What’s up people?
So, another week down, and another week to go. First off, Happy Birthday to the birthday girl. I hope she enjoys the completion of yet another year of her life. It’s exciting stuff. But I already wish I was going back in time, I’m getting old people. I mean, I have to come of full legal age in a month’s time! That’s just scary!
But I had pique again last week, so that was exciting. My comp had to get it out, because it was in a place on my big toe that I couldn’t see very well to do the operation myself. But yeah, it’s basically just a big, living zit. It’s pretty fun to take out. But there’s not going to be very much pique anymore, because the rainy season is starting up… and speaking of the rainy season, did I mention I hate rain? It fetching poured this Saturday and Sunday, I was soaked from just above my knees down, cause my jacket doesn’t quite cover all of me. But the stupid torrents of rain kept all but one of our investigators getting to church, so this week was just horrible because of that. But last week we had 5 more baptisms, with 2 families that are amazing, and a little old grandma too. But yeah, we’re in charge of all the new convert lessons and everything… anything that has to do with church, we the missionaries are in charge around here…
But yeah, Elder Aidukaitus of the Seventy is coming this week to take a ‘tour’ of the mission to see how we’re all doing, so that’ll be exciting. The ZLs have a council meeting with him tomorrow, so that’ll be a cool like 1-on-1 session with him. But yeah, that’s all that’s really going on this week.
Love ya,
Elder Dennis
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
May 18, 2009
Hey there,
Sorry about last week, we didn’t get a chance to use internet cause we had a really busy P-Day... First off, we had council meeting with Pte Wade as ZLs on Monday so our P-Day got bumped to Tuesday, and then on Tuesday we went to San Lorenzo to play soccer with all of the other ZLs, because we didn’t want to be alone and everyone else had a normal P-Day, and had to spend like a total of 2.5 hours on the buses to get there and back, and that just ate up all of our day. So we figured we’d just talked to you the day before, so we figured it wasn’t a big deal to not get to write y’all. Anyways, this week went pretty good, we had 8 baptisms, with the wedding of Elvio and Eulalia, so that was exciting. And then this week we have 2 more families that are just awesome who are tying the knot and taking a bath haha. So yeah, we’re still working hard.
But this past week was the first week of cold, and wow, I forgot how cold Paraguay can get! It got down to about 50 F and I thought I was going to freeze to death on Friday night. And I’m being serious! I’m literally just going to shrivel up and die in a little frozen ball when I show up in NY in the middle of the winter next year... So I had to bust out all of the sweaters I accumulated last year: the two v-necks that you sent me and one that I bought here before I got the package of the v-necks haha... things I haven’t seen in a loooooong time. It was such a good feeling! Mentioning that, if you want to include in my birthday package another sweater or two that you can find in my room, I know I have like 2 or 3 good ones... a brown, a grey, and an orange one, that are all kind of turtle neck, those would work great down here.
But you can tell Aunt Audrey thanks for thinking about me, but I’m sure that book of 500 colleges is just way to big and expensive to send all the way down here... because it’d be cool to look at one, but I wouldn’t want to have to haul that thing around between areas and stuff like that.
In answer to your question: It’s not too bad trying to shrug off the ‘trunky’ feelings that come from talking with the family, but it was a little tougher this time because my comp E. Ramirez goes home in July, so he’s getting all ready already. But I’m thinking that the next call is going to be a little tough... I’ll only have like 6 weeks til I get home... so yeah, that’ll be pretty trunky. Anyways, talking about getting home. I was thinking about it, and if you guys want to come down to pick me up, that’s fine. Like yeah, it’ll lose kind of the umph of getting home and seeing the family, but like you said, I think it’ll probably be a lot easier to just stay in Paraguay than to try and come back a little later on, financially and mentally. Plus you guys could just bring down like extra empty suitcases to help me make it home with all of the junk that I’m acquiring right now and not have to leave it all behind hahaha. So it’s up to you guys with what you want to do. I’ll just go along with whatever plans you come up with.
