Weeks Fly By and This Week Was No Different.

Asunción by night from our balcony. It. has been cool enough that we have enjoyed a few evenings out on the balcony listening to the roar of fútbol crowds and fireworks.

Can you see the can of bug spray behind our badges on the credenza? Each morning we stand on this rug and spray ourselves with bug spray to ward off disease carrying mosquitos before putting on our name tags and saying our morning prayers. There are three life threatening diseases carried by mosquitos here, so it is worth the time but we have never had a designated spot in our home before. 

We started celebrating early for Chris's birthday. One of the great things about Paraguay is that you can go out to eat and it doesn't cost you an arm and a leg even on a missionary budget. We both had dinner of a burger plate with fries, bottled water and three scoops for under $20. The danger is this ice cream shop is across the street from our apartment.

We have some wonderful new friends who made sure to make Chris's first birthday in Paraguay special. Some of the gifts are shown here. Although you can't see the earrings, they are Ñandutí lace made in Paraguay. Also a sweet card with a beautiful scarf.

Ken brought a cake to share with everyone at the office although this is not everyone. The cake had two different fillings, one of cream and one was dulce de leche. AMAZINGLY RICH!

A special friend from home sent a card with me that I wasn't supposed to open until my birthday. How surprised was I to open and find a souvenir leather bookmark from Paraguay. 

We'll let her explain in her own words

Thanks to everyone who took the time to make Chris's day special. It is so nice to be able to call, text, Facetime, and just have technology in general to keep in touch. Just this week we have communicated with people on nearly every continent. 

The flowers on these trees are beautiful. They come in several colors and are planted all around the office. The flowers in the picture are especially beautiful with shades of pink, red, cream and yellow.

Both of these shots are views from our balcony of storms coming in. We didn't realize that we would be enjoying such beautiful storms like we used to in Iowa but every day this week it has rained. During the day it seems to pour down hard and fast for about 5-10 mins and then stop. At night though, it can go on for awhile. A few times the wind would become quite strong. Our glass door howls with the wind but we are surprised when it is still warm outside. Rainstorms are another nice thing that makes us feel at home in Paraguay.

Now even those of you who don't speak Spanish may assume, as we did, that this was an auto mechanic shop. We did for the first week we were here because we were never around when they opened up. It is actually a little tienda (shop) to buy fruits and veggies and all kinds of groceries and we love it and it is right across the street.

A friend told me I can't only share the good things. So I want to share that being missionaries again has made me realize wearing the Savior's name on your heart gives you added strength to look for the good in things and laugh at what goes wrong. The Savior's ministry had to have been one adjustment after another so why should ours be any different? In the spirit of full disclosure, I'll share my washer/dryer combo story.

Here is a washer and dryer combo. It is handy and right in our kitchen. A few days after arriving we tried to wash our clothes. When the washer began to spin it went out of control and was bouncing all around. So we thought we would try another cycle and it did the same thing. At one point both of us were trying to hold the bouncing washer and even that didn't work. Long story short, they hadn't taken the packing pieces out that hold the drum in place. The great thing about being in a missionary apartment is there is someone in charge to call the service technician and it was all done while we were working. Chris downloaded the machine's directions in English and now we are putting the soap in the right dispenser and if we use the wash/dry cycle we can put it in before we leave for the office and it is done when we get home.

We have been reading a conference talk as companion study each day. One quote that described our job was from Elder Robert M Daines Sir, We Would Like to See Jesus:

"to serve in this Church is to stand in the river of God’s love for His children. This Church is a work party of people with picks and shovels trying to help clear the channel for the river of God’s love to reach His children at the end of the row."

Thank you for the prayers and love sent our way. We feel it and continue to need it as we learn our jobs and learn the needs of the people we are to serve in Paraguay. God is real and He makes things happen. If we are watching we will see His hand in all things.

Our First Week in Paradise! also known as Paraguay

Before we flew out we stayed the night in Salt Lake City. Just a plug for the Comfort Inns and Suites near the airport. It is modern and clean and they were timely with their shuttle to pick us up at 3:30 am to get to the Airport. Much better than leaving at 2:30 from the Mission Training Center.

Our good friends Chris and Steve Muller were kind enough to meet up with us and take us out for dinner. Carter was kind enough to drive us up and as a bonus pick up some things he had left at Chris and Steve's when he served in their town of Evanston on his mission.

