Tuesday, November 25, 2014

baptism, the mission, running, investigators, and rain...

MAURA GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!! WHOOOO!!!!!!! It was a beautiful baptism! She was so excited and there were lots of members there to support her and they shared their testimonies and the young man that baptized her did it perfectly- like it was literally a beautiful baptism! haha :) but the best part was right after she got out of the font and she was dripping wet and she said to me and my comp, "I felt something. When I was in the water I felt something in my heart. I think I`ve really just been cleansed of all my sins." And the Spirit was just so strong. I love baptism.

Also, last week was cambios! Hna. Rios, Hna. Walker, and Hna. Murguia (3 of my comps) all finished up their missions and went home. It was really sad saying goodbye to Hna. Rios- I really felt like she was like my sister, (she reminds me a lot of Catherine and a little bit of Teresa mixed together) and I`m gonna miss her a lot! BUT I now have a beautiful new companion who is also great! Her name is Hna. Johnson, she`s from Riverton, Utah. She`s the oldest in her family. She`s got 5 months in the mission and her Spanish is AMAZING!! Like at the end of the change it very well may be better than mine. This is her second area, and she`s super excited to work! So we are just going to work like crazy this change!! I love the mission.

We also go running every morning. I`ve really come to love running. Catherine, when I come home you should train me so we can run a marathon or something (something= a 5K. Let`s get real. well... maybe one day, in a few years... vamos a ver...)

On Friday there was a huge storm. It starting raining really hard in like 5 seconds (I am NOT exaggerating) and we didn't have umbrellas because when we left the house in the morning the sky was clear and we were already sweating it was so hot. Welcome to Paraguay! So we found refuge in an investigator`s house. Her name is Nancy. She`s adorable, she`s 15, we found her like 2 weeks ago, and she`s probably going to get baptized the 6th of December. She`s already talking about how she wants to share the gospel with everyone and she brought her older sister to church with her yesterday. And she applied Lehi`s vision to an experience she had a school. We love her, she`s awesome. And she always gives us yummy food (she`s the one the taught us to make chipa). So we shared with her until the storm died down and then we left... and then the storm came back even stronger. So we hid under the edge of a little roof thing (you know when the roof of the house hangs over/ sticks out a couple feet- yeah that was it) and we got pretty wet anyway. And my comp was freaking out because the thunder was super loud and the lightning was pretty close. I told her "don`t worry we`ll be fine, it`s in the Elders` area!!" She didn't seem to find much comfort in that (the elders`area is right next to ours..) haha-but really, we weren`t in any danger. I just love the rain.

And you know what else I love in addition to baptism, the mission, running, investigators, and rain... THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FELIZ DIA DE ACCION DE GRACIAS!!!!!!!!!!! (if you cant tell, I`m just really happy today, and also really tired so sorry if I sound a little nuts. I`m gonna sleep today for P-day. I love sleeping!) Anyway, back to Thanksgiving... To answer Kristi`s question, it will just be a regular day here, but I am thankful to be able to serve the Lord and my brothers and sisters here in Paraguay, entonces esta bien! And thank you dad for the thankful list :)

Which reminds me of a scripture in (I really hope I get the reference right, or that would just be super awkward..) Alma 26:1-2 when Ammon esta hablando con sus hermanos.... Yeah, I don't remember the gospel in English.. sorry.. When Ammon is talking with his brothers and the other missionaries with them and says more or less (I`m translating from memory so sorry if its not very exact): Could we have imagined the blessings we would see when we first started out on this journey? What great blessings have we seen? and then Ammon makes an invitation: "¿Podèis decirlo?" (Can ye say them?) So that is my invitation to all.. What great blessings has the Lord given us. Can we say them?

Love you guys so much!! Hope you have a wonderful thanksgiving and eat lots of mashed potatoes and turkey!!!!

Love, Hermana Urie

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Moving

So not much to say this week. We moved, in the rain. It was beautiful. We love living above the other hermanas, because we get to run with them in the morning and eat cookies and lomitos at night (so its a good thing we run every day!)