But yeah, those broadcast conferences from Salt Lake are pretty cool. I got to see one last year, and they had people who were associated with this area of the world as well. So it’s interesting to hear that they’re doing that for state-side stakes as well.
But as a missionary, my relationship with Christ... umm... I’d say it’s grown in the fact that I’m not working and worrying about myself. I’m working with his brothers and sisters, and helping them find the joy of taking advantage of his sacrifice that he made for us, and by doing so, I’ve been able to feel the true joy of Christ by feeling what he must feel when he sees each and every one of us come closer to him, and the sadness that comes when he sees us reject him. So I think mostly I’ve just come closer to really know and understand our Savior and what the purpose this life holds for us.
The constant companionship of the Holy Ghost (it feels so weird to say ghost and not spirit) is a must in this line of work. I’ve really come to know that the ‘constant companionship’ that is always talked about isn’t like a constant feel good vibe that I remember getting when I was at EFY or whatever, but more like an enhanced conscionce (I really don’t know how to spell that, I hope you get what I’m saying) of thoughts that I have or decisions I make of what streets to take or what I need to say or things like that. I think it might be different as a missionary, because we grow so used to the compansionship that we usually don’t even know that it’s there, but yeah.
I think when I get home, I’ll just have to keep doing just the ‘basics’ of the gospel that you always hear in Primary, with slight variation: Study my scriptures daily, pray with real intent, and participate in church and church activities every week. Usually you hear: read, pray, and go to church. That’s good and all, but there is SUCH a big difference between going through the motions and actually doing. Not just reading, but STUDYING. Not just praying, but CONVERSING with the Lord. Not just going to church, but PARTICIPATING. It’s stuff so basic that we just ignore it, but it really is the foundation to everything.
Love you lots,
Elder Dennis
Sorry about last week, we didn’t get a chance to use internet cause we had a really busy P-Day... First off, we had council meeting with Pte Wade as ZLs on Monday so our P-Day got bumped to Tuesday, and then on Tuesday we went to San Lorenzo to play soccer with all of the other ZLs, because we didn’t want to be alone and everyone else had a normal P-Day, and had to spend like a total of 2.5 hours on the buses to get there and back, and that just ate up all of our day. So we figured we’d just talked to you the day before, so we figured it wasn’t a big deal to not get to write y’all. Anyways, this week went pretty good, we had 8 baptisms, with the wedding of Elvio and Eulalia, so that was exciting. And then this week we have 2 more families that are just awesome who are tying the knot and taking a bath haha. So yeah, we’re still working hard.
But this past week was the first week of cold, and wow, I forgot how cold Paraguay can get! It got down to about 50 F and I thought I was going to freeze to death on Friday night. And I’m being serious! I’m literally just going to shrivel up and die in a little frozen ball when I show up in NY in the middle of the winter next year... So I had to bust out all of the sweaters I accumulated last year: the two v-necks that you sent me and one that I bought here before I got the package of the v-necks haha... things I haven’t seen in a loooooong time. It was such a good feeling! Mentioning that, if you want to include in my birthday package another sweater or two that you can find in my room, I know I have like 2 or 3 good ones... a brown, a grey, and an orange one, that are all kind of turtle neck, those would work great down here.
But you can tell Aunt Audrey thanks for thinking about me, but I’m sure that book of 500 colleges is just way to big and expensive to send all the way down here... because it’d be cool to look at one, but I wouldn’t want to have to haul that thing around between areas and stuff like that.
