hola, my goodness. the past few days have been crazy. well, last time i talked was in argentina, and a lot has happened since then. Well i guess so. Here is a little run down of th past few days. got to asuncion at around 5 pm on tuesdayprs and sis callan were there so meet us where we came through immigrations and i am sure you saw the picture of us when we arrived. i am sure I look just beautiful. awesome. we went to the mission office and had orientation stuff. well we had dinner and then pres callan interviewed all of us and they gave us a run down on all the rules and such. then the sisters stayed at the mission home and the elders stayed in some beds at the offic. I finally got to take a shower the next morning. Longest time without a shower in my life (so far). the next morning we went and signed some legal documents and then went back to finally meet our companions. Then the adventure began. as you probably saw from the picture my companion is a native spanish speaker. like i told you when I first got my call. i already knew I would. she is hermana lozano from el salvador. she is so sweet and I can tell she is a geat missionary and is so patient with me. it is hard to communicate. she talks really fast. she said that the people in paraguay talk slow compared to in el salvador. i said how is that possible? they talk so fast. anyways, we have been assigned to coronel oviedo. this is the only area they send sisters into the campo, or the country. all other sisters are in the asuncion except me and my companion. so we had a 3 1/2 hr bus ride in what they call the colectivos. and then we arrived at our place. apparently it is the nicest apartment in the mission. but i think I sweat more when I walk in than when we are outside. i was wiping sweat off my forehead during study this morning. anyways, here in oviedo, people mostly speak guarani. the members have to come to the lessons to translate. ya. I am freaking out. i tried so hard to keep it in last night, but when we got back, I totally had a breakdown after our oracion. hermana lozano is very kind and loving though and keeps telling me I can do it. i have to be patient. she feels the same way with guarani, but i don´t know either language. so i will be learning guarani and spanish at the same time. i was kind of feeling like it is impossible, but I am comforted a little when i pray and when i remind myself, that heavenly father sent me to this area for a reason. although I have no idea what anyone is saying. i can´t even really make out the words, i know the spirit will help me. i almost cry thinking about it, but i pray for the faith and the strength, and the ability to learn for the sake of these wonderful people of paraguay. the rama was having a navidad y nuevo año celebration last night so we went to a few of the member´s houses and did some contacting and then set up the capilla (church) for it and then the members started showing up. but we didn´t get to eat becaus by the time the food arrived, we had to get back to our apartment since we have to be back by 9pm. so the only meal i ate yesterday was breakfast at like 6. but i wasnt even hungry. the members are so kind. they try and talk to me, but they talk way to fast for me to understand hardly anything. I know it will come though. but I now understand what people mean that the mission is so hard. but i know it will all be worth it. tonight we are going to teach a family. the father is a member but his wife and children are not. i am way excited to meet them. I pray that we can teach with the spirit. we are going to talk about the birth of christ. although i probably wont say much, I am so excited to finally get to teach and be in a real lesson outside of the mtc. this is the real thing now, and when you cant undrstand what is going on, it makes it harder to remember everything you have learned.
anyways, there is is. my new reality. there is going to be a bit of a culture shock. yes, the people are very poor. when you go into their house, there isn´t much there at all really. everything is concrete and the furniture is sparce, but they are so happy. it just goes to show that money or earthly possissions don´t buy happiness; it comes from the gospel and families. i can´t wait to be able to share this gospel with these people, but I have to be patient. so don´t worry, anything is possible with the help of the holy ghost through obedience and faith. the trick is keeping away the doubts, because faith and fear cannot exist together. well, i think that is all for now. we have p day again on monday, so I will write then, and it will be my usual p day. i love and miss you so much! and hope all is well there. oh and i will sent some pictures next week of oviedo.
love,
whitney
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