Week 30

So I don’t think I told you guys about this yet, but if I did I’m sorry. Last Monday I bought a belt buckle.  It’s freaking legit. It’s a Brazilian bull riding one. It’s huge and awesome! I can go to the rodeo as a legit cowboy now. haha This shop was awesome and had anything a cowboy could want including boots made of alligator, ostrich, elephant and anaconda.  Nuts, right?

 

Belt Buckle

Wearing buckle in front of western store

We also ate at the Brazilain BBQ place again.  And it was glorious!

 

So this week was pretty uneventful as far as awesome stories to tell.  But I got a couple.

First off, Hector, Griselda’s husband - the drunk one, is sincere about his desire to change.  We had the most amazing visits with him this week. I’ve known him for 6 months and never seen him this excited and focused on listening to us. I’ve got high hopes for him now.  One visit with him was just a hang out, as he needed a non-drinking friend on Saturday night.  That was cool to actually get to know him.

We also played soccer on Wednesday for the activity.  I played terrible.  I’ve lost a step...or 3.  It’s sad.   It makes me hit my morning workouts harder though. We played with Nefi, and for the first time he really tried. And, dang, that kid's good.  The best I’ve played against or with since high school.  I’m getting too old for that. haha  

We also went and got one last gelato run in us, and it was amazing.  I got a 4d especial which is Doce de Leche, Chocolate Chocolate Chip and Cream.  It was so good!  I got that and a Mint Chocolate Chip.  Super legit.

 

Gelatos - at Burger King?

I also found a tiny, like travel sized, thing of Crest toothpaste.  So of course I bought it.   I can’t find good toothpaste down here. 

I also got 2 new ties.  The Ricalde family is one of the kindest, most awesome families in the branch.  They had us over for lunch, and we asked the Hermana Selva about the ties she gave us for friendship day, and if she had more if we could buy them.  She said yes and no.  She wouldn’t take any money, but instead just gave them to us.  Then we have been using crazy knots in our ties these last couple weeks. Ya, we’re that bored.  Anyway, he wanted us to show him one, so we did.  He had a sick purple tie he didn’t want, so I snagged that too.  Y’all know I’m partial to purple.  Color of royalty baby. haha

Speaking of clothing, we had a huge sigh of relief and excitement on Sunday when Rafa came to church.  Rafa is one of the guys I baptized right at the start of my mission.  But, he had become a little inactive, and he said it was because he didn’t have any clothes.  So we got one of the bigger elders to send us his clothes.  Well, they didn’t fit.  So we were up a creek.   Then on Sunday, he showed up in a white shirt, dress pants, nice shoes and a tie.  Looking fresh to death!  We were so excited.  So naturally we took a picture with him. Rafa and us in our bowties from Friendship Day.  We were obviously the 3 best looking dudes in the place. haha

Yes, you read that right.  One of our recent converts gave us these pieces of fabric in the shape of bowties.  We hadn’t worn them yet, so we strapped them on and went to church.  Not quite James Bond, but dang near close.  I kinda want one now.

Wearing Bow Ties with Rafa

 

That’s about it for the week.  Sorry I don’t have much to say.  My mind is a little preoccupied.

We should be getting the news about changes soon.  I’m kinda focused on that.  I’m pretty nervous.  It will be my first new comp.  Hopefully he’s chill.  I’d rather not hate a kid I have to spend 24/7 with.  haha  

The mission is getting easier, but it’s still a struggle. The struggles make you stronger, changes make you wise, and happiness has its own way of taking its sweet time.  Beautiful tears will fall sometimes.  Life ain’t always beautiful, but it’s a beautiful ride.

Thank you all for supporting me and know I’m praying for you. Email me or write me.  I like both.  

 

Elder Frost

 

Week 29

So as much as last week’s blogs was about random thoughts that came to me during the week, this one is about food. Well, in part.

First off, I hope to silence all the people who are wondering about my health and my loss of weight/eating right. Yes, I have lost like 30 lbs since the MTC.  But I was a little chubby after that, and I have lost a lot and I mean A LOT of muscle. So that is where it all stands. I am still healthy and am eating well. I eat bacon and eggs almost every morning. And this week we found this awesome cheesy sauce at Maxxi (Maxxi is like Walmart – in fact Walmart owns Maxxi). So we made homemade mac and cheese.  We had it 3 times this week. We also got a pizza from some members and ate at a Brazilian BBQ place similar to Tucanos today. I actually feel like I’m gonna explode right now, but the grilled pineapple is worth it. And finally the members here feed us really well, and I love their food for the most part.  Now drinks, on the other hand, I do miss from the States.  And, ok yes, I miss States food too, but I try not to think about that.  

