Y Bueno. Hows everybody? Did ya all have a good week? Things went surprisingly well here. Had a couple new investigators, had some sick lessons, and there weren't all that many problems here in the office. So I don't have any complaints. And should hopefully have a little more to say than last week.... lol.
We had a really good week. As far as numbers of lessons and investigators and such goes, we've had one of the most successful weeks since I've gotten here. So that was nice. Especially because it was looking kinda sketchy to start off the week - didn't really have very many investigators, didn't really have any good solid plans set up. Weren't really sure what we would end up doing. But in the end, the Lord was looking out for us and blessed us a lot. We found more new investigators this week than in the last 4 weeks combined. And they all seem like pretty cool people, so I'm excited for that. Something that I've really been liking about our companionship is that we've been trying really hard to teach to the needs of the people, and not just teach lessons. Thats something that we've always tried to do in every companionship that I've been in since the get go, but something that we're really doing a lot better now. Before, it was try and find their need, and then teach the lesson that applies most to that need, using a pamphlet that talks about the lesson, and trying to apply it to them. Now, we don't even concentrate too much on the set lessons at all. Obviously the people still need to hear the doctrine, and our lessons usually flow a lot better if we follow the general outline of the lesson plans. But rather than just getting to know people, pulling out a pamphlet and just teaching from that, we've really been trying to listen to the spirit, and start out with exactly the thing that they need at this time. Tell them how the gospel will help them. How these things or a particular scripture really applies to them. It ends in more unconventional lessons, but lessons that really seem to be helping them to open up, understand why they need these things, and why they want to change or keep listening to us. And I think thats why we had more success this week. So that was really cool to see this week. For instance, in one lesson, we didn't even have a chance to really talk at all about any of the doctrine. But that was because we spent most of the time listening to her needs, seeing how important families are to her, explaining how the gospel will bless her and her family and the like. In the end, she invited herself to church and is really excited to go. She loved hearing about how the classes work, and how every one of them (whether they're the adult, teenager, or small child), will have a chance to learn in a class according to their age level, ability to understand, and needs. It really wasn't how most lessons go, but seems as though it was EXACTLY what she needed at that time. And now we have somebody new to work with and teach. Good stuff.
We also had a super awesome experience with our long term investigator Gabriela. She is the 14 year old girl that we met a couple weeks after I showed up here in the office. At first she showed soooo much potential. She has read all of first and second Nephi. She prays consistently to know the truth. She always accepts a baptismal invitation. She came to church the very first Sunday after we met her. But then problems started showing up. First, her dad didn't support her at all. Then, her mom stopped supporting her. Neither of them want her to go to church or get baptized. And they won't talk with us either. They aren't hostile or anything, but they just aren't supportive of her at all. Well, that lead to her being confused about what she should do, what she really wanted, and what is the truth. We tried to help her see that she already new that these things are true, and always encouraged her to continue to read and pray for an answer. Well, her parents weren't changing, she hasn't been to church in over a month now because they won't let her. Things were looking pretty gloomy. So when we went to visit her this week, we were kinda going in with the intention of really making a decision of whether she was going to progress or not, and if need be, stop visiting for a time so as to not waste our time visiting somebody who isn't going to progress any more. Well, in the end we were kinda blown away by what happened in the lesson, and it definitely helped us to make up our mind. The lesson was pretty normal at first. Just verifying if she's been reading, praying, the like. Nothing too out of the ordinary. Anyways, I was just looking at her Book of Mormon and looking at some of the scriptures that she's marked. Some pretty awesome ones for sure. My favorite being Alma 30:41-44, though I didn't really realize the significance of it until later. Then I found a note that was written on a piece of paper stuck in the front. Well... I didn't want to be nosy or anything, but I'm not going to lie... I was kinda curious. haha. So while my companions were talking, I tried to read it as sneakily as I could. Well.... I got caught. lol. But fortunately that meant that I was able to hear in her own words what the note was all about. I was kind of embarrassed to have gotten caught, but it was totally worth it. She told us how she had been reading in 2 Nephi 31 where it talks about Christs baptism. She said that when she read that part, she really felt something just hit her. She KNEW that it was true. She received a strong and direct answer that let her know that these things were true. And thats what her note talked about. Thanking Heavenly Father for giving her an answer and helping her to know the truth. SUPER awesome. The only sad part being the second paragraph of her note. Where she talked about feeling guilty for having received an answer, and yet feeling like there is no way possible to follow it. So thats where we were able to step in and do our part. We shared 1 Nephi 3:7, and even though its sometimes overused a lot of times, just because it applies to so many situations, I think it really applied to her needs at the time. We talked about how the Lord will help her to find a way to accomplish what he has commanded. We talked about what she can do and what we can do to help her and her parents so that she can follow through with the answer that she has received. AWESOME. One of the coolest experiences that I've had in a while. A lot of times people receive answers by feeling the the things are good. That the Book of Mormon is true, and they feel good when they go to church. And sometimes this is a good enough answer for them. And sometimes thats how the spirit helps us to know whats true. But sometimes when thats the only answer that you've received, when the trials come along, its hard to stay strong. Thats why this situation is so awesome. She knows its true. She knows that the spirit has helped her to know that. And she knows what she has to do. So even though from here on out the road won't necessarily be the easiest, I really think that she'll be able to make the right choices because she can't deny what she's felt and learned. Super awesome. The church is true.
Had another interesting talk with somebody this week. A little bit sadder though. It was just a contact with some guy late at night. Turns out that he is an atheist and was SUPER confused about who God and Jesus Christ are and just didn't have any faith in them or in anything else really. The reason it sticks out to me was just because it was kind of how I imagined missionary work to be like before the mission. Nobody really knows what its like until they actually participate in it. But that was kind of how I had imagined it before. Here, people usually just make up dumb excuses not to listen to you. "I'm really busy right now", "How about another day", "Sorry, I'm Catholic" or my favourite "My mom says that she isn't home (or she says she's sleeping or something else ridiculous like that)". lol. We get it all the time. Or there are a lot of people that let you in to talk, but don't listen. Or aren't interested. Or don't want to change at all. Thats kind of the culture here and what we deal with day to day. Most people have a belief in Jesus Christ, but they don't REALLY know anything about him. They say they believe something, but they aren't really sure about it and don't even know what the bible says. That kinda thing. So it was interesting to actually talk to somebody that has spent time thinking and pondering over religion, but has at some point lost all testimony of everything true. Sad for sure. We tried our best, and he just shut us down. Hopefully in the future he'll come around....
We also taught a whole lesson in Guarani the other day. This is the last area that I thought I'd ever have that happen to me in, but it happened. lol. Fortunately my companions have acually practiced a descent amount each, and so they did the talking. haha. I know a bunch of short phrases and sayings, but thats all. Teaching is WAY out of my reach. So I listened. Guarani is kind of just a huge toss up in this country. It helps you connect with the people. But if you learn it, your Spanish suffers as a result. The church runs in Spanish. We were called to speak Spanish. All of our study materials are in Spanish. But its super deeply ingrained in the culture. Its interesting because the problems go even farther then that. Hardly anybody can read Guarani, not to mention write it. We're the only country that uses it. Lots of problems. So its been kinda sad to not learn much of it myself, but hopefully my Spanish can improve more and I can continue to use that for the rest of my life. In the end though, Mba'eco cheve. lol. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up a little bit more before I leave, just so that me and Elder Patterson can speak in super code when we get home. haha.
Another fun one. One of the new investigators that we met the other day talked to missionaries about 10 years ago. Went to church a bunch of times. Liked what she learned. She said that the only reason she didn't get baptized is because she didn't know that Joseph Smith was a prophet. Well. I'm sure that we can do something about that. She's surprisingly open, and basically invited herself to be baptized. We'll see how that goes. Still don't know her husband or anything. Thats usually the catch here. The dads/husbands like to destroy the progress that we often make with their families. Its sad because dads here aren't usually very good examples. They usually live to drink and they don't really respect their wives or women in general. Usually they're just kinda bums. But you occasionally find a cool one. So we're crossing our fingers on that one.
