And We Blinked and the Week was Over

Moved into our new office with our view of the temple. It is nice to be reminded of the covenants we made to be obedient to God, sacrifice for Him with a broken heart and contrite spirit, live His gospel with faith in Him, turning our hearts toward Him, take His name upon us and follow the direction of the Holy Ghost, be faithful to our spouse and give our whole selves to Him. This is why we are here away from our family at Christmas.

We know missionaries can wear light blue shirts but pink hasn't been approved yet. Chris is still trying to get the washing machine and detergent thing right. How the synthetic white shirts became pink and the 100% cotton shirt didn't have any pink is a mystery. They were Ken's favorite, so Chris feels bad but on a positive note they are uniformly pink so he can wear them on preparation day and he looks good in pink.

Chris needed to use a sewing machine and asked if the ward had one. They did but it didn't work so she has cleaned it and is trying to get it to work consistently. We haven't found a store with sewing supplies yet to pick up things like bobbins, needles, thread and fabric. Some sisters have already asked to learn how to use the machine once Chris gets it working.

Wednesday we got to video call with couples that we grew close to in the MTC. They are humanitarian missionaries in Paupau New Guinea and Ethiopia. It was great to hear stories from them of their work and their mission life. Some things are very different than ours and others are the same. 

Repping BYUIdaho

The guy with what looks to be a sombrero on his head is the Chipa man. He is selling chipa. They roll a towel and make sort of a crown and then put the flat basket on top full of chipa. There are fewer and fewer chipa vendors that sell this way but it is very Paraguayan and impressive. The vendor walks up and down the median selling his wares. We love the 3 cheese chipas.

We weren't kidding when we said there were lots of beautiful flowers in Paraguay and while many of you enjoyed your first day of winter on December 21 we enjoyed our first day of summer in the 100's in Paraguay by traveling outside of the city and enjoying the beauty at the location of the conferencia Para la Fortaleza de la Juventud (PFJ/FSY For the Strength of Youth). Look at all these flowers.

When trying to get things done in Paraguay we need to remember to change our expectations from those we would have in the United States and enjoy the way they do things in Paraguay (although the Paraguayan Saints were a little annoyed too that the truck was so late). We have noticed in Paraguay they are more concerned with experiencing things than how fast they can get them done. This is something we can certainly learn from. They made a nice day for us. 

We found a Ball (as in canning lids, jars and all things canning) plant.

Adjusting to driving in a new place always has it troubles but we love the ciities that have these lights with the timers on them.

US Embassy is about a mile down the street from us.

Christmas in Paraguay is more about the Nativity and not about Santa. In fact it is Papa Noel here and well, there isn't much talk about him either. Gifts are necessary to be given but as you can see below we did purchase out flower de coco (check out last weeks explanation) to put in front of our manger and our pan dulce to eat. One friend from the office said, "In Paraguay we just eat alot on Christmas and sit around with. our families." Well, we went shopping this morning so we are set for the weekend. We will be missing family and friends so feel free to call, text or email. We love to hear from you all.

Our spiritual share is from Helaman 8:22-23

"Our father Lehi was driven out of Jerusalem because he testified of these things. Nephi also testified of these things, and also almost all of our fathers, even down to this time; yea, they have testified of the coming of Christ, and have looked forward, and have rejoiced in his day which is to come.

And behold, he is God, and he is with them, and he did manifest himself unto them, that they were redeemed by him; and they gave unto him glory, because of that which is to come."

We can all have hope because of the Child born this day in the city of David. Joy comes from feeling His presence in our lives. Praise be to Him and his way, his truth and this life.

Feliz Navidad from Los Myers