Fotos:
1- Hermana Avalos in our yard for the barbecue. She put the potholders on the chair and they look like angel wings!
2- The homemade barbecue with the Avalos. You can see how big the steaks are.
3- Setting up the grill
4- An older foto of Adelaida at her baptism in Horqueta. She is
from Tacuati and her husband is not a member yet. Her two children
have both joined the church.
5- At the ice cream shop with some of the missionaries. As you can
see, some buy the great big cone and others a small cup.
😊
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Greetings to all. We hope and pray that you are all doing well - healthy and happy.
We have had a busy week, especially as we are trying to downsize,
coordinate who will move into our house, helping supply the house for a
new missionary couple in Asuncion, and working with our wonderful
members. It seems we are stretched really thin, with visits and
assignments to various branches of the church throughout the region. We
miss spending each Sunday in our little branch here in Horqueta, but
that is not our assignment at this time.
Yesterday we spent all day Sunday with the members in Tacuati. It
is a beautiful drive to Tacuati, with large open spaces - cattle, coco
trees, lapacho trees, lots of animals and not many people. There is a
certain peace that comes when we go out into the country. We had a
wonderful Sacrament meeting where two of the young men gave talks. One
has been a member of the church only a few months - they both did a
great job. We then ate with Mauricio, Fatima, and their family. We had
a good meal of chicken, chorizo, rice salad, and mandioca. Cheryl made
a carrot cake (without frosting) and even though the members were a bit
hesitant to try it, they all LOVED it and ate the whole thing. We then
visited a few other families and scheduled our last visit to Tacuati,
to give out photos and to say goodbye. This is going to be really hard!
We also had our first branch council meeting with the new branch
president, and it went well. Nearly all of the leadership of the branch
was there. The new presidency is making a real difference.
The young lady that helps us clean our house was hospitalized again
this week with kidney stones. She may need surgery to remove them. So
Cheryl has assumed all of the housecleaning duties. We will hire some
of the youth from the branch to help clean the house and yard before we
leave to help them earn money for the temple trip in November.
We drove to Pedro Juan Caballero Friday to service our truck. We
don’t mind the drive because PJC is in the “mountains” and the scenery
is spectacular. We also enjoy shopping at Shopping China, a large
inport store where you can find most anything you would find in the
USA. I was tempted by crocodile cowboy boots, but didn’t think they
would look good with my missionary clothes.
Our garden is doing pretty well. Our tomatoes have started to give
fruit, and we harvest a bowl full every other day. What a shame that
Cheryl doesn’t like tomatoes. So we give a lot away to neighbors and
members. We also have green peppers, strawberries, and small squash. I
might bring a squash home for Dad!
Saturday the Avalos family from Concepcion called and asked if they
could come to our house and cook a dinner for us. We agreed - of
course- and had a great time. They brought chicken and steaks to cook
and a freshly picked watermelon from the ranch. The steaks were clearly
the best beef I have eaten in 18 months. Pres. Avalos has connections
with a meat packing plant and the steaks were excellent. They were very
creating in building a small grill from bricks, roofing tiles, etc and
it worked out great. They are a wonderful family.
We are looking forward to our Zone meeting on Thursday with Elder
Bragg of the Seventy. All of the missionaries from the NE of Paraguay
will be attending in Concepcion so we won’t have too far to drive. We
are very excited to attend this conference with a member of the Area
Presidency from Buenos Aires.
Well, we love and miss you all. Thanks for all that you do for
us. We know that your prayers in our behalf are helping us be save and
do the work we were called to do.
Love,
Jerry and Cheryl
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