Feliz Navidad!!!! and a happy new year :)

So last week we didn't do a whole lot. Tuesday was the Missionary Christmas activity ALL day. And Wednesday we had to enter the house early because everyone was gonna be drinking and setting off fireworks. 12:00am Christmas Day was SOO MANY FIREWORKS!!! Like the amount of fireworks I always hope for on the 4th of July, but never happen. (but I think the ones in the states are a lot prettier). Seriously, there literally wasn't even half a second between fireworks... just constant for like 15 or 20 minutes.
But Christmas Eve (before the fireworks) was really cool. The Hermanas from our District that live downstairs from us came up and we read Matthew 2 and sang Christmas songs and shared our testimonies our Christ. It was really cool actually.
Then Thursday I talked to you guys!!!!!!! Love you!!!!!
And Friday we stayed in most the day because there was lots of sun and we still don't know if I have a concussion or not (I don't think so honestly, just some headaches) but I`m gonna figure out for sure this week so don't worry!! All is well!!!
Yesterday was really sad, saying goodbye to Diana and her kids, Maura, and I didn't even get to see Mario to say goodbye. I`m really gonna miss them!!!!!! But the Lord sends us where we need to go. Which for the next 6 weeks is...................
........
...........
YTORORO!!!!!!!!!!! WHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
(don't even try pronouncing it- its Guarani and I cant even say it right. Its like super nasaly and the "y" makes that wierd throat "oo" sound)
Its pretty close to Ita.. more or less... Its not super out there, but definitely not city like Villa Elisa! I got here about 5 hours ago and i already LOVE it!!!!!!!! I cant wait! Just gotta get to know the ward and the area super fast!!

And yeah that's about it for this week. Don't have anything super inspirational.. Just be good members. Help the missionaries do their job. Remember, we are here to serve the members and help them share the gospel with their friends and family. The Atonement is for everyone! Just share the gospel with everyone you meet!! And if you don't know where to start or how to do it, ask the missionaries!!! It`s why we`re here :)

Love you guys tons!!!! Espero que todo les vaya bien esta semana :)
Hermana Urie

Bug Week

Well, the last week was Catholic week, this week was bug week in our apartment.

In our house, we`ve got spiders, we`ve got mosquitos (luckily we dont have dengue from the mosquitos), cochroaches, other random small bugs. Yesterday we had a bee in our room. Also, yesterday we woke up to maggots EVERYWHERE (seriously there were a few hundred of them running around.. don't leave your garbage in the house overnight!... picture attached), the other companionship of Hermanas that live below us had an Ura in their apartment (I`ll explain that later), and this morning we killed a scorpian in our bathroom. And on the way here to write you guys we saw a huge worm/snake thing that they`ve got here in Paraguay (I`ll send a picture next time). SO, fun times in Paraguay.
Now to explain the Ura. I`ve seen about 5 of them in the last few weeks- usually in church. They are these huge black butterflies. They aren`t really that pretty, their wings are kinda tattered looking. And they apparently spit or pee (or something like that) some acid thing on your skin and you cant get it off. And then you get some parasite in your skin. I`m not really sure of the details, but that`s enough for me. Basically when people here see an Ura, they either kill it, or they leave the area.

Now on to more spiritual stuff...

I don't know if I`ve told you guys about Maria yet. So I will now. She`s awesome, kinda quiet and shy, so its hard to know what she`s thinking (if she likes church and stuff or not), but I think she`s starting to warm up to us. And she`s really seriously thinking about baptism. She`s just gotta keep reading and praying and going to church and she`ll know! Oh and she came to church yesterday by herself!! (well with her kids, but I mean no one had to pass by for her, she just came). And she`s basically just awesome, We love her! She`s hopefully going to get baptized the 27th of December (2 days before changes! fingers crossed!!)

Also, since it`s Christmas time, and we should all be seeing how we can personally come closer to Christ, this last week I started studying 3 Nefi 11 and onward. And starting making lists of: attributes of Christ, the mission and purpose of the Savior, ways to come unto Him, His commandments, etc, to better get to know Him and His love for all of us and His teachings. And I was going to bring and share the list I`ve made so far of the attributes of Christ that I`ve found, but I forgot, so I`ll do it next week if I remember. But off the top of my head some that I remember are:
obedient, humble, loving, peacemaker, comforter, leader, confident, direct, diligent, self-less, and a bunch more. I`ll give a better list next time. But basically I just want to testify of the Savior`s love for each of us. I know He came to the Earth to  willingly suffer and die for our sins, so that we may be saved, if we but accept Him. You can give someone a gift, but unless they accept it, open it, and use it, it does them no good. That`s how the Atonement is for each one of us. We must personally accept and use the Atonement that has already been given. We must increase our faith, repent, make covenants with God (such as baptism and confirmation) and then keep those covenants so we can have the guidance of the Spirit. And then we must stay loyal and firm to the very end. I know this church is true. I know Christ is my Savior and loves me and every single person on this earth and wants everyone to accept Him and His atonement, so that they can be happy and be saved. Let us all help Him and our Heavenly Father in their work, and share the gospel with at least one person this Christmas season.

I love you guys a lot and hope you enjoy your week!!!

Love, Hermana Urie

opening my Christmas package!!! (I opened it early to put
 the chocolate in the fridge, but I left the wrapped stuff till
next week)

maggots!!

scorpian!!

finally I found a baby bible!!

