Week 68

Hey!! I feel like I just blinked last pday, and it´s pday again.. The time goes by so fast! I complete 16 months on the mission in 2 weeks! I really can´t believe it.

QUESTIONS:

1. How is Fernando and his wife? Are you guys teaching them?
They´re studs! We invited them to be baptized this last week! And they said yes! We haven´t been back since though because Fernando´s grandpa is in the hospital.. But we have an appointment with them tomorrow! We´re really excited! :D

2. Did you get your shower head fixed? Electricity and water that is a scary combination!
Yeah! We ended up just having to buy a new one.. That´s the second one I´ve bought so far. It works like a champ! Nothin like a new shower.. It really puts a homey touch to our little bathroom with a cement floor. It´s better than showering out of the hose like we did in our last place..

3. Is Elder Whaley as tall as you? When you were both squatting down in that picture he looked like he was tall. Just curious. How is his family? Did they survive the fires in Colorado Springs? I hope so.
He´s about 6´0.. He was telling me his whole family is tall. He said the fires didn´t get too close to where he lives, so everyone´s fine!

5. How many guys/gals are in your district and zone? What are their names and who are your zone leaders? I might know some of their mom's through our missionary mom's of Paraguay Asuncion on FB.
There´s 8 in my district, and I think about 22ish in my zone. My zone leaders are Elder Hatch (again!) from Idaho Falls, and Elder White from Provo. They´re studs! The others in my district are Elder Olson and Elder Guevara, Elder Calvert and Elder Speedy, and Elder Whaley and I. Elder Lund and Elder Nielson are in the other district with Elder Faas and Elder Castillo and Sister Willnaur and her companion.. I dont remember her name.. Elder Segovia and Elder Richards are in the district in Caaguazú (in the area and branch I started in) with Elder Valle, Elder Bullock.. I don´t remember the other 4 Elders. So yeah!

6. What was your most memorable experience this week?
Probably yesterday in church.. It rained so not many people showed up. Well, 4 people showed up to be exact! That´s the record! It was Elder Whaley and I and our branch president and his wife. It was cool though, we did the meetings as normal, but they were a lot less stressful. We´re going to have lunch with them today after internet :D They love us a ton! President looked at us yesterday and said, "Elders, she´s your mom now (pointing to his wife); anything you need, she´ll do it for you... Your suits look dirty- bring them over tomorrow and she´ll wash them for you. People are always watching us, we have to look presentable." I love the Sanabria´s! They´re always asking us how we´re doing and if they can help us in any way. And they don´t even live in our area!

7. Have you seen any more monkeys? How about big bugs, spiders or frogs?
One of the sticky frogs lives in our bathroom.. Its skin sticks to everything, its kinda cool. And we saw this weird looking, racoon thing yesterday when we were clapping houses. I don´t really know what it was, but its probably the weirdest thing I´ve seen so far. We´ll try to go back and get a picture with it!

8. Have you done anything fun on Pday in your new area.
No, our area is pretty boring for pday stuff.. That and we don´t have time to do much after we buy groceries. Its about a 40 minute walk, missionary speed, to get back home from the store.

Not a whole lot happened this week.. I´m not going to lie. This week was a week of tests! We just kept going though. I know the blessings are on their way, they always are after we do all we can. My companion is a stallion! Even if its raining like crazy, he doesn´t slow down. I´ve learned a ton from him! I´ve come to really love working by seeing his example. Missionary work is only hard if you make it hard. I feel like if you want it to be easy, it will be! We just have to open our mouths and share what we know to be true. There will probably be more disappointment than success, but the success outweighs the disappointment.

There´s my week! I´m happy! I´m lovin it! I´ve only got a few pictures to send this week.. Elder Whaley and I after a rain storm and a bowl of Betty Crocker´s mashed potatoes and gravy! Thanks Mom :D

I love you all!
Elder Colby Dane Heiner

P.s. Do we have a relative who served in the Buenos Aires North mission from 1988 to 1990? An Elder Heiner.. He was comps with President Agazzani..

