23 Febrero 2016

Dear family,

We are in Asuncion in the waiting room at Chacomer where they are supposed to take the winch off because it belongs on a different truck.  We tried to get a few other things fixed today at Nissan but everything was going to take "at least a day".   

Tuesday we helped the Zone Leaders reposition mattresses in the homes of missionaries in Horqueta and Concepcion for an upcoming Zone Conference and activity. After a District meeting we hauled the ZLs to Horqueta to help clean the Elders house.  They both got transferred out and left quickly.  The house was a mess.  We try to teach the importance of cleanliness and order but it doesnt always work.

We went to Tacuati on Friday with the Zone Leaders to meet some investigators who are being taught by the members as we no longer have missionaries there.  There are 3 young people who have received most or all of the lessons.  Two are schedued to be baptized on March 26 when their Dad returns to town.  While we were there we also paid the past due (5 months) water bill and sent a bill for electricity to the mission office for payment.  It is amazing to see the faithfulness of these good members in Tacuati.  They attend their meetings, visit the members, invite non-members to learn about the Gospel,, and challenge them to be baptized,  Then the missionaries interview and baptize the investigators.  They are such good people

We also had an opening devotional for Mi Camino to self sufficiency.  I was pleased that the branch presidents had invited at least 15 or 20 people to participate, but the leader of the group said we didn’t have enough to start the class.  I disagree so we will move forward as soon as possible.

Our trip to Asuncion has gone pretty well.  We had a good trip and are staying at the Hotel Westfalenhaus, a German themed hotel.  It is clean, comfortable, quiet, etc.  We like it a lot.

Time to rest -we have a busy day tomorrow. 
Love you all,

Jerry and Cheryl

15 Febrero fotos

1- Our friends and neighbors have 2 toucans.  they don’t even look real.

2- Cheryl at our landlord’s gym with a new cartoon on the wall.

3-  Cheryl and her friend Hermana Delia Martinez.  Delia just moved to Buenos Aires to work for a time.

15 Febrero 2016

Greetings to all - and belated Happy Valentines Day.

It has been a very interesting week - full of great blessings, some amazing challenges, and we are so grateful to be here.  We are thrilled to work with such wonderful young missionaries - who are anxious to fulfill their charge to serve the Lord and invite all to come to Christ.  We continue to see how obedience brings forth the blessings of heaven as well as great peace.

We had a special meeting with President McMullin this week and he taught how important it is to be obedient - in every way.  He used one example:  right now in the Paraguay North Mission we have at least 20 missionaries with Dengue fever.  That means that we have 40 missionaries out of commission (got to stay with your companion!). The President reminded us that in December he sent out a communication to ALL missionaries that they are to use insect repellent every day and regularly spray their clothing with Permitrina.  Apparently, not everyone followed his counsel and instruction.  He said it was as if we had been commanded to bathe 7 times in the Permatrina River and had chosen not to obey!  Powerful message.  Hermana McMullin said that at the recent Mission President’s Seminar they showed several slides about how the countries in our Area compare.  One area in which we excel is in the reported cases of Dengue - we are far and away the leaders in this category.

One of the new sister missionaries here in Horqueta has excema and when she first arrived washed some clothes by hand.  Her had had a serious reaction and one of her fingers got a serious infection,  turned red, swelled up, and looked horrible (see foto).  We sent fotos to Sis McMullin who forwarded them on to the Area Medical Director in Buenos Aires - he instructed us to take her to the hospital for shots and then drive her to Asuncion to admit her to the hospital.  At the local hospital the Dr said he treats these kinds of things all the time and prescribed antibiotic shots every 8 hours, cream for the finger, and lots of water.  Her finger looked well enough the next day that we did not have to drive to Asuncion or take the Hermanas out of commission.  Amazing what a Priesthood Blessing can do.

Our last trip to Asuncion we decided to try really hard to not get a traffic fine. The trip down was great, no problem in Asuncion, and then we stopped in Santa Rosa to visit with the other missionary couple - the Guterres.  After our visit, we got back on the highway but I forgot to turn on my lights (a law in Paraguay).   So 3 minutes later we got stopped and fined 281.000 Gs.  I wish the lights on the truck were automatic…..

I had a good birthday this week.  Cheryl made a chocolate cake from a mix that Angela snuck into our last package.  It was very good.  She gave me an official Paraguayan soccer jersey and a multi-tool to use around the house and in the car.  Most of the day we were in the hospital with the sick sister missionary.  On Saturday night we had District Presidency meeting in Concepcion.  After the meeting the Dist. President asked if we could go with him for a few minutes to visit the DeMelo family who are our good friends.  We said sure and when we got there they had a surprise birthday party.  It was a fun time with good food (beef, pork , chicken, potato salad, mandioca, etc).  Many of the District leaders and Branch Presidents / families were there. 

