Week 63 in Paraguay Change 11 Week 1

Hey Family, I don't have much time today because I want to try and write back everyone that has written me quick over the last 7 months. I have been terrible about writing some people back. We had an awesome week with some real miricles, at the beginning of the week I really didn't know what I was going to do with the area. I've never been a real senior companion before. I mean I was in the office, but we were both senior companions. So everything is on me now, mostly because my companion is brand new too, and the area had nothing. I contacted 121 people this last week, and my companion 50, so we have been working really hard to find people. On Tuesday we were finishing up the day going back to the house of a member that had left with us to teach someone and when we arrived, there was this 14 year old young man at the computer and the member told us we had to get him baptized. I was a little confused and then the kid just started going off about how he had read the Book of Mormon all the way through 3 Nephi already and how he wanted to get baptized next week, so we have been teaching him. He already knows everything, the missionaries started teaching him about 3 months ago and he stopped going to church because he had some problems with his family. He said when it was happening he wanted to get baptized, but he read this scripture that talked about patience and how sometimes we need to wait for blessings, and so he decided to stop going to church to let things settle out in his family. Now he talked to his family and they are all good with him getting baptized, he's gone to church the last two weeks in a row, and he's getting baptized this Sunday. It has truly been a miracle, also, we passed on that we didn't have any investigators in church last week, and throughout the week we found out that there were three investigators there, one being Miguel, the 14 year old young man that is getting baptized on Sunday, his sister, and another guy that is getting married soon to a member, so we have a few more things to work with now in the area. We also were able to find some really great people contacting during the week, one family we went to talked to us for about a 30 minute lesson and then at the end of the lesson invited to come eat lunch on Friday, which just happens to be the only day of the week that we don't have lunch from anyone. We went and we ate lunch and now we are teaching a really cool family. They weren't able to go to church yesterday because they said they wanted to wait to go to church as a family and one of them traveled last week, so they are all going to go together this week if all goes well. Anyway, it has been a great week, and I can't believe how fast the time has been going by, it just flies by. My companion is great too, it has been a little hard because he is having a lot of trouble with Spanish, but he's doing good, he's really worried about messing up, and I've been trying to get him to kind of get over that because a lot of times he's just scared to talk and doesn't say anything and the people don't think he understands anything when he actually is understanding a lot, he's just a little afraid to talk. Anyway, that's about all the time I have, the area is doing great, my companion is doing great, and I'm doing great, we're hitting the ground running in the area, and for the first time I think in my mission we are really working really hard as I would really like to and I am really super grateful for that, and we're not going to let up, I love you all so much, can't wait to hear back from you next week, Elder Adamson V

Week 62 in Paraguay Change 10 Week 6

Hey Family, so today I'm going to start my first full week in the area with my son, my first son. (The new companion is not literally Ryan's son, remember earlier in the blog this is the way the missionaries remember relationships in the mission. As Ryan's first son, this means this is the first missionary Ryan has had an opportunity to train on his mission), I didn't think I was going to be able to carry on the family name, but it looks like President has given me a chance. The last week has been pretty fun. Last Sunday I went into the office, which means it has now been two weeks since I had a P-day, it just got completely skipped, but don't worry, I'm alright, anyway. I went in last Sunday. Monday I spent all day planning and training the new secretary so he would have everything down for the next few days. The new missionaries ended up coming a little late, so we had to move changes a day to Thursday, so Tuesday was a really off day with not much work, but then Wednesday and Thursday was all over the place and very busy. Wednesday we had to do many things with the new missionaries. Wednesday morning Elder Gage, my old companion that just went home last week, convinced President that the office Elders should have a chance to go to a temple session with the people going home instead of just the assistants. So he gave us permission to go with everyone, so I found out and for about 2 and a half hours was just planning how we would be able to work it all out, because there were a lot of things we had to do while they were going to be in the temple, because we have never gone in previous changes. I just planned and called people to see if they could come and help and I was just all over the place, and it finally all worked out. So we got to the temple and sat down in the session and people just kept on coming in and coming in and coming in for the session and there wasn't any room in the endowment room, the matron of the temple started to get nervous and President raised his hand and said, "We have eight office Elders here that don't have to be here" and so we all had to leave the session. It turned out to be better because we were sitting there and I was just thinking about how tired I was and how there was no way I would be able to make it through the whole session without falling asleep. Then we ended up having to leave the session and we got to do initiatories and help in the baptistery confirming people, so it ended up being a great time in the temple, then the temple workers let us go into the Celestial Room after the session was over to be with President and Hermana in the Celestial Room and see the missionaries going home. On Thursday I took the oldies to the airport and got out to the area with my son. My new companion is Elder Juhasz, he's from Preston Idaho, right where they filmed Napoleon Dynamite. He is a little quiet but he is a great kid and he's got a great testimony. We have been working really hard these last few days and he is working right into the missionary life and we're having a really good time. We took these last couple days to just really get to know the members and find out where they live. It has been pretty hard with only having been in the area for a short time, everyday I get lost, but somehow we always end up right where we need to go. It really is cool. I love the area, the members are great and have been super helpful. The people here are so easy to talk to and so open, when we are contacting we get into more than 50% of the houses we try. It has been a huge difference from the people in my last area, where everyone has doorbells and gates and big fences. Here the streets don't even have names.

