Week 64 - Paraguay - Concepcion

¿Mba'eichapa mi familia?

I've really got to work on my Guarani now that you and all the members here in Concepcion think that I can actually speak it. :) 

I'm still in Concepcion! I'm SO GLAD I didn't have to move again. I think I may stay here until the very end of the mission, which is a really weird thought. It adds extra pressure to make my time here in this area extra wonderful, A) because there's no hope of a "better" area after this one, and B) because I need gente who will miss me when I'm gone. :)

Last week, we lost our cell phone. It fell out of Hna. Van Dusen's bag, and by the time we realized and went back to look for it, someone had taken it and probably sold it. It was very hard not being able to call our investigators or our leaders or anybody. We had to go borrow a member's phone for very important matters. I didn't think I depended on technology so much until it was taken away from me. :) But because we were phone-less, we learned about Changes later than the rest of the zone. When we finally did hear, though, we couldn't believe our ears.

Hna. Van Dusen se fue. She is now in Villa Hayes (yay!) with Hna. Brittner, who was her companion in the MTC. She was very surprised that after all that time, they'd be companions again. And guess who my companion is now? Hna. Tua'one! Again!! I didn't even know that was possible to be paired up with an old companion, but because there are so few Hermanas coming into the mission lately (there are only three Junior companions out of the 14 of us), we're all repeating companions! It's so weird. True, we're not in Mariano anymore, but it was such a blast from the past to wake up and find Hna. Tua'one as my roommate again with her same bedding, same rice pudding breakfast, and same CDs playing. It's been such a blast, though. Even though I pretty much whitewashed an area AGAIN, it's been so nice being with a companion who I already love and trust. 

This is Hna. Tua'one's last Change of her mission. It's very weird. That means I'm for sure getting ANOTHER companion next Change, and in the meantime we're both trying not to be "trunky." I have a lot more time left than her, but since she's all figuring out her flight plans and everything, it makes me think about my own. 

I have no idea what's going to happen next Change. I don't know if more Hermanas are coming in or what. I've now been companions with all but like three Hermanas currently in the mission, and I've seen every Hermana area except one. I feel so old. :) I can definitely say that I've seen almost all that Paraguay has to offer. On the bus ride to Asuncion to drop off Hna. Van Dusen and pick up Hna. Tua'one, we left at night so I slept the whole ride. But on the way back, we drove in the middle of the day. You know how usually when you go on road trips, you look up every now and then and the scenery around you is different? Not so here in Paraguay. I fell asleep after we passed Villa Hayes, and when I woke up two hours later, you'd think we were still just barely leaving Villa Hayes. The campo around us was identical. No hills or different plants or anything. 

But being out there in the chaco, I saw so many little villages that I'm sure aren't in any missionary zones. It's so sad to think how many people are completely isolated from the gospel. All we can hope for is that some member or investigator relative will share the gospel with them, or that they have internet and will find the Truth online. There are SO MANY people in the world. Here in Concepcion I'm sure that even after contacting every day for three Changes straight, I still won't have met everybody. And that's just a tiny little city in a tiny country in the huge world. Share the gospel with everyone!! 

Our recent convert Manuel is doing a great job of that. He's brought a new family member with him to church every Sunday that I've been here. Yesterday was his sister, Inocencia, who said, "I really liked your church. There was no shouting or screaming. It was easy to feel close to God." She also liked the fact that we don't pay tithing in front of everyone else. She always felt pressured into giving up her money. She lives out in the chaco. Not too far away, though. If she comes back, we're going to teach her again. In the meantime, hopefully she reads her folleto and shares the gospel with some other people out there. :)

It's a little stressful having to take care of Concepcion practically alone. Thankfully Hna. Tua'one is amazing and has perfected befriending and teaching the people. She never just follows me around, either. From day 1 she was helping me with all the planning, even though she had no idea where anything was or who anyone was. We only got lost a LITTLE bit. :) Laurel asked me if I feel really trusted for being sent far away from other missionaries, and now being left to lead with only two weeks' worth of knowledge of the area. It is rather flattering, I must admit. I have no idea why President (and Heavenly Father) have so much confidence in me to give me a task like this. Trust me, I'm not letting it get to my head. I still feel so weak in so many ways. 

