Week 39

So, sorry to anybody that I didn’t respond to last week. I had a good reason. So there was a crazy storm last Monday and all of Pedro Juan didn’t have power or internet. So I managed to get the blog and a couple letters to the family out but… ya, that was it.

The storm was so crazy, we didn’t even make it back to our house in one run. It started picking up like crazy, so we took shelter in a gym on the road. The guy was super legit.  He just let us kick it there. It was him, his girlfriend and some other people. Some random kid that was in the gym thought we were awesome, and bugged us the whole time. Haha.  So, as we were waiting for the storm to die, we saw lightning strike. It literally hit a tree right across the street. It was so nuts.  I am glad we weren’t walking in it. It finally died down, so we went home.  But the streets were straight rivers.  I had water up to my knees in one spot. Crazy! I miss drought stricken Montana on days like that.  I hate walking when I’m wet. Haha.  Anyway, that was a good start to the week.

This week was actually a good week.  We did a lot of service and it’s really great to be able to give back to the people like that.  One example was on Tuesday night we sat with Mercedes at her house while she cleaned.  It just gave her somebody to talk to, since all her family was gone. Yes we helped clean too. Haha. 

We also gave a bible to Juan.  He’s the paralyzed guy who’s awesome! Anyway he’s been using a Jehovah’s Witness bible for years, so we figured it was time to get him a new one.  So we bought one from the office and gave it to him.  He was so excited.

Then Wednesday we went and worked more on that house we were building.  So that was interesting.  The house still needs a lot of work, obviously. Then we had an awesome night Wednesday.

So our Wednesday activities are basically busts, unless its karaoke.  But we can’t do karaoke every week… so its a conundrum, right?  Anyway, this week at lunch at Lucias, I found an American football.  So I asked her to bring it on Wednesday night.  So we taught all the Latin youth that came to activity night, how to play American football.  It was highly entertaining. They had a really hard time understanding downs, and why you can’t throw the ball after you catch it.  But otherwise, they picked it up really fast.  Everyone had a good time.  It was a lot of fun.

The surprise was Camila. That girl can play ball.  By far, the MVP of the night.  She dominated for our team and made me look like Peyton Manning back there.  She’s really fast and has hands for days.  She literally caught everything. I threw a pass to far in front, nope fingertip grab for a TD. Insane!  Also that night, I played Picki Volley for the first time, as we were waiting for people to come.  It’s freaking awesome! love it!  It is a cross of volleyball mixed with soccer and a short net.  Sign me up.

So the next day we did a division.  It was just the 4 of us in Rama 5, but it was still fun.  So we met up on Thursday morning for pancakes, and then made the switch.  So I was with Elder Worsham.  He is the kid Elder Wall is training.  Well, he is also 6 foot 8.  So ya, that was fun walking around with him all day. Haha.  I looked like a midget.  But it was a good division. I like the new kids.  I really wanna train one day.  We also talked basketball a ton, which was awesome cuz it’s been awhile since I’ve talked sports with someone.  I also found out he’s probably playing college ball for Weber after the mish.  So that’s tight.  Anyway, we finished up our division, with me spending the night in the other program.  I had my best night of sleep in…forever. 

Their house has an AC, and oh man, is it worth it.  I gotta get one!  It’s getting hot here.  It’s been 95ish all week and humid and it’s just getting hotter.

We almost finished the house project, on Friday but the roof material was terrible.  So we decided to wait and buy more and finish it another day.

Then on Saturday I met a really awesome family that Elder Wall and Elder Menchaca found on Thursday during the division.  They are menos activos (less active), but man…they are legit.  I really hope I can get the Familia Sanchez back to church.  It would be way legit!

So one last thing this week.  I have more or less 10000 hours left in my mission.  So as you all know, it takes 10000 hours to master a skill.  So I’m looking for suggestions on what skill I should master.  Hit me up with ideas.

I love all you guys and can’t wait to see y’all on the other side of those hours.  I hope life is treating you well. I’m doing good, and wish all the same to you.

 

Elder Frost

Picture Time

An Armadillo

Building a house

 

Walls coming up

Making Empanadas

Week 38

So finally for those of you worrying…I had a really good week. I also got my first good burn of the season out of the way, as I got fried on Saturday building a house. I also finally learned some Paraguayan cooking. So y’all know I loved that. I guess that’ll be the best place to start this week as it was at the beginning.

So, I had eaten more than my fair share of homemade empanadas from the Hermana Cantero.  One night I asked her to teach me sometime.  Well, Tuesday night was the night. So we get there, and were expecting some little thing with me, Elder Menchaca and her family.  Nope.  They are having like a family party -- grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, the whole works. Her dad is even in from out of town and making his famous Asaditos.  And my empanadas are part of the planned meal.  Well, I tried to back out. Ya, I’m a wuss, haha.  But in the end, they turned out really well. At least everyone told me they did. They aren’t that hard to make either. It was so cool! I do love to cook.

