Week 59 - Long Week, Got Sick, Ate Cowfoot, Funerals, Broadcast

This week was super long. It feels like I haven´t seen the sun in a long time. I got sick on Wednesday, and had a pretty strong fever, but I´m better now, and just have a bit of a sore throat. it was the first time in a year that I slept past 7, and then I just couldn´t sleep anymore, I guess I just am adjusted to the schedule. Me being sick and having rain basically the whole week made the week a tough one because everyone is deathly afraid of the rain here.

I don´t know if I mentioned it, but a couple weeks ago I tried cowfoot. it didn´t look all that appetizing, but when I ate it it wasn´t super appetizing either. Big surprise.

I don´t go to funerals here because they last 7 days and break several of the 10 commandments throughout the whole thing.

I have succesfully escaped any birthdays of my companions.

Happy Birthday, mom!

Well, the mission is the easiest place to forget about things back home.

I really liked the broadcast, the only downside was that I only saw one person from our ward there because the broadcast was in San Lorenzo, so I hope that at least the bishop watched it via internet. I really want them to apply it, but I don't have all that much faith that it will happen.My favorite part about Oklahoma and the drought. I think that if all the missionaries use Facebook that it will cause more obedience problems, and waste time, because our chapel isn't super close to our area.

It sounds like the new mission is just all the zones super close to Asuncion, so it will be super tiny, not sure though. 

We do not have any for sure baptisms coming up, but we do have a couple possibilities.

Here the people worship America, it´s kinda annoying, and yes they do watch American movies. 

 Elder Bowles

Week 58 - Kennedy - More People to Find, Drunk Dad's, Forgetting English, Impressions, Ask for a car

I found out this week that there were more people to find/help here, 2 inactive families and 2 investigators that went to church on sunday.This week was a great week, 2 inactive families that we had been working with went to church, and they all seemed to enjoy it a lot.

The other half of the ward isn´t doing so good because a disobedient missionary came in. That´s one thing that I hope is different in the other mission, that there aren´t as many disobedient missionaries. Here in Paraguay if you don´t excersize quick judgement, you can lose 2 hours in one house because everyone lets you in, and you lose time quick if you aren't judgemental. That´s one thing I hope doesn´t stick when I finish my mission.

 

Thanks for the pancake recipe.

For Fathers day there were tons of drunk people (fathers) in the street. I guess it is their day.

We visited someone who´s name is Ivan, and he went to church, so that´s kinda fun, We´ll see how it goes.

 

I know all the members by name, and most of them have actually got my name down, instead of just calling me Elder, they call me Elder Bowles now. That´s how I know that I´ve been an an area a long time, when they can finally pronounce my name.

I don´t remember the new mission president's name, its something weird though. He´s from Argentina as well, and has been the mission president for about a year. They haven´t given us the address of the mission office, I don´t even know how to get to it, so transfers will be really interesting when they happen. The switch is official July 1st. The whole zone of San Lorenzo goes to the Paraguay asunción mission, about 24 missionaries, as well as 2 other zones.

 

I wouldn´t really want to have my kids in day care. There was a family in my last area that took care of a little kid for someone, and the kid hated going home to be with his parents, because they treated him in one way, and his parents another. Also I feel like it would defeat the purpose of getting married (as far as for the kids). If I wanted kids in a daycare I could just go and have kids without getting married and throw them in a daycare.

 

I did like the graduation pictures.

 

The weather can´t decide if it wants to be hot or cold.

 

I have only really heard of one person that was super excited to be a desendent of Lehi.

 

It is only really hard for me to read the emails when there is a mistake, and then it really trips me up, I don´t know why.I don´t remember the hymns in English. If anything I´ve gotten worse at singing since I came to Paraguay, since EVERYONE here is tone deaf if they haven´t served a mission to a place where not everyone is tone deaf.

 

My favorite class in college was Chemistry 107 because all we did for the second half of the semester was make liquids change colors and bubble for about an hour each class.

 

Right now I just go where I haven´t gone that much before. I´ve gone everywhere at least once, and have walked on every street of my area.  

 

I always have impressions to do things for other people, that´s my job as a missionary. Personal revelation really is something precious.

 

I hike every day here in Paraguay.  I´m thinking about asking the office for a car, even though my area is super tiny, just to see what they say.

