Abinadi

Dear Family,

This week we did a lot better than last week!  We worked trying to reach all of our goals.  We did a division with the Zone Leaders and I was with Elder Jensen who is around 6´7 and played defense for BYU.  He is about to go home in June,  so he shared a lot of good tips with me and I learned a ton from him.  One thing is how important setting goals are and what significance they have.  Every morning we set goals about how many lessons we want to teach and how many new investigators we want.  Those goals are set according to the spirit and what impressions we have for that day, meaning that they are set according to the will of God.  Which means that if we don't meet the goals, we fall short and missed an opportunity to meet someone that God had in mind for us. Which is why its so important to be in tune with the spirit. As I worked with Elder Jensen, when an appointment fell through he would say, "Well I guess there is somebody else around here that needs to hear our message" and so we would find them.  Nothing happens for no reason!  God knows what citas (appointments) will fall and where we need to be every day.  Its our job to figure that out!  It was amazing how many quality investigators we found by having this mindset as we worked! 

Elder Lewis is pretty funny guy and we are getting better and better at teaching and working together.  Learning the language does have funny moments. Yesterday Elder Lewis told a girl in Guarani that he hates all children, when what he meant was he hates mosquito! HAHAHA! She looked at him really funny. I hope to send some more pics soon, but I forgot my camera. 

I also am now the jovenes (youth) teacher every Sunday, so I have had a lot more pressure to better my Spanish.  Its coming along okay.    I taught last week about missionary work and trusting in the Lord, even when we don't see the fruits of our labor.  We read about Abinadi and talked about how from his point of view he probably thought his mission was to preach and warn the hardhearted people of King Noah. What he might not have imagined is how his words touched the heart of Alma who then converted people at the Waters of Mormon, and then had a son Alma the younger who influenced the sons of Mosiah, and them came around Helaman and Lehi and Nephi who all converted an enormous amount of people.  Its an awesome thing that the chain of righteousness and powerful leaders of Gods church all came out of the fountain of a testimony being born in the face of opposition and death. 

I love you guys and I hope you are all doing well!

Love,

Elder Neifert

New Companion - Elder Lewis

Dear Family,

This week was a crazy one.  I got a new companion, Elder Lewis, from Rigby, Idaho. He will be going home on April 25, so I will be his companion until then. I have learned a lot from him already and it`s a huge blessing to be the companion of someone who has been here for almost 2 years. So Elder Hatch said goodbye to everyone on Tuesday.  On Wednesday I got Elder Lewis and we took a taxi all the way back to Arroyos (3 hrs).  We got in the house and he put down his luggage and found the phone of his old companion in his pocket. So we hopped on a collectivo going to Asuncion and gave the phone to the office and then we asked directions from a guy to get to Caucupe and he gave us bad directions... so we ended up in the South Mission in Nemby (pronounced nymbuh). Maybe Brother Goerring's been there - its like 45 min outside of Asuncion or so.  We went back to Asuncion and spent the night there and then very humbly and with our tails between our legs left the next morning and got home at around 3 in the afternoon because of traffic. We didn't have time to do much teaching this week because I took Elder Lewis around to all the members houses and showed him the area. We did have a few inactive member lessons and they came to church after about 6 months of inactivity - and that was two different families!!!

 (Mom asked Elder Neifert what he generally does on his Preparation days)

What I do on p - days:

( since we are pretty much isolated and live on a truck stop, here are things I do)

1. I am carving a billy club

2. I write letters to you guys

3. We buy food

4. Elder Hatch was teaching me the piano

5. Sometimes we go to Caucupe and play soccer, but the trip takes about half the p-day

6. I sometimes wash my shirts or garments if needed (the washing lady doesn't get out stains very well).

7. We burn the trash in the backyard.

Its different every p-day, but those are usually the things I do.

It was kind of a slow week, but it will get better because we wont be on buses for 2 days. 

(He mentions sending more pictures, but forgot to attach them. Will update the blog when they are sent.) One is an avocado heart that this member gave me, another is Elder Phippen and I (we came to Paraguay together and he is going out to Conception), the others are Elder Hatch and I with our traditional native old guy shirts.

I want to send you guys a package, but the dollar has been down the last month or two and I'm waiting to exchange my money when the rate levels out or else I will lose a lot.

It sounds like a ton of changes are going on at home! I hope you guys are all doing well!

