Hi hi hi family,
It has been a really hard week. I need an email hug right now. I am seriously stressed and anxious this week. We have a baptism this Wednesday for Lorenzo and I am so excited but part of me feels like it is unreal! I just hope and pray that everything will go well. Please pray for me. Please know that i really wanted a hug from mom and dad yesterday. I am learning more and more that yes, the church is run by our Heavenly Father, but he has to use i am learning a lot.
It is wonderful to see people who are sincerely changing their lives and coming unto Christ We have another baptism next week too and I am so excited. Her name is Virginia. We had a FHE with her and a family in the ward and it was so special. She came with her husband and daughter and it really opened doors for them to receive the gospel too.
I am happy that the work is moving forward. I love this work and i know that it is the Lords. I know that my Heavenly Father knows and loves me, that He knows my heart, my intentions, my desires. He also knows these people perfectly so I am learning to rely on Him more for help with them. I am so weak without that knowledge and without him. Really, I feel very humbled.
They changed basically everything in the mission, incuding mail. They are kind of discouraging family from sending big packages because I guess it costs more money for the church becuase they have to pay delivery people to bring it to the offices, etc. So...I will recieve packages every six weeks. We just had changes last week so I have no idea when ill get it, but its just in the offices and in safe hands.
Welll, i love you and hope to hear from you monday! Tell the friends and family hi!
Love,
Rachel
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Happy Spring
Hello ,
Happy Spring! Which started yesterday. Here I am in a cyber
where the keyboard is sticky, the question mark key doesn't
work, and the guy at the front desk is blasting music
by THE CURE. I love Paraguay. My companion left yesterday.
It was so sad to see her go. She has been amazing!
I'm so grateful that I had the chance to be with her.My
new companion is named Hermana Jara from Lima, Peru.
She is a doll and I am excited to work with her. She has
been in the mission 10 months. I have been really
stressed with our investigators the past couple of
days because only one came to church this week.
I know it will work out because the Lord needs it to.
we brought a member to the house of someone
we had just contacted in the street. The member bore her
testimony so strong and the lady ended up coming to the
RS activity that night and loved it. We're going to
visit with her again this week.
She wasn't at her house last night but were going to
try again. We had the conference with Elder
Aidukaitis this week. It was so great! He taught
with so much love and power. It really motivated me
to change some things that I haven't been doing
well and improve the work here
overall. It was well needed and i feel well fed.
I got some fun letters yesterday from Grandma D, Jessy,
and Dodi Weiler. They were so great and I was so happy to
hear from them! I hope everyone is doing great!
We were supposed to have 2 baptisms this weekend but
only one of our investigators came to church. I know
it will be ok. We are working with some people right
now who are progressing so much! We brought one of
our investigators to a baptism of another
chico in our ward and she absolutely loved it.
The power of the members is awesome.
I hope all is well with everyone! Sorry for now
writing Monday.
During the weeks of changes were going to have
p day on Wednesdays. we'll have p-day again
this Monday as usual.
Thats all for now! I am happy, relatively healthy, and
working my
hardest to be a good girl! I hope you know that.
Thank you for all your prayers!
Love love love,
Rae
Monday, September 14, 2009
Paraguay is beautiful
I don't know if I ever told you, but Paraguay is gorgeous!
It is green with palm trees, pine trees, millions of orchids,
hibiscus, and everything else. it is beautiful and the
sunsets and sunrises (crazy that I'm awake that time of
day) are so incredible. The roads are made of piedra which
is like cobblestone. It's beautiful right up until the
moment that you step on them because they're way uneven
and difficult to walk on, but pretty nonetheless. People
sell fruit from horse drawn carts in the streets and walk
around selling chipa (basically butter, flour, and cheese).
It is beautiful to look at.
First news, we had 5 people with baptisms planned
for the 26th of September. they are so great and we
had the best experience with Raquel this week. Her brother
is pentecostal and she has faced a lot of oppositition
with her family, but she has been faithful and
great. We watched the restoration with her and her
brother and he told us that he almost cried. it was
so great. All of our investigators did great all
throughout the week and were progressing, etc.
This is a really fragile time for them so we really
worked hard this week to try to protect them.
BUT, only one came to church yesterday. it seriously
broke my heart. sometimes its hard to understand why
people make poor decisions when they have the knowledge
they need and have received spiritual witness. We are
just going to work harder with them. We are going to
try and prepare them for Oct 3 now which means
that we have only 3 for the 26th now. It will work out.
