Week 36 Santa Rita Christmas Phone Call!!!!!

It was another great week here in Santa Rita, but I'm still bummed! I dont think we're going to be doing skype :,( I talked to the guy here in the internet place and he said they're going back to Brazil for the holidays. So I'm going to try to find a land line! We'll either use the member's land line (the only member with a land line) or we'll go to the phone place.. I guess its just like a big place with a bunch of phones in there. So I will be calling at 2:00 PM PARAGUAY TIME on the 24th! I think it would be about 10:00 AM for you guys, I'm not exactly sure on the time change so if you could check on that, it would be great! Just be ready for my call! Im super excited to get to talk to my family! Even though it will only be 40 minutes, it will be worth it- thats how long the calls are.. I was really excited to use skype!! But we can just save that for Mother's day and Christmas next year I guess; and I wrote down my username and password so I wont forget!

Holy cow we had a GREAT week! Its been a long time since I've seen success like this.. We worked our tails off and the Lord blessed us for it! We've got some really good people progressing towards baptism and we found a few families this week, so we're really excited! We've just been talking with everyone we see and we were able to teach a lot of lessons this week and it was soo good! We got to learn a little bit more about the Catholic religion too, so that was interesting. Overall, a good week!
We found a guy that met with the missionaries like 10 years ago! He still had his Book of Mormon that they gave him.. He said he read the whole thing! Its absolutely destroyed! So I traded him for a brand new one and I have his old one.. We're going to be working with him like crazy to get him ready for his baptism! That was one of many miracles we saw this week.. I think I've learned more this change so far than I did in my last 2 changes! My companion is a stud! He pushes me and helps me to better myself. I actually think he came pre-trained.. I feel like he's training me! He still pushes me to do the 100 pushups every day too.. But we did divisions with the zone leaders this last week and we fell behind on our pushups, so we had to do double for 3 days to get caught back up! We're back to doing just 100 again :) I'm super excited because I'm already seeing some results..

I dont really know what else to say for this week.. It was incredible, I learned a lot and had a lot of humbling experiences. I didnt think I was a prideful person before the mission, I know I wasnt completely full of pride or a monster with it.. But I definitely wasnt as humble as I should have been. I'm still probably not, but thats something I've seen a lot of improvement on this week. I just want to be stripped of all my pride, I hate it. I need to not be so quick to judge, especially when I dont know the situation. I'm excited to see and experience what this week has in store for me! I'm excited to learn more and more. I'm excited to talk to you guys on Saturday! I wanna know how the heck everyone is doing! By the way, I wrote a letter to send home.. Try not to cry reading it, it will be hard not to because I cried writing it. I'll get it in the mail today and it should be there in about a week. Sorry it will probably be late for Christmas, but we've been busy! I still need to make my video for you guys too.. It will be like a web journal or whatever you call it. I'll just tell you all how everything is going plus it will be like you get to see me! It will be on a DVD and I'll send it in a few days, I still need to make it.

Alright! I'll talk to you all on Saturday!! Think of lots of questions to ask me!
I love you and hope you all have a great week, I know I will!

Elder Colby Dane Heiner

P.s. Sorry there arent any pictures this week, the computer I'm using doesnt have USB..

8 Months!!

 

Another week down! And tomorrow I will complete 8 months in the mission! Holy cow!! It’s crazy how fast the time flies, I feel like I just got here yesterday.. In just 2 changes I will have a year already, and the changes fly by super fast! The work has been picking up here and we’ve stayed pretty busy, so that’s been nice. I think we’re going to have a baptism this Saturday! It’s one of Jorge’s friends, we’ve been meeting with her for a while now off and on, but I think she’s actually serious about getting baptized now. So we’re going to be working with her a lot this week getting her ready for Saturday! It’s going to be a little tough teaching her because Jorge said he doesn’t want to help.. There have been a lot of times where she said she’s going to come over to Jorge’s, and we’ve been waiting for her, and she didn’t show. It happened again on Saturday; at least she called and told us she had to work, which I believe it. But Jorge didn’t like it, so that’s why he doesn’t want to help her. It’s kind of dumb, but we’ll find a way!

Questions!

1.  How are you and Elder Nielson getting along?

We get along really well! I´ve been pretty happy with things have been going so far. 

 

2.  Have you found any new investigators?

Yeah!! We found a couple families.. I dont wanna say to much right now because we don´t know whats going to happen. We´ve only met with them once, like with each family.

 

3.  What was your favorite experience this past week?

I just love it when my prayers get answered! It blows my mind every time it happens.. And it doesnt even have to be anything big, just the fact that I know my Heavenly Father is ALWAYS listening to me and answers my prayers is good enough for me.

 

4.  Is it still raining quite a bit?

Its let up the past couple days, but it will probably rain this Saturday because we have a baptism planned.. It seems like that always happens.

 

5.  How is church attendance?

There were 17 yesterday.. Its been up and down lately, we just need everyone to go! I keep hearing that a bunch of the people are inactive because they dont wanna pray in church! Theyre scared theyll get called on to pray...

 

6.  How do you feel you are doing as a trainer?  How is the training going?  Is Elder Nielson doing ok ?  Is he homesick?

I feel like I´m doing a good job.. Its kind of hard, but overall its good. We´re working harder than Elder Guevara and I were working and its paying off! We´re having lots of success right now. So keep praying for us! We need to help these people open up the door of their salvation! But no, my companion isnt homesick, he´s doing really well.

So my companion and I have been doing 100 pushups every night when we get home! He was already doing it, so it’s easy for him now, but I’m going to see how different I look in 8 weeks! I’m really excited.. I can already feel a difference, but I’m excited to SEE the difference! Sunday is our rest day, so I’m not nearly as sore as I have been so that’s good. And today we’re going to buy lots of food with good protein and we’re going to bulk up a little bit from that and our workouts. I took a before picture, and in 8 weeks I’ll take an after picture! It will be easy to stay on top of the workouts because my companion is already used to doing it, it’s part of his routine.. We were talking last night and he was telling me about some of the stuff he used to do back home. He played hockey (I think I said that in my last letter) and he was the number 1 goalie on the east coast! He played on an all star team and he traveled all over the east coast doing tournaments and stuff. He’s a stud! It was cool to hear his stories like that.

