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.
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