May 26, 2014 - Week 21

So... It is pretty much officially winter here. It was cold for like 4 days straight. First, there was a rainstorm like Thursday night and then Friday-Sunday.... Freezing. Seriously. Well, it was like 40 degrees farenheit and that is freezing to me... Today isn´t too bad. The sun is out and stuff, so I´m not complaining! But, on Sunday we had a pretty small number of people show up to church cuz it was raining. ALL DAY. And when it rains in Paraguay... NO ONE does anything. But it´s ok cuz guess what...

Hermana Morales, Angel, Hermana Whittaker

Angel got baptized and confirmed this weekend! It was such a great experience. He was so excited like this whole week and then came Friday and he was so nervous for his interview... But it went just fine. And Angel Vera was the first person baptized in the new chapel of Itaugua on Saturday, May 24th 2014! He was super happy for that, too. So that all went super well. So then the next day, it rained like ALL morning and we got a call from the familia Portillo (Angel´s neighbors). They told us that they wouldn´t be able to go to church today cuz of the rainstorm and they had no money to take a colectivo. They have a baby that is like 6 months old, so they couldn´t walk in the cold and rain and stuff.. So we ask, ´´well, is Angel coming? He has to get confirmed today...´´ They tell us that ´´no...he doesn´t want to go alone´´ WHAT?! So we are like ok... Well we are going to walk to his house and get him so he can be confirmed. So that is exactly what we did. In the rain and everything... We walked (like 15 or 20 min) to his house and everyone was there waiting for us. I mean EVERYONE. Familia Portillo... (8 people) All the friends of Angel (like 5 people) and Angel´s mom and sister. It was awesome. So we all get on the colectivo and go to church. We got there like 15 minutes before sacrament and everything went great. So we had like 6 investigators at church even though there was only like 70 people total!!! So that was awesome!He is so happy and I am so happy that he has the gospel in his life. He really has a testimony. And the cool this is, his mom loved the baptism and church on Sunday. She is really interested and so we are going to work with her next. Also, his sister Belén really loves the church, too. Also, his best friends, Jaime and Jorge (who are members--inactives) have been coming to church and stuff now! And on Sunday, Jaime passed the sacrament! So it´s just really cool to see this like chain-reaction. 

Angel and all his supporters!

So as for other things... This week we had interviews with President McMullin. They went well. I felt like crap after, cuz there is like a thousand things that I could be doing better on... But also, it was good to talk to him. At this little conference, I was expecting that the assistants brought my package... Nope. They did, however, tell me that they saw it in the office. Ok, so why didn´t you bring it??? Whatever... Haha at least I know it´s here in Paraguay, right?? So that was cool... But wait, there´s more! So like a day later, on Thursday, our district leader calls me to confirm our interview for Angel on Friday. Then he tells me, that he has my package! So I was like SOOOO happy! And sure enough, I got it on Friday! So yes.... I have recieved my package and it was so cute :) Thank you so much, mom for all the cute paper and the easter candy! It made my week a little bit better, especially cuz this week wasn´t very good for us...

Chloe doing hair on the "pamper day" last week

That sounds weird, right?? I mean, it´s really, really awesome that Angel got baptized... But as for like our lessons this week... Wow. HORRIBLE! With this cold, I´m not even kidding you, there is like NO ONE on the streets and NO ONE wants to answer the door when you clap. Plus, it like really sucks to walk around in the cold. My feet have never been colder in my life! I have most definitely been using my leggings and coat like everyday... Also, with the interview with President, I felt like a terrible missionary! I don´t know why, but it just hit me hard! But, it´s all good cuz I got over that pretty fast... So yeah.. That was my week. But it is OK! We are going to work harder and do better this week! I can feel it! Plus, we will be contacting up the wazooo this week cuz we have to do this ´´contacting on the streets´´ thing with our ward. So we are going to have like an open house for our chapel and there are going to be like different booths where we (missionaries) talk about the different things of the church. Then the Elders are going to be by the baptismal font dressed in white and they are going to explain that stuff... It´s supposed to be like the Visitor´s Center in SLC and apparently there is going to be the Christ staute here. (Or a version of it or something...) The church has done it for other wards and apparently it is like super effective. Cuz it´s supposed to be for like investigators only, so they can really get a feel for what the church is like and stuff! So we have to invited everyone to this open house this week and next week cuz it is on June 7th. Should be good! 

