Dallin's Blog (Paraguay Asuncion North Mission): Week 15 in Villa Hayes

Dear Friends and Family,

This week was sweet. But first off, do you guys remember me telling you about my cats Dooku and Darth Maul? Well, we lost them a long time ago when we moved, but this week, Elder Parada and I picked up a new furry friend... He's a pretty large, carmel-colored, super friendly dog and he follows us everywhere. We were working in an area of Villa Hayes called Ciudad Nueva and he followed us all the way home (a half-hour walk), then slept outside our house and was there waiting for us in the morning. He's done that every day since Wednesday, so I guess we'll see what happens with him! We haven't quite come up with a name for him yet, but we've gotten tons of compliments on our "beautiful dog" so, I don't think it will be too hard to find him a real home.

The "new furry friend" (Elder Parada wants to name him Moroni and Elder Fairbanks wants to name him Zion)

Elder Parada also saw a significant miracle this week. We travel (from city to city for p-day or district meetings) by bus. After our meeting last Tuesday, we took the bus back to Villa Hayes, hopped off and realized that Elder Parada had forgotten his backpack (with his mission scriptures, his camera, all his USB drives with all his mission pictures, and his hymnbook with a super sweet leather case) on the bus. We called some elders in the city the collectivo would pass through next, contacted a bunch of strangers to share the gospel and then ask if there was any hope for getting that stuff back. Generally, the answer was no. After we explained that the backpack had a camera, the answer was "the camera is definitely gone." Not knowing what to do, but knowing we had to get his backpack back (if it was possible) we waited, and waited. After about an hour, the bus passed again, traveling in the other direction, and Elder Parada climbed aboard. Before Elder Parada could even ask if there was a backpack left on the bus, the driver gestured to a black backpack sitting on the dashboard of the bus. As it turned out, his backpack was returned and it wasn't missing anything. It was definitely a miracle and an answer to prayer.

Aside from "the miracle of the Backpack" and some other smaller, simpler blessings, this week was a pretty tranquilo week. We had some great lessons though, and I'm really happy with the progress of our investigators and recent converts.

We've recently started teaching the mothers of two of our recent converts (M and Mi. -- I'll send pictures next week) and I'm amazed how willing they are to listen and accept the gospel. They've seen the change the gospel has made in the lives of her sons, and want that in their own lives. When we extended the baptismal invitation, they accepted, and one of them even said, "Yes, yes I will," instead of the normal, "Yeah... if I know it's right."

We've also been working with some menos activos that we've encountered in our proselyting efforts. One of them is F (the "affectionate" man from last week). We talked to him again yesterday, and it was much more relaxed and comfortable. The best part? He expressed a desire to come back to church. He knows he's missing something in his life and that alcohol isn't going to help him find it (Elder Parada and I came to the conclusion that he was drunk when we first met him because he was acting really weird.) Long story short, he acted like a normal, really great guy yesterday, he wants to attend church again, and he offered to feed us this Wednesday!

We're also working with a menos activo named W and his wife and sons (who aren't members). Yesterday we had a lesson with his wife and oldest son, P (I'd put him at about 11 years old). I was amazed what kind, loving people they were. I was even more amazed how intelligent P was. He read the whole "Plan of Salvacion" folleto that we left with the family last week and referenced it in our lesson last night. He talked about the two deaths (physical and spiritual) and the different places we're going after this life. His most impressive observation was, "It seems like in the world today, people are more converted to their churches than they are to God." He really is an amazing kid, and from our lesson last night, it looks like he and his mother will be baptized.

I'm having a great time down here in Paraguay, and the more people I meet, the more I'm amazed how incredible they are. I'm really excited to see where the next three weeks of this transfer take us and our investigators!

I love you all!

Elder Fairbanks