Hola familia!
Thank you so much for the many e-mails and ranch pictures! Thank you for your support and encouragement Grandma Springer, Sarah, Dad, James, and Laurel. You guys are seriously the best, and I love hearing how you´re doing just as much as you say you love hearing about me. :) And Maddy, I got your graduation announcement! You are such a babe. Thanks for thinking to send one to me.
We´ve had a good week this week. Knowing that it may very well be out last week together (Changes AGAIN?? Sheesh!), Hna. Tua´one and I have been sure to take lots of pictures and do lots of bonding at the end of the day. Our district has been so cool this Change. I´m going to miss how it is right now. Today the Elders finally invited Hna. Tua´one and I to a P-Day activity. Apparently they play cards and/or ping-pong and/or go out to lunch together every week. So nice of them to invite us after I´ve been here FOUR MONTHS. We gave them a lot of grief about that, then fed them Hna. Tua´one´s Red Vines just to ensure that they invite us again next time. :) Today we played "Scum" in the chapel for a bit, then went to a nice restaurant "downtown." I had no idea there were restaurants like that in Mariano--with actual menus and decorations and waiters. It was nice. We had a really good time.
Griselda´s baptism went great. The youth in our ward ran the show, as they awesomely tend to do, and there were no set-backs at all. We´d had a scare earlier that day, though. While Hna. Tua´one helped Griselda wash some dishes, she had me go get her mom´s signature, because she needed her guardian´s permission to be baptized. After chit-chatting a bit, I asked, "So, Griselda has your permission to be baptized, right?" and my heart plummeted when her mom´s smile faded and her eyes darkened and she said, "Griselda´s already baptized in the Catholic church." After months of teaching, all I could stammer was, "She hasn´t talked with you about this at all??" She said, "Well, yeah, but I thought she was kidding!" I was so scared. SO scared. I thought after all of our hard work, after the jovenes had already planned everything for that night, her mom was gonna say no. Turns out, though, that her mom just didn´t understand baptism and wasn´t too keen on rewarding Griselda with anything because she was being disobedient earlier that week. But I explained to her that baptism is a covenant with God and a new beginning with Griselda, and her mom was really happy to hear about the rules about dating, alcohol, and respecting parents. We got her consent and it all went fine. More than fine. Griselda has a member cousin who was there, and who brought her to church the next day. I´m so grateful for that cousin. It´s so nice to not have a recent convert depending completely on us missionaries to stay active in the church or to walk with them to church every Sunday. I know Griselda´s in good hands, and I can rest easy.
This week we´ve been doing a lot of finding, now that our two golden investigators are baptized and confirmed and mostly in the hands of the ward. We´ve been working farther and farther away from our house, hoping to find people who have had contact with the missionaries before but not so much that they´ve hardened their hearts already. Earlier this week we found such an investigator. His name is Mario and he´s a great guy, but it´s very challenging to teach him because he can´t hear. Thankfully he can read or I don´t know what we´d do. We teach him by playing charades and writing and giving him scriptures and pamphlets to read. He´s already been taught by the missionaries a LONG time ago. His nephew was actually baptized. But he always felt like he can´t go to church because he can´t hear. We´re trying to teach him that the Spirit doesn´t teach us through our ears, but through our hearts. The poor guy´s got kind of a sad history, and I want him to feel the fellowship and love of the church so much. First when he was in the army (or something--it´s kind of hard to communicate the details between us) he underwent some kind of psychological torture that took his hearing away, then his sister dumped his nephew on him, and he raised him like his son, only to have the sister come take him away again, and now the church next-door is claiming his property as theirs and trying to evict him. It´s so sad.
Paraguay really is a sad place sometimes. I think about the curse on the Promised Land a lot--how when people set their riches down, they won´t find them again in the morning. EVERYONE gets robbed of their cell phones here. Nobody dares walk alone at night, and they all have huge walls around their yards topped with barbed wire, spikes, broken glass, and/or an electric fence. I´ve never felt threatened. Walking in pairs always helps, and our living place is really secure. Anyways, people just aren´t trusting here. There´s no such thing as service. Whenever we offer to help someone, they shriek, "NOOO!" because they think we´re either trying to butter them up to rob them or we expect to be paid later. We´ve also had a lot of menos activos asking us for money lately. So many here in Mariano were baptized thinking they would get a cash prize or something, and everyone tries to appeal to the blonde, rich American girl for money. Even the good members of the ward ask us for stuff, too proud to ask their neighbors or branch friends. We try to get them to help themselves, but it´s really hard when they live with such a messed up government. It certainly is a different world down here.
P.S. GBTV sounds awesome. "The Book of Mormon" musical? Not so much. Though, publicity is publicity, as I said about Sr. Torres a few weeks ago. And I´ve been reading in 1 Nephi a lot lately, loving Nephi´s vision about our latter-day history. I kind of stopped reading the Bible. It was really fun, but honestly, it left kind of an empty feeling. I need to find a balance between reading the Bible and studying the Book of Mormon, because if I´m not reading the Book of Mormon every day, I don´t have the same excitement to go out and teach. It truly is the best book in the world. Anyways, at first I was thinking I didn´t want to re-read all of Nephi´s stories because they´re what I´ve read the most in my attempts to read the Book of Mormon start to finish. :) But you can always find something new to learn from the scriptures. This time through, I loved reading how when Lehi told his sons about his vision, Laman and Lemuel just debated amongst themselves what Lehi was talking about. But Nephi turned to the Lord, pondering the things he´d heard and believing that the Lord could help him understand. Starting at 1 Ne. 15:8(?--I don´t have my scriptures on me) I really like Nephi´s response to his brothers about how we need to act. We can´t just have the scriptures in our hands, we need to study them. We can´t just believe that there is a God, we need to rely on His guidance in all things. And I love reading about Nephi´s vision of the history of the United States and the formation of the great and abominable church and how the Church of Jesus Christ is small but will flood the earth and eventually win. People can rail on us all they want, but we have the promise that our enemies will fall into the pits they dig for us. :)
Let´s see, what else... Hna. Tua´one and I check each other for lice a lot now. She still finds some in my hair now and again but it´s not too bad, and I use that tea tree oil stuff you gave me. Also, sorry, I don´t have pictures of the tarantula. I lent my camera to a couple in the branch who went to the temple to get sealed this week. And I never got a good look at it myself, but Hna. Tua´one tells me that yes, in fact, it WAS very fast and that it jumped (EEEWW!) and that it was so big she could see its eyes. That´s enough for me. Ew. I´m still kind of afraid of my closet. I throw open the doors half-expecting to see a spider in there again, and I´m sure to shake out all of my clothes really well before I put them on. :) There wasn´t anything in my laundry bag this time. When Martin delivered my bag I asked him if he´d double-checked, and he said, "No hay una araña. Una anaconda no más." Silly kid. :)
I got my wish. Last week I was complaining about the heat, and now it´s FREEZING. It feels like there should be snow, seriously. We bundle up really well every day, and at the end of the day we rush into our bedroom where there´s a heater and snuggle under our covers. Our room is really toasty (no Dad, I don´t need a sleeping bag. Even if I get Changed, every Hermana´s place has a heater, don´t worry), but the rest of the rooms are ice cold. We have to wear gloves when we study, and hot chocolate is our new best friend.
