on tuesday we started a fast as a zone to be able to have miracles and achieve our goal, which is baptize 25 people as a zone in the month of June. after the district meeting i did divisions with Elder Liddell (from Utah) in Paraguari, who is also going home this week. but anyways we were sitting waiting for a bus to go to a far away part of his area, and a young guy came up to us and asked us if we knew Elder Cox (an Elder in the other half of Paraguari). we started talking to him and learned that he was an old investigator, who had gone to church a couple times. we invited him to be baptized for the following tuesday (tomorrow) and he accepted! it was a small little miracle that showed the power of fasting.
also on tuesday, my companion found Rosalino and Santiago again, after we hadnt been able to find them for a while. we actually ate lunch with Rosalino on thursday, we ate fish, and it was really good. but his old church gave him a job to go and preach in jails (he just got out of jail a few months ago) so even though he believes that the Book of Mormon is true, he doesnt want to leave his old church. Santiago, it seems, was just interested in getting a Bible, and now isnt showing much interest. but we'll see what we can do.
on friday i went and did an interview in Acahay, for an investigator that almost exclusively speaks guarani. in broken jopara (mixed, referring to a mix between guarani and spanish) i managed to ask most of the questions (the ones he didnt understand, his sister, who speaks spanish, translated) and understand more or less the things he was saying, but it was still pretty tough. we also ate lunch with him. after we finished we asked to be able to wash our hands, and he started to lead us behind his house (where most people here have spigots). but then we went to a stream and washed our hands in a stream! it was pretty legit. he actually got baptized in that stream (but a bit further from his house, where it's a bit deeper. getting to his house was quite an adventure as well. we crossed fields where oxen were eating grass, jungles, and streams, on paths covered with cow poop. it was pretty fun.
on saturday we went to teach a girl, Andrea, that had contacted my companion on a bus. she lives in 56, 8 km from yaguaron. we went with a member cus there's no men in her house, and started to teach her. we asked who Jesus Christ is for her, and she started to explain us her story. she said that she doesnt know much of him, because for the majority of her life she didnt believe in anything. then recently she had a major sickness, and was going to a psychologist. she didnt want to live anymore, and her psychologist told her that she needed to start praying twice a day. she started praying, and saw that her life began to change. she had more desires to keep living, she decided to try to get closer to her family again, and, after talking a bit with my comp on the bus, and discovering that we teach people about Christ, she was eager to learn and have us visit her. she happily accepted a baptismal date and committed to going to church (but couldnt go, we dont know why cus she wasnt home in the evening either, but probably cus it was raining). also she's only home in the evening, and in the evening there arent any more buses to come back, so on thursday and on sunday we had to walk 8 kilometers back to yaguaron. on saturday, luckily, a bus passed by and stopped for us, but on thursday it took us two hours to walk back (but we did buy ice cream and hot dogs on the way) and on sunday we made it in an hour and twenty minutes. but anyways, the moral of the story, psychologists in Paraguay are pretty wise people, and the Light of Christ is real, and truly can guide all those who sincerely try to find God in their lives directly to the restored gospel.
Angel couldnt go to church yesterday either, but we went and taught him after church, and he had read in the Book of Mormon and prayed and got a testimony! we set a new goal with him to be baptized the 4th of July (didnt even realize that was gonna be a holiday until i wrote it, just now) we taught him the restoration in the branch presidents house and then he and the branch president saw a movie about Joseph Smith together.
today we went to Asuncion for my comps final interview. and while he was in the interview one of the office missionaries got back from the bank and had done a bit of shopping too, and had pop tarts! they gave me one, and i ate it. it was pretty awesome.
its getting a bit colder now.
I know that this church is true, and that God truly loves all his children. he desires that we can all be saved, but the problem is that most of us dont want to. so our job is help people to desire salvation, and to recognize and follow the light of Christ in their lives.
Elder Woodfield
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