We found a newly-wed couple this last week, they’re super nice and they seem pretty receptive to the Gospel.. The first time we talked, it was just the wife and we found her doing door contacts. Her name is Francis and we talked to her for like 5 minutes and put an appointment for another day for when her husband would be home..  We also got her phone number so we can set future appointments. So the other day I called them to set up the appointment and a guy answered, so I just thought it was her husband.. I said, “Yeah we talked to your wife, Francis, the other night and she said we could come buy and share our message with you guys..” Then he said, “No, my name is Francis.. Who are you guys again? Like what church are you from?” (of course all this is in Spanish..) Then I told him we’re with the Church of Jesus Christ, and he cut me off and said, “ahh los Mormones.. entonces usted habla Inglés, no?” (ahh the Mormons.. So you speak English right?) And I said (in Spanish), “Yeah I speak English..” Then he replied, in English, and said, “Me too bro, I’m American.. I’m from Colorado and I’m a missionary from the Biblical Church. I don’t know how you got my number, and I hope we never see each other face-to-face, but read John 3:16 and meditate on that..” I don’t know what the chances are of talking to a lady named Francis, then trying to set up an appointment with her and her husband to teach them the Gospel of Jesus Christ by calling their number, but putting it in the phone one number off, and talking to a guy named Francis from the US who is a missionary from a different church, in Paraguay.. It was probably one of the weirdest things that has happened to me so far. It was super weird.. Other than that, my week was pretty normal. We found a ton of new people to teach! I’m excited to see how our work last week turns out this week, like who all is going to progress.. It’s exciting!

I’ve been thinking about my personal progression a lot lately, and I have come a LONG way! I can literally feel a difference in my life. I’ve become a different, better person just by doing the simple things like daily scripture reading and prayer. I can feel my Savior’s love, I know that ANY bad I’ve done in my life is washed away. He has made it to where I don’t remember the old me. Of course I can still think about it and remember what I was like, but I know that now I’m a different person. Who I was doesn’t affect me now. Just feeling that I’m a new person, makes me want to give myself to the Lord in His work 110% in all I do and say. I can’t really describe how I feel, other than I am truly happy. And I want to share this happiness with everyone, and everyone can experience this happiness to if they’ll just let go and let it take over their lives. Happiness never was a bad thing, right?

I’m whoopin’ the Book of Mormon! I’m reading in Alma 43 now.. I love how every chapter in the Book of Mormon testifies of Christ. I love reading the stories of how he helped the people overcome their weaknesses and strengthen them individually and as a whole. The same applies to us today, we can be strengthened in our families, communities, and individually if we rely on the Lord. Yeah there’s some things you might have to cut out of your life that you enjoy doing, but it’s against what Christ has taught.. But it’s worth it, I can testify that any sacrifice we make to become more as one with the Lord, we will be blessed and we will be happy. And this happiness overpowers any other happiness in the world. I know it, and I have experienced it and I don’t want to change it.

The Madsen´s sent me a Dear Elder and the kids wanted to know my favorite story from the Book of Mormon.. I just read the story of King Lamoni´s conversion. I really like it because Ammon was protected by the Lord.. The part where King Lamoni and his wife, and all the servents fall to the ground because of the strength of the Spirit, and one of the shepard guys wanted to kill Ammon because he thought he was evil.. Then when the guy went to kill Ammon, he just fell dead because Ammon was protected by the Lord.. I think this story is in Alma chapter 16.

Well, I gotta go! I hope you all have a great week!

I love you!!
Elder Colby Dane Heiner

Week 34....I'm still in Santa Rita! New Companion

 

And I´m training! Holy cow I feel like I just got here and just finished getting trained!! My new companion is a WORK HORSE! We talk to absolutely everyone we see and we´ve just been going into neighborhoods, starting at the first house, and clapping every door. We´re doing some serious finding! Its been sweet and we´ve seen some miracles. So now we´re just teaching and getting people to progress! Its still a little slow because we´re pretty much starting over, when Elder Guevara left we didnt really have any "investigators of gold." But we´re looking like crazy! And we´re finding some people that seem to be interested.. Pray for Santa Rita!!

Questions!

1.  How were transfers?  Did you stay?  Do you have a new companero?  All the usual questions and details that would go along with that?

As stated above, I do have a new companion..

 

2.  Please tell us about your new companion if you have one.

Elder Matthew Nielsen from Springfield, Virginia. He lived in Brazil for 3 years when he was younger because his dad worked in the American Embassy, so he speaks some Portuguese! He got his pilot´s license when he was 17, and he went to West Point for 2 years before the mission. He´s part of the Army and he´s got some really cool pictures from that. He also played hockey when he was in high school and he was into lifting weights. He´s a way cool guy! I´m glad to have him as a companion. We push eachother to work harder, which is good because he´s only been in Paraguay for 5 days!

 

3.  One other big question is our Christmas call.  We have heard that the missionaries will be calling on the 24th because Christmas is on Sunday.   Will you tell us about when we get to talk to you?  We will set you up a Skype account and then we will send you the username and password.  Then we will set ours up.  I will go ahead and have the requesting done on both accts so we don't have to waste time doing that on our calling time.  Does that sound like a good plan?  So over the next week or two you will have to let us know when and IF Skype is the way to go.

I will look for an internet place that has a good setup for Skype! The one we normally use is like a LAN House, so theres always teenagers playing videogames and yelling and stuff. There´s a lot of internet places here, so I´ll keep you posted!

 

4.  Have you gotten your packages yet?  I so, what do you think of what I packed in there?  What do you think of my packing job?