We hired Walter Arce to come and clean  up our yard and garden this week.  We have lots of weeds and fallen branches and leaves.  During the cleanup he discovered 3 watermelons growing in our garden.  We hope and pray that they survive the heat and sun.

This week we had a Self-sufficiency Committee meeting and I am the chairman.  We spoke about many things, including the need for the members to become more committed to self sufficiency.  We think that without a strong spiritual testimony of this principle that they will never feel the desire to provide for themselves.  Here in Paraguay it is always someone else's problem - the President, the governor, the mayor, the branch president, my neighbor, etc.  So we are focusing on two things: 1- living and having a testimony of the law of the fast and the law of tithing.   Also the need for Family Home Evening each week.  We will provide sample lessons to each branch for their First Sunday lessons in Priesthood Mtg and Relief Society.  2- We are starting a new class of “Mi Camino”, or My Path to self sufficiency.  I even asked about planting a garden and I was told that every though the ground here is very fertile, most people think it is too much work to have a garden.   We will keep trying.

Yesterday we held a Book of Mormon Marathon to help encourage the members to read and complete the Book of Mormon before April 6.  We had 10 people there and we read together, discussed chapters, acted out stories of the Book of Mormon, saw some cool videos, and really enjoyed our 2 1/2 hours together.  One of the members celebrated his 1 year anniversary of his baptism yesterday!

We have been helping Daisy Duarte with her missionary application.  She recently graduated from college (she is 24 years old) and is now ready to go.  She is a wonderful young lady and very well prepared to serve.  It would be great if she were called to serve in the US.  She speaks fluent Spanish, fluent Guarani, decent English, and some Portugues.  We are excited to see where she will be called.

The weather has turned very hot.  This week each day will be at least 100 degrees F.  Our weather app says that when it is 100% with humidity it feels like 110-115.  A few weeks ago it was 106 degrees and it felt like 125 degrees.  The locals say that with el Nino we should prepare for a very cold winter this year.

Thanks to everyone for their support.  I should mention that with some of the financial support that you are providing we purchased a Gott-type cooler for the group in Tacuati.  They are in a rented building and had to water supply for the members during 2 very hot hours each week.  They put ice and water in the 3 gallon cooler and enjoy it every week.  Thanks to all of you.

We are doing fine.  Our health is good but the heat sure drains our energy.  We love the good members here and struggle when they do not remember why - why they got baptized, why they need to come to church each Sunday, why they need to read their scriptures and pray everyday, etc.  But we keep trying.

Thanks - we love you.

Jerry and Cheryl.

Fotos:

1- our new Nissan truck.  It does a great job on rough roads.  Cheryl calls it “the tank”.

2-  Hermana Scott’s finger - pre treatment.  

 

9 Febrero 2016

I am a day late because we drove home from Asuncion yesterday and arrived late in the evening.  Regardless, I am excited to share a good week with you all.

Definitely the highlight of the week (or month….) is the birth of a new baby girl for Jessica and Justin.  We are so very grateful that she arrived safely and that she and Jessica are doing well.  We are all anxious to learn her name. 

On Tuesday we spent about 2 1/2 hours cleaning the house of the two Elders who left.  We only picked up all of the garbage, old shoes, trash, papers, clothes, etc.  We had 8 large bags of garbage and we hadn’t really started to clean.  We will be working with the Zone Leaders to finish the job and then we think the mission accountant will charge the missionaries that left for the cleaning supplies and try and remind them that they are responsible for their apartments.

We had a very successful Branch Council meeting also on Tuesday.  We nearly started on time (7:15) and everyone but the Relief Society was in attendance.  We talked about people and how to best help them.  The new Sister missionaries are not afraid to visit with anyone, anywhere, anytime.

We are so grateful for these two new sisters who are working here in Horqueta.  We love all of the missionaries so much but there are some who just know how to work and just do it.  They have new investigators, church attendance has climbed up again, and they are very obedient.  Hermana Scott is from California and Hermana Martinez is from Asuncion, Paraguay.  She speaks Spanish, Guarani, a little Portugues, and a little English. The work is progressing.

We spent a few days in Asuncion watching the house and young son of the McMullins.  He is a very active 14 year old who doesn’t spend much time with his parents.  So we went to Burger King, Kentucky Fried, Pizza Hut, and 4D ice cream.  We visited the Mall (Shopping del Sol) and it was fun.  We enjoy helping them out while the McMullins were in Buenos Aires for a Mission President’s seminar. 

While we were there, we exchanged automobiles.  We have been driving a SsangYong Rexton, which is a mid-size SUV with a Mercedes engine, leather interior, electronic everything, and a very nice road car.  However, it was taking a beating on the back roads of Paraguay so we now have a Nissan Frontier pickup truck with 4x4, electric winch, manual transmission, etc.  It is a nice vehicle and will be much more useful for us in our work.

