Week 74 Mba' erejapota che socio kuera!!

What´s up peeps! HEY!! I didn´t know Jeri Lynn got her call!! Where is she going?! Tell her I said congrats!! That´s way exciting :D Welp, I´m still down here in Paraguay.. For almost a year and a half.. Wow. I´ve been thinking about my mission a lot lately and everything I´ve done here. I´m so happy I came! I´ve changed a lot and I feel like I have a good direction of what I want to do with my life. I don´t have any regrets or complaints of how the mission has been for me. I´m sure I havn´t baptized or helped as many people as other Elders have, but I´m very content with the change that I´ve seen within myself. I´ve found the secret of happiness.. Are you ready? Live the Gospel. Not just on Sundays, but every day of the week. There it is. I didn´t understand why the church has so many "rules" before I came on the mission, but now I know and understand. Thanks to modern-day revelation, we have the commandments so that God can bless us! Members of the Church don´t have vices, we don´t do stupid things that put our life in danger, we live the commandments... And God blesses us for it! Like Mosiah 2:41 says, we´re "blessed in all things, spiritual and temporal.." I´m glad we have the commandments! :D

QUESTIONS:

1. How are Venancio, Ramon, and Fransisco and his girlfriend progressing this past week? Have you had some good teaching moments with them?
They´re doing great! Well, we can´t find Ramón.. I think people that served in Latin countries understand how it is a little better. For example, you go and clap their house for the 2nd or 3rd appointment, the lights are on, the door is open, you hear people talking... You clap again and they realize that someone is there! They look out the window and see the missionaries, and tuck their head back behind the curtain or hide in the corner thinking that we didn´t see them.. Then they send one of the women out to say, "Mi papá no está..." , "Bueno.. ¿Puedes preguntarle cuando va a estar?" And they go back to ask!! Then come back to say they just got in the shower.. So yeah, we havn´t found Ramón for over a week..

2. Is Venancio still getting baptized on the 22nd?
Heck yes he is!! He´s a stud! I´ll keep you posted on him.

3. Did you get your air conditioner installed yet?
No not yet.. Our landlord said he´s gonna do it, but I´m tempted to get a chisel and a sledge hammer to do it myself!

4. What was your most memorable experience this week?
Umm... Haha. We went to a members house for lunch and we were enjoying a nice bowl of Paraguay soup with a bone it it.. And all of a sudden, the sister who gave us the food started beating her younger brother.. I dont know what the poor kid did to deserve it, he´s probably the most chill kid in the branch.. But she ripped his shirt off of him and was slapping his back. Not to mention she probably had him by 3 inches and a good 80 pounds.. The weird part though, is that they didn´t make any noise.. It was like they were fighting at a museum or an art gallery or something. Or it was like watching the TV without sound.. Haha. So she went back in the house and I sang the words "when there´s love at home.." to my companion. We couldnt hold it in haha we were laughing pretty hard. Then the sister came back out, all out of breath, and said, "Hows the food Elders?" There was no apology or anything haha. Crazy stuff.

5. How is the branch doing?
It´s good.. It´s growing! A lot of the inactive and less active members are starting to come back :D Everyone is getting fired up to do missionary work! We´ve been giving more service for the members and they´re warming up to us a little bit more.. Everyone thinks we´re so serious! So we´re gonna spend more time with the members this week to show them you can have fun while you share the Gospel! I´m gonna show the Spanish speaking Elders in Idaho whats up when I get back.. Splits!

6. How are things with you and Elder Whaley? Are you guys still getting along?
He´s a stud.. I´ve learned a ton from him! He´s a way good example and I feel like I´ve progressed a lot spiritually with him.

7. Is your branch president still supportive and excited with what you are doing?
Yeah he´s always asking us when we need his help again! We haven´t really needed him lately because we haven´t really found any new investigators.. But yeah, he´s a stud branch president!

8. Are you walking around with your machete's looking for service? Ha!
No.. We went one day and just started sweeping out front of the house of one of the member families and they ended up giving us lunch.. It was pretty cool! They lightened up a lot with us!

We found a family of 5 people this last week! Well, they found us! We just had an appointment fall and were walking up the street, all of a sudden a drunk guy starts calling us over to his house. Normally we wouldn´t have gone, but we decided to! So we got there and found out that they almost got baptized a year ago but the missionaries were moved out! They don´t know what happened to them. They had been drinking some wine because it was the wife´s birthday.. But they´re way cool! They love us! They have 3 younger daughters, I think the oldest one is like 11 or something, and they were way excited to see us! So we´re going over tonight to celebrate the youngest daughter´s birthday! She´s like 5 I think.. They´re awesome!