I know it will. I constantly feel responsible for
these people. I worry about them, think about them,
pray for them. It is almost overwhelming sometimes.
I want them to have a firm testimony, to not only be
baptized but to be strong members of the church
who will continue on to the temple and be firm
the rest of their lives. It is a lot of responsibility.
We work with some inactive families too and it just breaks
my heart. (sigh).
Our apartment is small with windows, and a tile floor.
It was quite dirty when we got here, but we did some cleaning
and it is either better or I am just used to it.
Either way, I am fine. We have a fridge and a gas stove
and oven, so that is great. Washer and dryer? haha. no.
We have a granite basin. basically, this is how it works:
I put water in a bucket with soap., put my clothes in there,
let them soak, scrub them with a brush and hang them to dry.
I already ruined a shirt. Pretty independent though huh? haha.
they always smell weird too. I don't feel like I'll be clean
until i get home. oh well. I am adjusting. The shower is a
spiquet in the wall. We have to heat up the water for at
least 30 minutes before if we want to shower.
Food: well...it is really hard to eat well here.
I have been learning some paraguayan and latin foods
which has been pretty fun. Basically i eat cereal with bananas in the
mornings. They use yogurt like milk here and it is liquidy.
I usually put that in my cereal. During the lunch time, we eat
with members or investigators. We eat a lot of noodles,
rice, potatoes, meat, mandioca, bread...stuff like that.
Lots of starch and carbs. I have been courteously
eating meat. It has been really hard at times but I really
don't want to offend and can usually just swallow
it with a bite of something else so it has been ok.
Yesterday was ROUGH though because there was sangre on it.
I almost couldn't breathe but luckily i got the small piece.
Really the members take good care of us. They are wonderful.
For dinner we usually eat like salads with lime, advacados, pineapple,
oranges. rRndom things because we are way too tired to cook.
Basically, my body doesn't love me, but today i am turning
over another new leaf and going to try to control what I
eat here. It is really hard though because I am always
hungry. We walk like 15 kilometers at least every day.
I don't know how many miles that is but we are walking a lot
in the sun and it can be quite draining.
Bugs: roaches, spiders, mosquitoes, but nothing too crazy
which is such a blessing.
Dogs...still gross, but they have been leaving us alone.
Sis Roig family is so great. I love them. I gave them the
copy of that picture.
Got dear elder letters from Jessy, and Sister Thrasher.
I also got grandma Dixie's as well as mom, dad, and Aunt Pam.
I pray that grandpa is doing better! I'm so glad that
grandma is taking such good care of him. my prayers are
also with grandma and grandpa Goedde! Please tell them I
love them and am sorry for Grandpa's loss. I hope he
is doing ok. I am going to try and get some letters
in the mail today but the days seriously fly by.
voy a procurar.
Today my companion and i did an activity with our zone.
We kind of dropped the cane, but all went well. They
were pretty sweet and receptive. We talked about unity
and being caballeros, and worthy holders of the priesthood.
We also told them all that Pres Callan and Elder Aiudukaitis
were coming so they would all dress their best, behave well.
At the end, we told them that Pres Callan never was going
to come and that we need to act appropriately at all times,
not just when we´re trying to impress our leaders. It was
effective and we are hoping that we´ll see some changes
for the better in our zone. Speaking of Elder Aidukaitis,
our conference is tomorrow. I'm excited.
That is so great that you got to go to martins cove!
I am really interested in all these church things now.
Like family history, church history. I really want to go
to Jerusalem, cook, play the piano, raise children...it is weird.
haha. I am learning so much. We have changes next week!
I'll be in the same area but with a new companion.
I don't want my companion to leave! I"m sure I will learn a lot from
my new companion also, but Hermana Soria will be hard to top.
I am way excited for conference. It's coming up here quick!
We are going to centro ( a different ward) to watch it.
Tell my friends I love them too! That is so fun that you got
to have dinner with them. Do't bother them about writing me.
I cant expect that because i never wrote people on their
missions. Not ever my own brothers! Letters are always nice
though if they have time. it helps a ton. Also, i want to
see pictures from Ashtons wedding, Jessy had a birthday
(sorry for not sending you anything!!!!). i cant remember
what else i forgot, but i will try to repent and make it
up to my friends.
I have to go! Love you all! Still waiting for the
package but should get here next week! Don't worry.
I am so excited!!!
love, Rae
Dad, have fun in HK! I love China.
