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

Area Conference

Man this week few by... it passed in a blink of an eye! Wow! Haha but this week was a great week. We didn't have normal Sunday meetings because we had an Area Conference, or a satellite conference with all the stakes in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. It was awesome. It was presided by Elder Richard G. Scott and Elder Quentin L. Cook. There was a Huge focus on the sabbath day and missionary work. It was an amazing conference. so much wisdom and peace came from the mouth of our leaders specifically for this area of the world.

Our area president (Walter Gonzalez) spoke to us and he spoke to us about using our different types of media to preach the Gospel. Such as facebook, instagram, text messaging and stuff. It was really kind of ironic because we have been asking our mission president for permission to share a spiritual message over the radio station that a member owns! Haha so talk about using all the media! Haha we still have to get permission from our president to do it though. But it would be great if we could.

Aldonsa is progressing really well. She is really focused on getting baptized. She is changing a lot. It is amazing to see how much the Gospel can change lives when we let it! She loves the Book of Mormon and loves going to church with her family. SOowhen she gets baptized, that will be one step closer to an eternal family!!

We have another investigator named Luz. She is like nine years old and her best friend is a member. She really wants to be baptized and has a date for the 19th. She is super happy and loves going to church! Haha!

We have found a few potential investigators. We are always super busy retaining recent converts! The work doesn't work unless the workers work! haha I hope that makes sense. But I'm working and I loving it!!

Elder Jared

The week of service

This was such a good week for me! We found a lot of great opportunities to give service to some Investigators, and recent converts! It was neat because we found a new investigator that has started to progress a lot.

First of all, our first service we got to cut through a bunch of brush and little trees to help make a path to a home that she is building. It was fun because they dont have the same tools that we have back in the states. Just machetes and hard work. Its fun to whack your way through some wilderness. I enjoyed it very much.

The next service that we did was also with machetes. As you can tell we use machetes a lot. But this time we went to go collect Leña (or firewood) for a recent convert. Her name is Juana, she is about 50 years old and is really awesome. She really knows how to use a machete. She cuts braches like nothing and you wouldnt believe how she carries the braches home. She carries them home on her head.. yeah she ties a bunch of sticks together and puts them on her head.,, it is amazing how she does that. Supposedly shes been doing that for years now and had a lot of practice. She really is a work horse.

One last service with machetes this week was for the Familia Fleitas. I mentioned them last week as investigators that have been attending for the past year but cant get baptized because the arent married yet they have two kids that are recent converts. But we did a service with them and we found a new investigator. Her name is Aldonisa and she is the daughter of familia fleitas, supposedly she didnt want to share with the missionaries but now has done a compleate 180. After the service we shared with ther and challenged her to a baptismal date on the 26 of september. she accepted and the best part is she went to church yesterday! She is progressing really really well and has made her parent super happy.

Our last service of the week was my favorite. because it was a baptismal service for Hermana Caballero. She was finally able to enter into this sacred covenent with God and join her family in the Church. She was super happy. So I was super happy.

Also, just a little note about Emboscada and the stones. They dont really use the stones for bulding, manily decorating and bulding streets, sidewalks and decorating houses. And Gramma, I am still yet to find any africans here...

Love you all,

Elder Jared

This is where Brandon is living in Emboscado, Paraguay.  The LDS chapel is bottom center.

Ambushed!!

Yup so this week I got changed. I am in a small little town called Emboscada (Which Translates to "Ambush!" haha.) Its a nice little town like 30 minutes away from Limpio, I'm still in the Luque stake.. I'm really starting to wonder if I will ever get out of the warphole. But I like it here. It's a pretty place. According to the Paraguyans Emboscada is "La ciudad de Pedra" or " The city of stone" just because there are a lot of stone masons here. I've met a few and every now and then you can hear dynamite exploding off in the distance. It's a pretty cool branch. I feel like I'm going to like it here.

We have a few investigators. One is the Familia Fleitas. They are super cool and have a ton of attendances, The reason why they aren't baptized is that they aren't married, But Hermano Felitas is working on divorcing his ex wife so he can get married. Their two kids Kevin and Liza are some recent converts. They are super cool. Another Investigator we have is named Irena Caballero. Her 4 daughters are recent converts. She hasn't been baptized because she has been living with a man that she isn't married too (there are a lot of problems with the law of chastity here in Paraguay) But she is really humble and she couldn't find a place to live with daughters. She has been investigating and attending church now for about a year, and because of her problem, some missionaries call her an eternal investigator. But they have been helping her build her own house out of coconut trees. She has made huge sacrafices to be able to get baptized. She is really cool and her sacrafices have payed off because a miracle came. We visited her on Saturday and she told us that the man she was living with moved out of the house. So that means she can get baptized now! She has a date for this Saturday! She really loves the gospel and will be a strong convert. So thats something really awesome!

Another thing about Emboscada is that there are a ton of recent converts. Like 22. Its a huge change for me because I had 3 in Aregua. But only like half of the converts are really active and the other half isn't quite as active. They go every now and then. Bt the active ones are really strong. We are working with an convert who is really cool. His name is William Villa Mayor. He's like 19 and is preparing to go on a mission. We are starting to read the Book of Mormon with him and helping him really understand each verse. He is super strong!

I really like it here and I am happy :) also I forgot to bring my camera so no pictures this week :(

Elder Jared