February 13, 2012

Mondays are boring because we can`t do anything.
     Tuesday we didn`t have district meeting because of Zone Conference on Thursday. Me and Elder Fale went

all over the area setting up appointments for tomorrow because he has to do divisions and I`m staying again.

     Wednesday in the morning we started the Divisions before study time. I went back to the area with Elder Dominguez, a Mexican (who is ridiculously prideful of his country even though he talks about all the poverty and suffering which doesn`t give me much reason to want to go there. Not a very good Salesman. How does he expect Mexico to improve it`s economy if I don`t want to take my American Dollars to go vacationing there?). Since Elder Dominguez is still being trained we did studies until 12pm. Then we discovered, after walking an half hour, that our lunch cita (Flia Grau) went on Vacation to Utah to visit her daughter who is married and lives in Orem. They will be gone a month. So we walked back to the house and ordered Pancholos. Elder Dominguez braged about how much better the food is in Mexico.

     After Lunch we taught a guy named Juan Carlos. Elder Fale told me he was an investigator, but it turns out that he is an inactive that smokes and drinks. We talked to him about the importance of keeping the Sabbath Day Holy, he said that next sunday he will come. I hope he does. After that we talked to a Japanese guy named Genichiro. He used to be Buddist but converted to Evangelical. He has basically been to every church and has even read the Book of Mormon, D&C, Pearl of Great Price, etc. Unfortunately he thinks that God doesn´t have a church he just sends the Holy Ghost to give authority to what we do. He gave us a 2 hour life story. I challanged him to pray... again because he has already done it once, about the church to see if it is true. Without Doubting.

Since the two visits took too much time we went to the Branch comitee meeting and talked about the investigators we have. Then we finished the Night eating Lomito Arabe.

     Thursday we got up to go to the Zone Conference. We were at the main road by 7:20am to get there by 7:30, but unfortunately 14 busses completely full of people passed us. So we got there right at 8, but President Callan had already started, so he was a little upset. So we finished Divisions and I went with Elder Fale. Zone Conference was really good again, not as fun as last time, but really spiritual. The part that surprised me most was when we went to do Practices on teaching for people´s needs. I felt the spirit stronger when Elder Fale and I were teaching than in any other time during the Zone Conference. We ate Milanesa and Mashed Potatoes for lunch. Boring.

     After the Zone Conference (Around 4:30pm) we found and taught Juan for my first time. He told us that he had an answer that it´s true, but he is too into the world right now and he wants to take it slow. Such a disappointment because I could see that he understands everything and he knows what he is supposed to do, but he is just to lazy and wants to have fun right now. We are really going to work with him to try and change that. Then we finally talked to the Member lady Luz Romero. Her husband is Catholic and knows everything about the church, but he just doesn´t want to pray about it. The saddest thing is that he is leaving to go work constuction in New York, so we can´t work with him and help him. He is such a good guy, he just needs a push from and example of his wife.

     Friday is when we had to do the Plan Guasu. Our lunch cita fell through again. We worked all day in area´s A and B on the map to try and find news. We have no investigators over there and we don´t know the area that well, so we did a lot of walking and talking. A few potentials if we can find them again. It rained a little in the afternoon, so it cooled everything down. 

Saturday I didn´t sweat that much. ¡YAY! Then we left with Manu to teach a couple of lessons. We taught a bunch of random ones, but fortunately we were able to find a Part Member Family that we´ve wanted to teach for a while. I think if we just help them find friends they will come.

Sunday Manu taught us about what Revelations is talking about. It was pretty awesome. If you read Jesus the Christ you will find the answer.

As for other answers, just ask.

Love,

Elder Zachary James Singson

February 6, 2012

Dear Farmly

Well, like the subject says, this was a slow week.

      It all started out on Monday when our District got banned from
playing together on P days. The Elders in the District wanted to play
basketball in the morning, during studies, when it isn`t so hot. Then
they were going to do studies later during the day. Sounds reasonable,
but it`s not permitted, so we can`t do anything as a district anymore.