Well... That is all. Also I totally tried mate (pronounced--mateh) this week! Don´t worry, don´t worry... I didn´t break the rules... It was mate DULCE... Which is really just coconut in the metal cup and like super hot milk. So it didn´t have yerba in it... Which is what we are not allowed to try (as missionaries). So that was fun! Super delicious, but I most definitely burnt my tongue... Haha but it was a good week! I hate the cold and I am not looking forward to it for the next few months... But I still love being a missionary :) HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

May 19, 2014 - Week 20

Well this week was a pretty good one. I am having a blast with Hermana Morales, seriously! We get along so great and my Spanish is getting good (I think!) Mostly cuz I have to speak it ALL the time! Haha but it´s fun. We have a lot of fun together. She still says random things in english and I just love it. She also knows like a ton of songs in english so sometimes we will hear them together somewhere or she will start singing one.... It´s so funny! But yeah, things are great with her!

So this week we had a fun activity at the church for all the moms (for Dia de la Madre--which was on Thursday). The elders cooked good food for them in the kitchen while we (the hermanas) did their hair and makeup. It was like a ´´Pampering Day´´ type thing. They LOVED it. So that went really good, especially cuz about 50 moms, or so, showed up! So we were super impressed with that. Then for the rest of the week, we just have been working with some kids. Haha sounds funny, but all of our investigators that are progressing are under the age of 13! Seriously! Right before Hermana B left, we met a kid named Angel. He is 13 now (just had his birthday) and he is super interested in the church. He has a baptismal date for the 24th! (The same day as Jill´s birthday and Jade´s wedding.... Everything is that day! ;) But he really loves the church and reads the Book of Mormon and everything. It´s really cool. Plus, his sister is now interested, too. Her named is Belen and she is like 11. She went to church for the first time yesterday and absolutely loved it. She wants to get baptized as well. The only thing is, since they are underage, we had to ask their parents for permission to teach and if they want, to be baptized. We talked with their mom and she was totally cool with it! Also, I think... I KNOW that Angel and Belen will be great examples to their parents and this is the door for them as well. Their mom actually came to the Mother´s Day activity that we had and really liked it. She says she wants to come to church to see what it is like and stuff. Also, we ended up talking to their dad as well. It is hard to cuz he hasn´t been home in like a month. The thing is that he works super far in constuction and has to go different places for like a month at a time. But this weekend he was home and he was fine with us teaching his kids, too. Also, he said that if they feel like this is the right thing, he wants to go to the church, too. So that´s really awesome! It´s hard, with his job and all (in fact he just left again yesterday for another month or so...) but, I know that this is just the beginning for their family! I am so excited for them.

Through all of this, I have gained a stronger testimony of working with the members in the ward. If it weren´t for the familia Portillo (they are next-door-neighbors with this family) we wouldn´t have been able to find and teach these awesome kids. It´s really good, too, cuz I am seeing a chain reaction. Angel is best friends with some kids who are less actives and now they are coming to church again! It´s just really cool. We have Noche de Hogares (family home evenings) with the familia Portillo and all these kids like at least once a week. They love it! Also, it is stregthening our relationship with the familia Portillo. They are seriously like our best friends now. We ate lunch with them on Friday and we helped them make ñoquis (this weird noodle type thing made out of potatoes). That was fun! They put the pictures on facebook... They showed us ;) But anyways... We visit them about everyday. In fact, today for P-day, we went to their house in our REGULAR CLOTHES (jeans!) to play volleyball with all of them. It was super fun. Now there´s something hard to do... Play volleyball in Spanish. I kept saying everything in English cuz it is just easier! You don´t realize how hard it is to yell things (nice and appropriate things) in a language that isn´t your native. If that makes any sense... Hahaha so I would say things like ´´out!´´ and ´´go!´´ and stuff and all the kids were copying me... So now they know a bit more english ;) So that was super fun. 

