Hey folks, how’s it goin?
Things just keep moving forward down here in what feels like the depths of h-e-double hockey sticks. This week almost every day has been over 100 degrees, and wow, it’s hot. But today it’s a little cooler, because its going to rain… actually I think its raining right now, but we’re inside so I’m not sure. Anyways, I’m sorry those photos didn’t make it through last week. This week I got to use my other camera for a little bit because I borrowed the charger of someone who has the same camera and got my battery charged up a little, so that was cool. So I have a ton of photos that I’m sending your way this week. But tell Grandma Karen Happy belated birthday for me, I feel bad I didn’t know it was her birthday.
Well this week we had 5 baptisms… so we were stoked for that. They were of Maria Elena and Ruth, and of Zully, Jessica, and Sara. But the most amazing part of this week is even though we had 5 baptisms, we’ve maintained the same amount of investigators and people in church from week to week. But it was truly amazing this week, because on Friday we met Juan and Angelica by helping them in a mini service of bringing these big pallets of wood to their house, and then we went back on Saturday but Juan’s mom was there so we just got talking and didn’t get to teach anything, but we invited them to go to church but he was going to take the wood and make his fence with it so it was just a small invitation, but then yesterday they just showed up on their own for church! It was awesome. We went back last night and put them with fecha, and it was probably one of the best lessons ever. They understood everything perfectly; it was like I was doing a practice with a pair of missionaries. And there was a HUGE blessing in a miracle that the Lord worked for us during that lesson. We’re in that part of our area every night, and the mosquitoes bite like CRAZY! And they were biting last night like normal, but when we showed up to their house, I don’t think I was bit once until we left again, and that just helped us teach so much better. I’m not gonna lie, it’s like super hard to teach a lessons when everyone is being bitten like crazy by mosquitoes and everyone is just restless and smacking away. So it was just a special day for me.
But as for my MTC district, Elder Reid is out in La Paloma still, and Elder Bullcreek is out in Pedro Juan Caballero as a district leader, so I got to see him this week because we had a huge consilio guazu… which is a leadership training meeting which is usually only for zone leaders (consilio), but it was a special invite of the district leaders as well, so it was consilio guasu, or grande, or big (Guarani, Spanish, English). So that was cool. That was on Thursday. But as for Elder Legler, I actually saw him for the first time since my first change during the changes when everyone is hooking up with their new comps. He’s still in his second area, as a senior comp, but I’m pretty sure he’s doing pretty well, that goofy kid.
Anyways, keep it real. Love,
Elder Dennis
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Feb 16, 2009
Hello again,
So, I have half…I’ll be home on the 19th of February of 2010… Its still a long ways away, but tell Cole its only a couple of days… he asked how many more days til I get home in his email haha. But this week went pretty good, we had two more baptisms and man we blew up the numbers this week. This area is great, it has a ton of potential. Right now we have eleven people with baptismal dates, and we had just as many in church. The zone is doing pretty good too, so we’re excited that its progressing along. Some investigators that could really use some help though are first, Domingo. He just needs all the help he can get to stop smoking… but other than that, he’s an amazing guy. His wife is a member and is helping us out a ton. The other is a young woman, Maria Elena. She needs a lot of support, because she’s going through a kind of bad family situation right now as her parents are splitting up. She’s also awesome though. She should be getting baptized on Wednesday if all goes well. We also have 3 other baptisms, of Zully, Sara and Yesica this week, who are doing great as well. Their mother is also waiting for her baptism, but her husband is working in the Chaco, but he’s supposed to get home this week. Well I guess he’s not technically her husband, because they’re not married, but ya know, its Paraguay, so its okay haha. So we have to teach him or just get them married at least so that she can get baptized too, but she doesn’t want her children to wait. It’s the same case with the two girls we baptized this week.
Anyways, they do celebrate Valentine’s Day here, but Elder Perez and I didn’t even realize what day it was until like, 7.30 at night. But tell Elder Fiala that I wrote him, and I really hope that letter gets there, but if its not there in another like week or two, I’ll get another one sent off. Stupid Paraguayan mail system… But speaking of mail, I forgot to mention last week that I got your little Dear Elder letter the 4th of February. I also got your package this week, and I’m excited to say that all but the grey pants fit… the grey ones were just way too small in every direction. But the other ones fit perfectly. So I don’t know what the deal is, cause they’re the same exact size, but whatever. The UTAH shirt is also way sweet, it fits perfect. And the socks are a blessing from the gods. That’s all I got to say about that.