Love,

Elder Neifert

End of Transfer

That is funny you guys forgot about daylight savings! I bet everybody was wondering what happened to you guys. I don't know if it is going to get colder or not.. it was like 100 yesterday. I think we'll start seeing it in April.

The change ends this Wednesday and Elder Hatch has been here since November, so I think he's a goner and I will get another new comp. We'll see what happens, but this will be my 5th companion already.

This week I did a division with Elder Hokanson, who is 2 months in and is still learning Spanish. So I led all of the lessons and he would share his testimony when I gave him the sign, or he would hop in when he knew what was going on. It reminded me a lot of how it was when I couldn't speak as well and felt completely out of the loop. My Spanish isn't perfect at all, but I know I've been blessed a ton so that people can for the most part understand me. 

We had one lesson where the investigator got pooped on by a bird. 

 

We also did a lot of talking about the virgin for some reason. It seemed like every single contact we did would go off about how we don't believe in the virgin and how they could never join a church that didn't. So we would go through the same old explanation about how we do believe in the virgin and that she was the mother of Christ and was a virgin, but we don't pray to her or worship her alongside God or Christ. Then we would share a scripture in the Bible about it. The funny thing is that a lot of times when we explain things using the Bible and we think it's clear, they do not and simply say, "I do not believe that."  A big lesson that I sometimes forget about is that we as missionaries do not convert anyone. It is the spirit and the influence of God that converts them and if they do not feel that spirit testifying of what is true nothing will come out of what we are saying.

Also Elder Hokanson and I ate some pig skin this week that they had fried or something.   It was pretty crunchy. Elder Hokanson said he almost hurled.

I hope everybody is doing well! I WANT TO HEAR FROM REBEKAH! I haven't heard from her in a long time and I want your email address Rebekah so I can write you and send stuff.

Photos: 

I found some Pan Felipe for Fil 

 

The Dominguez family

The Arroyos branch

Edi and Ipifanio

Dear Family,

This week Elder Hatch and I were a little sick, but we still got a little work done.  We are better now.  

We ate lunch at President's house, (I assume this means Branch President, not Mission President) which is really far. We ate some noodles with meat and some burnt flan (I think that got us sick).  They also had a baby cow that was 8 days old.  

 We got the hermana to wack the mom with a stick so we could touch it - hahaha.  

I think the next time we go were going to milk their cow. 

On the way to presidents we passed by some mamón farms.

  Mamón are a really nasty fruit here that a lot of people give us.  They are called mamón from the word mamar, "to nurse" - so it is all around a weird fruit to eat. 

We found a really neat family this week as well!  Her name is Edi and his is Ipifanio.  They called us to come over when we were walking in front of their house.  They had been really humbled because he lost his job and they felt that they were missing something in their family.  So we taught them and I felt impressed to talk about cleaning the inside before we can clean up the outside of our lives.  She really latched on to that and has agreed to be baptized, so we will see what happens.  The spirit told me what to say in that lesson. We were going to start with Lesson 1 and I felt impressed to change it.  And because of that my testimony that God knows us personally has grown a ton.  He knew what Edi and Ipifanio needed better than Elder Hatch or I. He loved them enough to give them trials needed for them to see what they were missing in their lives.

I'm really excited about them.  From what I hear nobody has baptized in Arroyos y Esteros for over a year.   

The people here all work in sugar cane fields and in the factory so they are super hard working and really fun to teach.  Here are some pictures of the sugar cane fields.

 

Also the ones of the sunset with that big building is in Caucupe. and that is the ginormous Basilica.

I hope you are all doing well!

Love, Elder Neifert

Here are some additional photos Elder Neifert sent: 

Dear family,

I am better.  I just had the flu for a couple days.  I got the pic for you, mom. 



Sorry it took so long...I was sick and then we had changes.  If you don't like it, I can take some more, just let me know.  

I gave a talk in church about reverence. All through the talk the president's daughter was screaming and crying and dumped her water bottle all over the floor.  It was a little awkward as I tried to talk about reverence over a screaming girl.  Elder Hatch has 19 months in the mission and is a really funny missionary.  He went to BYU-I, too - the semester before me so we know some of the same people.  He has a pet alligator at his house named Derrell who just sits at the bottom of his pool. 