 

Now I will get on to the events of the week. This week we had a zone conference thing which was a highlight and lowlight of the week: a highlight because I loved the message our mission president gave.  I really like him as the leader of my mission. A lowlight because I came this close to knocking out one of the leaders in the mission because he is an arrogant, stuck up (insert swear word here).

Anyways, I managed to refrain myself from seriously injuring this kid and merely muttered stuff and looked generally pissed off for most of the meeting. Any of you who know me knows what look I’m talking about. Anyway, luckily the week salvaged itself from there.

I felt super rich, as I paid some kid to shine my shoes as I waited for the bus.  Ya, it only cost 50 cents, but he did a good job.  And realistically, I was never going to do it.

Kid shining shoes

 

So after that trip, we were told we were doing a division with the zone leaders and the visiting AP (Assistant to the President) on Saturday.  To my surprise, I was paired up with the AP and it was the best division I’ve been on. His name was Elder Hanks and he has lived a mission like I would like to.  He also managed to save mission leadership in my eyes.  After 6 months I finally found one I cannot only stand, but one who hasn’t forgotten his place or his job as a missionary.  He has the same thoughts as the average missionary, like me. He also would actually listen to my thoughts on stuff.  It was just a really good experience. Anyway, that went really well.

We found some really cool people with potential and did an awesome visit with Andrea, the girl from last week’s story.  She now has a baptism date for September 7th - the same day as is set for Diego. So that will be sweet.

We did have a minor hiccup this week as Griselda had some ridiculous drama. Ever since her baptism, her husband has been getting crazy drunk on Saturdays.  Well, I saw him this last Saturday, and to say he was drunk is an understatement.  I’ve been around a lot of drunk people in my life, but this dude topped them all.  It was amazing he hadn’t passed out. Anyway, he did some crazy stuff that night that I’m not going to get into, but Griselda basically said you need to change or get out. And we went and saw him on Sunday.  He seemed to truly understand and want to change, and so he has set up visits with us.  Hopefully that leads to a baptism as well.  Then next year I can go through the temple with them.  It would be legit.

Another thing from Sunday is Gustavo came to church.  He’s a recent convert that moved to Argentina and has lived there since January but just moved back.  This is only noteworthy because he speaks Argentina Spanish.  It does make me remember the MTC.  It’s pretty crazy how different it is, honestly.

The last bit of news is that I’m pretty strongly considering a career change for after the mission.  So if you want to know what I’m thinking or want to impart some advice, it would be much appreciated.

I love all you guys and miss you a lot.  But, I know I’m in the right place right now for me.  As much as I miss stuff and want to be living my life back in the States, I needed this.

Take care of yourselves.  I hope you miss me as much as I miss all of you. You’re always in my heart and prayers.

 

Elder Frost 

 

Week 28

So something I forgot to write in last week's blog was that I was terribly depressed and homesick.  I really didn’t have a desire or motivation to do anything or to be here. Ya, not all missionaries are these perfect robots, so sue me.

Anyway, I bring it up this week because I’d like to give a big shout out/thank you to Brontay Dickson who really helped me out of it by asking me a question in an email last week.  She asked me why I decided to go on a mission.  And I thought about the answer and responded.  That really helped this week. So thank you, Brontay.  You have a huge part in my mission story.   You asked the question or made the comment rather that helped me commit to coming on a mission and asked the question that got me out of my first real funk of the mission. I owe you some ice cream when I get back.

Anyway, back to the week.  Not much happened extraordinary, so just picture a normal week as a missionary -- taught people, dealt with their problems, found new people, and prayed people kept their commitments.  So I had a lot of time to think.  So mostly I’m going to share what was going through my head this week.  Ya, it’s a scary thought, especially when I have an open forum like this and don’t have to be filtered.  Ha ha, but you’ll see.

