January 25, 2016

Wow - today we complete 8 months in the mission.  We love what we are doing, even when it is hard.  And occasionally we have to ask ourselves if we are really making a difference or not.  We hope so and believe that we are.

We have been working with both the Elders and the Sisters to support them in their times of sickness, depression, challenges, and even infestations of bugs.  Sore feet and legs, sore throats, depression, and even Dengue fever.  We have been at the hospital three times in the past few weeks, and rarely do the missionaries have enough money to pay for their care.  The mission office will reimburse us, but sometimes it takes a while.  But we have been blessed by helping out these wonderful missionaries who are here to serve and hate being in the hospital or confined to their houses.

Saturday we had the opportunity to drive to Tacuati for the Baptism of Kevin Martinez, an 8 year old child.  His mom and dad are both members but he wanted Elder Simao to baptize him.  Elder Simao has had Dengue and has very little physical strength at this time - but we decided to give it a try.  We met the members at the church and drove as far as the road / trail / cow path would allow.  Then we walked for about 40 minutes to the Rio Ypane for the baptism.  Fortunately the water level has dropped about 20 feet from where it was a few weeks ago, and the members found a very private and beautiful part of the river for the baptism.  Elder Simao did a great job and Kevin was very happy.  We walked through some very beautiful country and really enjoyed the experience.  There is always something very spiritually special about a baptism service.

The weather has been very hot and dry.  It has been nearly two weeks since it has rained, and today the temperatures reached nearly 100%.  No one here spends any time in the burning sun - so shade is at a premium.  We are very lucky to ever find a shady spot to park the car.  

Our little garden continues to grow.  We have harvested green peppers and have other plants such as spinach, watermelon, and a leafy green vegetable from Brasil (can’t remember the name).  We enjoy working with the roses and apple trees that are also growing very well. 

We have been spending a lot of our time in training - branch presidencies, district councils, auxiliary leaders, etc.  We use our little projector, speaker, and laptop to prepare and present the materials.  We are focusing on the 2016 Plan for the South America South Area which includes Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay.  We are also working on teaching the importance of leaving the past behind and looking forward with hope.  So very many of the people here get offended and then never return to church.  Or the leaders get discouraged and just give up - or renounce their callings.  Sometimes we forget whose work this is, and who called us to serve.  We are never alone in this work but we need to be worthy of the help we seek. 

This morning our landlord knocked at the front gate and told us that something weird had happened to our small and large gates.  When I looked, we found that the Sister Missionaries had “heart attacked” our house.  Photo attached.

Thanks to everyone for your love, prayers, and support. 
Quote of the week:  “Missionary work is work”. 

I have included a few fotos:

1-Hna Cranney, Elder Mendoza, and Elder Simao on the trail to the Rio Ypane for the baptism.

2- Hna Cranney at the river.  If you look closely you can see the high watermark on the tree behind her.  The river was about 20 feet higher than it is  now just 2 weeks ago.

3- Kevin and Elder Simao in the crystal clear waters of the Rio Ypane.

4- Our front gate after the Sister Missionaries heart attacked out house.  We also received a wonderful note from them.