Don't know if you remember Maura, but she`s getting baptized this Saturday!!!! She`s super excited and awesome. We hadn't really been able to share with her at all last week because she had lots of work and she was a bit busy with a process of telling her other congregation (Catholic) that she wasn't going to go anymore. They were getting upset at her for sharing with "the Mormons" so they basically put her on church trial, and she said she wasn't going to stop sharing or coming to church and that she was planning on getting baptized so they kicked her out. So we finally found her on Saturday and she told us all of this. Also, she was a little mad at us because the last time we told her we were going to leave her a talk by President Monson so she could listen to him and pray to see if he`s really a prophet of God and we forgot so she couldn't for the whole week and she got a bit upset- haha she`s soo cute! So we found one online on Saturday and listened to it and she loved it!

We`ve got lots of other amazing people we are sharing with right now, but they`re all just having trouble progressing because for one reason or another they aren't coming to church. So that`s basically all the big news for the week.

Changes are this week! Hermana Rios is finishing up her mission and going back to Montana- so sad I`m gonna miss her!!! But I`m pretty sure I`m going to stay here another change (4 whole changes in an area- that will be new! but I love it here so I`m happy!). So I`ll let you know next week what happened! Love you all!! Have a great week!!!

Love, Hermana Urie

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Bautismo!!

So this week...

MARIO GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOOOO BAUTISMO!!!!!!!!!

So we are pretty excited about that. We also had an open house on Thursday that was amazing! We as missionaries planned it and did the tours and stuff. It was so spiritual and we got lots of references from the members, and best of all, Mario came and he loved it! It was the first time he got to see the baptismal font and the elders explained how the baptism would be and everything and so he wasn't scared anymore and decided to get baptized! So Saturday we had his baptism! It was beautiful and one of his daughters came! and yesterday we visited them and there is already a big difference in their home. The Spirit is there and they are all so happy and getting along and loving each other. It`s awesome.

We also made chipa yesterday. It was delicious. I will make it for you when I come home. But we`ve just gotta make sure we can find the ingredients. So if you just wanna keep an eye out for where we can buy cornflour and mandioka starch (like corn starch, but of mandioka instead of corn). I`m not sure what mandioka is called in the states, but one of my comps from Utah said her mom buys it a lot, so apparently it exists there. Just google it or something.

Oh and we are moving tomorrow. Yay!! Just a few blocks, but we are excited. Its a lot closer to the church (just a 10 minute walk instead of 20) and its in the same building as the other sisters in our district, so we are pretty excited for that!

Well that`s it for this week! Love you all!
Love,
Hermana Urie

Monday, November 3, 2014

Storms..

Esta semana fue... oops sorry.. This week was great! But really quite normal.. So I`ll just let ya know the fun stuff.

-It rained. Like a lot. The storms here in Paraguay are pretty awesome. So Friday night, before bed we watched a little bit of lightning. The cool thing about lightning here is that it may or may not be accompanied by thunder. Don`t ask me how, I have no idea. I know that`s like against the laws of physics, but I`ve seen it, so it`s real. It`s super cool because the lightning is kinda far and it`s behind a lot of clouds, so most the time you just see the clouds lighting up, you don't actually see the lightning, except a few times when its really big and stretches across the sky. And it flashes basically every second. And it`s silent. So basically awesome. And then Friday night, in the middle of the night, the storm made it to us. And it rains really hard and then you can hear the thunder- quite well. Anyway, the next morning we saw the results of the storm. Some streets caved in a little, a couple small wooden bridges that we always use are no longer there.. Not TOO crazy bad, but considering that a fair amount of people here in Paraguay live in small shack-like houses made with pieces of wood thrown together and their floor is literally the dirt ground, storms are a bit difficult for them. Diana`s family for example. They are really trying to get their house (their room actually) put together so that all their stuff doesn't get soaked every time it rains. It just really humbles me to see some of these situations. These people are amazing.

Mario did not get baptized this week. Friday he was feeling really nervous and decided he wanted to wait longer, so we`ll see what happens with that.

We taught a woman that is apparently some famous woman. The wife of the best soccer player in Paraguay (a few years ago- he doesn't play anymore). So that was fun!

And last P-day we went souvenir shopping! Hna. Rios is going home in 2 weeks, so she`s buying lots of stuff. Which reminds me... If anyone has anything specific that they want, let me know-soon. I know you don't really know what`s here, but even like a category (do you want something decorative, something you can actually use, clothing, food, pictures, bags, tableclothes, whatever. Just if you have any idea of something, let me know. If not, I will just pick something out for you anyway!!)

Well that`s it for this week!! Love you guys a lot!! Have a wonderful week!!

Hermana Urie