tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66179216695761317522023-11-16T08:02:05.925-08:00The MissionBeing an account of my service in the Argentina Posadas MissionElenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-19997123332416804032016-07-04T19:32:00.000-07:002016-07-04T19:32:27.335-07:00Miracles Still in Progress<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Last Sunday, my companion and I decided to fast to be able to find some new investigators. We specifically fasted that we would be able to find and teach an entire family. That night, we stopped in to visit our good friend Hugo to teach him about the law of tithing. When we got there, to our pleasant surprise, we found that not only Hugo was waiting for us to teach him, but also his mother Bernarda (less-active), his sister Marisa (less-active), his niece Erika (investigator), and even his sister Cristiani (investigator) had closed her little store to come listen in. It was our first time meeting Marisa and our first time teaching Cristiani. Hermana Villanueva and I were like, "Uh . . . what do we teach?" Tithing is not usually what we teach as a first lesson. But we felt impressed to just continue with the plans we have made, and it was perhaps one of the most spiritual lessons on tithing I have ever taught. Everyone participated, asking questions and making really good comments. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We returned to visit them on Thursday, and felt impressed to teach about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This time, Marisa brought her 10-year-old granddaughter Larise, who has heard about the church from one of her classmates who is a member of our branch. Once again, the lesson was very spiritual, although I became concerned with some of the doubts Marisa expressed. Her comments showed that she didn't believe that anyone can know which church is true, if there even is a true church. We emphasized the power of revelation, of asking God and receiving an answer directly from the source, and invited her to pray and ask God if Joseph Smith was a prophet and if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church of God on the earth. When we finished teaching, we all knelt down to pray. As we explained that we show reverence by folding our arms, bowing our heads, and closing our eyes, Larise said, "I remember this is how Lujan (her classmate) taught me to pray!" Marisa offered the prayer. It was sincere, heartfelt, and powerful.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yesterday, Marisa and Larise came to church. Marisa was there for the first time in 30 years. We enjoyed listening to the testimonies of the members, which brought a pleasant spirit to our meeting. I was shocked when suddenly Marisa walked up to the pulpit to share her testimony. "I know that God is real," she began, and I thought, Good, she believes in God. What is she going to say about the church? She continued, and told about how her family has been passing through a difficult time, and how she was feeling lost and confused. She concluded with this sweet testimony: "I used to think that nobody could know which church was true, but then I prayed and asked God. He answered my prayer. I know that this is the true church. It is the only true path that will lead us to heaven." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am amazed at the power of God to take a skeptical and unbelieving heart and touch it and soften it, that it might be transformed and purified. He did it with Marisa, and He did it with me, and it is truly a miracle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Love,<br />Hermana Watts</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12.8px; text-align: start;">Goodbye Presidente y Hermana LaPierre</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12.8px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello Presidente y Hermana Svec :)</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">so...umm...I fell off my bike. How did it happen, you ask? Oh, you know, I was just trying to ride without holding the handlebars and . . . well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12.8px;">I got permission to go visit my old area Minga Guazú for my last P-day here, which sure was a special treat. Here are some photos:</span></span><br />
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Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-15906552623250019622016-06-28T22:11:00.002-07:002016-06-28T22:11:50.832-07:00Goodbyes are hard.<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: garamond,serif;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We had our last zone conference with Presidente and Hermana LaPierre this past Friday. Today (Tuesday) they finish their mission and return home. President told us about how a few weeks ago, he received a large envelope that contained three letters: first, a letter from the mission departement informing him that he has been released as mission president; second, a letter from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles informing him that he has been released as mission president; and finally, a letter from the First Presidency informing him that he has been released as mission president. "I guess they really wanted me to know that I'm released," he joked. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The zone conference was probably one of the most spiritual conferences I've been to in my mission. The highlight was the very end, when Hermana and Presidente LaPierre stood to share their testimonies. As they spoke, I could feel their immense love for each of the missionaries. With spiritual eyes, I caught a glimpse of the efforts and sacrifices they put in to leading this mission. All of the missionaries in the room felt that powerful spirit of love. We carried that spirit as we stood as a zone and sang, in token of our gratitude for our beloved mission president and his wife, "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing." The Spirit that filled the room was strong and sweet and tender. We love Presidente and Hermana LaPierre and we will miss them dearly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">With that same spirit of love, we are excited to welcome our new mission president and his wife, Presidente and Hermana Svec, who will be arriving sometime today. They have been called to preside over this mission at this time, and we are excited to work with them to further the Lord's work here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I love you all!<br />Love,<br />Hermana Watts</span></div>
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Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-502787602611705992016-06-22T10:25:00.000-07:002016-06-22T10:25:02.834-07:00Las Cataratas de Iguazú<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So. THAT day finally arrived. I got to take the trip with all the honorably-returning missionaries to visit the Iguazú waterfalls. It was a really special experience, not for the waterfalls, which are just as breathtaking as they were the last time I visited them, but for the company I was with. These elders and sisters are incredible people, and I am grateful for their dedication and service. Each of them is an example to me. I am also grateful for the people we met along the trail - for José from Ecuador who has now visited six of the seven wonders of the world and who accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and the invitation to read it, and for the sweet Japanese couple who tried so hard to speak English with me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Thinking about my experience at the falls, a thought came to me. The cataratas surely are one of God's most impressive creations in this earth, but we, His children, are His greatest creation. Every beautiful, wonderful thing in this world was created just for us. His love for us is reflected in the beauty and magnificence of the world around us. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">May we all have eyes to see the evidence of God's love for us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Love,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Hermana Watts</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Top to bottom, left to right: Elder Merrell, Elder Gardner, Elder Rigby, Elder Herzog, Elder Mahoney, Hermana Runnells, Hermana Hartley, me, Hermana Dempsey, Elder Christiansen, and Elder Choca <i>(with coatimundis)</i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">José from Ecuador, at the ripe old age of 26, has visited 6 of the 7 natural wonders of the world - all he has left to see is Petra in Jordan.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This darling Japanese couple is studying English and traveling South America . . . they remind me of my grandparents, always learning, always traveling :)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-36726875164368599502016-06-13T22:00:00.002-07:002016-06-13T22:00:29.537-07:00Susana is Baptized!<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is chapter 2 of the story I shared three weeks ago about the little boy who was hit by a motorcycle. You will be pleased to know that Wilsin is on the mend, his injury now little more than a scratch. He is the same lively, playful almost-7-year-old that he always was. He is determined to serve a mission when he has "grown a foot or two." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wilsin's mother, Susana, after receiving the missionary lessons for over two years, finally made the decision to be baptized. The decision wasn't easy. It required great effort and sacrifice not only from her but from her entire family. But she did it!</span><br />