I got them!! The packing was awesome! We got everything set up in the apartment now and it looks really good.. We´re going to have a mini-Christmas this year! I´m really excited! Even though when I see the little tree set up with our presents underneath, I get a little trunky, its ok. I love the pictures!! Those were definitley my favorite part of the packages. I love my family SO MUCH!

This morning we got up at the normal 6:30 and we cleaned our ENTIRE apartment! We finished cleaning at like 11:00. Its soo clean! So we can walk around barefoot now and it doesnt smell like two 19 year old boys live in there. It smells nice and fresh! We also changed the room around, how we had it before was really crammed and we could hardly get around in there.. But now there´s a little more room to move! I feel like I can actually breathe in there! We put up one string of the Christmas lights in our bedroom and we´re gonna do the stickers on the windows after we clean them.

So yeah, we´ve been working our tails off! We saw a miracle on Saturday, it was pretty awesome. I dont think its luck or coincidence either.. We were working in one of the neighborhoods here, clapping houses and what-not, and we were getting ready to leave this neighborhood and go to a different one. From Las Carmelitas (The Candies) to San Ramón.. My companion said, "I feel like we should talk to the people in this house.." And he pointed to the house, right.. We were just going to leave and go work in San Ramón.. So we went and started talking to the people and it turned out that they were just visiting their sister. Then her sister came out and started telling us she was a professor and everything.. Then came out another girl named Rosana.. Then I started thinking, "Jorge gave us a reference to a girl named Rosana (because she said she had wanted us to teach her..) who lived with her professor.. OH!" So we finally found her after about 2 weeks of looking! Jorge didnt give us very good directions. But we found her! If my companion wouldnt have been following the Spirit, we would have just walked right by. I certainly would have walked right by because I had a million other things on my mind like where we were going and what the heck am I going to teach my new companion.. So that was a really cool experience!

We had a nice bus ride from Asunción to Santa Rita! I had to leave here 6:00 Tuesday night to get to the bus terminal in Asunción at 5 the next morning. One of the elders that works in the office called me and asked if I could round up all the trainers in the terminal to bring them to the office, but it wasnt hard, there were only 17 of us. And it was nice because I got to see MY TRAINER Elder Patterson!! He´s home now :,( and I got to see a bunch of the elders from my MTC district like Elder Salinas!! Elder Lamb is training too. I got to see Elder White and Elder Cleverly and Elder Grisham.. I didnt get to see Elder Bartlome though or Elder Lorenzen. I saw Elder Nash yesterday at the Stake Conference and that was cool! Because I just saw him at Zone Conference..

Speaking of Stake Conference.. We had to take a bus to Ciudad del Este because thats our Stake.. But we had to find one of the presidents so he could pay for it(he called us the day before and told us he would), so we were asking around if anyone had seen him.. One of the Latin elders that was there, I dont know where he´s from but he came to the mission in Elder Guevara´s group, and we asked him if he had seen president. He asked why and we told him.. Then he said, "It doesnt matter, you guys are rich gringo´s and you can pay for it.." So yeah, there´s even racism between missionaries I guess. I had to bite my tongue so hard to not say anything back to him.. It would have ended ugly I think.

I´m just happy to be on the mission! There´s no other place I´d rather be. I love learning about the Gospel and of Christ and what he wants us to do in this life. I know I am representing His true church and that makes me happy! I´ve noticed something about the Gospel.. The TRUE Gospel (which is found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).. It´s logic. Not only that, but it´s easy enough for a child to understand, and the Holy Ghost will just seal the deal. I wish people would humble themselves just enough to get on their knees and ask God if it true, and then FOLLOW it! I´m glad I asked God for myself. I think if I wasnt raised in this Church, I would be paying all my money to some guy in his church because I´d be letting him fool me like, sadly, majority of the people in the world today. Yes I was raised in this Church, but I am a convert as well. I had to ask God to find out for myself just like everyone else. And now I KNOW, and nobody can change that.

I gotta go now.. I love you all so much! I hope you have a fantastic week! You´ll be in my prayers!
Elder Colby Dane Heiner

P.s. Tell Sister Delores Hoagland thank you for the letter! I love hearing about Melba! She asked about one of my pictures in front of a field here in November.. I think they plant year round because it doesnt get cold here. There´s always something in the field!

 

 

Week 33 Santa Rita-Zone Conference with President Callan

Holy cow this week flew by!! I think its just because we´ve been anticipating the changes, which we find out today! We tried to wait to email so we could know the changes to tell you, but supposedly the zone leaders dont even know them. They always get the changes Sunday night.  So we´ll see what happens.

Questions!

1.  How was Zone Conference?  Did you see any of your MTC buddies?  Any pictures for us this week?
I got to see Elder Nash! Thats it though.. And yes, I got a picture with him. He slimmed down a lot too!

2.  What was your most favorite experience this week?
Zone Conference for sure was my favorite experience this week.. It was really different than the last one, but President Callan had a lot of really good things to teach us. My favorite part of the conference is when President talked about what our missionary name tag means.. It was really powerful for me and made me realize how far I´ve come.

3.  Can you tell us more about what you do on "P" Day?  Do you ever get to go sightseeing?  Will you get to go to that famous Falls?
We dont do anything on Pday.. There isnt much to do here! We cant go to Yguazú Falls because of things that have happened in the past I guess. In Encarnación there is a zoo but we cant go to it either. I guess with the mission president before President Callan let the missionaries do pretty much whatever they wanted, and for that, nothing really got done and there are a lot of inactive members. And that President Callan was called to fix the mission. This is what I´ve heard anyways.. And that now the Paraguay Asunción Mission is the most disciplined mission in South America. I believe it!

4.  Are Transfers coming up?
This Wednesday! We find out today who gets to buy food and who doesnt! Then we find out where everyone goes tomorrow in the district meeting.. I have a feeling that if I go, I´ll be going to Asunción, and if I stay I train.. Thats what I´m feeling. We´ll see!