To answer a few more of the questions you asked, I did get the Christmas package you sent on the Wednesday after Christmas, so it wasn't that bad at all, and I have already eaten everything that was in it, thank you so much. About the money, I'm just saving it for now because the dollar seems to be a little low right now and if I wait I can probably get more for the money. The dollar was at 5.000 guaranies and now it is down to 4.500, and I figured it went down a little because of Christmas and all the money that went out into the economy, so hopefully it will at least go up a little and then I'll use the money. I think I'm going to use the money to buy a few more recuerdos to take home, some little things to remember.

Anyway, when did Codi get pregnant? This is the first time anyone has told me that. If she is having the baby in September she must not be very far along at all, so I don't feel too bad. I only have 8 months left now so if anyone gets pregnant now I should be home when the baby is born. I haven't got a letter in the mail since last April and it would be kind of nice to hear a little bit about what is going on, but I'm working hard, I have to, I'm training now.

Oh, and about the Y, I'm just going to go back in January 2012, it'll be nice to make some money first before I go back, and I would have to come home early to start in September, which I could easily do, but I really don't want to, the only reason I would, would be to play flag football with Justin, and I don't think that is a good enough reason, plus I want to be there to apply for classes and majors and look into options and things and I don't want to worry about that here, so I've already decided I'm just going to wait until January 2012. By the way, no one has told me yet if Justin got into the Y, have you found out? Tell me when you know, anyway, I love you all so much, keep on being awesome, Elder Adamson V

Week 61 in Paraguay Change 10 Week 5

Hey Family! BIG NEWS! So President told me my change and here it is, dun dun dun dun, (that's a little drumroll), I'm actually just staying in Aratiri, where I was for the week before coming back into the office to help for a week with the changes. Well, going back after I'm done here in the office, and I'm training! So I'm going to be getting a new little missionary fresh out of the MTC. I'm really excited, it is going to be pretty interesting too because I'm going to be doing everything with them for their first two days after their arrival here in the mission home. They are here and then on the third day one of them is going to find out that I'm their trainer, pretty cool huh!! I'm just going to be staying in Aratiri serving as a district leader, it makes a lot more sense than going out to a different area to go up to zone leader. After all that Elder Foster said to President and after him explaining to us his new plans for the mission, its kind of more of a compliment to be training than to be going out to be a zone leader anyway. Even better, two Paraguayan missionaries are arriving this change, maybe I'll get to train one of them, who knows, not even President knows yet. Anyway, this week is going to be a little crazy, change week again, but it's the last one I'm going to have to worry about, I love you all, sorry I can't write more, Elder Adamson V

Week 60 in Paraguay Change 10 Week 4

I'm back into the field!!! It is so great being back out working all day, it has been a little hard to adjust though, it is just like the beginning of my mission again, on Thursday night I was not feeling very good at all, and right when I got home I had some chivivi guasu, if I haven't told you what that is I think you can guess; what it is, my stomach hurt and I didn't throw up, if you still don't get it maybe you can find some Guaraní translation on the Internet, anyway, I was pretty sick, I felt a little better by the time I went to bed. By the time I woke up I didn't feel very good again. We had a lunch appointment with a lady who is a little direct and gets offended a little easy. The night before she gave me a hamburger and I told her I would just carry it out with me because I didn't feel good and she thought I didn't like it and was going to throw it out in the street. When we got there for lunch the next day, I had to eat everything. I felt terrible though, and worse because the food was great, and then a few hours later just walking around doing some contacts I threw everything up. I felt a lot better and we just kept on working and as the night went on I just felt worse and worse and we got to our house and it all came up again. The next day, Saturday, I felt a whole lot better and since then I've been great, I think my body was just a little shocked because of the change from air conditioning all day to extreme heat. It has been up between 35-40C all week, which is right around 100 degrees Fahrenheit, it has been so hot, but don't worry, I drink tons of water, and my companion and I wear sombreros all the time. The little straw hats that farmers wear. The word is really funny because I knew that sombrero before meant hat, but now I know that sombra means shade and you add ero to the ends of things to make it like a person that does something or makes something, so sombrero kind of literally means shade maker, cool huh? Anyway, there is not too much time left, just to answer a few questions quick, my new companion's name is Elder Bustamante, he is from Mendoza, Argentina. He is really dark so a lot of people mistake him for a Paraguayan because the people from Argentina the people know here are usually white because they're from Buenos Aires. He is trying really hard to learn English here on his mission and has 10 months here in the mission and already speaks really well. We made a rule we only speak Spanish in the street and English in the house. The area is out in the middle of nowhere, its actually kind of close to the city, but it is huge and full of farms and silent. There are tons of people that speak Guaraní, so I can finally use the things I´ve learned and start to use it a little more, no one really speaks Guaraní at all in Asuncion. It is seen more as a kind of poorer class language and the people in Asuncion are not poor. Yet there are a few prideful Paraguayans also there that speak Guaraní fluently just because they are super educated and Guaraní is a national language. In my new area no one speaks Spanish or Guaraní fluently, they speak what you call Jopará, a mix between the two, they don´t understand you if you speak straight Spanish, and they wouldn´t understand pure Guaraní either, even though I wouldn´t know since I can´t speak it. It is fun to kind of mix them and throw in what I know. I´m glad now I was in the office to get my Spanish a little better because people don't speak very good Spanish here. It has been an absolute delight to be out in the field again. It has been really hard, but it is so rewarding, we have had a few challenges with investigators getting ready for their baptisms though, but that just comes with the work. The investigators are great, we are finding a lot of people to teach. I´m just about out of time, I love you so much, I don't know how next week is going to work because I have to be in the office next week for all of changes with my mission secretary replacement to teach him, I'm going in next Monday morning and will leave the mission office for good, on Thursday. I'm going to get skipped a P-day, so I probably will only be able to write a quick letter next week, but I still love you, love you so much, Elder Adamson V

