From: Elder Joshua Freeman
Subject: Encarnaci—n
Date: 25 April 2005 2:36:33 PM EDT

ÁHola!

This past week was pretty eventful. It rained all day yesterday and is still cloudy, and with the wind, itÕs pretty cold. Also, we had a little meeting of the Zone Leaders on Wednesday, and Pte. Gavarret told me IÕd be going on divisions with Elder Haldeman (one of the Asistentes) from Thursday until Sunday. In Encarnaci—n. So that was an interesting trip, but now IÕm back here again and everything is normal.

Last Monday night, we went and talked to a guy named Sixto that the missionaries used to talk to. His ÒwifeÕs name is Matilde, and she has two kids, JosŽ (11) and Gabriela (7), and sheÕs a member, and so is JosŽ. It was the first time we met her, and we shared a little and she seemed like she really wants to go to church again. Him, more or less. But it was a good visit. After that, we went and talked with Jaime and Cristina, and he talked about a few people that he knows that might be interested in hearing the missionaries. After that, we went by Carlos and AdaÕs, but he wasnÕt home. So we went and talked to çngela and Pedro. TheyÕre members. HeÕs 9 and just got baptized a couple months ago. We talked with them about building a wall at her house with the Elders Quorum this week. Then we came home. 

On Tuesday morning, we had our normal Zone Meetings and had lunch. We had to bring the mail home so that the oficinistas could come and get it, then went to Obrero to do a baptismal interview. After that, we came back and got fallar-ed, but went and talked with a family that used to talk a lot with the missionaries, Miguel and Techy. We taught them the lesson 1 and it went really well. Plus they have empanadas that taste like won tons. TheyÕre so good. Anyway, after that, we went to the church for Noche de Rama, but it was raining a little, so no one came. So then we went and taught a lesson 1 to a guy named Silvio (a reference from Celina that lives right by them) and Roberto and Nimia (a couple that lives right in front of Silvio) and their kids Naera (7) and Abraham (6). It went really well. Then we got our ropa from CelinaÕs house and came home.

On Wednesday, we had the aforementioned meeting, with the aforementioned announcement. We talked about how many people are getting baptized this month and what we have to do to make sure they actually do get baptized. After the meeting, we went shopping and then came home. In the afternoon, we went to LourdesÕ house and started teaching her the lesson 5. Then we tried talking to a couple other people with no luck, then went and visited the Flia Alderete. Then we tried visiting a couple other people until Manuel came home from work, then we went and finished teaching the lesson 4. After that, we went and talked to an old investigator named Ram—n, who was drunk, so we didnÕt talk to him for too long. Then we went to Carlos and SoniaÕs and talked to her sister Rosita that lives with them. She was going to get baptized a while ago but then her parents and relatives talked to her and she turned completely around. SheÕs still pretty much the same way. After that, we went to Carlos and AdaÕs and he was actually home, so we read a little with him. Then we came home. 

On Thursday morning, the Hno G—mez (the Elders Quorum president) came to look at our shower head, because itÕs broken, and here, most houses donÕt have hot water, they have an electric shower head that heats up the water as it goes through. So when your shower head is broken, you only have cold water. Anyway, he told us of some part we needed to buy. Then we went and talked with Carlos Ben’tez, and then talked with Arnaldo. He said he got baptized a long time ago in Barrio Moroni, but weÕre not sure if we believe him or not. In any case, we went and bought that part, and got food, then came home and ate, and the Hno came back and installed it, and it still didnÕt work. But we had to go to the office, so we didnÕt have time to fiddle with it more. So we went to the office and Javier was there, to be a local missionary because Elder Higbee and Elder Hamilton (whose companion, Elder Brandt, was going to Oviedo with Elder Young (the other AP) for the weekend) got locals for the weekend. So I got to talk with him. Eventually, we left (the APs have a truck). It was weird riding in a car again for a long time. The trip down wasnÕt too eventful, we made it in about 4 hours, more or less. We dropped off fliers for a fireside in all of the missionariesÕ houses, and picked up the Zone Leaders, Elder Ricks and Elder Rodr’guez (heÕs Uruguayan, and he has a little over a year in the mission) and went and ate dinner, then went to their house to sleep.