Oh, before I begin my thoughts for the week, I do have some missionary news.  Andrea came to church.  I believe I wrote about her a while ago.  She is an awesome girl, but at first we had to stop visiting her because her mom said no. We overcame that issue, only for her to never come to church.  So, eventually we stopped visiting her.  We were visiting her neighbors this week and she saw us and went out of her way to be noticed and waved.  And then – boom, she came on Sunday with the neighbors, who are a less active family in the branch. So we are visiting with her this week and hopefully can get that rolling again.

Ok thoughts time. So we are going to start off with how grateful I am for my companion. I like how much we get along and just have fun - while still remembering our purpose as missionaries. We had a lunch this week with some other missionaries, and it was the most awkward, painful thing I have ever been a part of.  They didn’t talk to each other at all.  And when one of them talked to us, the other either glared or laughed at the other.  Ya, it’s a terrible companionship. So I am very thankful for Elder Anderson, and it’s going to suck when he leaves.

Oh ya, one of the crazy things, for me at least, has been how in both South American countries I’ve been in the wild dogs just roll the streets all day, everyday.  And there’s a million of them! So for the most part they’ve just been wild dogs to me. But this last week, we saw several people who had puppies, which led to me remembering how much I love dogs and want one.  So one of my thoughts of the week is that I want a puppy.  I’m not sure what kind yet but I have some ideas.  If anybody has any suggestions, email me.

Also along the same lines, I have a thought about kids. Now if you ask anybody that knew me before the mission, I’m about as kid friendly as a knife.  I have never really been a kid person and don’t really enjoy being around kids.  Well, my thoughts about kids have already been changing and this last week kind of made me kid crazy.  Haha. Weird, right? 

Anyway, during the week we went to the birthday party of a less active girl. Long story short, we just were going to share a lesson and some brownies.  But she apparently thought we were her invited guests and her face just lit up when we came.  So we stayed for a while, left our brownies and did some other visits. This is the moment that started my kid craze as it made me think about my future -- family, kids and birthday parties. Remembering her face when we came was amazing. And I want that, so ya - kids.

Then literally right after that, we contacted a reference.  She came and sat with her almost 2-year-old son and me.  Basically, I just played the whole visit, and it was awesome!  So there ya go, who woulda thunk it... Anthony Frost is a kids guy. Oh well.

I’m going to end with some other mission news as we had to go and do the first baptism interviews since Anderson became district leader. Jenson and Sosa have a family they are working with and the 2 boys are both ready with the mom and sister close behind.  So we went and did them and they are an awesome family. It just shows what can happen when you work.

Just going to end with my last thought of this week. I’ve already noticed a lot of changes for the better about myself so that’s going to be a goal I have for my mission - to come out of it the best I can be.  So if you have any suggestions for things I should work on out here, email me. I’ve already got a list so I’ll just add it on.

I ain’t no angel.  I’ve still got a few more dances with the devil.  But, I’m cleaning up my act little by little.  I’m getting there.  I can finally stand the man in the mirror I see; I ain’t as good as I’m gonna get, but I’m better than I used to be.

Take care of yourselves.

 

Elder Frost

 

Week 27

So the week after a baptism always feels like a letdown.   It’s really rare to go back to back with baptisms. But luckily for me this week had some highlights. First off though, I had to run some errands and had a lovely encounter with the bus people and have a story about a package.

So, the Hermana was still sick on Monday last week, so we had to run around and do some errands for her.  It was not a big deal and ended up paying off big on Tuesday.  Anyway mostly we changed out money for her so she could buy meds.  Then we bought the meds and talked with the nurse to help get everything taken care of.  But it did take most of our p-day. Anyway a lot of the medicine she needed, we couldn’t get or afford in Pedro Juan, so the office elders sent us some.  Elder Anderson and I were charged to go pick it up Tuesday morning.  So we got up, then had to cancel Elder Anderson’s district meeting and walk to the terminal to get it from the bus people.  Well, on our way walking there we pass the drop off point - lucky right.  Nope.  They had no record of the package and were not helpful at all.  So we went to the actual bus station. They said, nope all packages go to that station.  So back to the station we went.  Then they said nope.  Well, I looked through the packages while Elder Anderson looked through their records.  And…nope.  So we called the office to see if they had a package number.  Well they didn’t, so we just assumed it was jacked.  But we went back to the actual bus station again and basically refused to leave til they let us talk to someone else.  So, they sent us to a driver who said nope nothing.  Until finally the driver said, “Wait do you mean this box?”.  Ya, go bus dudes.  They literally pulled it off a bus pulling out to return to Asuncion.  Ya, fun stuff.  Anyway that meant we completely missed district meeting.  But then we went to the hermanas and dropped off medicine.  Then the day got good.