 Right now we are looking for investigators a ton.  But the set investigator we are trying to teach right now is a lady named Isabell, and also a guy named "Wilt the Stilt Wilter".  He is 16 and just over 4 ft tall and really skinny. He looks like he is 10.   Both of them have just gotten lesson 1 since I've been here (about the Restoration) and we are going to try really hard to get them to church this coming Sunday.  

The only bad thing about Arroyos is that we are an hour away from district meeting and 2 hours our of the mission office so we do a ton of collectivo riding and hitch hiking.  And the collectivos are extremely unreliable so we end up hitch hiking a lot.  Which is fun.  The drive in between here and Caucupe is super beautiful.  I will try and get some pictures today.  We had zone conference this week, too and we found out who the new president is going to be. There is also a ton of changes happening to the mission.  I think with the changes that will happen in June or July, if I am still in Arroyos I will be in the south mission.  We will see what happens.  I am still pretty confused about what changes are going to happen, but I sent you guys the email about it.  (See below)

I think the best lesson we had this week was with a lady named Limpia who is inactive due to having to work on Sundays.  So we talked about Mosiah 5: 9-13 and also how Christ wants to make us His and wants to write His name on our hearts to make our desires and actions His own.   It's when we are baptized and when we renew our covenants through the sacrament that He writes His name deeper and deeper into our hearts.  It was pretty spiritual, but she didn't want to change anything in her life and so we'll be going back again this week on Wednesday to talk about how when we put our lives in the hands of God that He will  deliver us from our burdens and worries of the world.  We will see how it goes with her.   

That's awesome about your home teachee, dad and Aaron! That is a tough situation that I have thought a lot about too.  Let me know how it turns out with her.  

What is aaron going to talk about?  Good luck buddy!  

I got a letter from Barb and the ladies club at Parc Provence! (Elder Neifert worked at an assisted living home before his mission and became great friends with many of his co-workers and the residents)  It was awesome!   I shared with all of my friends about each and every one of those ladies  and how many great times I had with them.  THANK YOU for the Letters!   

Here is a picture of Elder Hatch.

Love,

 Elder Neifert

The Mission President's Email mentioned above (translated):

Dear Elders and Sisters,

As you know Sister Madariaga and I finish our service in Paraguay in late June of this year. The First Presidency has called to our successors, to be the

President H. Garn and Sister. Pam McMullin (see brief biography attached)

who begin their service in early July 2013. would ask you keep them in your prayers from now on.

Additionally, the First Presidency has announced the creation of a new mission with head in the city of Posadas, Argentina, but that will impact both missions in Paraguay.

• Mision Posadas Argentina take some districts and a stake in the current Paraguay Asuncion Mission.
• Paraguay Asuncion Mission San Lorenzo take Stake and Districts Caacupé and La Paloma currently belong to our mission.
• Paraguay Asuncion North Mission left with four stakes (Asuncion North Luque Luque Capiatá South) and four districts (Mariano Roque Alonso, Boqueron, Concepcion and Pedro Juan Caballero)

All these changes will take place on July 1 of this year. This means that the missionaries, to July 1, 2013, are found serving in the Stake or District San Lorenzo or La Paloma Caacupé will belong to the Paraguay Asuncion Mission (our dear sister "South Mission")

The Lord's work is accelerated, especially after the announcement of Pte Monson, on the age of the missionaries. This is a testimony that the play is directed by our Lord through his prophet. What a blessing to serve in this time with you. May the Lord bless us to persevere together until the end!

With sincere love,

President and Sister Madariaga 

New Mission President's Biography

2nd Area Arroyos Y Esteros

Dear Family,

That is super awesome Elder Christiansen came! (Elder Christensen attended the family's home ward this past Sunday, Feb 17th)  It sounds like it was an awesome Sunday.  Plus Aaron, Derek, and Caleb had to sing.  What did you guys sing?

I got changed.  I am now in Arroyos y Esteros which is like an hour out of Caucupe! The basilica is ginormous and every year thousands of people here walk to Caucupe to see the virgin. My new companion is Elder Hatch from Glendora, California which is really close to LA.  He has been out 19 months on his mission right now! I think that he is a really good missionary. I get along with him pretty well, but he already has 4 changes in Arroyos y Esteros so he'll probably get switched out soon. This next change is only 4 weeks,  so I will probably have a new companion soon.