     District Meetring was interesting when I found out we have two
Trio companionships. Libertad 1.1 and 1.2 both have an extra elder. So
thats 10 Elders in 4 Areas. Pretty strange. We pulled out the money
for the month so we could eat breakfast and dinner this week. That was
good. I found a mouse in my bed so I immediately sent my sheets to be
washed. Luckily the pension has extra blankets.

     Wednesday it was raining off and on, we weren`t expecting it, so
we got soaked. And when the sun came out, the humidity made the water
into a sauna. Luckily crazy winds came in and heavier rain to cool it
down. Killed all our plans though. It was so windy I thought the roofs
of houses were going to fly off. Also there was a cross wind so I was
worried that there was going to be a Tornado. Fun times.

     Thursday was similar. It didn`t rain until after we dropped off
our clothes and went to pick up our lunch at flia Zalia`s, this time
we had our umbrellas. Unfortunately it didn`t make a difference. The
rain was blowing sideways and the streets were all flooded. The
member´s house, who live in front of us, flooded. Our roof has a leak
in one spot. It started falling on my bed, but because of the
construction of the roof, it also slowly started dripping to the other
side and on Elder Fale`s bed. We had to use all the container type
things we had to catch the water.

     Friday Elder Fale was sick, probably for walking around in wet
shoes the last two days. I also had Chivivi, probably from Hna Zalia`s
food. Thus... we stayed in. Saturday was similar, we tried working,
but there was constant return home breaks. I drank lots of Sprite and
the Pepto Bismol helped, but it`s not an instant cure. Thankfully my
comp`s shoes are dry though, so he probably will get better too.

     Sunday the Jovens from the Branch got back from EFY, the first
efy every in Paraguay, and just in time to share their testimonies for
fast Sunday. This was the first sunday testimony meeting where there
was no extra time. I didn`t feel like I had to bear my Testimony. Now
the Mission has asked us to work a lot with the Jovenes because at EFY
they made them sign a "I will help the Missionaries" card with
references on it. I think this week will be really fruitful and will
multiply to replenish the Rama.

That`s how I see it anyways.

Love,
Elder Zachary James Singson

January 30, 2012

So this week was really chaotic and I`m exhausted, but it was worth it.

     Tuesday the Zone Leaders came over to watch us study. That was awkward... and pointless, but whatever makes them happy. During the District meeting they made us go out and do 4 contacts to practice our quick contacting/teaching skills. The power was out during District meeting, so it was really hot. After district meeting we did divisions with Libertad 1.2 and I went with Elder Graham in our area. Good thing was he was in this area 6 months ago, so we never got lost. We taught Claudia the commandments that she needed to know before getting baptized and she was cool with everything. Most of our plans fell through so Elder Graham visited all the members and people he knew.

     Wednesday we got lazy member Manu to go teach a lesson with us. We visited a Joven named Jose Carlos, who is really good and asks lots of questions (That means he is interested and pays attention). Then afterwards we did another lesson with Claudia to prepare her for her Baptismal Interview. At night Manu took us to a place called Pancholos, where they have hamburgers the size of a Plate for only 22mil! We are going to eat there more often.
     Thursday we fixed up the map during Plan Guasu, so I could get to know the area better. Later that day we were practicing a special musical number for Claudia`s baptism at Manu`s house and his 1yr old kid, Jonas, was doing somersaults on the bed. His parents told him to stop because he was going to fall, but they really didn`t do anything about it. So at one point he did fall, but me and my awesome ninja abilities saved him. I stuck out my left arm and did a Heinsman catch before he hit the ground. That one deserves a trophy.