We ate fake Chinese food again for lunch today. Thats 2 weeks in a row now. Ugh. Today I shook it up a little bit though and got some squid. Hopefully it doesn't make me sick. lol. I got all better from when I was sick the other day, but then Thursday I just randomly started feeling sick again. Not sure whats up with that. Not a big deal though. Most people are basically sick for a good majority of their missions. And after being in the office for a few weeks now, I've seen how many Elders and Hermanas that really are sick, so I'm not complaining. lol
Anyways, going to get the food meant that I've now gotten your letter. Glad to hear that everyones doing well. No worries on writing late - I'm used to it now. :) haha. Congrats to the future Elder Florence. Hope he likes the cold! lol. Not going to lie - I kinda miss it. Its painfully hot and humid today. Not complaining though - We've got AC. SICK. Crasy that Emma's all old and babysittin-ish now. Staying out till all hours of the night. haha. Intense that you're all teaching a bunch of older people how to do fun stuff. We need fun activities like that around here. Fun to think that it'll be Halloween again. Nobody really seems to celebrate that here. I think too many people actually believe in zombies and ghosts for it to really be any fun. haha. How cute. Sounds like we all had a pretty spiritual week. Good to know that a)The spirits all willing to give us a hand, and b) that we're ready enough to hear him when he speaks. Wish I could be there to hear the song. That would be super cool though if you could find somebody that could come and watch on Christmas morning. Sounds like a fun week you got lined up.
Anyways, that was kinda my week. Went really well. The Lord leads this work, and I definitely have come to see his hand in it. I love being a servant of the Lord and doing his work. The church is true. He answers our prayers. Nothing is impossible if it is the will of the Lord. Love you lots and I hope that you all have a great week!
- Elder Humphreys
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
The Office - Week 7
Hello. Hows everybody? Hope you're all ready for a super exciting letter..... because it was a really crasy but not that exciting week.
I'm writing a little earlier today because I was actually able to drag myself away from the mormon.org vids easier this week and so I'm not putting off writing as much as I did last week. Don't know if anyone noticed though, but the singer from the KILLERS just made his video. Sick. Cool to see all these members with interesting stories reaching out to help people know that we're real, "normal" people too. lol.
But yeah. The most notable part of the week stems off from something that I mentioned in my last letter. That being the fever that I had when I wrote. Well.... I didn't exactly get better right away, and I was pretty sick for a good chunk of the week. So that wasn't that fun. Fortunately things weren't tooo crasy here in the office, and so there was enough time that I could take a couple naps, doctor trips and such without missing out on too much. lol. And thankfully now I'm back up to feeling about 95%. So thats nice. It was weird because up until this point, I hadn't really ever gotten too sick before. So that was annoying. Basically, the fever didn't go away. Then, when it got up to being about 102 degrees Fahrenheit I thought I should probably ask somebody what to do. The doctor lady got me to not eat and so that gave my body a chance to cook whatever bug it was that was in my stomach out, and by the next day the fever was gone. But I still had some mad stomach cramps. So that meant that I got to go to the doctor... do some....tests... and such. Fortunately it wasn't a parasite or anything. So I started taking some antibiotics and now I feel great. I ended up getting a lot skinnier because I didn't really eat anything all week either too. lol. But yeah. That kinda sucked a lot of the fun and time away. During the day I kinda just got done what needed to be done in the office (and not much more), and then rather than just sitting around all afternoon, we went out and worked, but I just kinda followed my companion around like a zombie. haha. I don't remember too much that went on because I was just putting all of my energy into pretending to smile and doing what I could to keep working until I could finally get home and crash at night. I was fun. lol.
But yeah. Honestly, that was kinda how my whole week went. It was just about being sick, and enduring through it. Fun stuff. I don't really know what else to tell you.....
Oh. I guess I could tell you about my new comp. It turns out that the Lord had different plans for us than we had originally imagined. In the end, I didn't get the companion that Elder Gustafson was warning us that we wouldn't like all that much. The Lord had mercy on us and sent us someone who has a personality much more similar to the rest of the ones that are already here in the office. So thats a relief. Obviously, its still going to be interesting to see what it'll be like to be with a guy for 6 months of my mission, but I don't see it being all that bad. The new guys name is Elder Thomson. He's from Utah (believe it or not. lol). He's pretty legit. He's got about 3 months less of mission time than I do, but he knows how to speak well, and knows whats up. That kinda leaves me as Senior comp though once Elder Gustafson leaves though, which will be interesting. We'll be in a trio for the next 2 or 3 weeks, but thats just something that you get used to working in the office, and so its not a big deal. Elder Thomson is good. Hard worker, easy to get along with etc. The funny thing is that he works on the other side of the office, and so in the last like 3 days that he's been here, I still haven't talked to him all that much, but you know. We'll be together for a while so its not a big deal. Anyways. Should be good. I got no complaints at all. So its all just full steam ahead here. Try and get the work moving along and start finding some future converts!
We had special changes this week. Thats always fun. Ran out of money, but didn't have to leave anyone penniless, thank goodness. It was fun though, because as always, we got to see everyone again. Got to say hi to Elder Patterson and everything. Rushed as always, but what can you do. Thats the sad thing about being in the office. You have to be working no matter who shows up. Oh well.
Also got to go on my first long distance drive solo. That was crasy. Had to take some future missionary to get some x-ray. Everyone was busy and so just the two of us went. That was crasy. Surprisingly I feel really comfortable driving our van, and the crasiness of the drivers here doesn't seem to bother me all that much. The annoying thing though that I learned to hate is the one was streets and everything. Everything here is terribly labelled, and there are one way streets everywhere. Situations where you can turn where you need to. Not to mention that I just still don't really know my way all around Asuncion, and I wasn't sure what roads I needed to take or be on. All in all it was an adventure. But, I still haven't crashed, so I'm doing a LOT better than about half the missionaries that get to the office. hahaha. So thats good. I'm sure I'll get it figured out soon. So thats good.
Anyways. I can't believe it, but I'm straight out of ideas. There really wasn't all that much out of the usual that happened. Maybe it was just because I was sick and I just felt like I was in a haze all week. Maybe send me a question or something that you got latter on in the day and I'll try and think of something cool that I could tell you about Paraguay. Or maybe I'll think of something cool that I forgot. Anyways. But thats if for now. Sorry. Hope you had a great week. Love you all. The mission is going great and I love every minute of it. Hope you're all getting ready for Halloween and everything. lol. Let me know how everything goes. Love you lots!
Chau!
Elder Humphreys
I'm writing a little earlier today because I was actually able to drag myself away from the mormon.org vids easier this week and so I'm not putting off writing as much as I did last week. Don't know if anyone noticed though, but the singer from the KILLERS just made his video. Sick. Cool to see all these members with interesting stories reaching out to help people know that we're real, "normal" people too. lol.
But yeah. The most notable part of the week stems off from something that I mentioned in my last letter. That being the fever that I had when I wrote. Well.... I didn't exactly get better right away, and I was pretty sick for a good chunk of the week. So that wasn't that fun. Fortunately things weren't tooo crasy here in the office, and so there was enough time that I could take a couple naps, doctor trips and such without missing out on too much. lol. And thankfully now I'm back up to feeling about 95%. So thats nice. It was weird because up until this point, I hadn't really ever gotten too sick before. So that was annoying. Basically, the fever didn't go away. Then, when it got up to being about 102 degrees Fahrenheit I thought I should probably ask somebody what to do. The doctor lady got me to not eat and so that gave my body a chance to cook whatever bug it was that was in my stomach out, and by the next day the fever was gone. But I still had some mad stomach cramps. So that meant that I got to go to the doctor... do some....tests... and such. Fortunately it wasn't a parasite or anything. So I started taking some antibiotics and now I feel great. I ended up getting a lot skinnier because I didn't really eat anything all week either too. lol. But yeah. That kinda sucked a lot of the fun and time away. During the day I kinda just got done what needed to be done in the office (and not much more), and then rather than just sitting around all afternoon, we went out and worked, but I just kinda followed my companion around like a zombie. haha. I don't remember too much that went on because I was just putting all of my energy into pretending to smile and doing what I could to keep working until I could finally get home and crash at night. I was fun. lol.
