Did I die?

¡Hola familia y amigos!

It's been a great, uninterrupted week here in Salado.

With our lice under control we've been able to focus in hard on our area and meeting our goals. We've been working hard and have been trying to get better every day. Hermana Sanchez is rocking it and we can't believe that we are now in week 10 of the "First 12 weeks" program.

It's been a relatively normal week. Yesterday we had a funny moment while attempting to find a recent convert before church. We had gone to go get Maria and walk with her to church, but when we clapped at her house a super drunk guy came out. We asked him if Maria was home and he just looked at us, then asked, "¿me morì? ¿Estoy en los cielos?" (Did I die? Am I in heaven?) After asking him again for Maria he just kept asking us if he had died, so I told him directly, "No, te falta un poquito" (No, you've got a little more to go). My companion died laughing. We shortly figured out she'd gone to Sedden's house and were getting ready to go to church together.

Also, it's official. In an effort to avoid Dengue and other mosquito-transmitted illnesses, as Hermanas, we had a training and have ordered dress pants this last Wednesday. Pictures coming soon in October....

With love sent from Paraguay,

Hermana Carr

Our house

Elva and her baby

P-day with Hermanas Luttman and Martinez

San Ritas - my favorite flower/tree in Paraguay next to Tajy/La pacho

Stairway going to our apartment

Miracles and Mayonnaise

¡Hola Familia y amigos!

This week I don't have a ton of time to write- we had to go to migrations this morning for Hermana Sanchez - but I'm going to give you a quick- efficient update!

We worked hard and had success serving and finding new investigators this week!

Our work was uninterrupted until Wednesday morning I realized my head was itching like crazy and we figured out my lice had made a strong comeback. Talking with Hermana Evans - mission president's wife- we went to Campo Grande Thursday to wash and dry ALL of our shirts, sheets, blankets, scarves, etc, and we did a home-treatment that consisted of drowning our hair in mayonnaise overnight and throughout a day, then washing it out with lice-killer shampoo. So fun. We got back to work in our area Friday. Saturday we had divisions and I worked in Salado with Hermana Brunelle, she's so cute and we had a fun day. Sunday we enjoyed stake conference and today we've been running all over the place, as usual, preparing for this upcoming week.

Quick miracle story: Yesterday we took a long, short-cut through yuyal (jungle?/weed field) in our area in the early afternoon to get to an appointment with an investigator. It was raining and no one was out. When we got to the dead center- the farthest point away from humans on all sides, we ran into a man walking with a knife in hand. I felt a calm come over me, tightened my grip on my closed umbrella and hard cover, contacting Book of Mormon and got ready to fight or fly, depending on what he wanted. As he came closer I walked taller, saluted him and... nothing happened. We just kept walking. We were probably the closest I've ever been to being robbed or worse in my mission, the man had slowed down his pace, looked us both in the face- the odds were not in our favor- but he just saluted us in return and nothing happened. Seriously- it was a miracle. We are so protected.

With love sent from Paraguay,

Hermana Carr

Still Going Strong

¡Hola familia y amigos!

It's been another good week here in Salado. Changes happened and Hermana Sanchez and I are happy to continue working hard here in barrio Salado.

Not much to tell - this week has been fairly normal. The Elders had a baptism this Saturday - awesome! Only the bishop and two friends of the joven being baptized came though - not so awesome. We're working on getting the ward more involved and excited about missionary work.

Today we had a zone activity and we got to play volleyball again! It was raining a little bit, so we got a little wet, but it was still fun.

Even though it was a normal week, there has been a variety of embarrassing moments for Hermana Carr: in the same day I asked someone who wasn't pregnant if she was expecting and, after his friend had advised me, tried talking to a deaf, mute man. It's ok though, because the world is just, and in the last few days I have had a drunk call me "guapo" (not guapa), a member told me I'd gained weight and a big spider ran out from underneath my chair during a Noche de Hogar we had with our recent converts. Awesome.

We're still going strong though - doing our best to enjoy every minute. We're not perfect, but it's been my goal everyday to be able to come back to the apartment and say "I did my best". (DyC 123:17)

With love sent from Paraguay,

Hermana Carr

Sick Days

¡Hola familia y amigos!

This week has been a little bit of a slower one. Tuesday my companion woke up with a flu bug that lasted for two days. Since then we've been having her eat super simple foods- rice, bananas, etc. Pobrecita. As for me, I washed all of my clothes, deep cleaned our apartment, finished reading the book of Mosiah and almost finished the "History of the church in Paraguay", made some yummy food and organized everything I have. After being in for two days both Hermana Sanchez and I were bored out of our minds. We were super pumped Thursday when we got out to work.

