This week has been super hot and full of service.
Last Monday we found a good home for the blanket we made in the Zone Conference - we found a lady who had her baby pre-mature and it has just reached 9 months... or in other words, he should've been born now, but he came 2 months early and is still growing strong!
My companion has been doing some follow up on some previous health problems she's had, so we were in and out of the hospital all week doing tests to see how she's doing and today the doctor said she's doing great! I'm hoping to never see the hospital in Paraguay again.
We've been working hard, helping people come unto Christ and preparing a few for baptism - Palma Loma should be seeing some baptisms in the upcoming months!
On Thursday we had divisions and I got to spend the day with Hermana Santos in Laurelty again - always a great time. We even found three new investigators that day!
Throughout the week we've been doing our best to give service and we've been receiving a lot of kindness in return. During the super hot/humid days people have been offering us cold water and various people have offered us food to eat on random occasions.
Funny/cool story of the week: On Friday after our plans had fallen through we set off to go find a new investigator. We started walking when we soon noticed an old lady scooting her way on a half-broken, wooden chair down the dirt/empedrada street. We caught up to her and asked her if we could help her get somewhere. Accepting our offer, we took her arm in arm and basically ended up starting to carry her and her chair down the street. We asked her where she was heading and told us, "Me voy a misa. Mi hermana es una bruja por que dio mis moletas a alguien." (I'm going to mass. My sister is not cool because she gave my crutches away) A 10 year old boy by-stander offered to help by carrying her chair and told us she goes to mass almost every day. At first it was a somewhat comical situation for us - I can't say I've ever thought to help someone get to mass before - and the grandma was really heavy and smelly, however afterwards I thought and I realized how inspiring this lady is. She doesn't have kids and lives with her sister, can't walk very well and yet still manages to worship God in the best way she knows how.
Yesterday I was reading in Jesus the Christ and the spirit made one part stand out to me. There's a section called "The Widow's Gift" that analyzes when Christ points out to the apostles the two mite offering of a poor widow. It says "...figured out in the arithmetic of heaven, entries are made in terms of quality rather than quantity, and values are determined on the basis of capability and intent... the widow's gift was her all... It was not the smallness of her offering that made it especially acceptable, but the spirit of sacrifice and devout intent with which she gave." (p.561-562) We haven't been able to get to this Señora with the restored gospel yet, but she is already making sacrifices to be able to come closer to God. We too have the opportunity to give gifts not just to friends and family but, even more importantly, to our Heavenly Father through our sacrifice in service and offerings of "broken hearts and contrite spirits". It doesn't matter the quantity of our gift - if we give our all in all sincerity it will be everything for our Heavenly Father.
Estoy aquí por que amo él Señor y amo la gente de Paraguay.
With love sent from Paraguay,
Hermana Carr
