Josh was able to send photos this week - check them out in my Picasa Web Album :
http://picasaweb.google.com/traciedennis
Monday, June 30, 2008
June 30, 2008
¿Mba’e chapa che ra’a?
Todo bien aquí. This past week was just awesome. We had two baptisms, both named Norma, so we were excited, and then it was my birthday and we were just working hard and find people and achieving our goals, so yeah, it was just a good week. My birthday was awesome, except for it rained all day, but we had a couple great lessons, and then some members gave us some good food and yeah, it was awesome. My zone leaders, E. Pavon and E. Adams, woke me up at 6.30 with a phone call, and then yeah, I don´t know, it was just a good day. I ate all of the airheads you sent me that day as well… I saved them just for that. The night before, I also got all of my letters for this week, cause the zone leaders pick them up on Thursdays, its just that they don’t normally pass them out until Monday. It was just because it was my birthday, so after our baptism we went and got some food and they gave me my letters. I got a card from grandma Karen, and from elder Fiala, so that was pretty sweet. I sent you a photo of me standing on one of the streets in the rain on that day as well. (I hope you enjoy these photos, I actually got it to work this time.)
We also got some amazing jerseys today that are awesome, that we had custom made as a zone. So we wore those today as we played against another zone, and totally creamed them. It was the power of the jersey, I’m telling ya. They’re white with a red and black stripe down the right side of the front, with a custom insignia and then our names and numbers (27) on the back. We also got shorts, which are black with a white and red stripe and the insignia and number as well… very very nice. I’m a fan.
Also, I got to say, that marinara sauce that you sent me is sooooo good. I made it for the first time on Saturday, and it was like heaven in my mouth, after only having had a salsa kind of sauce for forever, the actual bursting Italian flavour was incredible. But yeah, its definitely weird to think that I already have 5 months in my mission (if you count by 4 weeks as a month). Next week is changes again, and I’m excited to see what happens. With that I’ll hit 3 months in Paraguay. The time is just flying by.
Well I´m going to just work on getting some more pictures sent before time is up. I love you all, and hope all is well out there. And hey, you still haven’t told me about Dad’s motorcycle! Did he get it did he get it?! Love ya,
E. Dennis
Todo bien aquí. This past week was just awesome. We had two baptisms, both named Norma, so we were excited, and then it was my birthday and we were just working hard and find people and achieving our goals, so yeah, it was just a good week. My birthday was awesome, except for it rained all day, but we had a couple great lessons, and then some members gave us some good food and yeah, it was awesome. My zone leaders, E. Pavon and E. Adams, woke me up at 6.30 with a phone call, and then yeah, I don´t know, it was just a good day. I ate all of the airheads you sent me that day as well… I saved them just for that. The night before, I also got all of my letters for this week, cause the zone leaders pick them up on Thursdays, its just that they don’t normally pass them out until Monday. It was just because it was my birthday, so after our baptism we went and got some food and they gave me my letters. I got a card from grandma Karen, and from elder Fiala, so that was pretty sweet. I sent you a photo of me standing on one of the streets in the rain on that day as well. (I hope you enjoy these photos, I actually got it to work this time.)
We also got some amazing jerseys today that are awesome, that we had custom made as a zone. So we wore those today as we played against another zone, and totally creamed them. It was the power of the jersey, I’m telling ya. They’re white with a red and black stripe down the right side of the front, with a custom insignia and then our names and numbers (27) on the back. We also got shorts, which are black with a white and red stripe and the insignia and number as well… very very nice. I’m a fan.
Also, I got to say, that marinara sauce that you sent me is sooooo good. I made it for the first time on Saturday, and it was like heaven in my mouth, after only having had a salsa kind of sauce for forever, the actual bursting Italian flavour was incredible. But yeah, its definitely weird to think that I already have 5 months in my mission (if you count by 4 weeks as a month). Next week is changes again, and I’m excited to see what happens. With that I’ll hit 3 months in Paraguay. The time is just flying by.
Well I´m going to just work on getting some more pictures sent before time is up. I love you all, and hope all is well out there. And hey, you still haven’t told me about Dad’s motorcycle! Did he get it did he get it?! Love ya,
E. Dennis
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
June 24, 2008
Hola mi familia y mis amigos,
Toda está bien aquí en Paraguay, y esta semana pasada fue bien no mas. Primero, nosotros tuvimos un bautismo, de Valeria Centurión, la hija del líder de la obra misional aquí en Salado. Tuvimos una torta y todo para ella. Fuimos a bautizar su hermana tambien, pero ella estaba enferma, entonces, vamos a bautizarle esta semana. Tambien, tenemos una niña de 9 años que vamos a bautizar también este jueves. Los dos se llaman Norma.
Ok, I´ll stop using Spanish, and let you try and figure out what I said there. But man, with the baptism last week, we showed up about an hour and a half early for the baptism, and the font was filled but was completely dirty. So we had to empty it out, and the make it go faster, we were also emptying it by hand with buckets, so we were getting all soaked and sweaty, and then we finally got it drained, and they were both there and ready to go, but the stupid water was taking soooooooo slooooowwww. So we ended up just having to put it off for the next morning, and then the one sister, Norma, got sick, so we only got to baptize Valeria, but this week we’re going to baptize her, along with a little girl who’s family is all members. So we’re excited to have those. This week we also held a Talent show night and stressed the use of our talents to share the gospel, but hardly anyone showed up and only we did stuff. I played the guitar while we sang “Praise to the Man,” a verse in Spanish, Guaraní and English. That was pretty fun. Afterwards we just played a game with everyone.
Its still pretty cold here, but its warming up a bit. I think we cold just be getting used to it as well, but yeah, you don’t need to worry about sending anything more, I’m staying warm just fine. But I also got all my cards and letters today, but no package, but no worries, the zone leaders (two of my best friends) are saying they’re going to throw some sort of party or something with cake and whatnot, so don’t worry. It should be a pretty good day, because we have to baptisms lined up for the night before. But coming from the cards, what’s the turtles name? Is it still up in the air? AND! Totally not fair, the itouch is the exact same thing as an iphone, minus the phone! Not that it matters to me for the next two years, but still, way jealous down here. Oh oh oh! And does dad have a motorcycle yet?! And if not, what’s the hold up?! Haha I’m a fan of the Honda bikes myself.
Other than that, todo tranquilo. No tengo muchas problemas aquí, menos el compañero. Él es loco no mas, pero no le maté todavía. Tengo animado porque esta semana proxima, vamos a recibir nuestras camisetas de fútbol de la zona, y estas van a ser calidad. Yo compré una pelota la semana pasada, y estoy practicando. Fútbol es muy divertido, me lo encanta, pero necesito camisetas (jerseys). Están borato, solamente necesito comprarlo no mas. Pero, no tengo mucho mas…
Les amo muchísimo,
Elder Dennis (Day - niece)
P.s. Sorry I didn’t write yesterday, our P-Day got switched up because of a leaders meeting that took place yesterday.
Toda está bien aquí en Paraguay, y esta semana pasada fue bien no mas. Primero, nosotros tuvimos un bautismo, de Valeria Centurión, la hija del líder de la obra misional aquí en Salado. Tuvimos una torta y todo para ella. Fuimos a bautizar su hermana tambien, pero ella estaba enferma, entonces, vamos a bautizarle esta semana. Tambien, tenemos una niña de 9 años que vamos a bautizar también este jueves. Los dos se llaman Norma.
Ok, I´ll stop using Spanish, and let you try and figure out what I said there. But man, with the baptism last week, we showed up about an hour and a half early for the baptism, and the font was filled but was completely dirty. So we had to empty it out, and the make it go faster, we were also emptying it by hand with buckets, so we were getting all soaked and sweaty, and then we finally got it drained, and they were both there and ready to go, but the stupid water was taking soooooooo slooooowwww. So we ended up just having to put it off for the next morning, and then the one sister, Norma, got sick, so we only got to baptize Valeria, but this week we’re going to baptize her, along with a little girl who’s family is all members. So we’re excited to have those. This week we also held a Talent show night and stressed the use of our talents to share the gospel, but hardly anyone showed up and only we did stuff. I played the guitar while we sang “Praise to the Man,” a verse in Spanish, Guaraní and English. That was pretty fun. Afterwards we just played a game with everyone.
Its still pretty cold here, but its warming up a bit. I think we cold just be getting used to it as well, but yeah, you don’t need to worry about sending anything more, I’m staying warm just fine. But I also got all my cards and letters today, but no package, but no worries, the zone leaders (two of my best friends) are saying they’re going to throw some sort of party or something with cake and whatnot, so don’t worry. It should be a pretty good day, because we have to baptisms lined up for the night before. But coming from the cards, what’s the turtles name? Is it still up in the air? AND! Totally not fair, the itouch is the exact same thing as an iphone, minus the phone! Not that it matters to me for the next two years, but still, way jealous down here. Oh oh oh! And does dad have a motorcycle yet?! And if not, what’s the hold up?! Haha I’m a fan of the Honda bikes myself.