This week at district meeting we got the mail, and the office elders sent me back the big envelope of photos I sent you. Apparently there was a mix-up. NOW it´s on its way for sure. Sorry. I need to go develop a new batch soon, as none of those I sent are of this Change with Hna. Tua´one. Wow, June went by so fast. I can´t believe it´s gonna be July already. I hope you all have fun plans for the Fourth. We´re gonna try and have another district activity--preferably a barbecue. :)
Well, that´s all for today. Thank you so much again for your letters. I love you so much and I´ll be sure to send out more snail mail letters to show my appreciation. LOVE YOU!!
--Hna. Springer
Monday, June 27, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Week 25 - Asuncion Paraguay - Mariano Roque Alonzo
Dear Family,
Hermana Tua´one is officially my hero. Despite being sick two days this week, she worked as hard as she could and we almost met our weekly goals even with the missed time. She´s so great with all the members and our investigators, and we´re seeing a lot of progress this Change.
Not only is she a great missionary, she´s an amazing friend. She had my back in major ways twice this week. First was when, after a few days of me being in denial, I told her that my scalp was itching really badly. For the next two hours she picked lice out of my hair, and that was the day she was sick! Yes, I got lice. After only three and a half months in Paraguay. It was really nasty, but now the itching is gone and my hair has been declared clean, and I´m told I´m less likely to get it again now. I´m not sure how much I believe that...
The second time she was my hero was just this morning. We´d just come back from grocery shopping. I opened my wardrobe to get my sweats to lounge around in, and there on the back panel of the wardrobe was a tarantula. This wasn´t the little baby, half-dead tarantula of that time with Hna. Stagg. No, this was like the father of all nastiness--as big as my palm and very much alive. I immediately shouted for my companion. She came running, and after giving her my flashlight and showing her where the monster had gone, I fled to the opposite end of the apartment. The next twenty minutes were very dramatic. Equipped with a plastic pitcher and a piece of cardboard, Hna. Tua´one struggled to evict the spider, first from amongst my clothes, and then out of the house. Sometimes it seemed like a fight to the death ("Ew! Ew! EEEWWW!"..."No, get off of that!"..."Oh gosh, it´s in your coat!!"..."AAARGH!!"), other times there was a tense silence as she carefully tried to trap the thing. I just watched from the kitchen, laughing and shuddering and stomach churning. Finally the eight-legged freak was caught in the pitcher. I followed Hna. Tua´one outside, armed with bug killer, ready to finish this battle with chemical warfare. But the kid of the people we live behind was out there, feeding his ducks, and when he heard we had a tarantula to kill he suggested we feed it to his ducks. That proved a much more satisfying end as the ducks eagerly chowed down with much excited quacking, leaving no body to dispose of. I was ready to invite the ducks to move into my wardrobe but sadly that´s against mission rules.
I couldn´t rest until I had sprayed bug killer all over the house, and I´m still not gonna feel secure using my wardrobe for a while. I carefully extracted an examined everything in there using a pair of coat hangers and sprayed it all with bug killer just for good measure. i just can´t get over the fact that it was in my clothes! The only way I can imagine that it got into my always-locked-tight closet is through my laundry. It must have hitched a ride from the plant-filled backyard of the woman who does my laundry, and it must have been chilling in my socks as I put them in my closet. That means that at some point, I was HOLDING IT!! Thankfully I was too lazy to put my clothes away nicely this morning, or finding that thing would have been a lot more traumatic. *SHUDDER*
So yeah, I love Hna. Tua´one. I´ve pretty much sworn to wait on her hand and foot for as long as she´s my companion. :)
Anyways...how are you all doing? Having a nice, tarantula-free week, i hope? It sounds like you´re all having a great time hanging out in Utah together. Dad and Mom, I totally think you should just move to Utah. That would be so sweet to just fly home to the Salt Lake airport and be greeted by the entire extended family. Not that I ever think about the day I fly home... :)
Oh, Happy Father´s Day by the way! Grandpa Springer, Goompa, Dad, Clayton, Todd, Neil, Jared, James, Jens, Taylor, and EVERYBODY, thank you for being so amazing. You are really all such an inspiration to me. I´m so glad to have you as father figures in my life. Paraguayan men celebrated Father´s Day by getting too drunk to walk. I was very very grateful for all of you that day, for being such awesome fathers, uncles, husbands, and grandfathers and making our family such a happy place to be. I hope I can marry somebody who will be as good a father as all of you are. Not that I ever think about being married... :)
Our investigators are all doing great. We´re teaching some really nice people. Not all of them are totally gung-ho about learning about the church, but the one who is makes it all worth it. Griselda is an absolute joy to teach. Every time we go to her house, she´s not only read the pamphlet or chapter we assigned her last time, but she´s taken detailed notes and enjoys teaching US the doctrines. She went to one of the Elders´ baptisms with us on Saturday, and she came to church with us yesterday in a pretty pink skirt borrowed from her cousin. Now we´re planning her baptism on the 25th, and we´re all super excited. She´s being such a great example for her siblings, and I think her mom really likes the gospel, too. I hope to see her whole family baptized someday.