It is green with palm trees, pine trees, millions of orchids,
hibiscus, and everything else. it is beautiful and the
sunsets and sunrises (crazy that I'm awake that time of
day) are so incredible. The roads are made of piedra which
is like cobblestone. It's beautiful right up until the
moment that you step on them because they're way uneven
and difficult to walk on, but pretty nonetheless. People
sell fruit from horse drawn carts in the streets and walk
around selling chipa (basically butter, flour, and cheese).
It is beautiful to look at.
First news, we had 5 people with baptisms planned
for the 26th of September. they are so great and we
had the best experience with Raquel this week. Her brother
is pentecostal and she has faced a lot of oppositition
with her family, but she has been faithful and
great. We watched the restoration with her and her
brother and he told us that he almost cried. it was
so great. All of our investigators did great all
throughout the week and were progressing, etc.
This is a really fragile time for them so we really
worked hard this week to try to protect them.
BUT, only one came to church yesterday. it seriously
broke my heart. sometimes its hard to understand why
people make poor decisions when they have the knowledge
they need and have received spiritual witness. We are
just going to work harder with them. We are going to
try and prepare them for Oct 3 now which means
that we have only 3 for the 26th now. It will work out.
I know it will. I constantly feel responsible for
these people. I worry about them, think about them,
pray for them. It is almost overwhelming sometimes.
I want them to have a firm testimony, to not only be
baptized but to be strong members of the church
who will continue on to the temple and be firm
the rest of their lives. It is a lot of responsibility.
We work with some inactive families too and it just breaks
my heart. (sigh).
Our apartment is small with windows, and a tile floor.
It was quite dirty when we got here, but we did some cleaning
and it is either better or I am just used to it.
Either way, I am fine. We have a fridge and a gas stove
and oven, so that is great. Washer and dryer? haha. no.
We have a granite basin. basically, this is how it works:
I put water in a bucket with soap., put my clothes in there,
let them soak, scrub them with a brush and hang them to dry.
I already ruined a shirt. Pretty independent though huh? haha.
they always smell weird too. I don't feel like I'll be clean
until i get home. oh well. I am adjusting. The shower is a
spiquet in the wall. We have to heat up the water for at
least 30 minutes before if we want to shower.
Food: well...it is really hard to eat well here.
I have been learning some paraguayan and latin foods
which has been pretty fun. Basically i eat cereal with bananas in the
mornings. They use yogurt like milk here and it is liquidy.
I usually put that in my cereal. During the lunch time, we eat
with members or investigators. We eat a lot of noodles,
rice, potatoes, meat, mandioca, bread...stuff like that.
Lots of starch and carbs. I have been courteously
eating meat. It has been really hard at times but I really
don't want to offend and can usually just swallow
it with a bite of something else so it has been ok.
Yesterday was ROUGH though because there was sangre on it.
I almost couldn't breathe but luckily i got the small piece.
Really the members take good care of us. They are wonderful.
For dinner we usually eat like salads with lime, advacados, pineapple,
oranges. rRndom things because we are way too tired to cook.
Basically, my body doesn't love me, but today i am turning
over another new leaf and going to try to control what I
eat here. It is really hard though because I am always
hungry. We walk like 15 kilometers at least every day.
I don't know how many miles that is but we are walking a lot
in the sun and it can be quite draining.
Bugs: roaches, spiders, mosquitoes, but nothing too crazy
which is such a blessing.
Dogs...still gross, but they have been leaving us alone.
Sis Roig family is so great. I love them. I gave them the
copy of that picture.
Got dear elder letters from Jessy, and Sister Thrasher.
I also got grandma Dixie's as well as mom, dad, and Aunt Pam.
I pray that grandpa is doing better! I'm so glad that
grandma is taking such good care of him. my prayers are
also with grandma and grandpa Goedde! Please tell them I
love them and am sorry for Grandpa's loss. I hope he
is doing ok. I am going to try and get some letters
in the mail today but the days seriously fly by.
voy a procurar.
Today my companion and i did an activity with our zone.
We kind of dropped the cane, but all went well. They
were pretty sweet and receptive. We talked about unity
and being caballeros, and worthy holders of the priesthood.
We also told them all that Pres Callan and Elder Aiudukaitis
were coming so they would all dress their best, behave well.
