Week 70 in Paraguay Change 12 Week 3 A Baptism

Hey mom, thanks for the heads up on my mission deferment at BYU, that is just a little important. I am absolutely positive I filled one out and BYU should have it. What happened was my last week in school at the Y, I went to turn one in and they told me I couldn't turn one in until after I got my call, so I brought one home, filled it all out, and then once we got my call we sent it, maybe it didn't get there or something happened, but I specifically remember sending it. My president said I could do whatever I needed to do, so I'm going to print it out and send it this week, it takes about 4 weeks to be sure that it got there, so about this time in April we should check and see if they got it, if they didn't I'll try sending it again. Which reminds me, I sent you and dad an anniversary present, pretty much the best present I could have ever given you, it was supposed to be a suprise, but its been a really long time since I sent it, so I just want to know if you've got it yet, hopefully you have, or you get it this week or something, because it was such an awesome gift I hope it didn't get lost in the mail. I don't want to say what it is just to not ruin the suprise, hopefully you already have it, but I thought for sure once you got it you would have said something because of how awesome it is, so I thought I would just check. (Note-Dad and Mom have not received it. It has been over a month since it was mailed.)

Anyway, the week turned out to be a pretty good one, but it turned out to be kind of a let down, we had so much success finding new people and teaching Tuesday and Wednesday, and then as the week went on and we were preparing people to go to church people began to dismiss us and it started to get a little more difficult. On the happy side, Monserrath got baptized yesterday! It was really exciting for her to finally get baptized. We told her over and over and over again to invite friends, and she brought two of her friends to church and they stayed for the baptism after. Today we are going to try and meet her friends families and see what they thought about the baptism, hopefully we can get a lot more people to teach that way. All and all things have been really good as of late, the week before this one was really tough, and we are still kind of just coming up off of that, but we are going in a good direction. Tomorrow I'm going on a division with one of the assistants, Elder Levos, one of my really good friends from the office days, so I'm excited for that, it should be a really fun day and it should help me out a lot figuring out how to work as a zone leader with the zone and get some good training. Elder Neyra, the other assistant, is going to be working with my companion, it should be a good day for him, since Elder Neyra doesn't speak any English and my companion is just kind of getting to know the area, hopefully he doesn't get too lost and he can remember people they find, but it should be a good learning experiece for the both of us.
Anyway, I really don't have too much more to say, the big highlight of the week was the baptism, I'm really glad we were able to get it done, she'll be getting confirmed next week in church so we've still got a week to teach her how to listen to the spirit. I love this work so much, its been really hard lately, especially with all the new responsiblities on top of training a new missionary, but it hasn't been overwhelming, and I am trying hard to exceed expectations. I know the Lord will help me as I put my trust in him. I love you all so much, I can't wait to hear all the great things that happen this week next week. Elder Adamson V

Week 69 in Paraguay Change 12 Week 2

It sure has been a crazy week, almost everyone has been telling me about the tsunami in Japan. I was looking forward to today though because I knew that you would tell me what really happened. I have heard so many different things from the people here. My favorite was this one member that told us a 2000 meter wave hit Japan, but the Japanese people were ready and waiting for the wave, so they all got on their rooftops and only 1200 people died, after a wave more than a mile high hit the country. So I'm glad to have the correct information now.
Anyway, about the skype call thing, I don't know if it will even work this time because it will be Sunday and the only place we have internet here we have to pay to use it, so the phone call will probably just be a regular phone call like all the other ones. We'll plan it well before it happens, we still have 8 more weeks to worry about that though, but really only 7 more letters after this one if you think about it, but that's still a lot of time, we'll get it all figured out once it gets a little bit closer.
Well to answer some of your questions, Monserrath still hasn't got baptized, Wednesday for sure the baptism is happening, we just wanted to wait a little longer so she understood a few more things. Other than that the missionary work has been a little slow lately. We have been doing a lot of planning and ligistical things lately, getting references and things, this week should be the pay off week. Hopefully we can really get a lot going, it has been really good working with members and trying to start to work a lot more off of references. It really is a lot more effective, and it helps the members, especially less actives and recent converts, it is exciting to get them excited about sharing the gospel and hearing all their stories about people they taught in that past and people they brought to church. Last week we were able to contact a few of the references we got, but this week is the big week.
As for the zone, I'm over 5 units, 4 wards and 1 branch. The branch has sisters so there's one set of sisters in the zone. It has been good so far being zone leader, its a lot more work, but luckily I've got a pretty small zone, so its not too bad, and its fun to teach and train them, plus I'm still training Elder Juhasz, so I've got a lot to do.
Anyway I better get going, don't stop sending the BYU news, its fun to hear about, and honestly I don't even think about it during the week, I just miss it on P-day and then I forget about it until the next Monday, go Cougs, I love you all so much, Elder Adamson V