As for schooling for me when I return, I figure that yah, I probably will try to go to BYU as a visiting student for the summer, because I don’t think I can take another boring summer out in NY. But I might also try applying to other schools to just start in the summer quarter, like U of U or Arizona or where ever. Because even if I get in to BYU for school, I’m not sure I want to go there… I’m pretty sure that after my mission I never want to have to shave again. So…. yah. But I’m pretty sure it won’t be a problem if I need to do school applications here, but I think I’ll be getting home in time to just do those there at home. But if you want me to go to this visiting student program, you gotta send me information about it, cause I don’t even know what it is really. However, last night I found in the fridge in the house a little bottle of Root Beer extract from McCormick… its about half full, and I’m going to put some drops into some gassified water (very easy to find here) and try it out. I’m thinking if it works, it just might as well be manna from the gods.
Anyways, Love you all,
Elder Dennis
So, I have half…I’ll be home on the 19th of February of 2010… Its still a long ways away, but tell Cole its only a couple of days… he asked how many more days til I get home in his email haha. But this week went pretty good, we had two more baptisms and man we blew up the numbers this week. This area is great, it has a ton of potential. Right now we have eleven people with baptismal dates, and we had just as many in church. The zone is doing pretty good too, so we’re excited that its progressing along. Some investigators that could really use some help though are first, Domingo. He just needs all the help he can get to stop smoking… but other than that, he’s an amazing guy. His wife is a member and is helping us out a ton. The other is a young woman, Maria Elena. She needs a lot of support, because she’s going through a kind of bad family situation right now as her parents are splitting up. She’s also awesome though. She should be getting baptized on Wednesday if all goes well. We also have 3 other baptisms, of Zully, Sara and Yesica this week, who are doing great as well. Their mother is also waiting for her baptism, but her husband is working in the Chaco, but he’s supposed to get home this week. Well I guess he’s not technically her husband, because they’re not married, but ya know, its Paraguay, so its okay haha. So we have to teach him or just get them married at least so that she can get baptized too, but she doesn’t want her children to wait. It’s the same case with the two girls we baptized this week.
Anyways, they do celebrate Valentine’s Day here, but Elder Perez and I didn’t even realize what day it was until like, 7.30 at night. But tell Elder Fiala that I wrote him, and I really hope that letter gets there, but if its not there in another like week or two, I’ll get another one sent off. Stupid Paraguayan mail system… But speaking of mail, I forgot to mention last week that I got your little Dear Elder letter the 4th of February. I also got your package this week, and I’m excited to say that all but the grey pants fit… the grey ones were just way too small in every direction. But the other ones fit perfectly. So I don’t know what the deal is, cause they’re the same exact size, but whatever. The UTAH shirt is also way sweet, it fits perfect. And the socks are a blessing from the gods. That’s all I got to say about that.
As for schooling for me when I return, I figure that yah, I probably will try to go to BYU as a visiting student for the summer, because I don’t think I can take another boring summer out in NY. But I might also try applying to other schools to just start in the summer quarter, like U of U or Arizona or where ever. Because even if I get in to BYU for school, I’m not sure I want to go there… I’m pretty sure that after my mission I never want to have to shave again. So…. yah. But I’m pretty sure it won’t be a problem if I need to do school applications here, but I think I’ll be getting home in time to just do those there at home. But if you want me to go to this visiting student program, you gotta send me information about it, cause I don’t even know what it is really. However, last night I found in the fridge in the house a little bottle of Root Beer extract from McCormick… its about half full, and I’m going to put some drops into some gassified water (very easy to find here) and try it out. I’m thinking if it works, it just might as well be manna from the gods.
Anyways, Love you all,
Elder Dennis
Friday, February 13, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Feb 9, 2009
Hey there family (And friends),
First things first:
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy birthday dear Cooole,
Happy Birthday to YOU!
Wow, the big number 7! Congrats little guy, only one more year, and you’ll be seeing yours truly! :)
So, I’m back in Asuncion… and its really weird. It’s a LOT hotter, mostly because its just humid. I’m in the area Zeballos Cue, which is really tiny but there’s a ton of people, and its actually a really good area. We had a baptism this week, so that was fun. But being a zone leader is way different, I was such a fish out of water for the first couple days, but now I’m starting to grow legs and I’m getting the hang of things. But my comp is a stud, and like, the level of teaching is so much higher that it feels like I just showed up and am being trained all over again. Well technically I AM being trained, but whatever. So the zone: The zone is 5 districts, 4 groups of 2 companionships and then all of the people that work in the office are in our zone too, but they’re not really… cause they don’t have to rendir… you have to translate that word, I’m not sure what you call it in English… like, give us their numbers, but they’re still considered in our zone or something. Anyways, so I’m not going to include them in these numbers. So there’s 12 Elders and 4 Sisters, and then us. All of the numbers we have to get each week are the same, and we’re the examples, so basically we HAVE to get them or else bad stuff starts to happen in the zone. There’s a good quote from Pres. Wade about that, like, the level of diligence and obedience of the zone leaders is the highest the level of diligence and obedience can be in the zone (mission).