Thanks for sending me my Line of Authority! Its so cool to see how I got the Priesthood and how it has been given through my line! And Mom, I am SO happy for you! It sounds like youre working hard and its paying off.. I´m excited to see you in a year and 5 months from now! It sounds like everyone had a good time this Thanksgiving, I didnt really notice it here because its not a holiday here. It doesnt even feel like its Christmas time either with how hot it is! Lets just say this year is gonna be a little different than what I´m used to! For my Thanksgiving, I made my famous pasta.. Well, its not so famous but its delicious! I call it The Tubes.. I do the noodle tubes with hamburger and pizza sauce, then I put cheese in too and it all melts together and its sooo good! So that was my Thanksgiving dinner..
Well we got the encomienda (mail pouch) today! But we got the one for Ciudad del Este, and they have ours.. So my packages are in Ciudad del Este still. I hope they dont get stolen! I dont even know who they´re from, I assume they´re from my family.. It might come in a few days, but if I leave this area.. Who knows where they´ll end up! I hope I get them.

Alright! Yeah, Zone Conference was awesome! It was a smaller group than the last one but it was still really good. I got to see Elder Eddy, who finishes his mission on Wednesday, and it was good to see and talk to him. President asked him to bare his testimony at the end and it was super good, it made me want to work harder and not lose a single moment of my time here. President talked about the missionary name tag and what it represents.. He said there´s two different representations, the first one is when you put it on, you just do the mission just to do it.. and when you take it off an night, you´re done being a missionary for the day. The second representation is when you look at it, you think of the progress you´ve made; you´re a different person. I never thought of what it ment to me, so I looked down at it, and when I read it I started to cry. For me, my missionary name tag represents the person I have become. I realized how far I´ve come and how much of a difference I´ve seen in myself and my desires to do good. I dont care what other people think- I care what the Lord thinks. I dont care what other people want me to do, I care about what the Lord wants me to do. I want to do the things He´s asked and to solve my problems with His help.. Not by the help of the world, that just brings more problems.
This week in my studies, I´ve been applying the Christlike Attributes in my life from Preach My Gospel chapter 6. I´ve always felt like I´ve had a lot of patience but I know its something I can improve. I´ve also been working on being more charitable. When I have these things, I´m more happy and I gain the desires to do even more good things. I understand more who Christ is and how I can become more like Him.. I look at the organizations of the Church and I know that He made them- they´re perfect. There is NO other church in the world like the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I firmly believe this. He only runs one church, not two, not twenty or even a thousand. ONE. I represent that church.
Its crazy to me that when people most need help in their lives, they turn away from God.. He´s the only person that can really help them. We´ve had 3 investigators fall that are perfect examples of this. They´ve felt that He hasnt done anything to help them, that He´s left them in the dark and wont help them. I dont know if anyone reading this letter has felt this way too.. I assume so, I know I have.. But have you called the Lord through prayer for His help? Have you put in your part? I´ve felt like that before, and now I know its because I didnt call on Him or ask for His help. How is He going to help us if we dont ask? Prayer is the perfect way to show our faith in the Lord, then to do our part- doing our best to get the things we need, and when we fall short, He helps us the rest of the way and makes sure we´re alright.
Thats a little of what I´ve learned this week! But now, its about that time.. I gotta go! Until next week..

I love you all and hope you have an awesome week!!
Elder Colby Dane Heiner

Oh yeah, in the pictures this week! Elder Eddy and I, another one with Elder Nash, Me holding 2 bullfrogs, the pin that Shaunie gave me (yes its still on my backpack!), a visit with the Tengant family (where we ate armadillo), and waiting for the bus at 4 in the morning with Elder Guevara!

Buenas! Week 32 Santa Rita

Another week down! I cant believe how fast the time is going here!! We´re in the last week of the change too so we are waiting for whats going to happen.. It was a good week though, the work has been a little slow since our last baptism and a couple of our investigators are falling through. Kind of a tough week, but thats how it goes sometimes! I talked to my district leader and he said I have 2 packages in Asunción right now :) I just have to send in like 40 Paraguay dollars to get them! I'm excited!

Questions!

1.  Now did you have Zone Conference last week or is it this week?
Yeah this week, we have ours this Wednesday in Ciudad del Este.. President Callan is just going to speak to us in this one so it will be really good!

 

2.  What was your most favorite experience this past week?
I think doing service for Jorge was my favorite.. It was really good because he helps us a lot with finding and teaching new people and it was a good way to say thank you. I think that and just the things I studied this week and how I've applied them in my life and how its strengthened my testimony.

 

3.  How are your Shoes holding up?  How are your shirts and garments etc?

(If you need more garments don't they have a distribution center in Asuncion by the temple?)

How are your towels and sheets?
My shoes are gangster. I havent had any problems with them, or any of my clothes or sheets.. A couple of my shirts have stains on them from the red mud here, but they've been fading out pretty good. I wash my clothes with dish soap with lime, so they turn out really clean!

 

4.  Is it still raining there?
Saturday was the hottest day ever.. Thats the day we did service for Jorge- we planted sod in his front yard. I look like neopolitan ice cream with my new sunburn. My neck and my arms are super burnt, then my chest is pasty white, and my forearms are really tan. Youll see in the picture I'm sending today, but you cant laugh because I look like a little kid!
Yesterday was really cloudy with lots of wind.. And today is raining like crazy! The streets are all flooded and I'm pretty sure water is getting into the cars that are parked on the side of the road. Its bad!