Last Monday, right after I e-mailed you, we went to go visit Hna. Sanchez, and the change in her was amazing. I was there for her baptism and her confirmation, but it was like she transformed Sunday night. When we showed up at her house, she came to greet us, and it was like she was a completely new person. She walked tall, she was smiling, she seemed really put-together, and she just FELT like a member of the Church. I can´t really describe it. You could just feel the Spirit in her, and it made me so happy to see how much happier she is. Now we´re teaching her about the temple and getting her ready to make more and more covenants and receive more and more blessings for herself and her family.
I´ve beeing going through the scripture reference guide i made in the MTC and marking key scriptures in my Spanish set to use during lessons. In doing so, I found that 1 Corinthians is my new favorite book of scripture. There are so many jewels of knowledge in there that are so useful when teaching--references to the Kingdoms of Glory, baptisms for the dead... I especially enjoyed reading chapters 12 and 14. I wish I´d read 14 a long time ago, as it addresses speaking in tongues--something that people bring up a LOT here in Paraguay. What I love about that chapter is that Paul compares speaking in tongues with prophecy, and ultimately concludes that prophecy for the edification of the church is a thousand times more important than speaking in a language that nobody else can understand. That´s what God and the Gospel is all about--making things clearer so that all can be edified. I try to help people understand that, but some Paraguayans seem determined to remain confused and hoodwinked.
And I lied, I totally have been thinking about marriage and the day I come home lately. Not in a trunkie, "I want this to be over" way, but in a very constructive, motivating way. Amanda´s wedding certainly got marriage on my mind, and in reading the conference talks and remembering Father´s Day, I´m realizing just how important marriage is. Families are so key to happiness here in this life and in the eternities. I´m so so SO grateful to have an eternal family. I don´t even want to think about what kind of life I would have without that knowledge of eternal families.
As for thinking about the day I go home, in Preach My Gospel there´s an activity where it encourages us to do that and ask ourselves what kind of person we will have become after our mission and what kind of legacy we want to have left behind. After every lesson, at the end of every day, I love to think about all the people that the Lord has put in my path and all the inspiration that has come to my mind that day. I´m reminded constantly that there is a higher purpose to it all, and that this is my time to really make a difference in Paraguay.
Well, that´s all for today. I hope you´re all enjoying the non-humidity. I really hope it rains here soon because this muggy, sweaty heat doesn´t make it really easy to get up and go. I thought it was supposed to be winter?
I love you all and hope you have an amazing week. Don´t forget to write before next Monday. Read the scriptures every day and try to find some new inspiration every time. Thank you for everything.
Love forever and ever,
---Hna. Springer
Hermana Tua´one is officially my hero. Despite being sick two days this week, she worked as hard as she could and we almost met our weekly goals even with the missed time. She´s so great with all the members and our investigators, and we´re seeing a lot of progress this Change.
Not only is she a great missionary, she´s an amazing friend. She had my back in major ways twice this week. First was when, after a few days of me being in denial, I told her that my scalp was itching really badly. For the next two hours she picked lice out of my hair, and that was the day she was sick! Yes, I got lice. After only three and a half months in Paraguay. It was really nasty, but now the itching is gone and my hair has been declared clean, and I´m told I´m less likely to get it again now. I´m not sure how much I believe that...
The second time she was my hero was just this morning. We´d just come back from grocery shopping. I opened my wardrobe to get my sweats to lounge around in, and there on the back panel of the wardrobe was a tarantula. This wasn´t the little baby, half-dead tarantula of that time with Hna. Stagg. No, this was like the father of all nastiness--as big as my palm and very much alive. I immediately shouted for my companion. She came running, and after giving her my flashlight and showing her where the monster had gone, I fled to the opposite end of the apartment. The next twenty minutes were very dramatic. Equipped with a plastic pitcher and a piece of cardboard, Hna. Tua´one struggled to evict the spider, first from amongst my clothes, and then out of the house. Sometimes it seemed like a fight to the death ("Ew! Ew! EEEWWW!"..."No, get off of that!"..."Oh gosh, it´s in your coat!!"..."AAARGH!!"), other times there was a tense silence as she carefully tried to trap the thing. I just watched from the kitchen, laughing and shuddering and stomach churning. Finally the eight-legged freak was caught in the pitcher. I followed Hna. Tua´one outside, armed with bug killer, ready to finish this battle with chemical warfare. But the kid of the people we live behind was out there, feeding his ducks, and when he heard we had a tarantula to kill he suggested we feed it to his ducks. That proved a much more satisfying end as the ducks eagerly chowed down with much excited quacking, leaving no body to dispose of. I was ready to invite the ducks to move into my wardrobe but sadly that´s against mission rules.
I couldn´t rest until I had sprayed bug killer all over the house, and I´m still not gonna feel secure using my wardrobe for a while. I carefully extracted an examined everything in there using a pair of coat hangers and sprayed it all with bug killer just for good measure. i just can´t get over the fact that it was in my clothes! The only way I can imagine that it got into my always-locked-tight closet is through my laundry. It must have hitched a ride from the plant-filled backyard of the woman who does my laundry, and it must have been chilling in my socks as I put them in my closet. That means that at some point, I was HOLDING IT!! Thankfully I was too lazy to put my clothes away nicely this morning, or finding that thing would have been a lot more traumatic. *SHUDDER*
So yeah, I love Hna. Tua´one. I´ve pretty much sworn to wait on her hand and foot for as long as she´s my companion. :)
Anyways...how are you all doing? Having a nice, tarantula-free week, i hope? It sounds like you´re all having a great time hanging out in Utah together. Dad and Mom, I totally think you should just move to Utah. That would be so sweet to just fly home to the Salt Lake airport and be greeted by the entire extended family. Not that I ever think about the day I fly home... :)
Oh, Happy Father´s Day by the way! Grandpa Springer, Goompa, Dad, Clayton, Todd, Neil, Jared, James, Jens, Taylor, and EVERYBODY, thank you for being so amazing. You are really all such an inspiration to me. I´m so glad to have you as father figures in my life. Paraguayan men celebrated Father´s Day by getting too drunk to walk. I was very very grateful for all of you that day, for being such awesome fathers, uncles, husbands, and grandfathers and making our family such a happy place to be. I hope I can marry somebody who will be as good a father as all of you are. Not that I ever think about being married... :)
Our investigators are all doing great. We´re teaching some really nice people. Not all of them are totally gung-ho about learning about the church, but the one who is makes it all worth it. Griselda is an absolute joy to teach. Every time we go to her house, she´s not only read the pamphlet or chapter we assigned her last time, but she´s taken detailed notes and enjoys teaching US the doctrines. She went to one of the Elders´ baptisms with us on Saturday, and she came to church with us yesterday in a pretty pink skirt borrowed from her cousin. Now we´re planning her baptism on the 25th, and we´re all super excited. She´s being such a great example for her siblings, and I think her mom really likes the gospel, too. I hope to see her whole family baptized someday.