 

Then Wednesday, we did service for the Hermana Blandina. We had to cut down a tree and install a lock, and yes… I’m being generous with the word lock on her house.  But first we had to find a machete. So after running around to find one, we got one but it was crazy dull.  So off to the closest garage, who used a grinder and gave us an edge again.  Then back we go to Blandinas, and  Elder Menchaca decides to do the tree work and I’m in charge of building the lock.  So by a lock, they wanted a block of wood that would hold their door shut and kinda be some resistance. Well, at first I had to cut wood rough with a machete.  So off I go to a carpenter.  Then back to the house and by the way, Paraguayan nails suck.  They all bent on me, but I finally got it up and working.  They loved it, so I guess it works for them.  

Then that night we had to do a division. So, originally it was going to be us and the elders in Rama 5b.  Then the Zone Leaders decided to join in.  So it became a 4 area division, which was rather chaotic.  I ended up with Elder Jenson as my comp. Well, Elder Menchaca is just going with Elder Wall here in Rama 5.  So I traded with Elder Wall and took the new kid, Elder Worsham,  all 6 foot 8 inches of him to the meeting place.  We get there and  Elder Jenson calls me and says he forgot about the division.  So I pick up Elder Page, and we walk to Rama 1 to get Worsham.  On our way there, we talk with my favorite homeless drunk barba (barber).  He’s crazy!  Then we wait in Rama 1 for 30 minutes or so, then finally Elder Jenson gets there.  So it’s off to return home.

We went out to Romero Cue. Now this is over an hour from my house and so far that the map in our house has been labeled inutil or “useless” on this part.  But I had a plan of contacting old investigators out there.  Well, that went out the window when I forgot the papers with the maps in the house. Oops! So, we started contacting and found some really awesome people.  Then, we talked to current converts in Santa Ana area.  That went legit as well.  All-in-all a really good day!  Best division by far of the mission.  

Also that night we helped Camila with her application for a trip to the States.  She’s a smart girl.  Her English was really good, and she used some pretty big words considering it’s her 5th language.  I was impressed. 

Then back with Elder Menchaca on Friday.  And it also turned out to be a good day.  Our original plans all fell through, but we had a legit visit winging it.  So we were just walking in the street when we saw Micheli.  Now Micheli is a former investigator of mine and Elder Anderson’s.  She wanted to come to church, but her dad wouldn’t let her.  Then she got pregnant, and he kicked out of the house.  It was a crazy story.  We saw her for the first time in months, and we talked and these experiences have really changed her so we taught her again and it was just awesome.  She has really grown up and wants to change and is ready to hear us now.  She even came to church on Sunday. It was legit! We also ate cotton candy, so you know that was good. 

Then Saturday was house building day.  So we’ve been planning on building this house for months, but the person got evicted before the plan actually got put in motion.  So we worked a solid 8 to 5.  It was only the 4 missionaries really.  Hermana Benitez bought the supplies, Hermano Miguel brought the tools and helped, and Hermano Bustamonte saved the day when he finally showed up with his power saw. Anyway, it is really sad what they live in down here. First of all, the house was like half the size of my room in the States.  It was 9 feet by 12 feet more or less.  Then the wood was terrible.  There are holes everywhere!  My grandpas would both have died seeing how it was done.  It was quite the experience.  I wasn’t expecting to be there all day, so I didn’t use sunscreen. Yes, mom, I know.  Anyways, my sunburn got pretty ugly.

 

Then we ate burgers that Lucia was selling as a fundraiser to get money for her mission.  Then we watched Piki Voley. It’s freaking legit!  Note:  Piki volley is popular in Paraguay. It is played on a sand volleyball court, but rather than using one's hands, one uses the head, chest and feet to get the ball over the net.

That about wraps up the week. It was a good week, and I definitely learned to appreciate what I’ve got in life.

Love you all, and will talk to ya next week.

 

Elder Frost

 

Week 37

So this was a long week. Mainly because it began so poorly with me staying in Pedro Juan Caballero. I really did want to leave. Scratch that, need to leave. I’m slowly dying here. But I’m trying to look at this in a new light and be positive and it’s working, at least a little bit.

Anyway, after taking that hit, I had a normal Monday last week.

