SERIOUSLY, I LOVE THE MISSION WITH ALL MY HEART!

Well, really, this past week has been great. I think I always say that. But really, the Lord has blessed us so much.

Gloria was baptized on Saturday night! It was such a great service. It was so awesome to see her 16 year old son, who is a recent convert, ex drug addict, baptize her. Wow, what a change their family has had in the past little bit. It is the best feeling to see people repent, change and accept the gospel. It really is amazing. Strengthens my testimony of the Atonement and how real it is.

As for other investigators…some are progressing. 18 year old Renato seems to be a lot more excited about his baptism which should be on August 7. We have definitely seen a change in him this past week. I think things have finally clicked in his mind and he sees the importance of it. We are also teaching that American family who is living here for his work. How random! It really is kind of tricky to teach in English…after almost 9 months of it my mind is automatically Spanish when talking about church related things. We continue to teach 81 year old Roberto who somewhat believes in evolution. It's interesting to me how heavily he relies on the internet and science and not in who we need to rely in. It makes me sad for him that he just can´t see the truth. I know he feels something when we visit and when he's at church but I think he´s just scared about commitment. The other morning we were teaching him about the creation and going over how we were created in Gods image. We testified and invited him to pray about these things…to ask God instead of man. He just sat there for about a minute and then said ´´no one has ever talked to me like the way you two talk to me.´´ We told him that its not us that makes him feel the way he does but it’s the Holy Ghost testifying to him that these things are true. He said the prayer to close the lesson and thanked Heavenly Father for the 2 hermanitas who are teaching him things he has never learned in the past 81 years of his life. Honestly, Roberto is such a great guy. Ex military, way smart and knows what's right. I hope we can help him to progress more!! He needs to!

Okay, so here are just some random things…………´

Got a bunch of birthday cards and letters this past Tuesday. Gracias por todo!!

Last Monday Hna Cozzens and I did go to downtown Asuncion. Seriously, it was sooo much fun! I think I was seriously a little bit in like culture shock because I hadn´t seen such nice buildings, restaurants, shops, etc in a long time. I just kept looking around like the biggest tourist ever. I really didn´t know that parts of Paraguay were that nice. There is wealth here and so much poverty at the same time. Not a lot of middle. Downtown has such a fun vibe. Lots of cars, people walking around, tourists taking pics…definitely felt like I was in a different country…like NYC slash spain or something. We spent the afternoon there....ate at a cute little place, walked the high-rise lined streets, shopped in little boutiques and markets full of the guaranians selling their handmade stuff, walked along the river and saw palaces from the 18th and 19th century. I loved it! It was just a really fun pday and such a fun opportunity to see more of this beautiful country!!

Okay, so I told you how we have the zone leaders who work in the same ward as us. I really am enjoying having another pair of missionaries to work with. We see them quite a bit...at our weekly meetings with our ward mission leader and we also have a few lunches with them at members houses during the week which is fun!

Ok. So like a week and a half ago our gas ran out and so we went to fill it up and I guess there is like little to no gas in Paraguay right now. It's been a lot colder than usual so Argentina and Uruguay have been using a lot more of their gas which has left Paraguay with nada. So ya, we haven´t been cooking at all. One of these past nights we decided to make cookie dough to eat but we had to melt the butter somehow so we used our space heater! It was funny. Just everything is different and an adventure here!

Well fam, things are good here. Seriously, I love the mission with all my heart. Each day I thank my Heavenly Father for this opportunity. I love the people here. And the gospel. I love it. It's true. How blessed we are to have it in our lives!

Well....I hope you have a FANTASTIC time soaking up the sun in Cali. You´ll have to send me a few pics next Monday through email! Know that I´ll be there in spirit with you.....the herd is always together!

Love you lots!! You´re all in my prayers daily!!

Paz y Amor,
Hermana Sargent