From: Elder Joshua Freeman
Subject: Mosquitos and hot buses
Date: 11 October 2004 7:53:13 PM EDT

ĮHola!

This weekend there were SO many mosquitos, everywhere, all the time, morning and night. It was incredible and uncomfortable. This past week and today in particular have been really hectic, and the rest of the week isnÕt looking like itÕs going to slow down, since this week is change week, and this time, one of us has to go, because nobody stays together for four changes. IÕve been here for almost five months-which is my longest time in any area yet, but just 3 weeks more than Elder Webb, so weÕll see how things turn out. But yeah, the week.

So we went to Encarnaci—n in the afternoon, and got there and ate and then went to bed. The Elders we normally would have stayed with had moved, so we went out kinda far to a place called Capit‡n Miranda and stayed the night there with Elders Andersen and Gutiˇrrez. There was a mosquito buzzing by my head all night, so I didnÕt get much sleep. It wasnÕt too fun.

On Tuesday, we had Zone Conference, and it was neat. ThereÕs going to be changes in the whole missionary studying/teaching program with a new manual called ŅPreach my GospelÓ, so mostly they talked about that. It was exciting. After it was done, we didnÕt have to get interviews, so we went to the terminal and came to San Ignacio and waited a few hours for the bus to Pilar. Like normal, we got home around 11:00 and went to bed. 

Wednesday morning, we went and talked to the Flia. Portillo for a little and then went and talked to Cˇsar and told him he has to come to church if he really wants to progress, and he said he would (but he didnÕt). So heÕs quickly kicking himself off of our teaching list. After that, we went and did a ch. 1 verification, but the people werenÕt there except one, so we set another cita, and then went and visited Miguel and Emilce. And had lunch afterwards with the Flia. Acosta. In the afternoon, we did divisions with the other Elders and Elder Gilbert came with me to do CelsoÕs baptismal interview. That went fine, so that was good. After that, we met back up with the other Elders, and Elder Webb and I went to teach a ch. 1 with a family we met last week, but the dad and the grandpa had been drinking, so we didnÕt. But at least they were happy-drunk and not mean-drunk. After that, we went and met a couple other people and taught a ch.1 to a guy and his sister that kept cutting us off in the middle of our sentences. It was an okay charla though. After that, we got fallar-ed a couple of times, and then went to the Flia. AlbarengaÕs and talked about TasianaÕs baptism. Then we were done. 

On Thursday morning, we went and taught a ch. 1 to the daughter of one of our investigators, who was here visiting from the campo with her family. It actually went pretty well. After that, we went and visited Blanca and her inactive sister, and then tried visiting a couple other people before lunch with the Flia. Villalba. In the afternoon, we were supposed to have a meeting with Pet. Barreto, but he couldnÕt come, so we then tried visiting a couple other people that werenÕt home. Then we went and visited the Hna. Magna, and went looking for a reference. But we didnÕt find it. After that, we taught a ch. 1 to another lady we found last week, and then went to the Flia. BerdejoÕs to ask them to participate in the baptismal service. After that, we went and visited Miguel Arce and talked about the Libro de Morm—n with him. He had read a little. So that was good. After that, we went and shared a little with Estela and her family, and then went to Noche de Rama. That was pretty normal.

On Friday morning, we went to clean the baptismal font, and the Portillos came to help, and we got it pretty clean. Then we went by CelsoÕs to make some last-minute arrangements, and then went and printed up the program. After that, we got fallar-ed on a verification, and so we went and talked to the guyÕs next door neighbors and set a cita with them. Then we went to Pte. BarretoÕs house to talk to him about the baptism, and then we came home and had lunch. In the afternoon, we went to the Flia. AlbarengaÕs to help the Hna. Prepare a talk for the baptism. Then we visited some inactives, and did the verification that we had gotten fallar-ed on earlier. That went pretty well. After that, we tried talking to a couple other people, and we got in a ch. 1, but it was pretty difficult because there were a whole lot of mosquitoes. Then we visited a couple other members and talked to a couple that used to talk to the missionaries like 20 years ago, who were really nice, but not too teachable. It was interesting. And after that we came home.

On Saturday, we went and filled up the font, and got fallar-ed on a cita, so we went and met their neighbors and they were really nice. That was good. After that, we tried visiting a couple other people in the area, but without success. We did do a verification with Francisca (we had taught her the 1» charla on Wednesday), and that went well, and we invited her to the baptism, and she actually came. That was great. After that, we went and visited Emili, and then another investigator thatÕs going to work in Asunci—n for a few weeks. Then we had lunch with the Flia. Albarenga and helped the Hna. a little more with her talk. In the afternoon, we went and visited Celso and just shared a nice inspirational pepper-upper scripture. Then we went out to the Flia. Arce because their son Rodrigo turned 8 on Tuesday, and they were having a party, and they wanted us to take pictures. After that, we got everything ready for the baptism and went to the church. The service was awesome, the Hna. Berdejo and Hna. Albarenga gave talks, and Pte. Berdejo baptized Celso and Basilio baptized Tasiana. It was an interesting thing to see, a 70 year-old man and an 8 year-old girl getting baptized together. It was magnificent, and there were a lot of non-members there too, which is always good. After the baptism, we went and visited An’bal the inactive and then went to the Flia. PortilloÕs and invited Miriam to be baptized, and she said she wants to, but that she wants to wait until next month. And she still wonÕt tell us why, so thatÕs a little frustrating, because thereÕs not much we can do to help her more than we have. But yeah, overall, it was a good day. 

On Sunday morning, we went and got people to take them to church, and we had a good number of people there, and the confirmations went really well. So did all the meetings. After church, we came home and made lunch and studied a little, and then got ready to go to Asunci—n. Elder Christensen told me Monday that I had to go in to sign papers for my temporary admission pass and stuff like Elder Gilbert had to a couple of weeks ago. So we went to San Ignacio on a bus full of a choir of blind people from Asunci—n, and some other people, and so we got to stand up the whole two hours. It was a hoot. When we got to San Ignacio, Elder Kleven came and got us and we went to their house and the Hna. made us crepes, which was pretty good. Then we went to catch the bus to Asunci—n (Elder Saltern and I went and his companion and Elder Webb stayed in San Ignacio), and it was full, so we had the choice of standing in the back or waiting for another bus, so we chose to stand and at the next stop some people that were supposed to get on didnÕt, so we go to sit down. But it was hot and the guy next to me was snoring the first two of the 4 hours of the trip. There were also 5 Elders from Encarnaci—n that came for the same thing, so when we got to Asunci—n, we got taxis and went to the office. We kinda just chilled there, and slept there for the night (the office Elders have a nice apartment above, and thereÕs another room with bunk beds).

Then this morning, we waited for other Elders to get to the office, and all went to sign papers. It was all people that either came with me or the next change after, so we got to visit, and thatÕs always fun. Then we went to eat lunch at McDonaldÕs, and then went to the terminal. We were a little late, so we had to go to a different stop to catch the bus, but we did, but it was hot again and I was sitting next to an atheist, and the bus broke down for about a half hour, but we finally got home. Just in time for a Zone Activity. We went to an orphanage here thatÕs funded by Europeans, and itÕs really clean and nice, and we went to one part where there were mentally disabled kids and visited a little with them, and it was just a really special feeling with them, I could have stayed there a long time. It was neat, and all the workers there are really dedicated. ItÕs like a break from the normal Paraguayan world.

So, that was it. Glad to hear everythingÕs going well there. We gotta go and work now, so weÕll catch yaÕ next week!!

I Love You Guys!!

Love,
Josh