Week 79 Creepy Guy got put in Jail--Tried to attack sister missionaries!

Yeah, where´s the time going?! I can´t believe it..

QUESTIONS:

1. Air conditioner yet? How hot has it been getting there? Are you in the triple didgets yet?
Nope.. We have to move again! Fetch.. Our landlords are building another house on the backside of the one we live in, and they wanna connect them, so they´re kicking us out in December. So we´re looking for a new house. But I think it´s gotten above 100 a few times. It usually stays within the 90´s and drops down to about 80 in the night. Needless to say, its hot ALL THE TIME..

2. How is your branch president and his family doing lately?
They´re studs! We´re eating lunch with them today. I wanna take a picture with them. We´re gonna help president learn how to study Preach My Gospel.. We´re pretty much pros by now..

3. How is the RM that you have been helping?
He´s awsome! He came to church yesterday and brought Venancio! Our investigator! Roberto even got up and shared his testimony! I was sitting up on the stage and I kept eying him so he would get up. He´s awesome though, probably one of my favorite people here in Paraguay!

4. Do you have any investigators?
Yeah, Venancio! He´s the most solid one we have. We´re teaching a couple families too, and we´re trying to get them to church, but they don´t have transport and live far from the chapel.

5. Have you had to speak in church recently?
Yep! Every Sunday :D I think I´m just gonna wing my homecoming talk, I´ve gotten pretty good at doing that! Plus it helps me learn the scriptures better :)

6. How is Elder Gull doing?
He´s awesome! He´s one of my favorite companions. We get along really well.

7. What was your most memorable experience this past week? Have you had some faith promoting experiences this past week that you can share?
Well, remember that guy that kissed me a couple weeks ago? He struck again.. But this time it was a little worse. He saw the sister missionaries here and got out of his car to try to persuade them inside, but they said no obviously. So he started attacking one of them. One of the ladies that lives near by saw it, called the police, and came out and started beating him with a metal rod. So he´s in jail now.. Right where he belongs. I feel bad, but people like that shouldn´t be out in public.
Other than that, I´ve just had really good studies this last week. I´ve been cross-referencing my Bible with the Book of Mormon so I can get a better understanding of everything. It´s been awesome! I love the scriptures! That and Roberto teaches us a lot :D People always try and tear down the value of the Church, but he´s showed us a lot of scriptures that support what we believe. Things that are taught in the Bible that talk about the Restoration of the Gospel, Plan of Salvation (including the Kingdoms of Glory), and the Docrine of Christ. Roberto was going to be a Catholic priest, so he knows the Bible like the back of his hand.. Then he prayed about the Book of Mormon and got his answer. So yeah, he teaches a lot of stuff from the Bible. Learning from him has made me realize how much we really need the Bible. There are so many missionaries here that only use the Book of Mormon and toss the Bible to the side.. It shouldn´t be like that. Like it says in Ezequiel 37, "they will be one in your hand..." So I´ve really been focusing on using them both! And I´m learning a ton more! I love the scriptures!

We had a pretty good week! I´m happy with how things turned out. We didn´t teach a whole lot of lessons, but we did teach people. So many missionaries are caught up in the numbers and it drives me CRAZY!! I didn´t come on a mission to rack up a ton of numbers, teach 100 lessons a week or anything like that. I´m here to invite everyone to come unto Christ. I don´t care about the numbers. That´s not what drives me. I want to help people last.. To endure to the end. Not baptize a ton of people and have them fall away a month later. I got a letter from my last convert, Felipe. I baptized him in my last area with Elder Bybee! :D Here´s what Felipe wrote:
"Hello my brother! It´s been a long time, huh? My trip to Brazil was successful and of great advantage for me. When I read your letter, it made me happy to know that you remembered me. You and Elder Bybee were the people that helped me to know for myself that there IS a true church of Christ, and thanks to the example you two have shown me, I feel like I´m a new person today with my family and all the other people in my life. I was sad to know that you were moved to a different area, but I thank God that he sent you here to Artigas to teach me about His church. I have received the Melquisedec (I don´t now how to spell that in English..) Priesthood, and I was able to baptize my oldest son, Santiago (James) last week. Vilda (his gf) is active in the church again and her mother is staying strong as well, of course. The members here in Artigas are growing a lot and are excited to be members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Thank you for your example and your secrifice as a missionary. I know that we are in the true church and that Jesus Christ lives. I hope you can visit us again one day, my dear friend. Your friend, Felipe Santiago Ocampo Bogado."
People like that make the hard times in the mission worth it.

I love you!! Have a great week!
Elder Colby Dane Heiner

 

 

Week 78~Conference Week end was BOMB!!

