Week of 7/25/16

Hola Mama!

Siento muy bien esta semana y animado para seguir trabajando, I enjoyed reading your email and all of the other emails that I recieved, I really enjoyed Uncle Brad´s email.  There are a lot of moments when we as missionaries think we haven`t done much, but in each moment we share the gospel we are planting seeds.

Our week was good, Brenda came to church with her family, and there are a lot of less active members in their family, and they were happy to come back to church. Brenda won`t be baptized yet because her mom still needs to sign the baptismal form and we need to announce her baptism on Sunday.  So, probably not this Saturday but the next Saturday!

The weather was a bit warmer this week, and like I said most of our area is sand and that makes it a little warmer and it's tough to walk in, but it's good exercise for my legs at least :) We are working a lot with the branch now, trying to get them active in the missionary work. We have only about 50-60 people coming to church each week, so we are focusing on 1 or 2 less active families that are close to re-activating, plus our investigators.

Not much else new, the days are passing by faster and faster, I`m just trying to make the most of my time and always find ways to share the gospel. With this new rule of talking to 20 new people each day  has helped me to be more open to talking to new people. 

No worries about my shoes, I bought a new pair here because my boots have holes in them now haha, anyways thanks again for the email and all the pictures as always, hope you guys have a good last few days of summer vacation before school, can`t wait to hear from you soon! Always keeping you and the family in my prayers!

Rohayhu!

Elder Spiro

District activity at a member's home

Elder Spiro and his district

Week of 7/18/16

Hola Mama! ¿como esta? Estoy muy bien como siempre and we are working hard in the area, we didn`t have any investigators come to church, unfortunately.  We talked to a less active member and he told us his daughter is 9, and she wants to be baptized, her name is Brenda. We talked with her this week and we are going to have a family home evening with their family tonight. 

The truth is we really haven`t had a conversation with the guy who created his own church, we don`t want to fight with him or anything,  We just know he is not the head of the church, I think it's like a pyramid scheme kind of thing, but it has given us a chance to search for people in other parts of the area, and we have taught a few new families which is awesome, they just need to attend church! I think its generally the hardest part of missionary work is getting people to come to church. 

My talk on Sunday was about covenants, and it went well, I only had about 7 minutes to give my talk, but I think I got my message across.

A member from the stake came and talked on Sunday, and I really enjoyed his talk, he talked about self-sufficiency and having patience. He mentioned that a lot of times in our prayers we ask for things, but we don`t remember that in the Lord`s time we will recieve our answers. He explained that we just need to do our part, keeping the commandments and working hard. 

Everything is good though, not much new and no pictures of my area yet (sorry) we have been busy finding new people and our area is pretty big so lots of walking too. I hope you and the family are well, thanks for the pictures as always. It's cool to hear all the people I have grown up with in the church going on missions, time flies by fast.

Hope you have a great week! I can`t believe school is going to start again soon, it seems like summer is shorter and shorter every year. Can`t wait to hear from you soon!

Rohayhu!

Elder Spiro

Alex taught his companion how to make pancakes

In front of his house

On the collectivo (bus)

Week of 7/11/16

Hey Mom!

Thanks for the letter and pictures of your week as always, sounds like you guys had a good time at the cabin and at Bearizona, I`ve never heard of that place before. Hope Abbey had a good birthday, and you guys had a good week too.

My week was good, we didn`t have any investigators unfortunately, but I had a talk in church and that was good. I don`t feel nervous or anything when I give talks now, just a little before but after I`m fine. 

I didn`t take any pictures of my area but I`ll try to describe how it is. So there is one road in the middle that is paved and all of the surrounding roads are sand or dirt. The houses are very humble and the people are very nice. 

We are just having a few difficulties right now with Elias and his family because there is a man that has created his own church and is basically giving money to the people that are baptized, so that is affecting a little of our work, most of our investigators don`t want to talk anymore either.

But it gives us a chance to visit more parts of our area that we haven`t visited before, and our area is pretty big, there was 2 missionary companionships before, but now its just 1. 

Not much else new, we have contacted a few cool families so we`ll see how they progress and we are visiting a lot of less active families who have people in their families who aren`t members yet.

Sorry that my letter is short, I`m doing fine with health and clothes and everything so no worries :) I hope you guys have a great week and no worries about writing a lot Mom, I enjoy reading everything that you and the family write me, so thanks! Can`t wait to hear from you soon!

Rohayhu!

Elder Spiro

At zone conference connecting with former companions and friends

Elder Spiro and Elder Zapata

Elder Spiro and his latest comp, Elder Requejo

Happy 4th from Paraguay

Hola Mom!!!!!

First, sorry that there won`t be any pictures this week because the computers we are using don`t have a place to connect my camera to be able to send pictures, but I will try next week to find one that does. I wanted to thank you for always sending me lots of updates and pictures, I really enjoy reading all that is happening with you and the family, and seeing the pictures too. I`m glad to hear that Dad is okay despite the car accident, the first thing I looked at was the pictures of him in the hospital, but I`m glad nothing major happened. I always keep you guys in my prayers, and I know Heavenly Father is protecting us as a family.

My week was good, not many people came to church, and no investigators either, but Elias, the son of Leonida is very excited for his baptism. He had to get permission from his dad so he went to his house to get his signature and told him his testimony and why he wants to be baptized since his dad was against it. We are also working with a girl named Luz who was a referral from a member, she is going through a tough time in her life.  Her mom and dad recently got separated and she was open to hear more about the church.

The zone conference was the highlight of the week, it was great seeing my old companions and seeing how they are doing and how they have changed.  Also hearing from President Wilson, I always leave the conferences with a new energy to work hard and search for new people to teach! They talked a lot about obedience, because of the mission rules and everything, when we are obedient we are blessed in our work and we will have success.

Hope you guys have a fun 4th of July, I had forgotten all about it until I read today`s date! I`m not sure what I will do here, maybe I`ll make some hot dogs or something haha.  in Paraguay they celebrate their independence in the month of May, but I don`t know if there is a specific day, they mainly just eat a lot of typical food and hang the Paraguay flags up everywhere. Anyways, sorry again for the lack of pictures! Hope you have an awesome week and hope dad is feeling better fast! Can`t wait to hear from you soon!

Rohayhu!

Elder Spiro