Greetings to all - and belated Happy Valentines Day.
It
has been a very interesting week - full of great blessings, some
amazing challenges, and we are so grateful to be here. We are thrilled
to work with such wonderful young missionaries - who are anxious to
fulfill their charge to serve the Lord and invite all to come to
Christ. We continue to see how obedience brings forth the blessings of
heaven as well as great peace.
We had a special meeting with
President McMullin this week and he taught how important it is to be
obedient - in every way. He used one example: right now in the
Paraguay North Mission we have at least 20 missionaries with Dengue
fever. That means that we have 40 missionaries out of commission (got
to stay with your companion!). The President reminded us that in
December he sent out a communication to ALL missionaries that they are
to use insect repellent every day and regularly spray their clothing
with Permitrina. Apparently, not everyone followed his counsel and
instruction. He said it was as if we had been commanded to bathe 7
times in the Permatrina River and had chosen not to obey! Powerful
message. Hermana McMullin said that at the recent Mission President’s
Seminar they showed several slides about how the countries in our Area
compare. One area in which we excel is in the reported cases of Dengue -
we are far and away the leaders in this category.
One of the
new sister missionaries here in Horqueta has excema and when she first
arrived washed some clothes by hand. Her had had a serious reaction and
one of her fingers got a serious infection, turned red, swelled up,
and looked horrible (see foto). We sent fotos to Sis McMullin who
forwarded them on to the Area Medical Director in Buenos Aires - he
instructed us to take her to the hospital for shots and then drive her
to Asuncion to admit her to the hospital. At the local hospital the Dr
said he treats these kinds of things all the time and prescribed
antibiotic shots every 8 hours, cream for the finger, and lots of
water. Her finger looked well enough the next day that we did not have
to drive to Asuncion or take the Hermanas out of commission. Amazing
what a Priesthood Blessing can do.
Our last trip to Asuncion
we decided to try really hard to not get a traffic fine. The trip down
was great, no problem in Asuncion, and then we stopped in Santa Rosa to
visit with the other missionary couple - the Guterres. After our visit,
we got back on the highway but I forgot to turn on my lights (a law in
Paraguay). So 3 minutes later we got stopped and fined 281.000 Gs. I
wish the lights on the truck were automatic…..
I had a good
birthday this week. Cheryl made a chocolate cake from a mix that Angela
snuck into our last package. It was very good. She gave me an
official Paraguayan soccer jersey and a multi-tool to use around the
house and in the car. Most of the day we were in the hospital with the
sick sister missionary. On Saturday night we had District Presidency
meeting in Concepcion. After the meeting the Dist. President asked if
we could go with him for a few minutes to visit the DeMelo family who
are our good friends. We said sure and when we got there they had a
surprise birthday party. It was a fun time with good food (beef, pork ,
chicken, potato salad, mandioca, etc). Many of the District leaders
and Branch Presidents / families were there.
We hired Walter
Arce to come and clean up our yard and garden this week. We have lots
of weeds and fallen branches and leaves. During the cleanup he
discovered 3 watermelons growing in our garden. We hope and pray that
they survive the heat and sun.
This week we had a
Self-sufficiency Committee meeting and I am the chairman. We spoke
about many things, including the need for the members to become more
committed to self sufficiency. We think that without a strong spiritual
testimony of this principle that they will never feel the desire to
provide for themselves. Here in Paraguay it is always someone else's
problem - the President, the governor, the mayor, the branch president,
my neighbor, etc. So we are focusing on two things: 1- living and
having a testimony of the law of the fast and the law of tithing. Also
the need for Family Home Evening each week. We will provide sample
lessons to each branch for their First Sunday lessons in Priesthood Mtg
and Relief Society. 2- We are starting a new class of “Mi Camino”, or
My Path to self sufficiency. I even asked about planting a garden and I
was told that every though the ground here is very fertile, most people
think it is too much work to have a garden. We will keep trying.
Yesterday
we held a Book of Mormon Marathon to help encourage the members to read
and complete the Book of Mormon before April 6. We had 10 people there
and we read together, discussed chapters, acted out stories of the Book
of Mormon, saw some cool videos, and really enjoyed our 2 1/2 hours
together. One of the members celebrated his 1 year anniversary of his
baptism yesterday!
We have been helping Daisy Duarte with her
missionary application. She recently graduated from college (she is 24
years old) and is now ready to go. She is a wonderful young lady and
very well prepared to serve. It would be great if she were called to
serve in the US. She speaks fluent Spanish, fluent Guarani, decent
English, and some Portugues. We are excited to see where she will be
called.
The weather has turned very hot. This week each day
will be at least 100 degrees F. Our weather app says that when it is
100% with humidity it feels like 110-115. A few weeks ago it was 106
degrees and it felt like 125 degrees. The locals say that with el Nino
we should prepare for a very cold winter this year.
Thanks to
everyone for their support. I should mention that with some of the
financial support that you are providing we purchased a Gott-type cooler
for the group in Tacuati. They are in a rented building and had to
water supply for the members during 2 very hot hours each week. They
put ice and water in the 3 gallon cooler and enjoy it every week.
Thanks to all of you.
We are doing fine. Our health is good
but the heat sure drains our energy. We love the good members here and
struggle when they do not remember why - why they got baptized, why they
need to come to church each Sunday, why they need to read their
scriptures and pray everyday, etc. But we keep trying.
Thanks - we love you.
Jerry and Cheryl.
Fotos:
1- our new Nissan truck. It does a great job on rough roads. Cheryl calls it “the tank”.
2- Hermana Scott’s finger - pre treatment.
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