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| Elder Morgan and the assistants to the president (all of whom have served in Amambay) |
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| The view from the top of the assistants' apartment building |
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| Elder Gayoso on the bus on the way to do exchanges with the assistants |
Okay, like you saw in the photo, we had the excellent opportunity to do
exchanges with the assistants. I got to work with Elder Dyches, who is
incredible. He was here in Amambay a year ago. He is always excited,
shows genuine love for the people, and is very focused on baptism. That
excitement for baptizing has spread to most of their members in the
ward. I wish we could do that more here. He really has a miraculous
opportunity. Because of the change in where the assistants are, he is
finishing is mission in the area where he started, but like I said the
ward is much more supportive. I really learned so much from him in that
day. We also did exchanges with Republicano. I helped Elder Correa, who
was pretty discouraged his first few days, but he seems a lot happier
now that he is adjusting to everything. We had some really interesting
experiences. One of those was with Blanca, a less-active member who is
now Methodist. She did not want to accept the Book of Mormon again (the
typical "the Bible is everything" mentality). I have found that
Ezekiel 37:16-17,
John 10:16, and
Isaiah 29 are great testimony-strengtheners
for people who already believe in the Book of Mormon, but they make no
sense to people who don't want to accept it. What helped her most was
José Olavarrieta´s personal experience and testimony. She talked a lot,
but she ended up talking herself through the issue and decided to give
it a shot again. I read some of
2 Nephi 29, which is a very direct way
to explain why we need more. In personal study I also found a few other
scriptures (
the title page,
2 Nephi 33:10-15) that talk about how this
Book will be used to judge us (a doubt she had) and it was written
especially for this continent. It is pretty cool to know that I am
preaching the gospel to the Lamanites.
Many of our investigators--Lorenzo, Amancio, and the
Pavón family, are progressing slowly, but really need to make the
decision to come to church. For new investigators, we found all men this
week (hopefully we'll teach their wives next week and be able to count
them as families). I´ll give you a quick summary of who they are for a
general idea of the kind of people we teach. Luis Caballero got baptized
without getting confirmed a few months ago, but he is planning on
moving back! What a miracle! We´ll have a confirmation this month! Luis
Cabral is an old man who wants to do everything. One of his sons is a
member, but the rest of his family hates us. Hugo is a crazy-ish man who
we found during a huge rainstorm this week. He doesn't believe the
Bible was translated correctly, he is very smart, but he also has some
weird theories. Brian is a young man who almost got baptized in Puerto
Pabla, but it looks like he also has family opposition. Eleno moved here
from a small, far-away city, and my companion can speak Guaraní to him.
He really is great. Hope they can all progress!
I will think a lot this week about things I wish I
had known, especially with clothes. (Next week I will send pictures of a
few things I need replaced). We use all the same manuals as you, but
because we don't always have investigators in church, we don't always
have Gospel Principles class. I am really trying hard to get that going
even if there is one investigator who stays after sacrament meeting. I
am doing great health-wise. My toenail still looks funny, but it feels
great. I am trying to send more pictures, and I would love to get more
from all of you. :)
It's sad to hear about Aunt Karen and Sister Rhees,
but they are both wonderful and I know that these are all just steps in
God's plan for us. I know things will be great for them on the other
side. Thanks for keeping me updated on everything. I know Braxton is out
on his mission, and I would love to know if we sent off the rest of
those young men. This is a Marvelous Work
and a Wonder, and I know they would contribute great things to the
Kingdom of the Lord.
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