Being with friends and family sure helped to push away the anxiety that was building as we set off on our adventure.

All went well with our flights and luggage. We were able to check our carryons all the way through on our first flight which was such a help. We made it to Panama City, Panama and needed something to eat. As we were landing, I told Ken I didn't want anything heavy but maybe soup. Well, our choices were a hotdog stand, Wentzel's Pretzels or Olive Garden. Here is Ken tossing the salad.

Our last flight left Panama at 9:30 pm. It was packed and uncomfortable, one might say miserable. Good thing we could watch movies because the sleep things wasn't happening. Thank goodness lack of sleep can be remedied and that it was the only awful thing to happen. We landed in Paraguay and went to pay for our visas, if you don't pay for your visa first you have to leave the country. To pay for your visa you need crisp pristine bills, not marked, folded, torn, worn or crinkled in any way. Thanks to Jeff and Kim Hayes our bills passed and we made it through customs to the loving arms of our trainers, Elder Alyn and Sister Brenda McClure. They took us to breakfast at their hotel and then brought us to our apartment to shower and rest for a few hours.

Although we haven't spent much time in our apartment we can't believe how beautiful it is. Welcome to our little bit of paradise, one and a half blocks from the temple and our office.

Umm, we even have a kitchen aid mixer in the cupboard! The only reason I will be leaving Paraguay is for family!

Enough about how we are spoiled let's get to the reason we are here in the first place. After a short nap and shower we went to see and understand the wheelchair program in Paraguay. It is amazing how much these wheelchairs mean to those who receive them and their families. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints provides six different types of wheelchairs to people all over the world and our friend who runs the program here in Paraguay is so dedicated and knowledgable. We were able to see a young girl fitted for a wheelchair. Seeing her smile was wonderful but hearing her mother say it will change their lives made me a bit emotional.

This is us having dinner that first night with our trainers the McClures. They are hard to keep up with. They introduced us to everyone at the office and helped us get our money exchanged to guarani. We had a wonderful dinner with lots of beef which Paraguay is know for. Because we ate during "happy hour" (4-6)we got 30% off. 

We finally stopped working around 7 and went to bed but headed in to the office by 8:30 am Wednesday so we could go to a meeting at the Ministry of Education. We are hoping to help with school kitchen projects. In Paraguay they are just beginning to extend their school day to 8 hours instead of four. School kitchens will help to keep students in school and help with nutrition. It was heartwarming to hear one of the gentlemen say after we introduced ourselves that he was also a follower of Christ. 

We had a few minutes between meetings and were able to go to the botanical gardens where President Ezra Taft Benson, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, dedicated the Land of Paraguay for the preaching of the gospel in 1979. I think even if you don't know too much Spanish you can get the gist of his prayer written on the plaque if you enlarge the pictures along the bottom. As missionaries it is humbling to stand there. Dan Hammond we'd love to take you there for a picture.

On Thursday we were able to meet the Minister of Health and stop by the United Nations Building in Paraguay to meet with the team at Unicef Paraguay. Never would I have thought we would be speaking with such influential people on our mission. There are a lot of people who love helping others and it is exciting to be working with them.

That same day we visited a hospital where the humanitarian donations furnished an emergency room and oxygen plant. The new director, who grew up in the neighborhood and was able to go to school and become a doctor and then give back was so touched by the generosity of the church that he asked the Lord to bless us and our future generations because of the difference the church donations have made in his community.

This is humbling and beautiful. Paradise!

Friday morning we were walking to the office by 6:30 am to make a meeting by 7:30 am with the Minister of Health. Yes, it is unbelievable that we have met two presidential ministers in our first week. No pressure to do great things but the scripture "unto whom much is given, much is required,"(Luke 12:48) continues to ring in my ears. We worked in the office until 9 pm squeaking out the last bit of information from the McClures.

An ad at the bus stop right in front of the temple on finding your ancestors on FamilySearch.org.

Did we remind you this is our paradise? Here is the view from our office. Yes, we will be fighting over which one of us gets to sit there. Just in case you can't see, the temple is across the street.

We met many wonderful people at the MTC who are serving just like us around the world so I keep their times along with those of family on my world clock. Even if your specific place isn't mentioned your time zone is. Plan accordingly.

