Week 84~First News of Arrival Home in April!!!!!!

Hey everyone! Its been another week already.. They just feel like days
now. I feel like I go to bed Monday night, and when I wake up, it`s
Monday morning again. Crazy!
Sorry I can`t email anyone back unless its family! But I wanna thank
John and Linda and Greg and Jolene for the emails from last week..
They helped a lot! So, thank you, thank you!

QUESITONS:

1. How is the interviewing of your Branch priesthood going with the
Branch President?
President is always there to do the interviews.. The hard part is
getting people to come to them! There`s a Temple trip on December 8th
and President wants to get all the youth there.. And all the other
members, but they need to go to their interviews!

2. Are you feeling like things are getting better within the Branch
the last couple of weeks?
It`s getting a little better, I think the members are feeling the
Spirit in church so they`ve been coming earlier and earlier each week.
Even though they still show up late, its still progress! We`re just
going to retain the members that come and help their family members
that are fallen away. I`ve seen that the people where the whole family
is inactive, it`s because they don`t understand the doctrine or their
covenants.  We can invite them all we want and promise blessings,
but they still have their agency.

3. Do you have any new investigators?
Not really.. We have really good investigators right now that have
accepted baptism, but they haven`t gone to church. So we`re gonna go
to their houses Sunday morning and walk to church with them. That`s
always fun!

4. Have you moved yet? Why can't I remember the answer to that
question without going back through letters?
Yeah! We moved out of that little place! We`ve been in the new place
for almost a month! Its soo nice! But I haven`t had air conditioning
for 5 months.. I`m still waiting on the mission office to send us an
A/C unit.

5. Okay....Big Question.......What about the Trunky papers you
mentioned last week? Do you know the date that you are coming home
yet? If not, when will you know?
Yeah, I think I`ll be getting home the 19th of April, a Friday. I`m
not sure though. I think we leave Paraguay on Thursday the 18th. It
makes me think of a song I heard once by Phil Collins.. It`s from
Brother Bear..

6. Did you have any funny experiences this week that you could share with us?
Nothing funny really happened, but I had fun on divisions with Elder
Izurieta! He`s my new district leader. He came over to my area to see
what the work is like here. I really like him because he`s down to
earth. So many of the leaders here are super robots and all they care
about is numbers. It was refreshing to have that! It was the same from
2 weeks ago when we did divisions with the zone leaders, Elder Wilson
is a stud. But I feel like a lot of the leaders let it get to their
head and think they have power over everyone else. I think Elder
Bednar said it right when he came to visit us.. "How do you know your
mission president didn`t call you to be a zone leader so he could keep
an eye on you?" They always have training meetings and stuff.. So I
hate that when they think they`re better than everyone  and all they care
about is having good numbers. Like people with baptismal date vs. people
who went to church.. On theirnumbers they have 14 people with date, and
4 people in church.. That just means they went out and put baptismal date with
10 more peopleafter church so their numbers look good when they call them in that
night. Blah blah blah.

7. What was you most memorable experience this past week?
I liked church yesterday. I love the Sacrament and the scriptures..
And feeling the Spirit. Yesterday, 2 of the youth gave talks! It was
my first Sunday here without giving a talk! Woohoo! It was nice to
just sit back and listen.

Well, I guess Thanksgiving is coming up huh.. I don`t know when it is.
They don`t have that here, obviously. There weren`t any pioneers! But
after living in a different country on the other side of the world,
I`ve really come to appreciate where I`m from. I love the United
States! We are SO blessed to live there. I`m really proud to be an
American, because I`m free and I live in a great place. There`s order
in our country, its a nice place to live, it`s clean, there`s real
roads, they enforce the law.. People are courtious and polite and
educated. I come from a great family with great parents who love me
and have taken care of me my whole life. I`ve never EVER been beaten
or yelled at by my parents. Thats the norm here. It`s normal to see
little kids carrying a 40 oz bottle of beer to take to their dad. Or
be walking down the street and hear a slap, then baby cries, then a
yelling mother. There`s nasty dogs (and cows and horses and pigs..)
that just roam the streets here with no owners. I took my life for
granted before I came here. I just expected everything I had, but
after being here, it made me grateful to have a house to live in,
clothes to wear and food to eat. Not to mention the luxuries.. Air
conditioning, hot OR cold water, a car, a garage, house and street
numbers, nice roofing, CARPET, walking around barefoot in the house..
Nice smelling fabric softner. I will NEVER complain about doing dishes
again.. In the States all you have to do is rinse them off, and put
them in the dishwasher.