We also visited the Distribution Center to purchase some materials we needed for a Family History class, and some missionary materials in Portugues since many here speak portugues. 

Our trip home was good and we stopped to visit with the Guterres, the other missionary couple, in their home in Santa Rosa.  Hermana Guterres seems to always have something good to eat at her house. 

While in Asuncion we had the chance to work with the mission recordkeeper to loads all of the baptismal records and creates membership records.  We had at least 7 members of the Horqueta branch who had never been properly set up in the system so they did not show as members.  They could not go to the temple, receive the Priesthood, and so we loaded them up.  I am so grateful that some of the office elders take their jobs very seriously.

Sunday at church in Asuncion was very interesting.  We went to the Campo Grande ward and there were many visitors there.  Two of the sister missionaries are returning home due to back problems and one of the fathers was there to accompany them home.  We also met two American families who are in the ward - both employees of the US Embassy (the Craners and the Bindrups). 

It feels like we are back in the saddle again - now receiving invitations from the Sister missionaries to participate in Family Home Evening and other visits.  We are looking forward to being more involved and active.  Two other interesting things:

1- While we were in Asuncion there were two Sister missionaries staying at the mission home due to Dengue.  We were told that there are at least 12 missionaries who have Dengue.  So all missionaries have been instructed to use insect repellant and to use Permithryn on our clothes to help fight both Dengue and Sika viruses. 

2-  On the trip we stopped at the Colonia Rio Verde near Santa Rosa.  It is a farming community of German farmers and business owners.  At one of their stores we found homemade peanut butter, Cheerios, and other goodies.  It was fun and tasty.

Well , we love you all and appreciate your love and support.  Thank you for praying for the good people of Paraguay who need so much help.

Love,
Jerry and Cheryl

1- After the baptism in Tacuati - Elder Simao on the swing

2- A member girl trying her hand at driving

3- In Tacuati with (starting L to R on the back row).  Hna Cranney, Rosalba and her baby, Pedro Garcia (Group Leader), Mirian Garcia, Elder Mendoza, (front row) - Elder Simao and the children of the Garcias and Rosalba.

4- A contrast of old and new

1- At the McMullins house with Hermana Lundberg and Hemana Jara.

2- Cheryl and Bryant in front of Shopping del Sol mall.   A fun place.

One more thing..........

Hello again.  I forgot to mention that even though it is cooler and raining today, last week we had one day where it was 106 degrees, the weather app said it felt like 125 degrees.

On the Highway

This is what happened on the Ruta 3 Highway 1 day before our trip to Santa Rosa.  The washout actually covers about a quarter of a mile.  Fortunately no one in the bus was killed in the accident. 

They have created a detour around the worst parts so we had no problem passing.

February 1, 2016

Well, another month has come and gone and we all have the opportunity to reflect on what we have accomplished, what we perhaps neglected, and how we can improve in the months ahead.  We are still fully engaged here in the Mission and we love the people with whom we work and serve. 

This has been a week for journal entries. 

Tuesday was change day for the missionaries.  We knew that Elder Simao was going to finish his mission and go home, and we were all pretty sure that Hermana Ross would be leaving after 6 months here in Horqueta.  We knew of certain challenges in Concepcion and here with some of the missionaries - health, motivation, emotional concerns, etc.  At the change meeting in Concepcion the Zone leaders announced that in Concepcion 4 of the 8 missionaries would be transferred out.  Then they announces that Elder Simao, Hermana Ross, Elder Mendoza, and Hermana Lundberg were all being transferred out and that the Elder’s area was being closed for now.  We would be receiving two new sister missionaries and that was all.  It was a shock for all, but reaffirmed for us that the Lord and his chosen leader Pres. McMullin are inspired about the missionary work here in northern Paraguay. 

We ran around like crazy to help the missionaries with what they needed to do to leave in just a few hours after the change meeting.  The branch had also planned a farewell party for Elder Simao but only 3 members came due to the storm.  Then the rains came.  It was a “tormenta” with high winds, tons of rain, and the resulting power and water problems.  We first drove the Elders to the bus station with all of their luggage to catch the bus and it didn’t come.  So we drove them to Concepcion.  Along the way we saw the results of the storm with trees down all along and sometimes across the highway.  We then rushed home to say goodbye to the Hermanas.  Pres. Duarte drove them to the terminal where we waited for the bus.  Finally the station manager said the bus wasn’t going to come to the terminal so we reloaded and drove to the highway to catch the bus.  It passed just before we arrived, but did in fact go to the terminal.  So we waited and finally got the Sisters and their luggage / boxes/ bags/etc all loaded on the bus.

Cheryl and I then reflected that for the first time we were the only missionaries in Horqueta.  Made us kind of lonely and sad. 