Other than that, todo tranquilo. No tengo muchas problemas aquí, menos el compañero. Él es loco no mas, pero no le maté todavía. Tengo animado porque esta semana proxima, vamos a recibir nuestras camisetas de fútbol de la zona, y estas van a ser calidad. Yo compré una pelota la semana pasada, y estoy practicando. Fútbol es muy divertido, me lo encanta, pero necesito camisetas (jerseys). Están borato, solamente necesito comprarlo no mas. Pero, no tengo mucho mas…
Les amo muchísimo,
Elder Dennis (Day - niece)
P.s. Sorry I didn’t write yesterday, our P-Day got switched up because of a leaders meeting that took place yesterday.
Monday, June 16, 2008
June 16, 2008
¿Mba’e chapa? ¿Todo bien? Tranquilo.
Life is moving along. Like you said, its crazy to think that I´ve been gone for so long already, I´m not even noticing the time moving. What’s even more crazy, is that next week, I have to start using a “2” at the front of my age… that’s just weird. And Happy Birthday to Papason! I hope he enjoyed the rest yesterday, and especially his chicken picata... not fare! But what is this about money coming out of my account?! I haven’t been able to get it out yet… haha chiste no mas (or in English, just kidding… I got you, didn’t I? :-p ) Yeah, I got my money out just fine once I dipped below the two hundred mark. So now I got my guitar (HOORAY!) and I also got my cases for my scriptures today! So I´m stoked about that, they’re absolutely awesome.
As for the life down here, its freakin cold! I´m not liking this. Its usually not that bad in the middle of the day, but in the morning and as soon as the sun goes down its horrible. The funny part is that its probably not really all that cold, I just got used to the heat of the end of fall here and now that we’re getting into winter, I´m already accustomed to the weather down here. Other than that things are going pretty good. E’ Cameron is still a little tough to really get along with, he’s quite out there, but I´m doing my best, and we’re trying to work hard and get some people to progress. But really cool today, Pte. Wade and his wife and son stopped in at our District Meeting this morning, and visited with us a bit, so that was really sweet, they’re so awesome.
At home, it sounds like Robyn is doing awesome in here new school and friends and all that, so that’s great to hear. Okay, so I have some way exciting news that I forgot to mention. First I’ll say that whenever I write anything anymore in English, I’m totally translating it from Spanish to English to write it down. Its so weird, some things are just so much easier to say in Spanish. And that leads me to my bit of news: this week I had my first dream (that I remember) in Spanish! So that was a really exciting morning, I was just kind of laying there, and I was like “Woah, that was in Spanish.” So yeah, the language is coming along well. I don´t have to really try to understand anymore, I still have to focus on what they’re saying, and I can’t have too many distractions, but for the most part I don’t have to strain anymore to understand these people.
As for E’ Fiala, it sounds like he’s doing good. And just a tidbit of random information, Joe Weeks from Olentangy hockey is at school in Elmira right now. Just thought I could share that. And as for the package, some more velveeta and shells sounds good, as well as some skittles or nerds or something like that… you know what I like. Also, you should definitely include some CDs, like all the ones you bought me, but more than anything, I could go for some nice soundtracks, like Last of the Mohicans and Lord of the Rings, things like that… :D
Haha, and yeah, E’ Pavon is awesome. He’s one of my Zone Leaders, and he’s one of the best latins here at English. He’s really cool, I love getting to hang out with him. My other Zone leader is E’ Adams, and he’s one of my best friends here on the mission so far. He’s really into music, and he’s a professional drummer, so we’re totally planning on jamming when we get back. But yeah, life is great. I love the work and the people.
I love you all,
E. Dennis
Life is moving along. Like you said, its crazy to think that I´ve been gone for so long already, I´m not even noticing the time moving. What’s even more crazy, is that next week, I have to start using a “2” at the front of my age… that’s just weird. And Happy Birthday to Papason! I hope he enjoyed the rest yesterday, and especially his chicken picata... not fare! But what is this about money coming out of my account?! I haven’t been able to get it out yet… haha chiste no mas (or in English, just kidding… I got you, didn’t I? :-p ) Yeah, I got my money out just fine once I dipped below the two hundred mark. So now I got my guitar (HOORAY!) and I also got my cases for my scriptures today! So I´m stoked about that, they’re absolutely awesome.
As for the life down here, its freakin cold! I´m not liking this. Its usually not that bad in the middle of the day, but in the morning and as soon as the sun goes down its horrible. The funny part is that its probably not really all that cold, I just got used to the heat of the end of fall here and now that we’re getting into winter, I´m already accustomed to the weather down here. Other than that things are going pretty good. E’ Cameron is still a little tough to really get along with, he’s quite out there, but I´m doing my best, and we’re trying to work hard and get some people to progress. But really cool today, Pte. Wade and his wife and son stopped in at our District Meeting this morning, and visited with us a bit, so that was really sweet, they’re so awesome.
At home, it sounds like Robyn is doing awesome in here new school and friends and all that, so that’s great to hear. Okay, so I have some way exciting news that I forgot to mention. First I’ll say that whenever I write anything anymore in English, I’m totally translating it from Spanish to English to write it down. Its so weird, some things are just so much easier to say in Spanish. And that leads me to my bit of news: this week I had my first dream (that I remember) in Spanish! So that was a really exciting morning, I was just kind of laying there, and I was like “Woah, that was in Spanish.” So yeah, the language is coming along well. I don´t have to really try to understand anymore, I still have to focus on what they’re saying, and I can’t have too many distractions, but for the most part I don’t have to strain anymore to understand these people.
As for E’ Fiala, it sounds like he’s doing good. And just a tidbit of random information, Joe Weeks from Olentangy hockey is at school in Elmira right now. Just thought I could share that. And as for the package, some more velveeta and shells sounds good, as well as some skittles or nerds or something like that… you know what I like. Also, you should definitely include some CDs, like all the ones you bought me, but more than anything, I could go for some nice soundtracks, like Last of the Mohicans and Lord of the Rings, things like that… :D
Haha, and yeah, E’ Pavon is awesome. He’s one of my Zone Leaders, and he’s one of the best latins here at English. He’s really cool, I love getting to hang out with him. My other Zone leader is E’ Adams, and he’s one of my best friends here on the mission so far. He’s really into music, and he’s a professional drummer, so we’re totally planning on jamming when we get back. But yeah, life is great. I love the work and the people.
I love you all,
E. Dennis
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Surprise Email
Along with Joshua's regular letter this week, we got this messsage from one of his zone leaders:
Hi Dennis Family! I'm Elder Pavon from Argentina. I'm serving in the same zone your son/brother E' Dennis is, here in Paraguay. He's such a great pal, we're having a great fun with him.
Just wanted to tell you that he's a good example to all the zone; he works hard and that he takes full responsability in his call. I'm glad to share this time with him. I'm sure you all are nice people as him. Keep encourage him! Thank you for everything you do for him and all of us.
Hope you're doing great there in New York. Take care! See you!
ELDER PAVON
Paraguay Asuncion North MIssion
Hi Dennis Family! I'm Elder Pavon from Argentina. I'm serving in the same zone your son/brother E' Dennis is, here in Paraguay. He's such a great pal, we're having a great fun with him.
Just wanted to tell you that he's a good example to all the zone; he works hard and that he takes full responsability in his call. I'm glad to share this time with him. I'm sure you all are nice people as him. Keep encourage him! Thank you for everything you do for him and all of us.
Hope you're doing great there in New York. Take care! See you!
ELDER PAVON
Paraguay Asuncion North MIssion
Monday, June 9, 2008
June 9, 2008
Hola otra vez,
So first things first… the card still doesn’t work. It tells me how much I have on the card, but it won’t let me take the money out from the card, it just denies me. So I don’t know if there’s some sort of permissions thing that has to be changed or what. I also tried calling the house and your cell a couple times today, if you find a weird number on there. Well it wasn’t me, but the guys I was with at the office since I can’t talk to family. I also tried calling the Customer Service number on the back of the card, but the computer system asked for the last 4 digits of my SSN, and it wouldn’t take it. So I don’t know what the deal is with that. But that’s Paraguay for ya.