Even though we lost two proselyting days, we have found some solid progressing investigators. We've been working, praying and studying and finding ways to help our recent converts keep progressing and help our new investigators reach their goals. The Lord has definitely blessed our diligence- even though we've had a lot of investigators stop progressing in the last few weeks, the investigators we do have right now are really progressing and we've found some new, golden investigators.

It's crazy to think that we're half-way through the training of Hermana Sanchez! It feels like she got here yesterday. It's been a crazy transfer, we've done and seen a lot these last six weeks. Now we're entering into the second transfer for Hermana Sanchez super excited and super optimistic for Salado!

Today I've come down with a nasty cold/sore throat. Apart from all the sickness, we're enjoying every minute.

With love sent from Paraguay,

Hermana Carr

Lice, Doritos, and new beds

¡Hola familia y amigos!

I am happy to report after a few special-shampoo/conditioner treatments and contacting a lot we have won the war with lice and found new, progressing investigators!

It's been a long week, but we've been able to do a lot. We've washed our clothes with boiling water, little by little, used the shampoo Hermana Evans suggested and, from our own evaluations, we're lice free! I now keep my hair up or in a braid when we go out every day.

We've also found a few new investigators and one even came to church this week! We are excited and hopeful. We've also been working on helping people keep commitments. Keeping commitments is part of the repentance process and helps us experiment if we are taking steps towards Heavenly Father or away from Him. A lot of the time I've found that I don't receive an answer until I act and then wait for correction. It's usually taking the first step, keeping the first commitment, that seems to be the hardest for our investigators and the menos-activos we work with. (Juan 7:17)

Apart from finding new investigators and conquering our bugs, WE GOT NEW BEDS!!!! It's been over a year since I've slept on a bed that hasn't been used by who knows how many missionaries before me. Seriously, tender mercies.

And we found Doritos. :) Enough said.

With love sent from Paraguay,

Hermana Carr

Pique, Lice, and Something Nice

¡Hola familia y amigos!

The more I think that we've been through it all, the more I am proven wrong. This week's adventure has been the wrestle with bugs and progressing investigators. Both my companion and I took out pique from our toes and we've begun the lucha with lice. Many of our progressing investigators ceased to investigate as well.  Can't say it's been my favorite adventure this week, but we keep moving forward and keep working with purpose. 

Even though we've faced opposition we saw a few fruits of our labors this weekend. Ana-Lujan and Ayelen Fernandez were baptized this week. We've been working for a while with the familia Fernandez and, after keeping their commitments and coming to church consistently they made it to their goal. Seeing Ana-Lujan smiling ear to ear and Ayelen crying happy tears before entering the font made all the pain of this week worth it. 

The more I work and the more I really put my all into our area, our investigators and this ward the more I find that my efforts don't really do much. A lot of our visible success comes from the work of past missionaries, the members and the circumstances of these people. I just gotta make sure what I do fits into the intricate plan that our Heavenly Father has put into action. (DyC 84:88)

With love sent from Paraguay,

Hermana Carr

¡Feliz Dia de la Amistad!

¡Hola Familia y amigos!

This week has been one of the longest and, at the same time, shortest weeks of my mission. Every day is a new adventure with new obstacles to hurdle, but somehow, when looking back in the week, it passes in a blink.

We've finally, truly, broken into parts of our area that the missionaries haven't been in for months and we found a TON of less-actives. Every other house we find people who, at one time, had made a covenant with our Heavenly Father, but who have fallen into the traps of the world and don't put much importance in God. It makes me sad to see so many people missing out on the blessings that they could have. Something that I've learned in the mission is that obedience isn't so much about just following the rules, but about acting, thinking and growing in agreement with the one who's whole purpose is to help us have eternal happiness. When we disobey, or don't fulfill our promises, we lose so many blessings- so not worth it. (Mosiah 2:21)

Even though we've found many less active members, we have found more people who are interested in learning more about how they can come closer to our Savior. We feel sad for those who choose to move farther from Christ, but it really, truly, makes us so happy to visit and share with those who are ready to make changes and come closer to Him. This upcoming week we have a few people who are preparing to be baptized and we are really doing our best to help them understand the importance and significance of this sacred event.

Friday was also "day of friendship" here in Paraguay- shout out to all my friends! We exchanged small gifts/candies with various members- super cute. Hermana Sanchez also taught me how to make a really yummy ravioli-sauce, bought us Lomitos and runs with me every morning. She's a great friend.

With love sent from Paraguay,

Hermana Carr