Hey whats up y´all! Conference weekend was BOMB!! I loved it! I can´t believe they changed the ages! They´re so lucky!! Isn´t there a scripture that talks about the truth coming out of the mouth of babes? I don´t remember.. But yeah, crazy!
Cale wrote me!! I´m so pumped right now!! So this part will be for him:
Dude! I miss you too! I started a letter like 6 months ago, but never got around to finishing it.. I´m just gonna write a new one though! Nice work with the weight! I´m impressed.. I´ll be hittin the gym too when I get back! Alright, gonna write the fam now.. Love you man! Thanks for everything! Btw, I´m still not a jypsy.. Ni Fariseo.. Gracias por todo lo que me enseñaste acerca de la misión. Recuerdo tus consejos cada día. Te quiero mucho hermano, nos vemos muy pronto.. Bueno, en seis meses jaja :D Firma: Salpica de la Noche....

QUESTIONS:

1. Silly question, did you enjoy General Conference? What was your favorite talk or two?
It was BOMB!! I loved the talk by Elder Bednar! He´s one of my favorites.. I liked a lot of the other ones too, but I don´t remember which ones. I´ll have to look at my notes!

2. Important question...next Fall where would you like to live at BYU-I? Sister Salinas was asking me what your preference was. She said she doesn't know where she should try to get Taylor in at and that she hasn't been there since she was in school some 20 plus years ago. She says we need to have registration done by October 15th. I need to enlist Haley's help. Did you sign necessary documents to defer? I'm hoping all I have to do is make a phone call. I need to be getting all that lined up this next week.
I really liked Somerset.. But there´s a lot of new apartments down there now.. I really don´t care. After living in Paraguay for 2 years I think I could just put up a tent in the football field.. I remember Navoo was pretty nice.. Try to find somewhere were I can hang up my hammock! :D You should probably put up some posts or something somewhere at the house too.. It would be wise ;)

3. Did you have some good successes this past week with finding people to teach?
Yeah we found some good people, so hopefully they progress! We did divisions with the zone leaders and found some good people.

4. Has working with the members been paying off yet?
Yeah! We have a lunch appt. on Wednesdays now! How awesome is that!

5. What was your most memorable experience this past week?
Oh wow.. Where to begin haha. There´s a story. Something.. truly.. unforgettable. I´ll write more about that later.. But we ate cow rectum this week! They bread it and fry it in oil! They call it Mondongo! They should call it MonDUNGo! hehe..

6. Do you ever get together with your district on PDay and go do something together? Do they have fast food places at all where you live?
No, we can only get together at the last pday of the change.. Pretty lame huh. So we just sit around our house all day. I lay in my hammock :) We might be getting AC this week! YEAH!!!

Alright.. You ready for this story? Here we go! So on Saturday between conference sessions, Elder Gull and I had to run to an ATM to get our rent money out (our landlord was getting impatient.) On our way there, casually walking, a car pulled off the road right in front of us. No big deal right? I saw a man get out and start walking towards us, and I said to Elder Gull, "Oh fetch.. This guys crazy!" (I´d met him before) So he says to me, in broken English, "Please help me, my brother! I need you to talk to Bill Gates for me! I need him to donate money to my foundation, I´m the president! And my friend here is the vice president!" (his friend was about 80 years old and drunk..) So his friend gets out of the car to shake our hands then got back in.. Then the crazy guy says, "Come, I show you.." He then proceeded to draw a map of the United States in the dirt with a straw.. He pointed to Miami and said, "I lived here..." Then pointed to Seattle and said, "Bill gets lives here.. You call him and tell him to send me money!" I told him I couldn´t, but he insisted. So I told him that Elder Gull and I are from Germany and that we don´t speak English (funny right? he was speaking to us in English..) So after about 10 minutes of his nonsense, I told him that I would call Billy and ask... So he thanked me by giving me a hug. But wait there´s more! He kissed my right cheek, then went to plant one dead on, but I was too quick! I turned my head and he got my left cheek. It was probably one of the most awkward moments I´ve had.. He asked if I was Hitler´s son, but I said now.. But that I was related to Einstein. I kind of felt bad for fibbing to him, but I rationalized it because he didn´t remember me from the other times we´ve talked.. I´m sure he forgot all about it. Then as we shake his hand to leave, we turn and see 2 drunk guys crossing the street and they stopped us! Great, now what?! So the one puts his hand on the top of my head and says laughing, "You have a lot of sins." So I said, "Thanks! You too!" They both started laughing and said that I have a lot more sins than Elder Gull because I´m a lot taller than him.. What a night!