I could go on and on.. I love my family and my country. I have the
best parents in the world. I love the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints and all my brothers and sisters there. I`m thankful
for the morals and standards I have and for the Gospel in my life. I`m
thankful for a living prophet of God in the earth today and his 12
apostles. I`m grateful for my church leaders and teachers and their
efforts. I`m thankful for the Atonement and for the hope and joy it
brings me. I love the ordinances.. I think I spelled that right.. If
not, ordenanzas! I know I`m going to live with my family forever, yes,
even after death. I`m thankful for Temples!

Life`s good, I`m happy. Thanks for everything you do.
Thanks Mom and Dad, Derrek, Drake, Dan, Haley, and Shaunie! I love you
guys so much!
I love my friends too, and everyone else. I hope you all have a great week!
Love you!!
Elder Colby Dane Heiner

**I am guessing that this is Elder Heiner's new District Leader Elder Izurieta
The other pictures are what his apt. was before they moved and after they moved.
A little difference!

Week 83 Onward ever Onward

Well, luckily this week wasn´t as stressful! I´ll tell you about it.. But first, I´ll answer the questions.

1.  How many leaders do you have in your branch that fulfill, or are capable of fulfilling their callings?  Any Elders Quorum Pres., High Priest leader, Relief Society Pres.??
We have our branch president, we´re his councelors. There´s an elder´s quorum president that just recently moved back from Ciudad del Este, but doesn´t do much to help out right now. And a relief society president that doesn´t do anything on Sundays.. So there are a few callings, but they´re not really being magnified.

2.  Would your District President and his wife, as well as your Branch President and his wife work with you in a focused effort to strengthen your branch!
Our district president doesn´t do anything. Am I allowed to say that? For example, for General Conference, we had to call him to come set everything set up.. And when he gets there, 10 mins late, he´s got bed head, a dirty polo, jeans, and crocks.. Then he leaves again. On top of that, he literally does nothing. Well, he´ll go out with the missionaries from his branch every now and again. I can´t imagine President Beus being like that.. He gets it done! But what about this guy? They have the same responsabilities!
Our branch president on the other hand, is a stud. He always askes us when he can come help us. I told him that the best way he can help right now, is by interviewing the members! Helping them progress towards the Temple. So we´ll start there. That will help a ton! So he´s gonna print off the list of members and start interviewing all the sealed families, then all the people that are endowed, then those who are able to go to the temple.

3.  I know you have Roberto, who recently returned from his mission.  Is there any other priesthood brethren, or sisters, who would step up if you made a big deal out of your need for their help?
I´m not sure. We just need more priesthood! That´s where the interviews will be helpful.. There´s a lot of priesthood holders here, like 16 of them, but they´re just inactive! And their priesthood doesn´t have power because they´re drinking again and doing other bad stuff.. So they can´t help their families either. Roberto called the Temple and put all their names on the prayer roll, so I think that will help a lot too.

4.  How many full families do you have in your branch who are semi to fully active?
Full familes.. President and his family, the guy who sometimes teaches the Book of Mormon class and his family, and his daughter and son in law. All the rest are the sisters and their kids.. and the husbands are at home.

5.  What was your most memorable experience?
I loved my talk yesterday.. I felt really good when I was speaking and everyone was paying attention. When I give talks now, I just use scriptures.. Sometimes a story, but I just like feeding pure doctrine. I spoke on the Rock of our Redeemer. We always here Matthew 16:18 (I think that´s the reference..) "upon this rock, I will edify my church.." from the Catholics, but they totally say it wrong. They always say, "You are Peter, and upon YOU I will edify my church.." But that´s not what the verse says! So I explained what the "rock" is. I used 1 Cor. 10:4, Acts 2:38+, Efesians4:11-12, stuff like that. I´ll have to show you when I get home, I have it all marked in my scriptures. I also explained the story of the Good Samaritin, how Christ used it to explain the Plan of Salvation. I felt the Spirit super strong and I felt relieved when I finished. It was just a cool experience for me of how the Spirit guided my words. I know it was like that, because people payed attention! 

