The Paraguayan climate has started to shift from hot and wet to hotter and less wet. In December, we had a crazy storm every few days. Now that we're getting into January, the rain is falling less, and the roads are actually dry (not muddy) for the first time in my mission so far! That truly is a beautiful thing because now I can actually keep my shoes clean! (Although they do collect a considerable layer of dust by the end of each day.)
This week's words of wisdom: Multi-tools are lifesavers. In the past week, I've had some fun fixing problems around our house. (Don't tell Elder Rodríguez; he doesn't like when I fiddle with things.) My big accomplishments are that I fixed our shower and a fan we keep in our bedroom. With pliers and a screwdriver, you can fix just about anything!
But back to missionary work: I was humbled a lot this week, and I learned a ton. On Tuesday, I had divisions with Elder Rios and he was pretty frank about the things I need to fix. Right now, my Spanish is good enough that I can't use it as an excuse anymore. In a few lessons with Elder Rios, I missed out on some important things our investigators said because I was so focused on covering the lesson material; I need to start stretching myself to listen better. The cool thing about that is that when I listen, I'll have the Spirit more, I'll be able to answer questions better, and I'll even start picking up on Spanish more quickly! So I just need to let go of my fears and start listening.
After that division with Elder Rios, I made a decision to push myself harder as a missionary. There are a lot of little things I need to improve upon, so this week, I started working harder and trying to be better. And wow. The results have been impressive.
This Friday was the best day of my mission so far. Elder Rodríguez and I worked hard, contacted a lot, found two new great investigators, and basically the day was just perfect. The first of our two investigators is S. She's an older woman and I believe that she's Catholic, but she was so attentive to our lesson. We have lots of converts that don't pay attention as well as this woman did. And in the end, she promised us that she'd read the Book of Mormon and that she'll pray to know if it's true. Hopefully she keeps that promise! Our second new investigator is a 20 or 21 year old woman named D. She's married, and actually lives right across from the church, so it shouldnt be too difficult to convince her to visit. She asked such good questions and had such a great understanding of gospel principles. She told us that she's done a lot of reasearch and reading looking for the truth. We taught her about the Plan of Salvation and she drank it all in and expressed a lot of interest in the church. We'll see how things go!
My favorite part of the day was the end. Elder Rodríguez and I were walking home at 8:00 pm. The problem is that we're supposed to be out teaching until 9:00. Elder Rodríguez is a good guy, but when he has his plans, even if they aren't in line with the mission rules, he hates being contradicted. In an attempt to keep us out working until 9:00, I suggested that we pass by the house of a person we've been trying to visit for over a month. Elder Rodíguez had a really great lesson with this guy once, but we haven't been able to get a hold of him since. The man's house was on our way home, so Elder Rodríguez consented and we stopped by and... He was home! We had an awesome lesson with F about the Book of Mormon and he promised that he'd read it and pray about it. He has a wife and 2 children (one of them is 10 or 11). So, with faith, we might be able to baptize the whole family! After teaching that lesson, we arrived home at 9:00 on the dot.
These experiences brought to mind some of the teachings of King Benjamin. In Mosiah 2:24 he says (basically -- because I'm translating from Spanish): "God blesses you immediately when you obey His commandments, so you're always in His debt." This week, I put a lot of effort into being a good missionary and it really paid off. The joy I felt sharing the gospel on Friday was incredible. The Church is true, guys.
I love you all and hope to hear from you!
Elder Fairbanks
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| "The Paraguayan climate has started to shift from hot and wet to hotter and less wet." |
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| Last p-day we ate in a suuuper nice restaurant called Paulista... It was expensive, but it was all you can eat and the food is AMAZING. They have roasted pineapple rolled in cinnamon and sugar... I literally almost cried the first time I ate it because it was so delicious. I also ate chicken heart and cow tongue there. |
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| Elder Rodriguez during walk in the rain last Wednesday. |
And answers to a few questions:
Yes I bought the machete. Elder Rodríguez and I usually spend a few minutes "mowing the lawn" each day. The problem is that the grass is a lot longer than it looks, and there are surprises hidden all over like rocks, water (some of which we are pretty sure is from our toilet). It's challenging to keep short, but cutting the grass is fun, and it's a really great forearm, bicep, and back workout!
I don't know about trash yet. There's a place we can leave it each week on the street for it to be picked up. I'm just not super familiar with where yet.
There are "dispensas" little family run food places on almost every street, but they're more expensive than a "supermarket," so we usually walk half an hour (both ways) in the morning on days we need to shop. (That's something I don't like doing, though, because it cuts into exercise and study time--plus, we have to wake up early.). Yes, they have plastic grocery bags, and yes, we carry things home. But Elder Rodríguez only likes buying food for one meal at a time, so we never carry much.
Each day we walk between 7 and 10 miles normally. In November, we walked 172.47 miles and in December, we walked 223.02 miles. I think we're going to walk more in January because our house is further away from stuff now.
Yes cold showers every day, but the water isn't really that cold. It's actually a comfortable temperature, so nothing wrong with that!
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