Things are going pretty good. E’ Cameron is alright, but we were having pretty big tension moments about once a day and that was really zapping my energy and desire to work. But the past day or two things have gotten a lot better, and we started to have some success and get used to one another, and there’s been a couple things that have really given me my animo back. We’re starting to have some success and find some people who can really progress, so we’re pretty excited for that. E’ Cameron was also sick last week, so it made things quite interesting. I think in the past week I’ve gone on more divisions than the entire rest of my mission. There was only one day where E’ Cameron just stayed in bed, so I didn’t get to go out and work until about 4, when we got some members to come and stay with him, and then I had to go out with E’ Ralon, who got here the same time I did, so that was kind of interesting, but I really enjoyed it. I understand just about everything, and he’s only slightly beneath me, but our teaching level is about the same, so we really learned a lot and taught really well together, and we gained a ton of experience as we had to put a baptismal fecha and things like that. So I really learned a lot this past week.
Thanks for the candy from the packages, I’m loving it. I’m making it last, and only eating a little when I really get the craving for just some good sugar. I haven’t made use of the sauces yet, but the Velveta and Shells is amazing. Today though, a couple of us went into Asuncion, and went to this fancy Chinese buffet, and oh, it was amazing. It was definitely a relief from the same flavor all the time from the Paraguayan cooking. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but it felt good to have some different types of spices on my tongue. So yeah, that was sweet.
Um, what else… I don’t think anything too exciting other than what I’ve mentioned really happened this week, just chuggin along as always. Your summer sounds crazy, but they’re always better that way. Haley is actually graduating—that’s scary! But she’s going to have a great time out in Idaho this summer, and all that stuff. Its so good to get out on your own. I’ve been thinking about that a lot this past week for some reason. How I’m 19 years old, and living in a foreign country away from family and a language I know and just immersing myself into the culture and environment. When you think of it as just a mission, its just like oh, its just a mission. But when you really think about it for what it is, its pretty crazy! I absolutely LOVE it! I’m really fitting into the way of life around here. I know how to get around, what colectivos to take and I can communicate and ask questions and teach and I’m just starting to feel comfortable here.
But yeah, I can’t really think of anything else to talk about, other than saying that I’m having a great time. So I love you all, and til next week…
E. Dennis
So first things first… the card still doesn’t work. It tells me how much I have on the card, but it won’t let me take the money out from the card, it just denies me. So I don’t know if there’s some sort of permissions thing that has to be changed or what. I also tried calling the house and your cell a couple times today, if you find a weird number on there. Well it wasn’t me, but the guys I was with at the office since I can’t talk to family. I also tried calling the Customer Service number on the back of the card, but the computer system asked for the last 4 digits of my SSN, and it wouldn’t take it. So I don’t know what the deal is with that. But that’s Paraguay for ya.
Things are going pretty good. E’ Cameron is alright, but we were having pretty big tension moments about once a day and that was really zapping my energy and desire to work. But the past day or two things have gotten a lot better, and we started to have some success and get used to one another, and there’s been a couple things that have really given me my animo back. We’re starting to have some success and find some people who can really progress, so we’re pretty excited for that. E’ Cameron was also sick last week, so it made things quite interesting. I think in the past week I’ve gone on more divisions than the entire rest of my mission. There was only one day where E’ Cameron just stayed in bed, so I didn’t get to go out and work until about 4, when we got some members to come and stay with him, and then I had to go out with E’ Ralon, who got here the same time I did, so that was kind of interesting, but I really enjoyed it. I understand just about everything, and he’s only slightly beneath me, but our teaching level is about the same, so we really learned a lot and taught really well together, and we gained a ton of experience as we had to put a baptismal fecha and things like that. So I really learned a lot this past week.
Thanks for the candy from the packages, I’m loving it. I’m making it last, and only eating a little when I really get the craving for just some good sugar. I haven’t made use of the sauces yet, but the Velveta and Shells is amazing. Today though, a couple of us went into Asuncion, and went to this fancy Chinese buffet, and oh, it was amazing. It was definitely a relief from the same flavor all the time from the Paraguayan cooking. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but it felt good to have some different types of spices on my tongue. So yeah, that was sweet.
Um, what else… I don’t think anything too exciting other than what I’ve mentioned really happened this week, just chuggin along as always. Your summer sounds crazy, but they’re always better that way. Haley is actually graduating—that’s scary! But she’s going to have a great time out in Idaho this summer, and all that stuff. Its so good to get out on your own. I’ve been thinking about that a lot this past week for some reason. How I’m 19 years old, and living in a foreign country away from family and a language I know and just immersing myself into the culture and environment. When you think of it as just a mission, its just like oh, its just a mission. But when you really think about it for what it is, its pretty crazy! I absolutely LOVE it! I’m really fitting into the way of life around here. I know how to get around, what colectivos to take and I can communicate and ask questions and teach and I’m just starting to feel comfortable here.
But yeah, I can’t really think of anything else to talk about, other than saying that I’m having a great time. So I love you all, and til next week…
E. Dennis
Monday, June 2, 2008
June 2, 2008
Mba’e Chapa!
Or translated from Guaraní, How are ya? First of all, thank you so much for dealing with my card, that was just a headache. Pero tengo una pregunta. Should I keep my card that I have now or just cut it up? But I´d also like to thank you for the packages, they were both amazing. I got my second on Thursday, when I had to go into Asuncion and sign in to the country, and they picked up the mail in the same trip, and lo and behold, a package for me was there! Haha, I’m making the wonderful delicious candy last as long as I can, because they don’t have any of the good sugary goodness down here, its all just pastries. But I also have another item for the next time you send a package, the Gillete Fusion razor blades. They don’t have those down here, and I’m thinking in advance. I have a cartridge full left, so I don’t want you to panic and send a package right away, but just for the next time you put one together, I’m just letting ya know.
The mission activities sounded like fun, and I’m sure E. Parkin is loving having a family that really looks out for him, I know from personal experience. There’s a couple people here in the Salado ward that really look after us missionaries, and I love them so much. Oh, and I guess I just gave away a little about my cambio, or change, so I guess I’ll talk about what I know you’re dying to read about. As I just gave away, I stayed here in Salado, and I´m taking care of a new companion right now… And when I say taking care of, I mean it haha. My new comp’s name is E. Cameron, and he’s from Canada. He’s also 10 times weirder than my comp from the MTC… but that’s okay. I´m training him to be a senior comp, which means this is his first time in control. However, he doesn´t know the area, and is definitely out of touch with the people, so I’m basically senior comp right now as we plan and when it comes to reading the people and concerning their needs. I’m learning so much right now about myself, and seeing just how much the Lord is preparing me. I can see in myself right now a lot more of a leader than I ever thought I was, and I´ve really been impressing myself as I communicate with the people. The Lord is helping me, because he knows I need to be able to have that ability to communicate, and since the second I became comps with E. Cameron, I´ve understood everything anyone has said to me. But we’ve already had a couple little disagreements so far, and I´m definitely learning patience working with him. Oh, and to answer you’re question, I miss E. NIlsen so much, that guy was a stud, and he knew what was going on.
I’m also very excited, because this change I received a calling in the Zone. I´m the “hombrero”, which is the person who tracks the ordinations to the Priesthood of all the men who have been baptized, to help make sure that they all get it. So every week I get to call each companionship and talk with them about what they´re doing to make sure everyone gets the priesthood. I´m really excited about it, even though in reality its not that great. But it shows that the Zone Leaders trust me with that responsibility, and that reminds me, my zone leaders are just awesome. They are E. Adams and E. Pavon, and they´re both sweet. E. Adams is one of my better friends here in the mission so far, along with E. Moreira, who I´m still living with. E. Vasquez went to a different area this change, but he´d been in Salado for 9 months, so even though E. Moreira and I miss him, we’re also happy for him. Now E. Moreira has E. Ralon for a companion, and he came to Paraguay with me. Its weird to be living in a house with only one latino now.
Anyways, I think that just about covers everything for now. All is well, and I´m having a blast.
Love,
E. Dennis
Or translated from Guaraní, How are ya? First of all, thank you so much for dealing with my card, that was just a headache. Pero tengo una pregunta. Should I keep my card that I have now or just cut it up? But I´d also like to thank you for the packages, they were both amazing. I got my second on Thursday, when I had to go into Asuncion and sign in to the country, and they picked up the mail in the same trip, and lo and behold, a package for me was there! Haha, I’m making the wonderful delicious candy last as long as I can, because they don’t have any of the good sugary goodness down here, its all just pastries. But I also have another item for the next time you send a package, the Gillete Fusion razor blades. They don’t have those down here, and I’m thinking in advance. I have a cartridge full left, so I don’t want you to panic and send a package right away, but just for the next time you put one together, I’m just letting ya know.