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She was baptized on Saturday, June 11, and confirmed Sunday, June 12. I have never seen her happier. She has made sacred promises with God and is clean from all her sins. </span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I testify that this is the only true and living Church upon the face of the earth. It is directed by Jesus Christ himself. "And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Love,<br />Hermana Watts</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">p.s. In additional good news, Hugo went to the temple!! We are so happy for him, and his progress is exciting the members. They have greater desires to share the gospel. Spiritual progress is contagious!</span></div>
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Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-90780039384973578962016-06-06T19:27:00.001-07:002016-06-06T19:27:49.268-07:00Does that mean . . .?<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We had such a beautiful experience this past week in teaching Denise, a less active member. She was baptized about 15-16 years ago, stayed strong for maybe 4 years, and then fell away. We love her! We have been visiting her for a few weeks now, and when we went this week, she pulled out gifts for us: a green scarf for me and a white scarf for my companion (see photo). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />This week we decided to teach her the Plan of Salvation. We thought that it would just kind of be a brief summary, since she's already been baptized, but the way she reacted to the lesson made it clear that it was the first time she had heard about it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Are you telling me that we lived with God before we were born?" she asked.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"That's right," we said.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Oh! I always wondered about that! I always thought that life began at birth. I used to think about it, and I would wonder, if life began at birth, why should it continue after death? Eventually I learned to believe that there was life after death, but I never knew that there was life before!" Her excitement was contagious. Then she thought of her daughter, who is expecting a little girl, due July 4. "Does that mean that my granddaughter is there with God?"<br /><br />Her joy in discovering these truths impressed me greatly. Truly we are blessed with the knowledge we have of God's plan for us - that we did exist before we were born, that we are each sons and daughters of God, that we have the potential to return to His presence and become like Him. Is this not great reason to rejoice?<br /><br />Love,<br />Hermana Watts<br /><br />p.s. bonus story! Hugo is a less-active member now coming back to church. His joy in returning to the fold is incredible to witness. He shared his testimony in Sacrament Meeting yesterday: "Estaba en las tinieblas, pero ahora estoy en la luz. <i>(I was in darkness, but now I am in the light)</i>."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Also, last week we had stake conference, and look who I ran into!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">TERESA!! She is doing great, she was able to go to the temple recently and is now serving as the Gospel Principles teacher in the church.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Also my good friend Silvia Nuarte from the stake Relief Society presidency.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And a picture with my favorite family, just cuz :)</span></div>
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Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-28855456976130124112016-05-30T21:14:00.004-07:002016-05-30T21:14:55.131-07:00The Lord's Work is Our Work<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Wilsin is out of the hospital and doing very well. We promised his mother Susana that if she would make a goal to be baptized and make every effort to achieve that goal, she would see God work miracles in her life. One miracle is that Wilsin is safe and sound. Another is that she and her boyfriend were able to take the decision to live in separate houses until they can get married. Now she is one step closer to baptism, and God will continue to bless her as she strives to be obedient to His commandments.<br /><br />We had a very neat experience this past week to have a member invite some nonmember friends to a family home evening. Later in the week, we were able to go visit one of the friends with the same member. There was a powerful spirit in the lesson and in the family home evening, and now, reflecting on the title of my last email, I have received a new perspective. This is the Lord's work, yes, but it is also our work. I think it's interesting to consider the name of the church I represent: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is not just Jesus Christ's church, it is also our church. This work is not His alone, it is also our work. We who are members of this church have covenanted him that we will always remember Him, that we will take His name upon us. I would humbly suggest that taking His name upon us implies taking upon ourselves some of His responsibility to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." When we as members and missionaries work in unity with our Savior at the lead, we see miracles in our lives and in the lives of those around us. <br /><br />Love,<br />Hermana Watts</span><div>
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Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-19855970032388464562016-05-23T22:01:00.000-07:002016-05-23T22:01:00.533-07:00The Plan<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">On his way home from school last Thursday, Wilsin, an energetic almost-seven-year-old boy in our branch, ran in front of a motorcycle. He suffered a severe injury to the head and was rushed to the hospital. He had just enough strength to offer a prayer before he fell into a coma. For many hours afterwards, the doctors were unsure if he would survive. In one dark moment, one doctor pronounced him dead. But Wilsin's time had not yet come. He woke up. He began to regain strength, such that when we heard the news a day later and called to see how we could help, he was able to speak into the phone and assure us that, "¡Estoy bien ahora!" (I'm fine now!) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We went to visit his mother to offer service a couple days after the accident. She is preparing to be baptized soon. She told us the whole story, and then we shared a very tender moment with her as she said, "Es un milagro que mi hijo está vivo." (It's a miracle that my son is alive.) My companion and I testified to her of God's plan for his children. She said, "Yes, I know the Lord has a plan for my son. He is going to be a great missionary."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">God does have a plan for us. I spent some time this week studying Abraham chatpers 4 and 5, which describes the creation of the earth. In chapter 4, the Lord sets forth a very detailed plan of how He is going to create the earth, and in chapter 5, He follows it. God's plan is perfect. He knows exactly how He is going to achieve His goal: the immortality and eternal life of man. He set this plan up before the foundation of the earth. It is detailed and exact. If we trust in Him, He will watch over and protect us until we have completed the work He has sent us here to do.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Love,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Hermana Watts</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-34659468794255315612016-05-16T18:49:00.001-07:002016-05-16T18:49:35.635-07:00The Lord's Work <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">One day last week, all of the charlas we had planned fell through and we had a few hours with nothing to do, and I was trying to think of who we could go visit when the name of an old investigator popped into my head. About a month had gone by since the last time we visited her, in which visit we had explained to her that we wouldn't be able to visit her anymore. While she had desires to be baptized, she was stuck waiting for a divorce to go through so she could get married, and until that happened, there wasn't really very much we could do for her. The Spirit indicated that the best we could do for her was drop her. But this past week, I felt that we needed to visit her again. (I had felt the same feeling when I greeted her in church on Sunday, although in the moment I had ignored it.) We went to her house, and not many moments after we arrived, she said, "Hermanas, do you have any baptisms planned for June?" "Well, no, not yet," we admitted. "I've been thinking I would like to be baptized in June," she announced.<br /><br />We set a date with her for June 4 and assured her that the Lord will bless her as she makes sincere efforts to meet that goal. <br /><br />This truly is the Lord's work. When we trust Him, He can work miracles through us. <br /><br />Love,<br />Hermana Watts<br /><br /><br />Fotos <br /><br /><br />Family home evening with the Martinez family (a couple weeks ago) - we acted out the story of Abinadi and King Noah. Junior was Abinadi, his dad was King Noah. </span><br />