We didn't have much of a preparation day on Saturday. Preparation day is when you shop, do laundry and relax from working 12 hour days. Today we were able to go to a public hospital where there are possibilities to help and the church has already donated a generator. In the last year that generator has helped numerous times to keep patients, especially babies safe while the power was out for 2 or 3 days.

It was sad to see our trainers off at the airport to return to their mission in Buenos Aires, Argentina but we are so grateful for them and all they taught us. We hope to make them proud by continuing the work here in Paraguay.

Well after dropping the McClures at the airport we drove ourselves to the super market and bought groceries, went to the mall to get some of the things we couldn't get at the supermarket and then after unloading, dropped the car off at the office. (we don't have a car but their is a fleet at the office we can use when we need one.) As we entered the elevator we said, "Lets go to the roof and see what is up there." Well, for some reason the video won't load on the blog but there is a view of the whole city and a pool.(Check it out on my facebook page) Paradise!

Next week we will begin for real on our own projects and reaching out to other people and organizations to help the people of Paraguay. Ken's Spanish is sharpening and Chris can catch and understand a few things. We "can do all things through Christ who strengthens us." (Philippians 4:13)

This morning after church we went to the temple for pictures. It was already very hot (in the triple digits) so we couldn't stay but look forward to attending when it reopens in November.

The scripture we want to share this week that sums up our week and is found in 1 Nephi 11:17

"I know that he [God] loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things."

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

Mission Training Center Week 2- More than what we thought it would be.

This quote was found on Facebook but sums up this week. We transitioned from Preach My Gospel to learning our duties as a Humanitarian Missionary. Wow, they really expect a lot from us. What a great work we will be doing. This week was not as busy in the evenings so we were able to relax a bit more but our days were filled with learning from those who went before us. Our teachers were inspirational. We are humbled by the call we have to serve. We know we will need the Lord's help and direction to be instruments in His hands and do the things He wants us to do.

Last week I forgot to mentioned that Saturday night, Steve Muller came from Evanston and took us out to dinner. It was great to catch up and laugh. Steve is Ken's childhood friend from across the street.

Tuesday for Devotional, Elder Gerrit Gong and his wife Susan spoke. Sister Gong spoke about how much Heavenly Father loves each of us and to do missionary work with our own special talents and gifts. Elder Gong is quite funny. He shared that he and Elder Wong served in Hong Kong and were called Hong Kong Gong and Hong Kong Wong but not to get the Wong Gong or you will have Gong Wong.

(Photo credit to Dina Robbins, who did get to shake his hand)

We were one couple short of shaking his hand but were able to show him we understood the main point of his talk that we will be the ones fulfilling the prophecy in Doctrine and Covenants 133:37 that says:

"And this gospel shall be preached to every nation, and kindred, and tongue and people."

He asked us every morning to look in the mirror and place our finger on our nose, as if to point to ourselves and remember it is us who will go out and fulfill the prophecy.

When we couldn't shake his hand we just placed our finger to our nose so he knew we were listening. Then he commented something like, "it's a little hokey but you will always remember." And we will.

Our humanitarian training was fabulous. We learned about the chain of command, the scope of projects, the desired outcomes, the tracking program and so many wonderful things that Latter-day Saint Charities, the humanitarian arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, provides for people all over the world regardless of religion. I am very happy for the principles of agency, accountability, patience, love, and sacrifice that were shared.  Part of our responsibilities are finding organizations in our assigned countries that will develop and implement projects that can become self sustaining and promote dignity with the help of funding from LDS Charities.

This was the largest group of humanitarian missionary couples to train together. 

 Front Row(RtoL): The Barneys (trainers), The Taylors (Jordan), The Lindsays(trainers)

Back Row (RtoL): The Lallatins (Indonesia) The Orrs (Zimbabwe), The Jacksons (Poland), The Robbins (Papua New Guinea), The Martins (Ethiopia), The Myers (Paraguay) and The Penners (Ghana)

On Wednesday they began to leave and our heart hurt to say goodbye. Godspeed to them all.

These are the people who have been with us both weeks.