Then Tuesday morning, my life got flipped, turned upside down. We went to Rama 5-B’s house for district meeting.  It’s just the 4 of us now.  It was also time to say goodbye to Elder Alfonso, the local comp of Elder Wall.  So we ate pancakes, had our meeting and had a good time.  Right at the end of it, some other elders called me and freaked out about why we weren’t at the chapel in Rama 1. Because apparently, it was now my job to babysit a kid for 2 days because leaders in the mission are required to not use their brain and a 3-way had to happen. Oh ya, nobody told me it was going to happen so don’t get mad at me for not being someplace at a certain time without telling me. Anyway, we finally went to Rama 1 and picked up Elder Larsen. He is Elder Jenson’s comp, but since Jenson went to Asuncion on Sunday, he’s had to do 3-somes with people.  We were his 3rd companionship in 3 days.  Poor kid was living out of his backpack. And life wasn’t going to get any better with us -  as he was going to be sleeping on the floor, and we had no food.  Anyway, we picked him up and then went and bought some food so he wouldn’t starve.  Then we did some visits that went pretty good.  Then off to Blandinas for Elder Alfonso’s goodbye dinner. Then Area 5B gave us a mattress, so Larsen slept better than we thought he would.

Next morning we woke up and did a normal day with Larsen.  Well, normal as in we had no running water and no lunch, so that was fun.  Finally we got out and did some more good visits before it was time to go to the ward activity night.

Well, that was a bust, since we had to leave early and since last week was conference, it wasn’t announced and nobody came.  And then, we had to run 30 minutes to a bus stop to get Larsen back to his program, before walking back home and carrying a mattress 6 blocks.  Trust me it’s heavier than it looks.  Oh, and you look stupid while you do it, haha.

Anyway, after that trainwreck of 3 days, life returned to normal in PJC.  Well, at least for Thursday.  And by that I mean that just like last week, we were out an hour from our house visiting the same person and it started dumping rain again.  So much fun. Haha.  We did have a cool visit right after that though, teaching some Brazilian guy who only speaks Portuguese.  It was interesting.

Then the dam broke on Friday.  Not an actual dam, but the dam that had prevented the Ismail love triangle from turning into a war.  So Friday night we were visiting Hector, an investigator, and the husband of Griselda - one of my converts.  Nothing shocking there.  But then, Cristina showed up on a moto with her friend to Griselda’s house.  Ismail is Griselda’s son. Cristina never comes here because Digna always is here.  Digna is the next door neighbor of Griselda, but is often at Griselda’s house. Both Christina and Digna are “dating” Ismail.  Uh oh. Well, Christina grabs an iron she is borrowing and Ismail’s clothes and leaves. Crisis adverted.  Nope.  She comes back like 1 minute later and starts screaming in Guarani at Digna.  This leads to more screaming, from both Christina and Digna and then Griselda begins yelling to calm everybody down. Oh ya.  Me, Menchaca and Hector are all sitting like 2 feet away. Next thing I know, an iron is flying.  Cristina threw it at Digna.  Digna naturally responds in kind by throwing the blender. Then more screaming and then the finale as Cristina’s friend steps in by throwing the pan of boiling milk at Digna.  Crazy! Very entertaining, but a sign of why the law of chastity is good.  And mad props to all those Arab dudes with like 100 wives and girlfriends. Crazy.

Anyway, on Saturday we met some guy who wanted to talk.  Well, talk this guy could.  We talked for 2 straight hours.  It was incredible. And… a complete waste of time.  The guy’s just looking to belong to as many religions as possible. Oh well.

Then on Saturday night/Sunday morning, we had a crazy rainstorm.  So of course, that means nobody would come to church. Yup.  Like a third of our normal people showed up. 

Then after church, I realized my plan of having 11 kids so I could have my own soccer team is out the window. I cooked for 12 people on Sunday, and it was a major pain.  So, it started by Lucia being jealous of me since I cooked for Clever.  So, I said I’d cook for them as well. So that is about 6 people.  Then Selva heard about the dinner, and so she came -- 3 more. Then, we had to invite 5B so that makes 2 more.  Then a random kid showed up, so ya, 12 total. Oh and I had 1 burner to do it all with!  It sucked.  I decided to make the same Chinese I did last time, but this time I did a good job with the noodles.  It was a lot of fun, but did take forever and so that sucked. I enjoyed it, though I missed cooking. 

Also for the first time in several months, we had lights in our house. We’ve been complaining to our landlord for forever to fix our lights since we had 1 working light.  He finally came through today, and we have lights.  It is so awesome!

And lastly, even the Asians are out to get me.  So in my dad’s package, he sent some Panda Express fortune cookies.  Score! Who doesn’t love those?  Well, I totally forgot about the fortunes until one fell out of a book this week.  Well, what does it say... “Pleasures await you by the seashore.” For real?!  I’m in a landlocked country!