But something I learned this week in my Doctrine and Covenants studies is that God really does let us help Him with His work if we're willing. He knows that we're not perfect, and He knows that He could do a better job, but he lets us try our best so that we'll learn and grow, and so that we can earn the blessings that He so wants to give to us. I love reading in Doctrine and Covenants so many revelations given to individual people, where the Lord shows them that He knows their hearts and is willing to answer their questions. I've been reading my own Patriarchal Blessing a lot this week as a result, and I've been trying to strengthen my testimony of prayer by making my prayers more specific and recognizing the answers throughout the day. I'll always remember the great spiritual moments in my life, but now I'm trying to see wonderful spiritual moments every day. 

Thank you so much Grandma Springer, the Blairs, Brother Dorny, Chase, Amanda, Mom, Dad, Ashley, Goompa, and Laurel for your letters this week. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMANDA AND GRANDMA!! I love you so much and hope you get thoroughly spoiled on your special days. 

Take care everybody. And if you have time (and you should), check out Moroni 9:6. That's the Change scripture that Hna. Tua'one and I are reciting every morning of companionship study. 

I LOVE YOU ALL!!

---Hna. Springer

Oh. P.S. Hna. deVries went to Ypacarai with Hna. Nestares from Peru. They should get along great. Hna. Tua'one's companion, Hna. Reyes, is in Loma Pyta with Hna. Rivera, my old companion. They were already companions before, too. Crazy!

1-A photo I took of someone's pet parrot. They all have the exact same kind of parrot, and they always just let them hang out in their trees in their yards.
2-Me and a ton of Hermanas who used to be my companions (except for Hna. Nestares on the right)
3-Some adorable lamanitas. :)

---Carly

Week 63 - Paraguay - Concepcion

Dear Family,

How awful am I? I totally forgot to thank the whole Anderson family,
Dad, Mom, Grandma Springer, Amanda, Chase, Sarah, and Laurel for
writing to me last week! And thank you so much Grandma Springer,
Teresa, Dad, Mom, the Blairs Goompa, and Ashley for writing to me this
week. Happy Blue Day, George! I wore jeans this morning just for you
(well...and because we thought we were going to go hiking...but I
thought of you!)

Oh boy. What to write about. You know, Dad warned me that there would
come a point when I wouldn´t be able to think of anything to say. I
never imagined that he´d be right about that. I LOVE to write. But
while it´s easy for me to think of something to say every day in my
journal, it´s hard for me to know what would interest you back home.
Teresa, I loved that list of Paraguayan things that you sent me. SO
true. I may have to come back and visit so I can do some of those
things. There are a lot of touristy opportunities that I can´t take
advantage of as a missionary, and lots of souvenires I can´t pick up
right now.

Here is some more information about Concepción to answer Dad´s
questions and let you all know a little bit more, too: It is the
farthest sister missionary area from the mission home. There are three
branches. We´re in Rama 1. Rama 2 has two missionary companionships
working in it, and Rama 3 has another. Even with eight of us there is
a lot of work to do. We all live close enough, though, that we get
together pretty regularly. Last Monday we played pictionary (I don´t
like to brag, but I creamed them), and today we went out to lunch. We
were going to go hike some old native Paraguayan-made tower or
something, but the Elders flaked out. We´re all worried about Changes
coming up so we decided to stay closer to home.

As is typical of most of the areas I´ve been in, if people live here
in Concepción, they work around here, either living off of their own
family´s despensa (mini convenience store thingie), selling chipa in
the streets, or taking care of other peoples´ children. There are a
LOT of women who take care of their families by themselves while their
husbands work out in the Chaco. It´s so sad how many times I hear
about how someone only sees their husband at Christmas. It´s worse
when the wives go to Spain for six years at a time, leaving their kids
with their husbands. I can´t imagine living like that.

There is a lot of Guaraní around here and I´m learning a lot more than
in the areas closer to Asunción. Because so many words are stolen from
Spanish, generally I can get the gist of what people are saying. But
if they expect me to respond, I just blank. I just learn to recognize
trigger words that let me know if it´s a yes-or-no question, or a
question that requires a full response. Even then, I mess up a lot.
They find it hilarious. :)

To answer some of your questions about my companion, Hna. Van Dusen
has only one Change less than me. She goes home in August. Yes, she
has Dutch heritage. But she´s a brunette. Many Paraguayans look at me,
then look at her, and figure that she MUST be latina because she´s not
blonde like me. They think all Americans are blondes.