I'm glad to hear Dad took my car out for a drive!! He can only race Clayton if they do it for pink slips and Dad wins... Does my sound system still work good? I'm not too worried about the paint fading.. Its just spray paint! There's a lot of nice cars here that we dont have in the States.. Like the Toyota Hilux or the Toyota Surf. Its kind of the same, but they look a little different, and they have turbos here. Pretty much every car here has a turbo, I'm kind of jealous. I think Toyota has a new Land Cruiser.. It looks really nice! Also the VW Amarok. Thats all I remember right now.. Its weird how I dont think about cars as much as I used to.. Like before, I never would have gotten excited about reading the scriptures or bearing my testimony or saying my prayers all the time. But now those are the things that get me the most excited! I love learning from the scriptures and teaching people and praying. My favorite part of the day is when we get home and I can just lay in my bed and read for like an hour. Then say my prayers! Its awesome! I didnt think something so small as these two things could make me feel so happy. And its easy! Before, I thought I didnt have any time to read the scriptures or anything like that.. But now on the mission, I have even LESS time for that stuff, and its still easy to fit it in at the end of my day. So if youre not reading your scriptures and praying, DO IT. I promise there is enough time to do it... Satan is just telling you there isnt. Afterall, he IS the father of all wickedness..

A few days ago we ate lunch with Amadeu and Sonia and I ate something I've never had before.. But the people here love it! Pig tail. It kind of grossed me out at first because Amadeu just put the whole thing in his mouth and sucked the meat right off the bone! And there's still hair on the tail.. Bleh! But it didnt taste bad, just a little different. Then yesterday we ate lunch with the Ugarte family- they're getting ready to go the the Temple.. We had a big ol' steak with them and it was super good! They dont do steak the same here.. Like there isnt T-Bone or Serloin or any of that.. They just cut the cow up into huge chunks and ask, "How much do you want?" hahaha. Its still really good though. And Paraguayans believe if you mix watermelon with milk or ice cream, you die..

I'm going to put together a little package to send home for Christmas! I'll but in a bunch of pictures labeled(? I dont know if I spelled that right..) and some letters and I think even a DVD of me saying hi! So thats kind of what I'll be doing today!
I'm just sending a few pictures in this email of me here in Santa Rita! A couple of the church that we're in and a picture of the visitor I had under my closet!

I gotta go now, I still need to write my letter to President Callan!
I hope you all have a great week! I love you and miss you and pray lots for you!

Elder Colby Dane Heiner

 

 

Seven Months!

Holy Moly the time is FLYING by!! I cant believe I´ve been out for 7 months already.. This is ridiculous but I love it! Thank you for all writing me a part in the email, I always love hearing from everyone. Tell Drake him and I will have to come back to get the monkey! You can buy one here for 100,000 Paraguay dollars.. Or in other words, $20 US:)
That makes me sad hearing about Dean :,( I remember seeing him in the MTC right before he left for the field and he was SO hyped! The Lord has something planned for him there though. He could probably do something in the Temple or go out with the missionaries or something.. If you see him, tell him I hope he´s feeling alright!

Questions!

1.  What was the greatest experience that you have had this week?
  Last night! We went to the house of one of our investigators, Amadeu and Sonia, and a guy stopped us in the street trying to tell us that our church was wrong! He was even on his way to his church! In 1 Corinthians chapter 11 he was teaching us that the women in our church dont use the ´´vale´´ so our church is wrong.. He read verses 2-14, but not 15 because it talks about the vale being hair! He said he had to stop us and tell us because it breaks his heart that we´re ´´living in the wrong´´. He just wanted to bash with us.. James 1:26..
  Then we got to our appointment with Amadeu and Sonia and Sonia started telling us that her neighbor was talking bad about the church also! Its crazy how much the church is persecuted.. I say this is my favorite experience this week because it secured my testimony that I KNOW I am in Christ´s church. There is no other. We´re not out here to bash with the people or destroy their beliefs, we´re here to help them find the true church of Christ. All they have to do is ask Him in a sincere prayer if all that we´re teaching is true.. And He doesn´t lie.

 

2.  Do you have anyone that has committed to baptism right now?
We did, but they fell through! I don´t know what happened. We had 2 but they quit answering their phones and accepting our visits.. So we´re spending a lot of time right now finding new people to teach!

 

3.  Ipod question?  If I sent you a flash drive with Christmas music on it can you download that somehow to your  Itunes?  Does your apartment have a CD player?  I'm just trying to  think of ways to help get you some new music if you are interested!
Yeah send it!! We have a radio with a flash drive option, that would be awesome! You´ve gotta find some Eclipse or Inside Out- they´re pretty awesome. Also, Mindy Gledhill is a really good singer. Its crazy how my style of music has changed! I dont know, maybe its just because we cant listen to anything else..

 

4.  How are your memory cards and flash drives holding up?  Do you transfer your pictures off of your camera SD card to your flash drive?
They´re good! Everything has been working great. I have tons of memory for all my pictures and stuff. I dont think I´ll run out! But yeah, whenever I have pictures from the week before, I put them on my flash drive. I just havent really taken very many pictures the last couple weeks.

 

5.  How is Jorge?  How is Manuel?  How was attendence at Church Sunday?
Jorge is going to be a prophet.. We have the Stake Conference in December and he´s going to get the priesthood! He´s super excited to get it. He´s awesome! Manuel is in another city for a couple weeks working. But he´s been dating this stupid girl thats trying to pull him out of the church.. I dont know what her problem is. Yesterday at church, was Jorge and Mabel, and the Ugarte family.. And the 4 missionaries. So, 10 people! It´s been raining like crazy here the past few days so nobody does anything. The whole city shuts down when it rains.. Nobody wants to let us in their house because we´re all wet and have clay all over our shoes and pants, so we just end up walking around looking for people in the streets. The rain is crazy here! I dont know if you saw the video I sent last week, but when it rains, it POURS! The streets flood and turn into rivers and there´s just water everywhere. I´ve never seen anything like it.