I´ve been studying more in the Bible lately, looking for evidences of the church that Christ formed.. For example, Christ´s church should declare divine authority, it should have prophets and apostles.. There should be no paid positions, and other things like that.. I´ve got a list of about 24 things like that that I got from the returned missionary of our branch.. It´s legit! So I´m gonna finish that today.. I think the most important thing though, is asking God through prayer. You can have all the evidences in the world, and it still won´t be valid without the confimation by the Holy Ghost.. Like it will never be good enough without an answer from God. Pray. Ask.. and be willing to follow the impressions of the Holy Ghost!

That´s my two bits! This week was bomb! And this next week is going to be better! :D
Love y´all!!
Elder Colby Dane Heiner

Week 73

Hey everyone! How´s it goin? I´m just sweatin down here in Paraguay! Its going to get HOT..

That kills me to hear about Elder Lamb´s dad.. I´m speachless. He always talked about how great his dad was; it sounds like he was a great guy. I´m greatful for the Plan of Salvation.

1. Most memorable experience?
We had just finished eating lunch on Wednesday and Roberto (our branch´s only returned missionary) called us and asked where our new house is.. Then he said, "Alright, I´m coming over with a friend!" So we met them out front of our house and he asked, "Where are you going right now?" We answered, "We´re gonna go find someone to teach right now..", "Do you have an appointment right now?", "No...", "Well you do now! Go get some chairs." Roberto brought his friend, Venancio, over to start taking the missionary lessons. He´s 19.. Stud. He already said he wants to go on a mission! So he´s gonna get baptized on the 22nd! The lessons we have with him our really spiritual and he recognizes the difference. He also came to church yesterday and said he really liked it. How´s that for a miracle! We´ve been working our tails off!

2. Is there an example of when you felt the spirit the best or felt the most inspired this week?
Yesterday when we were teaching the Gospel Principles class, I understood more about fasting. I know that understanding is one of the ways the Spirit works, and everything just made sense.. I learned a lot more about fasting yesterday, and I realized a lot of things I didn´t know before. The church meetings were really good yesterday.

3. What was the best meal you ate this week?
Probably the burgers that Elder Whaley made! They were way good!! I think today they might get topped though.. We´re eating with President Sanabria and his family again. I´m excited!

4. What was your most humbling experience this week?
I don´t really have a single experience that stands out.. I would say though, that during my morning studies when I feel the Spirit is what humbles me. I can´t really explain it. I get myself ready in the morning, ready to receive personal revelation, and I take my time in what I study.. Like really creating a spiritual environment where the Holy Ghost can work within me. There have been times when I feel rushed in my personal study in the morning because there are so many things I want to learn, but I´m finding that if I just take a breather and let the Spirit be there and guide me, I´m edified more and my day turns out better. I´ve felt a big change in my life just by doing little things like that.

So yeah, we had a pretty good week this week! We have some people getting ready for baptism! Ramón, the shoe repair guy is progressing! He said everything makes sense.. Now he just needs to pray to feel the truth of what we´ve been teaching him! He´s a stud. We´re also teaching one of the sons in a part-member family.. His name is Fransisco, he and his girlfriend have 2 kids and they almost got baptized a little over a year ago! But there were some problems between the members of the branch.. But now is the time!

I don´t really know what else to say about my week this last week.. So I´ll just tell you all how greatful I am for the Gospel! I know that God answers prayers, He lives and wants us to be happy because we´re his children. I have come to know that Jesus Christ is my Savior, and only through Him and His grace, am I saved. I´m grateful that He came and laid the path for me so that I can return to live with my family forever in Their eternal presence. I know that we can be forgiven of our sins. It doesn´t matter who we are or what we´ve done, He is always, always willing to forgive us. I now that it is God´s will that we return to live with him. We cannot live with Him if we have sins, that´s why He is so willing to forgive us. All he requires is a "broken heart and a contrite spirit" 3 Nephi 9:20. I know that our Heavenly Father lives and speaks to us today trough the mouths of his servants, the prophets and apostles. I know revelation exists today and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a living church, because God lives. I know that if we live the commandments, we will be happy, we will be blessed in this life and in the life to come. I know that each one of us has the equal oportunity to return to the presence of our Heavenly Father. It´s hard at times, but Christ made it possible, and it will be worth it.

Realmente sé que estas cosas son verdaderas. Mi Padre Celestial me las hizo saber mediante el poder del Espíritu Santo. Yo sé que Dios vive y que Él nos ama y quiere que le obedezcamos. Yo sé que hay un Señor, una fe, y un bautismo únicamente.. No hay muchos caminos, hay dos. El del Señor, y el del mundo (Satanás..) Podemos ser felices, podemos ser bendecidos. Estoy muy agradecido por la oportunidad que tengo de estar aquí en Paraguay, aunque estoy super lejos de mi familia y todo. Dios me ha consolado y me ha fortalecido muchísimo. Este es mi pequeño testimonio y es un gusto compartirlo con ustedes y lo comparto en el nombre sagrado de Jesucristo, Amén.