The mission activities sounded like fun, and I’m sure E. Parkin is loving having a family that really looks out for him, I know from personal experience. There’s a couple people here in the Salado ward that really look after us missionaries, and I love them so much. Oh, and I guess I just gave away a little about my cambio, or change, so I guess I’ll talk about what I know you’re dying to read about. As I just gave away, I stayed here in Salado, and I´m taking care of a new companion right now… And when I say taking care of, I mean it haha. My new comp’s name is E. Cameron, and he’s from Canada. He’s also 10 times weirder than my comp from the MTC… but that’s okay. I´m training him to be a senior comp, which means this is his first time in control. However, he doesn´t know the area, and is definitely out of touch with the people, so I’m basically senior comp right now as we plan and when it comes to reading the people and concerning their needs. I’m learning so much right now about myself, and seeing just how much the Lord is preparing me. I can see in myself right now a lot more of a leader than I ever thought I was, and I´ve really been impressing myself as I communicate with the people. The Lord is helping me, because he knows I need to be able to have that ability to communicate, and since the second I became comps with E. Cameron, I´ve understood everything anyone has said to me. But we’ve already had a couple little disagreements so far, and I´m definitely learning patience working with him. Oh, and to answer you’re question, I miss E. NIlsen so much, that guy was a stud, and he knew what was going on.
I’m also very excited, because this change I received a calling in the Zone. I´m the “hombrero”, which is the person who tracks the ordinations to the Priesthood of all the men who have been baptized, to help make sure that they all get it. So every week I get to call each companionship and talk with them about what they´re doing to make sure everyone gets the priesthood. I´m really excited about it, even though in reality its not that great. But it shows that the Zone Leaders trust me with that responsibility, and that reminds me, my zone leaders are just awesome. They are E. Adams and E. Pavon, and they´re both sweet. E. Adams is one of my better friends here in the mission so far, along with E. Moreira, who I´m still living with. E. Vasquez went to a different area this change, but he´d been in Salado for 9 months, so even though E. Moreira and I miss him, we’re also happy for him. Now E. Moreira has E. Ralon for a companion, and he came to Paraguay with me. Its weird to be living in a house with only one latino now.
Anyways, I think that just about covers everything for now. All is well, and I´m having a blast.
Love,
E. Dennis
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
May 26, 2008
Hola,
Well, my first change is just about over. But… I can´t tell you the details of the transfers cause, well, we don´t have them yet. But wow, our Zone Leaders played a GREAT trick on us this morning in District Meeting. Of course everyone was all excited to hear about where people are headed and who´ll be their comps and all that, and we had to wait until the end of the meeting to find out. Then we put all of our name tags into a hat, and as we drew out two at a time, we had to arm wrestle each other, and the winner got to hear where he was headed and who his companion would be... so it was all very fun, and I was the last to do the wrestling, which I won, and found out that I would be staying in Salado (which is in actuality most likely), and that my companion would be an E. Markus… and then a free for all wrestling match occurred as we were told it was all made up and that we wouldn´t be finding out until tonight, because the President is still working on them. But we all had a good laugh, and then we went and played a match of futbol. So it won´t be until next week that I get to tell you where I´m headed and who my new companion is. Sorry. I´m still with E. Nilsen until Wednesday morning. This first change went so fast, and people always say the first change goes the slowest, so I´m afraid to find out how fast the mission passes me by.
As for my card, its just because it’s a Mastercard… apparently they don´t work down here. It even didn´t work in the ATM at the HSBC. I could have gotten money from there though, but I needed my actual passport, and the have that in the safe at the office, and I just carry around a photocopy. So that would be a bit of a hassle to go through. But I was wondering if there is a way you could get a visa card for my account and get that sent down here like you did my other card… that would be awesome, and the best way to take care of the problem for the rest of my mission rather than having to try and obtain my passport and go into Asuncion every time I want to take out money.
Today I got the pictures that Cole drew of his hermit crab, so I understood what you were talking about when you mentioned the pet store in your letter. Haha I remember our hermit crab days when we were younger. I hope he´s having fun with them. I also got my package today… I haven´t opened it yet but it doesn´t appear tampered with, but man it sure sucks to have to lug it around all day. Plus I got my shoes and clothes for playing soccer, and I have to go get my groceries after this… I just love P-days.
We had an awesome opportunity this week though. The President of this part of South America, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina, came and spent a week here. He had a Fireside for investigators and recent converts, and then we had a Zone Conference with him. They were both just spectacular. You can see him in the Presidency chart in the May Ensign, Elder Robbins. It was some great stuff, and he explained things so clearly and simply.
Anyways, a little more about Paraguay to wrap up my letter. Primero, Dad would be going crazy here haha, its very rare to see a mouth with all their teeth… and even rarer to not have their teeth decaying. Its quite disgusting… the Lord definitely helps me out, because at any other time I would probably be really queezy, but it doesn´t really bother me right now. Also, the Paraguayans like to play a lot of volleyball… but its more of a “slapball.” They just set the ball and then slap at it… they don´t play an actual game of how its supposed to be played. Its pretty funny to watch. They also like to play a lot of futbol, but in this they´re actually good. But most of the time in the evenings, everyone is out in their local soccer or volleyball field or sandpatch, drinking and playing and yeah, that’s Paraguay.
Anyways, I´m gonna use up the rest of the time I have and try and get some pictures over this stupid machine. Love you all,
E. Dennis
Well, my first change is just about over. But… I can´t tell you the details of the transfers cause, well, we don´t have them yet. But wow, our Zone Leaders played a GREAT trick on us this morning in District Meeting. Of course everyone was all excited to hear about where people are headed and who´ll be their comps and all that, and we had to wait until the end of the meeting to find out. Then we put all of our name tags into a hat, and as we drew out two at a time, we had to arm wrestle each other, and the winner got to hear where he was headed and who his companion would be... so it was all very fun, and I was the last to do the wrestling, which I won, and found out that I would be staying in Salado (which is in actuality most likely), and that my companion would be an E. Markus… and then a free for all wrestling match occurred as we were told it was all made up and that we wouldn´t be finding out until tonight, because the President is still working on them. But we all had a good laugh, and then we went and played a match of futbol. So it won´t be until next week that I get to tell you where I´m headed and who my new companion is. Sorry. I´m still with E. Nilsen until Wednesday morning. This first change went so fast, and people always say the first change goes the slowest, so I´m afraid to find out how fast the mission passes me by.
As for my card, its just because it’s a Mastercard… apparently they don´t work down here. It even didn´t work in the ATM at the HSBC. I could have gotten money from there though, but I needed my actual passport, and the have that in the safe at the office, and I just carry around a photocopy. So that would be a bit of a hassle to go through. But I was wondering if there is a way you could get a visa card for my account and get that sent down here like you did my other card… that would be awesome, and the best way to take care of the problem for the rest of my mission rather than having to try and obtain my passport and go into Asuncion every time I want to take out money.
Today I got the pictures that Cole drew of his hermit crab, so I understood what you were talking about when you mentioned the pet store in your letter. Haha I remember our hermit crab days when we were younger. I hope he´s having fun with them. I also got my package today… I haven´t opened it yet but it doesn´t appear tampered with, but man it sure sucks to have to lug it around all day. Plus I got my shoes and clothes for playing soccer, and I have to go get my groceries after this… I just love P-days.
We had an awesome opportunity this week though. The President of this part of South America, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina, came and spent a week here. He had a Fireside for investigators and recent converts, and then we had a Zone Conference with him. They were both just spectacular. You can see him in the Presidency chart in the May Ensign, Elder Robbins. It was some great stuff, and he explained things so clearly and simply.
Anyways, a little more about Paraguay to wrap up my letter. Primero, Dad would be going crazy here haha, its very rare to see a mouth with all their teeth… and even rarer to not have their teeth decaying. Its quite disgusting… the Lord definitely helps me out, because at any other time I would probably be really queezy, but it doesn´t really bother me right now. Also, the Paraguayans like to play a lot of volleyball… but its more of a “slapball.” They just set the ball and then slap at it… they don´t play an actual game of how its supposed to be played. Its pretty funny to watch. They also like to play a lot of futbol, but in this they´re actually good. But most of the time in the evenings, everyone is out in their local soccer or volleyball field or sandpatch, drinking and playing and yeah, that’s Paraguay.
