Week 52 - 1 Year!

Pretty slow week compared to last week, but it still had its moments.

So probably the highlight of my week happened on Monday when I ate lunch. So I’ve been craving Mexican food like a pregnant lady craves weird stuff.  So we went to lunch at a food court type place, and they had Mexican food. So obviously that’s what I got.  I got 2 beef burritos and a huge bowl of nachos.  Not nearly worth the money, and not nearly as good as Taco Bell even, but so worth it to eat. I miss Mexican food a lot. I even had a Mexican companion but we never cooked Mexican food.  How sad is that?  Anyway, after a fantastic start to the week with that scrumptious meal, not much else happened Monday.

Tuesday I had to do a division with the district leader and his kid.  But first we had to have district meeting and the zone leaders ended up showing up way late but of course we had to wait for them and then our practices went long so we didn’t end up starting the division until like 12:30.  I went with the new guy, Elder Tauilili from Utah.  He has been out almost 2 changes now (Note:  changes are every 6 weeks).  We went to lunch and then back to the house for language study and then into the street.  We did some contacting and visited some less active families before meeting up with their ward mission leader to do a visit.  It turned into this guy talking for an hour and a half and saying how we don’t need to learn everything at once but he touched on every subject of the lessons you could imagine and didn’t let us get in a single word edge wise.  So that was something.  Then while we were waiting to go visit another investigator, Elder Stopper and the district leader rolled up as it was time to change back.  So I ended my division a little early, and by 8 o’clock I was back with my companion. One of the nicest, easiest divisions I have ever done.  We grabbed some food and then went home.

Unfortunately I got a little sick later that night, nothing stomach related, but I had a terrible sore throat and sinus pain again.  I have it at least once a month, if not more, ever since I got really sick last summer. I can’t imagine what it would have been like if I still had my tonsils. It just sucks more than anything -- nothing too serious.

Wednesday we had lunch with the Bishop and my comp was ecstatic.  So ever since I got here, he has been going on and on about this Ecuadorian dish, Patacones.  And on Wednesday, he finally got the chance to make them. The issue was he needed platanos (Note:  a type of banana) and he couldn’t find them here, but there is a member from Peru and he grows them and they were finally ready so he gave some to my comp and we ate with the bishop.  What you do is peel them like a banana and then cut them into slices and fry them a little bit and then dunk them in salt water and finish frying them.  It’s kinda like an Ecuadorian french fry I guess.  It was pretty good.  Although I’ll stick with my potatoes.  

Later that night we had a quite unusual ward mission meeting as we got locked out of the church and nobody could find the keys so we sat outside on these fire hydrant looking things and talked and cut up paper to use as invitations to our movie night on Friday.  Recently our ward mission leader has decided that to get more members involved and coming to church and to reactivate less-actives, we need to do activities.  So its soccer on Wednesday nights, movie night on Fridays, and English class on Saturdays.  Unfortunately, they didn’t go so hot this week. For the first time since I’ve been here, soccer didn’t have a lot of people and ended early.  Movie night only one family came, and English class was planned for the same hour as the huge soccer game, so that was poorly attended as well.  We are hoping for more success next week.

That about wraps up this week. This upcoming week I hit my year mark, and my trainer goes home.  So that is a little weird. I’m getting old in the mission, even if I don’t feel it yet.  

We also have interviews this week, so it’s gonna be quite something.  I’m sure I’ll have some things to write next week.

Well, I love all you guys and hope that you have a great week.

Take care,

Elder Frost

Week 51

Pretty crazy week actually. So hopefully I’m not forgetting anything.

It started out on Monday when I had to go into Asuncion for an interview. And I am proud to say it will be the last interview for me. So it’s not really a secret I had stuff to take care of before the mission, and I thought I was all good but after reading Miracle of Forgiveness I felt bad so I went in and talked with my mission president about some stuff and last Monday was my final interview.  I now officially have a clean slate. Sidenote:  Miracle of Forgiveness is a great book, but I hate how it makes me feel and I vow to never read it again, well… at least for the foreseeable future.

Now on to the week.  So after a wonderful p-day -- well an average p-day but I was feeling high after my interview -- I‘m on my last bus ride home and I get pick pocketed. So that was a downer. I feel like I’m pretty aware of my surroundings so it did come as a bit of a shock that it happened but there was also nothing I could have done as it happened on a bus that was far beyond packed. I couldn’t even breathe without chest bumping somebody. Anyway, on this bus I got pick pocketed or rather they opened up one of the pockets on my backpack and took what was inside. And, yes, unfortunately they happened to pick the only pocket with anything of value. They got my camera. So that sucked. Luckily, I have sent most of my pictures to my dad so those are saved. Sadly my videos of karaoking are forever lost, so you guys will unfortunately not get to see me dancing to “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus.  Sorry about that. 