 

Elder Bowles

 

Week 57 - Kennedy - Changing Missions, Hard Rejections, Taught 30 lessons, Knows all Members, Sealed Window?

Well, I´m still here in Kennedy, San Lorenzo, with Elder Aguilar. Looks like they´re gonna change me to the other mission (from Paraguay Asuncion North to Paraguay Asuncion), I´m kinda excited and I´m kinda not excited. I will be in the same area, with the same companion, but in a few weeks a different mission.

I know basically all the members by name now, so that´s fun. We´ve had some great finds and some hard rejections this week. Sometimes I enjoy the rejections, because it´s pretty impressive how creative the people are with what they say to get you to go away. My favorite is when they say they´re busy when they´re sitting in a lawnchair obviously resting, or when they say that they´re Catholic expecting that to make me go away, when really it´s just an excuse I have heard over a thousand times (and that is not an exageration). I feel like contacting someone a second time really helps them feel the importance of the message, because then they know that I know that it´s something that will help them enormously in their life and after as well.

The weather is perfect, not too hot, not too cold, bien frescito.  Here the weather is just perfect. I havn´t sweated in about a month, but I really havn´t felt all that cold either.

 

My comp got bit by a weird bug and could barely open his eye for 2 days.

 

I would rate my spanish a 16 out of 20. Elder Aguilar is my 4th companion here in Paraguay.

 

At least you get a break from school for a couple months now. That has to feel nice. When does Julia leave Kami as an only child?

 

We taught 30 lessons this week, we find most of our investigators through tracting.and by working with less-active members.

 

I liked tracting when I got here in January. Now I can count the number of houses I haven´t contacted on each street on one hand. I just have to be creative. Luckily I remember what happened in most of the contacts, so sometimes I tell my companion to contact houses where I know they´ll reject him really rudely. It´s super fun. Also it´s harder for people to reject me the second time, because they feel sorry they already rejected me once, and it´s not just another mormon coming by. Most people have already decided if they´re going to let you in before you open your mouth, so really it´s not all that stressful at all.

 

I sealed the window shut with more than 50 grocery bags, a big black garbage bag, and an old torn sheet someone left in the house. The landlord said he´d seal it up, but who knows when that´ll happen. When I approach someone for the first time, I just try to really try to be their friend and show them that what we have will really help them.

 

-Elder Bowles

Week 56 - Kennedy - Poop Let Down, Cream, Adios v.Hola, Lost in the Eucalyptus, How I want to do them

This week was awesome. the whole P*r* family is now active, baptized and going to church, and they are just great.

We helped a member with his poop well, it was really a let down. All we did was put dirt on top of it. We do stuff like that because sometimes we get bored of just cutting grass for service.

We had a conference in Asuncion, some old guy came and talked. it was really interesting. He said that 40 years ago there was only 10 missionaries in all of Paraguay.

There's this really good dessert here, here its called cream. It's this milky, creamy dessert that they put burnt sugar on top of, I have to learn how to make it.

I figured out why every one here says Adios instead of Hola it because Adios is Guarani for Hola, so it makes perfect sense, it just confuses people sometimes.

Yes, everyone grabbed blankets on their way out of zone conference.

 

Yes, I interact with kids a lot. they answer the door, and then say my dad says he isn't here and even though its happend hundreds of times it's still super funny.

 

Just study good for the bio final. my bio final if I remember right was the hardest final while I was taking it and I was sure I was going to get a c, but then I only missed 5 questions. Just pray about it and do your part.

 

It really is crazy how God takes care of the people who keep his commandments. I have heard a lot of things here about people being able to eat because of miracles from God, because some people here live day by day not knowing how they're going to eat the next day, but then something always happens.

 

We visited the veterans because we kinda got lost trying to contact a reference in a little forest of eucalyptus trees and we popped out there, and had some time, so we went and said hi to see if they would listen. but none of them really could physically listen, so we didn't go back. 

 

the words for "to fast" in Spanish- ayunar. I for sure will at least take a test to get credits for my spanish skills if nothing else.

 

The primary kids are great here, and super funny as well, especially when they talk in Guarani. The mission hasn't really changed what I want to do when I get home, but it has made me think more about how I want to do the things I already wanted to do.

 

Elder Bowles