From: Elder Joshua Freeman
Subject: Rainy heat
Date: 10 January 2005 11:45:37 AM EST

ÁHola!

So, sounds like things are pretty cold up there in the Northern Hemisphere. I wish that were the case here, but itÕs quite the opposite. It did rain a lot yesterday, though, so that cooled things down a little bit. But itÕs been pretty hot all week long. Despite the heat, though, we had a really good week. 

On Monday night, got fallar-ed a few times, so we found a few new people. It was pretty funny, because one of the people that we talked to said that they had gone to church and didnÕt like it because of the way we sing a pray (she said we donÕt use enough instruments) (or shout, or speak in tongues, I suppose, although she didnÕt say that). And then we taught a lesson 1 to an inactiveÕs husband, and he said that he had gone to a church like the one of the afore-mentioned girl, and he didnÕt like it because they made too much noise all the time. We thought that that was ironic. After that, we went to JavierÕs and talked with Francisco about his baptism and set a date for the 15¼ of this month. So that was good. Then we came home.

Tuesday morning, we had our normal Zone Meetings, the first one of the change. Now the Elders in Villeta are Elders Barrionuevo (heÕs from Argentina) and Smith, in GuarambarŽ are Elders Marshall and Woodbury (whoÕs also a nuevito), in Yaguar—n are Elders Graff and Luna (whoÕs from Puerto Rico) and in Paraguar’ are Elders Roblero and Workman. The meetings all went pretty well. In the afternoon, we went to the Flia. G—mezÕ and had a charla with them. Then we got fallar-ed a few times, so we went to BlasÕ to see the stuff that he did for me. ItÕs pretty neat. And we took that home. After that, we went to MartinaÕs and shared with her. Then we went and visited the Flia. Olmedo, and then the Flia. Taboada. It was the HnaÕs birthday. And after that, we came home.

On Wednesday morning, we went and visited the Flia. Ayala, an inactive family that I had never met before. After that, we went to the QuintanaÕs and talked with the Hno. about the oraci—n, uhhh, prayer. Then we came home and ate. In the afternoon, we got fallar-ed, so we went to the Flia LargostaÕs, and an ex-Elder from Argentina was there visiting. He went home in April. After that, we went to FranciscoÕs and finished teaching him the 2» lesson. Then we had time to look for new people and found one and taught a lesson 1. That went alright. After that, we went and got the TV from JavierÕs and took it to the capilla for Noche de Rama. That went well, and then we came home.

Thursday was a really good day. Federico came with us all day long and showed us a few of his friends and acquaintances. We first went to the Flia. G—mezÕ and had a charla with them, and then met new people and also talked to some old investigators. Then we came home for lunch. In the afternoon, we went to talk with Victor Largosta Aguayo and read with him. Then we got fallar-ed, so we checked up on the 1» lesson we had taught the day before. After that, we went and taught a couple other new people that we had met earlier in the week. After that, we went to the Flia. QuintanaÕs and taught them the end of the lesson 2. Then we taught another 1» lesson, and then went to the MattesichÕs and talked with the TaboadaÕs while we waited for Guido to get home. It rained a little on the way home, but then stopped.

On Friday morning, we went to Asunci—n for Concilio Guazœ (that means ÒbigÓ in Guaran’), which was with all the Zone and District Leaders. And also the nuevitos had more capacitation. We talked mostly about little changes in the mission and stuff in general and how to improve things even more. WeÕve had the goal of 100 baptisms in a month for a long time, and in December, we had 101 baptisms and 97 confirmations, so weÕre progressing. Now weÕre going to concentrate more on families. Anyway, when we were done, they brought us lunch, and we ate and then came home. We went out to the Flia EstigarribiaÕs and talked a little with them. Then we talked to Daniel and Lourdes a little. Then we found a reference and then got fallar-ed. Then we did a little looking for new people, and taught a lesson, but the guy wasnÕt really interested. After that, we went to JavierÕs and had a charla with all of them. And then we came home.

On Saturday, we went and finished teaching the lesson 3 to Francisco, and then visited the Hno. Oscar, whoÕs just a normal member. And we had lunch with the Flia. Fern‡ndez, like normal. In the afternoon, we had Correlation Meeting, and then we where going to visit an inactive family, but we wanted to take a bus and waited a long time until we finally didnÕt have any more time. So after that, we went and taught a 1» lesson with Javier, to a couple of people that we had met earlier in the week. Then we talked to the Flia. Marecos, who are now in their original house. TheyÕre all going to move to Argentina, but theyÕre not sure when, so weÕll see what happens with them. After that, we visited some other members and then went to the Flia. OlmedoÕs to have a Noche de Hogar. They invited quite a few neighbors, but none of them could come, so that was too bad. So we just talked with them and came home.

Yesterday, I spoke in church, with a couple of branch missionaries. That went pretty well. As did the rest of the meetings. We had lunch with JavierÕs family, and then finished teaching Francisco the 4» lesson. Then we came home and studied. In the afternoon, Federico came with us again and we got fallar-ed a lot and visited a bunch of inactives. That went pretty well. Then we came home and planned and it rained a lot.

Today, we all played soccer. I did very not well, but oh well. And thatÕs the way it is. I hope everyoneÕs doing okay. Tell the Millers (Dave and Debbie) and the MyersÕ thanks for their cards. I got them. And thanks everyone for everything.

I Love You All!!!

Love,
Josh