Moroni 10

soooo This is it kids.

Im really really confused because I feel like I just got here and at the same time I feel like Ive lived my whole life here. Its really hard for me to speak english consistently, I am cold whenever its less than 85 degrees, and it seems strange that there are people who dont shower with flipflops on. Sometimes Im like SO happy that Im leaving because Im like I have a FAMILY and FRIENDS and A HOUSE WITH AIR CONDITIONING its incredible Im like going to the celestial kingdom into a glory that I cant now understand.

But then there are other times, like when I see dirty little kids on the street playing football--- soccer. hahahah and they are just laughing and running around without shoes and making fun of each other in guarani... There are moments like that when my heart just aches and I cant stand the thought of leaving. Its been a rollercoaster kind of week ha.

But a lot of great stuff has been happening. Mirlen, who got baptized just the other week, starting going out with us to preach the gospel. She always wants to carry my backpack because she wants to be a missionary. I gave her some of the clothes that are all used and now she looks like me and carries my backpack and everyone always thinks shes a real missionary. I love that. Shes a boss.

And for me, today we have a little going away party with the ward, and I think I invited every single person who refuses to go to church in an effort that they will at least walk in the doors because they love me. hahha its gona be nice.

And then tomorrow night after district meeting Im going to be organizing my last little things and we´re going to spent the night on the bus to asuncion. Wednesday I have my day with the president, the temple, and a fancy dinner and then thursday hello sao paulo!

Oh my gosh Im going to squeeze your eyeballs out hugging all of you guys.

Thats all folks!! Mission cumplida!!! I cant believe this! Ah I can not believe this! Life is so crazy. Im freaking out
Hermana Scott

And My Father Dwelt in a Tent

So! Baptism!!!! This week was really crazy, a lot of stuff happened. Our investigator Mirlen got baptized!! Shes fourteen and she doesnt know how to read, but now she does! Well... okay.

So we set apart like an hour of service this week to teach Mirlen to read. And she knew all the letters and we worked with her on the sounds that the letters make. And with a lot of work and patience on her part and ours haha, she read her first word! And then she read her first verse of the book of Mormon, ¨Y mi padre vivia en una tienda.¨ WOOHOO it was awesome!!! The Spirit is SO strong when people read their first words, its crazy. Its like being in the temple, I dont know why. Awesome.

And her baptism was great. The Elders also had a baptism so it was triple baptism, triple cake, and 53 people were in attendance. It was great. Man it was great. Mirlen was like crying the whole time because she said she felt so so so happy. Its been a great change haha

Also a member actually offered to give us lunch this week! It was GREAT! It was like hawaiian haystacks.. but more tasty.

And we heard from Cristhian the other day. Hes going to church and he wants a calling as sunday school teacher but the bishop hasnt given him one yet haha. He is sincerely a paraguayan enigma.

And its my last week in the mission!!! Im like trying soooooooo hard to work but its sooooooooooo hard to concentrate hahaha. I think that Hna Sanchez is putting together some type of farewell party but shes being pretty secretive so.. not quite sure on that one. But its been good. I like, look at some things and Im like, I can NEVER leave this country! And other times I see men peeing in the street and Im like... yes I can hahahah. Oh jeez. Its been a crazy ride.

So God is blessing us a lot. I have such a great love for Him. He is really... El es lo maximo. I love being a Mormon. Seriously I love it. I dont ever want to be anything thats not Mormon because being a Mormon is the best.

Also I love you. LOOK AT ALL OUR BLESSINGS
Enjoy your last 12 days without me.
Hermana Scott

Cristhian´s miracle baptism

So family. The biggest evidence in my life that God loves me is the fact that we could be a part of Cristhians baptism this week. It was the hugest miracle. So we had planned the baptism for monday but then we couldnt do it so then we planned it for tuesday and the elders were soooo unhelpful but after Hermana Sanchez´s assertive attitude they agreed to help Cristhian get baptized on Tuesday night. The miracles came in as the following:

First. We got our tickets to go back to pedro juan on the bus but they were for the 11pm bus instead of the 10pm bus which NEVER HAPPENS. So we had an extra hour to be out.

Second. We found our way to San Lorenzo having never been there, and we got there in 45 minutes when they told us it was going to be an hour and a half.

Second and a half: When the elders finally got the keys to open the font door, the font was filled with clean water. They havent had a baptism in their ward for more than six months. We still have no idea how it was possible. It would have taken five hours to fill the font if it was empty.