Week 68 in Paraguay Change 12 Week 1 Zone Leader

I didn't know you were all into the skype phase of life, I'm going to have to confess something, we got a letter from Salt Lake while I was in the office that said all missionaries now have permission to skype their families for their Christmas phone calls to cut down on the cost of calls. I didn't tell you because I thought you would have to install it, even though that only takes about 5 minutes, and I kind of thought it would be cool to be able to say I didn't SEE my family for 2years, but if we wanted to for Mother's Day we could probably do it, I don't know, I still think it would be kind of cool the suprise in September after having not seen each other for 2 years. Anyway, just had to make that little confession now that you have been talking so much about skype.
Anyway, to answer a few of your questions, I am still with my companion, Elder Juhasz, but we did, get a little change, I went up to zone leader, I'm over all the missionaries in the front half of Capiata, a zone of 12 missionaries, and I'm the only zone leader. It's been pretty fun so far, I haven't really had to do anything much different yet, but we'll see what happens. As for the little girl, she is supposed to get baptized this week, but we've been talking about it and we want to wait until next week. She's only 9 years old and her parents aren't members and she doesn't understand really yet the questions for her baptismal interview. I mean I know she's only nine and she won't be able to respond as intellegently as an adult, but I don't want to baptize her just because her aunt wants her to and then she goes back to live with her mom and never goes to church again. I think we should at least wait until she understands how to pray on her own, so I'm pretty sure it might get postponed a little. I think it will work out well too, because her cousin, that is the daughter of a member, just turned 8 and we can plan a baptism for them to get baptized together, so the girl will get interviewed by the bishop on Sunday, and then Monserrath by one of my district leaders (I like how that sounds) on Tuesday and we'll do the baptism next Wednesday. That way we'll have another week to get her more prepared, we'll go over there and teach her everyday to make sure she's good and feel a little better about it.
As for the letters you sent me, thank you so much for the pictures, I can't believe how much everything has changed, the mission is really weird in a way that it feels like everything has just kind of been put on pause and will be the same when I get back, its kind of weird to accept the fact that the world moves on without you. I can't believe Nick is married! No one ever told me that, I guess he's been home for 6months now, which is also just insane to me, I've been gone a really long time, and I've still got quite a bit left. It was just a weird kind of reality check.
Anyway, we're going to be going, I love you so much, sorry I didn't write much today, I spent a lot of time reading things over again, but I love you all so much, can't wait to hear from you again next week, Elder Adamson V

Week 67 in Paraguay Change 11 Week 6

Hey Family! It has been one crazy week with a whole lot of rain, but sadly, I really haven't had a P-day today and it doesn't really look like I am going to get too much of one, so I don't really have a lot of time to write. We had to be here in the office today, all the zone and district leaders, for a leadership council with President Arnold, the President of the South America South Area, to go over some issues and discuss some ways to better the mission because it is lower now than it has been in a very, very long time. Well, to say the least, it was a very powerful meeting with a lot of correction and really blunt and frank words. I really consider it a privilege to have been able to attend, but we had to arrive here really early, we had to get up before 5 to get here on time and its now past 3 and I'm still in the office because President wanted me to stay for an office meeting to give input on how to implement some things. I don't really have tons of time, but the whole week there was a lot of rain, pretty much every day. Toribio finally was able to go to church, we are gong to try and put another baptismal date with him so he can get baptized a couple weeks from now. We also had this little girl in church too that came from the out there place, the acampaña, I don't know how to say that in English, anyway, she lives with her aunt now that's a member and she is going to get baptized next week. Anyway, I love you all so much, remind me to tell you some of the new changes next week, LOVE YOU, Elder Adamson V

Week 66 in Paraguay Change 11 Week 5

Here in Aratiri everything is moving right along, time moves so fast sometimes I can't even believe it, this next week is already week 6 of the change (It looks like time has got you a week behind, updating to Week 5 instead of Week 4), the last week of the change and then changes next week. I feel like it was just yesterday I met Elder Juhasz and brought him here. This last week was a little bit more of a tough week. It felt like we were always walking and never being able to find anyone in there house. The few people that we have progressing are really hard to find and the few times we do find them they are only there for a few minutes so we can't teach too much.

Marisa, the girl that went to church last week, was busier than ever this week running errands for the family she works for, and then she left to go see her baby yesterday because it was the only day she had off. The whole week we weren't able to talk to her, just a couple times on the phone and once at her house, but never for more than 3 minutes, she knows the church is true and wants to get baptized, but she is just so busy that other things are keeping her from going to church and reading and keeping that testimony strong enough to want to change.