Well, that’s it for this week.  Take care of yourselves. I love you guys.

 

Elder Frost

 

Week 36

So Conference is awesome! It’s also a cool experience and definitely different as a missionary. Can’t really explain why, but it is. 3 reasons I’ve thought of are: 1) I actually watch Saturday session. 2) I don’t have anything else to do to distract myself, so I actually get something out of it and 3) well honestly, I give a crap.  Which I didn’t do before.  So ya, I guess that would be why it’s different out here.

Anyway conference was good, but it wasn’t the only thing that happened this week out here in PJC. Elder Menchaca, Elder Wall, Elder Alfonso and I got pizza together on Monday night and that’s always fun.

Then Tuesday night, we had the baptism interview for Roni.  That was legit, since it meant his baptism would actually happen. After that I had my first sparring session with Elder Menchaca, and some local kids boxed too.  So that was highly entertaining. haha

Then of course Wednesday was the baptism. And of course, continuing with my uncanny ability to have something go wrong during a baptism, some things went wrong. Haha. Luckily nothing with the baptism this time or else I would have just given up ever planning a baptism again haha. Roni got there on time with his family.  His mom, who is a completely inactive member, even came so that was legit. He also chose me to baptism him and that was cool. A baptism is a baptism, but it’s cooler to be the guy all in white. Luckily, I didn’t say anything wrong, so the baptism went fine. We did have to scramble as once again our talks bounced, but besides that it was good. The problems came after the water. So for one, I forgot a change of clothes.  So ya that was fun.  Then the brownies weren’t quite done on the bottom so that was fun.  Oh, and then the giant activity we planned afterwards was just a karaoke night but with lots of people for once.  It all depended on Rafa, who didn’t show up.  So we sent two youths on a moto to go find him. Ya some missionary I am, I sent two youths to where Rafa works, which is basically a brothel. haha Well anyway, they didn’t find him. So we sent Mercedes who did know where he worked, so he finally got there but by then most of the people had left. Luckily some youth from Rama 1 that I had invited were there as they sang the most and just kept things going. Also, I finally got Mercedes to sing, which was work as she has a huge fear of public speaking or stage fright or whatever you want to call it.  She sang “Far Away” by Nickelback.  It was good.  In return I let her pick my song. Well she picked “Thrift Shop”.  So ya, I rapped “Thrift Shop”. Haha.  I’m  not gonna say it was great, but it was funny.

 

 

Baptism of Roni

The next day, I swear I was living with Noah because it rained so much. I literally walked on water. Well if you want to get technical, I walked on the street that was under water, but still… haha,  Anyway we were like 30 minutes from our area, under normal conditions, so we took shelter in a less active lady’s house.  But after like an hour with no signs of letting up, we walked home. Well, the street had literally turned into a river. It had a strong current.  It had waves.  It had rapids. It had trash floating down.  I am in South America after all.  The only thing it lacked was a crocodile. But oh well. Anyway after an hour of walking upstream completely soaked, we made it.

Then Friday was Elder Menchaca’s birthday so we did our normal stuff before going to the Hermana Blandina’s house for his birthday dinner. They killed one of their chickens for him and made a soup.  It was alright but it was a good time, which was better.

Then conference was on Saturday.  Someone said it is was going to be 10 hours long. So naturally I spent my food money for the week on snacks for conference. I was all set.  I had wannabe starbursts, some fruity candy cookies, pringles, a box of fruit loops, and some other stuff.  So I basically ate my way through conference.  We also bought ice cream and had ice cream and brownies in between sessions. I really enjoyed conference.  But as always, I’ll get more out of it once I have the talks in print.

As I was sitting there, I did think -  if I could meet one apostle who would it be?  I  chose Elder Holland hands down.  Dude’s legit.  But I wanna hear your thoughts.  So if you could chose one apostle to meet, who would it be?  Older ladies need not respond; we all know you’d chose President Uchtdorf. Haha. 

Well that was conference, but the week wouldn’t end without a little more excitement. We had dinner after conference with a member.  During dinner, we heard a pop pop pop sound but louder and faster.  Come to find out, right around the corner from her house there was a drive-by shooting. 1 dead  and 3 wounded.  Freaking crazy.  The dude took 20 bullets.  Blood was everywhere!  Anyway, if that wasn’t enough, 30 minutes later a street fight broke out and a guy was stabbed in the neck with a piece of glass.  So naturally, we went home. Crazy! 

And the final news of the week.  This week was changes, but just like the last 6 times…I’m in Pedro Juan Caballero still. And Elder Menchaca is still my comp. So that’s legit since it means more time to learn to box.

Love you guys take care.

 

Elder Frost