But yeah. Honestly, that was kinda how my whole week went. It was just about being sick, and enduring through it. Fun stuff. I don't really know what else to tell you.....
Oh. I guess I could tell you about my new comp. It turns out that the Lord had different plans for us than we had originally imagined. In the end, I didn't get the companion that Elder Gustafson was warning us that we wouldn't like all that much. The Lord had mercy on us and sent us someone who has a personality much more similar to the rest of the ones that are already here in the office. So thats a relief. Obviously, its still going to be interesting to see what it'll be like to be with a guy for 6 months of my mission, but I don't see it being all that bad. The new guys name is Elder Thomson. He's from Utah (believe it or not. lol). He's pretty legit. He's got about 3 months less of mission time than I do, but he knows how to speak well, and knows whats up. That kinda leaves me as Senior comp though once Elder Gustafson leaves though, which will be interesting. We'll be in a trio for the next 2 or 3 weeks, but thats just something that you get used to working in the office, and so its not a big deal. Elder Thomson is good. Hard worker, easy to get along with etc. The funny thing is that he works on the other side of the office, and so in the last like 3 days that he's been here, I still haven't talked to him all that much, but you know. We'll be together for a while so its not a big deal. Anyways. Should be good. I got no complaints at all. So its all just full steam ahead here. Try and get the work moving along and start finding some future converts!
We had special changes this week. Thats always fun. Ran out of money, but didn't have to leave anyone penniless, thank goodness. It was fun though, because as always, we got to see everyone again. Got to say hi to Elder Patterson and everything. Rushed as always, but what can you do. Thats the sad thing about being in the office. You have to be working no matter who shows up. Oh well.
Also got to go on my first long distance drive solo. That was crasy. Had to take some future missionary to get some x-ray. Everyone was busy and so just the two of us went. That was crasy. Surprisingly I feel really comfortable driving our van, and the crasiness of the drivers here doesn't seem to bother me all that much. The annoying thing though that I learned to hate is the one was streets and everything. Everything here is terribly labelled, and there are one way streets everywhere. Situations where you can turn where you need to. Not to mention that I just still don't really know my way all around Asuncion, and I wasn't sure what roads I needed to take or be on. All in all it was an adventure. But, I still haven't crashed, so I'm doing a LOT better than about half the missionaries that get to the office. hahaha. So thats good. I'm sure I'll get it figured out soon. So thats good.
Anyways. I can't believe it, but I'm straight out of ideas. There really wasn't all that much out of the usual that happened. Maybe it was just because I was sick and I just felt like I was in a haze all week. Maybe send me a question or something that you got latter on in the day and I'll try and think of something cool that I could tell you about Paraguay. Or maybe I'll think of something cool that I forgot. Anyways. But thats if for now. Sorry. Hope you had a great week. Love you all. The mission is going great and I love every minute of it. Hope you're all getting ready for Halloween and everything. lol. Let me know how everything goes. Love you lots!
Chau!
Elder Humphreys
Saturday, October 15, 2011
The Office - Week 6
Hello hello. Hows everybody? Glad to hear that you had a good week. Thanksgiving and everything went well. Not gonna lie.... Turkey and stuffing sounds super good right about now. Or to just go out and have a little picnic. Sounds legit!
My week was pretty swell too. Right now I'm kinda sick though, so that puts a bummer on things. Kinda got a fever and am all achy, but what you gonna do about it right? Thank goodness for medicine. lol.
Anyways. To tell the truth, I've been sitting here, not writing this letter for a while now. So much easier to just watch Mormon.org vids. haha. They're so much fun. But anyways, I guess I'll try and get down to business.
Probably the highlight of the week would have been Thursday. After a good long day in the office, we got to go on our temple trip. Ive been really lucky since I've been here, as I've gotten to go to the temple a few extra times more than I should have. But normally we only get to go once every 6 months. And so this was our 6 month trip. Crasy to think that 6 months have already passed since the last time we went as a mission. A really fun part too was that we showed up a little early, and got lucky enough to be able to do baptisms and confirmations before the session. And crasily enough, after making sure that they knew what we were doing, they just left a couple of us missionaries in the room to do confirmations all by ourselves. Legit. So that was fun. With the baptisms, we got to baptize another missionary a bunch of times, and then we just switched and he baptized you. And then, if that wasn't already great enough, we got to follow that up with an endowment session. All in all, classically great trip to the temple. Sad that we don't get to go more often. Hows the construction going on our temple btw? Are they all on schedule, or does it look like I'll be able to get back before its all finished?
Otherwise... what else was good. Oh. I got my license this week. SICK. So I should be ripping around the streets in no time. So far I only took it for a short trip from the assistants house to ours. Thankfully I haven't forgotten how to drive, though I am a little rusty. Hopefully I can get used to the crasy traffic and uneven streets. lol. Speaking of which, we had a really weird experience the other day, when we were out working with a member. We came around the corner to find some guy lieing on the street. Turns out that for one reason or another he had fallen of his motorbike. I thought he was dead for a second because we couldn't see him that well, but thankfully he was fine, just a little shaken up. Well honestly less than 10 minutes later, we see some other guy on his bike just drive right into the back of a van and wipe out on his bike. Thats Paraguayan rush hour for you. lol. Thankfully that guy was fine too. The member just helped him pick up his bike, and within 30 seconds the firefighters were there to help him out (they were on their way to help the other guy that had wiped out. Ironic. lol). Anyways, it was just kinda weird because its not everyday that you see 2 accidents. Not to mention within a couple blocks and minutes of each other.
The work was good this week. I enjoy working with Elder Gustafson. We get along, he's got great work ethic, and excellent taste in music. lol. Unfortunately, we're still busy looking for the people that have been prepared to receive our message... and they are doing a pretty good job of hiding from us. Are best investigator is having a really hard time right now... her parents don't really want anything to do with the church, and aren't supporting her at all. And so even though she knows and testifies that the book of mormon is true, and everything like that, she's still just really confused about what she should do. Hard for somebody thats only 14 or 15 years old to go against everything they've grown up learning and everything that their family is teaching and telling them and just going off on their own. So yeah. We've been working a lot with what members we have that live in our area and trying to get them to help out and invite their friends and stuff. Hopefully we have success with that. It was interesting because when President Arnold (area president) was here, he told the assistants to tell me that OFFICE ELDERS BAPTIZE. How we're some of the most seen missionaries in the mission, and that because of that we have to set a good example. Not just complain because we have a hard area. So we're doing everything that we can to help bring that to pass. We also had our quarterly interviews with President this week. That was really nice. He also talked about the same sort of things. So hopefully you're all praying for us. lol. Because we're going to need all the help we can get. Theres got to be people out there that are ready for the gospel. We just have to find them and help them come unto Christ.
Oh. I was told to ask if anyone knows/knew Don McKay. Apparently he was the mayor of Calgary back in the day. We had to go to the south mission to borrow some copies of the book of mormon (somehow we ran out...), and the other Financiero that is working there said it was his Grandpa or something like that. I dunno. I've never heard of him. lol.
