Week 38
Once again, I have SO much to say and so little time to say it. Such is life. Here goes.
On Monday night we got a call from the Zone Leaders and heard the dreaded words "Special Changes." But it turned out not to be dreadful at all. After only four short weeks in Loma Pyta, they took me out of that trio with Hnas. Young and Brittner and sent me off to Villa Hayes to form another trio with two little latinas. Their names are Hna. Rivera and Hna. Alvarenga, and they are freaking AWESOME! I was so worried that being with latinas would be intimidating and miserable, but many they are so nice and fun and super spiritual. I love them to death already and it´s only been five days!
Hna. Rivera is from Nicaragua. She´s been here in Paraguay one month less than me nad has been in Villa Hayes that whole time. Subsequently, she´s very good at taking charge in planning and lessons, and she´s excellent with the people. She´s very calm and sweet but not afraid to defend herself, and we often have great spiritual discussions sparked by her ponderings about the gospel.
Hna. Alvarenga is from Honduras and she´s ALWAYS looking to make everything we do as fun as humanly possible. She has the cutest laugh and is always making us smile. I already have way more pictures of her than I do of myself, because she´s just always doing something hilarious. The people love her. She has a few months on me in the mission and I´ve followed in her wake a few times and everyone remembers and misses her. It´s adorable.
My Spanish has improved so much already as you can imagine. I´ve learned so much vocabulary for household items and cooking terms and other things I never had to learn being with "gringas." And it is SO MUCH FUN teaching the Hermanas English. Hna. Rivera especially picks up phrases quickly. We´ve already mastered such helpful sentences as "We need to leave now," and "It´s very hot." :) I´m so excited to really perfect my Spanish with these two, as well as learn how to teach as well as they do.
But man, I feel so up in the air right now. NO IDEA why they moved me from one trio to another when Changes are only two weeks away. I think I´m the only Special Change there was, too. I don´t THINK I did anything wrong in Loma. :) I have this horrible fear that they´re just giving me some time to get to know the area before pulling out the Hermanas and giving me a Junior companion. NOOO! Even if that´s not the case, though, we have no idea who´s staying or going. Sadly, Hna. Rivera will most certainly leave as she´s been here forever. But I don´t know. Maybe they just sent me here until they can rearrange things and put me somewhere else. I´m not even gonna bother unpacking yet.
I would LOVE to stay in Villa Hayes for a while. True, it´s back in Mariano Zone and I feel like I´m gonna be in the same 10-mile radius my entire mission, but this area is GORGEOUS. It´s exactly what I imagined Paraguay would be like before I actually got here--a small, less developed town with lots of wide open spaces, livestock everywhere, beautiful sunsets, interesting wildlife, and many Guaraní speakers. And since summer is coming on, we wear loads of sunblock, mosquito repellant, and sombreros, which makes me feel like an official Paraguay explorer. It really feels like starting over in teh REAL Paraguay away from all the urbanization. It helps that you need to cross the river to get here. The river is HUGE! It has BARGES in it! Our house is only a block away from the shore and when we go jogging in the mornings we pass by this little sand volleyball court and it really feels like we live by some remote ocean bay. Minus the salt smell and the seagulls. I love it. And our house is so cute. It´s bigger than Mariano´s and Loma´s funnily enough, and it´s pink and purple. Very Hermana-friendly. :)
The people are a lot more respectful with two thirds of us being latinas, but I still stick out like a sore thumb. I´m pretty sure I´m the only American in the whole town, and I feel humongous next to my teeny tiny companions. People tend to stare a lot.
There is, however, an American family that attends our branch. It made me so happy to meet them. They´re from Panguitch, Utah, and the dad works in the embassy. They live in Asunción but come to church here at President´s request to "shadow teach," which basically means show Paraguay what being LDS is all about. They pulled up to church in a mini van (the first I´ve ever seen in Paraguay), and five little platinum blonde, blue-eyed kids under the age of seven piled out. It definitely felt like being in Utah again. :) The dad is the sacrament pianist and the mom leads music for the Primary. They´re a welcome part of the branch.
From Loma Pyta to Villa Hayes I pretty much went from the mission´s most active, faithful ward to one of the smallest branches. There were only three people there on time, about ten an hour later, and a grand total of 50 in sacrament meeting, half of them made up of us missionaries, the branch presidency, visiting District representatives (my old friends from Mariano), and the American family. :) We have a lot of work to do. The chapel itself is so tiny, and it´s almost literally in the shadow of a huge Catholic cathedral down the street. But I love how no matter where you are in the world--California, Arizona, Loma Pyta, Villa Hayes--an LDS chapel feels like coming home. The Spirit of the Priesthood and the pure love of Christ don´t vary from place to place.
Since there aren´t many members, we also don´t have many lunch citas. Again, in Loma we had to rotate weeks there were so many people wanting to feed us, and now it´s drastically different. But my companions cook so well. I honestly don´t miss the lunch citas. It was always noodles with chunks of meat anyways (blech). Now I´ve got awesome Nicaraguan and Honduran cooking. Scrumptious! I do miss having a supermarket, though. There isn´t a single one in the whole town. And there´s only one ciber. I´ve seen like six orthodontics offices and there´s a bazillion pharmacies, but just scattered despensas for food and one tiny internet cafe for the whole town to share. Crazy.
