¡Feliz Dìa de las Madres!

¡Hola familia y amigos!

Even though I got to talk to my family last week, yesterday was Dìa de las Madres here in Paraguay. Even though a lot of people used it as an excuse to not come to church, we had an awesome RM in our ward bring his (non-member) mom to church before they celebrated. I can't think of a better way to honor your mother than to come closer to our Heavenly Father. I love my mom and I'm lucky that Heavenly Father sent me to her!

This week has been a week of diligence - working hard every day, coming home insanely tired at the end of every day, but feeling a unique satisfaction from our labors.

We've been working to start doing ward night more consistently and this week I taught piano for the first time! I vaguely remember trying to teach Javier the piano basics and did my best to apply that to my lesson -- I'm not sure how much information was retained, but it was fun and I think people will come again next week!

The Elders also had a baptism and asked us to make brownies. Even though they were very modified, Paraguay-version brownies it was a big hit and everyone raved over how good they were. My confidence as a pastry chef has been greatly enhanced.

On Saturday I had a blast from the past re-visiting Juan de Salazar to help with their ward "Rescate". I got to go out with a young woman named Sarita and got to visit Fatima, our old-recent convert, and a few other menos activos that we worked with during my time with Hermana Getz and Còrdova. It was SO surreal! It feels like years since I worked there - but it's really only been a few months.

This Sunday Maria was confirmed and I gave a talk on missionary work and did my best to tie it in to a tribute to mothers. If it wasn't for my mom and her example I would not be here in Paraguay sharing the gospel as a full-time missionary. Thanks Mom! <3

Funny and spiritual story of the week: Yesterday we did our Sunday study right after church. As we were leaving our apartment we saw the clouds in the distance and thought, it'll probably rain, however we did not stop to put our scriptures in the grocery bags we carry in our back-packs. The members who feed us lunch Sundays live in the middle of the Elders area and we were a little lost trying to find the right road to take when all of a sudden these HUGE deep purple clouds come over us and everything got darker. Stopping on the side of a soccer field/open area we said a little prayer/prayer in our hearts that it wouldn't start raining until we got our scriptures tucked away in bags. We took off our back packs, got our jackets out, put the scriptures and our things in the bags and, as I zipped up my back-pack, I said jokingly "Alright, bring it". Not 30 seconds later, as I started putting my arms into my rain-jacket sleeves and my companion struggled to get her umbrella open a wall of rain rolled over the trees across from the field and came pounding towards us. We yelled in surprise and pitifully tried to run a few steps before we realized the rain was coming, ready or not. Hermana Noorda struggled more fervidly to get her umbrella open as I struggled to get my jacket on and hood over my head, regretting and laughing over my poorly chosen words, "bring it".

As I pondered over us getting caught in the rain just after being able to protect our scriptures I thought about the power of prayer and how mindful our Heavenly Father is of us. In Matthew 7:7-11 it talks about how Heavenly Father will not give us a rock if we ask for bread, neither a serpent if we ask for a fish. I learned yesterday that he will hold the rain right up until we say "bring it" and, as I now know from experience, only then will it be brought. Heavenly Father loves us so much and listens to our every prayer, even the ones of the heart.

With love sent from Paraguay,

Hermana Carr

Avengers on Adventures

¡Hola familia y amigos!

So we have had another great, crazy week here in Salado.

It all started last Monday when I ran into Elder Taylor Thompson at the temple cleaning! (I accidentally just called him Taylor when I saw him.. #oops) It was cool to see him and meet his "hijo" as he is training right now.

Funny/freaky story: Later Monday night we were walking up in a part of our area called San Francisco and we walked passed (what I thought was) a rock/big leaf in the road. My comp pauses for a split second and says "I think that was a tarantula". Well, Hermana Carr was ciao-cito halfway down the road - Hermana Noorda went back and threw a rock at it. I hid behind a tree, waiting for the inevitable death of my beloved companion as the tarantula, from what Hermana Noorda said, reared up for the attack. After that she came running too.

This week we have been working very hard, putting our all into every day. Some days we were even able to do divisions with some of the members to get to more lessons. On Tuesday night I was so tired at the end of the day I asked someone "¿como se dice usted?" instead of "¿como se llama usted?". That was pretty embarrassing and I spent a good 5 minutes laughing over that one.