I learned another cool thing about the office this week. Being in the office helps you grow a lot bigger appreciation for President and everything that he does. I was talking to an old office elder about his time in the office, and he was telling me all of the things that he learned from President and totally started to notice that. I also see how hard he works day in and day out. I don't think he ever just stops to take a break. The thing that really made me realize it though was when we were in a lesson with the ward mission leader. Hes a good guy, but he's only half active and he's ALWAYS complaining to us about all of his problems and how he doesn't want to help us anymore. So its been a lesson of patience with this guy all along. But he didn't REALLY try our patience until he started complaining about how much he liked the old president of the mission, and how mad he is that President doesn't have time to make him feel happy all of the time. And then he just said "oh, well its probably not his fault. Those curepas just do things differently." (curepa being the derogatory guarani word that they use to talk about Argentinians. I think it means pigs or something like that). Wow. We almost just lost it on him. It made me realize how much respect that I've grown to have for President during the course of my mission. It was like somebody talking trash about your family right to your face. Come on. Ridiculous.
Got to go to the airport. Again. Seems like its something I should get used to, because I'll be doing it a lot. It was a Paraguayan Elder thats been waiting months to get his visa to Portugal. While he's been here though, I got to know him pretty well though. Sad to see another acquaintance go.... Just for future self reference, his name is Elder Aguilar. Just so I can look him up on Fb once I get home or something. lol
Food of the week: A desert that brought back good memories of Cheese-whiz and jam sadwiches. haha. It was this interesting Argentinan desert where they take this fruit stuff that is basically jam, and then wrap it in cheese. Kinda weird. Wasn't my favorite. But made me think of the good old days. lol.
But yeah. I'm out of ideas. I think I'm going to go take a nap or something. My head hurts. lol. We lose p-day time today because there is some Pre-stake conference meeting that we have to go to on special request of the area 70. The joys of saturday p-days. haha. But it should be good. Can't beat 70 visits. Anyways, hope you all have a great week. Enjoy work and school and whatever you do in your free time. I'm doing great and having a blast. Love ya lots!
Elder Humphreys
My week was pretty swell too. Right now I'm kinda sick though, so that puts a bummer on things. Kinda got a fever and am all achy, but what you gonna do about it right? Thank goodness for medicine. lol.
Anyways. To tell the truth, I've been sitting here, not writing this letter for a while now. So much easier to just watch Mormon.org vids. haha. They're so much fun. But anyways, I guess I'll try and get down to business.
Probably the highlight of the week would have been Thursday. After a good long day in the office, we got to go on our temple trip. Ive been really lucky since I've been here, as I've gotten to go to the temple a few extra times more than I should have. But normally we only get to go once every 6 months. And so this was our 6 month trip. Crasy to think that 6 months have already passed since the last time we went as a mission. A really fun part too was that we showed up a little early, and got lucky enough to be able to do baptisms and confirmations before the session. And crasily enough, after making sure that they knew what we were doing, they just left a couple of us missionaries in the room to do confirmations all by ourselves. Legit. So that was fun. With the baptisms, we got to baptize another missionary a bunch of times, and then we just switched and he baptized you. And then, if that wasn't already great enough, we got to follow that up with an endowment session. All in all, classically great trip to the temple. Sad that we don't get to go more often. Hows the construction going on our temple btw? Are they all on schedule, or does it look like I'll be able to get back before its all finished?
Otherwise... what else was good. Oh. I got my license this week. SICK. So I should be ripping around the streets in no time. So far I only took it for a short trip from the assistants house to ours. Thankfully I haven't forgotten how to drive, though I am a little rusty. Hopefully I can get used to the crasy traffic and uneven streets. lol. Speaking of which, we had a really weird experience the other day, when we were out working with a member. We came around the corner to find some guy lieing on the street. Turns out that for one reason or another he had fallen of his motorbike. I thought he was dead for a second because we couldn't see him that well, but thankfully he was fine, just a little shaken up. Well honestly less than 10 minutes later, we see some other guy on his bike just drive right into the back of a van and wipe out on his bike. Thats Paraguayan rush hour for you. lol. Thankfully that guy was fine too. The member just helped him pick up his bike, and within 30 seconds the firefighters were there to help him out (they were on their way to help the other guy that had wiped out. Ironic. lol). Anyways, it was just kinda weird because its not everyday that you see 2 accidents. Not to mention within a couple blocks and minutes of each other.
The work was good this week. I enjoy working with Elder Gustafson. We get along, he's got great work ethic, and excellent taste in music. lol. Unfortunately, we're still busy looking for the people that have been prepared to receive our message... and they are doing a pretty good job of hiding from us. Are best investigator is having a really hard time right now... her parents don't really want anything to do with the church, and aren't supporting her at all. And so even though she knows and testifies that the book of mormon is true, and everything like that, she's still just really confused about what she should do. Hard for somebody thats only 14 or 15 years old to go against everything they've grown up learning and everything that their family is teaching and telling them and just going off on their own. So yeah. We've been working a lot with what members we have that live in our area and trying to get them to help out and invite their friends and stuff. Hopefully we have success with that. It was interesting because when President Arnold (area president) was here, he told the assistants to tell me that OFFICE ELDERS BAPTIZE. How we're some of the most seen missionaries in the mission, and that because of that we have to set a good example. Not just complain because we have a hard area. So we're doing everything that we can to help bring that to pass. We also had our quarterly interviews with President this week. That was really nice. He also talked about the same sort of things. So hopefully you're all praying for us. lol. Because we're going to need all the help we can get. Theres got to be people out there that are ready for the gospel. We just have to find them and help them come unto Christ.
Oh. I was told to ask if anyone knows/knew Don McKay. Apparently he was the mayor of Calgary back in the day. We had to go to the south mission to borrow some copies of the book of mormon (somehow we ran out...), and the other Financiero that is working there said it was his Grandpa or something like that. I dunno. I've never heard of him. lol.
I learned another cool thing about the office this week. Being in the office helps you grow a lot bigger appreciation for President and everything that he does. I was talking to an old office elder about his time in the office, and he was telling me all of the things that he learned from President and totally started to notice that. I also see how hard he works day in and day out. I don't think he ever just stops to take a break. The thing that really made me realize it though was when we were in a lesson with the ward mission leader. Hes a good guy, but he's only half active and he's ALWAYS complaining to us about all of his problems and how he doesn't want to help us anymore. So its been a lesson of patience with this guy all along. But he didn't REALLY try our patience until he started complaining about how much he liked the old president of the mission, and how mad he is that President doesn't have time to make him feel happy all of the time. And then he just said "oh, well its probably not his fault. Those curepas just do things differently." (curepa being the derogatory guarani word that they use to talk about Argentinians. I think it means pigs or something like that). Wow. We almost just lost it on him. It made me realize how much respect that I've grown to have for President during the course of my mission. It was like somebody talking trash about your family right to your face. Come on. Ridiculous.
Got to go to the airport. Again. Seems like its something I should get used to, because I'll be doing it a lot. It was a Paraguayan Elder thats been waiting months to get his visa to Portugal. While he's been here though, I got to know him pretty well though. Sad to see another acquaintance go.... Just for future self reference, his name is Elder Aguilar. Just so I can look him up on Fb once I get home or something. lol
Food of the week: A desert that brought back good memories of Cheese-whiz and jam sadwiches. haha. It was this interesting Argentinan desert where they take this fruit stuff that is basically jam, and then wrap it in cheese. Kinda weird. Wasn't my favorite. But made me think of the good old days. lol.
But yeah. I'm out of ideas. I think I'm going to go take a nap or something. My head hurts. lol. We lose p-day time today because there is some Pre-stake conference meeting that we have to go to on special request of the area 70. The joys of saturday p-days. haha. But it should be good. Can't beat 70 visits. Anyways, hope you all have a great week. Enjoy work and school and whatever you do in your free time. I'm doing great and having a blast. Love ya lots!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
The Office - Week 5
Hope all's well back at home. Things went fantastically this week. Spent the beginning of the week recovering from the change week disaster. But now things are good and tranquilo again. So thats really nice. Should have a little more time to breath, think, organize my office how I like it. That kinda thing. The week before wasn't even thaaat bad. Just stressful and tons of things to think about and worry about. But things are getting a lot more comfortable now here in the office. I'm well on my own, and so far there haven't been any problems too big that they couldn't be fixed. lol.