Last Monday, right after I e-mailed you, we went to go visit Hna. Sanchez, and the change in her was amazing. I was there for her baptism and her confirmation, but it was like she transformed Sunday night. When we showed up at her house, she came to greet us, and it was like she was a completely new person. She walked tall, she was smiling, she seemed really put-together, and she just FELT like a member of the Church. I can´t really describe it. You could just feel the Spirit in her, and it made me so happy to see how much happier she is. Now we´re teaching her about the temple and getting her ready to make more and more covenants and receive more and more blessings for herself and her family.
I´ve beeing going through the scripture reference guide i made in the MTC and marking key scriptures in my Spanish set to use during lessons. In doing so, I found that 1 Corinthians is my new favorite book of scripture. There are so many jewels of knowledge in there that are so useful when teaching--references to the Kingdoms of Glory, baptisms for the dead... I especially enjoyed reading chapters 12 and 14. I wish I´d read 14 a long time ago, as it addresses speaking in tongues--something that people bring up a LOT here in Paraguay. What I love about that chapter is that Paul compares speaking in tongues with prophecy, and ultimately concludes that prophecy for the edification of the church is a thousand times more important than speaking in a language that nobody else can understand. That´s what God and the Gospel is all about--making things clearer so that all can be edified. I try to help people understand that, but some Paraguayans seem determined to remain confused and hoodwinked.
And I lied, I totally have been thinking about marriage and the day I come home lately. Not in a trunkie, "I want this to be over" way, but in a very constructive, motivating way. Amanda´s wedding certainly got marriage on my mind, and in reading the conference talks and remembering Father´s Day, I´m realizing just how important marriage is. Families are so key to happiness here in this life and in the eternities. I´m so so SO grateful to have an eternal family. I don´t even want to think about what kind of life I would have without that knowledge of eternal families.
As for thinking about the day I go home, in Preach My Gospel there´s an activity where it encourages us to do that and ask ourselves what kind of person we will have become after our mission and what kind of legacy we want to have left behind. After every lesson, at the end of every day, I love to think about all the people that the Lord has put in my path and all the inspiration that has come to my mind that day. I´m reminded constantly that there is a higher purpose to it all, and that this is my time to really make a difference in Paraguay.
Well, that´s all for today. I hope you´re all enjoying the non-humidity. I really hope it rains here soon because this muggy, sweaty heat doesn´t make it really easy to get up and go. I thought it was supposed to be winter?
I love you all and hope you have an amazing week. Don´t forget to write before next Monday. Read the scriptures every day and try to find some new inspiration every time. Thank you for everything.
Love forever and ever,
---Hna. Springer
Week 24 - Asuncion Paraguay - Mariano Roque Alonzo
Hey family!!
I hope you´re all having a blast at the ranch, the cabin, southern Utah, California, and all those other awesome places. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Springer, Chelsy and the Hunts, the Anderson family, Cami, Sarah, Dad, and Mom for your letters this week. It means a lot to me that you took the time out of your vacations to shoot me a letter. Cami, I had no idea you´re planning on serving a mission. That´s so great! I just sent you and your family a letter in the mail so look forward to that soon. :) Grandma, that´s so sad that the cabin roof is caving in and that you had to cut down the tire swing tree. things can´t last forever, but it´d be cool if they could. :(
We finally had a baptism!! I was so worried that something would be wrong with Hna. Sanchez´s health and we would have to put off her baptism again, but nope! Since the Elders gave her a blessing she hasn´t had a problem. We had to go to Asuncion for an interview with President Madariaga and she came no problem. She was healthy the day of her baptism, and she came to church the next morning. I love the Priesthood. :)
The baptism was really nice. The Elders had one, too, so Hna. T and I didn´t have to get up super early to clean the font or anything. It was all planned for us, we just had to make sure Hna. Sanchez was ready. She definitely was. I was so glad that we got to take her to meet President beforehand. After her interview with him, I was 100% positive that she was truly ready to make this important covenant in her life. And President has an amazing spirit of love and peace about him that I´m glad she got to feel. She´s my first real convert, and I was so unbelievably happy to see her enter the waters of baptism and lead her to the front of the chapel to recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost. She´d been worried that the water would be cold (and I´d heard stories of people backing out of baptism just because of cold water) but while the little girls who were baptized squealed at how cold it was, Herminia said all she felt was happiness. :) She´s so awesome.
Griselda came to the baptism, and to church with us yesterday. She´s completely set to be baptized on the 25th. Our zone goal for this month is fourteen baptisms, and at this rate I think we´re gonna definitely meet it. That should make up for our atrocious numbers last month. :)
Our study plan for reading Predicad Mi Evangelio this week has been perfectly lining up with our situation. On the day we were stressing about getting everything ready for the baptism, the reading included, "How to Conduct a Baptism." When we were disappointed by an apostate member´s lack of testimony, the reading included, "Menos Activos." The day of Hna. Sanchez´s baptism, we read about new converts staying active in the church, helping us set our sights past this first step in her life as a member.
Oh, and we FINALLY got the LIahonas for May and June. Isn´t the cover for the Conference issue gorgeous? I spent that whole night after we received them just reading through both magazines. It was so great to finally be able to relive the conference talks and remember how I felt back in April. I can´t wait to use some of those quotes in lessons with our investigators. Dad, I remember thinking how weird it was that you would re-listen to conference talks throughout the year, but now I completely understand. I wish I´d had the foresight to put some of them on my iPod.
