Email: Week#77 in Paraguay

Hi Mom,

Things are going good. It is really cool to be with Elder Turley.

So also Tuesday we had an interview with the mission President, and it went really well. He is such a good guy. It basically took the whole day, so that is all that we did that day.

Wednesday was fun because we were just walking one day and this random guy calls our name. We asked him what his name was and he said 'bond... james bond'. he just kept telling so many jokes, he was kinda weird. he told us that he was paralyzed and he was left in a freezing chryogenator for therapy for half a day.

Thursday was neat because we met with Lida. She is Roques older sister and is progressing super well. She told us that she would come to church on Sunday and she did!

Saturday we had an awesome family home evening with the family mcleod. it so so cool because they always make some chipa. it is really good. it sounds weird how it is made because they use animal fat, but it is super good here.

but this sunday was so awesome because we had 20 more people than last week! It was so awesome to see all the members showing up, they didn't stop coming! we had an attendance of 61 and we haven't had one like that for a long time! it was so cool.

today we chilled with an hermana for our pday. it was her birthday and she invited us to eat something. so we had fun there!

well... not to mucho to decir. until next week!

Elder Crandall

Email: Week#76 in Paraguay

Hi,

Things are going crazy lately. Elder Turley is my new companion! 

So on Tuesday we found out that Elder Gutierrez and I were to stay another change. I was super happy, because he is so awesome. So after we ate a huge lunch, we found a less active, named Roberto. He told us that he now wants to go on a mission!! It was so awesome. He broke his leg and is in recovery and cant really work or anything. We also found some super cool investigators to teach.

But Friday was the reaaaally interesting day. We started off by eating cow stomache for lunch. It is a common thing here, but I hate it. So after that, we went to the doctors office, since Elder Guttierez has a lot of teeth pain. It turns out that he has to have 3 root canals. His teeth are super badly damaged. Well, so we arranged to get them extracted and everything. After, we got a call from Roque and also another member named Nancy Chavez. They wanted us to come visit them, so we saw and talked to them, they are both super cool.

But that night was what changed our lives. We got a call from Elder Smith who told us that we would have special changes! Elder Gutierrez was to leave the area! He is going to Palma Loma with Elder Simao. Now I am with ELDER TURLEY! It is crazy because he is in my group! So we packed up Guties things and headed off and we switched companions. We had some lunch and then we all cleaned the capilla together. It was a lot of fun, we rocked out to some jams!

So before changes we had a huge noche de hogar with the family Marin. It was kinda like a goodbye party, except we didn't know yet who was going to leave. We had a barbecue with lotta meat! I love when they do that here in paraguay.

We also had a super cool Sunday. We had an activity for the dia del niño. That is childrens day. It is celebrated for some children that were killed in a war. We had an activity there were there were a ton of games and candy for the kids.

So the missionaries in our branch now are: Elder Birge (Texas) and Elder Gomez (Brasil) and Elder Turley (California) and I. It is so awesome everyone there.

Well... love you guys! See you in 4 months from today!

Elder Crandall

Email: Week#75 in Paraguay

Hi,

Today was raining a lot, so we couldn't play soccer, but we hung out as the zone and played some Uno and some other stuff. It hasn't rained for like a month almost.

Well so tomorrow we have changes, so we have been a bit antsy about what is going to happen. My companion is like super nervous that he is going to leave.

We are now working with Roques sister, Lida. She is super cool and went to church once. She has been busy a few Sundays and hasn't gone to church, but she is our most promising at the moment.

Sunday was fun because we watched meet the Mormons, but we couldn't change it to Spanish because they didn't have a control for the DVD, so Elder Birge translated it for the hour we watched it haha.

We also had a pollada, which is where all the members bought chicken and made it to sell to raise money to go to the temple, so that was cool. It was kinda like a mini ward activity. All the young men and women are going to the temple this Saturday, so that is really cool. The best part is is that Roque and Sergio are going!!

Well, I am totally blanking out on what happened last week, but here you can enjoy these pictures.

Love, 

Elder Crandall

Email: Week#74 in Paraguay

Last Tuesday was just super awesome because we had a family home evening with Roque and his family. It was cool because they all got to know the ward and vice versa. It got super competitive because we played jeopardy haha. It was a good time. Roque's sister Lida is really neat, she went to church once and I think she will progress well.

Wednesday was something because we spent almost the whole day moving. We had to help some elders clean out an empty house because there are less missionaries in the area now. It was crazy, we stuffed all the stuff into my house because it is really big. Now we have a ton of extra stuff in the house!

Friday was the crazy day. We had to help Sergio before his baptismal interview, but he didn't come back from the campaña! We were freaking out because we thought he might not get baptized, but he came like at 6! So we somehow were able to still teach him and get the interview done! It so stressed us out because we just went all over the place trying to get a hold of him, so it was so relieving to get it done.

Saturday was the big day! It was the BAPTISM OF SERGIO! It was so cool. He invited his family and they came! That was a surprise. It was a really neat service, where one of the young men did the baptism just like last time. I made a ton of brownies for the baptism, since he is like in love with them a ton.

So today was crazy because I traveled on Sunday night to Asuncion, which was about 6 hours away. It just sucked a bit because we left at 11.30 at night, so I didn't get to sleep. I just couldn't sleep on the bus, it was uncomfortable. So that was a long ride, but we made it for a capacitation with the mission President and it was just a long one because I was just so dead tired. I played some basketball to wake me up at 5 in the morning haha. Now I think once I get back I am going to crash definitely, don't think I can make it much longer.

Love, 

Elder Crandall