Serving Paraguay: No Coincidences!

I got the package!!!! Thank You!!!! I shared the sunflower seeds with the members yesterday on our way to district conference, and they loved them. It was really hard describing what they were though. Thank you for the vitamins. I made a wall along my desk and I will definitely use them!

I have come to the conclusion that if Dad was from Paraguay and did what he does now he would be a "remedio juju man"! hahahaha. Which is very prestigious and respected here, so that isn't a bash on dad, it is more of a pedestal to step up on, and then step down because he's such a humble guy.

This week was a really big traveling around week. We did a division again with Elder Baum and Elder Hokanson. I went with Elder Hokanson to a few houses of investigators and also to just contact, and an awesome thing happened. We headed over to this investigator named Armenio who was dropped a while ago... and then he came to church again... and so now he's and investigator again. So we got to his fence and clapped and he was on his patio sewing some stuff and he didn't respond so I yelled at him ( " Hola, que tal amigo!" ) and he looked up and said we could come in and talk. So we sat down by his sewing machine and I got to know him a little more and asked him about his family and how church was going and he just broke down and cried. He started in about how everything in his life was crumbling around him - his wife left him, his brother had to go to the hospital due to a heart condition, and his kids were making good choices. And he said before we showed up he had determined to just give up. On God, on church, on Christ, on his family, everything. He felt that while he was doing the right things that bad things were still happening to him. Sooo in his mind, that means that religion is not worth the time. But because I was a different missionary and he didn't know me, he said when he saw me he couldn't tell me, "he quits". He explained it in a kind of funny way, he said, "its like a guy was going to come to my house and I was really mad at him and I was going to kill him... and so I waited and waited and then a different guy comes in his place, I cant kill that guy, I don't know him."

I was a little lost because he mumbled a lot and was crying, but I kind of picked out what he said and made some connections. I didn't know what to do. And then D&C 122 popped into my mind and i shared it with him. The lesson went really well and he said he would give going to church and praying and reading another shot and we left with a prayer. I walked out of there a lot more humbled and strengthened than when I went in. If I had not been with Elder Hokanson they might have lost him (not because I am a good missionary, but because I was a different missionary). It just so happened that we got stuck in Caucupe that day and that Elder Baum decided to do a division and Hokanson just decided to go visit Armenio that day, instead of the day after with Elder Baum (I assume Elder Baum already knew Armenio). THERE ARE NOT ANY COINCIDENCES IN THAT!!! The Lord moves this work forward preparing and paving the way for the salvation of his children, and as long as we are good people who are worthy to have the guidance of the spirit with us we will be the instruments in his hands. It is the most amazing feeling I have ever felt. I love this work more than anything and the fact that God is going before and behind his servants is incredible.

Tuesday we hitchhiked on a coal truck:

On Thursday we went to the Temple!!! It was awesome! Everything was in Spanish and it was just as powerful as in English! The photos are of our district of 4 and also Elder Cristiansen who came with me from Provo (The Missionary Training Center).

We took a collectivo home and the next morning I woke up with hives all over. Apparently I am allergic to something and so we sent photos to the doctor and he thinks I'm allergic to my deodarant. DANGIT!!!! I guess I will be stinky for the rest of my life. No, I will try a differnt brand and see what happens. The hives went away the next morning so it wasnt too bad.

Thanks again for the package!!! and I am praying for you Jessi!!! (Elder Neifert's sister is due to have a baby in the next month or so).

Love,

Elder Neifert

This came as a separate e-mail:

The dog in the trail is the dog that ate the cat. His name is Perin.

I found that cool toad on the road and he looked poisonous and it was tough to get him to flip over so I used a pencil.

A banana tree in my backyard.

Elder Hatch and I got funny ethnic shirts for really cheap.

A member named Veronica gave me an avacado heart that she carved

The dish with all the food is a classic Paraguayan food dish with (sopa wasu, chipa, carne with a lot of fat, rice mixed with mayonaise, and mandioca.)