This weekend the Mariano district had a big priesthood meeting to ordain worthy men to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. Filimón was one of those who received it, and seriously, visiting him and seeing his pure testimony makes all the disappointments worth it. I´m so grateful to know him. Every time we saw him this week before the meeting, he was poring over his gospel principles manuals and things, reading as much as he could about the Priesthood. He expressed nervousness, wanting to be 100% worthy to receive the power of God on earth. We´ve talked to so many men here in Paraguay who only care about money and alcohol, and/or tell us that we´re crazy and are missing out on the "good things" in life. But Filimón is an amazing example for all men everywhere. His greatest concern is his family and his personal worthiness. I´m happy for the missionaries who found and converted him. :) Anyways, we had an amazing lesson with him on Friday when he was worrying about receiving the priesthood the next day. I had just been reading Moses 1 that morning, and so I decided to read with him the part where Satan comes and tries to tempt Moses. I love how in that story we learn that Satan (and the wicked in the world) try to tell us that we are only "sons of man," but, like Moses, we can confidently say that we are children of God, in the similitude of the Only Begotten, and that we have all power over the Adversary. When we turn to God and remember who we are, we have every capability to be 100% worthy of the power of God. And because Filimón seemed to be worrying that he´d have to prove himself somehow, I told him what they´d told us every day at the MTC--"The Lord doesn´t call the qualified; He qualifies the called." I love how in anything other than the gospel, we have to prove ourselves and do all we can to get ahead of others. But with God, all men can be joint-heirs of the blessings He promises. All we have to do is be like Christ, and then the blessings freely flow.
I also have a new-found appreciation for the hymns after this week. We Hermanas always try to sing a hymn before teaching a lesson. Usually we just kind of flip to a random page because we´re both indecisive about hymns, but early this week we came across a catholic lady who seemed determined to hate us but I guess the Spirit moved her to compassion and she let us in. As she was bringing chairs, Hna. T said to me, "Okay, choose the best hymn we can sing--one that will bring the Spirit. One that says "This is who we are and what we stand for." We chose, "I Know that My Redeemer Lives," and by the end of the song, the woman´s suspiciously narrowed eyes had softened and we had a great discussion, not about differences in religion, but about our Savior Jesus Christ. We had several similar experiences this week, where we did our best to sing the most powerful hymns we could so that even if people didn´t initially agree with us, they would be left without a doubt that we love our Savior and that we have the spirit of the Lord with us. I definitely have a testimony of the power of music.
Oh, by the way. Dad, your weather forecast for Paraguay last week proved very useful. we never hear the forecasts here. Wanna send them to us every week? It would sure be nice to know whether or not to bundle up or carry an umbrella and such.
Thanks to the cold, it hasn´t really sunk in that you´re doing all that fun summer stuff without me. I predict it will be the same with Christmas--when I´m sweating like a pig and dying from heatstroke, I won´t be remembering that I´m missing the holidays. But seriously, don´t hold back when you write me about what you´re doing. Tell me EVERYTHING, especially about the ranch. I expect a ranch report to rival the wedding report.
Well, I´ve gotta go. Those pictures I mailed should reach you in two weeks or so. In the meantime, my camera still isn´t uploading anything on these computers. I can´t decide if it´s the camera´s fault, or the computer´s. Sorry. And sorry this letter is kind of uneventful. That´s how this week has been. :)
I LOVE YOU ALL!! Thank you for your thoughts and prayers and letters and everything. I´m the happiest missionary in the world. :)
Love always,
Hna. Springer
I hope you´re all having a blast at the ranch, the cabin, southern Utah, California, and all those other awesome places. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Springer, Chelsy and the Hunts, the Anderson family, Cami, Sarah, Dad, and Mom for your letters this week. It means a lot to me that you took the time out of your vacations to shoot me a letter. Cami, I had no idea you´re planning on serving a mission. That´s so great! I just sent you and your family a letter in the mail so look forward to that soon. :) Grandma, that´s so sad that the cabin roof is caving in and that you had to cut down the tire swing tree. things can´t last forever, but it´d be cool if they could. :(
We finally had a baptism!! I was so worried that something would be wrong with Hna. Sanchez´s health and we would have to put off her baptism again, but nope! Since the Elders gave her a blessing she hasn´t had a problem. We had to go to Asuncion for an interview with President Madariaga and she came no problem. She was healthy the day of her baptism, and she came to church the next morning. I love the Priesthood. :)
The baptism was really nice. The Elders had one, too, so Hna. T and I didn´t have to get up super early to clean the font or anything. It was all planned for us, we just had to make sure Hna. Sanchez was ready. She definitely was. I was so glad that we got to take her to meet President beforehand. After her interview with him, I was 100% positive that she was truly ready to make this important covenant in her life. And President has an amazing spirit of love and peace about him that I´m glad she got to feel. She´s my first real convert, and I was so unbelievably happy to see her enter the waters of baptism and lead her to the front of the chapel to recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost. She´d been worried that the water would be cold (and I´d heard stories of people backing out of baptism just because of cold water) but while the little girls who were baptized squealed at how cold it was, Herminia said all she felt was happiness. :) She´s so awesome.
Griselda came to the baptism, and to church with us yesterday. She´s completely set to be baptized on the 25th. Our zone goal for this month is fourteen baptisms, and at this rate I think we´re gonna definitely meet it. That should make up for our atrocious numbers last month. :)
Our study plan for reading Predicad Mi Evangelio this week has been perfectly lining up with our situation. On the day we were stressing about getting everything ready for the baptism, the reading included, "How to Conduct a Baptism." When we were disappointed by an apostate member´s lack of testimony, the reading included, "Menos Activos." The day of Hna. Sanchez´s baptism, we read about new converts staying active in the church, helping us set our sights past this first step in her life as a member.
Oh, and we FINALLY got the LIahonas for May and June. Isn´t the cover for the Conference issue gorgeous? I spent that whole night after we received them just reading through both magazines. It was so great to finally be able to relive the conference talks and remember how I felt back in April. I can´t wait to use some of those quotes in lessons with our investigators. Dad, I remember thinking how weird it was that you would re-listen to conference talks throughout the year, but now I completely understand. I wish I´d had the foresight to put some of them on my iPod.