Anyways, I´m gonna use up the rest of the time I have and try and get some pictures over this stupid machine. Love you all,
E. Dennis
Monday, May 19, 2008
May 19, 2008
Dear familia y amigos,
Well I’ve passed my one month point here in Paraguay, which is just absolutely crazy. It definitely still feels like I just got here yesterday, despite the fact that I’m getting used to the wierd surroundings and culture. Things are going pretty good, and the work is moving along quite well, the Lord blessed us tremendously this week. But first I have a problem that needs solved quickly…
My card doesn’t work. We tried 3 different ATMs today. The first one, the nicest, told me I had no money in my account, and then the other two just said that they didn’t take it there. The reason for that is probably because its mastercard, I guess there’s big problems with that down here, Visa is apparently the way to go. But another thing that some of the Elders who are more experienced with this say that they don’t think the card is activated. I know you said you went in there and activated it with the Branch Manager, so I don’t know what the deal is. There’s a HSBC close to the temple in Asunción though, and this Thursday we have a Zone Conference down there, so we’re going to go and see if they can’t help me out or something. But if you could try and find out what’s going on with that as well, it would help a bunch if I could get to my money.
On to happier things: We had a sweet Family Home Evening with one of the members, Amada, and we made impanadas and tortillas, and they were just amazing. I love impanadas, they’re so good. And then tortillas are like the funnel cake dough without the sugar topped on it, also way good. I got plenty of pictures, and I was going to try and send them home but once again we’re using the place that doesn’t have USB drives, so no luck this week. We kind of just walk along the street and the first internet place we come to that has open computers is where we go.
In my personal study, I finished the Gospels in the New Testiment on Saturday, so that was exciting. We get an hour of personal study everyday, and so this is what I do. I start out with a chapter from the Book of Mormon, where I go into semi in depth study and take notes and stuff, because I’ve already read through it once on my mission so far, and now I’m going through again much more slowly. Right now I’m at the very end of 2 Nephi. Alter I do that, right now we’re reading through Preach My Gospel to finish it by this Thursday—the reason we’re going down to Asunción is for the visit of a 70 Area Authority, and we have to have it completely read by then. So I have my little timeline of what I need to read each day and I just follow that. Then I use the rest of the time, usually about half an hour or so, and just read from the New Testiment. I’m just reading through pretty fast right now, just to get through it. After the NT, I’ll probable move to the Old Testament, and so on with the other books of scripture. And then after I get it all done, I plan to do it all again in Spanish. I try to read a chapter a day from the Book of Mormon in Spanish, but mostly just to practice pronunciation. Thanks for the scripture sugestión, its an awesome one, they love to use it in district meetings and zone conferences alot.
Ok. Now let me just say that Guarani just kicks our trash. It is such a HUGE barrier when it comes to teaching people. Most people are pretty good with being able to understand and communicate at least in Spanish, but 2 of the families we’re teaching right now don’t understand or speak hardly any spanish whatsoever… and wow is it tough. We’re doing really good right now working with the members, and its so much better when members become involved. We’re seeing so much more success this week because of it. Also let me just say right now that if any words are in spanish or just funny, its because this stupid program is trying to correct everything I say. I’m catching most of it, but if I miss anything, just letting you know.
Haley, ¡Feliz Cumpleaños! I hope you have fun, and how does it feel to be old? You’re officially an adult, and how I wish I were just a little kid again haha. Oh well, at least you’re not entering the 20s yet, thats just weird. In another month I won’t start my age with a 1 anymore. Haha And mom, as for her computer, the 1 or 2 gigs is for the RAM, not the hard drive, and I wouldn’t think its really worth it to put in an extra gig, the one will be just fine, thats what I have.
Its hot down here, and really humid. Its probably going to rain tomorrow, but it hasn’t rained in almost 2 weeks now, so I guess its alright. Also I need one last favor from Haley. Haley, I need Katelyn’s Idaho address. So go onto Facebook today and tell her to email me her address here so that I can write her, cause it won’t be until mid June that my letter would get there and I’m pretty sure she won’t still be at school. And tell her pronto. Thanks a bunch hermana!
Alright, thats about all I got folks. I’m really tan…on my foresarms and face to halfway down my neck…so thats exciting. Oh and I’m beefing up my physique, with my daily excersizes… it feels good to be getting muscules back. I also got my scripture cases ordered today, so I’m stoked for those. I got one for my BofM and one for my Bible. The Bof M has the Picture of the vision of the Tree of Life on the front, and the one of Christ descending into the Americas on the back. The Bible has a Picture of Christ as a sheperd by Simon Dewey (don’t know how else to describe it) on the front, and then the Picture, also by Dewey, of Christ at the well with the Samaritan woman on the back. So those are going to be awesome. I’ll take pictures.
Yeah. Um. I love you all. And I can’t think of anything else.
Elder Dennis
Well I’ve passed my one month point here in Paraguay, which is just absolutely crazy. It definitely still feels like I just got here yesterday, despite the fact that I’m getting used to the wierd surroundings and culture. Things are going pretty good, and the work is moving along quite well, the Lord blessed us tremendously this week. But first I have a problem that needs solved quickly…
My card doesn’t work. We tried 3 different ATMs today. The first one, the nicest, told me I had no money in my account, and then the other two just said that they didn’t take it there. The reason for that is probably because its mastercard, I guess there’s big problems with that down here, Visa is apparently the way to go. But another thing that some of the Elders who are more experienced with this say that they don’t think the card is activated. I know you said you went in there and activated it with the Branch Manager, so I don’t know what the deal is. There’s a HSBC close to the temple in Asunción though, and this Thursday we have a Zone Conference down there, so we’re going to go and see if they can’t help me out or something. But if you could try and find out what’s going on with that as well, it would help a bunch if I could get to my money.
On to happier things: We had a sweet Family Home Evening with one of the members, Amada, and we made impanadas and tortillas, and they were just amazing. I love impanadas, they’re so good. And then tortillas are like the funnel cake dough without the sugar topped on it, also way good. I got plenty of pictures, and I was going to try and send them home but once again we’re using the place that doesn’t have USB drives, so no luck this week. We kind of just walk along the street and the first internet place we come to that has open computers is where we go.
In my personal study, I finished the Gospels in the New Testiment on Saturday, so that was exciting. We get an hour of personal study everyday, and so this is what I do. I start out with a chapter from the Book of Mormon, where I go into semi in depth study and take notes and stuff, because I’ve already read through it once on my mission so far, and now I’m going through again much more slowly. Right now I’m at the very end of 2 Nephi. Alter I do that, right now we’re reading through Preach My Gospel to finish it by this Thursday—the reason we’re going down to Asunción is for the visit of a 70 Area Authority, and we have to have it completely read by then. So I have my little timeline of what I need to read each day and I just follow that. Then I use the rest of the time, usually about half an hour or so, and just read from the New Testiment. I’m just reading through pretty fast right now, just to get through it. After the NT, I’ll probable move to the Old Testament, and so on with the other books of scripture. And then after I get it all done, I plan to do it all again in Spanish. I try to read a chapter a day from the Book of Mormon in Spanish, but mostly just to practice pronunciation. Thanks for the scripture sugestión, its an awesome one, they love to use it in district meetings and zone conferences alot.
Ok. Now let me just say that Guarani just kicks our trash. It is such a HUGE barrier when it comes to teaching people. Most people are pretty good with being able to understand and communicate at least in Spanish, but 2 of the families we’re teaching right now don’t understand or speak hardly any spanish whatsoever… and wow is it tough. We’re doing really good right now working with the members, and its so much better when members become involved. We’re seeing so much more success this week because of it. Also let me just say right now that if any words are in spanish or just funny, its because this stupid program is trying to correct everything I say. I’m catching most of it, but if I miss anything, just letting you know.
Haley, ¡Feliz Cumpleaños! I hope you have fun, and how does it feel to be old? You’re officially an adult, and how I wish I were just a little kid again haha. Oh well, at least you’re not entering the 20s yet, thats just weird. In another month I won’t start my age with a 1 anymore. Haha And mom, as for her computer, the 1 or 2 gigs is for the RAM, not the hard drive, and I wouldn’t think its really worth it to put in an extra gig, the one will be just fine, thats what I have.
Its hot down here, and really humid. Its probably going to rain tomorrow, but it hasn’t rained in almost 2 weeks now, so I guess its alright. Also I need one last favor from Haley. Haley, I need Katelyn’s Idaho address. So go onto Facebook today and tell her to email me her address here so that I can write her, cause it won’t be until mid June that my letter would get there and I’m pretty sure she won’t still be at school. And tell her pronto. Thanks a bunch hermana!
Alright, thats about all I got folks. I’m really tan…on my foresarms and face to halfway down my neck…so thats exciting. Oh and I’m beefing up my physique, with my daily excersizes… it feels good to be getting muscules back. I also got my scripture cases ordered today, so I’m stoked for those. I got one for my BofM and one for my Bible. The Bof M has the Picture of the vision of the Tree of Life on the front, and the one of Christ descending into the Americas on the back. The Bible has a Picture of Christ as a sheperd by Simon Dewey (don’t know how else to describe it) on the front, and then the Picture, also by Dewey, of Christ at the well with the Samaritan woman on the back. So those are going to be awesome. I’ll take pictures.