Then we have Toribio, the man that stopped us in the street and quit smoking to be able to get baptized, he is doing great, he is probably one of the most prepared person I have taught, but we are having the same kind of problems. They are a pretty poor family and have to work a lot of make any kind of money, so its hard to find them to teach them and sometimes they have to work Sundays. Well we went and taught them on Tuesday and they told us that they talked to their boss and he gave them permission to take Sundays off so they can go to church, but then we passed by again on Thursday and Toribio was really sick, so we gave him a blessing and that was the last time we saw them. Their neighbors tell us that they have been working a lot because the man was sick on Friday and didn't go to work and they had to go to the doctor, so what we think happened is that since he didn't go to work on Friday his boss told him he had to work on Sunday to make up his work, which is pretty likely. I guess we'll see what happened when we are able to talk to them again. I still am sure that he will be getting baptized sometime in March, he is really prepared. It is just a question of how he is going to be able to get to church and how we are going to be able to teach him everything in time before the baptism, but the Lord works in mysterious ways, and His will will be done, so we are just going to keep doing all that we can.

We are working with the 9 year old sister of Miguel, the 14 year old that just got baptized this month. She is so great and it seems like she really likes church and really likes talking to us, but her mom doesn't want her to get baptized. It took a long time, long before we even got here, for Miguel to convince his mom that he should be baptized. I don't know how long it is going to take for her to tell Isabel she can get baptized since she's only 9 years old. She told us that she wants to get baptized, but it really depends on the mom since there isn't any dad in the house. They both come to church though, every single week. Miguel passed the sacrament yesterday in his new white shirt and tie and his Sunday School and Priesthood teachers say he is the most active participant in the class and an example for everyone else. So I think they will stay active and Isabel will have the chance to get baptized when the time comes, whether its with us or not doesn't really matter. We are just really focusing on helping her grow her testimony and stay active in church and when her mom tells her she can get baptized we'll be there.

The Aguero family, the family of the girl I blessed last June, has been doing better, they've come to church once, they still aren't really active, but this last week they helped us a little in teaching investigators and finding some more new people to teach, so its coming, it seems like they really have the desires to go to church, but the little things just let them stay home, like rain or soccer tournaments or just being tired, but when they are feeling good they come. We are still working with them because they are helping a lot with other less active families, even though they are less active themselves. Once we can help them to go to church consistently they will help a lot of other people to go to church.

The family we found in the corner that I always wanted to contact didn't turn out to be as great as we thought at first. They haven't really been keeping commitments and every time we pass to talk to them they aren't very focused in what we are saying and make a lot of excuses for not doing things, its sad because we can see how much the gospel will help their lives, but they treat us more like their friends coming over to sip terere than missionaries, so we aren't visiting them as often. We still pass by their house all the time and say hi and see how they are doing, but we don't usually stop to teach, maybe a little bit further down the road when they really need it they will be a little more prepared to accept it.

Other than that we found a lot of new people this week, we have been working a lot with this new family that really gets it, they really understand what we teach and want to know more, but I think they are afraid of knowing that it's true because they are so Catholic. They are really active in the Catholic church and they don't want to change that part of their life. We spent a good lesson just talking about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and you could really tell that they understood and felt the spirit, but they aren't ready to give up the life they have, we just found them last Tuesday though, so who knows, maybe something will change this week that helps them understand and change and sincerely pray to know.

Honestly it was a pretty hard week, hopefully we can learn from it and push hard this week to have some more success. March is looking like a promising month, the last month of Summer, the last month of the hottest heat I'll ever have to bear, and we have one more week to prepare for it, so we're going to make the best of it. I love you all so much, can't wait to hear from you again next week, Elder Adamson V

Week 65 in Paraguay Change 11 Week 3

It has been another great week in the mission field, we have been working super hard and loving every minute of it! This week it seemed like went soooo fast, every single day we had something we had to do and couldn't use all of our time to work in our area, so the whole week just went by in a flash. We found some more great people this week, mostly just this one family that lives in this corner I've always wanted to contact. There is an older lady that lives there, Dora, with her daughter, Yessica, and all of her kids, 5 of them. Both of them are separated from their husbands, so the only people that live there over 8 are Dora, Yessica, and one of her sons, Osvaldo. They used to go to the church when they lived closer and ended up going about 5 times and they want to start going back so they can get baptized. The only problem is they are really poor and Dora doesn't want to take the kids in the clothes that she has and yesterday she said the clothes they were going to use didn't dry so they couldn't get to church. We are going to try and work with them a little more this week to get them set with a baptismal date and ready to go to church this week with clothes and everything. We are also working with this man named Toribio, the one that lives with his wife that's a member and quit smoking to be able to be baptized, I think I talked a little bit about him last week, anyway, he has now completely quit smoking and is finishing up a job quick so he doesn't have to work on Sundays. He is so awesome, it is so fun to just watch him learn and try to really change his life so he can get over his addictions, he is an amazing man I think will really help the church in leadership. We had zone conference this week too, and one of the things we talked about was teaching more men so the church can progress here in South America. A lot of the people we baptize here are women. We are putting a focus on finding men to teach now to be able to fill the churches here with more priesthood holders. The things we learned have already helped with Toribio and hopefully they will help us to have more people to teach in general. I love this work so much, I really have discovered a new outlook on enjoying the work and losing yourself in it, hopefully it is something I can carry with me for the rest of the mission. I don't have too much more time, I love you all so very much, I know I'm in the right place, exactly where I'm supposed to be and that the Lord's hand is in all I'm doing here. I love my Savior and I know that he knows the people individually I am teaching, I will rely on His guidance to know what it is they need, thank you all so much for all the love and support you always send me, love you sooooooo much, Elder Adamson V

