Week 4 in Villa Hayes

Dear Friends and Family,

I seriously can't believe how fast time is flying! I feel like I've been here in Paraguay for a few days, not a whole month... yikes.

Before my mission, I didn't know that, occasionally, missionaries have to go house-shopping. Well, it turns out that this week, that's exactly what Elder Rodri­guez and I are going to do! The contract for our house expires in the end of December and our landlady doesn't like us very much (according to what my comp explained to me). Elder Rodri­guez assures me that it isn't our fault... So yeah, this is going to be an adventure. I'll keep you guys posted!

Well, this week was a busy one. I'll start with Zone Conference. This last Tuesday, all the missionaries in our zone met in the stake center of one of the cities here. (I still don't have all the names straight, but it started with an "M" and might have been Mariana or something like that.) We were instructed by the assistants, our zone leaders, and President McMullin himself. There were some great messages and I learned a ton, but most of all I loved talking with President McMullin. Every time I interact with him, I'm so impressed. He's such a hard working, kind man. I'm super blessed to have him as my president.

Lately in the mission, I've been trying to work really hard to have the Spirit with me. Preach My Gospel says that we literally can't teach without it, so, ignoring my lack of ability with the language, if I don't have the Spirit, I straight up can't teach at all. I had some cool experiences this week that lead me to believe that my work is starting to pay off.

First: Earlier this week, I was really frustrated that I'm not able to communicate with the people here like I want to, so I said a prayer. I don't remember exactly what I said, but basically it was, "Please help me to speak Spanish so I don't have to be so afraid of talking to people." As soon as I thought those words, a different thought popped into my mind: "First, overcome your fear of talking to people. After you've done that, you'll receive the help you need." The thought wasn't specific words or a voice or a powerful feeling, but the message was clear: I'm not going to receive the gift of tongues until after I lay my fear on the altar of sacrifice. God isn't going to take away my fear by making Spanish easy first.

Second: Elder Rodri­guez and I had a lesson earlier this week with a investigator that is not progressing. Her name is L. Basically, we started the lesson and asked, "What do you expect from our lessons?" She didn't have a good answer. Honestly, she didn't know what she wanted from our lessons. Elder Rodri­guez and I started to teach a little bit about the Plan of Salvation and how the whole reason we're teaching her is so that she can be cleansed from sin so she can live with her Heavenly Father who loves her. After sharing the scripture 3 Nephi 27:19-20, Elder Rodri­guez turned it over to me to explain. I kind of just started talking and well... it worked. I told L that (like it says in verse 20) we are commanded to repent. But God doesn't command us to repent because He likes to boss us around. He commands us to repent because that's the only way we can return to live with Him. Basically, by commanding us to repent, our Heavenly Father is begging us to live so that we are worthy to return to Him. Because He loves us. I had never thought of that scripture that way before, and with my limited vocabulary, I don't know how I conveyed that thought clearly in Spanish. But I did. The Spirit really was with me helping me in that lesson and it was such a great feeling!

Third: Elder Rodri­guez and I taught a lesson to a woman named D. She's had a really difficult life and she's looking for peace. I remember that during this lesson I was trying super hard to pay attention and understand everything that was going on and well... I don't remember much of what we said or what she said, but we taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Spirit was so strong. Like in our lesson with L, when Elder Rodri­guez had me explain things, I opened my mouth and words came out. I was able to remember scriptures I've studied (that's been a real struggle for me in lessons) and I was able to explain the points clearly in ways that I've never considered or planned before. Elder Rodri­guez and I walked away from that lesson smiling like little kids on Christmas. It was such a good feeling!

I really do believe that God exists and that if we do what we can to have His Spirit with us, then we can be guided to know what to say and what to do. He wants to bless us, and He will if we're patient and work hard.

That's all for this week. I love you all. Thank you so much for all the support!

Love,

Elder Fairbanks

Villa Hayes, Paraguay (Thank you, Google Images!)

Elders Fairbanks & Fullmer--CCM Companions (Thank you, Penny Fullmer!)