But yeah. Obviously the highlight of the week was General Conference. Super good. The only lame part being that none of our investigators were able to see it with us. Thats the problem with agency. lol. Oh well. We even got really lucky and were able to use the van to our advantage - Priesthood session doesn't start till 8pm here, and since its already dark and people usually have to walk home they don't usually show it till the next morning. But we were able to go to another chapel a little ways away and watch it there. Super good. Got to see some other parts of the mission that I still hadn't seen yet. Sick. Not only that, but being at the computer all day I'm able to relisten to the talks whenever I want. Super crasy to think that there will be 2 temples in Provo now! Lucky BYU kids.... Anyways, I forgot all my notes at home and which talks were my favorite. But I think one of my favorite things was all the missionary things that they talked about. Such as how Elder Callister talked about the book of mormon teaching us new ways to teach, or talking about things just like we teach as missionaries. Or Elder Yamashitas talk about missionaries in general. Always fun to hear talks all about you! lol. Even the talks that I would usually find less interesting (such as the ones from the Relief Society or Young womens) Even the talks that I would usually find less interesting (such as the ones from the Relief Society or Young womens) seemed interesting or applicable. Sick.
But yeah. What else. We kinda missed out on our P-day, so nothing really to report there. Even though I can't think of anything better to do on your free day then to watch GenCon. We did lose an hour of sleep here in Paraguay though Saturday night as the time changed. That was rough as always. lol. I think that means that we're further apart in time now but I'm not sure. It didn't change back home did it?
But yeah. Not so sure what to say about the week. Lots of work in the office. Picked up some new checks at the bank, payed a lot of rent, got a BUNCH of phone calls about people who were all worried because they didn't have money on their cards yet..... blah. I won't bore you with the details. I'm sure there was something though.... Oh. Apparently we'll be in a threesome again in a week or so here. Elder Gustafson is out and will be back in the real world next change here, and so his replacement will be in in next week to start his training. Im scared. Not even joking. haha. It wouldn't even be that big of a deal, but there are some situations with time and everything that make it crasier. Basically, I thought I'd be with Elder Gustafson longer. And not gunna lie, I'm kinda sad he's leaving because I've really enjoyed working with him. He's a good kid. Tries hard and knows how to be a missionary. But is also fun to be around. Anyways, but now that he's leaving that REALLY changes things. Because when you come to the office, you know that you'll be here for a while. And so that also means that if Elder Gustafson is leaving so soon, that I'll be with my next comp for a LONG time. haha. Like 6 months or so. So basically I'm just scared because I know that we'll be together for a while. So I hope you're praying for me and that President makes the right decision! lol. I'm sure it'll be fine. Obviously the Lord will put me with the person that I need to be with at this time. I just hope that He has a blessing ready for me, and not a trial lined up. I guess we'll see! haha.
Oh just a random, business-y thought. But you asked the other week if I had any Christmas package ideas. Well, I like being surprised, and so I'm not going to tell you what you should send me. As a matter of fact, you don't have to send me anything if you don't want. lol. My only thought would be that there is one thing that would be really nice to have - more contacts? :) Doing the math, I think that with what I have right now, I'll probably be... about 7 months short of contacts. And I'd just wear glasses, but when you get super sweaty during the summer months (its basically summer again already. Ugh. Its HOT!), glasses don't really like staying on your face. haha. Gross, I know. Anyways, that would just be my only thought. Maybe I could just find a place that sells them around here. I dunno. But yeah.
Our investigators are doing.... good. Gabriela (the real cool one from the other week), is doing good. The only problem is that her dad is really lame, and is stopping her from doing what she knows is right, and doing what she wants to do. So thats kinda lame. Thats one of the biggest problems here. By the time people get all grown up, they usually are just way too hardheaded and unopen to new ideas. Thats why I think that the real future of the church here is the youth. In most of the wards I've seen, the youth are the strongest part of the ward. The only problem with that is that when there isn't support from parents, its really hard to do what you know to be right. Makes things tricky. Oh well. We'll see what happens. We found another cool person this week though. We'll see how she progresses. Shes an older lady that told us about how she's confused about who God is and what he wants from her. So thats kinda cool. Also met an American lady that spoke English. That was crasy. Turns out that its really hard to talk the gospel in English after doing it so long in Spanish. haha. But it turned out well and she said we could come back. Apparently she's Buddhist (something I haven't seen in my whole time in Paraguay), but that she is also kinda confused about everything. So thats cool. We'll see how it all goes. Its kinda sad to think about: most people in the mission get 15 or 20 new investigators every week.... we got really happy when yesterday we got our first one. :( But, thats how it goes. We do what we can. Stay positive, do what we can do, and let the Lord do the rest. Hopefully we can find some success something here in the future. This area typically doesn't baptize very many people each year, but we're hoping to change that around.
Yeah. I'm out of ideas. Dang it. You'll have to start sending me more Paraguayan or missionary questions again like back in the MTC. Idea starters of sorts. Lame, I know. I'll try and start being more creative. Maybe if I think of something this afternoon I'll send you a shout. After we see how the Mexican restaurant we found turns out to be. Mmmmm. Mexican. Anyways. That was kinda my week. Hope you're all doing well. If you got time, you can still mail me! Love ya, have a great week!
Elder Humphreys
Additional information
As for the office, there are normally 4 of us that run the show. There is me - I obviously work with the money and pay for everything as needed. Then there is the real secretary (elder gustafson). He's in charge of Pasports, making sure people are here legally, that the meetings are planned and organized. Basically that everything runs smoothly here in the office, and that everybody knows whats up. (he's the one thats next to me in the pic that I sent). Then there is the administrator of materials/mailman. Thats Elder Thornton (the one sitting down with the pinkish tie). He's in charge of going and picking up mail, making sure that it gets to everyone, that we also have all the BoM's and pamphlets that we need, and also is in charge of the cell phones. Lastly, we have Elder Pearson (the one doing the pushup lol). I don't know how to translate the name of his job into English... the registrator? lol. Basically, he puts all of the baptismal records into the computer. And works with the contracts to peoples houses. Basically, his job is the boringest. haha. And then there are the 2 assistants (the mexican in the background and the white guy in the front) Elder Cerda, and Christen repectively. They..... in reality, I don't know what they do. hahaha. They kinda just plan for meetings and what they will share to help everyone teach better and be better missionaries. They usually have more time to work in their area then we do. lol. The other guy in the picture is Elder Cerpa (my office daddy). He went way out far to a place called Concepcion. But I get to call him all the time when I have dumb little questions that I want answers to. haha. Besides that, there is just President and his wife. They.. do there things. The Hermana is kinda in charge of just making sure that everybody is happy, that they have the beds and fridges and whatnot in their houses that work and such. She also aproves all the rent changes, and house movings. Stuff like that. President runs everything. Signs all of my checks. Checks up with zone leaders. Does interviews. Plans meetings with the assistants. Makes all the changes. That kinda thing. But yeah. Basically thats the office. We got one other guy just helping out right now, but just doing little things. Y así es no más.
Dang it. I wrote down the other day the total numbers, but then I forgot. I'll count really quick................... Something like 270 missionaries of which there are16 sister missionaries, 1 senior couple that works the field, and i dunno. Just under a total of 30 latinos. Something like that. Sorry, not very acurate.
As for my job. Yeah. A lot is just getting back money to missionaries that had to travel. Reimbursing people for things like filling up the van, water and electric bills, buying cleaning materials, when they had to make repairs. I also pay for bigger things like the maintanance of the office here, rents (sometimes) for peoples houses, new ACs or matresses, whatever it be. All of that has to be recorded and verified. That takes a lot of time. Als have to make runs to the bank about 3 times a week. I also do little things like make the changes official in the computer or keep records of people that payed bills. Sometimes send money through the mail. Yeah. Stuff like that. Basically print checks, hand out money, and then make proof of why I did it and that I'm not stealing money. haha.
As for personal money. Just goes mostly to food. To pay someone to wash clothes (unless you have a washing machine :), random bus rides you take. That kinda thing.
In responce to What is your mission famous for ?
Im not sure what our mission is.... I know that it USED to be the most baptizing mission in the world (SUPPOSEDLY). However, at the same time it was super unobedient, and just a big disaster. Now... we're in recovery mode. Don't baptize like before, but the people are starting to have a lot more regard for the rules. Not too many missionaries that are HUGE disasters like before. We just kinda keep it real. haha. I'd say its stinkin hot though.
Elder Gustafson is from Arizona (Gilbert I think), and he likes the cheaper non-name brand frosted flakes. I'm still more of a name brand guy personally. Good kid.
But yeah. Obviously the highlight of the week was General Conference. Super good. The only lame part being that none of our investigators were able to see it with us. Thats the problem with agency. lol. Oh well. We even got really lucky and were able to use the van to our advantage - Priesthood session doesn't start till 8pm here, and since its already dark and people usually have to walk home they don't usually show it till the next morning. But we were able to go to another chapel a little ways away and watch it there. Super good. Got to see some other parts of the mission that I still hadn't seen yet. Sick. Not only that, but being at the computer all day I'm able to relisten to the talks whenever I want. Super crasy to think that there will be 2 temples in Provo now! Lucky BYU kids.... Anyways, I forgot all my notes at home and which talks were my favorite. But I think one of my favorite things was all the missionary things that they talked about. Such as how Elder Callister talked about the book of mormon teaching us new ways to teach, or talking about things just like we teach as missionaries. Or Elder Yamashitas talk about missionaries in general. Always fun to hear talks all about you! lol. Even the talks that I would usually find less interesting (such as the ones from the Relief Society or Young womens) Even the talks that I would usually find less interesting (such as the ones from the Relief Society or Young womens) seemed interesting or applicable. Sick.
But yeah. What else. We kinda missed out on our P-day, so nothing really to report there. Even though I can't think of anything better to do on your free day then to watch GenCon. We did lose an hour of sleep here in Paraguay though Saturday night as the time changed. That was rough as always. lol. I think that means that we're further apart in time now but I'm not sure. It didn't change back home did it?
But yeah. Not so sure what to say about the week. Lots of work in the office. Picked up some new checks at the bank, payed a lot of rent, got a BUNCH of phone calls about people who were all worried because they didn't have money on their cards yet..... blah. I won't bore you with the details. I'm sure there was something though.... Oh. Apparently we'll be in a threesome again in a week or so here. Elder Gustafson is out and will be back in the real world next change here, and so his replacement will be in in next week to start his training. Im scared. Not even joking. haha. It wouldn't even be that big of a deal, but there are some situations with time and everything that make it crasier. Basically, I thought I'd be with Elder Gustafson longer. And not gunna lie, I'm kinda sad he's leaving because I've really enjoyed working with him. He's a good kid. Tries hard and knows how to be a missionary. But is also fun to be around. Anyways, but now that he's leaving that REALLY changes things. Because when you come to the office, you know that you'll be here for a while. And so that also means that if Elder Gustafson is leaving so soon, that I'll be with my next comp for a LONG time. haha. Like 6 months or so. So basically I'm just scared because I know that we'll be together for a while. So I hope you're praying for me and that President makes the right decision! lol. I'm sure it'll be fine. Obviously the Lord will put me with the person that I need to be with at this time. I just hope that He has a blessing ready for me, and not a trial lined up. I guess we'll see! haha.
Oh just a random, business-y thought. But you asked the other week if I had any Christmas package ideas. Well, I like being surprised, and so I'm not going to tell you what you should send me. As a matter of fact, you don't have to send me anything if you don't want. lol. My only thought would be that there is one thing that would be really nice to have - more contacts? :) Doing the math, I think that with what I have right now, I'll probably be... about 7 months short of contacts. And I'd just wear glasses, but when you get super sweaty during the summer months (its basically summer again already. Ugh. Its HOT!), glasses don't really like staying on your face. haha. Gross, I know. Anyways, that would just be my only thought. Maybe I could just find a place that sells them around here. I dunno. But yeah.
Our investigators are doing.... good. Gabriela (the real cool one from the other week), is doing good. The only problem is that her dad is really lame, and is stopping her from doing what she knows is right, and doing what she wants to do. So thats kinda lame. Thats one of the biggest problems here. By the time people get all grown up, they usually are just way too hardheaded and unopen to new ideas. Thats why I think that the real future of the church here is the youth. In most of the wards I've seen, the youth are the strongest part of the ward. The only problem with that is that when there isn't support from parents, its really hard to do what you know to be right. Makes things tricky. Oh well. We'll see what happens. We found another cool person this week though. We'll see how she progresses. Shes an older lady that told us about how she's confused about who God is and what he wants from her. So thats kinda cool. Also met an American lady that spoke English. That was crasy. Turns out that its really hard to talk the gospel in English after doing it so long in Spanish. haha. But it turned out well and she said we could come back. Apparently she's Buddhist (something I haven't seen in my whole time in Paraguay), but that she is also kinda confused about everything. So thats cool. We'll see how it all goes. Its kinda sad to think about: most people in the mission get 15 or 20 new investigators every week.... we got really happy when yesterday we got our first one. :( But, thats how it goes. We do what we can. Stay positive, do what we can do, and let the Lord do the rest. Hopefully we can find some success something here in the future. This area typically doesn't baptize very many people each year, but we're hoping to change that around.
Yeah. I'm out of ideas. Dang it. You'll have to start sending me more Paraguayan or missionary questions again like back in the MTC. Idea starters of sorts. Lame, I know. I'll try and start being more creative. Maybe if I think of something this afternoon I'll send you a shout. After we see how the Mexican restaurant we found turns out to be. Mmmmm. Mexican. Anyways. That was kinda my week. Hope you're all doing well. If you got time, you can still mail me! Love ya, have a great week!
Elder Humphreys
Additional information
As for the office, there are normally 4 of us that run the show. There is me - I obviously work with the money and pay for everything as needed. Then there is the real secretary (elder gustafson). He's in charge of Pasports, making sure people are here legally, that the meetings are planned and organized. Basically that everything runs smoothly here in the office, and that everybody knows whats up. (he's the one thats next to me in the pic that I sent). Then there is the administrator of materials/mailman. Thats Elder Thornton (the one sitting down with the pinkish tie). He's in charge of going and picking up mail, making sure that it gets to everyone, that we also have all the BoM's and pamphlets that we need, and also is in charge of the cell phones. Lastly, we have Elder Pearson (the one doing the pushup lol). I don't know how to translate the name of his job into English... the registrator? lol. Basically, he puts all of the baptismal records into the computer. And works with the contracts to peoples houses. Basically, his job is the boringest. haha. And then there are the 2 assistants (the mexican in the background and the white guy in the front) Elder Cerda, and Christen repectively. They..... in reality, I don't know what they do. hahaha. They kinda just plan for meetings and what they will share to help everyone teach better and be better missionaries. They usually have more time to work in their area then we do. lol. The other guy in the picture is Elder Cerpa (my office daddy). He went way out far to a place called Concepcion. But I get to call him all the time when I have dumb little questions that I want answers to. haha. Besides that, there is just President and his wife. They.. do there things. The Hermana is kinda in charge of just making sure that everybody is happy, that they have the beds and fridges and whatnot in their houses that work and such. She also aproves all the rent changes, and house movings. Stuff like that. President runs everything. Signs all of my checks. Checks up with zone leaders. Does interviews. Plans meetings with the assistants. Makes all the changes. That kinda thing. But yeah. Basically thats the office. We got one other guy just helping out right now, but just doing little things. Y así es no más.