Hna. Van Dusen is kind of my hero. This week was hard for her, because
some recent converts were falling to temptation and doubts about the
gospel. The way she handled it, I seriously felt like I was walking
alongside Alma the Younger or Captain Moroni. I hope we all get to sit
in Heaven and watch the video of her being a missionary someday. I
wish you all could have seen her. The way she bore her testimony with
unwavering conviction and authority and chastised the people with
loving, righteous indignation gave me chills. I´ve learned so much
from her about being confident in my call and loving the people so
much that fear has no power. She´d tell you that she´s a very
imperfect missionary, though. I think we may only have been together
this week and a half so that she could benefit from my adoration. Her
last companion was so hard on her, and now all I can do is praise her
for being so awesome. I hope that we get to stay together a little
longer so I can learn more from her.

This week our district leaders invited us to do a "Sacrifice Week,"
where we identify one thing that distracts us from the work and stop
doing it for a whole week. I decided to put my notebooks aside for a
week. I love to write, as you all know, and there were too many things
that I was writing down that had no real purpose in the mission--life
goals for the future, etc. So I gave them up for a week. It was kind
of hard, but much easier to focus on the task at hand. I think
"Consecration Week" is coming up next, so I hope I can really do away
with any of my own desires and just get to work with singleness of
heart.

We really have a great branch here. The branch president is actually a
recent convert, and his testimony is so impressive. He has such a
great love for the gospel and for the people. He´s very humble and
hard-working, and I´m sure all of his non-member neighbors are
impressed with him and possibly considering visiting the Church. He
certainly invites them enough. :) We have another recent convert who,
in the short time I´ve been here, as found four new investigators for
us amongst his own family, just by sharing his conviction about the
gospel so much. It´s so helpful and wonderful. That´s a sign of true
conversion right there--how they desire to share it with others.

I gave a talk on Sunday about the prophet. The new Liahona talks a lot
about Pte. Monson, and I just talked about how sometimes we´re so
quick to bear testimony of Joseph Smith, yet so slow to listen to our
living-day prophet´s counsel. The Liahona also helped me to talk about
how the culture of the church doesn´t differ from country to country.
Now that there are two American Hermanas working here, the members are
a little slower to listen to us because they say, "Oh well, in the
STATES, visiting teaching works, because you all don´t have to work so
hard to provide for your families and such. But here, it doesn´t work.
We´re the exception." I cracked down on that in my talk a little,
about how God is no respector or persons and how the prophet isn´t
just the prophet of the United States, any more than Jesus Christ was
the Savior of just Jerusalem. As is usual in any sacrament meeting,
here or in the U.S., many people weren´t really paying attention, but
I did my best with the hope that maybe ONE person will have been
touched by my words.

Well, I really don´t have much else to say about this week. Boring, I
know. I´m sure with Changes tonight I´ll have lots more to say next
week. I´m so nervous. I don´t want Hna. Van Dusen to leave me--not
only because we get along spectacularly, but also because I don´t know
the city well enough. It won´t be the first time I´ll have been
trusted to work in a strange area, but I still wouldn´t mind not
having to do it ever again. :) We´ll see...

Take care, everyone. I hope you´re having a wonderful Spring Break and
getting lots of sun. Pray that autumn comes quickly for me.

I LOVE YOU!!

---Hna. Springer



1-Me and Hna. Van Dusen looking adorable yesterday
2-A map of Concepción. Our house is the little blue flower down by the
temple sticker (which is the church). The little stick figure is
actually drawn in the wrong place. It represents the giant Virgin Mary
statue and should be two blocks down right in front of the catholic
cathedral.
3-A picture i liked of me and an investigator named Myrna in Ybera.
4-Some adorable ao po´i dresses that Hna. Van Dusen has.

Enjoy! Love you! Have fun in California! I´m jealous that you´re at
Sea World. Pet a stingray for me!

---Carly

Week 62 - Paraguay - Concepcion

Dear Family,

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

Week 61 - Asuncion Paraguay - Ybera

 Mis Queridos,

This week was so wonderful. First of all, I got your packages, Goompa
and Nana and McConkies! Thank you SO MUCH! And thank you Grandma and
Grandpa Springer, Dad, Mom, Ashley, Sarah, and the Blaires for writing
to me this week. I love you all and appreciate everything you do!

