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