Dang it. I wrote down the other day the total numbers, but then I forgot. I'll count really quick................... Something like 270 missionaries of which there are16 sister missionaries, 1 senior couple that works the field, and i dunno. Just under a total of 30 latinos. Something like that. Sorry, not very acurate.
As for my job. Yeah. A lot is just getting back money to missionaries that had to travel. Reimbursing people for things like filling up the van, water and electric bills, buying cleaning materials, when they had to make repairs. I also pay for bigger things like the maintanance of the office here, rents (sometimes) for peoples houses, new ACs or matresses, whatever it be. All of that has to be recorded and verified. That takes a lot of time. Als have to make runs to the bank about 3 times a week. I also do little things like make the changes official in the computer or keep records of people that payed bills. Sometimes send money through the mail. Yeah. Stuff like that. Basically print checks, hand out money, and then make proof of why I did it and that I'm not stealing money. haha.
As for personal money. Just goes mostly to food. To pay someone to wash clothes (unless you have a washing machine :), random bus rides you take. That kinda thing.
In responce to What is your mission famous for ?
Im not sure what our mission is.... I know that it USED to be the most baptizing mission in the world (SUPPOSEDLY). However, at the same time it was super unobedient, and just a big disaster. Now... we're in recovery mode. Don't baptize like before, but the people are starting to have a lot more regard for the rules. Not too many missionaries that are HUGE disasters like before. We just kinda keep it real. haha. I'd say its stinkin hot though.
Elder Gustafson is from Arizona (Gilbert I think), and he likes the cheaper non-name brand frosted flakes. I'm still more of a name brand guy personally. Good kid.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
The Office - Week 4
Howdy howdy. Who's excited for conference?!? I AM! lol. Glad to hear that you all had a great week. My week was.... kinda good too. haha. Congratulations to cache. Crasy that everyone is growing up so stinkin fast. Glad your trip to Edmonton and the like went superbly. Glad you liked the photo. I think we'll be making more in the future. Don't think we'll have an album ready any time soon, but we do occasionally make a "missionary chronicles" video every now and again to have a record of some of the crasy things that go down. This morning for instance, the whole road was completely flooded and was just a big old river running down the street. The sewer system could use a little help here. lol.
I liked the design for the stone btw. Its classy, the design looks legit, and I think it'll fit nicely. Good choice
Anyways, I guess I should explain myself. This week was... interesting. As I mentioned, this week was changes. Changes are usually pretty tranquilo.... if you aren't in the office. Otherwise.... its basically just madness. lol. The first few days were alright, but wednesday and thursday. UGH. haha. I don't think I've been that stressed or short tempered in a long time. haha. Good times. Thankfully we get a break for the next 6 weeks before we have to do it again. I think too that the biggest problem was that there was just SO MANY new kids (29 in total), that there was just so much to do. And it was the end of the month and nobody had money. Fortunately the biggest part of it is all over now. I'm just working on cleaning up all the messes that got made during the craziest parts. Speaking of which - I'm all on my own now. Elder Cerpa left, and its just me in charge of working the finances now. Crasy. I still can and do call him every now and again for advice and whatnot, but he's no longer here with me in every moment like he was before. Flying solo. Hopefully I don't mess anything up now, because I don't even have anyone left to lay the blame on if something goes wrong. hahaha. JKs.
But yeah. Monday was really tranquilo. Nothing to report there. Tuesday was were it all started. Fortunately it wasn't too stressful then. I got to go visit the south mission so we could borrow their van. That was kinda fun. Got to see a whole nother view on mission life. Their office is totally different. The people are different. The way things run are different. It was all just kinda different. Makes you glad to know that your calling was based on revelation, because it seems like even though the gospel will always be the same, and that the basics are always the same, the experiences that you have in other each mission are kinda different. Good to know that I'm in the place perfect for me, my needs, and the needs of the people here.
DANG IT. Bad time management on my part. Our pday is kinda getting all messed up with conference and stuff and now I'm not going to have nearly the same amount of time to write. NOOOO! Theres so many things to tell. We'll see what I can get to.
Anyways. Tuesday went well. There wasn't much for my job that day, and so I just went about helping. Got to go to the airport and pick up the newbies. Thats cool. To be part of somebodies first impression of Paraguay is cool (hopefully it was a good one). I got to be the tourguide for their first half hour in Paraguay. lol. Later, had to give a presentation on using money wisely, and how you get money out etc. Good stuff. Had a big old feast. That was super cool - the best part being that the guy who cooked it all was one of Elder Pattersons recent converts. SICK! Didn't talk to him much (mostly just about money), but I was super suprised when I found out. He cooks really good. lol.
Make a BIG mess up though either monday or tuesday. Man it was scary. Gmail asked me for my birthday just out of the blue when I logged on. Wasn't really expecting it and didn't think it important. Well I thought wrong. Being just an office email, I just decided to make whatever up. So I put in the 1st of Jan 2000. Well it turns out that people born on that day are still not 13 years old, and that people less than 13 years old are not authorized to have a gmail account. Locked out permanently. AH! Out of nowhere things went from being bien tranquilo to a big disaster. I use the email all the time, and even more, the attached callendar. I was freaking out. lol. Thankfully, rather than trying to hide my "sins" or ignore the fact that I had messed up, I manned up, got my comp to help me with it, and we were able to get it all worked out. It only took google 2 days or so to fix it. lol. But better late than never. Moral of the story: lieing isn't good. Don't do it. Even if its just to some stupid computer program. There are always consequences. haha.
But yeah. That was fun to be a part of everything. A bunch of the newbs slept in our house, which meant that I had to sleep on the floor but whatever, fun to be a part of all that. Wednesday on the other hand. Thats where the fun ended. haha. Probably one of the craziest days of my life. I showed up at the office and there was already a huge line of people that needed money. I had to help each and every one of them to have the money that they needed to pay their taxis and get to their new areas. And yeah... it coulda been worse. But then it did get worse when I realized that we were starting to get seriously short on money. I made sure I had extra before hand just for changes, but it wasn't nearly enough. With so many new guys and so many people getting changed I emptied it out SUPER fast. So I had to do all this super quick money managing with people to find ways for them to get home while giving them the least amount of money possible. All while under a huge time crunch so that they didn't miss their buses. Nobody had hardly any money at all because it was the end of the month. And then, after that was all good and done, I still had to buy a fridge, pay somebodies rent etc etc. I was freaking out. haha. The life of the oficinistas. Needless to say that we've all been a little crabby and short tempered lately. So that was basically my fun day. I didn't get to leave the office to go work because I was so busy and so I almost worked from 8 in the morning to 9 and night. Crasy.
Then that night we had to get up at 3 to drop the latino missionaries at the airport. That was fun/tiring. Said goodbye to Elder Villalon.
Thursday day was better. More tranquilo. But I was still kinda anxious all day because it was a Paraguayan holiday, and I couldn't take out money. The best parts though were the morning. Got to take the dieing missionaries to the airport. Dropped off Elder Call and a couple other people I was good friends with. Got to be with them right until the end. The saddest part was that I thought I'd have tonnes of time to say goodbye, and then they almost missed their plane and I didn't even really get to make a proper goodbye. But oh well. They say hi btw. The other really cool part is that all of the youth from Mariano (my second area) were there to say goodbye to a bunch of people. So even though I wasn't going home, I got to talk to them and see how they were doing. The coolest people being Diego and Araceli Bogarin. One of our converts and his sister. One of my favorite families in all of Paraguay. SICK.