Thursday morning I got some good plumber-practice. Our kitchen sink doesn't directly drain outside, it first sits in a little bucket/pan thing and then, once pressurized enough, goes up and out another pipe; if we're not careful, it overflows before pressurizing. After our morning run I got back and started doing dishes when it overflowed. We ended up having to take off the lid of the bucket thing and scooping out all of the sludge build up - it smelled SO bad. WAKALA.

After going out that same morning we were blessed to help a woman learn how to pray. We contacted Estela and she welcomed us in to talk a little bit. As we finished up a little lesson we asked if she would like to pray and, after a slight attempt, she said she couldn't pray. After a little coaxing and scripture sharing we were able to walk her through a little prayer. At the end she said she felt good and that she would pray again.

Saturday we had a "Rescate" in our areas in preparation for our ward conference. I went out with Hermana Rodriguez (who is in Juan de Salazar right now!) and we had a pretty good time slipping and sliding in the mud and rain. Saturday night I caught the cold Hermana Noorda has had for a while and we made some hot kool-aid/juice packets and quoted Julian Smith - I made this for you!

On Sunday Natalia and Sedden were confirmed. Maria didn't come - we will be working with her this week to help her be confirmed. I was able to talk to my family. I love and miss them, however I am doing the best things with my time right now. Some people may ask how we as missionaries aren't trunky after Skype calls. "That's my secret - I'm always trunky".

In the parting words of a contact we made this week, "hasta la vista baby".

With love sent from Paraguay,

Hermana Carr

So much to do, so little time

Hola familia y amigos!

Ok. Time is flying and there is not time enough to do everything we do and even less time to tell you how crazy this week was and all of the miracles that passed.

To get some main events of the week down, I will go by days.

Monday: Had a normal p-day, afterwards on the way to a Noche de Hogar we met Isidora and two of her daughters, Monse and Milagros. Due to storms the electricity was out and the water was cut, so they were asking neighbors if they could fill a bucket and some water bottles they had. The daughters were a little embarrassed to ask for water so we, being no-shame, we meet everyone missionaries, asked some people for water and helped them carry the water home. We set an appointment with them for the next day. We met with Natalia, Sedden and Maria, our investigators preparing for their baptism on Sunday.

Tuesday, we helped with a birthday party for some members and it was very fun and there wasn't much cake - but we got hot chocolate. We met with Isidora and her family and found out that they have a lot of faith and told us si o si they were coming to church that next Sunday.

Wednesday, funny story: Sometimes I get really fed up with guys that just say hermosas or preciosas or rubias while we pass by. We passed an old-ish guy that said como se dice amor en ingles? and instead of ignoring him, I said No se un poco, ik spreken de Deutch. I felt bad for lying, but he didn't say anything to us after that. I think being german makes us seem more intimidating - we had a good laugh that day.

Friday we cleaned out the font again, luckily a lot less dirty than the week before, and the bishop got the drainer fixed! So we didn't have to use buckets, we just had a lot of down time in the chapel waiting for it to unload. We did weekly planning and then I got the cable for the electric piano to practice for the choir number we are helping with for Ward conference and when I went to plug the cable in I broke the piano.... I felt so bad. We told the secretario and he ended up fixing it easy, no cost. Phew.

Saturday we filled the baptismal font - no problem. It just took time, nada mas. On our way to the chapel though we ran into Isidora and her daughter looking for a new house to rent - their landlord had called and was kicking them out and they needed to find a new place pronto. We couldn't help them find a house, but we were able to give them a tour of the chapel. Natalia, Sedden and Maria - after much teaching and repassing of gospel principles - passed their baptismal interviews as well.

Sunday was a day of miracles.

First, Isidora and her daughters came of their own initiative - that NEVER happens!!! She also practically bore her testimony during gospel principles class. After church, while we were proselyting before the baptism service, I ran into the Familia Baes - the family I met in Asuncion - who were visiting some family members. Then came the baptismal service. Everything went super well. Lots of members came, we had organized it well enough where we didn't do a lot but run around and make sure everyone had their assignment. Natalia, Sedden and Maria were baptized and clean from their sins, and their mom - who works all throughout the week, including Sundays - was able to come.

