Late Weekly Letter - 14 Oct 2016

We are in Asuncion this week, watching over the house and son of President and Sister Evans.  We had a good trip down on Monday, stopping at Rio Verde to buy more peanut butter in the German colonies.  We love the peanut butter and it is much cheaper than the imported stuff.  We arrived in time to visit with many of the missionaries at the office, and then we took the President and Sister Evans to the airport to fly to Argentina for a mission president seminar.  We have worked in the office, done some home inspections, and are preparing for a District Conference in Santani this weekend.  Quite a week!

We had an interesting experience last night.  About 9:00 pm it started to rain and the wind started to blow.  The assistants to the President were at the house to use my phone to call the President in Argentina - then the power went out.  It got very dark, but we found some candles.  But no matches.  Finally I located a small box of matches and we had some light to work with.  As in most places in Paraguay, when the lights go out, there is no water either.  About 11:00 we all went to bed, hoping that we would soon have lights and water.  All night long I could hear water running, but it was only water running off the roof of the house.  We awoke to no electricity, no water, no shower, etc.  The good news is that we could draw water from the swimming pool to flush the toilets!!  We hope that the lights are back on when we go back to the house this afternoon so that we can shower, do laundry, etc.

We have been doing some home inspections, and we are so proud of some of the missionaries who have turned some of the worst houses in the mission into very livable houses.  They have worked hard, and the houses are much more healthy and pleasant to live.  We were accompanied by Elder Parada from Toronto Canada who helped us navigate and determine what is needed in the houses.  He is the person who manages the houses and decides if new things are needed in the house, such as stoves, mattresses, microwaves, etc.

We have been working a lot with our new branch president, Isidro Morales.  He is a 31 year old bachelor who was recently called.  He is so well organized, has a very strong testimony, and has already helped clean up records, has regular interviews with members, and connects very well with the youth in the branch.  It is such a blessing to see such progress.

I work with the District Audit Committee, and we have encountered a few problems with the finances in some of the branches.  So I am working with the finance people here in Asuncion and they are coordinating with the Area folks in Buenos Aires.  We have a lot of work to do to help support and correct many of the weaker areas of the branches.

We hope that everyone can come to visit on the 19th and stay a few days for an early Thanksgiving. 

We have much to do and only about 4 weeks to finish all that we want to accomplish. 

We love and appreciate you all. Thanks for all that you do for us.

Jerry and Cheryl