April 23, 2012
Alright so another week has flown by, soon to be another
change/transfer in fact. We will be anxiously awaiting the call from our
district leader tonight to find out which new area and new companion we will be
assigned to. There is nothing quite like changes...waiting to see what the next
6 weeks of your life will bring, having absolutely no say in the matter. But
the good part- it’s in the Lord’s hands and you don’t have to make any
decisions. You just have to go with it. It’s most likely that only one of us
will be staying in this area. My friend Faith is arriving at the mission and I
may have the opportunity to train her. If I don’t train this change, I will not
be training on the mission because you have to have 2 complete changes left in
your mission. Where has the time gone?!
This week we had a division/splits and I went to Mariano
with Hermana Pingel, who is from Cordalene,
ID. She is fairly new and it was
really fun. It was very hot there- definitely hotter than Villa Hayes! Mariano
is right next to Loma Pyta and I am now convinced that Loma was definitely
hotter than Villa Hayes in the summer! (And that’s HOT!) The miracle of the
trip occurred when Hermana Pingel lost the phone- it fell out of her bag so we
had to retrace our steps to find it. I was praying, as was she, and we found
it...right in the street in front of a house we had contacted. The miracle was
that it was still there and someone hadn’t picked it up!
This week, we had a huge thunder and lightning rain storm
and I woke up several times in the night to booming thunder that shook the
whole house! That made for a lot of mud and without my rain boots, it would have
been impossible to survive in shoes!
We have decided to wait on Leonardo’s baptism, since he has
a little trouble understanding as a result of his guarani language barrier and
so we are planning the baptism for this Saturday instead. We are excited
because his friend Cleto, a recent convert, is going to baptize him.
Some sad news, unfortunately, we had to drop/stop teaching
our golden investigator Maria and her kids, or should I say that she dropped
us. We went over to their house to celebrate Jose’s 11th birthday with them and
were saddened by the situation. Satan came at her hard, as he does to all our
investigators, but it appears that since she was so golden, he had to get out
the ‘big guns.’ Her mom stopped talking to her and babysitting her kids because
she was going to join a religion and her boyfriend who helped make the payments
on her land, refused to support her decision and was harassing her about the
church. God never told us life would be easy, right? There is a point in every
investigator’s progress when they have to decide if they are really willing to
give up everything to follow Christ...to make the changes necessary and
sometimes face rejection of family and friends. It’s at this point that they
decide yes and move forward, or choose not to get baptized. It’s so sad when
the answer is no like the last line of the hymn We Thank Thee Oh God for a
Prophet that says, “While they who reject this glad message, shall never
such happiness know.”
Lucia, on the other hand, is what we would call an “eternigator.”
Her daughters are all members and she has been visiting with missionaries for
years. It seems however, that this is her time and she is s excited for her
baptism at the end of May. As we taught her this week she prayed that both Hermana
Van Dusen and I would be present at her baptism. We have a special bond with
her.
Other exciting news is that we were able to plant baby trees
in the center of the street in front of the church. Also, a member named
Nieves, who has been going out with us on visits a lot, is leaving for the MTC
Argentina this week! We are so excited for her but sad to be losing someone who
is always willing to go teaching with us!
Almost forgot, we walked across the bridge over the Rio
Paraguay in Remanso. It was cool, and we took lots of great pictures which I
will send next week. The only problem is that as we got closer to the middle,
with the river farrrr below us on one side, and big semis rushing past us on
the other side, I realized that I am a little afraid of heights! So did Hermana
Van Dusen and another elder in our group. It didn’t help that the bridge kept
rocking up and down as we were walking. It was quite a frightening and
thrilling experience that I am glad is over. I love roller coasters but have
problems with rocking bridges, go figure!
The branch president’s family just got satellite TV and we
walked in when they were playing a show about the gangs of Oakland. I was like, “I live near there” and
they almost flipped. “Is it dangerous there? What color shirt are you?” I
laughed at their questions, but it was pretty discouraging to think that out of
all the great things in the Bay Area, the Paraguayans and people all over the
world only see the negative parts of it. But I guess it makes for an
interesting watch? No sè.
Well, wish me luck with changes/transfers! We will see what
happens.
Sara Crase- Happy 23rd birthday!! We are old now!!
Katrina- I got your dearelder! Thank you so much! I am
expecting to get your package on Wed!! I am so excited!
Love you all!!
Hermana Brittner
Hermana Brittner
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