     Friday when we ate at Flia Ferrera`s house we gave their twins a health blessing. They BOTH have FIVE names! Ridiculous. That was the hardest part of the blessing. Anyways after that Elder Fale had to go to do a baptismal interview for Libertad 1.1, so we called and they told us to jump on bus 21. After waiting for a nonexistant bus for a while we called back and they told us bus number 12¡ The first bus of 12 we saw we tried to flag it down, but it totally passed us. The second bus we jumped on took us the wrong way, but that`s ok, because we accidently didn`t pay for it. Then the third bus took us close, but we had to walk the rest of the way. After the walk to the interview and the bus home we basically wasted 3 hours getting lost.
     Luckily Claudia`s baptismal interview went smoothly. The Zone Leaders met us at the edge of their area. Got in, did the interview, and got out. With the extra time we taught Jose Carlos and his friends and then went to the church and played Soccer with the young men.

     Saturday we had to go to another interview, but this time for Libertad 1.2. We got there fine, but we had to do divisions to give the Zone Leaders some baptismal clothes, so we got to lunch late. We had to go to the office because of the lack of Baptismal Clothes, but they only had two giant ones and Claudia is short. Oh Well¡ Then we went to the Capilla to fill up the font. Thankfully the Elders from Barrio 4 (Elder Henrie and Elder Hager), who share the Capilla with us, cleaned the font for us. Bad news was the Water Tower ran out of water. We ended up carrying buckets of water from the neighbors and even ran a hose through the window to fill it up. That was tiring.
     Then Claudia got Baptized¡ and everything went tranquilo. She even got up and bore a powerful testimony, she was holding back her tears. Then we ate the cakes we bought. Sunday when she got confirmed when we placed our hands on her head and I felt "virtue" pass from my chest, through my hand to her head, and then back. That was cool. Sunday was a visit members day because we are dead tired.

Well that was the week.
I`m sorry that I never have time to do anything else, like send pictures or something¡

Love,
Elder Zachary James Singson

January 16, 2012

Hey Family¡

So, I forgot to tell you there was going to be changes next week¡ I wasn`t expecting to get changed yet¡ Especially because I was receiving lots of "personal revelation" for the area, BUT that`s exactly what happened¡

     So right now I am in Fernando de la Mora (Asuncion close to the office), in an area called Residentas, with Elder Falepapalangi. Our direction is "Calle Carlos Olitte casi Ias Residentas. House number 1132" and we live behind members. I was surprised I got changed, but at least I had a feeling that I should wait before buying groceries. After district meeting and getting my clothes from Hna Raquel it was already 4pm. So we left to go say goodbye to everybody, but nobody was around! I only got to say goodbye to Hector, the Ice cream guy, and Pdte Arriola.
     So we got back at 9pm and I packed everything within a half an hour, so we watched The Testaments and bought a Sprite until bedtime. We woke up at 3am to take a bus. Elder Villalba had to go with me to pick up his comp, because Elder Fale`s comp, elder rogers, and I are just switching places. Elder Fale is a Tongan who live is west valley Utah.

     So Wednesday morning we got to the Asuncion Terminal at 6:30am and waited around until 8am. I saw only a handful of people I recognized and the rest were newbies. So Elder Fale picked me up and I realized while heading back to our area that we went through a good portion of my area while we were on the bus. I never thought I would be so deep in Asuncion. We share limits with the office, so I have to be careful because Pdte Callan can show up at anytime. I have already seen him driving in his care thrice.
     When we got back to the house Elder Fale and I talked until 10:30. A member lady stopped by the house at lunch and dropped us food for us. Basically we get fed everyday. Maybe I`ll gain some weight. We talked all day long making jokes. We taught a new investigator Rolando Chaves and we got him to do a kneeling prayer. Then we talked to a Flia Barrios.
     Elder Fale only has a change in the area so we got a little lost. We drank tons of water and had to pee in the stadium bathrooms twice. We taught a girl named Claudia, who lives with members, and gave her a Baptismal date. The members tried making excuses because she recently had her baby, but I totally destroyed the duck and dodge moves they were making with the Spirit Bomb (Acts 2 Peter baptizes tons of people who get a testimony from the spirit... The Same Day¡). Anyways the day ended with ordering Pizza Hut´s cheesy crust pizza¡ I was so happy¡

     Thursday was Plan Sememal (Guasu/Gua-u). I basically just sat there while Elder Fale told me what to write. We talked a lot because there wasn`t much to plan for. Two people Might get baptized this month. It rained, so I had to buy an umbrella. It`s kinda girly with it`s blue plaid, but I didn`t have any other options. My boots aren`t water proof anymore. They have a slow leak. We ate Lomito Arabe for dinner, that was happy.

