Metamorphosis

Saludos de Encarnación,

I love this mission!  I don’t think you guys are going to recognize me when I get back - I am actually getting tan, sort of, and the food here is so great that I´m going to return a little gordita, haha.  We´re continuing to work with the branch to get the members more involved in missionary work, and paso a paso we´re seeing some progreso.

We had interviews with President LaPierre this week, and he shared a thought with me that I really liked. He explained to me that we all have an identity that is formed by the people around us.  The way our friends, our coworkers, and most importantly our family interact with us defines who we are.

Then I became a missionary.  Suddenly, I lost all of that reinforcement of identity.  And now I miss my friends and my family, but I don´t really miss my friends and my family as much as I miss myself.  (I do miss you all, I promise.)

Here is the beauty of it all: now I get to form a completely new identity as a disciple of Jesus Christ. 

It´s challenging.  And frustrating.  But it´s a transformation that is beautiful and glorious.  And I hope that when I come home, you really won´t recognize me - not just because I´m tanner or fatter, but because I have changed so completely to become a better person than the person I am today.

Les quiero,

Hermana Watts

Q & A (from the whole family)

1. Have you seen a monkey?

Yes, actually.  One.  It was someone´s pet.  We were just walking down the street one day when we saw it, and I didn´t have my camera with me.

2. Tell us about your companion.  How old is she? Did she go to school before her mission? What are her plans for after her mission? What kind of interests does she have?

She is 20.  Her birthday is August 29.  (Elena's birthday is August 30) She did a year of school before the mission at Utah State.  She wants to study journalism and she loves crafting.

3. Is there a food that you don't like, and what is your favorite food?

So far the only food I didn´t love was some meat some members fed us, and it wasn´t that the meat was bad, just that it was a huge chunk and very tough to cut and chew.

4.  Have you met anyone that is my age or Daniel's age (from Chiara)?

I am so glad you asked that.  There is a little girl named Valentina in the ward who is seven years old.  She is going to get baptized in the beginning of March and she reminds me a lot of you, Chiara.  There is also a boy who is 11 who actually reminds me of Joseph.

5.  Are your blisters healing?

Oh yeah.  It was just a little blister, after I got home and changed shoes it didn´t bother me again.

6.  Do you know how to say triskaidekaphopia in Guarani?  Tell us something you do know in Guarani.

Haé nde ko ndéve - Just kidding.  Some elders taught me that one last week.

7.  I read on Wikipedia that Encarnacion is the Carnival capital of Paraguay, so keep your eye out for it at the end of this month.

Oh, Carnival is totally going on right now.  Every weekend there are people partying it up.  We walked by a huge semi truck filled to the brim with feathers - it's crazy!