Anyway, after that sucky news, we get home and get a call saying that tomorrow, Tuesday, the Hermanas are coming to live in the other house in our area and are splitting our area.  This after just earlier on Monday we were told we had til changes in February to get the house ready and everything. Well that plan got changed rather fast. So we scrambled and got ready and headed out to meet them at the church. So then we go and help them set up their house as everything was in pieces all over the house and nothing was organized. We finally got them all settled in, more or less, and then we went to lunch.  So we spent most of this week showing the Hermanas the area and introducing them to the members.  Well, we quickly became replaceable as everyone was super excited the Hermanas were here and everyone wanted to do stuff with them. Ha ha. 

Also, some people were worried about their safety, but that won’t be an issue. As soon as they came, I became the third toughest person in Anahi. One of the Hermanas played rugby for BYU and the other has fought Muy Tai. So, ya, no worries there.

Then we finally did the girls’ birthday brownies, and they turned out great so that was awesome. I didn’t wanna disappoint.

Also, our clothes lady is back, which is awesome as I don’t have to wash my own clothes anymore and that is going to be a huge blessing. Unfortunately, she was also robbed while she was away. So we gave her our fan that we weren’t using anymore to try and help a little.

The highlight of the week though was on Sunday night we were visiting a less active member and he was watching the American football games.  So I got to watch part of both games.  So legit. It should be a great Superbowl. So good for you guys, sucky for me.  Anyway, I‘m sure I‘m forgetting stuff, but mostly I got pickpocketed and the Hermanas wrapped up a crazy week. But the people are excited and want to do visits and help us, so that will be a plus for the rest of this change.

Love you guys and take care,

 

Elder Frost

 

Week 50

So this week was actually a pretty good one. It was also by far the best week I have had - mission wise and success wise - with Elder Stopper.

But first, this week, like all weeks, began with p-day.  This p-day, in a slight change of pace, we played basketball instead of soccer. It also had to be quite the sight to see 10 missionaries jumping the fence as we couldn’t get the gate open.  Anyway, we finally did play, and it was the same old game from Frost.  I can drive on anybody and still can’t finish at the rim.  So sad.  My only points came from jump shots and my dirty Chris Paul or the floater in the lane after a crossover. I sadly let my country down as my team lost to a team of only Latins.  My man scored the winning points.  But to be fair, he did throw it over his shoulder, no look, with his back to the basket.  No idea how it dropped, but such is life.  Anyway, after that just did a normal p-day.

We went as a big group to Pizza Hut and ate their buffet.  It cost 22 mil or roughly 4 bucks for all you can eat. They definitely lose money when we roll in. 

Also this week, I had to do my own laundry as our laundry lady still hasn’t come back from her Christmas trip.  I was out of clothes.  I will never have a problem doing laundry in the States again.  I miss my machines!  So after sweating and slaving away to clean my shirts, which were really dirty, I hung them up to dry.  And 15 minutes later it starts to rain.  I had a good laugh, but I can’t wait for the States again. Ha ha. 

We also played a lot of soccer this week, and for the first time in forever I played really well.  I’m finally getting used to playing with the ball in my feet and in tight areas.  The skills I’ve learned here, I woulda killed for in high school.  It woulda made me such a better player.  But oh well.  There’s always rec leagues and intramurals.

Then Thursday, we had a zone meeting. I don’t know if I have talked about my extreme dislike for zone meetings before, but if I didn’t, I really dislike them. I think they are pointless and a waste of my time.  All it is is leaders telling us to do stuff we already know.  Then they do not give us any solutions or ideas on how to do it better.  Well, this last week’s district meeting took the cake.  I went from thinking it was pointless to,”Tthis is the stupidest meeting I have ever been a part of.”  The president and the APs literally live in a whole different world if they think their ideas are good or going to do anything.  So stupid.  I literally felt dumber after sitting there. 

On the bright side, some of my mission buddies got transferred into my zone.  So seeing them again was cool. After the meeting, we went to McDonalds for lunch.  I got a double with bacon and a McFlurry. So worth it! 

The next day, me and my companion were passing the church and stumbled upon a fight.  The 2 dumbest members I have ever met, nobody likes them, invited some of their friends to play soccer at the church.  And of course, they started a fight.  So dumb.  So for the first time in my life I was separating a fight started by soccer, instead of instigating it.  Not gonna lie.  I prefer the other side.  Ha ha.  Breaking up fights is no fun. 

After that we continued our walk to the Sasanumas.  They are the Japanese family in our ward.  They were all together for a party.  So that was cool!  They are some of my favorite members in the ward.  Also, the mission is renting a house next to theirs for the new missionaries that are coming in February.  So we took care of that as well.  The next morning we got a call from the mission office telling us that the mission wanted to move the furniture and stuff into the other house.  So off we went.  It went fine and pretty fast actually.  They got all new stuff, which we were jealous about, and we may steal some of their appliances and replace them with ours - ha ha.

Also, I tried making brownies for this girl’s birthday, except our oven is terrible.  And she wanted to learn how, so I bought all the stuff.  We were gonna cook it there at the restaurant her mom owns.  Well, we get there and they don’t have gas.  So we wait, and wait, and wait, and they finally say that the gas isn’t coming.  So that was a fun night.  Ha ha.  But it was good to just chat and hang out for a bit.