This weekend the Mariano district had a big priesthood meeting to ordain worthy men to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. Filimón was one of those who received it, and seriously, visiting him and seeing his pure testimony makes all the disappointments worth it. I´m so grateful to know him. Every time we saw him this week before the meeting, he was poring over his gospel principles manuals and things, reading as much as he could about the Priesthood. He expressed nervousness, wanting to be 100% worthy to receive the power of God on earth. We´ve talked to so many men here in Paraguay who only care about money and alcohol, and/or tell us that we´re crazy and are missing out on the "good things" in life. But Filimón is an amazing example for all men everywhere. His greatest concern is his family and his personal worthiness. I´m happy for the missionaries who found and converted him. :) Anyways, we had an amazing lesson with him on Friday when he was worrying about receiving the priesthood the next day. I had just been reading Moses 1 that morning, and so I decided to read with him the part where Satan comes and tries to tempt Moses. I love how in that story we learn that Satan (and the wicked in the world) try to tell us that we are only "sons of man," but, like Moses, we can confidently say that we are children of God, in the similitude of the Only Begotten, and that we have all power over the Adversary. When we turn to God and remember who we are, we have every capability to be 100% worthy of the power of God. And because Filimón seemed to be worrying that he´d have to prove himself somehow, I told him what they´d told us every day at the MTC--"The Lord doesn´t call the qualified; He qualifies the called." I love how in anything other than the gospel, we have to prove ourselves and do all we can to get ahead of others. But with God, all men can be joint-heirs of the blessings He promises. All we have to do is be like Christ, and then the blessings freely flow.
I also have a new-found appreciation for the hymns after this week. We Hermanas always try to sing a hymn before teaching a lesson. Usually we just kind of flip to a random page because we´re both indecisive about hymns, but early this week we came across a catholic lady who seemed determined to hate us but I guess the Spirit moved her to compassion and she let us in. As she was bringing chairs, Hna. T said to me, "Okay, choose the best hymn we can sing--one that will bring the Spirit. One that says "This is who we are and what we stand for." We chose, "I Know that My Redeemer Lives," and by the end of the song, the woman´s suspiciously narrowed eyes had softened and we had a great discussion, not about differences in religion, but about our Savior Jesus Christ. We had several similar experiences this week, where we did our best to sing the most powerful hymns we could so that even if people didn´t initially agree with us, they would be left without a doubt that we love our Savior and that we have the spirit of the Lord with us. I definitely have a testimony of the power of music.
Oh, by the way. Dad, your weather forecast for Paraguay last week proved very useful. we never hear the forecasts here. Wanna send them to us every week? It would sure be nice to know whether or not to bundle up or carry an umbrella and such.
Thanks to the cold, it hasn´t really sunk in that you´re doing all that fun summer stuff without me. I predict it will be the same with Christmas--when I´m sweating like a pig and dying from heatstroke, I won´t be remembering that I´m missing the holidays. But seriously, don´t hold back when you write me about what you´re doing. Tell me EVERYTHING, especially about the ranch. I expect a ranch report to rival the wedding report.
Well, I´ve gotta go. Those pictures I mailed should reach you in two weeks or so. In the meantime, my camera still isn´t uploading anything on these computers. I can´t decide if it´s the camera´s fault, or the computer´s. Sorry. And sorry this letter is kind of uneventful. That´s how this week has been. :)
I LOVE YOU ALL!! Thank you for your thoughts and prayers and letters and everything. I´m the happiest missionary in the world. :)
Love always,
Hna. Springer
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Week 23 - Asuncion Paraguay - Mariano Roque Alonzo
May 6, 2011
Dear Family,
Wow this week went by so fast. I feel like I just barely wrote you, but I´m so happy for every opportunity I have to do it again. I love Mondays. :)
We´re going to see a baptism this week! Finally. We haven´t seen a baptism since the beginning of April if you can believe that. Despite a headache, Hna. Sanchez made it to church with us yesterday, and we got special permission to baptize her with only two asistencias. She´s so ready. She loved testimony meeting yesterday, and told us afterwards that she´d wanted to bear her testimony too but decided not to. Then she recited it for us right there in her house, complete with, "Good morning, Brothers and Sisters..." So cute.
We´re also seeing a lot of progress with Griselda Ibarra (I´m pretty sure I´ve mentioned her before). We thought for sure she wouldn´t be coming with us because on Saturday we went to her house to find her sprawled out on her bed with bad scrapes on her hip and ribs. But she´s such a trooper. She was all ready to go when we passed by for her yesterday morning, and she made fast friends with the young women in the ward. She also brought her six-year-old brother. It´s never too early to get them ready for baptism. :)
Griselda´s family is way supportive of us and the church. Not only do they have an active member cousin (who´s moving into our branch soon--yay!), but they´ve just grown to like us a lot. Griselda got those scrapes because she was with a friend who got drunk on wine and nearly got them killed out on the busy road. The friend made Griselda buy the wine because she looks like she´s 18 despite being only 13 years old, and Griselda feels like her fall is God´s chastisement. She didn´t drink any wine herself, because she remembered her cousin teaching her the Word of Wisdom, and her mom was really proud of her and grateful for the Church for teaching her daughter such standards while the 15-year-old friend is running around the freeway drunk.
We finally found and talked with Veronica again this week. She likes Hna. Tua´one a lot and basically admitted that she knows the church is true but is afraid to join right now. Her dad is coming to stay with them for a while and he really doesn´t like us, so she apologetically told us not to come around until he leaves. Sad day. But I still have hope for her. Talking with her this week was like chatting with an old childhood friend. I still love her a lot, and I know she loves us, too, deep down.
Mariela is doing loads better. Thank you all for your prayers. Apparently she had a long talk with Hno. Gomez and he immediately paid the judge to finalize the divorce. He apologized for taking so long, and now they´re scheduled to be married at the end of this month. Her baptism should quickly follow. I´m so happy for her. I hope I´m still in town to see that.
