From: Elder Joshua Freeman
Subject: A more normal week
Date: 21 June 2004 12:35:44 PM EDT

ÁHola!

Happy Fathers' Day! Yesterday. Congratulations to Justin and Laurie and Malachi. That's pretty cool. I  suppose everything's going well. This week was actually pretty normal, which was kind of odd in itself. Unfortunately, the pretty cold cold from last week was all just a clever hoax, and this week was hot again. 

Last Monday night, we went out and tried talking to a couple of people that weren't home, then we went to an investigator's house and talked to them about the Libro de Morm—n, pretty much a review of the charla 1. Then we went to the Hna. Nelly's and had a Noche de Hogar with them, some of the familia Acosta, and some other member girls and their mom. It was pretty fun. After that, we went to the house of an inactive lady that I'd never met still. Her name is Hna. Silva, and she has like 14 kids or something and also a whole lot of grandkids that live in the same general area. But all that we met was the youngest of the kids and the oldest of the grandkids. That was interesting. Then we shared a little with them and then came home.

On Tuesday morning, we had our half-district meeting (half the district, not half the meeting), and then went and did a charla 1 verification and talked to an inactive girl. Then we went to lunch with the Hna. Guicela and her family. And then we came home and studied. As we were leaving, one of Elder Webb's tires went completely flat, so we had to go get a new one. Then we tried talking to a couple more people that weren't home, and then visited Estela y Cristina. After that, we checked out a reference that didn't turn out, and we tried to talk to a couple more people that we haven't seen in a while. Then we went to Basilio y Cristina's and taught them the first part of charla 3, and put a baptismal date with them for the 15th of July. And a marriage date for the 3rd. But it went really well. After that, we tried visiting some members, but it didn't work out. That was it.

On Wednesday morning, we walked, because Elder Webb was getting his bike fixed. We had to make some copies, and then we went to talk to the District President, Pte. Rivas. Then we went to the church so that Elder Webb could practice the hymns to play on Sunday, because up till now we just sing a cappella. Then we went and had lunch with the Acostas, and came home. In the afternoon, we went and got Elder Webb's bike, and then went and had a charla with Adriana. It went good, but there's not really much more we can do for her until she just makes the decision to get baptized. After that, we went and looked for a lot of people that we didn't find. Then we went out and visited the Flia. Morel's. They're the ones that live like 20 minutes away. On a bike. But it was a good visit. Their dad and one of the kids aren't members, but the mom and the three other kids are. After that, we went by Basilio y Cristina's and finished teaching charla 3. That was all.

On Thursday morning, we went out to the Flia. Arce's to do some service again, and we looked for a guy that used to be getting the charlas, but he wasn't home. Then we went back to the Flia. Arce's and had lunch. In the afternoon, we got fallar-ed a couple times and made a couple contacts. Then we went and visited Karen (her and her sister and cousin are members, but not her parents) because it was her birthday. After that, we went and visited another couple of investigators before going to the church so that Elder Webb could practice more before Noche de Rama. We watched "Como Hallar Fe en Cristo" and then some people played volleyball. And then we came home.

On Friday morning, we went and got fallar-ed a couple times and then taught a charla 1 and then went and talked to Adriana. And then we came home for lunch. In the afternoon, we went and found that guy we were looking for on Thursday morning. He seems pretty cool. After that, we dropped by a member family and a guy that wanted help with English. Then we went and visited the Hna. Asunci—n, and went back to the Hna. Silva's (with all the kids), but she wasn't there again. So then we went and talked to Julio y Amada for the first time in a long time. Then we dropped by the capilla because they were having a Fathers' Day party. Then we went and visited Estela and her family and Cristina and shared a little with them to finish the night.

Saturday morning, we went and got fallar-ed a couple of times and then visited a couple of members. In the afternoon, Pablo came with us to teach a charla 1 to a reference lady, but she wasn't there. So then we went and tried to make a few contacts. Then we went and visited the Flia. Vera, another member family. After that, we went and got fallar-ed a couple of times but did actually meet the Hna. Silva, but just for a few minutes. After that, we went to Basilio y Cristina's and talked to them about their wedding and read a little with them. Then we went to the church to practice the piano, and then came home.

On Sunday morning, we went to church a little early to practice a little more. The meetings were pretty normal, with a little presentation from the Primary in Sacrament Meeting. After church, we came home and ate and studied. Then we had to go on divisions with the other Elders to teach a charla and at the same time get people to go to church (remember, their meetings are from 3-6:00 in our building). After that, we tried looking for a few investigators that we didn't find, but got in a charla 1. And we did read with Victor (the guy that's always asking us for help with English). Then we went by and visited a member family and discovered that from February to last night, the missionaries had come by once. And that's it. So that's too bad. We'll definitely visit them more often. After that, we came home and studied and had dinner with the other Elders.

This morning, we went to take our laundry out to the Flia. Acosta's, and I was playing with their dog and he grabbed a hold of my heel and wouldn't let go for a few seconds. It was kinda scary, since he's a pretty big dog, but he just bit my shoe, so he didn't really do anything. After that, we went and played basketball. It was good. That was the first time I've played since the first week in January. I could tell too. I guess Pilar's the place where the most basketball is played in Paraguay. Or so we here. On a related note, we found out that the Pistons beat the Lakers in the NBA Finals. That made Elder Gilbert pretty happy; he's from Kalamazoo. Michigan. But yeah. That's it from here.

Have a good week everyone, and congrats again to Justin and Laurie. Talk to you later.

I Love You Guys!!!!

Love,
Josh