Week 67~~Another Week Down In The Hood Of Paraguay!!

Its another week down in the hood of Paraguay.. I can´t believe it! We had a crazy busy week and a lot learned! It was pretty good, hard, but good.


QUESTIONS:

1. How did your interview go with your mission president? Did it go as planned? Are you still have Zone Conference this next week.
Ahh he´s a stud!! It was such a good interview.. First, he asked how much time I have in the mission, and it didn´t really hit me until I said it.. 15 months. Wow.
Then he gave me a challenge, he read Jacob 1:19, said some other stuff that I have written down, and told me to do it! He gave me a sweet promise if I did :D

2. How is the girl that cut her tooth out with a knife? Do you still want to be a dentist?
She´s fine! We saw her the other day on her scooter and said she was doing well.. And yes, I still want to be a dentist!

3. Are you still teaching Brother Torrez'?
Yeah, we´ve decided we´re just going to take our branch president with us to go teach from now on.. They understand everything better in Guaraní.

4. Where will Zone Conference be and how are will you have to travel?
I don´t know when it is.. Hopefully soon! We can walk to the stake center in like 20 minutes from our house, so its not too bad.

5. Do keep in touch or have you seen any of the Elders from the MTC Group that came out with you?
I´ve seen all of them since we´ve been here, its hard to keep in touch though if you´re not in the same zone. I´ve only seen Elder Salinas once, for like 5 minutes :,( I miss Elder Salinas! Elder Guevara is in my district, so thats fun :)

6. Sister Delores Hoagland asked me a few weeks ago if you are getting the stuff she sends. I keep forgetting to ask you. So are you? Make sure you write to them. Maybe you already have.
Yeah! Sorry, I haven´t mentioned it!! She´s sent me lots of goodies! All the Elders love the caramel :D THANK YOU SISTER HOAGLAND! Thanks for the letters too! I love the testimonies you write, they strengthen mine.

7. What was your most memorable experience this week?
Our shower head blew up on Saturday.. I think only people who have served in South and Central American countries know what I´m talking about.. The shower heads that shock you if you touch them. So that`s the second time that´s happened. We´re gonna fix it today, then I´m going to shower! Its gonna be great.

Here´s the best memorable experience though... Oh wow! I´m excited to tell this story! Last pday, we went out to work.. We went back to a house we contacted a few days before, and Elder Whaley and I were kind of joking back and forth, "Oh, they´re gonna say that they almost got baptized, but didn´t because they just moved and didn´t know where the church was at..." Hahaha..ha..haha. Well, we sat down with them and started talking.. Fernando (the guy) said that he met the missionaries about 10 years ago. They would always go by his house when he was younger, trying to teach his family, but the dad didn´t want to because they were Catholic. Finally, the dad lets the missionaries in to teach them and promised Fernando that if he read a part in the Book of Mormon and prayed to see if it was true, that God would answer him. Pretty typical promise, and its true! He´ll answer!! Anyways, so Fernando waited til all his family was asleep that night, got back up and read the part that the missionaries had marked. Then he prayed and went to sleep. He had a dream that he was in front of the stake center pacing back and forth, running his hand along the gate as he walked by it, and looking up at the building. He said he knows that was his answer. How cool right! Well, his ENTIRE family ended up getting baptized exept for him. He´s 24 and just got married 4 months ago to a girl who he´s known forever. They´re way cool! They´ve been reading and praying since we met them. Everything is perfect with them.. They even made us home made passion fruit juice :D Mburucuya.. mmmmm. Really though, that was probably the coolest experience I´ve had so far on my mission. Everything just feels perfect with them and the Spirit is super strong when we go to their house. We´re really excited!
I feel like that was our blessing from all of our blood, sweat, and tears from the week before. I´m starting to wonder if there´s another blessing like that just waiting around the corner...

