Fotos:
1 - We now have tomatoes on our tomato plants. We can’t wait for them to ripen.
2- A bus in front of the chapel in Tacuati. Notice what is on the back window of the bus.
3- The daughter of Pedro and Mirian Garcia in Tacuati. She danced traditional dances for about 45 minutes. Soooooo cute.
4- Elder Gomes eating sugar cane on our front porch.
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Hello to everyone. First off this week, I would like to share a
story with you and would ask that you share it with your kids that are
old enough to understand it. Our District President has used this story
several times to teach honesty, and I felt impressed to share it with
all of you.
The story goes like this: There once was a king who decided it was
time to pass the crown on to someone younger. He invited all of the
young men of his kingdom to the palace to decide who should be the next
king. One of these young men was named TimTim. TimTim and his dad went
to the palace with the rest of the young men and they received the
following instructions. Every young man received a seed. They were to
plant the seed and care for it, and when the king called them back to
the palace they were to bring whatever they had grown. TimTim planted
the seed, provided fertilizer and water, caring for his seed every day.
But nothing grew. He became worried and sure enough, one day the king
called all of the young men to return to the palace and bring
whatever they had grown. TimTim did not want to go as he had nothing to
show for his efforts but his father insisted. When TimTim got there he
saw all of the other young men with beautiful flowers, plants, and
vegetables. The king admired all of the plants and when he arrived to
TimTim he asked why TimTim had not brought his plant. TimTim confessed
that he had planted his seen, fertilized and watered, but nothing had
grown. The king then explained to the group that he had burned each and
every seed, making it impossible for the seed to grow. That explained
why TimTim did not have anything to show him. He then selected TimTim
as the next king as he was the only truly honest young man in the
kingdom.
I really like this simple yet powerful story about being honest,
responsible, and trusting in your parents. Hope you enjoyed it.
We had changes last Tuesday. Elder Amaro, from Mexico, was
transferred to the Chaco in the north. Hermana Francani from Argentina
was transferred to the Asuncion area. Incoming missionaries include
Hermana Fontes from Argentina, and Elder Gomes from Brasil. Elder Gomes
speaks very good English, learning it from online gaming and internet
usage. We miss the missionaries that transferred out, but we will grow
to love these new missionaries. In fact, Elder Gomes worked in Concepcion earlier and he and his companion joined us last Thanksgiving for dinner at our house!
We conducted a financial audit of the Rama 2 this week and it went
very well. It is such a pleasure when the branch leadership understands
the importance of safeguarding the Lord’s funds and does everything
they can to follow the procedures for managing donations and expenses.
We enjoyed the audit and then participated in their branch presidency
meeting, teaching them about the roles and responsibilities of each
member of the branch presidency. We are trying to help the branch
presidents realize that their best resources are their counselors, but
many are hesitant to use them. They feel that if they are responsible,
they need to do everything themselves. They then get discouraged due to
the volume of work that is required of them. Little by little.
We taught a lesson on marriage to a member of the branch and his fiancé on Friday.
He seems very excited and interested in getting married and having his
girlfriend join the church. We got the impression that she is not so
sure about marrying him at this time, and still is taking the missionary
lessons. We hope that each of them ends up being happy with the
decisions that they make. We talked about “The Family: A Proclamation
to the World”. It went well.
Friday night we attended the monthly youth dance in the Rama 2. We
arrived late due to a missionary correlation meeting, but we still
arrived before most of the youth in the branches. They had loud music
that hurt my ears, but each dance has the same volume level. Most of
the music is traditional Paraguayan or Brasilian music.
Saturday we had our hair done. 😄 Cheryl got a fancy color job
and I got a simple clipper cut. Cheryl’s turned our really nice and
Magdalena was very proud of her work. What is amazing to me is that my
haircut and a 2 1/2 hour hair color for Cheryl cost us about $16.00 US.
Quite a contrast to what the same service would cost in the USA> We
have really grown to love and appreciate Magdalena, Brisa, and Dylan.
She is a single mom who really takes good care of her family.
Sunday we attended church and taught classes in Tacuati. We really
enjoyed our meetings, dinner with members, and Temple Prep class. The
leaders in Tacuati are concerned about how they will get the support
they need after the Cranneys leave the mission. Right now, the
missionaries can only visit Tacuati if they go with us. Also, there is
no bus service between Tacuati and Horqueta on Sunday. So we will have
to come up with a good plan before we go.
We also had a rather interesting experience on Sunday while in
Tacuati. On Friday last week, the EPP ambushed a military vehicle and
killed 8 soldiers about 25 km from here. On Saturday there were
military helicopters and checkpoints everywhere. On Sunday when we were
driving to Tacuati called us and asked if we were still going to attend
church with them. We said yes, and the then asked if we were already
past the bridge. We said yes and he told us he would see us at church.
After church and dinner, the Group Leader asked us if there were
soldiers at the bridge when we passed. I said no and asked why. He
said that there are always soldiers at the bridge after an EPP attack.
He then told us that he wanted to change clothes and that he would then
accompany us on his motorcycle to the bridge when we left. I asked
why, and he said that he just had a funny feeling about what was going
on. So he led the way out of town and we made it safely across the
bridge. We are still not sure what was going on, but we were very
nervous about leaving town and crossing the bridge….we know that the
Lord watches over his missionaries and that he is aware of us and of the
good members in Tacuati. Probably the most nervous I have been since
we arrived here in Paraguay.
We went to Pedro Juan today to have the pickup serviced at Nissan.
They do a very good job and treat us very well. It is about a 2 1/ 2
hour drive, and much of it was in the fog this morning. Pedro Juan is a
much higher altitude than Horqueta and so the fog really settled in.
At times we could probably only see about 100 yards.
We sure love and miss you all. Thanks for all that you do for us.
We are so blessed to be here, and you all make it possible for us to
serve. Thank you.
Jerry and Cheryl
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