Fotos:
1- The family of Adelaida at her baptism.
2- Cheryl and Magdalena who colors and cuts hair.
3- An interesting sign in the mission office. The office elders seem to struggle with driving in Asuncion.
4- Hermana Nuckles and Hermana Solórzano checking out the cockroaches in their oven (and their fridge, their cupboards, etc).
5- Some elders houses have interesting things on the walls.
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Well, it seems a long time since we last wrote. We were in
Asuncion all last week doing house inspections. They are a lot of work
and not very popular with the missionaries, but when the President
assigns us to go and do…..we go and do. We also teach why it is so
important to have a clean house: 1) it is a rule of the mission and
obedience brings blessings, 2) The house of the Lord is a house of
order, and the missionaries need to have the Spirit in their homes when
they study and when they plan, and 3) we don’t want the missionaries to
get sick. There are a lot of bugs and sickness here in Paraguay and if
the house is clean there is one less chance for illness. We really
enjoyed seeing so many missionaries, many of whom we have grown to know
and love. Also, the McMullins are so wonderful to host us in their
home when we are there.
We worked Saturday morning and into the afternoon and then drove
home. We had challenges with construction near Asuncion and arrived
home at about 10:30 pm. A long and challenging drive.
Probably one of the highlights of our mission was the baptism of
Adelaida, a sister from Tacuati. After the missionaries were pulled out
of Tacuati, the members picked up the slack and continued with the work
of finding, teaching, activating, etc. Two of Adelaida’s children,
Juan and Luana were baptized a few months ago. She has been attending
church in Tacuati for as long as I can remember. She was ready to get
baptized in April but her mom got sick and had to have surgery. We
planned again for May, but a week prior to her baptism the mayor of
Tacuati was murdered in the street - so President McMullin said that we
could not visit for a while. They we planned her baptism for here in
Horqueta and invited the whole group from Tacuati to come and join
them. It rained so much that nothing could get out of Tacuati. Finally
a week ago the group came to Horqueta and we had a baptism prior to
church. It was wonderful. I had the chance to conduct the baptismal
interview and she was so ready and excited to get baptized. Her brother
Sergio baptized and confirmed her. He is an Elder in Tacuati.
It is such a treat to see the blessings of the gospel change
lives. It is so easy to get caught up in the administrative things that
we do here in the mission that at times we forget why we are really
here.
It has been really cold here - winter has arrived with a
vengeance. This morning when we work up it was 37 degrees outside - and
the houses have no insulation. We didn’t want to get out of bed and
shower. Thankfully we have a hot shower that works well.
Our garden is starting really slow. We were a few weeks late in
planting and the cold weather has slowed things down as well. We have
been told that if we plant prior to July we should be fine. We planted
tomatoes, green peppers, onions, spinach, cucumbers, parsley, and
broccoli. We hope to enjoy many fresh vegetables this year. Justin
mailed beans and peas to us which we will plant tomorrow.
It is late so I will close. We love and appreciate you all. Thanks for your wonderful examples and support.
Love,
Jerry and Cheryl
Jerry and Cheryl
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