Also, President took us out to lunch as a "thanks for all your hard work". That was really nice of him. Got to eat chineese again. And I cant believe that I forgot! - Last time that I was there, you wouldn't believe what cool thing we got to eat. Pigs ear. Legit. It was... alright. I didn't have it again this time. We just suck to cooked seaweed to be exciting instead.
Anyways, after that things tranquiloed out good. There are still a lot of little messes to clean up after changes and stuff, but now that my email works, my office doesn't have people in it looking for money, and my safe is full, I feel a lot better. haha. Not excited for next changes. lol. But meh. A little stress never hurt anyone right? I think I'm better for it. I thought it was ironic that lately in my studies I've been reading on when Joseph Smith was in Liberty jail. And how his afflictions would be for just a moment. Thats how it rolls in the office. haha. But yup. Doing good now.
Anyways, still more to say, but I think we have to go. Happy Birthday Jaclyn, have a good one! Enjoy conference and apply what you learn! Things are doing good here and I'm having a great time, even though its not always super easy. We're hoping to have an investigator or two in the conference, but its not looking too good. lol. The streets have been flooded (seriously) all morning. My shoes are SOAKED. haha. Its fun though. We did some hard core missionary-ing to go find an investigator in the storm. Good times and memories. Así es la vida! Have a good day/week! I love you!
Elder Humphreys
I liked the design for the stone btw. Its classy, the design looks legit, and I think it'll fit nicely. Good choice
Anyways, I guess I should explain myself. This week was... interesting. As I mentioned, this week was changes. Changes are usually pretty tranquilo.... if you aren't in the office. Otherwise.... its basically just madness. lol. The first few days were alright, but wednesday and thursday. UGH. haha. I don't think I've been that stressed or short tempered in a long time. haha. Good times. Thankfully we get a break for the next 6 weeks before we have to do it again. I think too that the biggest problem was that there was just SO MANY new kids (29 in total), that there was just so much to do. And it was the end of the month and nobody had money. Fortunately the biggest part of it is all over now. I'm just working on cleaning up all the messes that got made during the craziest parts. Speaking of which - I'm all on my own now. Elder Cerpa left, and its just me in charge of working the finances now. Crasy. I still can and do call him every now and again for advice and whatnot, but he's no longer here with me in every moment like he was before. Flying solo. Hopefully I don't mess anything up now, because I don't even have anyone left to lay the blame on if something goes wrong. hahaha. JKs.
But yeah. Monday was really tranquilo. Nothing to report there. Tuesday was were it all started. Fortunately it wasn't too stressful then. I got to go visit the south mission so we could borrow their van. That was kinda fun. Got to see a whole nother view on mission life. Their office is totally different. The people are different. The way things run are different. It was all just kinda different. Makes you glad to know that your calling was based on revelation, because it seems like even though the gospel will always be the same, and that the basics are always the same, the experiences that you have in other each mission are kinda different. Good to know that I'm in the place perfect for me, my needs, and the needs of the people here.
DANG IT. Bad time management on my part. Our pday is kinda getting all messed up with conference and stuff and now I'm not going to have nearly the same amount of time to write. NOOOO! Theres so many things to tell. We'll see what I can get to.
Anyways. Tuesday went well. There wasn't much for my job that day, and so I just went about helping. Got to go to the airport and pick up the newbies. Thats cool. To be part of somebodies first impression of Paraguay is cool (hopefully it was a good one). I got to be the tourguide for their first half hour in Paraguay. lol. Later, had to give a presentation on using money wisely, and how you get money out etc. Good stuff. Had a big old feast. That was super cool - the best part being that the guy who cooked it all was one of Elder Pattersons recent converts. SICK! Didn't talk to him much (mostly just about money), but I was super suprised when I found out. He cooks really good. lol.
Make a BIG mess up though either monday or tuesday. Man it was scary. Gmail asked me for my birthday just out of the blue when I logged on. Wasn't really expecting it and didn't think it important. Well I thought wrong. Being just an office email, I just decided to make whatever up. So I put in the 1st of Jan 2000. Well it turns out that people born on that day are still not 13 years old, and that people less than 13 years old are not authorized to have a gmail account. Locked out permanently. AH! Out of nowhere things went from being bien tranquilo to a big disaster. I use the email all the time, and even more, the attached callendar. I was freaking out. lol. Thankfully, rather than trying to hide my "sins" or ignore the fact that I had messed up, I manned up, got my comp to help me with it, and we were able to get it all worked out. It only took google 2 days or so to fix it. lol. But better late than never. Moral of the story: lieing isn't good. Don't do it. Even if its just to some stupid computer program. There are always consequences. haha.
But yeah. That was fun to be a part of everything. A bunch of the newbs slept in our house, which meant that I had to sleep on the floor but whatever, fun to be a part of all that. Wednesday on the other hand. Thats where the fun ended. haha. Probably one of the craziest days of my life. I showed up at the office and there was already a huge line of people that needed money. I had to help each and every one of them to have the money that they needed to pay their taxis and get to their new areas. And yeah... it coulda been worse. But then it did get worse when I realized that we were starting to get seriously short on money. I made sure I had extra before hand just for changes, but it wasn't nearly enough. With so many new guys and so many people getting changed I emptied it out SUPER fast. So I had to do all this super quick money managing with people to find ways for them to get home while giving them the least amount of money possible. All while under a huge time crunch so that they didn't miss their buses. Nobody had hardly any money at all because it was the end of the month. And then, after that was all good and done, I still had to buy a fridge, pay somebodies rent etc etc. I was freaking out. haha. The life of the oficinistas. Needless to say that we've all been a little crabby and short tempered lately. So that was basically my fun day. I didn't get to leave the office to go work because I was so busy and so I almost worked from 8 in the morning to 9 and night. Crasy.
Then that night we had to get up at 3 to drop the latino missionaries at the airport. That was fun/tiring. Said goodbye to Elder Villalon.
Thursday day was better. More tranquilo. But I was still kinda anxious all day because it was a Paraguayan holiday, and I couldn't take out money. The best parts though were the morning. Got to take the dieing missionaries to the airport. Dropped off Elder Call and a couple other people I was good friends with. Got to be with them right until the end. The saddest part was that I thought I'd have tonnes of time to say goodbye, and then they almost missed their plane and I didn't even really get to make a proper goodbye. But oh well. They say hi btw. The other really cool part is that all of the youth from Mariano (my second area) were there to say goodbye to a bunch of people. So even though I wasn't going home, I got to talk to them and see how they were doing. The coolest people being Diego and Araceli Bogarin. One of our converts and his sister. One of my favorite families in all of Paraguay. SICK.
Also, President took us out to lunch as a "thanks for all your hard work". That was really nice of him. Got to eat chineese again. And I cant believe that I forgot! - Last time that I was there, you wouldn't believe what cool thing we got to eat. Pigs ear. Legit. It was... alright. I didn't have it again this time. We just suck to cooked seaweed to be exciting instead.
Anyways, after that things tranquiloed out good. There are still a lot of little messes to clean up after changes and stuff, but now that my email works, my office doesn't have people in it looking for money, and my safe is full, I feel a lot better. haha. Not excited for next changes. lol. But meh. A little stress never hurt anyone right? I think I'm better for it. I thought it was ironic that lately in my studies I've been reading on when Joseph Smith was in Liberty jail. And how his afflictions would be for just a moment. Thats how it rolls in the office. haha. But yup. Doing good now.
Anyways, still more to say, but I think we have to go. Happy Birthday Jaclyn, have a good one! Enjoy conference and apply what you learn! Things are doing good here and I'm having a great time, even though its not always super easy. We're hoping to have an investigator or two in the conference, but its not looking too good. lol. The streets have been flooded (seriously) all morning. My shoes are SOAKED. haha. Its fun though. We did some hard core missionary-ing to go find an investigator in the storm. Good times and memories. Así es la vida! Have a good day/week! I love you!
Elder Humphreys
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