December 15, 2014

Dec 15, 2014

Sorry I haven´t been answering all your questions.  Last week I only got half an hour to write and normally we only get an hour so my email time is a little cramped (a lot of missionaries have more time than this).   But I LOVE getting all of your letters and I read them all.  Thank you for the support.  I dont think you realize how much missionaries love letters until you are one.  

But the ward.  In paraguay the wards are small, but they have a family or two that are second generation, and these guys are the studs of the ward.  The wife is the primary president, and the husband is the bishop. In another family the son is the ward mission leader, the mom is the RS president, and the dad is in the stake.  So there are some really solid members in the ward.  But the problem is that nobody is really all too exited about missionary work and retencion.  They all want new members but they dont know how to keep the members they have.  I am not quite sure how to fix this yet, because the culture is really different, but I am working on it. But when you ask them to accompany you to a lesson they are really good about coming with you.  So that is really good.

Everybody en Paraguay works all the time.  And when they arent working they are sitting on their house trying to stay cool.  It is funny becasue I realized that the missionaries are more accostomed to the heat than the paraguayans because when it is really hot, they stop working and relax or nap or whatever, and we are still working.  Funny, right  

As for the standard of living.  The country just is more dirty and sweaty, because it is hot all the time and humid, and the roads are cobblestone and sand.  But nobody is worried about this,  They are just chill.  That is the thing about paraguay.  They are nothing if not tranqillo.  That is their goal in life.  They also love their familes a lot.  They often have 3 generations living in the same house.

NOW FOR THE MIRACLES

Ahh, running out of time.  Umm a short one.  So this week we were on the way to an investagadors house and I saw a couple sitting outside.  I paused for a second and kept on walking, promising myself that I would come back and if they were still outside, I would contact them.  And I came walking back, I had totally forgotten about them, and there they were.  So I contacted him.  The boy didnt believe in God.  I got to bear testimony to him that there is a god, a god that loves him.  It was powerful.  We gave him a pass along  card and challeneged him to watch the new christmas video of the church.  I think he is going to do it.

Anyway, love and Merry Christmas.

Hna Jarman

More pics----my district-