 Arroyos is really far out on a highway in the middle of nowhere.  It has a ton of farms and sugar cane fields. It takes a collectivo about an hour and a half to get to Caucupe and it is the most beautiful drive I've ever been on. There are some crazy big hills that just stick out in the middle of some fields that I will take a picture of later. Aroyos has a branch of about 30 people on avg. and the President's family makes up half the branch.  I gave a talk to introduce myself and the handed me another talk paper for next week on reverence, which is a really good topic because reverence is a fat issue here. I will let you know how it goes.  I was sick this week with the flu, so I don't have a lot to write about because we've been stuck in the house. WHICH HAS AIR CONDITIONING!!!!!!!!! it feels so nice.

I hope your Indian presentation goes well mom, and that your leg is all better.   I hope all the best for you Fil and the LSAT!  I KNOW I DIDN'T SEND THE SUIT PHOTO! I will send it tomorrow after zone conference.

I LOVE you guys,

Elder Neifert

Here are some new photos from Elder Neifert: 

 Saying goodbye to friends in Yukury:

IT IS TOO IMPORTANT TO ASSUME!

Dear Family,

How was Aaron's Birthday?

I will get you that picture next Monday. Sorry... I've been looking for a sweet background with palm trees or a lizard or something, but I will for sure get it too you in a week.

I think I'm good on Sunscreen. if needed i will buy some more here... but I sweat it all off in like 5 minutes of being outside.

I think we are at the peak of heat right now so were on the down slope. From what I've heard, it starts to get better in late March.

That's awesome, DEREK!!! I'm super excited for you!  (a friend from his home ward gave his talk and will be leaving for his mission to France this next week.) 

I started The Book of Mormon over again and it is incredible what I missed the first time! It is really crazy reading verses of scripture that collaborate with what iI just read at the other end of the book. I learned about a sweet pattern this week between Moses and Jesus Christ. Just how Moses freed the Hebrews from bondage and took them through the Red Sea and then to Mount Sinai, Christ has saved us from the bondage of sin by taking us through the waters of baptism and then to the mountain (Temple) of the Lord so that we might gain exaltation.

Today is changes (transfers) and so we will see whether I am staying Yukuryr or leaving.  I've been in this area for 4 months, so I don't know whats going to happen. 

Elder Brown and I found some incredible people this week. We found a lady named Maria, who spoke with missionaries 7 years ago on a collectivo (bus). The missionaries eventually baptized her brother and now 7 years later she wants to be baptized! We walked into the lesson and she flat out asked us what she needs to do to be baptized. So her baptism is on the 23rd of Feb. She is an amazing example of what seeds every one of us can plant in the lives of others. It might not grow instantaneously, but give it a little time and all of the sudden the conditions are right for it to start growing.

Another person we found yesterday is a lady named Rosana. We had been talking before we met her about how we could improve teaching people instead of lessons and so we focused really hard on just teaching her specifically to her needs. The lesson went amazing and she opened up to us that she had been searching for a church that would be able to "fill her," and that she had gone to an evangelical church and switched to Catholicism because of her spouse. We were able to talk about how the church of Christ does exactly that, it fills us. Just like Christ said if you will drink of my water and eat of my bread you will never hunger or thirst again. And how it is only in his true church that HE PLACED on the earth that we can be filled. She committed to be baptized and read and pray to know if the message we shared was true. Also she commented how talking to us made her feel good because it was a discussion not a sermon. She was able to express her ideas and views and that made her feel good. We will see what happens on Wednesday, but I know that she felt the spirit really strong and that because we listened and applied the lesson according to her needs, she wanted to make commitments and keep them. The Lord prepared her and blessed us that we could talk to her with her needs in mind. After the lesson I had an incredible feeling thinking about how much the Lord had done for us and for her so that she could accept and apply the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This church is not led by men thinking about the Bible a lot and making a good assumption about how we should follow and partake of salvation. IT IS TOO IMPORTANT TO ASSUME! Revelation is necessary, directly from God, giving us the directions we need to obey Him and do His will. If we don't receive revelation directly from God then who are we following? I have felt the spirit of God telling me of the importance and truthfulness of this work, and I know it is led by Him.

The pictures are that blue lake I told you guys about and me and elder Mejia our last day, and
a typical house in Paraguay that we are contacting. (fake contacting, nobody was home.)

(Will update with pictures later - for some reason it won't work)

Love,

Elder Neifert