Thanks for the pictures from the trip! That looks like it was a lot of fun!

We had a great week.. Our branch president is a stud- he looks like a Paraguayan Johnny Depp. He helped us a lot this week and is always excited to help us. Reinaldo beat me at the stick pull at ward night.. He´s the one in the picture with super long hair on the far right giving a thumbs up.. Don´t laugh at me. :P

Big gulps huh.. Welp, see ya later!
Love y´all! I hope everyone has a great week!!
Elder Colby Dane Heiner

 

 

 

 

 

Week 66~~Priesthood Power

The week is over!! I can´t believe it... We got WORKED but we´re seeing some results :D Helping people get closer to baptism. I learned a ton this week and it feels really really good. Not to mention it makes me SO happy to hear how well everyone is doing! I didn´t know Dad got up 320!! Nice work ya old fart! Thats awesome! I hope you got it on video.. I wish I could have seen it. Haley sent some awesome pictures of the boys! I can not believe how big they are getting! I don´t even recognize them hardly. They are so stinkin cute though, and it sounds like they´re good boys. I´m so excited to meet them when I get back! Alright, heres the questions n stuff..

1. What was your most amazing experience this week?
Using the Priesthood! I love it!! Every time I use it, I see a miracle. I don´t know if I´m allowed to share this or not, but I guess I´ll find out.. In my Patriarchal Blessing it says that as I exercise the Priesthood in righteousness, I´ll come to realize and understand that it is the same power Christ used to heal the sick and afflicted when He was in the earth. I have no doubt about that. I know the Priesthood has been restored and have seen the power of it manifest in times when I have used it.

2. Have you officially met your new mission president? If not, when do you think you will?
Yes! He´s aweseome! He´s a good, humble guy and he has a great family. I really miss President and Hermana Callan though. But President Agazzani is great! I think we have interviews this week and zone conference following that. It´s gonna be great! President Agazzani has hit the ground running. We´re all excited!

3. Did you make any good contacts this past week?
Yeah, we found some old investigators from the Elders from about 6 months ago.. They´re awesome! Its a family of 6 and they understand what we´re trying to get at! It makes sense to them.. It´s always nice talking to educated people. But 2 of them have a baptismal date for the 11th of August :D Natalia and Ramón, they´re brother and sister. They´re studs. We´re working with the rest of their famliy too.

4. Are you still freezing at night and in the morning? Can you get an extra blanket?
Yeah its cold here! Its a humid cold, so its bone-chilling.. I stay warm when I sleep, but other than that I just gotta suck it up. Its not terrible, but its not comfortable. Just another part of the mission! I love it!

We gave a girl a blessing this week.. I asked her why she wanted one, she said because her face and head really hurts.. I asked her what happened, and she said, "My tooth was bothering me, so I cut it out with a knife.." WHAT?! I think she´ll be ok though, she went to the doctor and got medicine.. Just don´t take your teeth out with a knife and you´ll be fine!

We´re teaching the husband of one of the sisters in the branch. We took President Sanabria over there with his wife to teach us and it was a sweet lesson! Hermano Torrez´ family all went to the grandma´s house, so it was just him, no distractions.. The only downer was that they only spoke in Guaraní, so I have no idea what was said, all I know is I felt the Spirit and President said a lot of his doubts were solved. We´re just going to take President Sanabria with us wherever we go! Lessons just go better when he´s there. He´s a convert of 3 years.. He was studying to be a Priest in the Catholic church, but then met the missionaries, read the Book of Mormon, asked God if it was true, and got an answer. A little while later he was put as the ward mission leader in the 2nd Branch here in C. Oviedo, then put as Branch President of the 4th Branch (ours)! He´s a stallion.

So yeah, it was a great week! A lot more happened but I can´t write everything here because of time, but its in my journal! Don´t worry Mom :D I gotta go write President Agazzani now! I´ll write again next week!
Love y´all!
Elder Colby Dane Heiner