Maria suffers from epilepsy and didn't have an epileptic attack until after she was baptized and in the bathroom, out of sight of the members - she just fainted on me. She said if she had to have an attack she wanted it to be after she was baptized. Elder Silva, the Elder that baptized her, knew what to do and she recovered really quickly and was able to hear the talks afterwards without anyone knowing what had happened.

After the baptism we saw that we had three missed calls from Isidora and so we booked it to their house. They told us they lacked 100mil, not much, but enough to cause them to worry and they had to come up with it by Monday, today, to cover the deposit on their rent. They told us their dad just had to come home because he had the money, but they didn't know where he was. As we promised them that they would receive blessings from coming to church and following the commandments, their dad walked in. At the end Isidora said a prayer that brought us to tears. It was a day full of miracles.

It's been a cold week, de hecho, but we've been going well with our gloves and jackets.

I gotta go, I'll send pics next week!

With love sent from Paraguay,

Hermana Carr

Wedding planners

Hola familia y amigos!

This week has been CRAZY.

To start out, Tuesday we had changes and I left the Moroni crew to come back to my "birth" zone Luque A, to work with Hermana Noorda in Salado, Limpio. I am sad to leave Moroni - it was a really cool area and my companions and I had some good times - however Salado is awesome.

To start off our week Hermana Noorda and I finished teaching the missionary charlas to Noelia Gauto Benitez, an investigator of about 2 months and on Thursday she had her baptismal interview. Friday morning we came to the capilla to empty out the baptismal font in preparation for Saturday and, get this, the font had floating, rotting mango, orange peels and a living frog in it. WAKA-LA (gnasty in guarani). That night Hermana Noorda and I put up fabrics, blew up balloons and got everything set up for the wedding of Noelia and Juan Fransisco, her marido. We had a great turnout and had more non-members than members show up to the wedding, some of their relatives coming up from Ciudad del Este. It was a great gathering and Noelia, Frans and their three kids were super happy. It's something special to see a family united in marriage.

Saturday morning we participated in a Zone "Rescate" and went to barrios Huiguito and Emboscada to visit menos activos with the members there. Hermana Noorda went to Limpio with Hermana Rodriguez and I got to do a few visits with Hermana Pisco and the members just drove us around in their car to all the visits #PrincessMissionaries.

After we ate lunch as a zone we went straight to the capilla to fill up the baptismal font and do weekly planning - however about 20 minutes after it started filling, the water was cut in the area and we had no way of filling up the font. Noelia came at 3pm to be baptized and all we had was about 1 1/2 feet of water and the water dripping from the faucets that we collected with our water bottles and threw in. Noelia really wanted to be baptized Saturday and had an appointment later that evening, so we went for it. After two tries and having to have her lay down in the font, she was completely submerged and cleansed of all her sins. Sunday she was confirmed and received the gift of the Holy Ghost.

It has been a crazy, spiritually, physically and mentally exhausting weekend - I've had to use skills I never even thought I had #wedding planner - but we did and Noelia is now on the path to Celestial glory. We will be working with her and (hopefully!) her husband more in these coming weeks. We also have some baptisms planned for these upcoming weeks and we are working to help barrio Salado grow and be strengthened.

It's been crazy, but I love it! There's nothing like working for the Lord.

With love sent from Paraguay,

Hermana Carr

Fanta Floats

¡Hola Familia y Amigos!

This week has been crazy!

Everything was normal, slow and going until Wednesday when we had a really cool lesson with a contact we'd made a while ago. Martha lives about two blocks from the temple and told us she'd always been drawn to the Mormons and wants to better her life spiritually. Inviting her to be baptized was the most natural thing in the world - we have high hopes for her and are looking forward to seeing her progression in the gospel.

After a great day Wednesday, we had a few sick days. Hermana Lundberg came down with a flu bug and we were in the house Thursday and Friday.

Saturday we got back out and on our way to our first visits we ran into a group of proselytizing Jehovah's Witnesses. We greeted them and they were all friendly - it just got awkward when we arrived at our first visit who couldn't attend us, then we went to our recent converts house down the street; top-ten mission story: playing leap-frog with the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Later that night we passed by a members house and I met my Paraguayan twin! Cecilia is 14 years old - the familia Ramirez has been wanting to see us together since I got here. Now I see why!