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Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-10746844521659526422016-05-09T18:02:00.000-07:002016-05-09T18:02:02.771-07:00Fotos!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu3ir7q2niGLC7Tzji0W42MxdOXTdriNCM7q1fEy-5md3qnYI5ahSPoOKW93wv2X-f-V4uUpTsWQNXXL2l9A7w0sBPg1yPAe3lL8NhU_Hmf6bdmnoJG1BIjBTK2la3GJDN75odIGHltfs/s1600/IMG_2748.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu3ir7q2niGLC7Tzji0W42MxdOXTdriNCM7q1fEy-5md3qnYI5ahSPoOKW93wv2X-f-V4uUpTsWQNXXL2l9A7w0sBPg1yPAe3lL8NhU_Hmf6bdmnoJG1BIjBTK2la3GJDN75odIGHltfs/s400/IMG_2748.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Bikes - we do wear helmets :) </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We had a special lesson with David to plant his "seeds of faith" - literally and figuratively. He loved planting the little beans we brought him and talking about how faith is like a seed that we need to plant and nurture so it can grow.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> taking a break with some Fanta Guaraná ;)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Look! There was an owl at church! (it's dark cuz owls only come out at night)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi31Ewi4URjRlgTaJ_BmbV48rME_B7rXbKdJM6Fv5U1p8vGi4RXCIlcMsAEV3bErDXof9_RH5lfcWBJVGhcAba0KIBMGxFYjgGyemYPsr727GCyPcDb45NHeUhMHgP3MEL5EbCi-velIdM/s1600/IMG_2796.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi31Ewi4URjRlgTaJ_BmbV48rME_B7rXbKdJM6Fv5U1p8vGi4RXCIlcMsAEV3bErDXof9_RH5lfcWBJVGhcAba0KIBMGxFYjgGyemYPsr727GCyPcDb45NHeUhMHgP3MEL5EbCi-velIdM/s400/IMG_2796.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">How quickly can you plan a baptism? Fernando turns 8 and gets baptized. His mom forgot he was turning 8 until a few days before, so we rushed to help her get the baptism organized and planned in just 2 days. After a lot of frantic running around, the baptism went miraculously very smoothly. (Never mind that the service started an hour late . . . ) In the end, it was a treat to be able to share the special occasion with Fernando and his family. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6K-xkhrL0TbYEdR6I3YeuAv5QTZ8xFN4SNfQq5PyofUNKH6jWKO-Jk-PqPiOvQVhYzR1uOe7bgR1B_OFa9XdqUB8LFG6ICgLMWkqXC52JRd0_ZejoRkffagzVdm-zIiAluZK5OTlBADc/s1600/IMG_2805.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6K-xkhrL0TbYEdR6I3YeuAv5QTZ8xFN4SNfQq5PyofUNKH6jWKO-Jk-PqPiOvQVhYzR1uOe7bgR1B_OFa9XdqUB8LFG6ICgLMWkqXC52JRd0_ZejoRkffagzVdm-zIiAluZK5OTlBADc/s400/IMG_2805.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">German pancakes with dulce de leche and bananas. mmmmm...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6yXcdwsza2aCOzbMjXb0Ey4iiBIEUyk5jgCwEETR_jw890uY5SjPsg6qH1taGclpo_3WaNDFN7RMQo1ASgu-YZSsSk5XS-EdmmbhwVHIFC6UYLmT7d-7oaGkRcRXnPBGyD7wo5V6-3Cg/s1600/IMG_2808.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6yXcdwsza2aCOzbMjXb0Ey4iiBIEUyk5jgCwEETR_jw890uY5SjPsg6qH1taGclpo_3WaNDFN7RMQo1ASgu-YZSsSk5XS-EdmmbhwVHIFC6UYLmT7d-7oaGkRcRXnPBGyD7wo5V6-3Cg/s400/IMG_2808.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">With my nice new rainboots, I have successfully conquered my fear of puddles ;)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQLdpbSjvsxWOOuLYV1rAHlvzKrEETFUp88NbhGamTpuBKc07ceLCb_twc1l21OoWnlF4x1tIwndw-RCRJPlzNiPknl_5zGt2CVEuSt9LtAXkSziiD0jUjQX0igFfCbZ0grJmvsxoV8JQ/s1600/IMG_2810.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQLdpbSjvsxWOOuLYV1rAHlvzKrEETFUp88NbhGamTpuBKc07ceLCb_twc1l21OoWnlF4x1tIwndw-RCRJPlzNiPknl_5zGt2CVEuSt9LtAXkSziiD0jUjQX0igFfCbZ0grJmvsxoV8JQ/s400/IMG_2810.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Hey, is my hair getting darker?</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Happy Birthday to Arminda! (She is one of our investigators. We love her!)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbZw9z6076aeLagTdiMxteXNhzltcsGrn7YrSoYpVRh5S72JOM7RQoaLWn1kPMKV9N9_gmKobCLOnqxx-7iN29ZxJp6pi-yAXGBh4WZXq-hHS7gayGdubZnnmzDckSkUzhS8QKNeSvuBw/s1600/IMG_2820.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbZw9z6076aeLagTdiMxteXNhzltcsGrn7YrSoYpVRh5S72JOM7RQoaLWn1kPMKV9N9_gmKobCLOnqxx-7iN29ZxJp6pi-yAXGBh4WZXq-hHS7gayGdubZnnmzDckSkUzhS8QKNeSvuBw/s400/IMG_2820.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Happy Birthday to Denise! (She is a less active sister we are working to reactivate. She's wonderful!)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Rainy Days</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Skyping home :)</span></td></tr>
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<br />Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-87276057545046881562016-05-02T18:31:00.005-07:002016-05-02T18:31:56.905-07:00The Miracle of the Gospel<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We found a really cool less active sister a couple weeks ago. . . she's progressing, she's reading the Book of Mormon and praying, but she still has doubts about going to church. We're trying to give her a little bit of space to make her own decision - we don't want to force her - and we always encourage her when we can. She's funny because I think she knows she needs to come back, she just doesn't want to accept it. We left her with a few verses on faith from Alma 32, came back, asked what she thought, and she says, "I read it, I don't really remember everything it says, but I do remember that basically it said I need to go back to church." Well, no, actually, that scripture didn't say anything about going to church, it was talking about increasing your faith, but if that's what the Spirit told you, great! <br /><br />We really just love her, and our lessons with her are always so spiritual. She is honest with us about her doubts, but we can see her gradually beginning to rekindle her faith and overcome her doubts with just a few nudges in the right direction. </span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This gospel is so incredible! I was talking to my companion this morning about what a miracle repentance is because it gives us the ability to completely change our nature. The adversary would have us believe that we are the way we are because that's how we were born, that there's no hope for us, we can't change. But the gospel teaches otherwise. We can change through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It is possible! We can put off the natural man, lay aside our wicked habits, and become truly good, inside and out, with no more desire to do evil, but to do good continually. Isn't it a miracle?<br /><br />Love,<br />Hermana Watts</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Look! I made a family tree :)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At the cow farm again</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I told you I milked a cow!;)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">isn't it pretty? </span></td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">so peaceful . . . maybe I'll get a farm when I grow up</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Look! I got to feed the baby cow!</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So I was on divisions with Hna Nilson in her area while our comps went to Asunción to do tramites when we came across this truck that said "Mango Guy" . . . which inspired Hna Nilson to draw this. Turns out "Mango Guy" is a guaraní phrase that means "under the mango tree" which is so not as cool... but we had a good laugh. <i>(At the right it says "Watt is love? Baby don't Hertz me, don't Hertz me, no more!" I think Hna Nilson is quite the comedian!)</i> </span></span></div>
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Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-49021552239452673892016-04-25T18:53:00.000-07:002016-04-25T18:53:14.354-07:00David is Baptized!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">David was so excited for his baptism! We went to his house and helped his mom make empanadas and cake to share at the baptism. Yrma makes empanadas for a living, and they are some of the best empanadas I've tasted!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pipo, Yrma, David, Arnaldo, and Mia - David's mother, brothers, and niece. Arnaldo was able to baptize David, which made the evening all the more special. Arnaldo's wife, Carmen, was called out of town suddenly to attend to the medical needs of her father, but we know she was there in spirit.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Eli and Cinthia Jahnel (two awesome girls in the branch who just returned from missions to New York New York and Florida Tampa, respectively), David and Arnaldo, and the missionaries :)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">After the baptism - we are so grateful to everyone who came to show their support for David and his family!</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Seated (L-R): Pte Miranda, Johan, friend of member, Alberto, Fernando, Dana, Magi, Lucas, Dylan, Cristina, Sandy, Ale</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Standing (L-R): Arnaldo, Yrma, Pipo, yo, Hna Rigtrup, Antonia, Salustiana, Ana, David, Sandra, Antonia, Dany, Tomás, Alcides, Eli, Cinthia, Camila, Mia, Zuni, Salvador</span></span> </div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our last night together, celebrated with ice cream :)</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Finding our new companions in the terminal</span></td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">tripped on a wire and tore my shoe . . . </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">my companion did my hair this morning :)</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My crazy companion! She's really awesome :)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The gospel is incredible! It has been such a treat to witness changes in David and his mother during these last few weeks. The gospel really does help us to be more kind, more happy, more grateful, more selfless, more pure, more Christlike. I am grateful for the Savior, for His mercy and grace, that help us to overcome our weaknesses and become more like Him. We are children of God with so much potential! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I know that this is true! I love you all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Love,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hermana Watts</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-82580875824882673332016-04-18T18:04:00.000-07:002016-04-18T18:04:34.200-07:00I milked a cow! (and other adventures in Paraguay)<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's been a fun week. Some items of note:<br /><br />1. I milked a cow! <br /><br />I was on divisions in our area with Hna Newell, and we went to visit some of our investigators. Right when we sat down to have a lesson with them, the grandmother said, "Oh, I didn't realize how late it was! The sun's already going down! We need to go milk the cows. Do you want to come with us?" And we were like, "Sure!" So we piled in their small car and drove out to their farm where they keep their cows and we got to help them bring the cows in for the night, clean their stalls (I don't think I'll ever get the smell out of my shoes) and milk the cows - it's harder than it looks. They gave us a bottle of milk as a gift - it was actually pretty good, once we boiled the bacteria out of it. The only sad part was that neither of us had cameras :(<br /><br />2. Hurricane Hernandarias<br /><br />We watched the storm clouds roll in and had just enough time to leave the bikes in our pension and grab our raincoats and umbrellas before our next lesson. The rain started as we were walking. The wind began to blow and the thunder began to rumble - the storm was fierce! Worse, the person we planned to visit wasn't home. We huddled under a covered parking space until the storm blew over and our friend came home - then the power went out and we had to teach by candlelight. But we survived!<br /><br />3. The Relief Society Dinner<br /><br />The relief society planned a dinner last Friday which had an impressive turnout. We met three investigators and several less-active sisters through the activity. Thank you, members, for inviting your friends!<br /><br />4. Stay tuned . . . there could be a baptism soon :)<br /><br />Love you all,<br />Hermana Watts</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Photos - silly faces and pancakes</span></div>
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Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-67149848668730587382016-04-11T19:27:00.000-07:002016-04-11T19:27:57.395-07:00A Dessert Contest . . . who is the genius behind this idea?<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We had to drop an investigator this week, which was a crazy experience. I can count on one hand the number of investigators I have officially dropped. . . definitely not my favorite part of the mission. When my companion suggested it, I was really reluctant because I'm always afraid that by dropping an investigator we're giving up on them and denying them salvation - but we both felt that it was right. Actually, dropping investigators is a huge act of faith, because we acknowledge that, even though we are representatives of the Lord, we are not the ones in charge. We trust that God has a plan for each of His children, and sometimes the best way for a person to progress is without the missionaries breathing down their necks all the time. Let me assure you that this was not a decision we made lightly. It required a lot of prayer and faith to confirm that it was truly what the Lord wanted for this investigator. We had a lot of doubts, but we moved forward with faith. The experience became miraculous when, during the lesson, we were given the exact words we needed to say so that all of us, both missionaries and investigator, were able to feel the assurance that this was the correct decision. This is the Lord's work, and He does guide it, if we are humble enough to let Him.<br /><br />In other news, we organized a branch activity that took place last Friday - a talent show and a dessert contest. It was super fun! The idea was that each organization of the branch would prepare a talent to present, and after the talent show we would have a dessert contest. Anyone who wanted to participate could prepare a dessert, and then everyone would taste all of the desserts and vote for their favorite (with a prize for the winner). The prize went to Yrma, the mother of David, who prepared this lime-cream-and-pineapple-deliciousness. David sang with us, "I Am a Child of God," and my companion played the guitar. The Relief Society did a traditional Paraguayan dance, and the Primary kids also had a cute dance. A lot of people came and we all had a great time. <br /><br />Also, we had fun welcoming home two sisters from their missions last week - one from New York New York South and the other from Florida Tampa. Their English is perfect!<br /><br />This is God's work, and He is hastening it. This is His church. The Book of Mormon is true, the prophet is called of God, and Jesus Christ lives! I know it is true. I love you all.<br /><br />Love,<br />Hermana Watts</span><div>
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Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-373228531802449942016-04-04T19:13:00.001-07:002016-04-04T19:13:27.046-07:00Christmas for Missionaries! (a.k.a. General Conference)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">HOLY WOW!!! WAS CONFERENCE AMAZING OR WHAT! You may have heard that General Conference is like Christmas for the missionaries. You would be mistaken. General Conference is BETTER than Christmas! It's like Christmas and Easter and Birthdays all rolled into one! It's a veritable spiritual feast! <br /><br />I hope that each of you had the opportunity to watch at least part of General Conference and feel the Spirit bear testimony of the beautiful truths of the gospel. We have a prophet on the earth today, and twelve apostles, who receive direct guidance from the Savior Himself. And they speak to us. Is that not the sweetest message you have ever heard?<br /><br />If you didn't get the chance to watch conference, here is the link:<br /><a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04?cid=HP_SU_3-4-2016_dPFD_fGC_xLIDyL1-B_&lang=eng">https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04?cid=HP_SU_3-4-2016_dPFD_fGC_xLIDyL1-B_&lang=eng</a><br /><br />Some personal favorites were Gary E. Stevenson, who talked about priesthood keys; Mervyn B. Arnold on going to the rescue; D. Todd Christofferson and his tribute to fathers (love you Dad!); Dieter F. Uchtdorf, who gave us hope that we can be rebuilt; and Jeffrey R. Holland's encouragement to just keep trying. Please take some moments to review the words that spoke most to you.<br /><br />I know this church is true. I felt it strongly as I listened to our beloved prophet and apostles and other leaders of the Church. I know that the Savior lives. This is His church and His kingdom upon the earth. <br /><br />Love,<br />Hermana Watts<br /><br />Photos!</span><div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Zone Conference with the Zona Porä (last Wednesday)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This sister from our stake recently got her mission call to Fortaleza, Brazil.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hna Rigtrup, Hna LaPierre, Hna Watts</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">General Conference in the Stake Center:</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hermanas Nilson, Ehlert, Martinez, Newell, and Watts</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My face when I spotted members from Minga down the hall!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Aline and Jessica, members from Minga Guazú.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> P-day Activity: My comnpanion and I went to the Itaipú dam just outside of Hernandarias. It's the largest in the world and generates electricity for both Brazil and Paraguay.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We found Elder Sanders and his parents - they are from Uruguay, and he just finished his mission in Asunción. They are doing a little sightseeing on their way home.<br /><br /><br /></span></td></tr>