A ver... where to start... Really, so much happened this week. Hna.
Fonseca and I made it a goal to do at least one act of service every
day (you know...besides the full-time service of missionary work). We
did a LOT of raking and cutting weeds with machetes and filling bags
with water to make ice to sell and playing piano for the Young Women
and washing dishes and helping at birthday parties. :) I have two big
blisters on my thumbs from using big, Harry Potter brooms to clear
yards with. It´s satisfying to see it all cleaned up in the end, but
not much fun to do in skirts. We´ll have to plan ahead better so we
can bring our jeans next time. :) Thankfully it hasn´t been too hot
lately. We´ve been getting lots more rain than usual (is autumn coming
I hope??). It´s more humid, but the sun is usually hidden so I´m not
being fried alive much.

Hna. Fonseca provides a lot of service by cooking for people. She
makes some awesome Honduranean food. I want to help cook for people,
too, but I don´t know how to just throw meals together with the few
ingredients that the street despensas provide. Everyone keeps saying,
"Oh, you don´t know how to cook because you Americans just eat
hamburgers and French fries and pizza for every meal." Hna. Fonseca
has quickly learned that I HATE it when they say that. :) But it´s
hard to convince them otherwise when they ask me what a typical
American food is and hamburgers and pizza are the first things to come
to mind. :) Can anybody help me out with this? I´d love a brainstorm
of purely American foods (that aren´t desserts), and some simple
recipes, too, if that´s not too much to ask. I think of chicken,
mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade rolls, and cooked carrots, but I
don´t have the ingredients or time to make any of those...

Anyways, the birthday party I mentioned as one of our service projects
was the birthday of an eight-year-old girl whose baptism we were able
to go to. I´ve helped set up birthday parties several times before,
and I love how simple yet elegant Paraguayan birthday decorations are,
but it was the first time I actually got to attend a little girl´s
party. It was so cute. I could tell you lots of things about it, but
the thing that fascinated me most was how they did the piñata. Instead
of a big paper machet (sp?) thing, it was just one of those big, thick
balloons filled with candy and confetti. An adult headed over to the
group of excited kids waiting under the balloon, and he had a knife in
his hand. I thought, "THIS should be safe--using knives instead of
bats..." but then he said, "Alright, let´s do this!" and everyone
knelt under the balloon and held their hands cupped above their heads.
The adult said, "One...two...THREE!" and stabbed the balloon. It
exploded all over the place and the kids scrambled to grab as much
candy as they could. A lot simpler and safer and faster than the
Central American piñata tradition, huh? Not quite as entertaining,
though. :)

This week we had Zone Conference in Asunción. It was so wonderful--all
about charity and being true disciples of Christ. We watched a
video--almost a music video, really--of MoTab singing "My Song in the
Night," with a video of a chain of acts of service that were so simple
yet so touching I almost cried. I´m never going to be able to listen
to that song again without tearing up. :) Hna. Madariaga talked a lot
about getting to know our companions and becoming a strong team. She
had us fill out questionaries about each other. I was sadly lacking in
knowledge about Hna. Fonseca, so now I´m working harder at getting to
know her better. I know how she is NOW, but I don´t know much about
her family or past.

Zone Conference was great, except the lunch they served us gave half
the missionaries who attended food poisoning, including Hna. Fonseca.
I was luckily spared, but my poor companion! She´s doing lots better,
but she sure didn´t need an upset stomach on Saturday, our busiest day
of the week! I´m doing better, too, by the way. No more runny nose,
but still a little bit of a cough. Nothing to complain about, though.

I got a haircut last Monday. Hna. Fonseca looked through a menu of
haircut options and decided which one would be best on me (I have no
creativity when it comes to my own hair. My favorite haircuts have
always been those where i let other people choose). I agreed with what
she selected, but I didn´t see when Hna. Fonseca told the hair stylist
how short to cut it. She kept cutting...and cutting...and CUTTING!
It´s now shoulder-length with lots of layers, AND it´s thinned out. I
barely have any hair now! A change was LOOOONG overdue, and I really
love my new look, but it´s gonna take me a long time to get used to
it. I don´t have much time to experiment with it. Thankfully it´s
still just long enough to pull into a ponytail.