     Friday we taught a reference named Lucia at the house of Emmanuel and Evelyn German. It went great, but there was lots of distractions, they changed the subject a lot, and we didn`t talk much. Ate lunch at a member`s house and they made us drink some nasty orange/lime juice that left a terrible taste in my mouth until the next day. Then we taught a Flia Ortiz, the wife is a member in a wheelchair and the husband believes everything we say, so I think he will get baptized quick. I just hope he doesn´t listen to anybody else though. We took our clothes to the member who washes them and did service (Gua-u) carrying bricks from the front yard to the back yard. It took like five minutes. Then we carried Mano`s (Emmanuel) Barbieque from his house to his work and then just messed around there for a while till it was time to go home.

     Saturday our lunch appointment fell through so we bought Pizza Hut¡ Triple pepperoni and stuffed crust Madness¡ Then we visited Flia Barrios again. We listened to the lady talk forever about nonsense because all our plans fell through. Her husband fell asleep while she was talking. I would have done it too if she wasn`t looking at me. We watched Shakira`s Waka Waka song with Mano. Then we found a less active named Fabio da Silva who works for a guy that lives in Alaska. His job is to watch the security camera`s of his boss`s shop all day. How boring, but he makes good money for a Paraguayay.

     Sunday we walked 30 minutes and 5 blocks outside of our area to get to the church. The Capilla is Giant¡ And really beautiful. I gave a talk on love. With only 31 people the chapel looked super empty. We share the church with a ward and it`s the stake center. Taught the plan of salvation to the primary. Accomplished nothing the rest of the day.

I really like it here and Elder Fale is awesome, so I hope we stay together a while.
Love,
Elder Zachary James Singson

December 19, 2011

Dear Fam fam,

This week has been very difficult. I hope it`s just because it`s almost Christmas.

     Funny story... for you guys at least. On Monday that one Snakey Girl from the terminal (that time when I was picking up Elder Villabla) appeared again. She suddenly appeared and she was all like "hey what`s up blah blah blah". I tried to escape by saying "we have an appointment", but she said "oh okay I`ll go with you", so we walked around for half an hour doing contacts with her bugging us. She left for a little bit after getting bored, but she came back. She repeated this like five times. I don`t know how she kept finding us, but she did. When we got back to the pension we drew drawings of her as a giant snake and I had to fight her. Tuesday The snake found us again at the terminal while we were waiting for a bus after district meeting. We were with two more missionaries and one is tall and blond, but she didn`t even notice them, just me. More drawings of snake battles at night.

 

     Wednesday we ate lunch and then did divisions. I was with Elder Rodeback from Minnesota. It was a nice break talking in English. Elder Rodeback must be lucky or something because the people that I really wanted to visit were home and we had great lessons with them. First was Andrea and Eulogio and Rosa Velazquez. They are kind of progressing. Then we finally found military guy Sergio Sosa and finally taught him the Restoration. Good lesson, accepted Baptismal Invitation.

 

     Thursday we tried setting up the map. Tape doesn`t work with styrofoam. Wasted 2 hours of Plan Guasu trying to do that. Gave up though. Ate spagetti for lunch. That morning Elder Rodeback broke the water tank, so we had to stick around 2 hours after lunch while the Dueño tried to fix it. Didn`t do a good job.