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Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-71679623239500640532016-03-28T21:59:00.000-07:002016-03-28T21:59:21.287-07:00¡Feliz Pascua! Happy Easter!! <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">¡Feliz Pascua! Happy Easter!! <br /><br />One thing I love about Paraguay is that their Easter celebration lasts the entire week. Everyone gets time off work and school to spend time with their families and make chipa (traditional Paraguayan cheese bread). We ate a ton of chipa! Everyone invited us to try their chipa. Some chipa is good, and some chipa is not so good. Chipa is always better when it is hot. If it is cold, it gets hard as a rock and is not very fun. I think we tried a total of 10 different chipas over the course of two days.<br /><br />On Thursday we ate a huge lunch with some members who explained to us that their tradition is to eat a large meal with the family on Thursday to remember the Last Supper. <br /><br />Friday, everyone remembers the crucifixion by not eating meat. It's a pretty solemn day, a lot of people don't leave their houses. The streets were eerily empty.<br /><br />Saturday, everyone gets drunk. (That was kind of scary - we were grateful to be on bicycles so we could get home quickly that night). <br /><br />And Sunday is the glorious day of the Resurrection of our Savior! We had two family home evenings planned Sunday night. We dyed Easter eggs and filled them with candies. We searched for scriptures about the Savior and His Atonement and Resurrection, wrote down the references on slips of paper, and stuck those inside the eggs with the candies. Then we read the scriptures with the families we visited and invited them to share their testimonies of the Savior. There was a powerful spirit in the room as we listened to each of these members share their experiences and feelings about the Atonement. <br /><br />The best part of Semana Santa (the Holy Week) was a visit we had with our progressing investigator, David, and his mother Irma. David is 9 years old, and Irma is one of the pioneers of Hernandarias - but she has become less active during the past few years. We have been working with them for a few weeks now, and last week we talked with Irma about getting David baptized. She said, "Yes, he needs to get baptized. I was thinking about it, and I think the best thing would be to teach him for a little while longer, get him prepared, and then he can get baptized in May." <br /><br />We were thrilled! But after we left that night, we talked about it, and we both felt that David could be ready sooner than May. We looked at the calendar, and saw that the earliest David could be baptized was the week of April 11-17. We planned to invite Irma to consider moving the date to April 16, a Saturday.<br /><br />A few days later, we went back, praying that the Lord would help Irma to know that David needed to be baptized sooner rather than later. To our surprise, before we could say anything, Irma said, "So I was thinking about baptizing David on April 4, which was my father's birthday, but that's a Monday and I don't know if people would be able to come. So I was thinking a Wednesday, because that's when the branch has their weekly activities, so everyone will be there. How about April 6?"<br /><br />And we, who had been preparing to try to get her to move the date a little earlier, had to explain to her that for David to fulfill the baptismal requirements set by our leaders, the earliet he could be baptized was the following week, on April 13. And she was happy with that.<br /><br />She shared with us an experience she had with David when she went to school with him. David has autism and he goes to a special school for students with similar needs. His teacher is Catholic and always teaches the students to pray and sing Catholic songs. When Irma visited, the teacher was singing a Catholic song with the students. Then she looked at David and said, "David, why aren't you singing?" <br /><br />David said, "I'm a Mormon, and I want to sing one of the songs I learn in my church." <br /><br />The teacher said, "All right, go ahead and sing." <br /><br />And in a quiet little voice, he began to sing, "I am a child of God, and He has sent me here, has given me an earthly home with parents kind and dear. Lead me, guide me, walk beside me, help me find the way, teach me all that I must do, to live with Him someday."<br /><br />Irma told us that the whole class watched in silence as David sang his song. When he finished, the teacher said, "Thank you, David, that was a very nice song." He is such a special little boy and I have learned so much from him!<br /><br />I know that the Savior lives! He is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Redeemer of all mankind. This is His church, and I am so grateful for the privilege of representing it.<br /><br />Love,<br />Hermana Watts<br /><br />p.s. attached find pictures of our easter eggs (and the process of making them) as well as our P-day dessert - a "tapioca" (kind of like a crepe but made with mandioca) with strawberries and chocolate inside and ice cream on the side. We were sad when it was gone. :( </span><div>
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Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-13638608097199813072016-03-21T19:49:00.000-07:002016-03-21T19:49:07.037-07:00New Area!<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Q&A </b> <i>(I sent these questions to Hermana Watts last week, before seeing pictures of her bicycle and helmet and cute companion, but she didn't have time to answer until this week).</i></span><div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br />1. What are the bicycles like that you ride? Do you have baskets? Can you send a picture?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i>We ride Milano bicycles - they're kind of old. We do not have baskets. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><i>2. Are there other areas in your mission with bicycles? What determines which areas get bicycles? Distance that the area covers? </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i>The only other sisters' area is Ayolas, near Pilar, in Paraguay. I think there are a few sets of elders who have bicycles. I'm not sure what determines which area gets bicycles - I don't think it's necessarily distance, I think it has a lot to do also with the conditions of the roads and possibly bus coverage. Some areas have a lot of cobblestone/dirt roads that are not good for bikes, or a lot of hills, or whatever. Our area has a lot of cobblestone, but enough asphalt to make it slightly less miserable. (cobblestone kills!) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><i>3. Do you wear helmets?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i>Yes, of course! No concussions here :) <br /><br /><i>4. Tell us about your new companion: Where she's from, her interests, talents, favorite hymn, funniest mission moment, etc.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i>She is from just outside Spanish Fork. She likes piano, basketball, music, BYU Football, egg farming, wakeboarding, coloring, and eating ice cream. She is an excellent piano player, and she has a talent for making people happy. Her favorite hymn is "Lord, I Would Follow Thee." Her funniest mission moment is this transfer when she got stuck with me. Haha, jk, one time she got punched by a Paraguayan woman. . . who happens to be the relief society president. You will have to ask her for the details. <br /><br /><i>5. Tell us about Hernandarias. It's close to Ciudad Del Este. Is it a suburb or does it feel more like the country or a small town or what?</i><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hernandarias is a small town but it's really not quite that small. It's maybe like Carson City to Reno. It's pretty tranquilo here.<br /><br /><i>6. Are you in a branch or ward?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am in a branch. <br /><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>7. Are there other missionaries in Hernandarias? And if so, are they in the same ward/branch or are there more than one branch there?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There are three sets of missionaries in Hernandarias. Hernandarias has one ward and two branches. The ward has a set of elders and each branch has a set of sisters. <br /><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>8. Did you have to travel to Posadas for transfers, just to head back to Hernandarias, or were you able to go directly there?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I went to the terminal in Ciudad del Este to meet up with Hna Rigtrup and then we came straight to Hernandarias. Due to some confusion in planning, we didn't get home until around 1:00 a.m. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><i>9. Are you happy that you're staying in Paraguay or are you starting to miss Argentina? </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Are you kidding? I was over the moon when I found out I was staying in Paraguay - better yet that I'm still close to Minga and I'll get to see the members at General Conference and stake conference! :) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>10. What's your apartment like in Hernandarias?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our apartment is pretty nice, we have a covered garage to park our bicycles and we live three stories up. It's not too big, not too small . . . can't complain :) <br /><br />. . . <br /><br />Happy Easter! Please take some time this week to watch this easter video and reflect on what the Savior's sacrifice means to you. I testify that He lives! He is the Messiah, the Savior and Redeemer of the world, Jesus Christ.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.mormon.org/easter?cid=HP_SU_3-13-2016_dMIS_fSPC_xLIDyL1-A_">https://www.mormon.org/easter?cid=HP_SU_3-13-2016_dMIS_fSPC_xLIDyL1-A_</a><br /><br />Love,<br />Hermana Watts</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><img src="https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gif" /></span></div>
Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-16476224662136747842016-03-14T21:37:00.001-07:002016-03-14T21:37:05.870-07:00My Red Racing Bike<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." -Ecclesiastes 3:1</i><br /><br />My time in Minga Guazú came to its end last week, which was really sad. Saying goodbye is hard. Here are some pictures of my last two days in Minga:</span><div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Woody Wu, our landlord/neighbor</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Lunch and photoshoot in Jesuitas, the super fancy shopping center near our area:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyYq98aeODP9-kGvMt44EU2NJE_jazxK66x6WcNN1lNwTjWu3Xrn48TL2F3wueCJmLrvZ_vZz1puTfCdKf2FJTE-T4THfZr1M3T38P3cRcX2is-ZTyv23-91dnSk08tOMlkTuk3pg4uS4/s1600/SAM_3986.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyYq98aeODP9-kGvMt44EU2NJE_jazxK66x6WcNN1lNwTjWu3Xrn48TL2F3wueCJmLrvZ_vZz1puTfCdKf2FJTE-T4THfZr1M3T38P3cRcX2is-ZTyv23-91dnSk08tOMlkTuk3pg4uS4/s400/SAM_3986.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFkzCqUVA4Sf4q7Okuq9MMMVKVsi0duovo4yVXsls3uTZUa8gLQGEUqp6zNN5GYmddDqnlSVkpfW_eZy_xTeUbPyCj7JzcnAYFsAXVxAjGpC0St-uPVkd5dJGB6h77kyXwoN33yQ7pc7g/s1600/SAM_3996.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFkzCqUVA4Sf4q7Okuq9MMMVKVsi0duovo4yVXsls3uTZUa8gLQGEUqp6zNN5GYmddDqnlSVkpfW_eZy_xTeUbPyCj7JzcnAYFsAXVxAjGpC0St-uPVkd5dJGB6h77kyXwoN33yQ7pc7g/s400/SAM_3996.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hey Mom, this one's for you! My last day I met this really sweet girl from Japan! Her name is Yugi (I think). <i>(Mom served her mission in Japan).</i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Delvalle family, who gave us lunch every Thursday</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sixto, a recent convert</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27KP83KX4JqPZ2Kyq9QmQYcfYdBHevZ9hpgfGK_2GVlmvnAW8MELgq3Mh-y5TaOD1vGH17qclnkt_fUVjH_i39Wtfiw_Q5HkIkHbJGGc64M_-8tvCvsAImdUy08EP8jo8uxWfN7CU2SE/s1600/SAM_4008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27KP83KX4JqPZ2Kyq9QmQYcfYdBHevZ9hpgfGK_2GVlmvnAW8MELgq3Mh-y5TaOD1vGH17qclnkt_fUVjH_i39Wtfiw_Q5HkIkHbJGGc64M_-8tvCvsAImdUy08EP8jo8uxWfN7CU2SE/s400/SAM_4008.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The branch presidency in Minga - Pte Adriano Espinola, Hector Sanabria (1st counselor) and Elvio Delvalle (2nd counselor)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpmHAKfgjhdJjGG5B-tcmos3ZbYKeJPatgg1PkkKPDsFULCHd2U7kFjZz5nzvw0j-UAU_mBBKECONy2EWPYdnZaFsKuTBZS-t_zpqEinytfzlRfygNGOjh_wWVoSX1rcEiB_j34jH-FxE/s1600/SAM_4009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpmHAKfgjhdJjGG5B-tcmos3ZbYKeJPatgg1PkkKPDsFULCHd2U7kFjZz5nzvw0j-UAU_mBBKECONy2EWPYdnZaFsKuTBZS-t_zpqEinytfzlRfygNGOjh_wWVoSX1rcEiB_j34jH-FxE/s400/SAM_4009.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nelson Sanabria, our high councilor</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">David Legal, our mission leader</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5KN7twc37a9-Ph4SwH8amtwpwcJ0NbKdCv1EvOAz3HNZ0eOIafsU1LBmDwggKC3IcL-mRmt-UkZN0t9rflNdTbn6UyHpRZs_kiRkxhwi9KYVhyphenhyphenvaYHPV-SkJ1QNwAwSZ3H7-mEoMiDFc/s1600/SAM_4020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5KN7twc37a9-Ph4SwH8amtwpwcJ0NbKdCv1EvOAz3HNZ0eOIafsU1LBmDwggKC3IcL-mRmt-UkZN0t9rflNdTbn6UyHpRZs_kiRkxhwi9KYVhyphenhyphenvaYHPV-SkJ1QNwAwSZ3H7-mEoMiDFc/s400/SAM_4020.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Marta, Nefi (9), and Santiago (1.5) Delvalle</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMrByBWvqums9epghF7k3rb-8YUGLwUfohvRvAwlOvYbJtYZJZrNnw418jprcmiO4eP6WQ2apl_6dANt-rLtc1ENIpastU6WKOpBJqbxe8MZ-cjg1ec9tB8IGSu5BavDTyUy4wLrsfHF4/s1600/SAM_4021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMrByBWvqums9epghF7k3rb-8YUGLwUfohvRvAwlOvYbJtYZJZrNnw418jprcmiO4eP6WQ2apl_6dANt-rLtc1ENIpastU6WKOpBJqbxe8MZ-cjg1ec9tB8IGSu5BavDTyUy4wLrsfHF4/s400/SAM_4021.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Liz, our neighbor, and Raquel, our landlady/neighbor, with Raquel and Woody's sons, Pablo (8) and Francisco (5). I love them!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now I'm in Hernanadarias! (Just a little northeast of Minga) with Hermana Rigtup! And we have bicycles!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCCWlske5qrP8M_keja_WuGK80vx78M_d-XYryO1irxi0uCTvo95fyHypAIDIb-_oqmO8cB2VOUd1yzv0f177NhKVs182HYfcNq8-Vu5tK4QyGLnQCJx8lGoHI5pcgeEWiV6IGs-Oxut0/s1600/SAM_4025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCCWlske5qrP8M_keja_WuGK80vx78M_d-XYryO1irxi0uCTvo95fyHypAIDIb-_oqmO8cB2VOUd1yzv0f177NhKVs182HYfcNq8-Vu5tK4QyGLnQCJx8lGoHI5pcgeEWiV6IGs-Oxut0/s400/SAM_4025.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(The red one is mine.)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4sjY5zPUIpbHBMFGM1QnRogTGdo59OqdgJRnryXCJUzA-Mywob3U6FvUO8IK4JLf5Zsm2hNmzhzgr79OQDuYwvmgPr293TzUiT56bZkq6FZvRmfp4HxgSSMqUF0bSh4lhC6bB7zPQSCg/s1600/SAM_4026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4sjY5zPUIpbHBMFGM1QnRogTGdo59OqdgJRnryXCJUzA-Mywob3U6FvUO8IK4JLf5Zsm2hNmzhzgr79OQDuYwvmgPr293TzUiT56bZkq6FZvRmfp4HxgSSMqUF0bSh4lhC6bB7zPQSCg/s400/SAM_4026.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Don't worry, Mom, we do wear helmets - we just took them off for the picture. :)</span></td></tr>
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Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-9360668187363734752016-03-07T18:36:00.001-08:002016-03-07T18:36:29.013-08:00Travels and such<div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My companion and I did a lot of traveling this past week. Hermana Martinez goes home next transfer, so she got to visit Iguazú with all of the missionaries going home this transfer and next. I got to do something even more fun . . . TRÁMITES! yay. Iguazú is just across the river from from Ciudad del Este, but we got to go the long way around. We took a 6-hour bus ride to Encarnación, crossed the river, ate a delicious home-cooked meal in the mission home with Presidente y Hermana LaPierre, slept not a wink, and left at 2 in the morning to take the 6-hour bus ride up to Iguazú. We dropped my companion off at the park with the rest of the honorables, and then two elders, Hermana Cannon, and I, all went off to the migrations office to do the trámites. The good news is I am now an Argentine citizen with an ID card and everything! The less-good news is that I am only an Argentine citizen until <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2032843852" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">June 3</span></span>. But that's okay, I'll just stay in Paraguay forever :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best part of the trip, besides Hermana L's cooking, was staying the night in Encarnación Rama 3, my very first area (my "birthplace," as we missionaries say). That was a very special treat for me.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">In other news, Norma finally came to church!!!! With her two sons!!! Now that her anti-mormon husband left to go work in Argentina, she is free to come to church whenever she wants. The members were quick to take her under their wings and fellowship her. She offered a prayer in our Gospel Principles class and thanked God for guiding her back to the "only true church." <i>(if you aren't sure who Norma is, here's the blogpost where they meet her: </i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>http://hermanaelenawatts.blogspot.com/2016/01/fear-not.html)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I testify that this really is the only true church upon the earth. It is the Lord's church, and He leads it through His prophets. The Book of Mormon is true. God lives. We are His children and He loves us. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hermana Watts</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hna Martinez reunited with her hija who is currently in Rama 3</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crossing into Argentina . . . They're super protective of their Malvinas Islands (which they lost to England a few years ago but still claim as theirs).</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_XOULzpuc4YpO0O8qy7fscorTNKkH9TQCll0wXUVv2025hc7CUFJIyrHynudEETLIMaRLn6YxHqedgdvVDn-RVrCfRQgyMhqZKrfUBYPV1lheEZwvRSYlyYnuK0f8VXNbcQofwEKrCcY/s1600/SAM_3942.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_XOULzpuc4YpO0O8qy7fscorTNKkH9TQCll0wXUVv2025hc7CUFJIyrHynudEETLIMaRLn6YxHqedgdvVDn-RVrCfRQgyMhqZKrfUBYPV1lheEZwvRSYlyYnuK0f8VXNbcQofwEKrCcY/s400/SAM_3942.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rosi, one of my investigators in Rama 3</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chini, one of the less-active members of the branch here, and Natty, one of our investigators, both gave birth yesterday! We went to visit them in the hospital. I didn't get a picture with Natty, but both mothers are doing very well, and the babies are healthy and beautiful.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hermana Martinez</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">P.S. Transfers - I'm going to Hernandarias! With Hermana Rigtrup! And bicycles! Ouch. But I'm going to be super fit :) Hna Martinez stays here and Hna Ehlert is coming and they're both going to be Sister Training Leaders. Fun!</span>Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-38717728456398481542016-02-29T21:30:00.002-08:002016-02-29T21:30:41.992-08:00fotos :)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First: Noche de Rama (Branch Night) activity - learning how to paint nails. (The men played soccer)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Second: banana pancakes for our collaboration meeting with our branch mission leader in the home of Teresa because she is just awesome</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Our branch mission leader is named David Legal. And he's a lawyer. No joke.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>How was Elder Bednar? (We heard last week that he would be speaking to the missionaries in her area, as well as the surrounding missions, via satellite).</i></span></div>
