It's official. I'm cursed. I'm thinking I may never have a latina companion for a whole Change for as long as I'm a missionary. :(
On Tuesday, Hna. Fonseca got a phone call from Pte. Madariaga and learned that she would be staying at the President's Home for a few days with another sick latina, a Peruvian who was way out in Concepcion. Meanwhile, the Peruvian's companion, Hna. Van Dusen, would be my companion for a few days while the latinas rested in Asuncion and figured out what their ailments were.
That week was actually really fun. I got lost A LOT in Ybera (I'd had no warning and hadn't been paying much attention to the streets or anything), but it was good to really lead in the lessons. I learned so much from Hna. Van Dusen, too. She's a great teacher and very obedient and we found out that we had a lot in common.
Friday morning, I was just commenting on how much she and I have in common and how fun it is to work with her. Then Pte. Madariaga called again--Hna. Fonseca and the Peruvian were going to stay together in Ybera so they could be closer to Asuncion, and I was going way out to Concepcion to be Hna. Van Dusen's companion!
I was both very excited and very sad. First of all, that was the THIRD time in ONE CHANGE that I've had to pack and unpack all my belongings. Not. Fun. Second of all, I really love Hna. Fonseca. Turns out she has a parasite, NOT pneumonia. Not sure how the doctor missed that one... Anyways, saying goodbye was kind of hard. I was just getting used to being in Luque with all the cool souvenire possibilities and the fun ward and everything. I was scared to go to Concepcion, six hours away from the mission office, and start all over in a hotter, harder area.
But I actually really like it here. The bus ride was LOOOOOONG but it was in the middle of the night so we slept most of the way. I really hope I don't have to make that trip again for Changes next week (and I really really really REALLY hope I don't have to be Changed myself and pack AGAIN--I'm in limbo again). But Concepcion is actually way nicer than I expected. It's the cleanest, prettiest city I've been to so far, with a nice, easily-navigatable grid system. There are no buses, so we're going to be doing a lot of walking, which is good. Our apartment is nice. The toilet doesn't flush, so we have to fill a bucket of water and pour it into the toilet to flush our waste down ourselves, but at least it's an actual bathroom and toilet! I've seen worse! Concepcion is right next to the Paraguay River, but six hours up from Villa Hayes. I should send Hna. deVries a message in a bottle! :)
The people are very Catholic (surprise, surprise). There are several huge Catholic cathedrals around here, and the city center has a huge Virgin Mary statue. But the people are a lot like they were in Villa Hayes--generally willing to at least let us in and talk for a while. They speak a lot of Guarani because they're so far out in "the Chaco." Hna. Van Dusen has picked up quite a lot of it. I put my own Guarani to good use in sacrament meeting on Sunday. The branch was really upset that I had replaced the Peruvian--she hadn't been able to say goodbye or anything, and they don't like "rubias" as much. I was feeling kind of unaccepted and knew I needed to do something to break the ice. Luckily, I'd met my personal goal last month of learning a short testimony in Guarani. So, when i was asked to introduce myself in church, I ended by bearing my testimony in Guarani. They hadn't really been listening up until that point, but when the new rubia suddenly broke out in their native tongue, they all got so excited I almost expected them to applaud at the end. Now we're still a little timid around each other, but they're a lot friendlier.
Hna. Van Dusen is really wonderful. It was great having a latina companion, but it's also nice to have an American companion again. She's from Orange County, California, and has a very strong testimony of the gospel. She's so humble, and naturally compliments people and points out the good things about every situation. I really admire that about her. She's obedient and hard-working, and we talk so easily. It's going to be a fun time together. We hope she's not just going to leave at Changes next week. That would be sad. But she's been here in Concepcion for three Changes already so she might leave. We'll see.
We have some really amazing investigators already. On Sunday, the recent-convert branch president brought his brother-in-law, Mariano, to church. Mariano hadn't had any interest in the church when his brother and his family got baptized, but then he got really sick. Suddenly he started noticing all the great things his brother has, and recognized that it came from God. He also remembered something about how his brother holds the priesthood. He asked for a blessing to relieve his suffering. The blessing was given, and he immediately felt better. Now he's determined to join the church, and we're super willing to help him with that! :)
Dang it, I don't have much time to write this week, nor can i send pictures yet. I'll send a bunch next week, I promise. But to finish, here's a gross food story for this week: All my mission I'd been dreading having to someday eat mondongo, which I THINK is cow stomach lining. The natives love it, but all the Americans think it's awful. We had a lunch cita the other day and the family made us a nice rice dish, knowing we hate mondongo, but they had mondongo for themselves and persuaded me to try it so I can be sure that I don't like it. Now I can honestly say that I don't. Normally if something is gross I can at least swallow it. This stuff was AWFUL. It tasted like rotten shrimp, but had the texture of Silly Putty. I tried my best to force it down, but couldn't. Thankfully the host was a good friend of ours and said I could spit it out. I did. BLECH!
And here's a quick thought that really inspired me this week: "You can count the seeds in an apple, but you can't count the apples in a seed." What do you think?
Gotta go! I LOVE YOU ALL! I promise I'll send more fun details next week. Take care!
---Hna. Springer
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