At the end, we told them that Pres Callan never was going
to come and that we need to act appropriately at all times,
not just when we´re trying to impress our leaders. It was
effective and we are hoping that we´ll see some changes
for the better in our zone. Speaking of Elder Aidukaitis,
our conference is tomorrow. I'm excited.
That is so great that you got to go to martins cove!
I am really interested in all these church things now.
Like family history, church history. I really want to go
to Jerusalem, cook, play the piano, raise children...it is weird.
haha. I am learning so much. We have changes next week!
I'll be in the same area but with a new companion.
I don't want my companion to leave! I"m sure I will learn a lot from
my new companion also, but Hermana Soria will be hard to top.
I am way excited for conference. It's coming up here quick!
We are going to centro ( a different ward) to watch it.
Tell my friends I love them too! That is so fun that you got
to have dinner with them. Do't bother them about writing me.
I cant expect that because i never wrote people on their
missions. Not ever my own brothers! Letters are always nice
though if they have time. it helps a ton. Also, i want to
see pictures from Ashtons wedding, Jessy had a birthday
(sorry for not sending you anything!!!!). i cant remember
what else i forgot, but i will try to repent and make it
up to my friends.
I have to go! Love you all! Still waiting for the
package but should get here next week! Don't worry.
I am so excited!!!
love, Rae
Dad, have fun in HK! I love China.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Thank you so much for the emails! I got 3 letters today
and I was so happy! I also got one from Sister Bloomfield
from the Missionary Training Center. It was great.
This week has been a little heart wrenching to be honest.
People really need this gospel because wow, this world is
just cruel. Some of the things
that happen to children and especially women. I just feel
helpless and it is really hard. Dad, brothers, thank you
for being kind to women. Thank you for being clean. I know
Heavenly Father loves his daughters. This country really
doesn't make me love men. The other day, we saw a guy
hitting his girlfriend in the street. There wasn't
anything we could do. It just made me sick.
My companion said that type of thing is really
common here. I just hate it.
The only thing that gives me comfort is that God is just
and that Jesus Christ suffered these pains for these
people. I believe that. I have to believe that. Sometimes
it is just unreal. Seriously, just evil. Sick. Weird.
My point in telling you this is just so that you
realize 1. How blessed we are to have the gospel
of Jesus Christ and to belong to the same church
that he established when he was on the earth 2.How
blessed we are to live where we live with such comforts
and protection, especially in Utah 3. The second
coming is near. As good as things are in some places,
the opposition is real and Satan is hard at work. Stand
tall. Please, don't give him the slightest chance to
bring you down. It is not happiness. Here's a specific
way that you can protect yourself this week. We have been
teaching about the Sabbath day to our investigators,
especially on Saturdays so they will come to church.
Wow, it is so important that we keep this day holy.
In our music, our dress, our movies. It really is a
day to sanctify God. It's the longest of the 10
commandments apart from love the Lord thy God...
I don't think the Lord would take more time to explain
this commandment if it wasn't so important. I really
just didn't appreciate this before my mission.
I hope that this week you will do all you can to keep
the Sabbath day holy. Really take time to talk as a
family about the things you learned in Sunday school.
Talk about the gospel. I know you will.
Enough preaching and complaining from me. The good
news...we have 4 investigators with baptismal dates!
Mariana, Raquel, Miriam, Virginia. They have to come
to church at least two times before they're baptized
though and we only had Mariana yesterday so we have
to push back the dates of the others. They are
progressing though and it makes me so happy!
Raquel isn't married (which is a baptismal requirement
if you´re living with someone) but she is going to talk
to her companion and she seemed so happy. She was
basically teaching US about the law of chastity. I really
think that the Lord has been preparing her. Physically,
well....i am trying to take good care of myself. I
sprained my ankle last week playing futbol, just barely
got over a chest cold that I've had since the beginning,
and have never walked more in my life. I'm sure you can
imagine the state of my feet...BUT, my companion is
a nurse, all my injuries have healed, I played futbol
again today no problem, and drinking tons of water and
wearing sunscreen. i am being a good girl :). Honestly,
I am not worried. I am doing great. It is incredibly
hot and I am always sweaty. It is gross, but alas,
this is south America. Well, i love you all!
Thank you so much for emailing me! It helps a ton.
Really, I look forward to it so much! Keep praying
for these people! I will do my best to find them.
By-The-Way, Elder Aidukaitis is coming this week.
Rumor has it
that we have interviews with him. YIKES! I´ll let you know how it goes.
All my love!!!
Hermana Rae.
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