Week 54- People from the Chaco

“Forget yourself and go to work! Olivdàte de ti mismo y ponte a trabajar!!”–advice given to President Hinckley when he was a missionary

Feb. 27, 2012
My dearest family and friends,

I have to tell you about this awesome convert who was baptized right before I arrived in Villa Hayes. His name is Cleto and he runs a house for travelers from the Chaco. He is a Chaco man who speaks just enough Spanish to get by, but mainly Guaraní. He houses Chaco indigenous Indians who are passing through Villa Hayes en route from the Chaco to Asuncion. He is a great convert, who loves to share the Gospel. It truly shows the gift of tongues because even though he doesn’t understand everything we say, the Spirit testifies to him the truthfulness of it. He is usually one of the first people to arrive at church on Sundays. When we go to his house to visit him, there are usually about 20 Chaco people sitting outside, who don’t speak Spanish and just stare at us unceasingly with a scowl on their face because they have never seen a white person and apparently in their culture, they don’t smile much. But we go in and Cleto gathers a circle of Chaco men to listen to us sing and teach and explains about the Church and his testimony in Guaraní beforehand. They sit around sippin terere(tea). Blame it on my vivid childhood imagination, but I can’t help but think about the indians in Disney’s Peter Pan movie who sat around in a circle, with dark, dark skin smoking pipes. It’s just like that but they drink terere instead. I never would have dreamed in a million years that I would be sharing the Gospel and my testimony with this Indigenous people in their native land in the Chaco of Paraguay. The Gospel really is for every people all over the world because it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for God’s children, regardless of race, gender, social or economical status.

Where has February gone? Well, this week went by pretty fast, unfortunately without any news on the investigator front. We had a ton of people commit to coming to church but when Sunday morning rolled around, no one showed, not even Sergio. It has been pretty rainy this week and rain here in Villa Hayes means mud because they do not have cobblestone roads, just dirt roads with little pebbles which turns into MUD when it rains. So we trudged from one neighborhood to the next, with 5 pounds of mud sticking to our shoes, umbrella in my hand, whereas Hermana deVries had her hood on because her umbrella broke. Let me just tell you, it’s tough working in an area with very few strong members. Missionary work without a strong branch or members- it just doesn’t work. Missionaries cannot do their job without members and so we are still having trouble finding new investigators. Pres. Madariaga has advised us to work with the less-actives, the recent convert lists (only 3 out of 10 recent converts are active here) and the lists of youth over 8 who have not been baptized. So that is who we are working with.

Another thing our mission is focusing on is more contacting but not clappìng houses. It is more of an effort to always be talking to people and never pass up an opportunity to share with others as we are walking around, doing our normal missionary routine. Our zone leader committed all of us to talking to more people every time we ride a colectivo/bus. It’s kind of fun- you have the people who don’t want to talk to you at all- and those who are really friendly. It’s been quite interesting and I don’t know what I will do someday when I am back to after-mission life at BYU and I can’t start talking to people about Jesus Christ 5 minutes after I meet them!

We also had zone conference which was pretty cool, even though we had to wake up at 5 AM to get there on time. We learned a lot about charity and how we need to have charity for the people we teach and with whom we work. Also, Elder Giovanni of the 70 (of the area? I don’t know which) talked about Alma 5 and how when we are truly converted to the Gospel it shows on our face and in our heart. I have never noticed that so much until I became a missionary. So many walk around in this world looking depressed, miserable, like they hate their life and it’s just sad because they don’t have the hope and light of the Gospel and it’s even sadder when we give them the opportunity to learn about the Gospel and they openly reject it. The devil is so clever and his only objective is to make us miserable. There is only one way to be truly happy- follow Christ. There are only two teams and in the end, we know that the winners are those on Christ’s team- not only in the end, but right now, as well.

I can honestly say that the Gospel is what brings hope, happiness and light into my life and it means everything to me. I know that Heavenly Father loves each one of us and only wants us to be happy and grow to become like Jesus Christ.

I love you all and thank you for your continued support! Thank you, Ruth, for the wonderful package which truly brightened my day! You are great!

Love,
Hermana Brittner