We have Zone Conference next week! I´m super excited! President Callan is going to talk the whole time.. President Arnold from the 70 came to the last one, I think he´s from Idaho.. But his teachings were awesome and his testimony hit me hard. It was all in Spanish then he switched to English and said, "I know that Jesus Christ lives.. I KNOW Him..." The whole room was filled with the Spirit, I almost couldnt breathe with how powerful it was when he said that. But I´m excited to just hear from President Callan and what he has prepared to teach us. I love that guy! When I stayed in their house after my surgery, I felt like I was at home.. In between the Conference sessions we were talking about our favorite parts of the talks, then he asked how the mission was going for me so far, then he started telling me stories abou his mission.. He´s got some awesome stories! It was a fun time. They love all the missionaries like their own kids and you can see it. President Callan wrote me an email today saying that another elder had an emergency apendecitis and said he´s glad I had my hernia! He said the elder wouldnt have made it to the States, and that Dr. Escobar was the perfect find. So I thought that was kind of cool.

Can I get my Line of Authority? I dont know it off the top of my head and I dont know if there´s a way I can get it.. I want it because I started writing in my other journal (no the first one isnt full yet..) and there´s a spot to put all my stuff, like when I was ordained into the office of a deacon, teacher, priest, etc.. When I was baptized and confirmed, when I was blessed in the church and all that stuff. I dont know all of it.. So that would be sweet if I could get it somehow! I have my big journal to put in the experiences and pictures from my mission, and the other one is for my personal stuff, like what I´ve learned, my testimonies and thoughts and stuff like that.

This week in my studies, I´ve been focused in the great apostacy and prophets and how important the prophets are. Prophets are like a watchman on a tower, protecting a city from robbers.. He´s there to warn the people of the dangers of the world, and we would be in the darkness without one. But today, there are so many people that are choosing to live in the darkness because they dont want to listen to the words of the prophet.. They´re turning down true happiness for the things of the world. What happens to the things of the world when we die? They stay in the world. If we build our treasures up in the things of the world, we will be the poorest people in all the Kingdoms of Heaven. There are so many people here that have absolutely nothing, but they have the gospel and they live it and are truly happy.. They´re going to be the rich ones. They´ve built their treasures up in the things of the Lord, and that´s what they´ll carry with them when they die. This life is just a grain of sand in the eternities, yet what we do here will effect what happens to us when we die. Because this life isnt all, and it surely isnt the beginning. I´m happy to know my Heavenly Father is content with me and I´m happy to know that I´m doing the things that He wants.

Elder Guevara says, "Hello everyone!" But right now I gotta go.. Its been a good week and I´ve learned a lot! I hope you all have a fantastic week this week!
I love you!!

Elder Colby Dane Heiner

Week 30 Santa Rita

I swear I just wrote yesterday... This week flew by SO fast! We only have about 2 and a half weeks left in this change, and lots of success! It was a great week. I'm excited for what this week has to bring!

Questions!

1.  How did your talk in church go on Sunday?
I didnt speak yesterday because it was fast and testimony meeting.. But I did bear my testimony! Only about 16 people came to church yesterday because it rained.

 

2.  Did you and Elder Guevara find the guy who came to church with his wife last week?
We havent been able to find him! He told us where he lives, but the people here are terrible at giving directions! They'll say, "Oh I live by the car wash and my house doesnt have paint on it.. its really easy to find..." Good luck! But we're still looking!

 

3.  Have you been back to teach Ercilio?
Yeah but we couldnt really teach him because he was building a new shed for his chickens.. He said someone has been stealing them. But I think we're going back tomorrow!

 

4.  Did mabel get baptized?
Yes! It was awesome! We use a river that is on someone's property, and there were people swimming and partying and stuff. But they were respectful of the baptisms so that was good. There was a guy in a speedo cutting down weeds with a machete! Hahahaha it was SO funny- I've never seen anything like it before in my life. Also, there was a little kid, like 7 years old, drinking beer! He was pounding it.. I dont know how people can let their kids do that.

 

5.  How are you feeling?  How is your hernia area doing?  Do you feel like you are back to normal?
I'm good to go! I can run and walk and everything. Its a little sore this morning for some reason though. But other than that I feel great. So dont worry!

 

6.  I don't know if I've asked you this since you have been in Santa Rita, Do you do your own laundry and cooking or do you guys have someone who does your laundry?  I know you said you were going to the store to buy groceries so I am assuming that you do your own cooking.

Are you getting enough to eat everyday and keeping your strength up?
We just started washing our own laundry.. We have a little wash basin to do it in with a washboard. Its kind of fun! Then we use our chairs and the broom and mop as rods to hang our clothes out to dry. One of the sisters in the branch was washing our clothes, but its not worth it to have her do it. She would charge us 25 Paraguay dollars to do it, then another 20 for the soap.. But the soap she uses is only 10 Paraguay dollars in the store.. Plus when we would get our laundry back, it smelled bad- like old water and dirt.. Like a gross musky smell. So, we each pay 10 Paraguay dollars for our soap and wash our own laundry and its about 20 Paraguay dollars every month to clean our laundry now! Plus is smells way better and its nice and clean. I think the sister would wash her family's clothes first then use what was left for our laundry.
We dont have any luch appointments, so we do our own cooking too! Every morning, I have eggs and sausage with cheese. Its really good! Then for lunch I'll do ramen noodles with hamburger, eggs, and vegitables. And for dinner, I'll do something light like ramen noodles or cereal.. But I feel like I've been more healthy since I've been eating like that.

 

7.  Heat?  How are you coping with the Heat?  What is the temperature there during the days? Are you able to sleep at night?
Its hot and humid! Luckily we have an A/C unit in our room to keep us cool at night. Our apartment is really nice.. Like nicer than my apartments in Rexburg.

 

8.  What was your most favorite experience this past week?
I think sharing my testimony in church yesterday.. I feel like I've grown a lot closer to my Heavenly Father this last week. My prayers have been so much more sincere and my studies have been really really focused. I've recieved a ton of help from the Lord because of my faith and for doing my part. Just by sharing these things yesterday confirmed it even more that our Heavenly Father lives and loves us as a whole and individually. I know He loves me and cares about me. He wants to help me and I know I have to do my part to receive the blessings.. We cant just pray and expect it, we have to do all we can to achieve what we want, and He takes care of the rest.

