Week 62~~Nacho Libre Boots!

Whats up! I can´t believe it´s pday again.. This last week went by pretty fast! That´s ok though. We find out changes tomorrow, if there are any, so who knows, maybe I´ll write next week from a new area or something! 1.  Do you have any new investigators this past week? Yep! Pedro Maidana, President Maidana´s son..   2.  How is your branch doing this past week? Uhh, I´m not really sure.. The active members are fine, but they´ve been shutting down a lot of the small branches out here in Encarnación and I guess Coronel Bogado could be up on the chopping block..   3.  Did you and Elder Bybee have to speak in church? No! This is the 2nd time I haven´t had to speak in church here, it was a nice little break! I didn´t have to teach the class either! Happy Father´s Day, Elder Heiner.. I know Elder Nielsen was thinking of me ;D   4.  What was your most favorite experience this past week? Elder Bybee and I were eating lunch and President Maidana called us and said, ¨Hey my son wants to get baptized on the 30th.. You have an appointment with him tomorrow night in my house.¨ Sweet! Thanks President! So that was pretty cool. He has a lot of doubts thanks to all the crap Discovery Chanel puts out about the Church down here.   5.  What was the craziest thing that happened? Every single day this week, we met someone who was trying to teach us Anti-Mormon stuff.. Thats the thing, people can try and cut the Church down with all this false stuff they´ve heard, but when they talk to us they don´t have any proof to back up their words so they just drop it. We ask them if they have a friend who´s LDS, they always say yes.. Then we ask if they think their friends would really do something like that.. (whatever it may be that they´re talking about.) That kinda puts things into perspective for them. Paraguayans are like 5 year olds, they believe anything they see on TV.   6.  Have you had anymore rodent problems? Yeah, we´ve seen mice, but we haven´t been able to kill them.. They´ve been staying outside. Well, I always find mouse poop in my dresser so maybe they do get in..   7.  Are you keeping warm? Heck yes I am! I bought a coat here.. I was going to when I was in Caaguazú, but I thought I would just save it for when it got cold again. I think US dollars the coat I bought was about $35. It´s pretty nice though. The place I bought it from made me feel like Nacho Libre, I had the coat in my hands, then looked behind me and saw a pair of white boots on display. They´re still there though..   8.  Did you get the package yet?  If so, did you like the stuff?  Do you have too much toothpaste and deoderant.  If you want different brands you have to let me know.  Have you heard that story that I sent you? No not yet! I feel like they´re hiding it from me.. Maybe they´ll send it because we had 3 baptisms last week. But I´m on my last tube of toothpaste from the last package, and I think I´m on my 2nd to last deoderant. I think the brands are great though! Better than the Paraguay brands.. I think they put sugar in their toothpaste here because nobody has teeth, thats IF they use toothpaste and not their Terere..   9.  What is your electronic situation for listening to music?  I want to try to send you some new music.  You could probably use some.Do you have any requests in the music area? Just send music on a pendrive.. I have a little radio that takes a pendrive, plus I can plug it in to my iPod speakers! It´s pretty nice.. Maybe some Alex Boye (the black guy from Mo Tab) And other music like that. I didn´t really like his music at first, but now its some of my favorite stuff. I only have like 4 or 5 songs from him though. Maybe some Eclipse too and Mindy Gledhill. That would suffice! What a week! I think the most exciting thing thats worth telling is about President Maidana´s son.. That was pretty awesome. But yeah! The internet place guy is kicking us out right now cuz he needs to go eat lunch.. I´m alive and well and very happy! I love you all!! Have a great week! Elder Colby Dane Heiner

Week 61~~Three Baptisms

This week is finally over!! This was probably one of the busiest weeks of the mission so far. TONS of traveling back and forth, getting ready for our baptisms on Saturday. Let´s just say I´m glad it´s pday today!