Also Sunday I had a talk about the mission work.  Basically, I implored the members to do their part as we need their help.  Apparently it came across harsher than I wanted, as everyone commented about it.  But they all did say it was good, and they were gonna help more.  So hopefully that happens.  Not much else happened this week.  We did have our first investigator in church, but I’m not going to talk about that until next week because I don’t want to jinx it.

Love you guys and take care,

 

Elder Frost

Week 49

So I had an interesting week. Mainly cuz it was my birthday and then New Years and well… the holiday season is just weird in a foreign country. So I’ll start with my birthday as it was Monday.

So the original plan was to eat someplace and then go bowling.  Well, come to find out bowling is expensive!  So we decided to just eat some place nice. Well the nicest place we could think of is TGIFridays. Ya ha ha. But hey it was really good. So it was Elder Anderson, Elder Bailon, Elder Mejia, Elder Anderl, and myself. It was a really good time just laughing and hanging out with your buddies and eating some good food. Elder Anderson bought me some wings as a birthday present. Well if you can call them wings they were the saddest little things I’ve ever seen.  Definitely not bdubs (buffalo wild wings). Then I ordered a fat steak in Jack Daniels sauce. SO good.  I’ve missed steak. Texas roadhouse…. I’m coming. 1 more year!

Anyway and then Elder Anderson and Elder Anderl told the waitress we were there for my birthday like 10 times and they didn’t do anything… so I ordered dessert.  I got these 2 giant ice cream Oreo sandwiches.  So good!  Now I’m full and have spent way more than I should have.  But now, the waitresses decide to come for my birthday.  They made me stand up, dance and sing.  It was funny.  Then they gave me ice cream and a brownie.  That was still good, but I was so full.  

I finally rolled my way out the door and we got on a bus and went to the cyber.  Then we just hung out at Elder Andersons house to end the night.  It was about as good of a birthday as you can have in the mission. I got lucky my birthday fell on a p-day and the day we got money.  Well lucky in the short term.  I’m feeling pretty broke right now actually. Ha ha.  But so worth it.

The next day we had to go to the office for an interview.  So that day went pretty quick.  It was also New Year’s Eve, so we partied that night.  But a couple other things first. I ate gummy bears and donuts for lunch.  Who said you couldn’t eat junk food for every meal when you were a kid.  Then we saw a girl get robbed on the bus ride home. 

So instead of homeless people begging for money like in the states, in Paraguay you have people who get on buses and try to sell stuff, or just ask for money and give you a piece of paper explaining why you should give them money.  Well one of these guys did and he looked sketchy.  In the end, as soon as the bus stopped he grabbed a cell phone out of a girl’s hand and ran off the bus.  Elder Stopper and I both almost jumped off, but our door was closed and I don’t know if beating up a thief is the most missionary thing to do. Ha ha.  But we thought about it.

Then we went back and bought supplies for the New Year’s Eve party.  We just did a BBQ and watched fireworks with our neighbors and landlord.  Anyway, it’s was just Christian, a recently returned missionary and his sister.  It was a lot of fun!  Good food and some laughs.  It honestly wasn’t as bad as I was expecting.

The next day the world was literally a ghost town.  Not even the dogs that normally attack us were in the street. Nothing was moving at all.  We went to lunch at the bishop’s, and they were just waking up.  So while we were waiting for them to cook something I saw part of the rose parade on the TV - just keeping tradition alive.  In our house tradition (which was started by my grandparents) is, we get up, eat donuts and watch the rose parade on the 1^st.  It was pretty cool to watch it thousands of miles away. I had to explain the parade to the Bishop’s family and I apparently didn’t do a good job.  Because they weren’t as impressed as I thought they’d be.  Who knew it was broadcast in Paraguay? 

Anyway, later that day we played soccer with our ward for the holiday and it was a good time.  Then we had some pretty slow days.  But we had some good visits visited some of our favorite less actives and some new less actives as well.  We planned a movie night, to hopefully excite them and get more people in church.  Unfortunately, the attendance is barely touching 30 after 60 something for months.

Also, we got stuck babysitting a youth.  We were visiting his aunt, who he lives with, and then she had to go to work.  Well the kid has had some problems with bullies and she didn’t wanna leave him alone.  So, we watched him til his cousins showed up.  We watched the Simpsons, ate sandwiches and drank pop.  This kid and his cousins are crazy.  They started punching me, and tackled my comp, but it was good ole fashioned rough housing.  It was fun!

The only other big story of the week was our fighting the biggest butterfly I’ve ever seen! Ha ha.  So there is a big black butterfly that lives down here, and if it lands on you, it pees on you, and somehow lays eggs inside of you, and well it’s just nasty.  We thought it was one of those.  So naturally, we didn’t wanna get hit.  So Elder Stopper threw his shoe at it, and hit it like 5 times.  But it didn’t die.  So, finally I maned up, and smashed it with my flip flop.  But even then, it didn’t die until I knocked it on the ground and stepped on it.  It was crazy. Literally, like a 30 minute battle.  But the superior species won. Ha ha.

Well that’s about all I’ve got for this week. I’m feeling much better and smiling and laughing again so stop worrying if you were. 

I love you guys and take care of yourself. 

 

Elder Frost