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OH! Elder Bednar was incredible! He is my favorite apostle! (I say that now, but when Gen. Conference comes around they're all my favorite.) But we learned so much from him! I think that we learned more from his example, because he taught us as if he were the missionary and we were the investigators, than from what he actually said. For me, kind of the theme of the meeting was to learn as agents. As children of God, we are endowed with power to act, not to be acted upon. For example, when we study the scriptures, are we reading just to know what they say and fill our heads with information, or are we actively seeking revelation and inspiration, answers to the questions in our soul? And when we teach, do we invite the people we teach to become active learners, or do we treat them as objects, trying to fill their heads with information? He commented that one of the foolish traditions of the church is to play "guess what's in my head" - a game where the teacher asks questions looking for specific answers and the student tries desperately to guess what the teacher is looking for. When Elder Bednar taught us, he asked us several questions and had mikes running around the chapel so that the missionaries could respond to his questions. And none of his questions was looking for a specific answer. (For example, he had assigned us some reading, and he asked us what we learned from the reading. He wasn't looking for a specific theme from the talks we read or a key phrase or anything, he just wanted to know what we had learned.) So my companion and I are now working on teaching investigators as agents to act and not as objects to be acted upon.</span><div>
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Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-26009903638704599692016-02-22T21:29:00.000-08:002016-02-22T21:29:28.701-08:00We need to talk . . .<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So we're planning Thursday night and we realize that we haven't found any new investigators all week and it's already Thursday! And we feel a little bad, so we schedule in an hour to look for people who are prepared to hear our message. <br /><br />On an unrelated note, we also make plans to visit an active sister in our branch who lives in the area we plan to work in. We call ahead to see if that's okay with her, and she says, "Yes, please do stop by! I need to talk to you."<br /><br />I don't know if you've noticed, but sometimes when people say, "I need to talk to you," it's kind of scary because you don't know what they want to talk about and you're afraid you've done something wrong and they're just going to chew you out. . . So we say a prayer before visiting the sister that everything will be fine. <br /><br />We get to her house, and she says, "Hermanas, I have a cousin who is very sick. She wants to come to church. She lives in kilometer 28. Would you like to visit her with me right now?" <br /><br />And we say, "Sure!" because we are very relieved that it was something good that she needed to talk about and not something bad.<br /><br />So we all pile in her car and her husband drives us out to kilometer 28, which is farther than I have ever gone before (the farthest being km 24). And we meet Lilian and her nine children, Liz (15), Yenifer (14), Rosana (12), Daniela (11), Belen (8), Luana (7), Celso (5), Fiorela (3), and Maximiliano (1.5). Lilian is very sick as a result of an operation she had about four months ago, but her children take good care of her. <br /><br />Except for the little ones, everyone participated in the lesson. We taught them about God's Plan of Happiness. We talked about the purpose of our life on earth and how our trials help us to learn and grow. And on Sunday, Lilian and Yenifer both came to church. <br /><br />Thus we see that God answers the righteous prayers of His children, and when we do our part, He does the rest to lead us to those people who need our help, who are prepared to learn about His gospel.<br /><br />Love,<br />Hermana Watts<br /><br />p.s. We made no-bake cookies this week (thanks for the recipe Mom!) and played UNO with the other sisters. Lots of fun! (We also made banana bread but I forgot to take a picture. . . it was gone too fast)</span><div>
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Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-18012237699441478272016-02-15T21:30:00.001-08:002016-02-15T21:30:59.176-08:00In God We Trust<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My companion and I had a thought-provoking conversation the other day about trust. What does it mean to trust in someone? Who do you trust? Why do you trust those people? I thought about the people I trust most in this world - Mom, Dad, my mission president. . . . and I laughed because I trust each of them in different ways. I trust my mom for somethings and my dad for others. (Like, I don't know if I could trust my dad to help me find cute clothes at the mall - Sorry Dad!) There are some things I discuss with my mission president that I don't talk about with my parents, like the needs of investigators. We talked about what it means to trust someone - maybe you tell them all your secrets, or you always go to that person for advice. And why do we trust those people? Because we know that they really have our best interests at heart.<br /><br />It was funny, as we talked about trust and defined it in different ways, different people came to my head. But in the end, we realized that no matter how we tried to define trust, there was always one person who fit the description: our Heavenly Father. He knows all our secrets, and He will always give us good advice. He always has our best interests at heart. No one will take care of us better than He will. <br /><br />We were able to share a few of those thoughts with our investigator Ana, who has been facing a lot of trials in her life and in her family. The most recent began Saturday night, when her boyfriend came down with a fever. Sunday morning we passed by to see if they were ready to come to church and found him in a very bad state. (Yes, he has dengue.) He tried to participate in the lesson and lasted maybe five minutes before he had to go lie down. So they couldn't come to church this week, and he can't go to work until he gets better, and with that and everything else that's been going on, we can tell that their family is getting a little discouraged. But we talked to Ana about trusting in God and learning from our trials, and she has so much faith. "I guess it could be a lot worse," she says. "I try to look on the bright side of things." <br /><br />When we put our trust in God, He will help us through whatever difficulty life throws at us. He will never let us fall. He loves us!<br /><br />Love,<br />Hermana Watts</span><div>
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Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-53149569709907355432016-02-08T18:20:00.000-08:002016-02-08T18:20:07.714-08:00Miracles<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This has been a week of miracles. And a little bit of heartbreak, but mostly miracles. We are so grateful to be healthy and back to work!<br /><br />Do you remember Norma, the lady with the groceries from a few weeks ago? She is just wonderful! We went to visit her twice this week. The first time, we found her niece, Alicia, who is staying with her for the summer. She reproached us for not visiting in so long. (Sorry, we had dengue.) We taught her and Norma about the plan of salvation, and they ate it up! By the end of the lesson, they had committed to come to church, as long as there wasn't a huge rainstorm. We went back again on Saturday, and Norma's son and nephew were out front drinking terere. We sat down with Norma and chatted for a few minutes, but when it came time to begin the lesson, she stopped us to call the boys over. They all participated in the lesson and agreed to come to church with us. We made plans to be waiting for them when they got off the bus so they wouldn't get lost, and we prayed that it wouldn't rain. Saturday night, we became worried when dark storm clouds began to gather, but we just prayed harder and Sunday dawned bright and sunny - a tender mercy of the Lord.<br /><br />But during our morning studies, we received a text message from Norma. She apologized and explained that she wouldn't be able to come to church because she wanted to avoid problems in her home. (Her husband is not a fan of the church.) Despite our best efforts to convince her otherwise, she wasn't able to come. But I have confidence that this faithful woman will find a way! <br /><br />Funny story: Norma and her husband, despite having lived together for some 20-odd years, are not married. But she told us that she has commissioned a friend to make her wedding dress. She wants it to be a surprise for her husband. "O se case conmigo o se va," she told us (either he marries me or he goes). She is incredible!<br /><br />I hope you are seeing the tender mercies of the Lord in your lives. <br /><br />Love,<br />Hermana Watts<br /><br />p.s. Missionaries being silly :)</span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGg3mi4xL_kUC3bhqsna7zKDIXntHBRthxEr87fgmeAexRAOrYfC0WLDT71oG5fnDawH7Sfjxb4Gc8A6L9g77Yr4FWpCQLGH6gThkBtB5vMa7pmCuHDJDV76PQV6pkr7BrsKJaLVvgCJg/s1600/SAM_3861.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGg3mi4xL_kUC3bhqsna7zKDIXntHBRthxEr87fgmeAexRAOrYfC0WLDT71oG5fnDawH7Sfjxb4Gc8A6L9g77Yr4FWpCQLGH6gThkBtB5vMa7pmCuHDJDV76PQV6pkr7BrsKJaLVvgCJg/s400/SAM_3861.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was to remind me to print off my Mom's banana bread recipe - it's backwards so I can read it when I look in the mirror. Can't forget something important like banana bread!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We made banana pancakes and ate them with maple syrup, chocolate syrup, and peanut butter. So worth it.</span></td></tr>