The house is pretty nice, it has air conditioning again, so I was stoked for that, plus its like pretty big and just the two of us in there. I don’t have any pictures yet because although I got my other camera working again, I forgot to bring the adapter to attach it to the computer today, so sorry haha. Thanks for ordering that other charger though, you’re the best mom ever! But still no package, but we go into the office every Tuesday to drop off all of the letters and pick up everything for the zone, and then we eat at McDonald’s… its amazing! So tomorrow maybe it’ll be there. I left Eddy a shirt and a tie, but all of my shirts are holding up really well, it’s only the pants. Trust me, I’m praying so hard that these pants fit me, because I really need some pants that aren’t tight on my waist.
As for the ‘traditions,’ yeah, we have the same ones, but not a lot do them. Like I didn’t do anything for my 6 months, but I have a pretty badly stained shirt I’m thinking about burning on Friday. We’ll see what happens. But yeah, one year…. It’s crazy that its already here. Its like I’m so close to being done, but then on the other hand its like oh wait, I still have a whole other year left. But yeah, things are going pretty good, the zone is fun, I like the Elders and the members that we’re working with, and the house is nice, oh, and we’re getting new mattresses on Wednesday, and they’re supposed to be like, real mattresses, not these cheap Paraguayan ones that we’re sleeping on right now. So that’s exciting. But I hope you’re doing good, and that dad is able to recover from his little pull. Love ya lots,
Elder Dennis
First things first:
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy birthday dear Cooole,
Happy Birthday to YOU!
Wow, the big number 7! Congrats little guy, only one more year, and you’ll be seeing yours truly! :)
So, I’m back in Asuncion… and its really weird. It’s a LOT hotter, mostly because its just humid. I’m in the area Zeballos Cue, which is really tiny but there’s a ton of people, and its actually a really good area. We had a baptism this week, so that was fun. But being a zone leader is way different, I was such a fish out of water for the first couple days, but now I’m starting to grow legs and I’m getting the hang of things. But my comp is a stud, and like, the level of teaching is so much higher that it feels like I just showed up and am being trained all over again. Well technically I AM being trained, but whatever. So the zone: The zone is 5 districts, 4 groups of 2 companionships and then all of the people that work in the office are in our zone too, but they’re not really… cause they don’t have to rendir… you have to translate that word, I’m not sure what you call it in English… like, give us their numbers, but they’re still considered in our zone or something. Anyways, so I’m not going to include them in these numbers. So there’s 12 Elders and 4 Sisters, and then us. All of the numbers we have to get each week are the same, and we’re the examples, so basically we HAVE to get them or else bad stuff starts to happen in the zone. There’s a good quote from Pres. Wade about that, like, the level of diligence and obedience of the zone leaders is the highest the level of diligence and obedience can be in the zone (mission).
The house is pretty nice, it has air conditioning again, so I was stoked for that, plus its like pretty big and just the two of us in there. I don’t have any pictures yet because although I got my other camera working again, I forgot to bring the adapter to attach it to the computer today, so sorry haha. Thanks for ordering that other charger though, you’re the best mom ever! But still no package, but we go into the office every Tuesday to drop off all of the letters and pick up everything for the zone, and then we eat at McDonald’s… its amazing! So tomorrow maybe it’ll be there. I left Eddy a shirt and a tie, but all of my shirts are holding up really well, it’s only the pants. Trust me, I’m praying so hard that these pants fit me, because I really need some pants that aren’t tight on my waist.
