Hey. So... I know today is only Saturday. And I know I´ll be home in like a week. Or like a week and a day. But yeah. Seeing as that I kind of use these emails as a kind of journal of sorts, I thought that while I have the chance I should probably make the best of it.
So yeah. We had a pretty good week. Or should I say that I had a pretty good week. I kind of had a little bit of a mashing of companions for a while here. But, I had fun and tried to work hard for my last little bit of time here in the lovely land of Paraguay.
Monday I wrote you all from out of town. We had to travel to find internet. But it was worth it. That night after working President let me know that he wanted me to come in as per usual on Wednesday even though I´d be waiting for dad to show up on Saturday. So, that was that.
Tuesday. Spent the morning packing. I´m still a really slow packer. Did that for a while. Gave away tons of stuff to Elder Svedin. That came in handy later when I didn´t have enough time to effectively finish packing and so I had to just stuff everything in really quick. So, all my clothes are kind of wrinkly, but I managed to fit it all in a lot better than last time. The rest of the time during the day I just got to run around and say goodbye to people. It was a little weird because I plan on going back this week, but I didn´t want to really leave it up to chance either - it would have been really lame if I just disappeared and didn´t make it back, and thus never even gave a quick goodbye to anyone. So, I said my goodbyes. They were nice, but without tears or anything (for the most part) because we all are expecting me to go back soon. Managed to get all of the most important visits in. Probably my favorite visit was to the Zaracho´s. More than the goodbye itself or the fact that the Hermana started crying just because was just being able to notice the difference in them all. From the moment that we showed up to visit them, they just seemed really happy. Not that they weren´t happy people before, but they just seemed to have a different ¨glow¨ to them. That was really special to me. To see how the gospel has really made them happier. They were more talkative, more smiley, and everything. Really cool. Its been such a blessing to have been able to get to know them. They really gave purpose to the last part of my mission. It kept me focused, determined, and its really helped me to feel like I´ve come to a good conclusion. Rather than ending off just thinking about home or what we are going to do this week, it helped me to really be able to fulfill my purpose as a missionary. Now, I feel a little unprepared for this week running around with dad, but to me its totally worth it. I´m super thankful for the blessing that the Lord chose to give me at this time to have been able to meet and share the gospel with them. To end the day we got a ride with all of my stuff to the bus terminal. A bunch of the youth/guys were there to say goodbye. That was really nice too. I felt like people really appreciated the work that we were able to do in Saltos and that made me really happy.
That morning I met up with Elder Svedin´s new comp at the bus station in Asuncion. He finishes his mission in 2 weeks. Poor Elder Svedin. He has to ¨kill off¨ 2 missionaries in a row. Ugh. Hopefully it helps him to talk more and form stronger bonds with the members rather than just get himself trunky. I sincerly enjoyed my time with Elder Svedin. He´s a great guy. Hopefully we´ll be able to get together again after his mission (a LONG time from now. lol) and we can continue to have fun times together.
That meant that after getting to the office in a taxi and sitting around outside the office all by myself for an hour or 2, the office Elders came and picked me up. Before I knew it, I was one of them again. haha. It´s been fun. For the last couple of days I´ve been running around with them, doing errands, and trying my best to help out. Its brought back a lot of good memories. They´ve even been nice enough to let me drive the van just like in the good old days. It´s been a blast. While I haven´t been helping them, I´ve been reorganizing all of my junk, working on my ¨Final Report¨ to give President, and... I dunno. Bugging the new office Elders. Thankfully they´ve been really patient with me so thats been nice. We´ve visited a bunch of people that I used to visit and stuff like that, and so the work has been good too.
So yeah. Thats kind of been the week. Its been fun. Now I´m just waiting out Dads arrival. Today is P-day in the office and so we´re just kicking it. We´ll be out to go get lunch. Maybe I´ll reorganize some more. We´ll see. But yeah. I´m pretty excited about the week. We´ll be running around like crasy, but it will be great. We´ll be visiting friends, eating good food, seeing if there is anywhere to see, maybe buying some souvenirs. It´ll be good.
But yeah. That is basically my summary for the week. It was a good one. More than that though, this is probably my last letter home. Thats strange to me. The time has really just flown by. Sure, some of the days seemed to drag on pretty long and everything, but the weeks went by fast, the months faster, and the 2 years have just passed by before I could hardly realize it. Its been quite the adventure. Good time, not so good times. Awesome times. Tons of great memories. But more than just an adventure, really it has been a super spiritually fulfilling experience. I can honestly see how I have changed and become a better person in the last 2 years. My testimony is stronger and I feel much more prepared for the next stage of my life. I don´t think that there is anything else that I have ever done in my life that has been so worth it, or that has helped me to change as much as being a missionary has. But even if I hadn´t changed at all, even if I had gained no personal benefit from this time here, it would have been worth it just to have been able to help so many people to come unto Christ and change their lives for the better. I´m so very thankful for the opportunity that the Lord has given me to be his servant for these years. To be able to do His work here in this great land of Paraguay. I know that this is His church, and His plan of happiness. I´ve seen how the Lord blesses those that will follow Him and do His will, and how those that choose not to do that in their lives are forced to fend for themselves. I know that He knows what´s best for us, and He always has seemed to bless me with that, even when it doesn´t appear that way to me. I´m so very thankful for all of the blessings that He has given us. I hope that I can always remember and cherish the moments that I have had here as a missionary, because I know that they can and will have a lasting impact on the rest of my life.
So. Thanks to everyone who reads my letters. It made me happy to hear that at least a couple people out there are interested in what I´ve been up to. I hope that what I´ve written has been at least somewhat inspirational and helpful and that you´ve been able to catch a glimpse of the work that we´ve been up to out here since I´ve been gone. Thank you for all of your letters, the packages, the love and the prayers. They have been much appreciated. I´m excited to see you all soon and share time together once again. I´m sad to have to leave behind this beautiful country and these people and friendships that I have made, but I am also very excited to be able to be together once again with all of you. Thanks for everything, love you all a ton, and have a good week. See you SOON!
Elder Humphreys
