Week 17 - Salado - Delay from my brain to my mouth, Getting Yelled at, Removing Peke, Happy People, $2 Haircut

I went on a division with a member this week for a couple hours, and it actually wasn´t a disaster. It definitely could have gone smoother, but we got the stuff done that we needed too, so I was just fine with that. I didn´t really understand what was going on, but everything seemed to work out. I´ve begun to understand a lot more this past week, but the stuff I want to say just takes a while to get from my brain and out my mouth. I´ve tried chipa a couple times, and everyone else seems to like it, including the missionaries, but to me it just seems like really dry dense cornbread. Hamilton said it should grow on me, and I sure hope it does, because there´s tons of it here.

The other day we were contacting someone, and all the sudden this drunk guy popped out of nowhere and started yelling at me in Jopara, but mostly Guarani. I was more than a little surprised, the only thing I got from it was that he really, really liked his yogurt and that he thought i should try some. 

Church was good yesterday, the Elders quorum pres talked a whole bunch about home teaching, which is what this ward really needs.

My comp got peke (foot parasite), and he had me take it out for him. He knew I hadn´t ever taken peke out before, so we´ll see what happens.

We found someone this last week who we left with a restoration pamphlet, and when she came back she had actually read the whole thing, and when we asked if she had any questions she immediately asked how she could get a Book of Mormon. It was pretty awesome. There are a lot of people here in Paraguay who don´t understand that easily.  It is either because of my Spanish, or since Spanish is their second language too, or because they are really stuck in their way of thinking, so it´s really nice when somebody just compeletely understands me the first time.


Elder Ivan Bowles

Dad-lejos means far, most of the missionaries in the Paraguay North Misión are either in or within 2ish hours of Asunción or are 8-10 hours away from the office. I don´t know that much Guarani at all. Almost everyone here knows Spanish and Guarani.  Elder Hamilton says he can understand it after about a year in the mission, but he can´t really speak pure Guarani. Before I just wanted to be able to understand people, and now I just want to be able to speak without a huge delay from my brain to my mouth. It´s true that the simple answers to all the questions at church really are what help us the most. We usually have about 15 good lessons each week., total with new people that we taught when we first met them, and our investigadors that are progressing. I have a hard time in lessons, but if they speak Spanish, and the lesson isn´t too crazy, I always have my things that I have practiced and know how to say, and I can say those. If things don´t go as planned, I have a hard time. Things barely ever go as planned.

Mom- my area is the Salado Ward in I think its the Luque North Stake. I´ve heard rumors that if the church here grows a little more they might form a new stake, which would be awesome. The people here really are happy with what they have. Almost everyone I´ve talked to has built their own house. They do live way simpler lives with a lot less money, but they really don´t know that much different. They know that there are people that have way more than them, but they haven´t really experienced it, and as long as they have food, health, and tererre or mate, they seem just fine with their lives. Some poeple have made houses out of brick, some out of plywood, and some out of tarps. They all help each other out a lot, but they´re always adding on to their houses too.

Julia-right now we have about 3 people who we teach real frequently and will most likely get baptized, and the rest are people that we find and teach the first lesson or something else that they need first. P.P. is 11 and is good to go to get baptized this Saturday if its ok with her mom. People here have a different school system, most schools are Catholic schools, and the closest thing to high school is called collegio, which messes me up sometimes because it sounds like college. We just find a peliqueria to cut our hair, I got one last week, it was 10 mil, which is a little more than 2 dollars in the states.

Kami- that´s awesome that Mrs. Lauten is your teacher. How far do you usually run each day?