I have yet to be fed anything revolting or weird here, but I´ve heard a lot of revolting and weird things that Hna. Rivera has tried in her time here. Thanks to living next to the river, we´re dealing with fish, snake, and crocodile, and thanks to the campo we´ve got armadillo, monkey, "lion," and "tiger." I think by "lion," they mean cougar or maybe bobcat, but I´m really confused by "tiger." I´m pretty sure they´re talking about jaguars, but nobody here recognizes the word "jaguar" when I ask. Has my life-long learning about animals led me astray. ARE there in fact tigers in South America?! In any case, I don´t want to take part in eating endangered animals. (Or is that whole "endangered" thing a lie, too??)
It´s fascinating to me how customs and sayings vary so much from place to place--even cities right next door to each other. I notice it most with names. In Mariano, every girl under the age of ten was named Sofi. In Loma, I heard so many weird first names such as "De Las Nieves," "De Jesus," or "De Los Santos." (Yes, that´s their FIRST name. And they don´t use nicknames!) Here in Villa Hayes I discovered a new strange name that I´d never heard before but have since heard a lot. I´d just gotten done introducing myself to a menos activo man. "...I´ve been in Paraguay seven months but this is my second day in Villa Hayes. What´s your name?" "Bienvenidos," he said. "Awww, gracias!" I said, touched. Then everyone burst out laughing and I learned that "Bienvenidos" is a NAME here. Go figure. :)
It´s really been a fun week. I haven´t ONCE thought, "Is it 9:00 yet?" Every single lesson is productive and well-taught and uplifting. One of our investigators, for the first time since Elber, actually did their whole reading assignment and had QUESTIONS for us! It´s incredible what a difference that makes. Instead of hitting the usual roadblock in our lesson plan and having to backtrack, it was like the floodgates were opened. The investigator was willing to act, and was listening with an open mind and eagerness to learn, and my words just flowed. I was able to bear my testimony without fear of casting pearls before someone with a closed heart. It was excellent.
This week I´ve been studying a lot about having an open heart--how to literally have the Spirit guide my every footstep. There´s a quote in Predicad from Joseph Smith that says, "Salvation cannot come without revelation; it is in vain for anyone to minister without it. This is the principle on which the government of heaven is conducted--by revelation adapted to the circumstances in which the children of the Kingdom are placed." It´s so true. That´s what we tell people every day. "Don´t just listen to us. Ask God and trust in what HE tells you." Satan has made that such a foreign concept for people, and until we bridge that gap between people and personal revelation from God, we can´t make headway. That also entails me being worthy and receptive of revelations so that I can help others receive their own. I´m so excited for General Conference in two weeks. I´m gonna listen hard for how to better work on being guided by the Spirit.
But I´m so grateful for the knowledge that God IS willing to help me--that He knows and loves ME. It helps me so much as a missionary, not only in lessons but especially when people attack my testimony. Yesterday someone asked me how much money we make for each baptism (that´s the most common lie other churches spread about us), and I told him I haven´t recieved so much as one Guaraní for my service. He told me I was a liar and wouldn´t listen to me after that. It hurt to be judged like that, but I had the consolation that God knows the truth and that every challenging, mean person I meet God has put in my path for my eternal benefit. I feel His love for me every day in the little joys like someone FINALLY doing their reading, AND in the difficulties that make me stronger and happier day after day. I know that the harder it is, the greater the prize at the end if I do my best, and I know that God will and does give me happiness as I serve Him.
On a random note, I´m sorry for anything mean or judmental I´ve ever said, whether in e-mail or in person. Now I realize how annoying and even damaging that is, I´m doing all I can to root out any tendency in me to talk badly about anyone.
Anyways, Sarah, you probably thought I forgot all about you, didn´t you? Nope! HAPPY (LATE) BIRTHDAY! I´m grateful your birthday was the day I moved to Villa Hayes or I would have been super distracted all day wishing I could be with you. Even with the newness of Villa Hayes and my companions, you were on my mind a lot. I´m glad you had a great birthday. Seventeen already. Holy cow.
Thank you for the e-mails this week Dad, Mom, Grandma, Laurel, and Sarah. You make me a very happy missionary. :) I love you so much.
Due to the move, my brilliant plan to send you all my photos kind of fell through, but I´m working on it. In the meantime, enjoy these five. The first is of my new companions. Hna. Alvarenga is the one on the left. The second is of me with Miguel and Justo from Loma Pyta. The third is me in a cool foresty part of Mariano. The fourth is me with Hna. Sanchez´ adorable little sobrinos. And the last is of me with Teodocio. Enjoy!
I LOVE YOU!!
---Hna. Springer
Well I can´t burn a CD today, but this computer sends photos really well so I´m gonna send as much as possible today. Enjoy! LOVE YOU!
1-Me and Hna. Tua´one
2-Me in the middle of the crazy main road (Hna. Tua´one´s idea, not mine)
3-Griselda´s baptism
4-Me lugging groceries home from the Super
5-The "Dream Team"--my last District in Mariano
6-Me with pretty much all the youth in the Mariano branch
More to come next week!
---Carly
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