I got my "trunky papers" today.. I guess they´re sending it in the email now. They sent them in the mail before. It just askes what positions of leadership you served in and what airport is closest to your house.. I can´t believe how fast the time has gone by! I only have 5 months left. It´s almost been 2 years since I got my call! It´s been a good experience. If I could just take the testimony and knowledge I´ve gained here home with me, I´d be happy. I feel blessed because I´ll be able to take more than that with me. I´ll get to be neighbors with my converts in the Celestial Kingdom! I love the mission, no matter how hard it gets at times, it´s the best thing I´ve ever done and I´m glad I came!

Sorry Mom, I was lazy this week and didn´t charge my battery on my camera, so I didn´t take any pictures. My battery goes dead 2 days after I charge it.. I´m gonna try to find a new one. But I´ll send new pictures next week for sure!

I think I´m going bald.

Love you!! Have a great week!
Elder Colby Dane Heiner

P.s. Tell Drake and Nicole congrats!! I´m super excited for them! I´m excited to meet her one day :D

Week 82 Another 6 Weeks in Coronel Oviedo!

Don´t worry, Kristin, I´m getting your emails! Thanks for writing me.. I love the stories!

QUESTIONS:

1. Did you get transferred? All the typical questions! Where are you? Who is your companion? Where is he from? How many are in his family?
Nope! Still here! Looks like I´ll be in another area for 6 months.. Santa Rita and here! Elder Gull and I are still together :D

2. If you were transferred how is this area?

3. Is there a Ward or a Branch?
It´s still a branch hanging on by the skin of its teeth.. I don´t think I´ve ever been so streesed in my life! Am I allowed to vent a little? Welp, I´m going to..
This is by far the most challenging area I´ve had so far. I don´t even know where to start. I try to keep positive and keep pushing but sometimes I feel like I can´t do anything. All the ex-branch and district presidents are inactive and their families are completely destroyed.. families that were sealed in the Temple. The members never show up on time to church, no matter how often we pass by their houses to kindly invite them to show up on time for the classes. We have a district president with no councelors or secretary or anything.. Just a one man show, and he still doesn´t do anything to help out. No visits to the members, no interviews to help people to progress, no training for the branch presidents.. Nothing. So everything falls on the missionaries to run the show. Do I add to this mess by baptizing more people, or do I keep helping the members out and get them solid? The zone leaders are hounding us for 4 people we can baptize this month, sí o sí.. Because sí o sí vamos a bautizar y ver milagros´íte chera´a. I have a strong hunch that we should "take the house off the sand and build it on a rock!" But of course we can´t do anything like that because Preach My Gospel says.. Teach and baptize teach and baptize.. Sometimes I feel like my companion and I (and Roberto) are the only ones that care about giving a firm foundation to the Church. "But nothing gives more excitement more than baptisms!" Then the excitement wears away in 2 weeks and its back to the same old mess, only worse. Because more people are fallen.
IS THERE ANYONE THAT CAN RELATE?

4. What was your most memorable experience this past week?
When the members tell us, "Gracias por todo." Because then I feel like my efforts aren´t a complete waste. It makes all the stress worth it, just knowing we´ve helped someone in this city. But of course, we can´t count that in our numbers... Because that´s really what matters. Right? No. Forget the numbers. I´m here to help, not be fake.

Sorry for the rant, but I feel like nobody here gets it, and I´m sure someone is bound to be offended by something that I´ve said. But it´s the reality, what do you want me to do about it? How would you handle this situation? I´m not normally a complainer, if you don´t believe me, read all my other emails..

I know the Lord is putting me through all this for something. I know that after all the time and pressure, He´s expecting me to come out like a diamond. Not saying I´m perfect or anythings, but that He´s shaping me into something more than I can see. I´m so grateful I came here on a mission, I have zero regrets. The things I´ve learned here have given me confidence to take on my life. I have learned and grown in so many ways I couldn´t have ever imagined. I know the Book of Mormon is true, it´s changed my life. I know Christ is my Savior and Redeemer and I´ve felt His love. I know our Heavenly Father lives and is very aware of all of us and our needs. I´m glad I have an awesome companion.

I got into BYUI?! Sweet! Did Elder Salinas? If so, for what track? Thanks for helping me out with all that! I´m excited to keep on learning!

Haley´s Halloween pics were awesome! In case anyone is wondering, I was Indiana Jones.. Yes, I use a satchel! And no it is not a purse.

Thanks for all your love and support and prayers. They help more than you know!
I love you all!! Have a great week!
Elder Colby Dane Heiner

I´ve got the pics in another folder comin in hot!

Oh yeah, sorry the email is so late! We just got back from Asuncion.. We had to sign our documents!