 

9.  Do you think you will have a different companion before Christmas or do you think you and Elder Guevara will get to stay together?
I'm not sure.. I think I'll probably have a different companion. But I could be mistaken! Maybe the Lord has something here for us both to do here still..

 

10.  Are you doing good at your journal writing?  I hope so!  I know I've never been a journal writer and I wish I would have been.  I hope that you will always keep a journal!
Its been up and down.. But lately, I've been writing every day, or at least every-other day. So I'm staying up-to-date!

I think Dad asked me in his email what the best and worst thing I ate this week.. The best thing, BBQ at Jorge's house! With grilled pineapple and cinnamon.. (I have to Americanize it otherwise you wont understand!) They do their BBQ's a little different here.. It was sooo good! We had a huge piece of a cow and another of pig. We had that and Mandioca and then the pineapple. Mandioca is a root that they eat here with pretty much every meal. I used to have to choke it down when I first started because I thought it was so gross, but now I kinda like it. Its really good with the meat. I guess its like a really thick steak. They make it over a type of charcoal, but they call it carbon, and they dont use any seasonings, just the fat. Its SO good. Then the pineapple with cinnamon.. Delicious!  I havent really eaten anything bad since I've been here in Santa Rita. Its really civilized here, its like the opposite of Caaguazu!

So yeah, this week was awesome! The other elders had a baptism too! Elder Hugie baptized their investigator.. He was almost like Alma in the book of Mosiah, I thought he was going in too! Hahaha. It was good though. I got to confirm Mabel yesterday in Sacrament meeting and that was really cool. We started teaching one of our old investigators again. His name is Ala'a from Brazil, he's 24, married and has a little girl. He's an architect and has his own business here in Santa Rita. He's Musslim! Its cool learning about their beliefs from him.. I need to study more Portugese so I can understand better! But we felt like we should try to find him again and start teaching him, which is good because he really needs our help. His marriage is starting to fall apart and he doesnt know what else to do, so we're going to help him! I'll keep you updated because right now, I'm out of time! I gotta go :(

I hope you all have an incredible week this week! You'll be in my prayers daily!
I love you!!
Elder Colby Dane Heiner

Week 29 Santa Rita

I seriously cant believe its P-day again! This week flew by so fast!! Thank you for all writing me, that made me feel really good! Tell Drake he better send me an email or somethin! I havent heard from him in a long time.. How is everyone?? Great I hope! I love the pictures Haley sent me of Damon in his little monkey suit! He does make a good little monkey! It made me think of the monkey that lives in the trees just a few blocks down from our apartment, I cant only imagine Damon jumping around and making his little yelps! :) It sounds like Shaunie had a fun time on her first date.. That blows my mind she's 16 already. Who was her date? I feel like I just turned 16 and had my first date! I remember I went out with Dannie Saurey- it was a lot of fun!

We were walking down the street yesterday and I saw a guy rigging up a fishing pole and it made me think of when Derrek and I went fishing! It made me a little trunky but I'm ok.. And I always see this black Mercedez-Benz that has the Kompressor engine, and it makes me think of driving back from New York with Drake. So even though I'm 10,000 miles away from home, theres things here that remind me of my family!

Yesterday I conducted the church meetings, so that was fun.. I'm speaking next week and I think I'm going to talk about the Book of Mormon and how it helps us day to day. I hope it will turn out good! We contacted a guy last week and invited him to come to church, but we thought he was drunk and wouldnt remember.. Plus I've never had someone in the street that I've talked to come to church.. But this guy came! And he brought his wife! They showed up like 30 minutes early too.. And before church, the other elders had a baptism, so this guy and his wife got to see that too. They wanted us to come teach them yesterday but we couldnt find their house, so we're going to look for the guy in his work (where we contacted him) to be able to teach him and his wife. I think it will turn out really well!

Yesterday afternoon we went out to visit with a guy who we taught only one time.. I'm not sure why we havent gone back to teach him, but we felt like we should go back out yesterday.. His name is Ercilio, he has 4 kids, and his wife died about a year ago from cancer. We started teaching him about how families can be together forever.. He started telling us he doesnt know where she is right now, Heaven or Hell, or if there's some other place. But he told us he wants to know where she is so he can find her again. It makes me sad because there are so many people who dont know what happens after death. Some people just think we're done, others think its Heaven or Hell. But we know exactly what happens after death, where we go, and what happens from there. Thats why family is so important, we're not with them for only this life; we were together before as one big family, and after we'll be together with our families.. IF we do what our Heavenly Father wants. With that said, I KNOW where I'm going after I die and I know I'll be alright. Well, I'll be more than alright!

A couple weeks ago we went out to a family's house to visit them. They got baptized about a year ago, but havent gone to church because they sold their car when they heard the Prophet say, "Get out of debt!" Since then, they've been having a Sunday school class in their home with their kids and they have Family Home Evening every Monday night. They are awesome! Just because they cant go to church right now, doesnt make them inactive members of the church.. They still do these things and read and pray, and they'll be ok because our Heavenly Father knows their situation and they're still being blessed. We got to eat lunch with them and it was something I've never had before.. But it was SO good! It was ARMADILLO! They made it in a huge saucer thing over a fire.. Ahh it was so good! I would go there every Sunday if we could, but its like 45 minutes by car.. Which we dont have :(

We have another baptism this week! Her name is Mabel, she's one of Jorge's friends.. She's 21 and from Argentina. She's really excited to get baptized and follow in the Church. She told us already that she wants to get married in the Temple! How cool is that! Jorge has helped us a lot with teaching people.. He's always calling his friends to come over and have us teach. I think I'll be here for another change so I'll get to keep workin with him!