The mural behind us is a depiction of Jesus Christ's Second Coming. On his right hand are those who are coming unto Him and on his left those who have chosen to turn away. This mural used to hang in the Washington DC Temple but was transferred to the MTC when the temple was remodeled. (The Martins although on His left hand are in no way turning away from Him but continue to serve Him on mission #3 together)

This week we were able to get in a little more visiting and we appreciate everyone who came to see us or drove us out for treats or dinner.

John and Mary Thompson came and got us and shared their favorite spot in Spanish Fork called The Barn. They have wonderful fresh peach shakes. Yummy. 

Chris stayed with Mary and John a few weeks before we got married and while she was pregnant with L.Chloe and finishing her degree in 1992. Mary was one of Chris's professors at BYU. Chris TAed for Mary's Clothing class and did research with Mary on the BYU swimsuit fabrics. 

John and Mary have served a Humanitarian mission to Indonesia and taught English in China.

Claudia Becerra came down from Midvale to have dinner with us. It was so fun to see her. We know Claudia from the first time we lived in Iowa and became closer to her the second time. We enjoyed dinner at the Black Bear Cafe but more importantly we were uplifted by all that Claudia is doing to serve the people in her ward in UT.

This is Caroll Morgan. She is a senior sister who is going to Salt Lake Headquarters Mission to work on records recovery. Caroll is 79 and wants to do the Lord's work. Many of us tried to warn her she needed to slow down but being a kindred spirit she overworked herself and came down with a viral infection. Ken and Chris tried to help Caroll feel comfortable and less alone while she recovered. One day when she was thanking us we shared that we would hope if our parents were ever in this predicament that someone would step up and help too, after all that is what disciples of Christ do. We love you Caroll!

We caught the Cheathams before they left and hope to see them in Paraguay at the temple. They are serving the people of Resistencia Argentina so they are right over the border from us. On Ken's birthday evening we played games with them and the Lallatins and heard the story of their courtship. They should make a movie. It is full of intrigue and tenderness. They are great examples of humility and dedication to each other and the Lord.

Friday for lunch we hit the Creamery on 9th for some burgers and then walked around the BYU campus. We got 4 miles in and reminisced about times past.

In the evening we met up with Carter for his birthday meal of Bok Bok Korean Chicken along with Mike and Lyn McCracken (Carter's landlords and our dear friends from Indiana, transplanted to Utah). We played games and then made it back in time for curfew. (Ugh, forgot a picture)

On Saturday October 14, we watched the "ring of fire" eclipse with our niece Ali Jones who came down from Kearns for a visit. She also helped getting us back and forth to Target for our neck pillows. We felt loved.

For lunch on Saturday, Ken ate some ramen in the room so he could watch football and Chris met up with Ivona "McCarthy" Mills, a sister who served in North Carolina with her in 1985-86. Ivona is a general manager of catering at BYU so it was easy for her to come visit inside the Missionary Training Center. We laughed and caught up for about three hours and then laughed some more while trying to take a selfie at the famous map. 

This afternoon we left the Missionary Training Center. We were welcomed on October 2nd with the white door tag on the right. Today as we leave we get to hang the yellow tag. 

We are one of two couples left from our group to leave. Carter will drive us to a hotel near the airport where we will meet up with the Chris and Steve Muller. After a visit we will try and sleep until 3:00 am and take a shuttle at 3:30 am to the airport to be ready and through security for a 7 am flight. 

Salt Lake to Houston

Houston to Panama City, Panama

Panama City to Paraguay

ETA 5 am Tuesday, October 17th

Hit the ground running with our trainers the McClures.

Consider this scripture as it pertains to your life. The God of Israel is great and his goodness can be enjoyed by all who look to Him.

Mosiah 7:17-19, 33

And now, it came to pass on the morrow that king Limhi sent a proclamation among all his people, that thereby they might gather themselves together to the temple, to hear the words which he should speak unto them.

 And it came to pass that when they had gathered themselves together that he spake unto them in this wise, saying: O ye, my people, lift up your heads and be comforted; for behold, the time is at hand, or is not far distant, when we shall no longer be in subjection to our enemies, notwithstanding our many strugglings, which have been in vain; yet I trust there remaineth an effectual struggle to be made.

Therefore, lift up your heads, and rejoice, and put your trust in God, in that God who was the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; and also, that God who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, and caused that they should walk through the Red Sea on dry ground, and fed them with manna that they might not perish in the wilderness; and many more things did he do for them. . . .

 But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage.