Horqueta, Paraguay: 3 October 2016

Fotos:

1- Preparing food for the members from Tacuati who came to General Conference.

2- Rocio after her baptism.  She is soooooo sweet.

3- A tree called lapacho or tajy in full blossom.  They are so pretty.  Other colors, in other seasons, include lilac and white.

4-  The members at our branch for General Conference.  We had 68 in attendance for the Sunday morning session. 

 

 

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We are doing well here in Horqueta.  Another week passes, and we realize that we only have 6 weeks more to accomplish the things we have set out to do.  We are so grateful for the opportunity to serve, to know and love these good people, and to work with such faithful missionaries here in the Mision Paraguay Asuncion Norte.

We thoroughly enjoyed General Conference.  We were able to view all 6 sessions using the internet at the church, and last week we received a new TV and TV stand that made it possible for all to see and hear the conference.  Many have commented what a blessing it has been to bring General Conference to Horqueta - as in years past they had to charter a bus to travel to Concepcion and only were able to view 1 session.  We are grateful for the blessings of the internet and good partners that helped set everything up. 

It was wonderful to see and hear President Monson, as well as all of the other General Authorities who spoke at Conference.  So many of the messages seem to be spoken directly to me….I guess I had better start listening and acting. Cheryl listened to some of the sessions on the internet via my cell phone so she could listen in English.  It worked very well and with an earphone she did not need to worry about anyone else around her.

Saturday between session we had a baptism - an 8 year old convert named Rocio.  She is such a sweet little girl, and her cousin was able to baptize her.  It was great.  She was confirmed on Sunday by our new branch president.  We hope that she, and her aunt’s family, will stay active in the church. 

Also on Sunday, the group from Tacuati came down.  One of the families, Carlos and Rosalba Perez, have a 2 month old boy and they asked if they could have him blessed.  We offered a list of qualified brothers from Tacuati but she asked me to perform the ordinance.  It was so sweet - he slept through the entire thing.  His name is Pablo Isaias Perez Ysasi.  We didn’t get photos but I hope to take some next week when we are in Tacuati. 

The other day we went to the hospital to give a blessing to the Mom of Hermana de los Santa Vega.  Her mom is a member but I had never met her.  She had “stones” and the surgeon removed them.  During the surgery they nicked her stomach and so had to perform another surgery to repair that damage.  She is doing better now.  Hna de los Santa showed us a glass jar with the stones in water.  They looked like rocks you would pick up on the street, and there were about 6-9 of them 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch in size.  Yuk!   The blessing was sweet and she is doing much better.

We have a popular hymn here that is not in the English hymnbook.  It is called “Oid el toque del Clarin” which interpreted is “Hear the call of the Trumpet or bugle”.  One of our American missionaries, when asked what it means said that a clarin is a clarinet.  I laughed all the way through the hymn thinking, Hear the call of the clarinet.  I envisioned someone like captain Moroni with his standard of liberty and his clarinet.  (At least I thought it was funny).

Earlier in the week we visited Elsa Sanchez and her family.  They wanted us to see their garden that they had planted using the seeds we distributed.   We expected a small garden.  Behind their house they have a large spot with at least 75 tomato plants, all of them about 4-5 feet tall.  They are going to have quite a harvest.  Hermana Elsa and her two daughters are the only members in the family.  The father and the sons have not accepted the Gospel thus far, but we have grown to love and appreciate them.  The father only speaks guarani so Noemi the daughter translates for us. 

We have found that here in Paraguay there are many types of needle work that are very popular.  We are trying to bring home some samples of Nanduti, Aopoi, and Encajeju.  All are very colorful and beautiful. 

Thanks to everyone for your love and support.

Love,
Jerry and Cheryl

ps:  The grandkids told us last night that we have 48 days to go.   Hard to imagine.

Cheryl's PK (pique)

The picque is a small bug that burrows into your skin and lays eggs.  It is important to get it out prior to the hatching of the eggs or they spread and create real problems.

Here are some fotos, with explanation of Cheryl’s experience today.  Gracias to Hermana Rosalia Martinez for her help in removing the eggs from Cheryl's foot.  She was wonderful.

1-  Cheryl’s foot  - the small black dot and white area is the picque

2- The Hermana used gauze and iodine to clean the area.

3-3,4,5 - Hermana Martinez is digging the eggs out of Cheryls foot.   Pretty cool.

6,7 - The egg clusters on the end of the needle.  The gauze is red from the iodine….

8 - The finished product.  She now has a small hole in the bottom of her foot that will heal in a couple of weeks.

Another adventure for Cheryl here in Paraguay.

Horqueta 26 Sept 2016

Fotos:

1- Cheryl with the first watermelon of the season.  Not quite totally ripe, but still sweet and good.   Grown by our branch president.

2- Cheryl with a gift from Pedro and Miryam Garcia en Tacuati.  They made bread hearts for all of the missionaries.

3- Dinner in Tacuati with members.  They are so wonderful and share all that they have. 

 

 

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Hello to All.

We sure do appreciate all that you do for us - for your love, support, and prayers.  We have been so blessed thus far in the mission, and we know that we have been watched over and protected.

We found out this morning that Cheryl has PK (pique) in the sole of her foot.  It is a bug that burrows into your foot and has to be dug out.  So we will be visiting the Hna Martinez who appears to be the resident expert in PK removal.  We will keep you posted and perhaps even send fotos or video. 

We have been working this week with our new branch president, President Isidro Morales.  We called a new branch secretary and a new young men president.  Both of these young men who were called were ordained Elders last week.  They are both excited to work!

We worked with Luz Marina Barreto, a young woman in the branch, to set up her LDS account and start loading her family history into Family Search.  She is excited but it is hard to do your family history here because there are so few public records available.  For example, Luz doesn’t know any dates or places before her grandparents.  She will be visiting with family to try and find out the other parts of the puzzle.  The good news is that she is loading things onto the system and they will be saved for future generations.

We received a package this week from Ann which contained aprons/hot pads which Cheryl is planning to use as gifts for several of her best friends here in Paraguay.  They are very nice and will be sweet gifts.  She also sent some hot chocolate mix for me….yummy!

We tried to set up our internet router for the General Women’s conference Saturday night, but our internet was not very good.  So all 11 sisters crowded into the branch president’s office to watch the conference on the branch computer.  It has internet but we don’t have wifi in the building.  We hope to have everything working prior to Saturday for Conference.  Also, the members from Tacuati plan to come to Horqueta for at least one session on Sunday.

The other day we had a great visit with a young member couple and their two little girls in Concepcion.  During our visit they told us about their conversion story.  They said that their first exposure to the church was an invitation from his uncle to attend a satellite broadcast by Elder Jeffrey Holland about marriage.  They decided to go and rode their moto across town to the church.  When they arrived they were too afraid to enter so they drove home.  When they got there they felt like they should attend, so they drove across town again to the chapel.  Once again they chickened out and drove home.  When they got home they felt very strongly they should attend so they drove across town to the chapel.  This time, the third time, they entered.  They liked what they heard and started visiting with the missionaries.  They wanted to know if the church was true and if they should join.  Hna Coronel said she knew that it was true, but her husband was still searching.  She asked him, “how to you feel when the missionaries are here?”.  He responded ‘really peaceful and happy”.   She then asked, “How do you feel when you attend church?”,  He responded ‘really peaceful and happy”.   She asked, “how do you feel when we have family prayer?”  He responded ‘really peaceful and happy”.   She then asked, “what more are you looking for, then?”   They were baptized 3 weeks after their first exposure to the church.  She is the YW president and he is the Ward Mission Leader.  A really neat family with sweet little girls.

We went to Tacuati yesterday after church for a farewell lunch for Elder McNulty who goes home in 1 week.  We had a good meal with the members, and the missionaries taught a lesson to a new investigator.  We had a good visit with the group leader and then went to his house for a quick visit.  They had prepared gifts for us….huge hearts made of sweet bread.  What a shame that we have to eat them!

Pique update…….Hermana Martinez successfully removed the Pique from Cheryl’s foot.  It was relatively painless and should heal quickly.  I will send fotos in a separate email. 

Well, time to go to work.  Seems like preparation day passes very quickly. 

We love and appreciate you all.

Jerry and Cheryl

Fotos #2

1- Our peas, beans, and tomatoes in our garden.  we are already eating cucumbers and a few other things.

2- A view of main street near the entrance to the city

3- the “God is Love” church near our home.

4- Motorcycles and scooters rule here in Horqueta!

Fotos 2

1- President Evans and the assistants with Elder Cranney.  Notice anything about the suits?

2- Hermana Trujillo and Hermana Slade with the jar of peanut butter we got them from Colonia Rio Verde - from the Germans.

3- At the birthday party for Daisy Duarte - Hermana Robles, Hermana Fontes, Daisy, Cheryl, me, Elder Gomes, and Elder McNulty.   Quite a bunch.

19 Sept 2016: Horqueta, Paraguay

Fotos:  We went on a walk last Monday and here are a few of the fotos we took.  More to follow.

1-  The Lions Club welcome to Horqueta

2-  A traffic sign near our home - we travel to Concepcion many times each week.  About 40 km each way.

3-  The herbs that they use to make terrere - a herb-infused water.  They can cure whatever ails you with these herbs.

4- The new wanted sign at the entrance to Horqueta.  The reward (a thousand million Guarani) is about $200,000 USD.  We try to be discreet when taking fotos of the EPP wanted posters. 

 

 

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It seems that the weeks are flying by.  We are very busy with branch and district work, and we love our visits and activities with our members.  This weekend we had a wonderful District/Stake Conference in Concepcion.  President Evans, our new mission president, came as did the Assistants to the President and the Sister Leaders.  We know them all very well and they are wonderful missionaries (Elder Bickley, Elder Crofts, Hermana Trujillo, and Hermana Jara).  On Saturday evening we had a leadership training meeting with Pres Evans.  He spoke of the importance of members working with and supporting the full-time missionaries- and how to improve.  Sunday morning we had a youth session of conference with three youth speaking and Pres Evans.  The 10:00 am general session of conference was wonderful.  We had over 250 members in attendance.  Our District President and I spoke, and then Cheryl gave her first official talk here in Paraguay about the importance of reading the Book of Mormon.  She did a very good job, and during her talk you could have heard a pin drop.   During the conference we released two of the branch presidents in the District.  It went well and the two new presidents are men that we know well.  Our new branch president is a 31 year old, unmarried man.  He is so strong and well prepared to lead, even though he has only been a member for 5 years or so.  We will work with him over the next few weeks to help train him and answer his questions. Note:  He is actively looking for a wife.  ☺

We also had two young men from our branch, Hugo Barreto and Roberto Sanchez, receive the Melquisedec priesthood.  They have been working so hard to prepare.

We celebrated Daisy Duarte’s birthday with her on Monday.  She just turned 25 years old and will be entering the MTC in Sao Paolo in just about 60 days.  We leave shortly after she does. She will be a wonderful missionary.

We had an interesting experience this week with a brand new fruit, called Yva Povo.  It grows on the trunk and branches of the tree, not with stems but directly on the tree.  It looks like a grape, but you cannot eat the seed or the skin.  The first one you eat is a little bitter, but the rest are sweet and juicy.  The legend here is that if a pregnant woman eats a lot of this fruit, the eyes of her child will be dark or black.  Not too sure about that.

We continue to work hard, even though the time is passing quickly.  We have much to do here in the branch, but we also have much to do with the house before we leave.  It looks like another couple is coming to the mission, but they will be housed in Asuncion and conduct audits for the mission.  This is sorely needed as financial management is one area where our leaders are struggling.  Another couple works in the temple and will start helping with Chapel Open Houses.  We are hoping and praying that another couple will be called to serve here in the north of Paraguay to help these good members continue to progress.  They are wonderful, they just need some help.

Thanks to all for your love and support.

Love,

Jerry and Cheryl

Horqueta, Paraguay 12 Sept 2016

I was somewhat surprised by how many people here in northern Paraguay were aware of the "9-11" incident that occurred 15 years ago.  I know that I will never forget that morning when prior to leaving for work I watched on the TV as the twin towers and other targets were hit by the terrorists.  I also remember worrying about family who were planning to travel that day, co-workers traveling in many states and countries, and about my own family.  I doubt any of us will ever forget that experience.
We have had a good week.  We stay busy most of the week, but Sundays are always very busy for us.  We love it!
Yesterday we had our Horqueta Branch Conference.  The District President got stuck in Asuncion on business and so we forged ahead without him.  We had good Priesthood and Relief Society meetings to start off.  Pres. Matinez of the Elder's Quorum said, "it looks like only three us here today don't speak Guarani so i will teach the lesson in Guarani.  Majority rules.  We taught a Sunday School lesson about financial independence - paying tithes and offererings, avoiding debt, saving for emergiencies, and using a budget.  We had to adapt it a bit since most of the folks here live day to day.  We then had a very good and amazingly reverent Sacrament Meeting.  It was so quiet you could hear yourself breathe.  President Duarte gave a talk on the Aaronic Priesthood, we had two talks on the family, and I spoke to the Young Women.  After we had a lunch (see foto) and then divided up and went visiting to members.  We visited 15 families and enjoyed our time.  We then drove 3 of the District leaders to Concepcion, visited a family and came home for Home Evening with the members.  A full day- and a good day.
We are trying to help the members here become more self-sufficient here with their callings and responsibilities in the church.  When we have 6 missionaries in the branch, there is always someone there at meetings to lead the music, teach a lesson, etc.  We want them to fulfill their callings and do it because they want to, not because the missionaries say they have to.   We love them and hope that they will have learned something during our time here.
This morning we went for a 7:00 am walk.  As we left the house we noticed a block away at the hiway was an armored personnel carrier and many soldiers.  It appears that there was an important meeting of the anti-terrorism Joint Task Force.  Interesting.
We love and appreciate you all.  We pray for you daily, and miss you.
Thank you for your love and support.
Jerry and Cheryl


The Fotos:
1- Lunch with the District leaders on Sunday. We had roasted chicken, rice salad, mandioca, and juice. For dessert we had a big cake.
2-  Cheryl with a chicken egg and a duck egg.  The duck egg is larger.