Week 79

We had a crazy week. Literally, something happened almost everyday.  Most of the time the things weren’t pleasant.

 

It did start with some good news though, since we got the news about changes.  I know I mentioned this last week but it’s still a relief.  I’m glad to be staying in my middle of nowhere area with my companion.  So, after celebrating that news, we had a pretty normal pday; some soccer, some food, and some internet.

 

Then on Tuesday things began to get different.  So, it started with the normal goodbye meeting for the district missionaries who were leaving.  But since there was nobody I was really going to miss, that was kind of boring.  I did take some photos with people that wanted of them with me though. I felt almost famous, ha ha.  Then we had lunch with Luke and Yumar, which is always a good time, even if Yumar was pretty sick.  Then we went home and we began cleaning and packing. 

 

So that was part of the differentness of this change.  Even though I was staying, and with the same companion, we had to move houses.  We ended up picking up all of the other Yuquyry elders area and gave away Nueva Asuncion, thank goodness.  So we moved to be closer to our area.  So it was a night of cleaning and packing and then we were ready to go.  Well we were supposed to be moving into an awesome house, but it was just dirty, dirty, dirty.  I found it immensely ironic this week that in all TV shows it has a Latin housekeeper.  However, this house was where 2 former Latin missionaries lived, and I’ve decided they need to be better houskeepers. The house was disgusting.  It smelled like an old person house, just full of dust and other weird smells.  There was a white mold growing on all of the cabinets and a black mold on the stuff in the fridge.  There was dirty clothing strewn about the house and more spider webs then in a Spiderman movie.  My mom woulda freaked out.  So our plans got changed and we spent the rest of Wednesday cleaning our house.  So we went into Luque and bought cleaning supplies.  It was that bad.  On top of that, many lights in the house didn’t work, and neither did the toilet.  So little-by-little, we cleaned and fixed things so it was clean enough to put our stuff away and to sleep. 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a bittersweet day though, as we had to say goodbye to our old landlord, who is one of the nicest, greatest guys I’ve ever met.  He even helped us move.  Such a great guy! 

 

Well we went to asleep excited for the next day. Only to find a pipe to burst, so we spent most of the day trying to fix our plumbing problem in the bathroom, and finishing cleaning.  We did go out and buy food for the week and some presents for friendship day.  A day I plan on celebrating in the states. (NOTE:  Día del Amigo in Paraguay is the eve of July 30 and is used for giving presents to close friends and loved ones. The game of the Invisible Friend (Amigo Invisible) is considered a tradition, in which small sheets of paper with names are given to all members of a group, each of them secretly selects one, and on July 30 gives a present to the person on the paper. Kind of like secret Santa here in the U.S.)

 

We went to a member’s birthday party. Having some cake tasted good after the day we had.  Finally at night, our new landlord came and took care of the problems, and the house was readier. 

 

The next day it was off to the office, bright and early, to sign back into the country.  After a breakfast of gummy bears and donuts, I was ready.  It actually went pretty fast and so I got to hang out with Elder Menchaca and Elder Alguilera.  They are two of my better friends in the mission and 2 guys I met in the MTC, oh so long ago.  But we all talked about how fast time has gone and it’s true.  Also there was an hermana that came with me that goes home in two weeks. That’s crazy!  She was the nicest missionary to me in the airport.  I’ll always remember that.

 

Then on our way home we ate Dominos Pizza which was well worth it.  Then as we were waiting on a curb, we saw the funeral procession for our bishops mother-in-law drive by.  So we chased them down on foot all the way to the Catholic church.  It was a lot more emotional than most funerals I’ve been to, and definitely more Catholic.  I don’t really know how to explain all that I saw, it was just different and I’m glad I understand death better now.  Although it still scares me to death. Ha, ha get it? 

 

Then on Saturday the cleaning lady came and helped us finish cleaning the house.  So it finally looks good and smells good, except one light still doesn’t work. 

 

Then lunch with the Lopez’s, who are awesome.  They helped me think of things to buy as souvenirs.  We also got a chance to comfort them and witness the power of a father’s blessing.  Their son Axel had doctor’s appointments this week.

 

Then on Sunday we had a normal day…normal for the week we have been having.  We ran out of cooking gas in the house, so our landlord got us some more.  We cooked, met a couple progressing investigators, and then the other elders left us after dinner at the Arguellos and then we called it a night.

 

All in all a hectic week that I’m glad is over.  But we are excited for the upcoming chance and there are interviews tomorrow, so that’s always interesting.

 

Well, have a good week, and we will talk next week.  Love ya!

 

Elder Frost