November 21, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving does not exist in Paraguay. My old companion said they fasted last Thanksgiving, because they forgot it was a holiday. Don’t worry, we won’t fast, we will probably eat some noodles and sopa, as usual.
So apparently Paraguayans can tell between a Paraguayan clap and a foreigner’s clap. When I found this out, I was thinking, “great, not only does my Spanish have an accent but my clap does as well.” So now every time we clap a house, we turn to each other and say, “Did that sound American?”
Well, we have had an exciting week. It’s always an adjustment getting use to a new companion’s way of teaching but I think we are getting the hang of things and we are having a lot of fun. We had a family come to church yesterday! We were so excited. We found them through an Elder’s reference. He had contacted them in another area, but they now live in our area. They came to church with us when we passed by early Sunday morning to go to church. We almost stopped visiting the Mom because she wasn’t reading any of the pamphlets or the Book of Mormon but then the Dad came back from his trip and he was really interested. The Mom is 16, the Dad is 26 and their baby is 9 months old. They aren’t married. But they came to church! Poca a Poca. God takes raw materials and turns them into gold and that’s what our goal is for this family. It probably sounds pretty surprising, the situation they are living in, but in Paraguay, it’s very common.
Junior, Gissell and Pamela also came to Church on Sunday! Junior and Pamela are getting baptized on Wednesday. Their mom still hasn’t come to church but poca a poca. I don’t like baptizing kids without the parents, because it’s hard for them, but with Gissell and their strong testimonies and understanding of the Gospel, I think they can make it. They are really smart kids. Funny moment: walking into Sacrament, we saw not only Junior and his sisters, but also Junior’s dog, hiding and lying down under the last pew in the chapel. She follows him everywhere, even into the chapel! He dragged her out by the collar with her paws dragging on the ground. It was hilarious! Then to top it off, she came back in again. The Paraguayans were saying, “You know, visitors are welcome but that’s not what we had in mind.”
After church, a bunch of primary kids from the other ward came up close to me while I was talking to the Elders and started whispering to each other. It turns out they’ve never seen a Hermana missionary before and they were asking when I could come over to their house. They were awestruck and I felt like they were going to ask for my autograph or something by the way they kept staring at me. Oh, to be blonde in Paraguay.
So I’m not sure why, but in Paraguay they have “pharmacies” where they sell your average Walmart-type lotion, vitamins, diapers and face wash but they sell it “over-the-counter.” They also have school supply shops in the malls, where you have to ask “over-the-counter” for paper, pencils, gluesticks. It’s really strange. The other day, I had to ask over-the-counter for a gluestick . Don’t ask me why, that’s just Paraguay for ya.
Something that really surprised me this week was this: we visited a lady and her baby and the baby had a red ribbon tied to his wrist. After the lesson, my companion informed me that certain other churches go around and put those ribbons on baby’s wrists to say that they haven’t been baptized and need to do so, so that they aren’t condemned to hell. Can somebody please read Moroni 8:8 here??? “Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance; the whole need no physician, but they that are sick; wherefore, little children are whole, for they are not capable of committing sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is taken from them in me, that it hath no power over them; and the law of circumcision is done away in me.” I won’t go into how uncivilized it is that some people think that if their babies aren’t baptized and they pass away, that they will be condemned to hell. It really takes away from the idea of a loving Heavenly Father. Babies do not need to baptized because they do not carry the guilt for the transgression of Adam. They should not get baptized until 8, the age of accountability.
One new principle we practice as missionaries, is that we always invite people to be baptized on the first lesson, without fail. It’s a way to gauge the openness and readiness of their heart. Many times it goes like this here in Paraguay, “Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone who has the authority?” To which they respond, “I was already baptized.” At which point, we lovingly tell them that their baptism was not valid in the eyes of God. It always makes for a good discussion.
I love being a missionary. I am learning so much. I am so grateful, in this season of Thanksgiving, for all the blessings my Heavenly Father has given me- for my family and friends, for this mission, for the Gospel, for the Restoration of the Gospel and for my Savior, Jesus Christ. This is where it is at! Having the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
May this Thanksgiving find you in good health and good company and may you feel the love of your Heavenly Father everyday in your life.
Cariñosamente,
Hermana Brittner
PS. It rained HARD last night and this morning. The streets are like rivers...at least it didn’t rain on Sunday!
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