Back behind the grill

Sorry fam, but we dont have to much time today. so this will be a a quick letter. But I did take the time to read all the letters. I hope you understand that I cant respond to all of them this week. We have had a crazy Pday and we only have an hour to do everything that we need.

We were able to see the Blood moon last night. It was really cool. Im not sure if its rare or something but it seems like a big deal. but I did take some pictures that I will have to send next week (due to time).

Know I know what you are thinking, Why was this Pday hectic? well to make things short, We decided to do an asado (Barbeque) with the other Elders, We all Pitched in like two bucks and It was enough to buy a lot of meat and Chorizo. Haha we were stuffed.... But it was fun for me to get behind the grill again. Its been a long long time since Ive been able to do that. I miss it. Haha But this week has been a great week for me. We did a lot of contacting and we have found some new people to teach. One we found yesterday. It was a small family sitting on the porch enjoying a little bit of a cooler afternoon and they invited us in. The name is Familia rios. And the moms husband died od cancer about 7 years ago. SoIn these seven years she has been struggling to find answers to her questions I.E Why would God let this happen to me? or Will I see him again? she had asked lots of Ministers and Preachers but she hasnt found anything that really satisfied her. Her son had resoved to Blame Adam and Eve. Because If they hadnt fallen, His dad wouldnt have died. So naturally we shared the Plan of Salvation. ANd It answered all of her questions and changed the miond of the Son. Everything was so so perfect untill they told us that they didnt live there. They lived in a nother city. It was hard because its a family... SO hard to let it go, but the other Elders will get a family so thats good for them.

We werent able to go to Nueava Colombia this week because the ZLs wanted to have divisions and set plans... so we are planning another time. We will see.

Well I gotta go, I love you all!!

Elder Jared

The Spring Heat

Well, today is the first day of the Paraguayan spring and what do we get? The sun. It has been Blazing hot the past few days. The members are telling us that its like 40 degrees out. Man its hard to walk in
the sun, but people always offer us water. So its easy to contact.  This week was another great week. Found a new family to teach and they were very very open to us and our message. SO that always makes a missionary happy. Finding a family that is willing to listen to the Gospel.

The Family that we found is actually 2 older Parents an an young adult. The Parents are named Christine and Rodolfo, and the young man who is about 20 is named Javier. We found them in an area that we
rarely go to. Just because there hasn't been a lot of people progressing in that area and it is far from where we usually work. So it was great to find them. They were convinced that God put us in
their path in their time of need. I'm convinced too. They readily accepted the Book of Mormon and were really prepared to receive the Gospel.

We also started teaching a new family. its a family of three and the wife is inactive and her husband and daughter aren't members. They actually live in a different city called Nueva Colombia (New Colombia)
which is not in our mission. But there isn't a church in Nueva Colombia and our branch president went and picked them up to come here in Emboscada. Also, we got permission to go to Nueva Colombia sometime in this upcoming week to see if there is anyone ready to hear the Gospel. WE are the closest missionaries to the city so we are planning to go see how it is. But back to the family. They also are ready to receive the blessings of the Gospel. We taught them after church and they accepted a baptismal date for the 24th. It will give them a lot of time to prepare and receive answers. The daughter named Reina (Queen) is really timid. She doesn't speak a lot. so we will see how that goes.

We weren't able to meet with Marta this week. So we are still waiting to see if she will progress.

So three good weeks in a row.. I am on a roll!! haha So this week is gonna be a good one!!

Siempre suyo or forever yours
Elder Jared

Finding

Man what an amazing week it has been. It has been such a good week!! Man thats 2 in a row!! Haha 2 super amazing weeks back to back. Im lovin it!!

But one thing that we have been focusing on is finding new people to teach. Nothing happens in missionary work unlesss we find people to teach so that's what we have been doing!! It's really hard because most people are just to nice to reject you, so they don't say no but you can tell that they really aren't interested. It's hard because you have to contact hundreds to find one person to teach, but that's what the Lord has called me to do so that's what I'm trying to do!! But we have been blessed to find some people to teach.

One was just a random tracting contact. We just started clapping and a lady came to the gate. We just started making small conversation and then she just let us in! Her name is Juani. So we just started teaching the restoration and she is very very open with us. She just starts telling us how shes catholic but how she doesnt like going to mass because she feels that a lot of people judge her for some reason. She told us that she isn't really looking to change religions but she will always accept us. But I believe that she will change her mind. I really hope she will progress.

Another cool contact that we had was when we were trying to find a reference. It was getting a little bit late but we were still trying to find the reference. So we were in the area but we didn't really know where so we were just tracting trying to find the reference. So we clap at this one house and they were sitting on their porch just talking and the very first thing they say to us is "Enter!" and we were like... ok.. because this dosn't happen very often. Their names are Marta, Lorena and Magali. They are all sisters and very interested. They told us that they were willing tochange everything if they knew that the Book of Mormon was true. They too are very open and have lots of questions. We went back yesterday and they are reading and praying to see if the Book is true!! Haha I have a lot of hope for them! More progression to come!!

Yeah. so a pretty Stella week this week. I really enjoyed it!

Elder Jared

Power of the Book of Mormon and the Spirit

I cannot believe it is September already! Man the time is really flying out here. It's hard to believe that I have been in Paraguay almost exactly a year! I left the MTC In Argentina September 9th, so that means Wednesday will be an exact year!! it Has been a  wonderful year. Learning a new language and learning some guarani. I really love Paraguay. The people are so friendly and easy to talk with, I truly love it here.

Had another great week here in Emboscada. I had some really neat experiences that I will talk about later.

Elder Garcia and I had a really cool contact this week. We were waiting for a bus to go to one of the farther parts of our area and just doing some simple street contacting. We were doing this for about 20 minutes, gotten some references to pass and some people to visit. And then they came. Basically they contacted us. They saw us from a distance and they were like "Hey Elders!! When are you going to come visit us?" So we go and just start talking with them. Get their information. We thought they were members just from the way that they talked with us. But as our bus came we asked them if they were members, they said "No, But we want to be!" But the thing is. They live in the area of the other elders. So to bad. They were really great people. Their names are Arnaldo and Miriam. Hopefully I will be able to visit them on divisions.

This next experience is one that I will remember forever and ever. It was a true manifestation of the power of the Book of Mormon when the Spirit was with us. We were at the house of a recent convert named Lourdes, She is very active and is preparing to leave on a mission. But she starts telling us a certain situation that she needed help with. As Elder Garcia and I were wondering what we were going to share we felt prompted to read the Book of Mormon with her using the Chapter that she was about to read. The Chapter was 3 Nephi 1. And It applied directly to her situation. It kinda scared her that it helped her so much. As we were reading you could just see the light of understanding in her eyes as she learned to apply the chapter in her life. It was another powerful manifestation of the power of the Holy Ghost. It was incredible.

It was a really amazing week. I have loved every minute of this week and look forward to next week!

Elder Jared