I hope everyone has a great week! I know I will! Thanks for your prayers!
I love you!!
Elder Colby Dane Heiner

Week 72 Zone Conference & Pictures!!

Whats up family!! I can´t believe this week is already over and its pday again.. Welp, lets get it goin!

QUESTIONS:

1. What was your most memorable experience this week?
Zone Conference!!!

2. Did anything funny happen?
Yeah! I taught a Guaraní guy English! Hahaha.. He was at one of our investigators houses, drunk, and only speaks Guaraní. He´s hilarious! He found out we don´t speak Guaraní so he just did hand signals to us and they don´t make any sense.. Whenever he sees us, he gives us a little smirk and tips his hat to us.. But I taught him to say, "Hey... Whats up... What are you doing.." He did really well, suprisingly. But it was hilarious. :D

3. Any creatures or creepy crawly things that you would like to tell us about in this area?
Our house has tons of little lizards and cocroatches in it.. There´s lots of mangy dogs here.. Other than that, I havent seen anything too crazy. In Encarnación there were a lot of tirantulas..

4. Do you have air conditioning in this apartment?
Not yet.. We´re talking to our landlord so he can put a hole in the wall so we can put it in. We have a unit, but nowhere to put it yet.

5. Any new investigators?
Not really.. We´ve really been struggling lately trying to find new investigators. We taught a huge family this last week, but they told us not to come back when we went back by.

6. Do you have any favorite foods lately? Any food from home you are craving?
Not really. I´m just used to eating Paraguay food now. I know I´m going to short circuit when I have my first American meal. But yeah, lots of pasta.. Lots of bread.. Oatmeal.. Thats about it. I miss American candy and junkfood, but I´ll have it again someday. I´m not really dying for anything though. I´ve been craving some good home made syrup though.

7. How was zone conference? Did you see Elder Salinas?

It was awesome! Elder Zeballos and his wife came to speak to us! It was awesome!!! AND ELDER SALINAS WAS THERE!!!! YEAH!! Thats the first time in like a year that I´ve seen him.. Finally! He´s such a stud. We talked a little bit about college.. We both wanna go go BYU-I. Its gonna be great.

So yeah, we had zone conference on Friday and it was awesome! We learned a ton about finding new people to teach. Hermana Zeballos talked about being human.. Those werent her exact words but thats what she was getting at. Have fun with the work, enjoy the people and teaching the Gospel. I feel like we´ve just been robots lately, walking around and talking to people.. Not really teaching to their needs. I feel like we´ve just been getting numbers and I hate that. It was kinda like the email Mom sent me last week, she said to not forget to be human.. Then Hermana Zeballos said it too. She gave a great talk. They all did! But I think I liked hers the best. So I´m gonna come back down to earth and enjoy by time sharing the Gospel with the people here in Paraguay.

I´m excited for this week! We´re gonna see miracles and its gonna be awesome.

Last week, the son of the sister that washes our clothes got hit by a car.. He was on his motorcycle on the side of the road and he got hit by a drunk driver. The kid that was in the car just took off and left Cristino there on the side of the road. Don´t worry though, he´s alive! We went over last night with President Sanabria and taught them and gave Cristino a blessing. I love having the Priesthood and being able to serve others with it. That´s really why we have the Priesthood.. To serve others. There is nothing we can do for ourselves with the Priesthood, everything we do with it is to help others. It´s incredible!

We pranked Elder Speedy (my district leader) on Saturday!! Elder Whaley´s parents sent him a package with poppyseed muffin mix, and Elder Speedy has a muffin pan.. So we made muffins to eat on the bus ride to Ciudad del Este for zone conference.. Well, on Saturday, Elder Speedy and his companion needed some baptismal clothes so they came over to grab it. We left in on our front porch because we had people to teach.. So what we did is put flour and anise (its like a seasoning that they put in bread here..) to make it look like poppyseed muffin mix, and put it back in the muffin package and taped a huge note on it to cover the spot where we had ripped it open.. Elder Speedy called and said, "I love you guys so much! I didnt expect to even get the muffin pan back.. Let alone the bag of poppyseed muffin mix!!" Hahahaha.. We called him to ask how they turned out and he said, "I think I messed it up.. They didnt come out right.." The directions call for a half cup of milk and thats it! Haha..Then he said, "They just tasted like flour.." We thought he was gonna call us back and say, "Good one guys.. Real funny" before he even put them in the oven... Ohh it was hilarious! He said hes gonna get us back, but he wont be able to..

Well, there you have it! There´s my week! If there´s anything I forgot to say here, its in the journal! Dont worry Mom :D
Love you all! Have a great week!!
Elder Colby Dane Heiner