October 20, 2014

well this week was pretty good. it was super hot, and on friday it got up to about 110 degrees farenheit, and walking around in the sun while all the paraguayans were napping made it feel even worse. but anyways we had interviews with president this week, and then i had divisions with the district leader. in the interviews and with what the assistants said (we had interviews with president and a lesson with the President's assistants) i learned a ton. mainly they told us we should put people with baptismal dates throughout the week, invite them to church, and then set appointments for sunday, so that the verification of them going to church is a bit closer. that way they'll feel more committed. so then if they do go we can go on sunday and congratulate them on their progress and help them continue learning towards their set date, and if they dont go, we can go right after their date fell, explain a bit more about the sabbath day and the importance of repenting to prepare for being baptized and put the date again so that they see the importance of that goal. so anyways we were able to put a few people with baptismal dates during the week but as the week continued we werent able to find any of them anymore. the district leader called us on saturday to verify if we had appointments with everybody that had dates and i explained that we could plan to visit them but that for the past few days we hadnt been able to find any of them. he said to do it, with faith, so we did. sunday came and we didnt have anybody in church. so we went out to put baptismal dates. we passed by a lot of people but didnt find anybody except Isaías (which was a miracle as we hadnt seen or taught him since last sunday). he said his aunt didnt want him to get baptized, that a lot of his friends and neighbors made fun of him for listening to us, and that he doesnt like getting up early on sundays. also he prayed to ask if the book of mormon was true and he didnt get an answer. so we promised him that if he would read every day and come to church next sunday that God would answer him. we invited him to prepare to be baptized on the 1 of Nov and he didnt accept, but he did commit to reading every day and going to church.

on wednesday we moved. our new house is nice but it doesnt have air conditioning yet, and on wednesday and thursday nights the power went out a few times so we couldnt use fans. those were the first and hopefully the last times in my life that i've had to sleep with a handkerchief nearby. i seriously just felt like i was sleeping in a pool of sweat. and i had just changed my sheets this week. but anyways we should be getting air conditioning installed today or tomorrow which will be nice.

also on saturday francisco, (one of my converts here, that got baptized in July) got married with his girlfriend who's a member. that was pretty cool and there was really good food. but now theyre gonna move so i wont be able to see them anymore. but its chill

on saturday after the wedding we had a pretty cool experience. what we had planned to do at 8 fell, so we just started walking to do some contacts. we started to go down a street, and then i felt that we should turn. we passed a house and i thought i heard someone say elder but i wasnt sure and then we kept walking. i normally dont like going back to houses after having passed them but i felt we should so we went back to contact them and they immediately just invited us in. there were two friends that are about 20, and one said hey elders used to come to my house. and we always talk about the mormons and the different religions. can you tell my friend the story of Moroni? so we basically just explained the whole history of the book of mormon and they understood super well. it was a pretty awesome lesson. theyre atheists and seem more interested in the story than in the religious part, but still it was pretty cool, and i know that God gave us something to do when we didnt know what else to do.

on thursday we contacted a girl and she said to come back when her family was there. usually appointments where we contact one person and set an appointment to visit another person fall, but we went back and her brother let us in. we started teaching her mom, then her brother and his friend came, then the girl came too. we taught about the restoration, and finished explaining everything, and then the dad got there too, and another friend, so we explained the book of mormon again. turns out they actually have get togethers in their house friday nights to talk about the bible, and this time they had unexpected visitors teach. they liked the book of mormon and committed to read it, but are pretty solid in their church. but it was cool cus they were so willing to recieve us and we taught a ton of people.

we ended up leaving sergio. i talked to president about him in my interview, and he said that we should just invite him to be baptized. we did it, for this saturday, and he said he didnt have sufficient faith to just leave his job and get baptized, and that he wanted to wait until God opened the path so that he can change his schedule or something without any issues. we said that when that happens that he should let us know so we can pass again. he was a bit sad and me too but God is hastening the work of salvation and we need to hasten it too.

also we finished teaching martin and giseña the plan of salvation. they said they wanted to be an eternal family and said they were gonna go to church but they didnt come.

Lider (the husband of Gianina, who got baptized last week) who was baptized in may, got called as second counselor in the branch presidency this week. which just shows that God doesnt need people to know everything or have a ton of time in the church to be able to work through them. he just needs people who are willing to do what he asks. by small and simple means are great things brought to pass.

I know that this is the work of God, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints truly is the kingdom of God on earth, and that it is led by God's chosen servants.

Elder Woodfield