So this week we had a day when every single lesson that we had was
with someone who wanted to Bible-bash. It was not a very fun day. The
next morning I felt kind of depressed, not because of the Work, but
because they´d challenged my knowledge of the scriptures and expressed
surprise that I was a "preacher" when I knew so little about God.
According to them, anyways. But that next morning I read in the Book
of Mormon (which always helps), then turned to the living prophets by
reading in the Liahona. As I did, I felt reassured that God doesn´t
expect me to be a professional preacher. He doesn´t want me to be like
other religions´ pastors--He wants me to be humble and rely on Him,
and then He will make me strong enough to confound the wise and keep
this great work going on nobly, boldly, and independent. I ended that
morning´s personal study reassured that I´m doing just fine, and when
I prayed to end, I finished with "I love Thee," as I always do, and I
felt an overwhelming sense of love as if Heavenly Father responded, "I
love you, too." It still makes me tear up, remembering that moment.
It´s a morning i won´t soon forget.

Well, that´s enough for this week. I hope you´re all doing great.
Seriously, thank you so much for writing to me and keeping me
up-to-date with your lives. I love hearing all about you and the great
things you´re doing. I´m grateful for each and every one of you. Take
care!

---Hna. Springer

1-The Paraguayan piñata (see big e-mail for details)
2-Me with Yadira, the girl who got baptized this last weekend
3- Yadira with her dad
4-My new haircut!

Week 60 - Asuncion Paraguay - Ybera

Dear Family,

Things continue to be awesome here in Ybera! Turns out that Hna.
Fonseca has atypical pneumonia. One of her lungs has issues, which
explains her back pain. She´s now taking lots of medicine and watching
her health a lot more. She´s tired of feeling sick, but relieved that
now she knows what´s wrong with her.

I was sick this week, too. I had a really nasty cold. It started with
what felt like strep throat, turned into a dry cough (when I feared
that maybe I was developing pneumonia, too ), then turned into a super
runny nose. Thank goodness for my handkerchiefs! My Kneelex ran out
way too fast. Today, though, I feel perfectly fine. I´m relieved. We
didn´t have much energy to work this week, the two of us. We left the
house every day, but our numbers were pretty low and there were a few
mornings where we got a late start because Hna. Fonseca was so tired.

Life with Hna. Fonseca as a companion is so much fun.  We have these
two dogs that live in our apartment complex--one´s a big
Doberman-looking thing (it makes me happy when he growls at strangers
yet LOVES Hna. Fonseca and me--I feel a lot safer in our apartment
with him around), and the other looks like an otter. He´s super short,
super long, has huge paws, and wiggles uncontrollably whenever we come
home. Hna. Fonseca LOVES that dog.  It´s adorable how she baby-talks
him.

Last night after giving our weekly report to the Elders, Hna. Fonseca
wanted me to teach her how to play "Go Feesh." Somebody left her a
deck of cute Go Fish cards but she didn´t know how to play. It was so
hilarious teaching her--not only the techniques of the game, but also
how to pronounce "pufferfish," "seahorse," "whale," and "octopus." It
made me crack up how I would pronounce them well, and she´d just look
at me blankly. Then I´d say them in a Spanish accent ("pooferfeesh"
"seehor" "wallay" and "ohk-toh-poos") and THEN she understood. I love
Spanish accents. :)

She´s so adorably craftsy, too. She totally decked out the Zarate
place on Friday night. They felt so special when they came home from
the temple to find balloons, banners, party favors, ward friends, and
food waiting for them. That party was so great. This ward is so
united. The Zarate family was absolutely beaming after their
experience in the temple. They´d waited over five years to get sealed
due to some sort of complication, and they were all close to happy
tears as we took pictures with them and congratulated them. It was so
wonderful. And the Zarate family all bore their testimonies in church
yesterday. They cried a lot, and I think the ward was really touched
to hear about how worth it it is to be worthy to enter the temple.
The Zarate mother is especially more tender lately, and I can tell
that she felt God´s love for her and her family in the temple just as
strongly as I felt it when I entered. I can´t wait until April when i
get to go again. Hna. Fonseca is really sad that we couldn´t accompany
the Zarates. It would have been adorable to see the family of ten
being sealed. The littler ones look so adorable in their Sunday
clothes. I can only imagine how beautiful it would be to see them in
white.

