From: Elder Joshua Freeman
Subject: Jeepers, it sure has been wet
Date: 28 June 2004 12:40:13 PM EDT

ÁHola!

How are you all doing? Things are going pretty well here. This past week was all cloudy with off and on rain, so we had the privilege of riding around for a few days in the mud. It was a hoot, let me tell you. But we did get a lot done, so that was good.

Last Monday night, we went and visited the inactive lady with all the kids and actually got to share with her a little. After that, we went to the Flia. Vera's and planned on having a Noch de Hogar with them, but the hermano said we would have to come by earlier next time, since his kids are usually asleep by 7:00, which was odd, since that's when he had told us to come by. So we just shared a scripture with them and then left. We went to the Flia. Acosta's because their oldest son Cristian turned 21. So we had some cake and shared a little with them and then came home.

On Tuesday morning, we had our normal meeting, and then we tried visiting a few people, and then went to the Hna. Guicela's for lunch. In the afternoon, we went and got fallar-ed, and then went and talked a little with Adriana. Then we had a good talk with Hector, who read and prayed but doesn't feel like he got an answer. So we talked to him about how the Spirit communicates with us. After that, we taught a charla 1 to some guy the missionaries talked to before. It wasn't anything fantastic. After that, we were going to find more people that the missionaries used to talk to, and one of the members stopped us and asked us to explain a few papers from her Family History, because they were in English. Then we went and talked to a member girl and her 2 inactive sisters that we never knew existed. After that, we went and started teaching charla 4 (the Plan of Salvation) to Basilio y Cristina. It went really well. And then we finished the night by going to the capilla to practice the piano. It just so happened that the Seminary people were still there having another birthday party for Cristian Acosta (he's the teacher). So we got to eat more cake. 

Wednesday morning, we went and talked with Julio y Amada about their progress, and he said we might be wasting our time with him because as of now he doesn't want to change his religion, and there's probably more receptive people out there. Which is what we were going to say. But he said he's going to start reading the Libro de Morm—n from the beginning and so we'll stop by again in a couple of weeks to see how he's doing. Then we went and visited Pte. Rivas, and looked for a few other people. And we had lunch with the Flia. Acosta, and then came home to study. That's when it started raining. And it didn't stop for a few hours. So we went out on foot for the afternoon. We went to a lot of different people's houses, but we didn't get any charlas in because they were all busy/not home. At the end of the night, we visited the Flia. Berdejo for a little bit, and then went and practiced in the capilla and came home.

On Thursday morning, we looked for more people that used to talk to the missionaries (we have a list of all their names, or at least the ones that the Elders wrote down before, in case you were wondering) and taught a charla 1. In the afternoon, we went and shared a little with Estela y Cristina. Then we went and visited the Flia. Arce, and tried to visit another investigator that lives near them, but he wasn't home. So we found and talked to a couple more people that used to talk to the missionaries before going to Noche de Rama. That went pretty well, and Basilio y Cristina came, so that was good. When it was time to go home, we did.

Friday morning, we went and talked to Carolina for the first time in a couple of weeks, and tried to talk to a couple of people that live close to her, but they weren't home. So we went and talked to the Pte. Barreto a little, and then went and shared a little with Emili (an inactive girl). The Hna. Guicela invited us to lunch again, so that was nice. In the afternoon, we went and started the charlas with another of Estela's kids who's 10, but is a little slower. It went good though. After that, we went and visited a couple of members, and tried visiting a couple of investigators that weren't home. Then we went and finished teaching the 4ˇ charla to Basilio y Cristina. It went really well, and after that, we went to the capilla to practice again.

On Saturday morning, we went to Hector's again, but he wasn't home, so we went out looking for people and taught a charla 1 in the process, and also visited with CŽsar, another investigator, before going and having lunch with the Flia. Arce. After that, we went by the Flia. Vera's because their oldest son turned 14. That was interesting. And then we came home and studied. In the afternoon, we went and did a charla 1 verification from last week, and it went okay. After that, we went and found another family that used to be taking the charlas. After that, we went by the capilla to wash off our bikes because they were covered with 3 days worth of mud and weren't running so smoothly. Then we went and visited the Flia. Argźello, and inactive family. Then we went by Victor's (the English help-needing guy) house and talked with him for a little bit before going to the Hna. Guicela's for a Noche de Hogar. We watched "Como Hallar Fe en Cristo" and it went pretty well. After that, we came home and studied. 

On Sunday morning, we wrote talks, because we get to talk in church every 4ˇ Sunday. We went by Basilio y Cristina's to pick up their daughters Delia y Tasiana to go to church because they (the parents) had to go talk to some guy about getting a lot (land) to build a house. Church went really well. I talked about JosŽ Smith, which was neat when I later realized that it was the 27ˇ of June. Que cosa. Anyway, church was normal, and afterwards, we took Tasiana y Delia home again and came home and ate and studied. In the afternoon, we went and taught a charla 1, got fallar-ed, and then went and started teaching the charla 2 to Victor (Estela's son). It went well. After that, we tried visiting a lot of people that weren't home and tried to find a bunch of people who apparently no longer exist, because no one had ever heard of them. We finished the day watching "Como Hallar Fe en Cristo" with the Hna. Nelly and her family and Karen and her sister and cousin. THen we went and had dinner with the other Elders. 

So that was the week. Today, the Elders from San Ignacio and Ayolas are going to come and we're going to have a full district meeting. That should be fun. As’ es. Hey, did stamp prices go up there? Because they did here. Now they're 7.000 Guaranies, which is more than a dollar. That's too bad. And the office Elders never warned us (they should have known for 2 weeks or so), they just sent us our letters back from 2 weeks ago saying they didn't have enough postage. Que cosa. But yeah, everything's going well here. We're having Basilio y Cristina's wedding this weekend, which should be fun. It's not going to be anything huge, since they're really poor, but it will still be good. 

As’ es.

Thanks for everything everyone!! Have a good week!!

I Love You All!!

Love,
Josh