Week 21 in Paraguy

So we`re finally getting kind of settled into the new area here. We had a super good week with some awesome things happening.
First of all, we had our baptism on Thursday. This girl named, Fatima, wholives with one of the members in our ward and has been going to church with them got baptized on Thursday. We had to go over to her house on Wednesday and Thursday to teach pretty much everything in just two lessons, but she was pretty much gold (a very interested investigator) and accepted everything and was very ready for her baptism on Thursday. She was definitely one of the choice ones here, we are supposed to find, and we didn`t even find her, our members did everything. She couldn`t come to church on Sunday though because it was her mother`s birthday who lives in a different city, so we were able to get permission from our Bishop to confirm her at the baptism and everything went really great. She had already had an interview with the Bishop here and started going to the activities without us saying anything to her. It is really nice because she is already living with some members so we don`t even really have to worry about her too much because she is already pretty much taken care of.
On Friday, we had Zone conference. This was my fourth zone conference here in Paraguay. It was a really good one. We focused a lot on the month of March and the miracles we were able to receive together as a mission and how we can improve our diligence in order to be more worthy to receive the miracles we want from the Lord. As a mission we were able to baptize 220 people in March, almost 100 more people than we were able to baptize in February. The goal this month is to baptize 250 people. That is 3 people for every companionship. It was a really great conference with a very strong spirit. We received many blessings in March and we know how we can receive them in April, so we are going to focus on staying diligent and succeeding as a mission.
Later on Friday, we had Ward night where we all get together and play soccer and it was really fun. It is really funny because they haven`t had missionaries here for so long we are almost celebrities.
Saturday we were able to go to the temple. I missed going to the temple before conference like it is supposed to be because I was out lejos (so far away) so we got to go with just a little special group of missionaries that were kind of in the same situation as me. They got changed before they were supposed to go with their zone. Anyway, I had a really special experience in the temple and it was a lot of fun to go through in Spanish for the first time. I was very thankful for the trip I went on with dad, to all the temples on the way to Provo before my mission, because it really helped me to understand everything already having gone to the temple so many times I already knew pretty much what the words meant.
That is something else about this change, my Spanish has really been improving since I got here. It has been somewhat of a humbling experience, but a very helpful one at the same time. I realize now that out lejos (so far away) in Pedro Juan, people did not have very good Spanish. The people aren`t as educated and use a lot more of the Guaranì when talking to each other so they speak with a very simple Spanish. When I left there I thought I had very good Spanish and I could pretty much communicate with anyone. Coming to San Lorenzo, I can communicate with pretty much anyone, but the Spanish here is more intelligent because we are here in the middle of one of the biggest cities in Paraguay. I recognize a lot more of the grammar here and the ways to use it and because of that my Spanish has really been improving, but it has come with a lot of correcting too, and for that reason it has been a little humbling. It has been good for me though and I feel like I`m really improving still. My companion knows a lot of Guaranì, so I`m looking forward in this change to learn a lot more Guarani I can use.
This week has been a very productive and very spiritually uplifting week. We still do not have too many investigators. We have been working a lot with members and we are still trying to get to know the area a little better. We have been working hard and we have already started to see some results. I`m really excited to see what Elder Williamson and I can do here. We work really well together, which I am really thankful for. I am pretty sure I will be with him for two changes until he goes home. So having a long time together in this area, we will have time to do some good and really get this place going. We have so much help from members. We had a member yesterday in church come to us and tell us that he had gone around when there weren`t missionaries and got referrals from all the members. He gave us 52referrals for us to go find this week, then he told us that he wants to give us that many to go find every week. This area is really looking like what the prophet said, the members are the full time finders and we are the full time teachers. Can`t wait to tell you next week how it all works out.
I am so grateful to be serving a mission and I have a family that supports me so much in what I am doing, I know I am where I am suppossed to be and I am so excited to change the lives of the people living here in San Lorenzo.
I love you all and can`t wait to tell you more next week, Love, Elder Adamson V