Yeah. Um. I love you all. And I can’t think of anything else.
Elder Dennis
Monday, May 12, 2008
May 12, 2008
Hello once again.
I’m glad we were able to get through last night, it was good to talk to everyone. Things are going well here in Paraguay, and I’m starting to get used to the culture and getting around and etc. The computer I’m using today doesn’t have any USB ports, so there’s no trying to send home pictures today, but what will most likely end up happening is that next week or in 2-3 weeks I’ll probably put them all on a CD and send it home so you can see them. I’m starting to settle in, so it’s harder to come up with things to write about now haha.
First of all, we had our first baptism last Thursday night, and that was awesome. I got to baptize him, Valeriano, so that was sweet. Getting into the water was a lot of fun though… they don’t have heated water in Paraguay. So I just had to plunge in and not think about it, to set the example for Valeriano. It was an awesome experience though, I think I felt the spirit during that than I have at any other point in my life, it was truly amazing. We took pictures (of course) so one day you’ll get to see them.
Um, I guess I’ll tell you a little bit about where Salado is, and maybe you can find it on your Google Earth. We’re between the two main cities of Limpio, to the north, and Luque, to the south. Our chapel is in Maraque, which is a little closer to Luque, while Salado is a little closer to Limpio. If you follow the main North-South road that runs down from Limpio, you’ll see our house. We live right on that principle route, about a 100 yards up from Ruta Salado, which branches off of the principle route, an is a pretty big road, though its of the stone nature which I talked about last time, and it’s a little ways passed the concha Guarani, which is on the left side of the road as you follow it Southward. And then our area is cupped by the principle route and the ruta Salado, in a little square/oval thing. So yeah, that my area. We go down to Luque on P-Days for shopping, and go into Limpio for District meeting and other ward meetings/baptisms during the week. So yeah, good luck trying to find it haha.
The mentioning of our district meetings brings me to the next thing I wanted to say. This week we don’t have our district meeting until tomorrow, because the Zone leaders had a leadership training meeting down at the mission home in Asuncion today. So I won’t know until tomorrow if your package has arrived yet or not. I hope it does though, me and Bullcreek were talking today, cause we still got together and played some futbol, about how much we miss just some good, made of sugar candy. All they have here are pastry like sweets, and its killing me. I need some good airheads or skittles or something, I’m dying here haha.
As for the last item of business, I was wondering if you could pop just 25 extra bucks in there as well, because I’m going to get some nice leather cases made for my Spanish scriptures. Yeah, 25-30 dollars and you get personalized, handmade leather scripture cases with engraved pictures on front and back… its so sweet. But other than that, what you were thinking of giving me is wonderful. And that will probably just about do it for quite awhile, if not the rest of my mission. Thank you so much mommy. I love you lots. Sorry I made you scared yesterday when you couldn’t get through. Oh and don’t worry, E. Nilsen had plenty of time to talk to his family as well. I hope all continues to go well. Tell Haley to have fun at prom and Robyn to enjoy the new school. And tell Cole to not play TOO many videojuegos.
Love you all,
Elder Dennis
I’m glad we were able to get through last night, it was good to talk to everyone. Things are going well here in Paraguay, and I’m starting to get used to the culture and getting around and etc. The computer I’m using today doesn’t have any USB ports, so there’s no trying to send home pictures today, but what will most likely end up happening is that next week or in 2-3 weeks I’ll probably put them all on a CD and send it home so you can see them. I’m starting to settle in, so it’s harder to come up with things to write about now haha.
First of all, we had our first baptism last Thursday night, and that was awesome. I got to baptize him, Valeriano, so that was sweet. Getting into the water was a lot of fun though… they don’t have heated water in Paraguay. So I just had to plunge in and not think about it, to set the example for Valeriano. It was an awesome experience though, I think I felt the spirit during that than I have at any other point in my life, it was truly amazing. We took pictures (of course) so one day you’ll get to see them.
Um, I guess I’ll tell you a little bit about where Salado is, and maybe you can find it on your Google Earth. We’re between the two main cities of Limpio, to the north, and Luque, to the south. Our chapel is in Maraque, which is a little closer to Luque, while Salado is a little closer to Limpio. If you follow the main North-South road that runs down from Limpio, you’ll see our house. We live right on that principle route, about a 100 yards up from Ruta Salado, which branches off of the principle route, an is a pretty big road, though its of the stone nature which I talked about last time, and it’s a little ways passed the concha Guarani, which is on the left side of the road as you follow it Southward. And then our area is cupped by the principle route and the ruta Salado, in a little square/oval thing. So yeah, that my area. We go down to Luque on P-Days for shopping, and go into Limpio for District meeting and other ward meetings/baptisms during the week. So yeah, good luck trying to find it haha.
The mentioning of our district meetings brings me to the next thing I wanted to say. This week we don’t have our district meeting until tomorrow, because the Zone leaders had a leadership training meeting down at the mission home in Asuncion today. So I won’t know until tomorrow if your package has arrived yet or not. I hope it does though, me and Bullcreek were talking today, cause we still got together and played some futbol, about how much we miss just some good, made of sugar candy. All they have here are pastry like sweets, and its killing me. I need some good airheads or skittles or something, I’m dying here haha.
As for the last item of business, I was wondering if you could pop just 25 extra bucks in there as well, because I’m going to get some nice leather cases made for my Spanish scriptures. Yeah, 25-30 dollars and you get personalized, handmade leather scripture cases with engraved pictures on front and back… its so sweet. But other than that, what you were thinking of giving me is wonderful. And that will probably just about do it for quite awhile, if not the rest of my mission. Thank you so much mommy. I love you lots. Sorry I made you scared yesterday when you couldn’t get through. Oh and don’t worry, E. Nilsen had plenty of time to talk to his family as well. I hope all continues to go well. Tell Haley to have fun at prom and Robyn to enjoy the new school. And tell Cole to not play TOO many videojuegos.
Love you all,
Elder Dennis
Monday, May 5, 2008
May 5, 2008
* Just a quick editorial note from Tracie -
He asked us to put some birthday $ into his account so he can buy a guitar - we knew he couldn't go 2 years without one! That's what the first paragraph is all about -
Hello again,
Well first off, its SaladO, not a. Haha, and secondly, the $ is up to you. I was thinking somewhere about $200-250 or so. And the reason I wanted to pick one up now is cause there´s an Elder here who´s looking to sell his and get a better one, but I found out this past week he´s wanting $300, and that was a little more than I was looking to spend, so I don´t think I´m going to do that anyway. But alot of Elders have them around here... just no one who´s living with me, go figure haha.
Alright, now for the exciting stuff for you: the call. Actually, I´m not going to need a phone card, because you´re actually going to be calling me. We´ll be taking the call from a member´s house, one of the few with a land line down here, and its alot easier than going to the church and fighting 10 other Elders for the phone. Call at about 6:15pm on Sunday. I´ll be there waiting, and we get an hour to chat. Make sure you call at 6:15 though, because we have to make sure we give enough time for E. Nilsen´s parents to call after our hour.
Okay, now to basically retype my letter from last week. haha. Okay, a little about Paraguay. FIrst off, about the roads. There´s three types of roads here. The 1st kind is actually paved, and these are the main arteries of the country, and in the bigger cities. The second type is this rock road thing, where its larger rocks are hand laid with sand, and they´re the roads that branch off the Ruto Principal (the paved road). And then thirdly, there´s dirt. But that brings me to the dirt. The dirt is just red sand and clay... at times it just feels like I´m walking along the beach, its awful. And then it decides to rain, and the entire landscape just turns into a mudpit, and you get home at night and your pants and shoes are just caked... okay, not caked, but there´s just mud all over them. I love it here though, it really is beautiful, and when its not raining, which isn´t too often so far, only about once a week, its just clear skies and palm trees and amazing fruit that is absolutely delicious. Although last week was FREEZING for some reason. It rained a little bit, but it was just cold. We were huddling in our blankets at night and in the morning in the apartment, and it made me really wish that I hadn´t sent my other sweaters home. But its all good, its warmed up again, and its about perfect right now.
Now for the buses, or colectivos. These things are CRAZY! The taxi drivers in NYC got nothing on these guys. First thing, they barely come to a stop, you just have to kind of hop on and off as they slow down. Second, the drivers are crazy multi-tasking. They take your money, dish out change, drive stick shift, watch for people signaling to get picked up, and for people signaling to get off, and when no one is getting on and they´re done dishing out change, they count the money they have! Its so fun to ride! haha I love em.
