From: Elder Joshua Freeman
Subject: Lots of stuff
Date: 7 June 2004 11:12:49 AM EDT

ÁHola!

How are you all doing now that school is out for everyone? That's weird to think about, that you guys are on summer vacation again. This past Monday, Pablo Acosta got called to be a local missionary, and oddly enough, he got called to It‡ Enramada with Elder Workman. I thought that was pretty funny. Anyway, This week, unfortunately, we didn't get a lot of actual proselyting in, which is too bad, but a lot of stuff happened.

The main reason is that we didn't really have a Monday or Tuesday because of Zone Conference. We left on Monday night and when we got to Encarnaci—n, we ate and watched "Como Hallar Fe en Cristo" ("Finding Faith in Christ"), which just came out in Spanish, or, more accurately, which we just now got in Spanish. I imagine it's been out a while. But anyway, we spent the night with Elders Stevenson and Davis, and in the morning, we went back into the city for the conference.

I met a lot of new people on Tuesday morning, and saw a bunch of old people that I already knew. The conference was really good, but it took quite a bit longer than they had planned, because Pte. Gavarret talked for like an hour more than they had planned. But it was still good. Encarnaci—n is a really big zone, it used to have more than thirty missionaries, but now it has 26, I think. That's still a lot. After conference, we had to hurry to the bus terminal so that we could wait because we were told that our bus was leaving an hour earlier than it actually did. And we finally got home to Pilar around 10:00. That was fun.

On Wednesday morning, the Zone Leaders called and said they were coming this afternoon, which was good since we had a baptismal interview to do. Anyway, in the morning, we visited a couple inactives, and we also talked to a couple of our investigators. And we had lunch with the Flia. Acosta's grandma, who is also the mom of the District President's wife (they live in our rama). So I met them for the first time since District Conference. Anyway, in the afternoon, the ZLs came, and I went with Elder Orme and Elder Merrit went with Elder Garaguso (they also had a baptismal interview) and Elders Borja and Tippets worked in our area. With Elder Orme, we went and tried to visit a couple of investigators who weren't available, and we visited the Hna. Gisela. Then we taught a charla 1 to some random guy. Then we went and talked with Adriana and had a little charla with her. Then we went to do Cristina's interview. After that, we tried visiting a couple more people, and then went to the capilla to meet the other Elders. Rama 1 (the other side, we're Rama 2) has to use our building now because theirs is being remodeled and added on to, and they were supposed to have their Noche de Rama on Wednesday night, but no one came, because it's far and dark and cold. Anyway, since no one came, we went and talked with the Branch President and his family and then went home and ate a little. 

The Zone Leaders stayed with us for the night, and they left at like 6:00 on Thursday morning. We went by Cristina's to set up a cita, and then we went out to the Flia. Arce's house and we cut firewood and drew water from their well for them. It was fun. And we stayed there for lunch, then came home and studied. In the afternoon, we went around trying to organize what we were going to do for Noch de Rama and getting keys and other stuff. We did manage to talk with a few members after all that was sorted out and before we went to the capilla for Noche de Rama. It turned out pretty well even though there weren't as many people there. After that, we finished early, so we had to walk Estela's kids home, and then we came home.

On Friday morning, we got fallar-ed a couple times and talked to a couple of members and an investigator before going to la Hna. Gisela's and having lunch. Then we came home and studied. In the afternoon, we talked to the grandparents of one of the members (she lives with them) about coming to church. But I didn't understand much of the conversation because it was all in Guaran’. Oh well. After that, we went looking for a couple of investigators, and we taught a charla 1. Then we went and actually talked to a couple of our investigators, which was good. And we visited a couple more members before coming home.

On Saturday, we got fallar-ed a few times (surprise) but did get in a good charla 1 with the friend of some investigators. In the afternoon, we went to a baptism of the other Elders. They did it in the river, which is not normally allowed, but their capilla is under construction and the lady wanted to do it in the river and Pte. Gavarret said it was okay. As a matter of fact, they (the Gavarrets) came. But not many other people did. Which was too bad. It was a pretty good service though, I suppose. After that, we were supposed to help with a Seminary activity, but it was postponed. So we went to the capilla and talked with the Hna. while Pte. did interviews. We visited a couple people that night, but that was it. 

On Sunday morning, we had our meetings like normal and the Gavarrets were there. And they left after that. We had to come to Ayolas (which is where we are now). We got here around 7:00, and were supposed to have an entrevista, but the lady wasn't there. So then we went to their correlation meeting and then went home.

So that's where we are now. We're going to go to the Yacyret‡ dam today, which is here and is one of the biggest dams in the world. And we're going to have a full district meeting. So that will be fun.

So that's it. I'm sure spending a lot of time on buses here. But oh well, I'm having a lot of fun and things are going really well. Thanks for everything.

I Love You Guys!!

Love,
Josh