We had a hard week working with members. None of our part-member families were to be found, and none of the youth could go around with us. We had super low numbers. Saturday was the worst. We spent the whole morning just wandering around this one neighborhood. Everyone was home, but it was around lunch time so all the women were busy making the meal and all the men were busy watching TV in preparation for the meal. House after house after house we were turned away. Nobody was ever mean to us, thankfully, but we still just wanted to teach already. Finally we reached the far corner of our area, and Hna. T saw this little old woman a couple houses down. "Let´s go talk to her," she said. "I have a feeling we should go talk with her." So we did. It took us a while to find a way to her house because there were a bunch of yards and barbed wire in-between (it´s a less developed neighborhood), but finally we made it. The woman let us in (hallelujah!) and said, "I just talked with you missionaries the other day." We´d been hearing that a lot because the Jehovah´s Witnesses have been tracting around there recently, so we were like, "Nah, it wasn´t us." "No really," she said, "The day before yesterday, your hermanos were here." We were like, "Okay, sure..." Then she went into her house and came back with a pamphlet about the Restoration. Hna. T and I suddenly believed that sure enough, we missionaries had been there, but surely she was mistaken about WHEN we were there, because I couldn´t remember ever having been there before. So we turned the pamphlet over and saw--to our chagrin--the ELDERS names on the back. Those poachers! We didn´t stay long, not wanting to confuse the poor woman with two different sets of missionaries teaching her, but we planned on giving the Elders a chewing out and claiming her as our investigator ASAP. Later that night, the Elders called us. Apparently, they´d gone back to visit that woman again today, too! "Hey!" they said, "What´s with you stealing our investigator?" "Hey!" said Hna. Tua´one, "What´s with you being in our area?" There was silence for a second. "...Um...you see, it was dark..." They totally knew they were in the wrong. They hadn´t been positive about the area line, and they were hoping we wouldn´t notice if they were in fact trespassing. :) Poor, confused woman. She IS definitely in our area (we triple-checked the map just to make sure), and the Elders now know their place. It was just funny to realize how territorial we really are. We plan on leaving pamphlets with our names on them in every house along the edge there from now on just so the Elders don´t make that mistake again. :)
I saw my first pet monkeys this week at Hna. Sanchez´s. It was really bizarre and very cool. I´ve only ever seen monkeys like that in the zoo before. I´m so sad I didn´t have my camera. Hopefully I run into them again on a P-Day.
Hna. T and I are having fun this week psyching people out. On Friday we had like five people stop us in the street just to ask Hna. T about me, "What nationality is she?" It was getting so annoying that we decided to have some fun with it. Now when people ask, "What nationality is she," I say in my best Paraguayan accent, "La Hermana Tua´one? Oh, she´s from the States. She doesn´t speak Spanish yet." Then Hna. T pretends like she really has no idea what we´re saying. It trips people up so badly when the blonde is the one talking and the darker girl is quiet. I´m so sick of being stereotyped as a foreigner who can´t understand a word of Spanish.
It´s getting a lot colder here. We can see our breath now, outside. But I´m fine in a coat and scarf, and at night we have lots of blankets and a heater. The heater wasn´t working before, nor our hot water, but when Hna. T came our landlords fixed everything up. Now we have hot showers every morning and long, warm nights. Hna. T is also addicted to hot chocolate in the mornings and our study is lit up with Christmas lights and the only CD we have when my iPod is dead is a Hillary Weeks Christmas album, so it feels a lot more like December than June. (By the way, that Hillary Weeks CD is awesome. I may just have to buy it someday.)
I´m so glad that you got my package in the mail. Now I´ve received a package from you and you´ve gotten one from me, I think it´s safe to say that mail to and from Paraguay is pretty secure. Thank you Mom for sending me all those addresses, and thank you Grandma and Grandpa Springer, Teresa, Laurel, Mom, Dad, Amanda, Sarah, and Ashley for your e-mails this week. I hope you´re all having a wonderful start of summer. It´s weird having opposite seasons here. I can´t imagine you out in the sun when my sky is cloudy and cold. :)
An observation I´ve just made this week is that the difference between those we teach who progress and those who don´t progress at all is their desire to learn. Society, families, the church, and everything depend on our desire to learn more about God and what we can do to be better people. Those who accept the Book of Mormon here in Paraguay are those who get excited to learn that there is more scripture than just the Bible. The rest are those who say, "A bible, a bible! We have got a bible and we need no more bible!" (I always want to read that part in 2 Nephi but it´s never the right time...) Reading the Bible, I´ve found so many references to lost scripture and prophecies that haven´t been fulfilled yet. Anyone who really searches and wants to learn from the Bible and wants to learn more about God will embrace the Book of Mormon as more words from more prophets. I´m really excited for more scripture to be revealed. We have the prophets giving us more every time the Ensign comes out, but I wonder if someday we´ll have the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and something else. I wonder what that would do to the Church--how many people would embrace new scripture and how many testimonies would fail... Just food for thought. :)
Well, have a wonderful time at the ranch and wherever else you´re going this summer. Don´t forget to write me. :) I love you all!
---Hna. Springer
Dear Family,
Wow this week went by so fast. I feel like I just barely wrote you, but I´m so happy for every opportunity I have to do it again. I love Mondays. :)
We´re going to see a baptism this week! Finally. We haven´t seen a baptism since the beginning of April if you can believe that. Despite a headache, Hna. Sanchez made it to church with us yesterday, and we got special permission to baptize her with only two asistencias. She´s so ready. She loved testimony meeting yesterday, and told us afterwards that she´d wanted to bear her testimony too but decided not to. Then she recited it for us right there in her house, complete with, "Good morning, Brothers and Sisters..." So cute.
We´re also seeing a lot of progress with Griselda Ibarra (I´m pretty sure I´ve mentioned her before). We thought for sure she wouldn´t be coming with us because on Saturday we went to her house to find her sprawled out on her bed with bad scrapes on her hip and ribs. But she´s such a trooper. She was all ready to go when we passed by for her yesterday morning, and she made fast friends with the young women in the ward. She also brought her six-year-old brother. It´s never too early to get them ready for baptism. :)
Griselda´s family is way supportive of us and the church. Not only do they have an active member cousin (who´s moving into our branch soon--yay!), but they´ve just grown to like us a lot. Griselda got those scrapes because she was with a friend who got drunk on wine and nearly got them killed out on the busy road. The friend made Griselda buy the wine because she looks like she´s 18 despite being only 13 years old, and Griselda feels like her fall is God´s chastisement. She didn´t drink any wine herself, because she remembered her cousin teaching her the Word of Wisdom, and her mom was really proud of her and grateful for the Church for teaching her daughter such standards while the 15-year-old friend is running around the freeway drunk.