Speaking of clothes--I just checked out a store that specializes in ao
po´i--the really cool Paraguayan traditional stitching that I´ve
really come to love. I now have a good idea of what I´m going to bring
home to you all. :)

I really don´t have much else to write about today because, like I
said before, we were sick. But I do want to mention that I´m reading
in Alma again about the Anti-Nephi-Lehis. I´ve heard that story a
bazillion times and appreciated it lots in the past, but this time
around it really struck home with me. I´m not really sure why. I just
loved King Anti-Nephi-Lehi´s explanation of why he and his people
should bury their weapons rather than kill again. Before, I thought it
was just, "Well, we´ve been super bad in the past. We probably
shouldn´t add any more black marks to our record." But really, they
didn´t want to sin again because it was so HARD for them to repent and
become clean again. They didn´t want to undo all of the hard work
they´d done and have to struggle again to  be worthy to enter God´s
presence. Similarly, after we´ve repented of something, we shouldn´t
let anything in the world undo all of our hard work and undermind our
sacrices. Instead, we should bury anything that would make us turn
back to bad ways. I love in the movie "Fireproof" how the husband
literally throws away his computer after deciding not to degrade his
wife by looking at pornography. I wish we all had the courage to just
cut the cord and do away with anything that would make us stumble
again. I hope I can manage to do that when I get home, because
honestly I feel a lot like the Anti-Nephi-Lehis. It was hard for me to
arrive at this point--this state of being--in my life. I don´t want to
let anything undo that.

I´m just babbling now. :) I hope you all had a great Valentine´s Day
and that you´re enjoying President´s Day.  Question:  Is President´s
Day to celebrate the CURRENT president, or to celebrate all presidents
in general? I was trying to explain to Hna. Fonseca what President´s
Day is, and I had no clue. Nor could i explain why we celebrate St.
Patrick´s Day (her birthday is March 17th, too). Anyone want to help
me get my facts straight? Thanks!

And thank you Grandma Springer, Laurel, Dad, Mom, Ashley, Amanda, and
the Blair Family for your letters this week! I love you all so much!
Take care!

---Hna. Springer



1-The  banner that Hna. Fonseca and I made (she visualized it, I did
the drawing and cutting)
2- The newly-sealed couple Zarate
3- The kids chowing down on hot dogs
4- What was going to be an awesome photo of me and Hna. Fonseca with
the whole Zarate clan...except the man taking the picture couldn´t see
very well so he cut off the whole top row, and then the Zarates
scattered. Sigh.

Week 59 - Asuncion Paraguay - Ybera

Dear Dear Ones,

Happy Valentine´s Day tomorrow! I honestly forgot that tomorrow is Valentine´s Day until you all wrote to me. They do celebrate that here in Paraguay, pretty much the same way we do, but since it´s a holiday limited to those with boyfriends or sympathetic best friends around, we missionaries are kind of oblivious to it all. Also, Happy Birthday to (insert your name here if your birthday is this week)! I love you and hope you have a special day! :)

Well, here I am in Ybera! Once again, I had nothing to worry about. Hna. Fonseca was in Marambure for six months before she came to Ybera, and she says that already after only one Change here, she loves it more than Marambure. I´m starting to agree with her, even though I never really knew Marambure very well in the first place.

Our ward is pretty small for a ward, but the people are so great. So many of them have been through the temple or are preparing. The whole ward is in celebration mode in behalf of a family of ten who´s getting sealed in the temple this Friday. I so wish I could go. We´re going to put on a big surprise party for them after they get back from Asunción. They´re wonderful people, and the significance of the temple ordinance isn´t lost on them at all.

The families here in Ybera are just a lot more unified than I´ve seen in any of my other areas. They´re all really sweet and determined to pray and read scriptures together every day. There´s this adorable young couple who struggle with the fact that the husband has to work late every other night. To keep their habits strong and stay more unified, the husband calls the wife every night when he´s on his break and they read out of the Book of Mormon and pray together over the phone. So cute!