We knew that due to illness the Hermana’s house wasn’t very clean so we went over the next morning and with the help of some members cleaned the house so the new Sisters would have a clean start.  We anxiously waited for the new sisters to come.  Neither of them had ever been in the north and not to Horqueta for sure.  All they had was our phone number.  We got a call that they were in Concepcion and would arrive in about 40 minutes.  So we met them at the terminal and took them to their house.  Their first comments - “we love the house’.

The two new sisters are Hermana Scott for Harriman, UT and Hermana Martinez from Paraguay.  They were companions on the MTC in Buenos Aires and only have 5 months in the mission. But they are excited, obedient, healthy, and Hermana Martinez speaks Guarani!  We already love these good, hard working sisters.

On Wednesday we had Ward Activity night and we taught the lesson on change….specifically the change of heart spoken of in the Book of Mormon.  The new missionaries were there and it turned out well.

Thursday afternoon we went to Concepcion for presidency meeting but left early to visit with our friends Alex and Hilda.  They are wonderful people and Hilda will celebrate her 1 year anniversary of her baptism in June.  We took Cheryl’s chicken/pasta salad and they loved it.  Hilda had made a squash sweet bread that was to die for.  They are good, faithful members who are planning to go to the temple sometime in June. 

We are very concerned about some of the youth in the branch.  A large percentage of active members in the branch are youth.  Many are the only members in their families.  During the long vacation from school many of they went to visit family in other cities and did not participate actively in church while they were gone.  They also appear to be more connected to their cell phones than to real life which does not help them stay strong in the gospel.  We are in dire need of a Young Men President to serve in the branch but don’t have many options for candidates right now.

This past weekend we traveled with the District Presidency to Santa Rosa, Santani, and San Pedro for training and Sabbath Day meetings.  We left Saturday pm and checked into the Hotel Cristal.  We had stayed there before and for 200.000Gs or $40.00US per night it is a real bargain.  Nice, clean, comfortable, hot showers, free continental breakfast, etc.

Saturday evening we had a fireside in Santa Rosa on the Book of Mormon.  About 25 members attended including the two missionaries and the other senior missionary couple, the Guterres from Brasil.  After the meeting we all went out for dinner (more or less).

Sunday morning we had a nice breakfast at the hotel and left to fulfill our assignment in San Pedro.  We traveled with Ivan and Mirian Ibanez who are both leaders in the Concepcion District.  We had Sacrament meeting at 8:00 am where the Ibanez and I spoke, and then we had a discussion about the Book of Mormon at 9:00 where we showed a few videos (with our mini-projector!) and had a good discussion on why the Book of Mormon is so important for each of us.  Because we only have a Group / not a branch in San Pedro we only have a 2 hour meeting block.  I like that idea!

We returned to Santa Rosa for dinner at the Guterres and then we all went out visiting.  We finished about 5:30 pm and finally hit the highway about 6:15 for the trip home.  The Ibanez traveled with us as far as Horqueta and then rode with Pres. Escobar on to Concepcion.  The trip home was very challenging for two reasons:  1) Pres Escobar was having car trouble so we followed him home at and made sure his wheels didn’t fall of, 2) we hit a horrible rainstorm and it was very hard to see the road, potholes, motos without headlights, animals, etc.  At one point we could not see any lines on the road or if we were even on the road due to the heavy rain.  Then about 10 km prior to Horqueta the rain suddenly stopped - almost as if a curtain had been opened and we arrived home in time to unload the car before the rains came.  What a blessing that we made it home safely.   It was a good trip and the members in these small groups just begged us to return more often.

On Thursday of this week we will drive to Asuncion to care for the son of Pres and Sis McMullin while they are at a Mission President’s seminar in Buenos Aires.   We also will be exchanging our nice mini-suv for a Nissan pickup with all terrain tires, a snorkel, an electric winch, and other fun features.  We also will have a chance to go to the Distribution Center for some of the things we need there.

We are happy to be here.  We miss you all, but the time is passing quickly.  Thank you for your support, your love, and your prayers for us and for the good members here in Paraguay. 

Love,

Jerry and Cheryl

Foto:  Breakfast at the Hotel Cristal

 

1- Our typical breakfast of cereal, juice, and toast.  We didn’t have any fruit today - have to go shopping

3- A small fruit from Tacuati.  It is a grapefruit that is neither full grown or ripe.

4- Sisters Lundberg and Ross “heart attacked” our house.

 

 

Fotos from Kevin’s baptism in Tacuati:

1- on the trail with the Elders.  We walked about 40 minutes to get to the river.

2- Cheryl in front of a tree that shows the waterline from the flooding two weeks ago.  Look at the brown line on the tree about 10 feet above her head.

3- Elder Simao ready to help Kevin into the Rio Ypane for his baptism.

4- Cheryl and Kevin after the baptism.