     Friday we talked to Carlos Faraone again. He said he would read the Book of Mormon and look for an answer, but he would not, I repeat NOT, accept a baptismal date. He kept saying "don`t rush me Singson" and I would say "It`s just a goal, we won`t baptize you if you aren`t ready", but he wouldn`t accept. Later we taught Victor who actually has been reading the Book of Mormon. All he needs to do now is start praying and go to church. The last option is going to be hard though because he is taking a long vacation to visit his family in Argentina and he won`t be back until the end of January. Ugh.

 

     Saturday we ate rotisary chicken for lunch and Lomito Arabe for dinner. I didn`t have to pay for any of it. It made me happy. Sunday there was a football game and nobody let us talk to them. They all went crazy afterwards. I kinda felt like I was in danger.

That was my week. Bwye bwye,

Elder Zachary James Singson

December 12, 2011

 First things first, Sorry Dad I forgot to say something last week... ¡Happy Birthday!

I`m such a bad child.

Anyways I got your packages last week. Thank Gma And Gpa for all the goods (Especially all the beef jerky). All the candy is gone now though, but that`s what you get for sharing, oh well. I really liked Job 34:31 and the Chastisemints. The satan heads really creeped me out. To every time there is a "seasoning" was really funny. You put 3 Nephi 27:14, but I think you meant 13, I really liked the mini preach my gospel. I still have no Idea how D&C 88:124 connects with now and laters. Mosiah 4:16 was funny, ha ha succor. I liked everything, but those are the ones I remembered most. The music you sent doesn`t work with my music player by the way, I`ll have to find a way to change the format.

On to the week!

    
     Tuesday the bus left early, so we had to wait 30 minutes for the next one to Coronel Oviedo. Then once we got there we waited 45 minuted for a bus to take us to the capilla for district meeting. It was frustrating. Got my packages though. We taught a guy we randomly found in the street named Carlos Andino, the first thing he asked is "why don`t you guys believe in Maria?" He is just crazy enough to become a member. Later we taught Victor his sister Mirian Medina and invited them to pray to find the truth and see if they should get baptized. Victor says he doesn't like to be obligated to do things and he has very little faith, but he said he would try it. What surprised me was when Mirian said "I`m fine how I am. We explained to her authority again, and she said she would pray, but it didn't seem like she even cared. I`m not sure what will happen.

     Wednesday was depressing because we taught a guy and he accepted a baptismal date, but he lives in the other elders area. Thursday I learned a new word Bochorno or Bochornoso. While we were eating at Flia Gomez`s they got into a huge fight and afterwards my comp taught me that new word. It basically means Embarrassing. That day we taught Lorenzo after not being able to teach him for a long time. Lorenzo told us a bunch of crazy Catholic church stories. I`m not sure if he will change, but I can`t believe how gullible and blind this people are. If people get possessed every time you go to a Catholic activity ¿Doesn't that mean that Satan is constantly present? Isn`t that the logical explanation? To me it seems so obvious, but I also have the spirit of discernment with me, so I guess I can`t blame them. But I will anyways ¡Que Bochornoso!

     Friday we taught 7 lessons. It was Virgin Maria day or whatever, so we taught a bunch of random people who were at home. The first lesson was at 11am to a drunk guy (Drunk at 11am?). I showed him Galatians 5 were it says that Drunks can`t go to heaven and he cried. Then we gave him a Word of Wisdom and a lesson 3 pamphlet, because it talks about repentance. I`m pretty sure his entire family was drunk. He kissed our hands goodbye Eww! Later we taught a guy who believes in the book of mormon and Joseph Smith, but it doesn't matter, he is still catholic. Ugh! Third random guy started out as a contact, but by the end he wanted to read Joseph Smith History to learn more about him.  The fourth random guy was a drunk who contacted us outside the church. He wanted us to "cure" him of his Alcoholic ways, so we did a kneeling prayer on the sidewalk and gave him a Word of Wisdom pamphlet. Problem is he doesn't want to choose to give it up, he just wants a quick and permanent fix.

