It's getting difficult to keep track of... well, a lot of things, but especially, how long I've been here! It feels like I've been in Paraguay for a few days, but I'm pretty sure it's been at least a month now... Wow. But really! I'm almost done with my first transfer! To celebrate, I'll try to explain where I'm at, how I'm feeling about Paraguay, etc... etc... First: Language. Spanish is... dificil. If I'm listening to a conversation, I can usually follow along with what people are saying without any problems! But when people (especially adult men -- I have no idea why) ask me specific questions... I'm usually lost. Because of that, most member families we visit think I can't speak or understand, although most of our investigators recognize me as someone who can generally speak and understand (because with our investigators I speak a lot during lessons). I still have a lot of minor issues with my grammar and whatnot, but I can usually get across what I'm trying to say. The food is growing on me. Since my "meat scare" in the CCM, the asado here has terrified me, but yesterday (on my birthday) I decided to deal with it and I loaded the meat and chorizo, (which is real sausage with who-knows-what cow parts in it) on my plate and... actually kind of enjoyed it! There's also a flavor of pop here called "Guaraná" and it's really good. I'm really going to miss it!
But on to this week! It was a good one and I have a lot to say, so brace yourselves!
First off, I had another division on Tuesday... or Wednesday this past week (like I said, I'm having trouble keeping track of the time). I was with my zone leader Elder Ramirez. He's an elder from Mexico and he's really cool. His area is Benjamin Aceval A or B, I'm not sure which, but with different divisions I've been in both. This division was especially cool because we taught in an area called Tuba Qom. Basically it's a group of indigenous Paraguayos and it was sweet! They live in houses similar to the usual ones in towns and whatnot, and they even have electricity and satellite dishes, but unlike other houses, they're just scattered throughout a small forest-like wooded area. I didn't help much with the teaching there because the people primarily spoke Guarani, but I did actually give a priesthood blessing in Spanish -- which was terrifying because I don't know how to do that in English -- but I actually did it! It was a suuuper simple blessing, but as far as I know, I gave it properly, so that was a super cool opportunity!
Speaking of Guarani, I'm actually starting to learn some! There's a member named Ivan Burgos who is about to serve his mission in Uruguay and he's been teaching me how to say things like "yes," "no," "cat," "how are you?" "y despues," "would you like to pray?" and "I'm your girlfriend's boyfriend." So, hopefully before too long, I'll actually be able to speak it! haha.
This week, the rain really came down. Thursday morning it rained like NUTS! haha. The streets were flooded more than I've ever seen them before. (Un)fortunately, Thursday was also the day we needed to pick up laundry... so we slipped on our tennis shoes and slogged through the brown water to and from the house of the sister who does our laundry (its not a short walk). Later that day, the water drained a lot, but it was still really deep in some places. Have I mentioned yet that I'm soooo glad I brought boots? They've kept my feet completely dry through any puddle so far... until Thursday. On Thursday, they met their match and were pretty sopping. But by Friday morning, they had dried out enough to use again! (I'm pretty sure that was a miracle). So yeah, the rain here in Paraguay isn't a joke! haha. Its actually a lot of fun to walk around through so much water!
During a few lessons this week I think I discovered my personal kryptonite: kittens. I'm not much of a fan of cats (except our resident cats Dooku and Darth Maul), but man, when families have little kittens running around it is suuuper hard for me to focus! They are sooo adorable! And it doesn't help that there aren't any laws (from what I can tell) regarding the reproductive capabilities of animals; there are puppies and kittens all over! I've recognized the problem though, so it's getting easier to focus on teaching! haha
In all seriousness though, I grew a lot this week too. I think I've mentioned before that I've had trouble contacting people... well, my numbers have been so low (three or four contacts a day) that my district leader pulled me aside on two occasions to ask me how I could improve. The answer each time: I just need to get over my fear and talk to people! Well, I'm pleased to report that this week, I did just that. I didn't have 10 contacts every day like the mission goal, but on Friday and Saturday, I had 11 and 10 contacts, respectively. And the best part? Each of those contacts was better than any of the contacts I've had before. They weren't awkward, I actually got a few people to smile, and I started to actually teach truths of the gospel. To you guys, that might not seem like a big deal, but to me, it's huge. For the past 3 or 4 weeks, I've been afraid to talk because every time I do, I start conversations super awkwardly. Because of that, I didn't contact much. On Friday and Saturday when I decided to take the leap of faith and just open my mouth, I didn't even stumble. My Spanish isn't perfect yet, but I was able to share the gospel like I'm supposed to. It was a really great feeling! This whole experience has brought to my mind (many times) the scripture Ether 12:27 about how God shows us our weaknesses and if we trust in him, he makes them our strengths. Spanish isn't a strength of mine quite yet, but its getting there!
That's pretty much all from this week. One final cool thing though is that as I read the scriptures in Spanish, unlike English, that is easy to understand, I have to focus the whole time to get the meaning of the scriptures. As I've done that, it's surprising what words jump out that didn't before. For example, just this morning I was reading in Alma 4:19 where it says "para abatar, por medio de la palabra de Dios, todo el orgullo y las artimaas" In Spanish, the word "todo" (in English, "all") stuck out. In this chapter, Alma decides to forsake the judgment seat to preach to the people. His goal wasn't just to lessen the "pride and craftiness" of the Nephites. His goal was to (I'm translating from Spanish, so cut me some slack) "get rid of ALL the pride and craftiness of the people." That's my goal here in the mission too. My goal is to baptize ALL the people in Paraguay. Is that an attainable goal? Maybe not. But was Alma's goal to eradicate all the pride and craftiness of the Nephites attainable either? Those are some of my thoughts from scripture study this week!
Love you all!
The church is true!
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| Prior to S's baptism |
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| After baptism of S. |
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| Just another rainy day in Paraguay |
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| Elder Rodriguez' first taste of Nutella |
"Guarana" was my favorite drink in Paraguay! I miss it too! Glad you gave the meat a second chance! That rain sounds and looks familiar. Walking through flooded streets. Brings back memories. That's great you're learning some Guarani words and you're getting more comfortable with the Spanish and tracting. Soon it'll be easier. Keep up the great work!
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