February 17, 2014 - Week 7

Hey everyone! So I´m in Paraguay! I seriously love it here. You know that feeling you get when you just KNOW that everything is happening for a specific reason and you are exactly where you are supposed to be?? Well first of all that´s the spirit and second of all... I totally felt that way as soon as the plane landed amongst the beautiful red sand and green trees!

It is seriously so beautiful here and I love it so much! No place I would rather be than here :)

So when we left the MTC if was a little bit rough, not gonna lie. I made SO many great friends there and like loved my teachers, so I was kinda sad about leaving them, plus I was finally used to how things went in the CCM and stuff. BUT.. Things are grand! We left at like 4 AM on the 10th and flew to Asunción. There were like 22 of us, I think, going to Paraguay. So the flight was good and stuff and we arrived safely.

We met the mission president and his wife, President and Hermana McMullin, at the airport then went to the mission office. We learned a lot of stuff about what the mission was going to be like and things were just really good. Then that night, all of the Hermana stayed at the Hermanas home that were in the area by the mission office. Then the next day we get up, go to the office, and like everyone is there! Tons of missionaries that are ready to do their changes and get their new companions and new areas (if they have a new area). So I get my companion, Hermana Braunersrither, and she´s like really cool! My first companion is from Texas and speaks English so that is a blessing! She´s super good at Spanish so I´ll be learning lots from her! She has been out for like almost 5 months in the field, so her 6 month mark in the mission is like next week. Crazy, huh! She says it has gone by so fast and doesn´t like it when I ask "So is it crazy that you almost only have a year left?" Hahaha it´s so funny! She doesn´t want to admit that she has been out here so long. Anyway we´re already pretty close and she´s a great trainer. The first thing that she told me is that I was going to paradise. Yeah, she was definitely right. We are in a place called Itaugua and it is beautiful! It´s about like 45 minutes away from Asunción and it´s a really nice area. We have such a great house! It´s like super nice. She said I was so lucky to get a first area like the one I have cuz it´s so nice. We also live with another companionship of hermanas. Hermana Hunt (who has been out for the same time as Hermana B) and Hermana Hernandez (she is like in the middle of her training and is from El Salvador). So Hermana Hunt is seriously hilarious. She makes me laugh so hard!! And Hermana Hernandez is so sweet and helps me with my Spanish a lot. She is trying hard to learn English so we talk in both a lot of the time.

So..... When I first got here it was pretty overwhelming, not gonna lie. We got to the house and I unpacked and then we went to the store quick and got a bit of stuff. Then we went out and visited families! It was crazy cuz I just got here and we got right to work. It was really good. We walked to this place called Conavi that is like 20 minutes away and has a lot of members. Oh, that´s another thing, we have a super good area. A lot of members that always wanna help us! So anyway, we visit some of the members and share with them quick. You always give the hermanas a kiss on both cheeks when you see them. And also if you wanna say hi to someone when walking by, you say "ADIOS!" Weird, cuz that means goodbye, but true. The people here are really patient with me too cuz I don´t speak very good Spanish. That´s another thing, this is completely different than the CCM! Like when I left I felt like, hey, I can speak some Spanish... UM NO! I like have to learn the whole language again! Hahaha but it´s all good! I´ll get it! And I get better every single day I´m here. So when we teach our little lessons, I pretty much bear my testimony about it at the end and yeah.. that´s how it is for now :) Also I say prayers. I can understand A LOT more than I can speak, too. 

So the first day I met like 4 different families that were members. They are all so sweet! There is this one family, familia Ramirez, and the mom (Hermana Noelia) helps us a ton with visits. She sometimes comes to visit the Maldonado family. They are our family that is actually getting baptized on Friday! Exciting huh! They had a set date when I got here, so I don´t know if I can count them as my first baptism. It´s 3 girls-the mom and her two daughters. They live out in the middle of nowhere and it takes like 30 minutes to walk there from Conavi. So that´s them! Then I met the Portillo family... They have like 12 people living in their tiny house! They are members, but the dad´s brother lives there and he is not a member, so we teach him and his wife. But there are seriously like 9 kids there and they are SO FREAKING CUTE! They can´t pronouce my name, so get this...... They call me Hermana TINKERBELL! Cute huh! They say that that is what it sounds like! Hahaha! And I´ve met a ton of other people and they are all awesome. They comment about my blue eyes a lot and call my "rubia" (blonde). It´s just really good here :)

We also eat like only lunch usually. Well, the hermanas in my house eat yogurt like every morning (well they drink yogurt cuz that´s how you do it here apparently-I usually just eat an apple). And then the members feed us lunch. So food in Paraguay isn´t really that different. It's just not healthy at all! They feed you meat and carbs. I´ve had a lot of good things. Rice with chicken, rice with fried steak-ish stuff, rice with meat and cheese... Yeah. Apparently they eat a ton of pasta too, but I just haven´t tried it yet. And today we went to this restaurant and got a good lunch. It was this burger/sandwich thing that was delish! So yeah! The food is good and not that different! They give you a lot though... And you have to eat like all of it. So that is why we only eat like one meal a day.

 

I walk a freaking ton and have horrible blisters. They hurt. BUT it is all good! They are actually getting better the more I walk and I´m sure they´ll be good soon enough. It´s all worth it honestly. We do, however, take collectivos (that is what they call buses here) to a lot of places. It just depends.

Church yesterday was really good. We had a huge attendance, so that´s good! My new district is pretty cool. Two of the elders that were in the CCM with me are in my district (they were in the group of Latinos that left when we left).

 

So this week has been really crazy! Trying to learn the language and stuff and trying to adjust, but it has been really good at the same time. I know that I was called to Paraguay for a reason! It just feels so right! I will be honest, I get feeling down sometimes when I´m walking and my feet hurt, or I can´t say what I want to say in a lesson, or I don´t know what anyone is saying to me... But then I gotta just realize that IT´S NOT ABOUT ME!!! Then I pray and remember why I´m here... And things get better :) It´s been a rollercoaster, the missionary life, but I LOVE IT!! Oh, and yesterday we went to this thing where the young adults (in the ward of the other elders in our district are) had a presentation about going on missions and us hermanas had to talk to them. So I get up there and I tell them the reason I went on a mission, and bear my testimony as best as I could, and that was it... The elders told me after that my spanish is super good for only being here for like 5 days... So that gives me hope!! Cuz I feel like I know nothing!

So that´s about it for the first week here! Really crazy that I´m finally in Paraguay! It´s so cool! I´ll send pics! I love you guys so much! TALK TO YOU NEXT WEEK! :) :) :)