On Friday, Elders Haldeman and Ricks went to visit the farther out areas and Elder Rodgr’guez and I were going to do divisions with the Elders from Rama 5, but it turns out that they were already doing divisions with their district leader. So we just  came back to the ZLsÕ area and worked. We talked to one guy thatÕs a member of one of the Evangelical churches that says that they keep the Law of Moses, even though they only keep the few parts that they know, and thereÕs a lot of parts they donÕt keep (like stoning people). He was a nice guy, though. After that, we went and visited some inactives, then went and had lunch with their 1¡ counselor of the branch. Then we came home. In the afternoon, we did divisions with Elders Stewart (my MTC companion) and Altamirano (heÕs Argentine, and this is his second change). I went with Elder Altamirano. Their area is right across the Paran‡ River from Posadas, Argentina. ItÕs a pretty cool view. In and case, we went and taught a lesson 1 to a reference that they had gotten, that went pretty well. Then we visited some less active members, and helped them pick corn afterwards. Then we visited some other inactives, and taught another lesson 1 to a guy whose daughter they were teaching before. That went pretty well. After that, we went to the capilla for a talent show that the branch was doing, and then came home.

On Saturday morning, we went and taught a lesson 1 to a guy that they had met last week or so. Right before we were about to finish, one of his friends came over, and he went inside his house (we were sitting outside a couple houses down) and said heÕd be right back. But he never came out again. But that was okay, because right after he left, another guy came and sat down and talked to us for a long time. He said he got baptized, but we think he mightÕve confused our church with a different one. In any case, we had an interesting (as in not boring, not as in weird) conversation with him. Then we went to the church, where Elders Haldeman and Ricks were setting up stuff to do a Training about ÒPreach My GospelÓ for the branch presidents and district president. Then we all went and had lunch at a Super 6 food court. Then we came home and changed our clothes, then went back to the capilla for the meeting. It went well, but we took a bit longer than we were supposed to, but it wasnÕt entirely our fault. Anyway. We went back to the ZLsÕ house to get our stuff, then went to Coronel Bogado (which is still in the Encarnaci—n District, but part of Zona 10, not Zona 9) with the Elders Blankenfeld and Garc’a. Elder Blankenfeld is the branch president (itÕs a really small, struggling branch) and Elder Garc’a is going home this change. HeÕs from Escondido, California, but he never spoke English with his parents, so he already knew Spanish, so he wasnÕt in the MTC as long. Anyway, I went with him, and we visited members to animate them to go to church on Sunday morning. Then we came home. 

Unfortunately, it was raining on Sunday morning. We went to tell some other members to come, but by the time it was time to start, no one was there but us four. So Elders Haldeman and Garc’a went to get some other members, and by the time they got back, two sisters had come, and more were on the way. But we didnÕt have time to stay and wait for them to start Sacrament Meeting, so Elder Haldeman and I just took the Sacrament and then we left. It rained almost all the way home. We stopped by a few minutes in San Ignacio and said Hi to the Elders there, then came home, like to our house in Pinoz‡. Elder Haldeman and the local that was with Elder Higbee left, and we planned. We had a meeting in Asunci—n, the same one we had done in Encarnaci—n, but this time Elders young and Henderson and Pte. Villalba did it. It went pretty well, and there were quite a few people there, in spite of the rain. So that was good. After that, we came home and got our clothes, and went and visited the Flia R’os. Then after that, we took our clothes to CelinaÕs and then came home. 

This morning, we got up and cleaned. We had our Zone Activity today. We went to the Defensores del Chaco stadium, which is where the national soccer team plays (itÕs in Sajonia). ItÕs a really nice field, and it was pretty fun playing around and taking pictures. And we also went to see the mansion where the President of Paraguay used to live, but not these days. ItÕs like the White House, but he just works there, he doesnÕt live there. Anyway, it was fun.

So, that was it for this week. Things are going pretty well here. We have ManuelÕs baptism planned for this Saturday, so hopefully that turns out alright. ThatÕs about it. Thanks everyone for everything. WeÕll talk to you later.

I Love You All!!!!

Love,
Josh