The ward here is so different. The kids just get up and run around during Sacrament meeting, its so funny. We have a new bishop, and he´s a somewhat recently returned missionary in his mid 20s, and he´s really trying to bring around some orginization into the church, which it desperately needs, and I think he´s doing a great job so far. And as for you question from last week, retention here is horrible. We try so hard to get these people into church, and for some reason they just don´t. And for the majority, its not like they´re doing anything bad really, they´re just not going to church. I don´t know what the deal is, Elder Nilsen and I are visiting some of them nearly everyday, and they say they´re going to church, and then they just don´t show up, and we can´t go round them up in the morning, because we´re busy rounding up our investigators. But some happier news, this week we have scheduled my first baptism! And this guy is just calidad, "quality", as they say here. Valeriano (pronounced Val-lay-dee-ano... they prounounce the r like aq d) got offered a job (he´s unemployed at the moment) to go work in Argentina, but he would have had to leave today, and he actually turned it down, because he wants to be baptized. He also quit smoking, going from a pack a day to none in just 4 days. So we´re pretty excited.
I´m trying to send pictures, but its not working very well... So if it gets through, you should be able to see. But anyways, my first thing of service was cutting down the growth along one of the "roads" or dirt paths near a members house that was getting kind of dangerous, with MACHETES! Wahahaha. It was awesome, though it definitely gave me some of the worst blisters of my life. And then this past Saturday we did a service activity with the youth that was just divisions, and we went and passed out invitations to an open house for a new chapel for a couple hours. That was pretty cool too. Oh, and as for my camera, don´t worry about that. 1, I don´t carry it with me ever, and second, I keep the memory card seperate so that if it is stolen for whatever reason, I´ll still have all the pictures. And the house is very safe, its an apartment above a store along the ruta principal thats gated, and trust me, there´s no getting in. I left the key in the house, and we came back for lunch, and we were doing all we could, and we weren´t able to get in.
As for the letters, I got them all today. I only get letters once a week at District meeting, and I got my card, so activate that as soon as you can. So yeah, there´s really no point to Dear Elder anymore, because I get them in the same amount of time as any other letter. And I also had my pants washed for the first time, and they came out fine. I was a little worried, so it was a big relief to see that. Anyways, all is awesome, I love it here, I´ll probably have an accent when I talk, and I gotta go.
Love you all,
E. Dennis
He asked us to put some birthday $ into his account so he can buy a guitar - we knew he couldn't go 2 years without one! That's what the first paragraph is all about -
Hello again,
Well first off, its SaladO, not a. Haha, and secondly, the $ is up to you. I was thinking somewhere about $200-250 or so. And the reason I wanted to pick one up now is cause there´s an Elder here who´s looking to sell his and get a better one, but I found out this past week he´s wanting $300, and that was a little more than I was looking to spend, so I don´t think I´m going to do that anyway. But alot of Elders have them around here... just no one who´s living with me, go figure haha.
Alright, now for the exciting stuff for you: the call. Actually, I´m not going to need a phone card, because you´re actually going to be calling me. We´ll be taking the call from a member´s house, one of the few with a land line down here, and its alot easier than going to the church and fighting 10 other Elders for the phone. Call at about 6:15pm on Sunday. I´ll be there waiting, and we get an hour to chat. Make sure you call at 6:15 though, because we have to make sure we give enough time for E. Nilsen´s parents to call after our hour.
Okay, now to basically retype my letter from last week. haha. Okay, a little about Paraguay. FIrst off, about the roads. There´s three types of roads here. The 1st kind is actually paved, and these are the main arteries of the country, and in the bigger cities. The second type is this rock road thing, where its larger rocks are hand laid with sand, and they´re the roads that branch off the Ruto Principal (the paved road). And then thirdly, there´s dirt. But that brings me to the dirt. The dirt is just red sand and clay... at times it just feels like I´m walking along the beach, its awful. And then it decides to rain, and the entire landscape just turns into a mudpit, and you get home at night and your pants and shoes are just caked... okay, not caked, but there´s just mud all over them. I love it here though, it really is beautiful, and when its not raining, which isn´t too often so far, only about once a week, its just clear skies and palm trees and amazing fruit that is absolutely delicious. Although last week was FREEZING for some reason. It rained a little bit, but it was just cold. We were huddling in our blankets at night and in the morning in the apartment, and it made me really wish that I hadn´t sent my other sweaters home. But its all good, its warmed up again, and its about perfect right now.
Now for the buses, or colectivos. These things are CRAZY! The taxi drivers in NYC got nothing on these guys. First thing, they barely come to a stop, you just have to kind of hop on and off as they slow down. Second, the drivers are crazy multi-tasking. They take your money, dish out change, drive stick shift, watch for people signaling to get picked up, and for people signaling to get off, and when no one is getting on and they´re done dishing out change, they count the money they have! Its so fun to ride! haha I love em.
The ward here is so different. The kids just get up and run around during Sacrament meeting, its so funny. We have a new bishop, and he´s a somewhat recently returned missionary in his mid 20s, and he´s really trying to bring around some orginization into the church, which it desperately needs, and I think he´s doing a great job so far. And as for you question from last week, retention here is horrible. We try so hard to get these people into church, and for some reason they just don´t. And for the majority, its not like they´re doing anything bad really, they´re just not going to church. I don´t know what the deal is, Elder Nilsen and I are visiting some of them nearly everyday, and they say they´re going to church, and then they just don´t show up, and we can´t go round them up in the morning, because we´re busy rounding up our investigators. But some happier news, this week we have scheduled my first baptism! And this guy is just calidad, "quality", as they say here. Valeriano (pronounced Val-lay-dee-ano... they prounounce the r like aq d) got offered a job (he´s unemployed at the moment) to go work in Argentina, but he would have had to leave today, and he actually turned it down, because he wants to be baptized. He also quit smoking, going from a pack a day to none in just 4 days. So we´re pretty excited.
I´m trying to send pictures, but its not working very well... So if it gets through, you should be able to see. But anyways, my first thing of service was cutting down the growth along one of the "roads" or dirt paths near a members house that was getting kind of dangerous, with MACHETES! Wahahaha. It was awesome, though it definitely gave me some of the worst blisters of my life. And then this past Saturday we did a service activity with the youth that was just divisions, and we went and passed out invitations to an open house for a new chapel for a couple hours. That was pretty cool too. Oh, and as for my camera, don´t worry about that. 1, I don´t carry it with me ever, and second, I keep the memory card seperate so that if it is stolen for whatever reason, I´ll still have all the pictures. And the house is very safe, its an apartment above a store along the ruta principal thats gated, and trust me, there´s no getting in. I left the key in the house, and we came back for lunch, and we were doing all we could, and we weren´t able to get in.
As for the letters, I got them all today. I only get letters once a week at District meeting, and I got my card, so activate that as soon as you can. So yeah, there´s really no point to Dear Elder anymore, because I get them in the same amount of time as any other letter. And I also had my pants washed for the first time, and they came out fine. I was a little worried, so it was a big relief to see that. Anyways, all is awesome, I love it here, I´ll probably have an accent when I talk, and I gotta go.
Love you all,
E. Dennis
Monday, April 28, 2008
April 28, 2008
Well i typed up a nice letter but lost it because of wonderful ldsmail. So you´ll get another one next week recovering it. SOrry. THings are going good, but I have to go. Lvoe you all, E. Dennis
Monday, April 21, 2008
April 21, 2008
Hola from Paraguay!
So I´ve had one week in a foreign country, and I´m still alive...
Actually its awesome here, I wouldn´t want to be anywhere else. Okay, so about the mission. The first day we just met the President, Pres Wade, and his wife, who are both just awesome, and we got our credit cards for taking out money each month, and filled out other paperwork and stuff, and then we got the chance to visit the temple, which is just gorgeous. Its only a tiny one, but it has to be the second most beautiful temple after San Diego. Then we spent the night in the mission office, where the have a tiny room stuffed with 10 beds... that was interesting. But then the next day we had a big meeting and met all the trainers and then did a little presentation ceremony to our trainers. My companion is Elder Nilsen, from Idaho. He´s awesome, and I´m learning alot. We´re opening up an area, called Salado ("Salted"). Its pretty close to Asunión, and its an awesome area. Its really hard though, because its a new area, so we didn´t have any investigators or know any of the members when we got there on Wednesday. But we´ve been working very hard, in rain and sun and lots of humidity, and we got a couple to church on Sunday, Eusevio and Hemelinda, and Sunday night we got 3 fechas, or baptismal dates; the couple and a brother of a member, Valediano, who is absolutely golden. (Let me just say that the hardest part of all of this is understanding the names... I rely on my companion for that). I´ll give you some of the numbers to show how hard we´re working: 8 Lessons with a member present, 24 other lessons, 23 references received and contacted, 22 new investigators with 10 men and 7 families, 115 lessons taught to recent converts or menos activos (inactive members), and 135 contacts, which is introducing ourselves and inviting people to church (always) or to learn more... in just 4.5 days of working. ¡Que calidad!