But hey, I´m alive! I´m not sure how many diseases I´ve accumulated here in Paraguay with all the people that have kissed me.. But I feel fine! I think.. haha

Really though, I reflected a lot this conference weekend about my time here in Paraguay and about all the things I´ve learned and changes I´ve had. I´m SO happy I came! I wouldn´t trade it for anything in the world. There´s no place I´d rather be right now. I felt the influence of the Holy Ghost so strongly these past couple days and received a lot of answers and made lots of connections! Even though the power went out during Elder Oaks´ talk, right after Jerry told the missionaries to come back! I still want to know what happened.. I´ve found a deep love for the scriptures here on my mission. I enjoy fasting now, and I love my Patriarchal Blessing. I know my Heavenly Father is pleased with me, and I´m so happy that He´s helped me out so much. I really do know that Christ restored His true church. It´s here on the earth today, and we can know if we just pray and ask! It´s that easy. I feel like my testimony has grown at a constant rate, not by big events.. I´ve learned that for me, that´s how my testimony will grow. Line upon line, precept upon precept. I remember when I went to the Boise Youth Spectacular, my group leader Afton wrote me a letter and told me that my testimony would be unshakable one day. I can truthfully say that it is unshakable! She was absolutely right. I have that letter with me and read it from time to time. I´m glad to be a missionary! The age has changed.. Is my cousin Jacob gonna start his papers?! I think every time he writes me, he tells me about how badly he wants to be serving the Lord. DO IT BUDDY! You wont regret it!! I promise.

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

P.s. I´ll take more pics with Elder Gull this week!

Week 77 October 1st~Bon dia a voces...

Hey y´all! Whats up?! I´m just roasting down here! The heats picking up.. Well, here´s this week´s letter :D

1. Tell us about Elder Gull. How many are in his family? How are you two getting along? You said he came out the same time as you...was he in your mtc district? Are you showing him the area and setting a good example for him? I'm sure you are!
Elder Gull is a stud. It´s been fun getting to know him these past couple weeks.. We´ve been getting along really well! It´s been nice. In total, there are 9 in his family, 7 kids and the parents. We came from the MTC in different districts, but we have a group picture from right when we got off the plane. He said he really likes the area we´re in and we´re both excited to work with the members! That´s something that hasn´t been done here for a long time...

2. So it has been one year this week that you had your Hernia Operation! We are wanting to know how it is feeling? Do you ever feel side effects?
Haha its funny you ask! It´s almost as if it never went away... I´m fine though, it doesn´t slow me down or give me any problems. But hey, at least it was a fun adventure here in Paraguay, right?! I´ll just get it fixed when I get home.

3. What are you doing for exercise these days?
Well, because of question number 2, I don´t do number 3.. Sometimes I´ll lay down on the ground and do dead-man stretches. Those area always nice.

4. Have you eaten any different food recently? How are your cooking skills coming along? Do you enjoy cooking?
I actually really like cooking now! I make a mean pasta! I make a home made sauce that´s pretty bomb. I like to think I´m a decent cook!

5. Are you going to be able to watch General Conference this week end? If so, where will you watch it?
Yeah, I´ll be watching it at the district center! Aka a Paraguay stake center..

6. What was your most memorable experience this past week? Any funny stories for us?
I don´t know.. Not a whole lot happened this week! We haven´t been able to find any of the news we found a couple weeks ago.. And I´m tired of clapping houses. So we´re starting to work through the members, clapping houses when we have to. The work goes so much faster when the members are involved! Roberto is coming back to church! He´s the returned missionary from our branch.. Yes, THE returned missionary :D haha our branch only has 1..

7. Do you ever wish you had a bicycle?
Yeah, it would be pretty nice, but after reading Jake´s letter I´m kinda glad we don´t! Well, those experiences he had were really awesome, but how he described the whole bike scene.. I´ll just stick to line 11.

I´m excited for Roberto to come back to church! He used to be in the district presidency here in Oviedo, but there was some stuff that went down so a lot, a majority, of the members went inactive. But Roberto is a stud! EVERYONE knows him, so we´re gonna start teaching his friends and baptizing them. I can see it going really well, kinda like when I was in Santa Rita and Jorge would call us all the time so we could teach his friends. I know there´s people here ready to accept the Gospel, just the way we´ve been trying to find them isn´t very effective. Our area is huge.. It doesn´t make sense just walking around all day clapping houses.. We´ll do that too when we have to, but we´re gonna start working like crazy with the members.. Teaching and training them how to teach, giving them service, eating lunch with them. Help them to see that missionary work is fun! It really is! And you feel so good after sharing the Gospel with someone! And even better when they accept it. True doctrine breaks barriers.

I feel like now i need to pray and fast more often. Those 2 things help SO much! I used to not understand why we fast so much in the church.. But now I do. I can´t describe it, but you know what I mean! It´s incredible.. When I fast, I understand a lot more about the Atonement because I feel it´s influence. Elder Bednar gave a talk where he spoke of the power of the Atonement.. It´s probably one of my most favorite talks :D Speaking of Elder Bednar.. He´s coming to my mission! In about 3 weeks! How´s that for a suprise! The north mission is gonna be there too. It´s gonna be HUGE! I´m really excited :D

Sorry it´s kinda short this week, I got a lot of emails this week! I´ll send pictures, don´t worry!

Welp, love y´all! Have a great week!
Elder Colby Dane Heiner