In answer to your question: It’s not too bad trying to shrug off the ‘trunky’ feelings that come from talking with the family, but it was a little tougher this time because my comp E. Ramirez goes home in July, so he’s getting all ready already. But I’m thinking that the next call is going to be a little tough... I’ll only have like 6 weeks til I get home... so yeah, that’ll be pretty trunky. Anyways, talking about getting home. I was thinking about it, and if you guys want to come down to pick me up, that’s fine. Like yeah, it’ll lose kind of the umph of getting home and seeing the family, but like you said, I think it’ll probably be a lot easier to just stay in Paraguay than to try and come back a little later on, financially and mentally. Plus you guys could just bring down like extra empty suitcases to help me make it home with all of the junk that I’m acquiring right now and not have to leave it all behind hahaha. So it’s up to you guys with what you want to do. I’ll just go along with whatever plans you come up with.
But yeah, those broadcast conferences from Salt Lake are pretty cool. I got to see one last year, and they had people who were associated with this area of the world as well. So it’s interesting to hear that they’re doing that for state-side stakes as well.
But as a missionary, my relationship with Christ... umm... I’d say it’s grown in the fact that I’m not working and worrying about myself. I’m working with his brothers and sisters, and helping them find the joy of taking advantage of his sacrifice that he made for us, and by doing so, I’ve been able to feel the true joy of Christ by feeling what he must feel when he sees each and every one of us come closer to him, and the sadness that comes when he sees us reject him. So I think mostly I’ve just come closer to really know and understand our Savior and what the purpose this life holds for us.
The constant companionship of the Holy Ghost (it feels so weird to say ghost and not spirit) is a must in this line of work. I’ve really come to know that the ‘constant companionship’ that is always talked about isn’t like a constant feel good vibe that I remember getting when I was at EFY or whatever, but more like an enhanced conscionce (I really don’t know how to spell that, I hope you get what I’m saying) of thoughts that I have or decisions I make of what streets to take or what I need to say or things like that. I think it might be different as a missionary, because we grow so used to the compansionship that we usually don’t even know that it’s there, but yeah.
I think when I get home, I’ll just have to keep doing just the ‘basics’ of the gospel that you always hear in Primary, with slight variation: Study my scriptures daily, pray with real intent, and participate in church and church activities every week. Usually you hear: read, pray, and go to church. That’s good and all, but there is SUCH a big difference between going through the motions and actually doing. Not just reading, but STUDYING. Not just praying, but CONVERSING with the Lord. Not just going to church, but PARTICIPATING. It’s stuff so basic that we just ignore it, but it really is the foundation to everything.
Love you lots,
Elder Dennis
Monday, May 4, 2009
May 4, 2009
What up?
So yeah, Elder Perez is now in his house in Colombia, which is absolutely crazy, because when I showed up in Viñas Cue he still had 2 changes to go. And now he’s gone. So I guess even though it feels like the mission is my life and that it will never end, it indeed comes to an end. Which is a really weird feeling actually. But anyways, because I sent Perez home, I’m still here in Zeballos Cue, and my new comp is Elder Ramirez, from Nicaragua. There were 6 ZLs that went home, so a lot of new ZLs went up, but my comp was a zone leader before as well, and he’s prepping to go home this July. He only has this and the next changes left. But I’m praying that I’m out of here at the end of this change, because while my area is really tiny, it has a lot of success, but if I stay here next change, I’ll be killing Elder Ramirez as well, which means I’ll be here until September... and that’s a really long fetching time. But E’ Ramirez is a stud, we’re working hard and keeping up the success that E’ Perez and I were having.
I’m glad you got my mother’s day card, but goodness gracious, don’t you have enough respect for your son that you actually follow the directions he writes on it to not open it til Mother’s Day? I mean, it was only one week you had to wait. But yeah, so I guess I have to talk to you losers this Sunday, so I guess you can call xxxxxxxxx at 7 o’clock at night if you want to. I may or may not be there hahaha. I might be working too hard to put aside some time for you guys.