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Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-45668045884170120712016-02-01T18:54:00.001-08:002016-02-01T18:54:30.598-08:00Free At Last!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Six blood analyses and one priesthood blessing later, I am finally free from dengue. This morning the doctors gave me the go-ahead to get back to work. Yay!</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can say that I have seen many tender mercies of the Lord during this illness. My companion and I have had a LOT of time to get to know each other, and we are more unified than ever. Hermana Martinez is wonderful!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think the most frustrating thing (which was also a blessing) was that I didn't really feel many symptoms of dengue. I didn't get a bloody nose or cough up blood, I didn't have a super high fever, and I didn't experience severe muscle pains. I just felt really tired all the time, and the first few days I did have a mild fever. The thing with dengue is it makes your blood platelets drop dangerously - and if they drop too low you have to be hospitalized. And no matter what we tried, my platelets just kept dropping. Finally, I decided to ask for a priesthood blessing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next day, my platelets were back to a normal level.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is power in the priesthood.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How blessed we are to have the priesthood on the earth today. It is the power and authority God gives to men to act in His name. It is the power that the Savior used to work His miracles, and it is the power held by every worthy man of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Have miracles ceased? No, they have not. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God lives! He loves us!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hermana Watts</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Fotos!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b>My blood analysis at the super Catholic laboratory Corazón de María came back dengue-free . . .</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">so we celebrated with ice cream :)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hermana Martinez made pizza! It was delicious :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNkWyif6UQ49ZaqYGMAgJSkAT3VBjEruChMasb7JxDwEiFPSjiSq-5n_cdU0t__OcytwHoTI6Bn5-VABAkx9sHMDVxGl2nBkvWP-M9ULTP5qhL4V3lIxeo8jL1VhQ_P1lWnEbBcg9Agsk/s1600/SAM_3805.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNkWyif6UQ49ZaqYGMAgJSkAT3VBjEruChMasb7JxDwEiFPSjiSq-5n_cdU0t__OcytwHoTI6Bn5-VABAkx9sHMDVxGl2nBkvWP-M9ULTP5qhL4V3lIxeo8jL1VhQ_P1lWnEbBcg9Agsk/s400/SAM_3805.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Teresa had a birthday on Sunday, so we celebrated with pizza and cake! <i>(Teresa is a less active return missionary that Elena wrote about way back in November). The following are pictures of the celebration.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our Christmas packages finally arrived! Now we can regain all the weight we lost when we were sick with dengue. Thank you family!!!</span></div>
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Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-8026432124404978872016-01-25T18:23:00.001-08:002016-01-25T18:23:05.101-08:00And . . . dengue.<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Remember how last week my companion had all the symptoms of dengue but it wasn't dengue? Well . . . it was dengue. On Wednesday we went back and got the analysis done, and her platelets had dropped significantly below normal. <br /><br />And mine were even worse. <br /><br />Yeah, we both had dengue. So we have been in the pension all week resting. My companion is back to normal now, but my platelets are still pretty low. But I got an analysis done today and they are starting to increase, so that is good!<br /><br />Meanwhile we have been well cared for by the people around us. The wife of the owner of our pension accompanied us to the doctor to get our analyses done, and also made soup for us on various occasions. One family of members sent us a thermos of soup and a bag of bread. Another member, a recent convert, calls us every day to ask how we are doing. And the other sisters here in Minga visited some of our investigators for us. So we are in good hands!<br /><br />I am reminded of a scripture that I found as I was in the airplane to Buenos Aires. It is in the Book of Mormon and reads:<br />"Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God? Know ye not that he hath all power, and at his great command the earth shall be rolled together as a scroll?" (Mormon 5:23)<br />I testify that we are in the hands of God. If we trust in Him and keep His commandments, He will take care of us. We don't need to be afraid because He is watching out for us.<br /><br />Love,<br />Hermana Watts</span><div>
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Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617921669576131752.post-61250403449203891802016-01-18T19:26:00.001-08:002016-01-18T19:26:23.837-08:00Dang Dengue!<div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A few items of note this week:</span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">1. Bicycles.</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My companion went to Asunción <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_998289608" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Tuesday</span></span>, leaving me with Hna Salcido and Hna Barragán in Hernandarias (a city to the north of Ciudad del Este). Their area is one of the few areas in the mission with bicycles. So I got to spend all day on a bicycle! Super fun! . . . not. Bikes and cobblestones are not a good combination. Also, I'm super out-of-shape. So by the end of the day, I thought I was going to die. I couldn't feel my legs! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">. . . okay. Maybe I'm exaggerating a little. Bicycles are actually super fun. Everyone should ride bicycles everywhere! World obesity epidemic solved!</span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">2. Dengue.</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">So there is this disease called dengue. It is spread by mosquitoes, and EVERYONE is getting it. (I think it's kind of a precursor to yellow fever.) Our branch president and pretty much half the branch have caught it. It starts with a fever, and then a lot of pain in the whole body, especially behind the eyes, and if you start vomiting or your nose starts bleeding, you have to go to the doctor ASAP because you might die. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_998289609" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Friday</span></span> night, my companion came down with a fever. It got really high, and we spent all <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_998289610" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Saturday</span></span> in the pension. <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_998289611" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Saturday</span></span> afternoon the fever went down and she had a normal temperature, but about <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_998289612" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">four hours later</span></span> the fever started up again and worse than before. It lasted all through <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_998289613" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Sunday</span></span>. We only made it to sacrament meeting, and then the elders came to give her a priesthood blessing. This morning we went to the doctor, and they had to do a blood test to see if it was dengue, and according to the doctor and the analysis, she has all the symptoms of dengue, but her defenses are really good and it's not dengue. We have to do one more test <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_998289614" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Wednesday</span></span> just to be sure, but for now we can go back to work. Yay!</span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">3. Ana.</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We have a golden investigator named Ana. She lives with her boyfriend Eddy and their two young children Tobias (age 2) and Dana (11 months?). Eddy is a less-active member and the brother of one of the more active families in the branch. He and Ana are eager to put their lives in order and raise their children right. They have been attending church faithfully the past few weeks, and Ana has accepted a baptismal date! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Is the hand of God not apparent in our lives?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hermana Watts</span></div>
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Elenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17203361171980657015noreply@blogger.com1