Week 64 in Paraguay Change 11 Week 2

This was such a great week! Which is actually really funny because if you had asked me on Friday how the week was going I probably would have had a very different reaction. It really actually was a really hard week with not very much success, but we have been seeing so many special miracles.
First off, we have been visiting this family in our ward that is a little less active, the dad lives in Argentina for work, so the Mom and some of the kids live in the house alone. One of their daughters died last year at the age of 17 from a brain tumor and it has been really hard on the family. Well we were over there on Tuesday and I saw that there was this single room upstairs completely cut off from the rest of the house, there weren't any stairs or anything going up there, so I asked how they get up there, and she told me that you have to put up a ladder and then move the ladder when you come back down, kind of different, but not important to the story. Anyway, so I asked who lived up there and she replied that her daughter that died lived up there and they have kept the room exactly the same since she died. Then she started to explain to me the events of her death. She told me she died on the 22 of June last year. She was in Argentina when she went to the hospital and got back just in time for her to see her daughter before she died on the same day. She told me that once the girl got to the hospital before she went into a coma the last thing she said was that she wanted to see her Mom. Well, she said once she was in the hospital the first thing her other daughter did was call the Elders to come and give her a blessing on the June 21, the day before the Mom got back, and she said the name of the hospital.
I then realized that on June 21 I had gone to that same hospital to give a blessing to a girl in a coma from Capiata. I was the Elder that went to give her daughter a blessing the day before she died. It was a really great experience sharing our feelings with each other and it really was a big testimony of how much God knows us and really loves us. I distinctly remember giving that blessing and as soon as I put my hands on her head I knew she was going to die. I don't really remember what I said, but I remember I talked a lot about her family and the blessing was mainly directed towards them. As I left with Elder Ventura I told him we would never know the effects of that blessing, and here I am coming to know personally the family that Heavenly Father blessed through me. It was such a miracle to realize all of this, and then she explained to me that after she got there the girl looked up at her, then the mom had to go back to the house to get an analysis for the doctors and on her way home her other son called her to tell her she had died. So the girl made it just long enough to see her mother, when the doctors said she wouldn't even make it through the night of the 21st. Now, more than 7 months later, the Lord has blessed me with the knowledge of the effects of the blessing I was able to give.
Anyway, that happened on Tuesday, then the week got really hard, contacts weren't really working, it was hard to get into houses, I don't really get lost now though, which is nice. It was kind of like that all the way through Saturday, but we just kept on working hard and being obedient and diligent and then Saturday afternoon as we were walking down the road we passed this family and they stopped us and asked us if we knew one of the members of our ward, I told them I did and they just said, "Well we live right next door, when can you come over and visit us?" It was so amazing, we set up a time for that night, when we went by they weren't there, but we found them yesterday and explained to us that they were working and hadn't got home yet and they were really sorry, and then told us that the wife is a member and the husband wants to get baptized. Neither of them have been to church in years, but the husband has already started to try to quit smoking before even meeting with us so he could get baptized. He was smoking 20 cigarettes a day and he has got it down to 3 now, so we put a little plan with him and he accepted an invitation to be baptized on the 3rd of March. It was so amazing.
On top of all of that, Miguel got baptized yesterday and Elder Juhasz did the baptism. It turned out super great and his mom, who doesn't ever want to talk to us and is kind of against the church came to his baptism and seems to be really supportive of his decision. The missionary that started teaching him a couple months ago, Elder Claypool, who came with me and lived with me in the MTC, was able to come and be at the baptism too, so everything turned out really great.
Well, all in all, it turned out to be a great week, I really feel like this week I really learned the true meaning of Ether 12:6 "Ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith" because this week really was a trial of faith, it has been hard to work hard in the area with it being to hot, me not really knowing where to go, who the members are, and worst of all not really having investigators, but sacrifice really does bring forth the blessings of heaven. I love this work so much and I am so grateful for the great calling I have to be a missionary here in Paraguay, I love you all so much, hope you have a great week, Elder Adamson V