We finally found and talked with Veronica again this week. She likes Hna. Tua´one a lot and basically admitted that she knows the church is true but is afraid to join right now. Her dad is coming to stay with them for a while and he really doesn´t like us, so she apologetically told us not to come around until he leaves. Sad day. But I still have hope for her. Talking with her this week was like chatting with an old childhood friend. I still love her a lot, and I know she loves us, too, deep down.
Mariela is doing loads better. Thank you all for your prayers. Apparently she had a long talk with Hno. Gomez and he immediately paid the judge to finalize the divorce. He apologized for taking so long, and now they´re scheduled to be married at the end of this month. Her baptism should quickly follow. I´m so happy for her. I hope I´m still in town to see that.
We had a hard week working with members. None of our part-member families were to be found, and none of the youth could go around with us. We had super low numbers. Saturday was the worst. We spent the whole morning just wandering around this one neighborhood. Everyone was home, but it was around lunch time so all the women were busy making the meal and all the men were busy watching TV in preparation for the meal. House after house after house we were turned away. Nobody was ever mean to us, thankfully, but we still just wanted to teach already. Finally we reached the far corner of our area, and Hna. T saw this little old woman a couple houses down. "Let´s go talk to her," she said. "I have a feeling we should go talk with her." So we did. It took us a while to find a way to her house because there were a bunch of yards and barbed wire in-between (it´s a less developed neighborhood), but finally we made it. The woman let us in (hallelujah!) and said, "I just talked with you missionaries the other day." We´d been hearing that a lot because the Jehovah´s Witnesses have been tracting around there recently, so we were like, "Nah, it wasn´t us." "No really," she said, "The day before yesterday, your hermanos were here." We were like, "Okay, sure..." Then she went into her house and came back with a pamphlet about the Restoration. Hna. T and I suddenly believed that sure enough, we missionaries had been there, but surely she was mistaken about WHEN we were there, because I couldn´t remember ever having been there before. So we turned the pamphlet over and saw--to our chagrin--the ELDERS names on the back. Those poachers! We didn´t stay long, not wanting to confuse the poor woman with two different sets of missionaries teaching her, but we planned on giving the Elders a chewing out and claiming her as our investigator ASAP. Later that night, the Elders called us. Apparently, they´d gone back to visit that woman again today, too! "Hey!" they said, "What´s with you stealing our investigator?" "Hey!" said Hna. Tua´one, "What´s with you being in our area?" There was silence for a second. "...Um...you see, it was dark..." They totally knew they were in the wrong. They hadn´t been positive about the area line, and they were hoping we wouldn´t notice if they were in fact trespassing. :) Poor, confused woman. She IS definitely in our area (we triple-checked the map just to make sure), and the Elders now know their place. It was just funny to realize how territorial we really are. We plan on leaving pamphlets with our names on them in every house along the edge there from now on just so the Elders don´t make that mistake again. :)
I saw my first pet monkeys this week at Hna. Sanchez´s. It was really bizarre and very cool. I´ve only ever seen monkeys like that in the zoo before. I´m so sad I didn´t have my camera. Hopefully I run into them again on a P-Day.
Hna. T and I are having fun this week psyching people out. On Friday we had like five people stop us in the street just to ask Hna. T about me, "What nationality is she?" It was getting so annoying that we decided to have some fun with it. Now when people ask, "What nationality is she," I say in my best Paraguayan accent, "La Hermana Tua´one? Oh, she´s from the States. She doesn´t speak Spanish yet." Then Hna. T pretends like she really has no idea what we´re saying. It trips people up so badly when the blonde is the one talking and the darker girl is quiet. I´m so sick of being stereotyped as a foreigner who can´t understand a word of Spanish.
It´s getting a lot colder here. We can see our breath now, outside. But I´m fine in a coat and scarf, and at night we have lots of blankets and a heater. The heater wasn´t working before, nor our hot water, but when Hna. T came our landlords fixed everything up. Now we have hot showers every morning and long, warm nights. Hna. T is also addicted to hot chocolate in the mornings and our study is lit up with Christmas lights and the only CD we have when my iPod is dead is a Hillary Weeks Christmas album, so it feels a lot more like December than June. (By the way, that Hillary Weeks CD is awesome. I may just have to buy it someday.)
I´m so glad that you got my package in the mail. Now I´ve received a package from you and you´ve gotten one from me, I think it´s safe to say that mail to and from Paraguay is pretty secure. Thank you Mom for sending me all those addresses, and thank you Grandma and Grandpa Springer, Teresa, Laurel, Mom, Dad, Amanda, Sarah, and Ashley for your e-mails this week. I hope you´re all having a wonderful start of summer. It´s weird having opposite seasons here. I can´t imagine you out in the sun when my sky is cloudy and cold. :)
An observation I´ve just made this week is that the difference between those we teach who progress and those who don´t progress at all is their desire to learn. Society, families, the church, and everything depend on our desire to learn more about God and what we can do to be better people. Those who accept the Book of Mormon here in Paraguay are those who get excited to learn that there is more scripture than just the Bible. The rest are those who say, "A bible, a bible! We have got a bible and we need no more bible!" (I always want to read that part in 2 Nephi but it´s never the right time...) Reading the Bible, I´ve found so many references to lost scripture and prophecies that haven´t been fulfilled yet. Anyone who really searches and wants to learn from the Bible and wants to learn more about God will embrace the Book of Mormon as more words from more prophets. I´m really excited for more scripture to be revealed. We have the prophets giving us more every time the Ensign comes out, but I wonder if someday we´ll have the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and something else. I wonder what that would do to the Church--how many people would embrace new scripture and how many testimonies would fail... Just food for thought. :)
Well, have a wonderful time at the ranch and wherever else you´re going this summer. Don´t forget to write me. :) I love you all!
---Hna. Springer
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