Week 33- Still in Loma!

October 2, 2011

“Let us be as quick to kneel, as we are to text.” Elder Ian S. Ardern

Hola,

Well, I am still in Loma with Hermana Young! When I heard the news, I started doing the “happy dance.” It’s not as good as Rachel’s but I’m working on it. I am really happy and we are working hard. We have a new district leader- Elder Menesces from Argentina. He has only been a convert for a couple of years and his family doesn’t agree with his decisión to be a member and leave on a missión. He hasn’t heard from his family in a year. To me, he is a true first generation pioneer.

Highlights of the week: Apparently most ward events start a few hours late in Paraguay because that is what happened with the other ward’s “Festival del Bicentenario.” It was worth the two hour wait though. It was an amazing celebration of Paraguay’s 200th year anniversary and one of the wars that happened here. There was the traditional dancing, with girls wearing long red skirts, lacy shirts and their hair in a bun. The boys wore white shirts and ties, red, white, and blue belts around their waist and straw hats. There was lots of guitar playing and singing in Guarani. I understood like four words. But I enjoyed it so much! I love the culture here! It is fascinating and I feel as though the Paraguyans have taught me so much about life and what’s important. They really are a beautiful people.

The most exciting part of the week was definitely conference. I LOVED it! It was so awesome! This whole week was burning hot. Then Saturday comes, and at 8 AM, we start our studies and we hear a clap of thunder- it starts POURING! The streets turn into rivers and we think, “Oh great.” So a few hours later, we leave the house to catch a collectivo/bus. We cross the river (the street) and the water is up to our ankles. We finally get on the collectivo and this is the best part- there was water spraying up in between the wooden panels of the floor! It was hilarious! We finally made it to the chapel to find ONLY 2 Paraguayans there to watch the first session and about 20 missionaries. Haha. We didn’t have the keys to watch it in English so we watched the first session in Spanish. I understood it and it was cool, but I like hearing the speaker’s real voice and not the translator. It was amazing! I am so grateful for a living prophet and the restoration of the Gospel. The Spirit was so strong. I also loved watching the World Report after. The Church is amazing- the work is going on in every part of the world. How about another temple in Provo? Woot woot! Who knows, I may still be at BYU when it’s done. Haha. And who will be the new BYU president? The next three sessions I watched in English in the backroom on a tiny television. We were so grateful to watch it in English! Eighteen elders, and us two hermanas were there- what else is new? Thankfully, there were a lot more members there on Sunday than on Saturday morning.

We had two investigators at conference, Gisel (15) and Ariel (31). Gisel and her two siblings are investigators. They are very smart and read the Book of Mormon together on their own every night! I call them the “Narnia kids” because that’s who they remind me of. They are already in Mosiah. Ariel is an investigator too- a really nice guy. I hope that they both get baptized this month. Justo’s family is well- we are working on getting them to the temple to be sealed together as a family.

This week I met a 70 year old lady who can’t read. So many things I take for granted, the opportunity to read, write, learn and progress. I learned to read when I was in 1st grade and haven’t thought much about what a blessing it is, but truly, it is. (Thanks Dad :)

So we went to teach an inactive Returned Missionary. His wife got baptized about a year ago and they have a little baby. Well, when we got there, he didn’t really want to talk. He told us that he knew what we were trying to do and he knows that he isn’t doing the right thing by not going to church but he has to run his shop on Sunday morning to fix motorcycles and to make ends meet. He said to us, “When I was a missionary, I didn’t understand either. I didn’t know how it really is. And you can never understand.” Basically, implying that we were too young and naive to understand how life really is. WELL LISTEN BUDDY, I didn’t come all the way to Paraguay and drop my whole life to teach something that I don’t understand. I think he must have forgotten 1 Nephi 3:7, which says that God never gives us commandments that we cannot keep. Or Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21, which says that only through obedience are we blessed. Or Mosiah 13 or Exodus 20 which talks about keeping the Sabbath Day holy. How sad for him! His family is missing out on all the blessings of coming to Church and obeying the commandments. Maybe I don’t understand his specific situation but as a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ, I do understand what’s important and I will never let go of what I know- my testimony and my desire to serve God. That is something that I do understand completely. I am grateful to be a part of this work. Les amo a cada uno de ustedes. Thank you for your examples.

Love,

Hermana Brittner