Its about that time.. I gotsta go! I got a letter from Sydney today, tell her to read me letter again and to do what I told her! She didnt mention anything about it.. Tell Sister Delores Hoagland thanks for the letter! Its always nice to hear whats going on in good ol' Melba.

I love you! I hope you all have a great week! You'll be in my prayers!

Elder Colby Dane Heiner

 

Week 28 Santa Rita

Wassup!! This week has been a really good week- and it FLEW by! I can´t believe I´m already emailing again.. Big news! I did pushups today! Finally! I´m tired of not being able to exercise, I´ve been getting really skinny.. I´m weighing in at about 173 pounds! Dira jori qué pasó.. When I got here I was knockin on the door of 190! But, today I´ll be buying lots of good stuff to eat and I´ll start my exercising tomorrow, so hopefully I won´t look anorexic!

1.  How was Sunday?  Are you having a bit bigger turn out at church?  Are you giving lots of talks and prayers and leading music?  Who are your district leaders and zone leaders right now.  Isn't Elder Richards one of them?  I am facebook friends with his mother.  I've read his blog and he speaks highly of your companionship and that he is glad you are back.  He says you four missionaries are studs that you are working hard.  He knows it's a hard area but you guys are doing awesome!

Sunday was really good! I gave a talk on eternal families and how we need to be happy with our families in this life because we´re going to be with them forever! (If we do what our Heavenly Father wants..) And how its never too late to fix a broken relationship between family members.
Elder Richards is one of my zone leaders, he´s a super nice guy. He´s from Washington. He companion is Elder Roberts from Idaho! He went to West Side High School. They´re always encouraging us to work harder and to teach more. This has been the hardest area for a lot of missionaries that have served here, but we´ve been very blessed! Jorge has been helping us a lot, we teach people at his house every day, and they all have baptismal dates! We´ve got a few for the 5th of November so that will be really good :) And my district leader is Elder Nelson from San Jorge (St. George), Utah!

 

2.  How did your guys baptism go on Saturday?  I hope all went smoothly.  Did you have the baptism in the River again?  What is the name of the River from two Saturday's ago?  Was the water cold or luke warm, warm?

They fell through because they missed church last week :( they have to go to church 3 weeks in a row to make sure they enjoy it and everything, also so they dont just get baptized then go inactive. I think the name of the River is Ytapuá or Itapy or something like that.. Its Guaraní.. I think its Ytapuá but I dont remember exactly. But that water was luke warm, it felt really nice though! It was really hot and humid the day of the baptism and it was hard not to go for a swim! Its ok though, I was obedient :)

 

3.  Does your Branch throw a baptism party with refreshments?  I ask this because Elder Cleverly makes some mean cake and the people love it!  I'm just sayin....!   Must be a secret family recipe!  Anyway, it just made me wonder if you have done anything like that.  Food is always a great icebreaker!

Yeah, we´ve had cake and stuff like that.. For the next one, we´ve been talking about doing kabob´s or something. Jorge loves cake! He said he wants to get baptized every week because there´s always cake after hahaha. The lady that got baptized a couple weeks ago has a bakery and she makes really good cakes! So she´s been supplying them. Her daughter got baptized this last Saturday, they were investigators of Elder Nelson and Elder Hugie (the other 2 elders in our district) and they´re still working with the dad to get baptized and to join his family! So for the 5th I think we´re going to do something a little bigger, nothing crazy, but something to bring everyone closer and to involve the members more and get them excited that the branch is growing.

So yesterday we had 29 people in church! Thats a big number for Santa Rita! The last week we had 32, and the week before that... 8! It rained that Sunday.. The people that go to church are really strong here, well except for when it rains, but still. We´re looking for a bigger place to have church in because more and more people are coming. Right now we´re in a 2-room salon, its like the size of a 2 car garage. We don´t have air conditioning in there either, so its SUPER hot during the meetings and the kids get really loud and everyone wants to leave because of the heat. But the stake president has a unit that he´s going to bring to us to put in our little chapel! I´m really excited for that.

Jorge has been a huge help to us! I stinkin love that guy! He always sets appointments for us with his friends to come teach them at his house, then he gets super excited, which excites them, for baptism! He took a bunch of people in his truck to the baptism that was on Saturday, and it wasnt even one of our investigators, it was an investigator of the other elders. He always talks about how before his life was all about money and girls and going to the club and stuff like that.. But now, because he is living the commandments and reading the scriptures and praying and putting God first in his life, he said he´s never been more happy. He talks about how the happiness with money and girls and all that stuff doesnt last, and how he was always wanting more and more, but could never be satisfied. Now, he´s preparing to go to the Temple.. He wants to go do baptisms and take his wife there one day, when he finds her. We taught him that who you are is what you´ll get. So we made a list of things that he wants in his future wife, quality things- not just physical attributes, and taught him that if thats what he wants, he has to strive to be it first.. Then to do all he can to find her and the Lord will put her in his path. His change has been incredible! He´s got such a strong belief, whereas before he had never opened the Bible before in his life.. Now here he is a couple months later, teaching his friends and helping them better their lives! Its the same with Manuel.. The only difference is Jorge is 33 and Manuel is 17. Manuel wants to go on a mission! We´re gonna help him get there. He´s gonna be such a great missionary! I´m glad I´ve been able to be a small part of their conversion. Their change has helped change me. I´m going to be better because of their example.

This week was incredible, and this week is going to be even better! I´m excited to get out there and do it!! Nothing can stop me now.. I did pushups today! For the first time in over a month! That means I´m healed up and ready to go!

Happy Birthday Shaunie!!! I cant believe youre going to be 16 already.. I still think of you as the little baby trying to fall asleep while your hand is on your toy piano (like from the home video..) And tell them boys to watch it! I dont wanna have to crack any skulls..

I hope you all have an awesome week and lots of success! I´ll be praying for you!
I love you!!

Elder Colby Dane Heiner