Jaha ñamba'apo

Dear Friends and family,

For those of you who don't speak Guaraní, the subject of this email, "jaha ñamba'apo," means "Vamos a trabajar" or, in English, "Let's go work" (I think -- usually I just have to translate Guaraní to Spanish in my head, so to get it into English, I have to translate it all over again... confusing!) But yeah, basically, this week, Elder Parada and I really worked. We contacted tons of people, found 10 new investigators, and even learned a bit of Guarañi!

But first off this week, I finally accomplished the mission goal of 70 contacts in a week! Contacts have always been something I struggle with, and before, the highest I got was 58. Well this past week I set the goal to get 70 contacts every single week for the rest of my mission and... I made it! I ended up having to contact over 30 people in two days, but I did it! Now I just have to keep working like that. We'll see what happens.

With one of our investigators, S (the younger brother of M and J) we had a very satisfying week. So far, we've been kind of concerned about his interest. His siblings have told Elder Parada and I that he says "I'm Catholic. I don't want to learn anymore." And in lessons, he's been a little despondent. But this week, he was on fire! He's reading his scriptures, and when we asked who wanted to read a verse in a lesson, his hand was always the first one up. And in general, he really seems excited to learn more. If things keep going like they are, we'll baptize him on the 20th of February --  which is awesome because, for a little while, I was worried that once Elder Rodríguez left, the work in Villa Hayes "B" would fall apart and that we wouldn't baptize anymore. Turns out, Elder Parada and I are holding things together pretty well!

I've seen a lot more miracles in my life this past week, ranging from big things to small "insignificant" blessings. For one, when we moved houses, Elder Rodríguez and I accidentally left the map of our area in our old house. This week, the guy that lives in our old house  passed by us on his motorcycle and told us he found it and that we could come by for it later that night! Another cool experience demonstrates how much the Spirit can be with missionaries. Last Sunday, Elder Parada and I had a really weird lesson with a sort of strange man. He told us he was an inactive member of the church, and was super affectionate. And he didn't really respond to our questions. Elder Parada had to ask him more than ten times if he would bring out his Book of Mormon before he actually got up to get it. Personally, I wanted out of that lesson quickly, but when it was over, I was really humbled when Elder Parada told me that while we were sitting there with that man, he was praying really hard to know what the man needed and felt impressed that the man had a drinking problem. Well, this week we passed by the house again and had a chance to talk with his daughter and son-in-law. In that meeting we learned that he really did have a drinking problem, but while he was an active member, he was a lot better. We're definitely going to be working with this family to see if we can help them out again. It was really cool though to recognize that when missionaries try, they can be guided by the Spirit to know exactly what the Lord would say or do to help.

Life is crazy here in Villa Hayes, and I have a lot more stories to tell, but that's the most important stuff from this week! The work continues, and as it continues, I'm becoming a better person, a better teacher and, most importantly, a better tool in the hands of the Lord to help his children here in Paraguay!

Rohayhu familia!
I love you all so much!

Elder Fairbanks