That´s it for this week! I am looking forward to the next... This Wednesday we have interviews with President McMullin. My first one since I got here! So that should be fun. Also, I will be getting my new mission credit card this week, so no worries! ;) So yep! Things are good! LOVE YOU GUYS ALL SO MUCH! Have a grand week... Also I wanna say....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JILLY! Saturday is your birthday and I can´t believe that you are going to turn 10 years old! Wow! Where did the time go?! I hope you have the greatest day ever and always be a great example to everyone. All your friends, all your schoolmates... Everyone! I love you so much and I miss you! I will see you soon, though. We only have 13 1/2 more months left till I see you again! ;P LOVE YOU JILLIAN!!!

LOVE, HERMANA WHITTAKER

May 12, 2014 - Week 19

So this week was AWESOME! First, the fact that I got to Skype home was a dream come true. It was seriously so good to see you guys again! I loved it! It was like exactly what I needed in the moment! Seriously. Ending the call was the hardest, but it was so fun! You guys look great. It´s a little sad that I have to wait till Christmas to do it again... But look how fast 5 months went by! So it´s no biggie ;) That was definitely the highlight of my week.

 

Hermana Whittaker & Morales - new Companions!

Also, changes happened! I have a new companion, Hermana Morales. She is the best. I seriously love her with all my heart. We are already best friends and we get along great. These next 6 weeks are gonna be so fun with her! Hopefully we have 2 changes together cuz I love her! She is trying to learn English so she always says random things in English and I just love it. It is so funny... Stuff like ´´hey, man!´´ and ´´freaking´´. She is the greatest. 

So when I went to the office, I got to see like almost all of my CCM buddies! So that was super fun. We all had to go together to the Migrations Office in Asunción to sign into the country. That was a blast.... But it really was so fun to see all my friends from the CCM.

This week has been different though. I have had to show my companion around and be in charge and stuff since I know the area. It´s abeen good. I think we are gonna work super good in this area together. So she is really surprised cuz this area is like WAY bigger than her last! She was so surprised at how much we had to walk. But she loves it here too. At the beginning it was a little bit hard for her cuz she loved and missed the people in her area. But now, everything is great. Plus, the hermana that trained my companion used to be in this exact area before me! She was hermana B´s companion before hermana B trained me. So she kinda has a connection with the people already. It makes me a little bit scared for the day that I leave though cuz I love the people in Itaugua! It will be so sad! Especially if I have like 4 changes here! But it´s all good :)

So another awesome thing that happened yesterday is our new chapel opened! We had our first Sunday in the chapel in Itaugua and it was great. There were 170 people there! Which is A TON! It was so spiritual. We (us 8 missionaries of the branch) sang as a choir and it was actually really good! Then, the Presidente of the branch gave a small talk and testimony that was awesome. Then, the Presidente of the Stake which was also super awesome. Also, the Governor of the whole department in which we are located... (big deal) was there, too, and he is a member! He gave his testimony and we dedicated the chapel! It´s so pretty! Also, all the classes after were so full that there wasn´t enough room for us to go to Relief Society! (That is super cool!) So all around.. This week was awesome. 

As far as people go... We have an investigator named Angel. He (yes, he) is super awesome. He is only 13 years old (his birthday was on Sunday) but he is so interested in the church! He comes to church with the famillia Portillo (his next door neighbors) and he is reading the Book of Mormon. Also, this week we talked to his parents to ask them for permission to teach their son and if he made the choice, permission so he can be baptized. They totally gave us permission and so things are great with him! He is such a great kid and he is finding tons of friends in the church, too. His parents are super nice, but they aren´t interested in the church.... YET. I think that they will be able to see the difference in Angel´s life and then their time will come to accept the gospel. So that is what is happeneing in the investigator department. 

Hermana Whittaker & Veronica
(wearing new dress Hermana B. left her)

Today, for P-day, we went to Pizza Hut and met up with Hermana Hunt!!! It was the best ever. We were so excited to see each other! I haven´t seen her in so long! So it was really great. Then, we got frozen yogurt at this place and I felt like I was in the states again. Weird! Also we went to this place and I got a replacement battery for my watch! I needed one and now I finally have a watch again! So we had a super fun P-day today. 

That is all for this week! I am doing really great. I love you all and I can´t wait to hear from you next week! LOVE YOU FAM!