Catholic Week

Alright, so this might be short and to the point cuz I don't have a lot of time today. Want to know why? Okay I´ll tell ya. So today, December 8, is a national holiday here for the Virgen of Caacupe (a.k.a. the Virgen Mary- its a Catholic tradition) And today half of the nation (I might be exaggerating a little bit, but not much..) goes to the city Caacupe where the basilica thingy is and do the "pilgrimage." I don't actually know what it´s called. But basically they walk for miles to go to the basilica thing, and the most devoted people crawl the last kilometer there- or something like that. To show their devotion and fulfill their promises with the Virgen (if this isn't super accurate I´m sorry, I don't understand that much about Catholicism). So since half the world is there, our normal cyber is closed, and we are using the internet in a different cyber and it is a bit slower, so sorry if this is short.

Yes mom, I did receive the package from Peter a few weeks ago, and also our zone leaders told me yesterday that I´ve got my Christmas package, so probably tomorrow I´ll get it? Thank you soo much!!! Love the skirt, and the T-shirts will be wonderful for the summer!!

I am eating a TON of mangos!!! Like 2 or 3 a day. They are soo good, and just laying all over the streets, so you can just pick ´em up and eat ´em. Last summer, my area had like two mangos trees (but seriously- and that is super strange for Paraguay cuz there are mango trees err´where!!) so I only ate a couple last year. But this year we´ve got plenty!!

So we don't have a lot of progressing investigators right now. We[re teaching a few really great people, but no one will come to church! They say they will, but then they don't show up. So we are just trying to work through that little snag. But we are starting to work a lot more with the members in the ward and really trying to strengthen and activate a lot of people, because about 12% of members here in our ward are actually active. So we are working on that, and we are praying and fasting a ton! The Lord will guide us. Paciencia no mas!

And the last fun thing of the week. Rezamos!!! (a.k.a. we prayed... Catholic style) Okay, so we didn't actually join in because that would be super not okay. But we were at a big lunch because it was the anniversary of a death and someone in the neighborhood invited us and we thought, alright plan of salvation. So we were there and then suddenly an older woman invited us to pray and said that they always share with us so we should share with them,etc. so if we left it would've been super offensive. So we just sat in the back and listened while they recited the Rosario (don't know what it's called in English). The Rosario is longer than I expected it to be.. and very repetitive. I[m pretty sure I've got it memorized now. Anyway, that was my week. Hope you guys are all doing awesomely!!

Love you!!!!

Love, Hermana Urie

Huge fruit thingy

David, Yessica, Derliz, and Hna. Rios (and pig)

Mario and his daughters (and me and Rios)

Awesome grasshopper thing

My district last change!!

Hna. Walker, Hna. Rios, me (and random man in the terminal).. the almost
trio (we were all comps with each other, just at different times, and we're
all super close, so we'll just say that we are a trio)

In honor of Catholic Week... this is a Catholic Chapel in
 La Floresta (my 2nd area)

Maura's baptism!!

Our Zone!!

Él es la Dádiva

Well welcome to December everyone! I`m glad to hear that everyone is doing good! I can`t believe Mathias is already 8 years old! Send me pics of the baptism! Baptism is awesome! 

We`re all pretty excited here for the Christmas season. This week we had a Zone Training Meeting (i think that`s what it`s called in English?) and they told us about the new iniciative that the Church is doing this month. There is a video called "He is the Gift" and it is AMAZING. Seriously, I`ve seen it about 30 times already and I`m obsessed. Anyway, its a short video that the Church made and it`s gonna be big. Like New York Time Square big. Also, next Sunday (Dec. 7) its gonna be the first page of Youtube- so tell everyone ya know to get onto Youtube next Sunday. Anyway if you haven`t seen it yet, you can go to navidad.mormon.org .... or I guess if you want it in English you should probably go to Christmas.mormon.org... haha oops

So that`s really what I want to share this week. The invitation from this video is 1. Discover the Gift, 2. Embrace the Gift, 3. Share the Gift. 

We`ve been thinking a lot about how we as missionaries can help others discover, embrace, and share the Gift (our Savior Jesus Christ). And I invite all of you to meditate and think this month about how you can discover and learn more about Christ and feel God`s love in your life. Then take the steps to accept/embrace Christ in your life and draw closer unto Him this Christmas season. And then my favorite part- share it with everyone you know. The gospel becomes so much more real and important and personal when we share it with those that we love. So this Christmas season, invite everyone to remember the true meaning of La Navidad. Which is Christ our Lord.

Also, just a really quick story that my comp shared with me this week that I loved. She heard it from some General Conference talk or something. So there once was a guy walking on the beach. And on the beach there were a ton of starfish that had washed up. Then the guy saw a little kid further down on the beach, picking up starfish and throwing them back into the ocean. So the guy asked the kid, "why are you doing that? There are a million starfish here, it`s not going to make any difference." And the little kid just smiled, picked up a starfish, and threw it into the ocean. Then turned to the man and said.. "made a difference to that one."

Sometimes we feel that our efforts are so small. That our simple actions to a few people don't really make a difference in the grand scheme of things, so why even try. But it makes a grand difference to those people. And it makes a grand difference to our Heavenly Father. "The worth of a soul is great in the sight of God." (D&C 18:10.. and 15 and 16 are pretty good too :).. )

So this week, share Christ with someone. Share the Gift. Make a difference....

Wow I sound super cheesy and cliche, sorry bout that-not a fan of cheesy or cliches. But you get the idea.

Love you guys a ton!!!!!!!! Have a wonderful week!!!

Hermana Urie