1. Did Felipe, Maria and Carlos get baptized? If so fill us in about their special day. Tell us your feelings!
Heck yes they did! And it was awesome! We had more people show up to the baptism than at church yesterday. After the baptism, Felipe thanked me for taking time to teach him and help him get baptized. He said surely it was a process, but really it wasn´t! We met him like 2 weeks ago! He went to this last General Conference and he still remembers how good he felt when he heard all the talks, especially from President Monson. Felipe is a stud! My district leader was praising him last night when I called in the numbers, saying the Felipe was super ready and felt really good during the interview. So it was all in all a great experience! I´m excited to have another member in our small family here in Coronel Bogado.
Carlos and Maria were happy too! They were excited to be baptized.. Now in a year they can all go to the Temple as a family and be sealed together forever. I hope they make the sacrifice to go!

2. Has President Callan and Hermana Callan left for home yet? I am sure they are going to go through some major withdrawals when they get to their home in Farmington! They will be missing Paraguay and their adopted son's and daughters they left behind.
I think they´re still here training the new mission president. I´m sure going to miss the Callan´s! They´re great. I won´t be suprised if President Callan speaks at the next General Conference..

3. What was your favorite experience this week?
I think probably the baptism! That´s just what I needed after 3 months of hard work here.

4. Did you have any comical moments this week? I'm sure you were busy getting ready for the baptism. But, knowing you something funny had to happen this week.
I´m not sure if this is really funny, but thinking back at it I´m sure my reaction was pretty funny.. I was furious though. Alright, so we went to fill up our baptismal font, and someone left us a little treat in the bottom of it. Gustavo aka el pequeño demonio dropped a deuce in there while all the young men went to play soccer at the church. So guess who had to clean it out.. Yeah, the Elders. Thanks ya little brat.

5. What are you doing for your Pday today? Are you doing any sightseeing on your few hours to yourselves?
Nothin! There´s absolutely nothing to do her on pday.. We´ll probably just end up writing letters the whole rest of the day. There´s nothing else to do. It´s gonna be fun!

So yeah, there´s our week! A lot of preparation for the baptisms on Saturday. It was a good week though, very rewarding. I realized that I complete 14 months in the mission this week.. I can´t believe how fast the time has gone by here! I feel like I´ve come a long way in my life, and this isn´t even the start. I feel like I´m gonna hit the ground running when I get back, I´ve got a good life plan and I feel good about what I wanna do. I know I´d still be confused if I stayed home- I would have missed out on a ton of things that I wouldn´t have been able to learn at home. I´m glad to be here.

I don´t really know what else to say! I´m trying to remember what happened this week, and I feel like I´ve already said all the important stuff.. I´m alive and well! What else matters right?
I´ll keep you posted on the package.. Thanks for sending it! I know I´ll love it.

I hope you all have a great week! I love you!!
Elder Colby Dane Heiner

Week 60 Time is Flying!

Whats goin on up there in Idaho? Not a whole lot down here.. Just gonna baptize some people this Saturday! We saw some miracles this last week so its been pretty good! Welp, here´s the questions n stuff..

1. How are your investigators doing? Are they still on schedule to be baptized this week end?
They´re doing well.. We have 3 that are getting baptized this Saturday! Felipe, who is dating the sister that teaches Seminary, is a stud! Dad wrote me an email and it made me think of Felipe. He kinda found us.. I remember he went with us to the General Conference, but we haven´t heard anything from him since because he lives out in the jungle.. A couple Saturdays ago, we were waiting in the bus terminal getting ready to go to Artigas (another little city in our area) and our Branch President called us. He said, "Hey! Go to the church! You have an investigator waiting there for you.." We were both kind of confused.. But we went! Our first lesson with him was awesome, and every one since. The lessons are really spiritual and he understands everything! Like it makes sense to him.. That´s hard to find here! So he´s getting baptized on Saturday. There are also a couple kids (Maria, 12; and Carlos, 10) who live in Artigas that are getting baptized on Saturday. The missionaries were teaching them a couple years ago, but were pulled out of the area for some reason, so we´re going to baptize the people out there that are ready! It´s been fun getting to know them and help them progress.