There are extremes in our area. Some people live in really nice houses (for Paraguay), and others live in little twig and tarp shacks... its so sad to meet these people who have spent their entire lives of 60 or 70 years in such poverty, and even more heartbreaking is seeing the cutest little kids in the entire world who will be doing that. Even the nicer houses, the majority of them just have dirt floors. The people are awesome though, I love them so much. I can actually follow the conversations now... or at least the gyst of them. Communicating is getting easier, and I´ve made so much progress in just the 5 days I´ve been out among the people. I´m getting used to clapping houses... and everyone is so friendly, they all come out and shake your hand and talk to you. When you pass someone in the street, you say Adios, and the most common greeting is ¿Que tal? I´m also learning a very little of Guaraní right now... in the poor areas they hardly understand spanish, but fortunately my companion has learned enough to communicate effectively with them.
Everything is so cheap here. For about US $2, you can eat a full meal and be stuffed when you´re done. And oh would you be proud of me if you saw what I´m eating. I actually ate a hamburger with everything on it. It wasn´t bad I must say. But so far everything I´ve had to eat is really good... except for yesterday for lunch. We went back to the house and we didn´t have any food, because we just got there, and we live with 2 other Elders, Elder Vasquez, from Chile, and Elder Moreira from Uraguay. They´re both absolutely awesome, Vasquez is trying to learn english, so we help eachother out, I love those guys. But anyways, so we were looking for food, and we ended up with spaghetti, but we didn´t have sauce, so I used peanut butter and Nilsen used hot suace... I don´t know who got the worse end there... I now know why spaghetti and peanut butter hasn´t taken off. But yeah, if somethings put in front of me, I just put it down, and most of it has been really good. And oh my word, the fruit is SPECTACULAR! So ha!
Today was awesome, we went in to Limpio, our Zone headquarters, and had our District/Zone meeting, of which Elder Bullcreek also belongs, so it was awesome to see a familiar face. And then we all played soccer, or futból, and that was just awesome. There was a little less than half of us who were american, and the South Americans are just awesome at it. I did pretty good too, but I have to get used to it again, I haven´t played since I was like 11. But that was fun. And now we´re in Luque, on the other side of our area, to do our shopping and get money for me, and send you peeps an email.
I don´t really know what else to say... oh yeah, Nicole getting married--Crazy! Oh yeah, if you ever need to send a package, put stickers of the Virgin Maria, they don´t pick through it, they´re very supersticious I hear, so yeah. It might be sacreligious, but it works. And sorry, I forgot to bring my camera with me, so I don´t have any pictures to send right now, but perhaps next week. I won´t have any pictures of my area, cause its kind of deangerous to carry around nice things here, they like to take them, but I have a few of the apartment and the temple and stuff. The buses here are awesome, they just cruise along, and you wave them down like a taxi, and then you hop on, and then when you get off, you just have to jump, cause they don´t usually come to a full stop haha. But I love it here, the gospel is true, and I love you all.
Yours,
Elder Dennis
So I´ve had one week in a foreign country, and I´m still alive...
Actually its awesome here, I wouldn´t want to be anywhere else. Okay, so about the mission. The first day we just met the President, Pres Wade, and his wife, who are both just awesome, and we got our credit cards for taking out money each month, and filled out other paperwork and stuff, and then we got the chance to visit the temple, which is just gorgeous. Its only a tiny one, but it has to be the second most beautiful temple after San Diego. Then we spent the night in the mission office, where the have a tiny room stuffed with 10 beds... that was interesting. But then the next day we had a big meeting and met all the trainers and then did a little presentation ceremony to our trainers. My companion is Elder Nilsen, from Idaho. He´s awesome, and I´m learning alot. We´re opening up an area, called Salado ("Salted"). Its pretty close to Asunión, and its an awesome area. Its really hard though, because its a new area, so we didn´t have any investigators or know any of the members when we got there on Wednesday. But we´ve been working very hard, in rain and sun and lots of humidity, and we got a couple to church on Sunday, Eusevio and Hemelinda, and Sunday night we got 3 fechas, or baptismal dates; the couple and a brother of a member, Valediano, who is absolutely golden. (Let me just say that the hardest part of all of this is understanding the names... I rely on my companion for that). I´ll give you some of the numbers to show how hard we´re working: 8 Lessons with a member present, 24 other lessons, 23 references received and contacted, 22 new investigators with 10 men and 7 families, 115 lessons taught to recent converts or menos activos (inactive members), and 135 contacts, which is introducing ourselves and inviting people to church (always) or to learn more... in just 4.5 days of working. ¡Que calidad!
There are extremes in our area. Some people live in really nice houses (for Paraguay), and others live in little twig and tarp shacks... its so sad to meet these people who have spent their entire lives of 60 or 70 years in such poverty, and even more heartbreaking is seeing the cutest little kids in the entire world who will be doing that. Even the nicer houses, the majority of them just have dirt floors. The people are awesome though, I love them so much. I can actually follow the conversations now... or at least the gyst of them. Communicating is getting easier, and I´ve made so much progress in just the 5 days I´ve been out among the people. I´m getting used to clapping houses... and everyone is so friendly, they all come out and shake your hand and talk to you. When you pass someone in the street, you say Adios, and the most common greeting is ¿Que tal? I´m also learning a very little of Guaraní right now... in the poor areas they hardly understand spanish, but fortunately my companion has learned enough to communicate effectively with them.
Everything is so cheap here. For about US $2, you can eat a full meal and be stuffed when you´re done. And oh would you be proud of me if you saw what I´m eating. I actually ate a hamburger with everything on it. It wasn´t bad I must say. But so far everything I´ve had to eat is really good... except for yesterday for lunch. We went back to the house and we didn´t have any food, because we just got there, and we live with 2 other Elders, Elder Vasquez, from Chile, and Elder Moreira from Uraguay. They´re both absolutely awesome, Vasquez is trying to learn english, so we help eachother out, I love those guys. But anyways, so we were looking for food, and we ended up with spaghetti, but we didn´t have sauce, so I used peanut butter and Nilsen used hot suace... I don´t know who got the worse end there... I now know why spaghetti and peanut butter hasn´t taken off. But yeah, if somethings put in front of me, I just put it down, and most of it has been really good. And oh my word, the fruit is SPECTACULAR! So ha!
Today was awesome, we went in to Limpio, our Zone headquarters, and had our District/Zone meeting, of which Elder Bullcreek also belongs, so it was awesome to see a familiar face. And then we all played soccer, or futból, and that was just awesome. There was a little less than half of us who were american, and the South Americans are just awesome at it. I did pretty good too, but I have to get used to it again, I haven´t played since I was like 11. But that was fun. And now we´re in Luque, on the other side of our area, to do our shopping and get money for me, and send you peeps an email.
I don´t really know what else to say... oh yeah, Nicole getting married--Crazy! Oh yeah, if you ever need to send a package, put stickers of the Virgin Maria, they don´t pick through it, they´re very supersticious I hear, so yeah. It might be sacreligious, but it works. And sorry, I forgot to bring my camera with me, so I don´t have any pictures to send right now, but perhaps next week. I won´t have any pictures of my area, cause its kind of deangerous to carry around nice things here, they like to take them, but I have a few of the apartment and the temple and stuff. The buses here are awesome, they just cruise along, and you wave them down like a taxi, and then you hop on, and then when you get off, you just have to jump, cause they don´t usually come to a full stop haha. But I love it here, the gospel is true, and I love you all.
Yours,
Elder Dennis
A Message from the Mission President - 4/15/08
Dear Parents,
President Wade and I wanted to write and let you know that your missionary arrived safely. The flight was on time and everyone's luggage arrived. We went directly to the mission home and had a nice lunch. We had a wonderful testimony meeting by the temple. Attached is a picture that was taken outside the temple. It has been a great day.
We want to express our appreciation to you for the love and support of your missionary. Thank you for your great faith.
Love,
President and Sister Wade
President Wade and I wanted to write and let you know that your missionary arrived safely. The flight was on time and everyone's luggage arrived. We went directly to the mission home and had a nice lunch. We had a wonderful testimony meeting by the temple. Attached is a picture that was taken outside the temple. It has been a great day.
We want to express our appreciation to you for the love and support of your missionary. Thank you for your great faith.
Love,
President and Sister Wade
April 15, 2008
Hey, don't have much time but they're making us write you to let you know we got in safe and sound.
Love you all,
Josh
Love you all,
Josh
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