Jan. 16, 2012
Another day, another dollar. Sometimes I say that to myself and then I remember that I don’t get paid!! Except in blessings. It has been another exciting week here in Asunción, Paraguay although this week was filled with a little too much drama and not enough tranquility but it’s alright. Don’t worry though, I am still having a great time, so great, I am considering being a missionary with a nametag forever (if that were possible).
We had some special changes/transfers this week and I am in....Loma Pyta still, haha. But I am now in a trio with Hermana Tuaòne and Hermana Reyes. Hermana Reyes was born in Ecuador and lived there until she turned 12, at which point her family moved to Spain. I think we will be good friends and my Spanish will improve even more.
Sunday lunch appointments after church are always nice. We switch off with two member families and it’s always relaxing and comfortable to be around them. This week we ate with the Falcon family as usual, and left with full stomachs to go to our next appointment (we have to work the siesta, which is a real bummer, if you ask me). So we showed up at another member’s house and he said, “You are here to eat, right? Just a minute!” and he went inside. Something must have gotten lost in the translation when he spoke with my companion because she did not know that that is what he meant! I started laughing really hard at the situation as we realized we had to gear up for lunch number two. In the prayer to bless the food, my companion prayed for “space in our stomachs” to eat the second dinner. The family must not have thought much of it because they didn’t say anything. Anyhow, we successfully ate two Sunday lunches, as to not offend anyone and God truly answered our prayers.
This week my testimony of the Word of Wisdom has grown so much. The Word of Wisdom, meaning taking proper care of our bodies, not smoking, drinking alcohol, tea or coffee, eating healthy and getting enough sleep, as revealed to the prophet Joseph Smith and other latter-day prophets. It seems that the investigators that we find in a certain week all have something in common- a theme that Heavenly Father feels we can learn from. This week, it was definitely the destructive power of abusing our bodies by in-taking harmful substances. It seems that most of our new investigators or their spouse, are addicted to cigarettes and alcohol. Satan is just so clever because he knows that if we do these things, we will become addicted and lose our agency and cease to progress. We are teaching one investigator who cannot leave her husband alone in her house because he will sell their furniture for beer and cigarettes. She couldn’t go to church because her husband was home. As a public health/nursing major at BYU, I just want to abolish all of the terrible things that people do to their bodies. Then I remember this little thing called agency that we all fought for and that we are all able to make our own choices. I am such an advocate of healthy living and the Gospel. Seeing so many destroyed homes and shattered lives as a result of alcohol and drug abuse just increases my desire to help others and to be a soldier in this war against Satan. We truly are at war and it’s a spiritual battle that we fight everyday. There is such a real connection between our spirits and our bodies. Our spirits undeniably affect our bodies and vice versa.
We have three hermanas coming next change/transfer, which means it’s very likely that I could be training. We will see! I also think that I will be leaving Loma but I have successfully guessed wrong for every set of changes/transfers thus far, so we will see!
I want to express my thanks to Bishop Hadlock for all of your hard work and diligence. You have taught me so much as well as the whole ward! I am glad that you were able to conduct my farewell. Just think, if you had hung in there a little bit longer(7+ years) you would have been able to conduct my homecoming =) But the Lord has a purpose for everything and I know the new Bishopric (Bishop Paget!) will be great.
Another thing- it rained this week which was a nice relief from the heat and also, very needed. The Paraguayans kept saying we were beginning to have a drought. But this week we are expecting to be HOT once again.
Until next week,
Con Amor,
Hermana Brittner
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