primero semana en Paragauy (first week in paraguay)

Dear Family,                                                                                                     Aug. 4, 2014

 

well to start out i love you guys so very much and im so glad that i was raised in this gospel. through this gospel we can know that we can live with Conor again and i cant wait. i dont know Conor but ive been crying for a while now. i love him like ive known him my whole life. Amanda said something in her email that stuck out to me. she said " i honestly dont know how people live without the atonement or the knowledge of eternal families". i realized that i dont either. ive never known what it would be like without it. that is why im out here serving the lord, to bring the knowledge that answers so many of my own questions to others. we are so blessed being born into this gospel. i never had a testimony of eternal families before i read that email that explained to me the circumstance of my dear nephew. after crying alot of tears of grief i realized that Conor really is in a better place and they turned into tears of joy. ive never cried like this before. i love knowing that Conor and I are both doing the lords work and bringing knowledge to those who dont have it.

on a more funny note, ive seen more boobs than i ever want to see again. haha theres a sotry i promise. so in my area, pedro juan cabellero, we are the farthest area away from Asuncion and most of the people here are seriously and in all honesty real lamenites. (im preaching the gospel to lamenites) so they are all so chill and do things the old fashioned way. so we are reading the scriptures with a member named Liliana, and her 3 year old kid starts to cry. so while im reading the scriptures, she whips out her boob and starts breast feeding her 3 YEAR OLD KID. awkward! then this Sunday i was walking past the relief society room and like 12 women are breast feeding. ahhhhhhhhhh!  i looked at my trainer elder fielding and he said you just get used to it. how the heck am i supposed to get used to that??

anyways, its really cool here. all the streets are dirt so my shoes are so dirty. elder fielding said to get used to that too. we went on a hike in the jungle today and i saw 3 frogs. i know thats dumb but i thought it was cool. our house is so fetchin dirty but everyone keeps telling me that its the cleanest one. they also tell me that this is the best area. there is also alot of parrots here. i had to get new bateries so i dont ahve any pictures but ill send a lot luego semana (next week).

the language is killing me right now. im not sure what they tought me in the mtc but its completly different than out here in the field. elder fielding says its all like spanish, guarani mixed. i dont know how they ecpect me to learn a language that isnt really a language. needless to say ive been on my knees a lot!

im excited to be out here and finally doing what i was told to do. im grateful for the knowledge that we have and i hope that we can always keep it close to our hearts. i think that "high desire, strong intention, and aim to start a new life" is a great family motto. you are in my prayers.

con mucho amor, love elder petersen