Third. Cristhian was so excited to get baptized and he invited his dad and his brother to see the baptism.

Fourth. They came.

Fifth. The bishop came, his wife, some friends, and one of my old friends from the mission! It was so cool to catch up with him!!!

Fifth and a half: Cristhian gave an incredible testimony after his baptism AND he got confirmed and so we got to see the confirmation also!!!!

Sixth. Cristhians dad was on the same bus to go back to pedro juan so they drove us full speed ahead to get to the terminal and we got there right before the bus left.

EN FIN: It was all completely organized by the hand of God. He knew this was the only time that this was possible. If Hermana Sanchez hadnt gotten that dental instrument broken in her mouth, we wouldnt have been in asuncion, and now that Cristhian moved theres no way that he could have ever gotten baptized in pedro juan, and there was ZERO chance that hna sanchez and I could have participated. I felt like... God loves us so much.

The rest of the week was really long. Our major investigators moved or closed the door to missionaries this week, so its been a lot of days out on the streets knocking doors but weve found some cool people so I hope that they progress. We have another baptism planned for this saturday, a girl named Mirlen whos fourteen and really really needs the church in her life. Shes cool but she has learning disabilities so our lessons are getting a little creative haha.

IM SO EXCITED TO COME HOME AND IM SO EXCITED IM GOING TO THE AIRPORT IN SAO PAULO WOOHOOO BRAZILLL

Im trying so hard to perseverar but its getting really hard. Also we have a worldwide devotional this wednesday and I think they are going to change all the mission rules hahahah but whatever Im peacing out.

hasta el fin
Hermana Scott

the one week trio

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I should explain... since hermana Sanchez has to stay here a few days longer for complications with her root canal, we got put with hermana flores in an epic trio. It was made more epic when we went to one of those claw machines and we all won a peluche! Stuffed animal! Hahah we looked like crazy people because the machine was on the corner of a very busy freeway and when we won we all screamed and laughed and were idiots... yeah. idiots.

for once it's not me in the chair haha

we took this foto because ugly pants

an old group foto from pedro juan

in other words we´ve spent the whole week in asuncion. The dentist broke her needle in hermana sanchez´s mouth and so we have to stay until tuesday when she has her last appointment. Since Hermana Granados went home, we are living in Loma with Hermana Flores, who is from New York. We have been having a blast wandering around in the insufferable heat. hahahah seriously I thought we were going to die. Its so much cooler in Pedro Juan #blessed. And its actually been a big testament of 2 Nefi 2-- all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things, because we are going to be able to see Christian get baptized here in San Lorenzo.

Christian moved to start school in San Lorenzo this week so he wasnt going to be able to get baptized in Pedro Juan. But now we are in Asuncion, and hes in asuncion, so we are planning his baptism for tomorrow! Im so exciiiteeeeeeeeeed-- probably more excited than Christian is.

Loma shares a church with San Jorge so I had a mini despedida also! It was so awesome because some of the menos activos that I worked with there with hermana Alexander were at CHURCH! and one of them, a teenager named Sergio, he was there with a white shirt, tie, and slacks! It was something I never thought Id see. He took out his gages and everything. One thing I love about the work of the Lord is that it moves forward with or without us. Its really comforting for me. Also I got to say goodbye to Hna G.. I cried. She cried. It was great. It made me feel better to know I can skype her in three weeks. Mission gems. For real.

So thats the news. We have really had a lot of fun. Its been like a big five day sleepover. Apart from the blistering heat its been awesome. And the people feed us so much hereeee I love it. Also I tried celery juice yesterday and its actually not bad.

We are headed back to pedro juan in the middle of the night Tuesday, so I can finish out my last threeish weeks in pedro juan. If you want a souvenir, nows the time to tell me. =D

I love you all dearly.

Hermana Scott



OH PS how cool is it that this year we are studying about president hinckley!?!?! I love him!!!

Dear yall.

Im in asucion for Hermana Sanchez this week, she has to get a root canal so we get a two day vacation and less time for emailing, feliz navidad hahah! But whatever. We are also missing interviews with the president and zone conference but who even cares.

Cristian keeps being awesome. We have some problems now because he has to move to San Lorenzo to finish school the week he was going to be baptized... so now we dont know how he´s going to get baptized, or where, or when.. FAITH. He gave the COOLEST testimony in Principios del Evangelio this week and I was just like, yeah, thats right! Hes my investigator! Its just been an awesome experience to see him learn and progress in his testimony.

In other news... some weird things have happened. Like someone fed us mondongo. Im not exactly sure what mondongo is, but it has to do with cows and parts of cows that really should not be eaten. I choked down half. Missing Little Caesars ha.

Also we went contacting and we found this abuelo that pulled out his guitar and started singing camp style religious songs. Hes so cute. We go to his house just because we like sitting on his porch singing the battle hymn of the repulic hahha. I want him to be baptized and sing a little song at his own baptism.

I dont know, family, Im just doing the same things as always. We are enjoying hot water and cool weather. I mean its hot but not that hot. so. Blessed. Definitely working on getting a tan before I go back to our FREEZING state. Also, the President is changing a lot of rules on the mission. Taking out ¨district goals¨ and stuff so that we can focus on baptisms in companionships, really changing the focus of the mission from numbers and goals to baptisms and converts. I shouted for joy when I heard about a couple of changes. Just kind of bummed I wont be around to enjoy them hah. The biggest change is that the mission can now drink coca cola. I tried it again but I still dont like the flavor so it doesnt matter too much.

what else what else what else... Oh, my bff Hermana Granados is going home this week for medical reasons. A blessing from the root canal is that I can see her and Hermana Christiansen for probably the last time for a long time.

Oh! And I got two belated Christmas packages!!!! WHOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO and they were full of my favorite things!!! So thank you Dad!!!! It was a great surprise! All the other missionaries were jealous but yolo.

Also thanks for all the pictures youve sent me. Youre all extraordinarily beautiful people. The church is true, and we really do receive the Lords blessings. I think about how everyone always says that your family will be blessed if you give it all to God, and I am seeing in the family new jobs and new talents and new houses and new cars and more love for me!!! =D We really have been blessed, all of us. God is awesome.

Ill write down the interesting things from next week so that I have new things to say. I love you all and miss you all. (but mostly Jared)

Hermana Scott

Changes, New Years, and Five Weeks

Dear Family,

Laziness has overcome me completely. I have a lot to say this week too and its just easier in groups.

Changes were suprising! I am now with Hermana Sanchez from Buenos Aires, Argentina. While initially I was scared to have another new companion, the Holy Ghost reminded me, Have you ever met someone from Argentina that you didnt like? And I realized, no. I have never met one I dont like. And sure enough Hermana Sanchez is absolutely fantastic. We are still working in Pedro Juan. Guess Im finishing out here.

annnd what else. Hermana Brunelle? Im sad to see her go, really. She was funny. hahah but hermana sanchez is funny too.

New Years was cool. We went to eat dinner with some members, but we werent allowed to be out late so we didnt actually get to eat. But we got to help cooking and cooking as a family is always fun. Reminds me of home. Then we went home, talked for awile and I fell asleep at 11 like a loser. Slept through the fireworks, everything. #mission hahahahh my companion recorded the fireworks for me

fotos-- me as a toucan tucahn however you write that dumb word.

we almost went to brazil

AND family I have to tell you the best story ever.

So we have this investigator named Cristian, I dont think I wrote about him before but hes 25 and he speaks perfect german and perfect english along with the other guarani, spanish, and portuguese and he lived in austria for a year and studies engineering so hes basically very smart and therefore has a lot of doubts about the church. So Ive been praaaaaying praying praying that he gets an answer to all of his doubts!!!

Well my first day with hermana sanchez we went to see him and things started out all fine, but then in the middle of the lesson he was like, hermanas, I was praying about what you and brunelle told me to do. I asked God about my questions. And I understand now. I think God is just irrational and so we should just follow him and trust him. And I was like, that is an answer that only the Holy ghost can give you.

And the Spirit was really strong and he was like, Hermanas. I got my answer. I really believe that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.

And I just bawled. Its the first time in my whole mission that someone told me they got an answer from God, and it really was from God. I just literally stared at him and cried. And he was like, whaaat and I was like, I got my answer too. You got your answer and that was my answer!! And we just had a great moment. It was a Nauvoo moment. Like, surreal, and extraordinarily happy. And then he looked at us and he´s like, so whats the next step? And we are like, get baptized!!! Will you be baptized the 21st? And hes like, yes, of course I will.

And so we called hermana brunelle to tell her you know everything and I just handed Cristian the phone and it was the cutest thing. He said (in english) Brunelle! Brunelle, can you hear me? Brunelle, Im getting baptized on the 21st of january! Come up to see it!

Oh my gosh Im cryin just thinking about it. Ive waited my whole mission for that moment and I finally got it. And so Cristian is getting baptized, yall! And its because he got an answer! God exists!!! IT WAS AWESOME

And that was the best day of my whole mission and possibly one of the best days of my life. End.

Skype Call from Kaitlin

From Kaitlin's Mom: We were able to talk to Kaitlin on Christmas Day. The video I tried to make of our conversation failed, but I did get most of the audio. Here are some highlights:

   

• We met her companion Her. Brunel and the elders she is serving with
• She requested a "talent show", specifically Ruth's debate presentation and Jared to play the ukulele. 
• She was super happy and said they had had a very good day.  They had eaten with a Brazilian member and she got to visit with some old companions. 
• This year she focused on making it a great Christmas for her companion. She surprised her today with gifts and a chocolate pancakes. 
• She visited the doctor Christmas morning to get her abscess repacked.  The hospital is clean and her doctor is really nice.  She said he is the most renowned doctor in the city.
• Very few people in Paraguay can play the piano and the congregations have a hard time singing in tune and they sing super slow.  Kaitlin filled in for the normal conductor a few weeks ago and tried to speed the congregation up with her singing and conducting but they all just looked at her funny and continued singing at their own pace. 

• She gets along well with her companion.  This is only the second companion she's had her whole mission that is younger than her.  
• Another missionary gave her an agenda as a gift that was covered with pictures of couples getting married in the Oquirrh Mountain temple.  The mission president's wife was there when Kaitlin opened the gift, and it accidentally fell to the floor,  The president's wife picked it up and saw what it was and asked Kaitlin "What is this?"  and Kaitlin answered sheepishly "my agenda."   Kaitlin said that there is a rumor going around her mission that she is going to get married a week after she gets home. 
• She quoted Matthew 6:34 to us in spanish, and she said it has helped her focus on each individual day and not worry too much about the future,
• She is reading the Book of Mormon in Portuguese, everyone at church speaks Guarani, she speaks Spanish all day while proselyting, and her companion is from southern California, so finding the right words can be difficult.  She spoke some Guarani for us.  She hopes to learn to speak French and  Chinese in the future. 
• Oi!  means "hi" in Portuguese and is a very common greeting there. 
• Mbaé'chepa?  is "how are you" in  Guarani.

• She is afraid of coming home to the cold. Currently in Paraguay it's very hot, though she is at a higher elevation there so it is cooler there than in other places in the country. She was hoping to do some swimming and hiking when she got home but forgot that it's winter. 
• The worst thing she's eaten there is cow ears.  Imagine the worst texture imaginable for meat: a little too soft with a furry texture.  The only thing that competed with that was once she had polenta with fish sauce.  When she gets home she wants casserole and frostys and fries at Wendy's. She misses green vegetables. 
• When she gets home she is most excited to tell us about all the little weird things she's experienced on her mission. She wants us all to tell her that she's so "boss" for having endured all these weird and hard things. 
• Alfredo, who was just baptized, was so happy.  He just decided after two years of taking lessons to be baptized. She wishes that everyone in Paraguay would just decide to be baptized.
• Kaitlin wants to give two homecoming talks. One of the number one she's learned from Paraguay is that it doesn't matter at all what you look like.  The only person it matter to is you if you give it importance.  The other topic she'd like to talk about is how God is always there for you and doesn't leave you by yourself.
• She's read the book of mormon in spanish five times while on her mission.
• She shared a scripture: Matthew 11:2-5  of this scripture she said: "[Jesus] said look at what I've done and prove who I am to yourself.   I love this because I am the blind.  I am the deaf. I am the lame. I am the dead that was resurrected.  I am these people. [Jesus] healed people, but he's talking about me, you know?  He's talking about all of us, how we were all healed through Jesus Christ. It's so cool that Jesus is the ultimate judge, and the ultimate healer, and the ultimate teacher; he did everything for us. And we are so imperfect, and so stupid, and so blind, and so deaf, and so lame, He tells us to do things and we can't do them. But He says that he's healed all of it; he's healed all of our weaknesses. Not only our physical weaknesses but our spiritual weaknesses, and our emotional weaknesses. He's healed us all already, and it's just dependent on us if we are going to [take advantage of] it or not.  Why are we so stupid? Why can't we just do what He says? (garbled audio section - a few sentences here missed)  ....So just think about that.  When we talk about the miracle of Jesus Christ - we are the miracle of Jesus Christ. It wasn't other people. It's us. We've been healed."