We have a lunch appointment every single day except for Monday, and the members love to visit with us. They´re all really nice to me. They´re less impressed with the fact that I¨m blonde, because they´re closer to the city and are more used to diversity. But they just can´t get over the fact that I´m so tall. I feel like a skyscraper compared to Hna. Fonseca, who barely scrapes five feet. Yesterday we both gave talks in church. I went first, and I had to stretch the microphone up as high as it would go. Then Hna. Fonseca got up after me, and she had to pull it all the way back down to its lowest. The congregation cracked up.

The family we ate with yesterday like us so much that they named their puppies after us! There´s a fluffy dark one that they named Fonsequito (after Hna. Fonseca), and the other one has short fur so it seems slimmer, and it´s yellow. They named it Springer. Awww! They all call me "Springfield," though. I have so many nicknames. People hear me say my last name and hear something completely different. My nicknames include "Springfield," (where the Simpsons live), "Hna. Aire Condicionado" (after an air conditioning brand that actually is Springer), "Pinguino" (translation: penguin), "Pringles"  (like the chips), and "Sprim" (a brand of juice mix here in Paraguay).

Anyways... Hna. Fonseca is absolutely wonderful. I love having a latina companion. She´s so great with the people. She says the most inspired, spiritual things at the drop of a hat. I on the other hand am second-guessing my Spanish way too much around her. With "gringa" companions, it was easy to get away with grammar errors. Now I´m super aware of how sloppy my Spanish actually is. I feel like I´m completely re-learning the language. My accent is going to be awesome after our time together. We had a very quiet few couple of days as a result of my sudden shyness in speaking Spanish, but now we´re a lot more comfortable together. She´s so fun. She comes from really humble circumstances and just makes the most of every day. She also really loves to clean. We´ve offered service to so many people this week. Paraguayans never let me and my blonde companions lend service. Ever. But with Hna. Fonseca they all just throw us their brooms and we get to work! It´s really nice. I love cleaning, honestly, and it gives us a nice break from all the walking while still doing something productive and Christlike. :)

Sadly, though, Hna. Fonseca has some health issues. We were in the hospital all day Friday and we´re going back tonight to see what the doctors have to say about all the x-rays and stuff that she had to get done last time. I don´t think there´s anything seriously wrong with her. She didn´t lead the healthiest of lifestyles before the mission (she´s lost like 40 pounds and still weighs more than me, almost). But I don´t want to lose another companion! I don´t know if Hna. Greer is ever coming or what. It´d be nice to know how long I¨m going to stay in one place with one companion. But what can I do? Just enjoy each day as it comes, right?

We have some great investigators, too. We have two couples who are both working on getting married and being baptized this month. It really IS the month of love! :)

The only gripe I have about Ybera is the apartment. It´s TINY and on a very loud street corner. And there´s no air conditioning. And my first two nights here were the hottest of the summer so far. It was miserable. Yet, I actually slept okay. Maybe I am adapting to the heat after all, or maybe my body just gave up when it was known that there would be no respite all night. If you´re mentally prepared to not have air conditioning, it´s a lot easier to live without it. Thankfully it rained almost every day this weekend so now things are a lot cooler. I hope autumn is on its way.

Oh, and P.S. I gave my talk on charity and forgiveness, using Luke 6 and Moroni 7 to share my feelings on the matter. The mission is the training ground for learning to turn the other cheek. If I got all upset every time somebody said something ugly about me or about the U.S. or about the church, I´d have died from sheer depression by now. But since I´ve learned to just leave all the insults and offenses behind and move forward with faith and cheerfulness and enjoy all the good things that happen. As a result, I´m more at peace now than I´ve ever been in my entire life. And it makes me sad whenever I see someone in the ward or otherwise who´s holding a grudge and letting it ruin their life. Keep moving forward!

That´s all for this week. I love you all so much and hope you have a wonderful Valentine´s Day! Take care!

---Hna. Springer

Here´s a picture of me with my new companion, the adorable Hna. Fonseca! Also, here´s a photo of the map of Ybera. The stickers at the top of a temple and a star are the chapel and our apartment, respectively. :) At least this time it´ll be easy for you to find my house on Google Earth. It´s on the same corner as the church! Let me know if you have trouble finding Ybera, though. It might be spelled Yvera or Ibera. They´re not too good at spelling around here so I´m not sure which it is. :) Also, here´s a random picture of our shoes. Can you guess which are mine?

LOVE YOU!!

---Carly