Elder Ryan Crandall's Mission Updates: Email: Week #1 in Paraguay

Hi!

I am really enjoying the mission field, it sure is a lot different than the CCM (MTC). My companion is Elder Correa from Argentina. I have a Latin companion that only speaks Spanish. I was a bit afraid at first, but I am surprised of that I can understand almost all that he says. I really have been blessed with the gift of tongues. Anyway, the people here are amazing and I enjoy visiting them. It is hard to understand many of them, though. They speak a mix of Guarani and Spanish. So Guarani is crazy and hard to understand, it is nothing like Spanish. Here is the plaques for Guarani: Hesukristo Tupao Marangatukeura Arapahapegua. But I am getting better at it. So the weather here is really hot, as soon as I walked out the airport, I could feel it, it is crazy! But luckily it has been raining the last few days so it hasn't been so warm. I live in a really nice home, way better than I thought. There are 4 missionaries in my area, so the four of us live together (Elder Fernandez from Argentina, Elder Crane from Utah (he is finishing his mission in 3 months) and me and my comp. We don´t use any English at all, so it is a fun experience.

But it really doesnt matter what language you speak, the spirit works in all languages, and I have seen that. it is really neat to teach lessons.

So a typical day for me is to wake up, eat breakfast, then we study for a few hours. We have a lady from the ward that does our laundry for a small price, everything is super chap over here. After lunch (we make dinner and try to visit members houses as much as we can for lunch), we head off to members homes and teach them. This week, we have been teaching the first discussion. It is amazing to see how little these people know, it is nothing like teaching over there in the United States, but the people are really humble and nice. So we had church yesterday, and we had 60 people attend. I also was able to bear my testimony, along with all the other new missionaries, so that was fun haha. After I finish emailing, I am going to play soccer with everyone and then go buy some groceries. Oh, so I found some more food that I really like here, the Sopa Paraguayo and the Empanadas here are really good. I would think you guys would like them too. The food here is rice, rice, rice, rice and more. The people here are pretty poor, so a lot of the meals include that haha. But the people here are great, many are open to the gospel and let us teach. We usually are over at each house for an hour just talking. We are trying to push for a baptism soon, so I will let you know how it goes. The people here are not as educated, so we do a lot of examples and drawings to help them understand things. A majority of the people here are Catholics.

Also, if you guys could send me some actual pictures in the mail or if you would like to send me a package, you can do so. But they said if the price gets up to about $100, they keep it. So try not to spend too much, or if you do, split it up.

When I got to the mission home, I met Elder Bayles and came across Hermana Owen too, which was weird to say that we all went to the same high school. But I never knew Elder Bayles before. I have plenty of pictures to send out. And everyone from my district is split up, only one other person from the MTC is in my zone, even, but it is all good.

I am loving it here, but that seems to be all for now, talk to you later! Love and miss you!

Elder Crandall