Thursday, July 15, 2010

"SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED! REWIND...."

Dear famillia!

"Hello hola que tal coma estan?? Sounds like everyone is good, busy and having some summer fun! Thank you all for your bday greetings!!"

"Well, wow! So much has happened in the past 10 days! Rewind……"

"On July 9 we had interviews with President Callan. There was a huge storm that morning and after walking though a river/street and being soaked by two busses we arrived at the office basically soaked! I felt like so unpresentable to meet with President but he and Sister Callan just kinda chuckled and were like well, we´re in Paraguay! It was basically just outta control. But the interview was great! I am seriously so bg for the Callans! It was cute too...Sister Callan called me yesterday for my birthday! I didn´t know they did that!"

"Okay, Richard, our investigator in Leopardi had his baptism pushed back until the 23rd of July. He is awesome and I know he´ll be baptized. He has such a desire. There is a chance that I´ll possibly be able to head back to San Lorenzo to see his baptism! It´d really be great because I was with him when we met him in the street and taught him everything!"

"Received 3 packages while at the office last Friday. Thanks mom! (ps...in that pic you saw, I was holding 2 and 1 was in my backpack!) my new shoes are greattttt. I loved the tape you sent me! Thanks everyone for talking on it! I laughed out loud so much! I loved the American Idol spin off when Robbie sang his song! Also...thanks for the bday package....cute clothes and I´m happy to have my own personal pantry with yummy treats! Yay!"

"Said all my goodbyes to Leopardi. Or I like to think see ya laters. It was actually pretty hard to say goodbye to some people. Tears were shed on my part and some of the members who I have really come to know and love. I can´t express how grateful I am to have served in that ward for such a long time. I will always remember Leopardi!! It was cute, Tuesday night we were in our apt and I was packing and the phone rang, it was some of the young single adults and all they said was come downstairs! So Hna Potter and I went downstairs and they had brought me a huge thing of ice cream and a thank you card. It was cute!"

"Okay. So....as for transfers. Tuesday at district meeting was when we found out, as usual. The meeting is the same as any other but the conversations always turn to whats going to happen, who's going where, etc, etc.. All the elders were giving me a hard time about how I just need to buy a house in Leopardi. haha. But, that won´t be the case. I am now serving in the Amambay ward in Asuncion with Hermana Cozzens from Dobson, North Carolina! The first time I met her was yesterday when we were at the terminal with like a ton of other missionaries. She has been here for almost 3 months and I´m her first American comp after having a Latina trainer for 2 changes so she´s pretty excited. Like okay, the area is like Asuncion Asuncion. Basically the centro/almost downtown. Seriously, it's such a different vibe! It's a really pretty area...and quite a bit nicer than Leopardi for sure. There are so many hills which is really pretty....(my legs are going to get a workout!), the streets are all pretty much cobblestone but there are quite a few more paved roads still. The houses are a lot nicer. And all the houses have a number on them! And all the streets are named and have signs. It's definitely a lot more organized. Our apartment is like really nice too. I seriously feel like I´m on a vacation or something. It's an actual apartment building....there is even a little lobby with like couches! ha! Our apt is really open and we have these big glass doors that lead out to a balcony with a gorgeous view of the red rooftops and green trees here in Asuncion and the river! And the other side of the river is Argentina! I sit at my desk and look out and see Argentina. It's really pretty. Honestly, I love it here already! I was thinking this morning how its funny that Heavenly Father put me in the the "city"...He knows me well. It was sad to leave Leopardi, my home, but I already feel like it's my home here too. I guess it's not really the area but the people that make it feel that way!"

"The members I have met here in Amambay are great. The first one I met looked at me and said she knew me and we figured out she had helped me through at the temple when I went back in February. Small world! But ya, this is one of the oldest wards here in Paraguay. There are like 120 members in Sacrament Meeting each week. When Hna Cozzens told me that I couldn´t believe it. We averaged like 65ish in Leopardi. Such a difference. Since our ward is so big it's actually divided into 2 areas. We have one part and a pair of elders, who are actually my new zone leaders, have the other part. So, we´ll be working with the elders a lot which will be an interesting and fun experience. I absolutely love Hna Cozzens already. She's really great. She also went to BYUI, graduated and is a nurse. She is a lot of fun. Quick to smile and talk (kinda has a similar personality to Tessa Sargent). We´ve already shared some awesome experiences together too. Yesterday we found an awesome family who had a lot of misconceptions about the church...especially regarding to how we have a Prophet on the earth today. I love when people ask us questions and want to learn. It's amazing how the Holy Ghost really does help us out to know what to say and how to say it. Also, so random...last night we taught a lesson in English! We rang a doorbell and this man came out. After talking to him for like 20 seconds he told us he doesn´t know Spanish that well. Ends up he´s from oregon and living here with his family to do some non denominational church work. They´ve been here for 4 months and really didn´t know Spanish that well so we taught in English since thats all of our first language. It was seriously so weird! I´m just so used to teaching in Spanish! It was really hard for us to totally seperate Spanish and English. Weird!"

"But ya, as much as I love and miss Leopardi I am really excited to be here in Amambay. Really, there's a good vibe here. I feel good about it. I know this is where I´m supposed to be and I´m so grateful to have Hna Cozzens as my companion! We are going to work hard and have fun. We have a baptism planned for the 24th...Gloria. I met her last night and she's great! Her two sons (remind me of Robs) who are 16 and 14 got baptized the end of June so now it's her turn! We also have a handful of people who have been to church and are progressing so I´m excited to meet more of our investigators and ward members!! It's fun because I have heard some of the members already mention Hna Jara because she served here before she went to Leopardi! It will be fun to write her and tell her about how her converts are doing and hopefully we can continue to work with some of the seeds she planted!"

"Well familia, les quiero mucho. I hope and pray that all is going well up there for you! Know that I love you and miss you lots. Thank you for all of your support!"

"I´ll write on monday!!"

paz y amor,
hermana sargent

xoxo

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