As for the ‘traditions,’ yeah, we have the same ones, but not a lot do them. Like I didn’t do anything for my 6 months, but I have a pretty badly stained shirt I’m thinking about burning on Friday. We’ll see what happens. But yeah, one year…. It’s crazy that its already here. Its like I’m so close to being done, but then on the other hand its like oh wait, I still have a whole other year left. But yeah, things are going pretty good, the zone is fun, I like the Elders and the members that we’re working with, and the house is nice, oh, and we’re getting new mattresses on Wednesday, and they’re supposed to be like, real mattresses, not these cheap Paraguayan ones that we’re sleeping on right now. So that’s exciting. But I hope you’re doing good, and that dad is able to recover from his little pull. Love ya lots,
Elder Dennis
Monday, February 2, 2009
Feb 2, 2009
Hey there,
So, things are still just cruising along down here. Its really hot today, but it always seems hotter on P-Day, I’m not sure why that is. Oh, but I thought I told you, I got Grandmas Christmas package like 3 weeks ago… I could have sworn I mentioned that in a letter. But I still can’t find my charger, but unfortunately its not the same one as the one before, it’s a new G type battery that the Sony W-150 model has. Now I’m trying to charge up batteries for my old camera but that’s not working either! Because I really, really want to take pictures with people, because on Wednesday I have to go back into Asuncion to be a zone leader for the zone Asuncion Norte… so much for shirking responsibility, I thought I was doing pretty good considering I wasn’t a district leader yet. I’ll be with a latin, Elder Perez, from Colombia if I remember what they told me correctly, in an area called Saballos Cue (spelled something like that, I’m not exactly positive). So I’m like super nervous, and don’t have any idea what to expect, considering I haven’t had a whole lot of training with leadership positions yet, and I haven’t even hit the year mark yet, so that’s kind of rare as well, but you know, you just gotta go and do what ya gotta do. It should be fun to be back in Asuncion, where you get to see tons of other missionaries every week, and they have pan felipe and manteca de mani. Its been killing me to live without that stuff.
But I’m sorry to hear that you two have been pretty sick, I hope that by now you’re feeling a little bit better, especially the little Cole man, he has to keep hitting those slopes so he’s all fresh for me when I get back. :) But what is Robyn doing with a boy friend? She is way too young for that… isn’t she? Tell her no more thinking about boys, she has to get ready for a mission! And as for the asking Dad for a blessing, I’m totally the same as you, I didn’t even think about it the whole time my comp was feeling sick, and it wasn’t until he was starting to feel better that I was talking to Elder Tinco, the district leader about it, and he was like, did you give him a blessing and I was like whoops, dropped the ball on that one haha.
But yesterday was pretty awesome, I confirmed and ordained Eddy, so that was really awesome, but I’m really sad that I have to leave now. But I gave him his line of authority, for now, which includes me haha, so that was really interesting to see my name on the list along with dad’s and grandpa’s. But I think that about covers everything that really happened this week… I don’t have any photos because my camera doesn’t work soooo yeah. And still no sign of your package, but I’ll be to the office on Wednesday, so it might be there waiting for me, cause its getting close, I can feel it. Take it easy and hope you feel better.
Love,
Elder Dennis
So, things are still just cruising along down here. Its really hot today, but it always seems hotter on P-Day, I’m not sure why that is. Oh, but I thought I told you, I got Grandmas Christmas package like 3 weeks ago… I could have sworn I mentioned that in a letter. But I still can’t find my charger, but unfortunately its not the same one as the one before, it’s a new G type battery that the Sony W-150 model has. Now I’m trying to charge up batteries for my old camera but that’s not working either! Because I really, really want to take pictures with people, because on Wednesday I have to go back into Asuncion to be a zone leader for the zone Asuncion Norte… so much for shirking responsibility, I thought I was doing pretty good considering I wasn’t a district leader yet. I’ll be with a latin, Elder Perez, from Colombia if I remember what they told me correctly, in an area called Saballos Cue (spelled something like that, I’m not exactly positive). So I’m like super nervous, and don’t have any idea what to expect, considering I haven’t had a whole lot of training with leadership positions yet, and I haven’t even hit the year mark yet, so that’s kind of rare as well, but you know, you just gotta go and do what ya gotta do. It should be fun to be back in Asuncion, where you get to see tons of other missionaries every week, and they have pan felipe and manteca de mani. Its been killing me to live without that stuff.
But I’m sorry to hear that you two have been pretty sick, I hope that by now you’re feeling a little bit better, especially the little Cole man, he has to keep hitting those slopes so he’s all fresh for me when I get back. :) But what is Robyn doing with a boy friend? She is way too young for that… isn’t she? Tell her no more thinking about boys, she has to get ready for a mission! And as for the asking Dad for a blessing, I’m totally the same as you, I didn’t even think about it the whole time my comp was feeling sick, and it wasn’t until he was starting to feel better that I was talking to Elder Tinco, the district leader about it, and he was like, did you give him a blessing and I was like whoops, dropped the ball on that one haha.
But yesterday was pretty awesome, I confirmed and ordained Eddy, so that was really awesome, but I’m really sad that I have to leave now. But I gave him his line of authority, for now, which includes me haha, so that was really interesting to see my name on the list along with dad’s and grandpa’s. But I think that about covers everything that really happened this week… I don’t have any photos because my camera doesn’t work soooo yeah. And still no sign of your package, but I’ll be to the office on Wednesday, so it might be there waiting for me, cause its getting close, I can feel it. Take it easy and hope you feel better.
Love,
Elder Dennis
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