 

This is the package that caused all the problems

So the zone leaders decided to treat us to lunch for all our hard work for the hermanas.  Well lunch was a Brazilian BBQ.   It was like Tucanos status.  Freaking legit.  I was the best I’ve eaten since I left home.   I ate a ton.  The grilled pineapple is sooooo good.  But of course, I did have enough room for some gelato.  I loooooove that stuff.  

Also July 30th is friendship day (Dia de la Amistad).  It is an awesome, made up, holiday where friends buy each other stuff.  The ward did a secret friend activity that we had to buy presents for.  I had Roni, who is a guy in the ward so I gave up a tie.   Elder Anderson bought some bracelets for his person but then traded the name to her boyfriend so he could give the bracelets to her -  smooth move, right.  

 

 

Dia de la Amistad at Rama 5

Anyway, the rest of the week was pretty normal.  We did climb some water tower thing and look over the city which was way cool. 

 Climbing a water tower

So then the activity (Dia de la Amistad) came Friday night and that really was fun and exciting.  So we all had our gifts and stuff ready to go, when the girl who told me who Roni was, came and said she was wrong - it was a different Roni.  Ya, it was the investigator boyfriend of a girl in our ward.  Oops.  And I gave him a tie.  That is such a terrible gift.  To make things worse he had me and gave me a big box of candy and a bag of candy.  Yaaa - who is the worst secret friend... well actually it was the lady who gave Elder Anderson a pair of socks.  Ha ha.  We also both got ties. They were wannabe bowties that are really just fabric in the shape of a bowtie.  But it’s a cool memory.

 

Gift exchange

The activity went really well; gift exchange, open mic night, joke telling, music, food, drink a play about visiting teaching and some dancing.  It was way legit.  That was really all that happened this week.

Yes there was teaching and contacting and all that, but you could hear about that every week so I’m trying to keep these blogs to only awesome events.

Anyway, I’m doin’ it, I’m livin’ life right now man, and this is what imma do til it’s over.  But it’s far from over.

Miss you guys.

 

Elder Frost

 

Week 26

So I was in the hospital again this week.  But for the first time it wasn’t for me.  One of the Hermanas (Sister Missionaries) in Pedro Juan is sick, so we had to go show her the hospital and stuff.  So that was an interesting experience. 

Inside the hospital chapel

 

But I will now go back to the beginning of the week.  It started off weird as we had our first p-day without the missionaries in Rama 5b.  We literally spent like all day together on Mondays it was strange. But we eventually got over our loss and had a typical p-day. 

That night we did a Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) with the Familia Morinigo, which went really, really well.  We did a lesson using the proclamation to the world about families, ate food and had a good time.

Then Tuesday was Elder Anderson’s first district meeting as our new district leader.  It was cool to see, as he has been my comp forever, and I wanted to see how he’d teach missionaries instead of locals for a change.  I really liked it.  First of all he brought the great states tradition of bringing food to any church meeting when he brought doughnuts for us.  Then instead of hearing the same stuff we always do, he talked about ward council and how we can improve it and use it better.  It was nice to not have to sit and listen to somebody tell me to do something that I already know I need to do and he actually gave us ideas on how to improve.

Also it was ridiculously cold this week.  I need to give a huge thanks to my mom for overriding my stubbornness and making me take my thermals, as I actually used them this week.  Thanks mom for being a mom.   Also, I managed to mooch some heaters off the zone leaders so that helped but dang it was cold. I swear I’m turning into a South American or humid cold is way worse than Montana cold.

Anthony on some giant steps

 

Also huge news on the soccer front this week, as Olimpia played in the second leg of the Libertadores Cup final.  Well, Mercedes is a die-hard Olimpia fan, and as a recent convert, she is struggling with church attendance.  Mercedes swore that if she went to church, Olimpia would win.  She didn’t go to church.   Well karma sucks.  Olimpia was celebrating a 2-1 aggregate goal advantage with 30 seconds left before the other team scored meaning a tie breaking shootout.  They lost.  As a missionary I can’t serves her right… buuuuuut. 