Week 59 in Paraguay Change 10 Week 3 Happy New Year!

How is the cold there? It is so hot here, I’m starting to get a little scared to be leaving the office right now right when it is so hot outside, I’ve had it really good in here in the air conditioning, maybe I’ll get send back to Pedro Juan or something where it isn’t so hot and I’ll be saved. I guess we’ll only see with a little more time. First things first, HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! I’ve been thinking a lot today about what I could make my new year’s resolution and I really can’t think too much in anything, but I promise before the end of the day I’ll come up with something to try a stick to. This last week went by so fast I really don’t even know what to talk about. I was thinking this morning too about how fast the year went by. I can’t even believe it’s 2011 already. Anyway, the biggest change, as you probably all know, is that my replacement is in the office, his name is Elder Sterner and he is from Pocatello, Idaho. The interesting part of the whole thing is that he has a change more than me in the mission, which means still, with more than 15 months in the mission, I have never had a companion with less time than me in the mission, or younger than me, weird right? And, from what is sounds like from President and the assistants, I’ll be leaving the office as a zone leader and I’ll be trained to be a zone leader first, which means my next companion will also most likely have more time in the mission than me. I’m having a hard time today focusing on my letter. I’ve been working with Elder Lombardo lately, I pretty much became the unannounced assistant once my replacement came in, Elder Morrill, one of the assistants, had to go out to work in Pedro Juan for three weeks because of some special changes that happened so Elder Lombardo is alone as assistant in the office, so I’ve been going out with him every night. It’s almost like I’ve already switched areas, except on Sunday I’m going to church in Campo Grande, but I’m not even really connected to the area anymore. I really kind of feel like a sitting duck in the office, I just study and do random things all day, I made the whole mission secretary training program so what I’m doing is having Elder Sterner just try and do everything by himself and then when he has problems I help him. Then I change the mission secretary training program to fix what he couldn’t have done by himself. So I’m really just kind of waiting to get Elder Sterner trained which he is mostly doing through the mission secretary training program President asked me to create, and I am waiting to be sent to a mission area and being a regular missionary again, I’m really excited.

New Years this year turned out to be really fun and exciting, President asked us to come over to eat with him and his family, so we got to meet all of his children and their spouses, or fiancés in one case, and it took me right home. It felt just like I was eating dinner and hanging out with the family again, he invited us over for 8:00 and we didn’t leave until 10:50, technically we were supposed to be in bed by 10:30, but I guess it was justified seeing as how we were with President. We ate a big dinner and then President had his kids sing for us and we all sang hymns together to bring in the New Year. Their family is so great and they remind me so much of our family, not to mention that the husband of President’s oldest daughter is just like Dave, they even look alike, he served his mission in Chile, works, in a roundabout way, in real estate, and, if you can believe it, his name is David. The only real difference is that he was born and raised in Argentina, but that doesn’t even make that much of a difference because he speaks perfect English, as does pretty much the entire family. The only one that doesn’t speak as well, ironically, was also the only one born in the United States while President was studying at BYU. So Año Nuevo passed by really well, today all the boys staying at President’s house all came over to play soccer with us, then we had McDonald’s for lunch and we are all just finishing up some things in the office.

Sorry if this email is a little short, I really can’t think of too much to say, it really has not been a very eventful week. I know the church is true and I know that this is the most important work here on this earth, I am so grateful to have a family that also knows that and supports me in my efforts here, with so much love, Elder Adamson V