But it’s crazy to think that Elder Fiala is actually gearing up to go home. Taylor Cluff is probably on the downward 2 months as well. I’m just flying through the mission as well though, cause like, this is already my 10th change, out of 16. Which means that I only have 6 changes left after this. That’s like nothing, I’m should be getting ready to leave already or something haha. But everyone is doing good out here, we have 4 whole families with a baptismal date for not this week but the 2 weeks following, and they’re all pretty solid. There’s a lot of stuff to overcome, but I know that it’ll all get worked out just fine. But yeah, the help of the members is incredible here in this area, the new converts expecially, they all just keep inviting more and more friends, and then those people invite more friends, and it’s just this huge ripple effect like you said. But yeah, the wards and branches are just being re organized all the time, and I think that’s the main problem they have down here. It’s kind of hard to call home teachers when every week your have to revise it because more and more people are getting baptized, and just things like that. But at the moment, there’s no senior couples in the mission, but the senior couple that was here will be coming back: The Frutos family. He’s Paraguayan, and Pte Wade really needs his help with controlling all of the districts (like stakes but not big enough, all of which are controlled by the mission presidents of the area... there’s like 10 in Paraguay Norte) and translating GuaranÃ. So supposedly they’ll be back in like June, but they went back to the states to visit family and take a short break.
But yeah, things are going pretty good, you know, the same old places, just different faces. Love ya lots,
Elder Dennis
So yeah, Elder Perez is now in his house in Colombia, which is absolutely crazy, because when I showed up in Viñas Cue he still had 2 changes to go. And now he’s gone. So I guess even though it feels like the mission is my life and that it will never end, it indeed comes to an end. Which is a really weird feeling actually. But anyways, because I sent Perez home, I’m still here in Zeballos Cue, and my new comp is Elder Ramirez, from Nicaragua. There were 6 ZLs that went home, so a lot of new ZLs went up, but my comp was a zone leader before as well, and he’s prepping to go home this July. He only has this and the next changes left. But I’m praying that I’m out of here at the end of this change, because while my area is really tiny, it has a lot of success, but if I stay here next change, I’ll be killing Elder Ramirez as well, which means I’ll be here until September... and that’s a really long fetching time. But E’ Ramirez is a stud, we’re working hard and keeping up the success that E’ Perez and I were having.
I’m glad you got my mother’s day card, but goodness gracious, don’t you have enough respect for your son that you actually follow the directions he writes on it to not open it til Mother’s Day? I mean, it was only one week you had to wait. But yeah, so I guess I have to talk to you losers this Sunday, so I guess you can call xxxxxxxxx at 7 o’clock at night if you want to. I may or may not be there hahaha. I might be working too hard to put aside some time for you guys.
But it’s crazy to think that Elder Fiala is actually gearing up to go home. Taylor Cluff is probably on the downward 2 months as well. I’m just flying through the mission as well though, cause like, this is already my 10th change, out of 16. Which means that I only have 6 changes left after this. That’s like nothing, I’m should be getting ready to leave already or something haha. But everyone is doing good out here, we have 4 whole families with a baptismal date for not this week but the 2 weeks following, and they’re all pretty solid. There’s a lot of stuff to overcome, but I know that it’ll all get worked out just fine. But yeah, the help of the members is incredible here in this area, the new converts expecially, they all just keep inviting more and more friends, and then those people invite more friends, and it’s just this huge ripple effect like you said. But yeah, the wards and branches are just being re organized all the time, and I think that’s the main problem they have down here. It’s kind of hard to call home teachers when every week your have to revise it because more and more people are getting baptized, and just things like that. But at the moment, there’s no senior couples in the mission, but the senior couple that was here will be coming back: The Frutos family. He’s Paraguayan, and Pte Wade really needs his help with controlling all of the districts (like stakes but not big enough, all of which are controlled by the mission presidents of the area... there’s like 10 in Paraguay Norte) and translating GuaranÃ. So supposedly they’ll be back in like June, but they went back to the states to visit family and take a short break.
But yeah, things are going pretty good, you know, the same old places, just different faces. Love ya lots,
Elder Dennis
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