Fotos:
1- Daisy at church on Sunday - her last week.
2- Daisy at the terminal ….going to be a great missionary.
3- The Duarte family at the bus terminal
4- A motocarrito - check out the name (Baby Jesus Warehouse)
5- Cheryl, Rocio, and a new puppy (not ours!!!!!!!!!)
more fotos to follow later.
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Greetings to all,
Interesting that the US Presidential election has made news even
here in the north of Paraguay. Everyone knows the two major candidates
by name - and they are not impressed!! Neither are we, quite frankly.
We will be anxiously watching to see what happens. Not much chance that
Evan McMullin will win it, but we will see what happens.
We are in a rush to try and close things down for our departure.
We are making many visits, taking lots of fotos with families and
friends, cleaning out the house, moving some furniture to the house of
other couples, etc.
Yesterday we had an amazing trip to Tacuati to say goodbye to the
members there. They had prepared a very large feast and we were anxious
to visit. We gathered up the Elders, our Branch President, and we
headed up the road. About 25km up the rocky road, near where we had a
flat tire earlier in the mission, we had another flat tire! This time
we had some people to help, but we found that most latins (all 3 of our
companions are latin) had never changed a tire. But they had a lot of
energy and desire and our spare still had air. We prayed for a safe
arrival and we got there about 1/2 hour late. They had all of the
members at the house of Manuela, kind of the matriarch of the whole
group. 5 of her children and their families are members in Tacuati.
Other folks came also. They had prepared pork, beef, chicken, rice
salad, mandioca, sopa paraguaya (kind of a cornbread), and three kinds
of juice - carrot, beet, and parsley juices. Adelaida made two cakes, a
chocolate and a vanilla. It was a feast. We then had a chance to
visit and they gave us some gifts to help us remember them and Tacuati.
One was a sweet thought printed and framed, a painting of a sunset, and
a wooden glass of palo santo (holy wood). All invited us to return to
visit. We will never forget these wonderful and faithful saints.
We arrived back in Horqueta without further tire problems and today we got the tire repaired.
Our good friend, Daisy Duarte, texted last night and asked if we
could help haul her luggage to the bus terminal this morning…she is on
her way to the MTC in Sao Paulo Brasil and then will be serving in the
Belo Horizonte mission. We took her, her mom, and her sister in the
truck, and her dad, sister, and brother rode scooters. We felt so
honored to be asked to participate with the family and Daisy as she left
on her mission.
We had a light supper this week also with Ramona, Kelly, Dario,
Sofia, and Dario jr - our non-member friends that own the bookstore. We
had a wonderful evening and we had a chance to share more about our
family, the church and our mission. It was a wonderful evening and
Kelly and Sofia want to travel to the States again and might come to
visit us!
This week we also had the opportunity to watch the broadcast
about “Teaching in the Lord’s Way”. It was great and we enjoyed it a
lot. It will be rebroadcast later in Guarani and many of our leaders
will enjoy it more in their own language. We have been teaching these
principles here for more than a year and we are seeing some teachers to
are learning to teach rather than just read the lesson to the class. In
our Horqueta Branch we have already had 3 Teacher Counsels. We are so
proud of them for taking what they are being taught and applying it in
their lives and in the branch.
Yesterday was fast and testimony meeting. I love this meeting here
in Horqueta. Rarely is there any dead time - everyone wants to bear
their testimony and they are strong testimonies - focused on what the
Gospel has done for them and how they have changed the way they think,
act, and worship. It is also very reverent during our meetings here
(unless the 3 grandsons of Hna Eugenia come to church but they need to
be here and learn as well). We had excellent attendance last sunday
with 45 in Horqueta and 25 in Tacuati - 72 total!!
As we reflect on the mission we hope that our efforts have helped
these good members grow and prepare for future callings and
opportunities. They struggle with gossip, being offended, not showing
up for meetings, always late for meetings, not doing their home and
visiting teaching, etc. But we have seen them grow in the testimonies
of the restored Gospel and they are desirous to grow and serve. More
families are attending, and the youth have grown tremendously.
We love and appreciate each of you - your support, prayers, and love have been felt and are appreciated.
Next week - the final letter.
Love you all,
Jerry and Cheryl
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