May 5, 2014 - Week 18

So let´s start out with changes. We totally found out changes yesterday before church (usually we wouldn´t find out till today..) and guess what... I am staying in my area! I honestly had no clue what was going to happen. If I would change areas or stay. All I knew was that I would be getting a latina companion. And guess what. My companion is from Uruguay! So this should be quite the new experience. I wouldn´t be surprised if my Spanish just skyrockets this change cuz that is what I will have to speak ALL the time now. Also, of course Heavenly Father will help me with the language as well... So yeah! That´s the new news I have. So now it is up to me to teach Hermana Morales (that´s her name) my area! Pretty exciting, eh? We are both senior companion as well cuz we have the same amount in the mission. She just has 4 less weeks than my when I was in the CCM, but she came with me to the mission. My feelings about all of this: well, I will most definitely miss Hermana Braunersrither. We have seriously become so close and such great friends this last change together. We laugh about everything. Seriously. And she is such a good missionary! She has honestly taught me so many things!! She is going to the area of the temple. It´s called Moroni. The first chapel in Paraguay. We go on Wednesday morning to get our new companions and stuff and I was informed that I (and my new companion) will be signing into the country as well. So that should be fun. Not really... I hear it takes like 2 or 3 hours or something... But anyways... I am excited for Hermana B! Also, I am pretty excited to see how this next change will go. It will be difficult getting used to a new companion and stuff... Especially a latin one... But I remember her from the CCM and I think she is really cool and we will get along just fine. :)

So... Other stuff. My wallet got stolen. Here is the story... So we were getting on a colectivo to go to a baptism that the Elders had on Saturday, and I was the only one with money out of me and my companion. I had a 100 mil (like $20-25 US) so I was gonna be getting a lot of change back (It only costs like 2 mil to get on). So I was waiting at the front for my change and the guy was like counting my change for me. I knew that there were a lot of people watching and stuff and I remember thinking ´´Wow.. this could be dangerous. Everyone can see my money!´´ But I just took like my 90 mil and stuck in in my wallet and put my wallet in my backpack. And I didn´t even think about it. Then we got off the colectivo and went into the church. I took my backpack off to get something out and saw that the zipper was open a little bit.... My stomach dropped. I looked in and looked up at Hermana B and said, ´´someone stole my wallet´´ (like 4 times). I just couldn´t believe it. Well, actually I could. I was just so mad at myself cuz I totally had the prompting! UGH! Especially after I had that thought that there are a lot of people watching me get like 90 mil back in change... So long story short... LISTEN TO THE SPIRIT! LISTEN TO THE PROMPTINGS! But everything is ok. The mission office knows and I hear that my card is cancelled and stuff. So we´re all good! Mostly I was just mad that there are people that would do that and I just loved that wallet! It was so cute! ;) Also, I have money for the month, so I´m not too worried about anything.

 

This week went really good! We had a great Fireside that all our investigators and the menos activos were invited to and Elder Wilhelm (of the 70) spoke. It was really good! And also, he spoke to the missionaries in our zone the next morning for our Zone Conference. It was a super good talk! His wife spoke, too. They are just great people. So that was fun. Also, we visited Veronica this week and she said something that was so cool. She first started out telling us that after she was baptized, she honestly didn´t really feel any different. She didn´t feel anything... But then she told us that after she was confirmed and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost... She felt the spirit soooo strongly and she had like goosebumps! Then she told us that since she was baptized, she just feels more like herself. I can believe it, too! She has changed so much! She is just so much more bright! She just shines every time I see her! It has seriously been the coolest process to watch her go through. She is so much happier! It´s just a huge testimony to me that the Gospel of Jesus Christ really is the ONLY thing that can bring TRUE happiness into lives. It is so crazy!

So that is about it! This week has felt like it´s gone so fast and I can´t believe that this week I'm about to experience my first real change! I hope you guys all have a fantastic week and thank you so much for always looking out for me! And helping me out, especially with the wallet situation! I wasn´t even worried about it cuz I know you guys have my back! ;) LOVE YOU LOTS! Talk to you THROUGH SKYPE tomorrow!!! Don´t forget... 5 o´clock sharp be online! I will be ready at 7 here!

Love, Hermana Whittaker