On Sunday we had lunch with Familia Ramirez and introduced the parents to Fanta Floats- with the lack of Root-beer we improvise. ¡Riquisimo!

Changes are coming up on Tuesday and we're anxious to see what'll happen. Whatever happens I'll always have a piece of my heart here in Moroni.

With love sent from Paraguay,

Hermana Carr

Post-Summer Denial: HEAT WAVES

This week has been a crazy, HOT, awesome one.

Coolest things this week: not the climate, a member calling us and bringing a new investigator to the temple grounds for a lesson, showing "Meet the Mormons" at the high school of our recent convert, 5 completely random, new investigators coming on Sunday, divisions with the Hermana leaders.

Weirdest things this week: signs of "witch-craft" going on in the cemetery a few blocks from our house, showering with buckets because our shower only works 1/2 the time, seeing pictures of famous people randomly around town.

This week, as I've studied and prayed, I was reminded of our purpose as missionaries: to share the gospel of Jesus Christ by inviting people to come unto Him. Every now and then we get caught up in the little things and forget that what we do now is a means to an end. (Alma 12:24) Our goal is eternal life with our Father in Heaven and our families- everything that we do now, as directed by the spirit and according to the scriptures, will help us get there. Even after all we can do, we can only get there through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

With love sent from Paraguay,

Hermana Carr

Hump-Daay

¡Hola Familia y amigos!

This week has been a good one here in Moroni - we've been working hard and we have some new investigators! It makes things go by a little faster and easier when we are working, studying and thinking about current investigators. We've got high hopes and we've got hope at least one of them will progress to baptism!

General Conference was amazing - as always. I received answers to the questions I came with and a few questions I didn't know I had. Along with the new instruction, I received confirmation from the Spirit that this is the true church, Christ's church, and that by keeping our covenants, following the counsels of the prophets and living the gospel daily we will return to the presence of our Heavenly Father with our families.

During the Saturday afternoon session of conference a miracle happened. The power had gone out in Campo Grande, so a lot of people came to the capilla in Moroni to watch conference. A girl came in and sat down on the back row by us and I thought nothing of it. About mid-way through one of the talks she leans over to me and asks, "so, is someone going to talk to us from here or is there going to be a mass or something?". Turns out she always walks by and just decided to follow all the people coming in to see what was going on that day and to see if she could go to the temple. Trying my best to play it cool I got her info and we have an appointment with her next Saturday. She left after the middle hymn and I immediately turned to my companion and told her all about what happened. It was a little harder to focus on the talks after that. Sometimes we have to work and work and work to find new people to teach, but sometimes Heavenly Father sends them to us.

This week I was also able to brainstorm some ideas with our mission president of how we can find new people here in the city. We walk the streets and ring a lot of doorbells, but we're having few fruits from our hours of effort. Taking his suggestions we went to the high school of our recent convert Liz and scheduled a "meet the Mormons" event this upcoming Thursday and Monday. I guess they don't have as many restrictions on talking about religion in school here, so the directora told us we could come in and talk to the students about what we're all about and show the movie "meet the Mormons". We're also going to go to the colleges in our area and see if we can do the same there. I've got a lot of hope and am very excited to get to work on these events and help invite more people in a more comfortable environment to come unto Christ.

Funny stories from this week: while we were sharing with some investigators in the street a man named Alejandro came up and tried selling us perfume from Lady Gaga. Another day, a collectivo full of Olimpia fans on their way to a game started shouting/chanting/singing to us as we walked by in the street. Yesterday at lunch and our dinner appointment glass dishes broke - the one at dinner was so comical I cried laughing - the boy was trying to grab at the dessert before everyone was ready to eat and so my comp pretended to "bite" his hand, he pulled back his hand but did it so fast that it hit his empty glass and it went FLYING, hit the wall and shattered. The look on the boy's face and the face of my comp was priceless.

The heat is doing a comeback- so that's not as great- but other than that everything is going well!

With love sent from Paraguay,

Hermana Carr