2. How about Jorge? Has his mom come from Argentina yet?
Not yet.. I don´t know what´s going on with him, it´s like he´s been flaking out on us lately. We were going to start our fast with him a couple days ago on Saturday, and he was excited to do it, but his grandma didn´t let him. It´s hard for him to go to church and other activities because his family is super hard headed. We have to explain things to them like they´re five years old, and they still don´t understand! Jorge gets everything though.. There´s times where he teaches us! I don´t know what else to do with him.. We´ve tought the family before, but they can´t wrap their heads around what we´re saying. Ugh.. But he´s still a stud!

3. So, what kind of cemetery's do they have there. Are they above ground types that look like little cities? Or do they have regular burial cemeteries. I know that is kind of a morbid question but you know your dad's line of work and all. I just thought it would be a good question to ask.
They have both kinds here.. I think the most common though is below ground. But they just dig a hole thats a couple feet deep, or just enough to cover the box, and brick it all in. Then when that´s done, they smooth everything over with cement. It´s kinda weird, but I guess it works.

4. So when the weather says 59 degrees is that pretty cold there? That is what my little weather app. is showing for Asuncion for Thursday this week.
It feels like it´s freezing here.. Its a humid cold, so even though its like 60 degrees (flip flop weather in Idaho) you have to put on a coat and gloves. But I´ve been staying warm.. Actually, today is pretty chilly, but it´s been kinda warm for the past couple months still. So hopefully it starts cooling off!

5. What was you best experience this week?
We found a way cool family. They´re from Ukraine! Well, their ancestors.. But it´s cool because they´re tall and have blonde hair! They´re educated too so that´s a plus. The Sabluk family.. Javier (the dad) has an old 60´s Chevy, I haven´t seen it though. His brother was over and at first they were kind of distant because of false things they´ve heard about the church. It was a cool experience because of the way they changed in such a short visit because we set things strait with them. We told them what we believe and what our purpose is as missionaries, and after that they opened up a lot to us. We showed them the pictures of our families and lives back home to show them that we´re not robots, that we´re normal people. I don´t know what it is, but almost every guy that sees my pictures always has something nice to say about my car and my mom and sisters.. And how they like my brothers´ beards..

6 Did you have anything funny happen?
Kind of.. We went to a birthday party at a member´s house. The grandmothers were there, and when we got there, they started saying how "pretty" we were in Guaraní.. Hey! I know what you´re saying! :P "ha´e kuera ha´eha iporaaaaaa" Paraguayan´s aren´t shy to do ANYTHING.. Unless you ask them to pray.

So yeah! That´s pretty much what´s going on here.. We did divisions with the district leader and his comp this last week. He´s been on our backs to get Jorge baptized, which drives me nuts! If he´s not ready yet, you don´t force it! I feel like so many Elders here are robotic like that. They can´t listen with their hearts and solve doubts with the Gospel.. They try to force everything. You´re a failure if you can´t teach 20 lessons with a member present. They don´t see that not every area has hundreds of members.. that there are areas that have a church attendence of 20 people on a good day. They say just do it because its in the book and not because you want to. Sorry for the rant, that´s what´s been on my mind lately. I feel like I´ve been pretty patient so far..

I love being on a mission. I can´t describe what I´ve felt here or the changes I´ve had within myself. I feel like I have a clearer outlook on life.. I´m not scared for my future, more than anything, I´m excited! I don´t feel like I´m a teenage kid anymore. I´ve realized what´s important and I know what my Heavenly Father wants me to do. I understand that God gives us commandments so that He can bless us.. The Temple is SO important. GO. Serve others. And do your home teaching dang it! No one does that here and it drives me nuts.. You don´t realize how much you´re helping your home teaching families with just a quick visit. If it´s an inactive member, you could reactivate them. A short, simple visit can change a life. Don´t be shy. I don´t know how long it would have taken me to learn these things if I didn´t come on a mission.

I love you all! I hope you have a great week!
Elder Colby Dane Heiner