Crazy Changes!

So as expected, Elder Galdámez got changed. He is in my old zone (Which is still Luque, futher evidence that it is a warpwhole). But as for me, I get the special priveledge to not only have one companions, but two. Or in more simple words I am now in a trio. Yup, three missionaries now. But my new companions are Elder Dawson and Elder Silvera. Elder Dawson is from Dallas, Texas and has been here in Paraguay 1 change more than me. Elder Silvera is from Lima, Peru and has about 3 months on the mission. Both are excellent Elders and we get along great. Elder Dawson is District leader and I'm technically senior companion.  It has been a struggle getting used to teaching. We all have a different teaching style and it's tricky to know who is going to talk and when. haha. We start each lesson with a little rotation but then the spirit will tell one of us to say something and it throws off the rotation. It's a bit tricky but we are getting better at it.

As for my area, I'm kinda in my area. Elder Dawson was also in Aregua but an odd number of missionaries came in this change, so basically President McMullin combined our areas and put us as a three some. This arrangement should last two long, one change maximum, but it could be any moment that we split. we just dont know. It's an adventure that's for sure.

But this week has been a fun week!! We've gotten absolutely soaked the past 4 days because of rain. I don't think there are enough rain jackets and umbrellas to keep you dry here! But we've had a fun week in the rain. Getting to know each other and stuff.

I had to give an improptu talk this Sunday. I had about 30 seconds to prepare it. I got the notice right as the Sacrament ended. I was the first to speak so it was interesting. It pains me to speak when I have time to prepare. But I spoke on how we have the name of Christ given to us when we are baptized, using scriptures from Mosiah 5. To me it was kind mixed up and I didn't think I got the point across but the members loved it. so I guess it was a success.

But in my studies I was studying Docterine and Covenents 93. It really blew my mind, but I'll let you guys study that if you want. But something that really struck me was the very last verse. it says
 And, verily I say unto you, that it is my will that you should hasten to translate my scriptures, and to obtain a knowledge of history, and of countries, and of kingdoms,of laws of God and man, and all this for the salvation of Zion. Amen.

What I learned from  this is basically the Lord is telling Joseph Smith to hurry up and finish translating the scriptures! Because we need this knowledge of History and of the ancient lands, But more importantly is to know the laws of God, and of man. Without the scriptures we wouldn't have this knowledge. and therefore we wouldn't have salvation. But I really encourage you all to study this section. It is fantastic!

Love you all!

Elder Jared

The last week

The last week of the change has come and gone! Super quick! We are thinking that Elder Galdámez is going to leave. He's been here about 6 months (4 changes) and he is ready to go. So tomorrow we will find out.

So for maybe his last Pday here we *hiked* up a hill that overlooked Aregua and the lake. It was super pretty and took some fun pictures. We hiked it with Elder Jensen (My buddy from the CCM) and Elder Choque from Bolivia. It was awesome and reminded me a tiny bit of home. But not really. Lots of pictures to come!!

So this last Friday was mothers day here. Basically it was a long weekend for people to get drunk. So we had some fun talking with drunk people. They are always so funny. They will be drunk out of their mind but then they want the word of God. So usually we will read a random scripture from the Bible and then talk about it a little bit. Then when we see them the next day they won't remember anything.. It's sad but it's funny. haha

So we had a lesson with a Drunk Investigator... It was extremely difficult because we would try to share something with her and she would talk about something else. But in the end she told us she really wanted to change and be baptized. So I hope she remembers that desire when she is sober.

We had another huge rain storm Saturday night.. WE thought that it would wreck our attendance, but it didnt!! We had a lot of people show up which was awesome!! Work pays off!!

Pictures today!

(No letter today due to the Mother's Day phone call yesterday! But we did get pictures!)

Oh the Rain

My dearest family and friends,

We have had another beautiful week this week. Well that is up until Sunday morning, when it rained buckets... Yeah seriously. I don't know if I'vve told you this but if its raining, or the ground is wet, it's super hard to get less actives to church. Because nobody wants to leave if there are rain clouds in the sky, Because seriously the streets flood here in minutes, So that was pretty hard, not getting many people to church, especially because it was our ward conference. So it was kinda hard having low attendance for such a special conference. We were focusing a whole lot on our less actives and trying to get them to church. Kinda feels like a whole week of work was lost... But I know it wasn't, it was just a week of planting seeds.

Like I said, it was ward conference and they asked the missionaries to do a choir (because there are 10 of us and si o si we would be there). But they just asked us to do one number. and I think we did pretty good, we sang 'I Need Thee Ev´ry Hour (or in Spanish Señor te Nessecito) we sang the first verse in Spanish and they we decided to shock the congregation and sing the second verse in Guarani (yes the hymns do exist in Guarani). It was a super powerful moment for me because the Lord has promised that every person will have the opportunity to hear the gospel in their own language and there are a lot of people here who speak more Guarani than Spanish.. So it was a great way to fulfill that promise. It made some of the people cry. So it was a pretty special moment for me. I really enjoyed it even though I can't sing very good. haha

Other than that, Wednesday was Elder Gladamez´s birthday, and Fransisco's family invited us for dinner. They made something called milanesa napolitana, basically its chicken fried steak with some type of special sauce. It was super yummy!! As for dessert, It was an adventure. Fansisco's aunt had me teacher how to make banana cream pie ( I made if for the baptiim and it was a success). We planned to throw some in his face after singing Haha! It was hilarious! But somehow we all ended up with banana cream pie faces.. haha! It was awesome!!

love you all

Elder Jared