Postcards From Paraguay: 2014-04-20

Coming to you LIVE from YBY YAU(only a few weeks until I can teach you vocally how to properly pronounce that) IT’S PDAY AFTERNOON!!!!!!!!!!!!

*crowd cheers*

I am elated to report that this week I felt much better than the last two gloomy gloom weeks.

After our visit to Asuncion for migrations, I returned home with packages and letters. The love from home was an excellent and much needed boost. I could write you 100 thank you’s each to all who send me things, but I heard pictures are worth 1,000. I will just send some of those instead. Everything I received was more than perfect and millions of happy tears were shed and trillions of warm fuzzies were felt in my heart.

Myy inventory included 2 packages from my familia, one from some cool cats in PARK VALLEY, one from a señor Goooozman and a manilla folder full of Grandma lovin’ from OAKLEY

Tons of awesome letters were also received!

Thank you again!!!

WONDERFUL WONDERFUL job loving and supporting me. I hope I use all the treasures and jewels sent to me to full potential and get good missionary work done. I wanna make ya’ll proud!

SO,

Best story pertaining to my adventures the last P-day in Asuncion:

Whilst waiting in the Migration offices to write my John Hancock on a couple of papers I looked up to see a familiar smiley face.

Very familiar....TOO familiar for this foreign place. This was a "home" face!

It was the face of Elder (Dakota) Goodell!!!!!!!!!!!!

Granted, I knew he was on a mission in Paraguay, BUT he is in the South mission and so the chances of us seeing each other were few unless a general authority came to visit Paraguay!

I was so excited and shocked!

Now imagine, if you will, MY shock times 1,000.... That was the shock of my good friend Elder Goodell, for he knew not that I was even on a mission, let alone in his same country. We had several hours at the offices to laugh and talk of home (he especially praised my family and parents which was great because that’s what I do all day long and HNA Willis just doesn’t understand, but HE DID!) We also shared the laughter with my Brazilian CCM brother, Elder Lira. He and I are still rowing along in the same boat and now that Elder Lira went home, we are the only 2 left in our group from the Argentinian Missionary Torture Chambers (MTC). We re-vowed to stay on our missions and took another photo together. BMFL (Best Missionaries For Lyf)

Along with other audio treasures, Wyatt sent me a talk by Dr.John L Lund named “The Myth we call Perfection”. In his talk Dr. Lund explains how we are not perfect, nor can we BE "perfect" until at least after we are resurrected

(if not longer... I’m not positive about the refinement process we will go through). Perfection is (at least for now) unattainable and is NOT expected. What IS expected, quoting Dr.Lund, is that we "love much and do what we can".

I can do that! I have also been studying the stress handbook and trying to keep it cool and stay out of the gloomy glooms. I have also been getting up to exercise(most days... like 77.8% of them). As a blessing for these efforts, God has sent Angels(The Elders) who got permission to enter our abode and fix our shower! Now getting up to take a cold shower won’t be something I have to dread each morning.

I took my first warm shower in 4 months and I washed more than just my hair. I washed away stress and worries and bad moods every morning! I am so very optimistic looking into this new week filled with workouts, work and NO cold showers! I am grateful for the silly tender mercies God provides me with to help me chug along, like packages, friends and warm showers.

I truly feel like I am being refined and growing.

I am loving much and doing what I can.

We are still struggling a bit with the area being stubborn to accepting our message and choose Liberty and Eternal Life!! I am confident in the work we are doing. . Like the Primary song sings "I hope that I can share the gospel to those who want to know the truth", I know that the message we have is the truth and the greatest news one could hear.

I pray that I will find hearts that will listen. The rest is up to the Lord.

This is, you know, HIS church, HIS gospel, and really, HIS mission. I am on a mission for HIM. So I am confident in whatever He has planned.

The Ward is doing well. We had an activity. The kids were rowdy and kid like. Eggs were painted. The Paraguayans thought it was weird, but humored us. Chocolate, chipa and chicken were eaten (a very Paraguayan Easter to us all!)

Primary went really well this week . My mother had sent me a ton of materials I could use to plan and I was thrilled with the results!

(I tweaked the lesson a bit because it draws a lot of parallels to Spring and here it is Fall). The kids listened and learned! We were all edified and I didn`t feel stress and cry before or after! It was an Easter miracle! Another Easter funny story was when Elder Munoz, from the pulpit, announced that the Hermana’s were doing a special musical number. . .

(The people who gave talks went FAST and so there was time to fill)

SURPRISE! We quickly picked a Hymn (Divina Luz) and hit them with an impromtu accapella masterpiece.... We even made it basically the whole song without giggling (a mess up happened with the VERY LAST word and HERMANA WILLIS kinda lost it so I finished solo,but we covered it up well and hurried to our seats)

Happy Easter. Loved the Robin Eggs. Taught the Chileans how to apply Robin Eggs Lipstick. hahahaha!

We also made meatloaf and deviled eggs to celebrate! And on the side... MANDIOCA! of course. We really are Paraguayos now.

We had even bought Hershey’s Cocoa whilst in Asuncion and made brownies!

All in all I am feeling like I have a nice clean slate with good work behind and ahead of me!

There is sunshine in my soul today!

Isn`t it silly how much a small thing (like a hot shower) can do?

"If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way"

That´s what I`m going to try to do.

I am also going to try to stay safe because it is getting dangerous here.

(Prayers are good)

Thank you for all the attention, care, emails, advice, letters packages and most of all for the love. I can feel it.

I must now use the remainder of my time to slooooooooooowwwwwwwlllllllllyyyyyy load promised photos.