     After English class, with only one student, we went and taught Victor again. He actually read the part we left him and more, so he had some questions for us. I talked too much, but besides that the lesson went really well and he says he will read the Book and Pray. On the way to the house we contacted a guy named Carlos Faraone. He asked me (In poor English) "Would you like to drink water with me in my House?" So he took us to his house (Chuchi) and bought us Sprite and Empenadas and he let me hold his pet monkey. ¡¡AWESOME!! Then we taught him and he accepted a baptismal invitation. ¡¡Double AWESOME!! Turns out he is friends with our lawyer member Hno Mercado, so he already has a good connection with the church.

     Saturday we talked to Carlos Andino again and all I can say is he watches TV too much. Sunday a bunch of random people came to church including Jose (Who is gay) with a "friend". Later we taught Lorenzo again. He almost dropped us, but I`m to smart. He also told us more crazy Catholic stories. We gave a blessing to a dying lady, who is mother of an investigator, and we taught her entire family The Plan of Salvation. They didn't listen very well, but at least we are on the good side of our investigators. Alcidez Brisuela dropped us after a very long explanation of why. He says he wants to search for the truth on his own and not be influence by anybody. 20 lessons this week ¡¡WOO!!

LOVE YA,

Elder Zachary James Singson

December 5, 2011

Hello Family,

This week is a little boring. A lot happened and then a lot not. So I`m exhausted.

     So the changes that happened were very eventful, so instead of waiting till Tuesday during District Meeting they told us Monday. Elder Yaringaño got changed to Ayolas by the river, so he spent our Pday cleaning, packing, stressing, etc. When we left to proselyte all we did was say goodbye, no lessons. Tuesday we all went to Coronel Oviedo and did divisions all day and wednesday everybody left.

     For my divisions I was with Elder Wistinsen. He practiced Brazilian Jujitsu, I connected really well with him. That night there was a Farewell party for Elder Skinner who went home. At 1am I took Elder Skinner to the terminal and was supposed to pick up my Comp. Unfortunately my comp didn`t arrive on the bus we thought. So I was alone for an entire 10 minutes on my way back to the zone leaders pension. It was really dangerous because there are always Prostitutes that work on that road. Then I waited for the next bus to arrive at 3:30am and went with the Zone leaders to the terminal. 

     My new Comp, Elder Villalba from Argentina (Huhui or something like that), and I were supposed to take a bus back to Villarrica at 4:30am, but it didn`t come, so we ended up waiting until 7:30am to catch a different bus. During this time we talked and saw all the other Elders arrive and leave. Turns out that Elder Villalba is practically a Latin version of Elder Parker. A random member girl from Asuncion asked for my Facebook and a Book of Mormon. So I asked for references from Villarrica. She gave me the references so I complied. Anyways we got back to Villarrica at 8ish. 

    The zone leaders gave us permission to sleep in for a bit because I only got 2 hours of sleep before hand. Slept in until Lunch at 1pm. Ate at Flia Mercado`s. Went to pick up my clothes. Randomly there was a crazy storm that only lasted 30 minutes. Wierd. Cleaned up the pension of Elder Yaringaño`s junk and let Elder Villalba unpack. Pulled out money and bought food. Didn`t really do anything else.

    Thursday was a Plan Gua`u (Fake). I basically just went through all the Investigators and gave Elder Villalba background information on them. We went out to work, but didn`t really accomplish anything. Celebrated a birthday of an investigating family`s little girl. Did tons of contacts, but we can`t get in any lessons. Sometimes we get lucky, but the people don`t really want to progress they just were being polite. That is how the rest of the week went.

     Friday I taught English class by myself again. Saturday we celebrated 3 more birthdays. Hna Raquel, Elder Pastul, and Miguel Àngel all had thier birthday on that weekend so we ate an Asado. Sunday I think the food gave me chivivi, so we couldn`t follow our plans because I had to stay close to the house. 36 people came to church.

Sorry that this week`s email was kind of lame, but you get what ya gat and you don`t throw a fat... chick out the window.

Love ya,

Elder Zachary James Singson