Anyway, I had to do a division with the zone leaders this week.  Now if you’ve been reading this blog, you know I hate divisions and think they are a waste of time.  But for once, this one wasn’t that bad.  I was with Elder Bennett from Canada.   Sidenote:  his family lived in Choteau, MT for a little while.  That day, I wore my 3 Rivers black jacket, so that was ironic.  Anyway it was a good division and I learned a lot about what I can do to improve as a missionary.  It was awesome.

Griselda, her friends and family at her baptism

 

And finally, we had a baptism.  Griselda finally got dunked.  We’ve been working with her forever and you all know the story, so it was a huge relief when it finally happened.   We had to scramble at the last minute to just have enough priesthood holders there to do it.  Elder Anderson did the baptism and I confirmed her on Sunday.  It was my first one of those and while I butchered it linguistically, it’s the thought that counts, I believe.  Baptisms are one of the best things about the mission, as it’s a tangible result.   It’s weird how that is something I miss.  I miss having a job where I can see what I’ve done at the end of the day. It’s kinda driving me crazy out here.

Anyway, love you guys. Talk to you next week.

 

Elder Frost

 

More Photos

Pretending to do the zip line at Chakurrai

 

Other waterfall at Chakurrai

 

Burger King

 

 The streets when it rains

A canal they dug to try to drain water from the streets

 

The Elders of Rama 5 and Hermana Selva

Week 25

So first off, I want to apologize for not recognizing my pops bday last week.  On July 20^th in the age of dinosaurs, my dad was born. (or does it just seem like he’s that old), haha.  But for real, I wanna give a shout out to my dad for his bday and hope everyone treated him right. Your definition of right can be whatever you think he deserves, haha.

Anyway, moving on to my life out here in the mish. So last week we got changes and the news straight blew our minds. So in Rama 5, Elder Plasencia has been here for 4 changes, Elder Anderl 2 changes,  Elder Frost 3 changes, and Elder Anderson 4 changes.  So, we all thought Anderson and Plasencia were gone.  Well… we were half right.  Elder Anderson stayed and Elder Plasencia left.   Elder Anderl also left.   Elder Anderson stayed as district leader. And his comp… well of course it’s me. Haha.  Somehow, someway, we are still together and we couldn’t be happier.  However, there are lots of changes as he is a district leader now and we have all of Rama 5 instead of just half.  So, that was pretty crazy.   

We took the news well, eating at the burger joint one last time, ending with a toast to the ride that was Rama 5.  So, we thought we had to move all the stuff out of their house, but we didn’t.  So that was nice, cuz moving a fridge woulda sucked.   Saying goodbye to them was weird.  We spent so much time together and had such a good time and generally liked it each other.  It was more like saying goodbye to a brother than some random kid you met out here. That just shows how tight we became.  It truly was a brotherhood in Rama 5.

Toast to Rama 5 

Wednesday night was the first half of the Copa Libertadores (NOTE:  the Copa Libertadores is an annual soccer tournament – Similar to the Gold Cup that is going on right now).  Paraguay won, so we had fireworks and yelling in the street all night.  It sounded and felt like I was in a war zone.  Love soccer countries! 

Copa Libertadores

 We had interviews with the new pres this weekend and it was awesome! I am really glad he is my prez.  We didn’t talk about much, I mostly told my story and you all know it, so I’m not gonna rehash it here, but it was way good. 

I had to give a talk on Sunday which is a bummer as I still don’t feel comfortable in public speaking like I do in the states.  I don’t quite have my flow or charm in Spanish.  Oh well it went good.

Also, apparently I have been sleep talking in Spanish.  So I guess all that studying and listening has sunk in somewhere.  Sadly my sleeping self probably speaks better than my awake self.  Maybe I’ll start sleeping in lessons.  Just kidding.  Well maybe. Haha.

Also for hopefully the last time, I’m going to update you on Griseldas baptism.  Due to some crazy events, it got moved to this upcoming Saturday.  And barring a hurricane or something else, it’s finally going to happen.  Which is awesome, since we’ve been working with her since I got here.  We have baptized 2 of her kids, got her married, and got her to quit smoking.  She is basically my mom out here.  She’s a great lady.

 

The king on his throne

Anyway I’m outta time for this week, but I hope y’all are doing well and should write me.

Take care

 

Elder Frost