missionaries were pulled out about 4 months ago due to a kidnapping in the area, and have not been back since.  Cheryl and I go visit about once a month just to stay in touch with the members there.  We had been told that the road was impassable due to flooding.  A few days earlier the roads had turned into rivers and the only way to get to Tacuati was by boat.  Fortunately for us, the water had dropped about 15 feet and we could pass.  We had a good day, visiting with members and the Elders worked with about 6 investigators that the members had found and prepared.  It was a very good day.

Yesterday we went to the Rama 2 in Concepcion for Church.  I was asked to lead the discussion in Sunday School about the Book of Mormon, and I also spoke in Sacrament Meeting.  Cheryl played the piano and kept me in line during our classes.  All of the members in the South America South area have been challenged to read the Book of Mormon prior to General Conference in April.  It will be a challenge but we are working hard to help everyone to complete this challenge.  We had a wonderful dinner at the District President’s house - Chupin de Pollo = a type of very flavorful chicken stew and baked chicken. 

We had a good visit also with Alex and Hilda - Alex’ dad was visiting from Brasil and he is a very good person.  We enjoyed our visit.  He told us about a bean dish that has meat in it - pigs ears, pigs tail, and pigs feet.  Cheryl wasn't too sure about that.   They then told us that we should eat more fish, but I told them that Cheryl didn’t like fish that had a moustache (catfish) which is what they eat here.  They all laughed about that also. 

We are really concerned about our branch here.   The President is not functioning well, but he is the only active Priesthood holder at this time.  Attendance is declining slightly, and the missionary work is slow.  We are trying to determine what is needed and how we can best help.  One of the hardest things to do is to NOT jump in and do it all for them.  That will not help them grow or prepare for the day when the Cranneys leave the mission.  We love these people, but at times they an be really frustrating (almost like our children). 

We love you all and thank you for your love, support, and prayers. 

Cheryl and Jerry

Below is a scripture that goes with the attached photo.

DyC 42:6 And ye shall go forth in the power of my Spirit, preaching my gospel, two by two, in my name, lifting up your voices as with the sound of a trump, declaring my word like unto angels of God.