Even being here in the Internet café, typing, makes me anxious to get out and work. It’s funny, I’ve been pretty good throughout the mission at setting clear, actionable goals and then working towards them, but now I’m almost in a frantic rush to do EVERYTHING. So, this is my note to self: calm down, choose a few simple things and do better. That’s why I love President Hinckley’s counsel to just “stand a little taller.” In the hustle and bustle of life and the mission, we can simply continue forward, serving, loving, and doing our best, and then a little more!
To follow the request of the area seventy that all missionaries move out that live on chapel grounds, we moved to a new house. We lost some things: heat, paint, walls of something other than brick, and closeness to the chapel. But at least this week we gained a new pet cat. Chester showed up on our porch day after day for some unknown reason and so my companion put a box on the front porch for him to sleep in. Things were great until one late night, getting home from the work, my companion was playing with him and…he BIT him! Yeah, we didn’t expect it. So we took away his box priviledges and called Hermana Wade, the health specialist to see if we should do anything about it, haha. I think he’ll be ok.
We’ve been focusing a lot of our efforts on helping the local leaders to run the church correctly here in the PJC. Most of them know how it should be, some of them have even done it in the past, but now, they just don’t do it. It takes lots of patience and tact but has been an incredible learning experience.
So, today in we invited the District President, Pres Villasboa to give a short talk to the zone on how to better coordinate our work with the members here in Pedro Juan Caballero District. It was great to hear about his desires to better the district and his goals to become a stake. Most of all, I think it was great for the missionaries to see that there ARE leaders who care and want to help, and for him to see that we as missionaries REALLY want to establish the church and the work we are doing to make that happen. He also invited us to attend District Leadership meetings on Saturdays
In our Branch, specifically, the members and leaders are getting excited. We were able to work with Pres Nunez to set up a schedule for weekly activities. He called an activities coordinator and she is excited to plan and prepare and with our help, invite members so that the activities are successful. The youth is getting excited as well, and enjoy the Sunday school youth classes, as well as young women’s and Aaronic Priesthood classes that weren’t being held before (which means, we teach them often, but are working to change that).
This week we had a leadership meeting and then Zone Conference in Asunciòn. Since I was there all night after the leadership conference, Pres Wade invited me to his house to help him prepare a presentation for the zone conference the following day. The presentation was to help the mission get to know our new mission President, Pres Madariaga. After finishing, Hermana Wade made us some burritos and spaghetti, American-style, and we sat around the dinner table talking about the mission, and our purpose, and the great changes that will soon be taking place. It was an incredible experience.
Then, after giving the presentation the following day in one of the zone conference sessions, Pres Wade walked slowly from the big white screen to where Hermana Wade was sitting. As he walked he sighed deeply and said, “well, this whole thing makes you feel pretty darn dispensable, doesn’t it.” We all listened intensely, as we thought that he was ANYTING but dispensable. Thoughts ran through my head from the night before, hearing that he will only train the new mission President for a period of 2 hours before flying to the States and leaving it all in Pres Madariaga’s hands.
We talked about his life quest to become an indispensable member in the Kingdom of God. He talked to us about how really being indispensable means being the kind of person who SEES a need and then FILLS it. He said, “those are the kinds of people that the angels tap on the shoulder, when help is needed.” I felt the spirit deeply and have been striving and praying to see needs and fill them, and to become that indispensable missionary and member in God’s kingdom. It has brought a new and deepened sense of purpose to my mission and to each of my days as I am about my Father’s business. I invite each of you to pray for that gift and to see needs and then to fill them. I know THAT is the way to feel real joy in life, and to experience REAL growth and progress. I love you and miss you all. Have a great week!
Elder McCarty
Monday, May 31, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
The Rolla Holla! Monday, May 25, 2010
The office moved and now has a new address for any letters or packages (if you´re going to send them, you´d better get on it, these weeks are your last chance)
Elder Kyler McCarty
Paraguay Asuncion North Mission
Avda. Santisima Trinidad 1280 c/ Julio Correa
Asunción Paraguay
It is exciting to be a part of such a great work. This week it showed that as a zone we were more consistent in our prayers, faith, and felt need for the miracles we desired. It was incredible to see the big leaps of progress that came, which are only possible through mighty miracles of God.
We won´t be having District Meeting this week, and will have to travel all Thursday for Zone Conference, so as we Rendired, we asked the District Leaders to stress that we didn´t want to make any excuses or have any set backs because of those things. They passed that on to their districts along with several things we´ve been applying to move the zone forward and we will all be praying to see the miracles necessary to raise the bar to the next level in the zone.
The area itself is also moving forward. We were able to see a very well organized and executed baptism with the help of the ward (after insistence and careful coordination), and the overall attendance continues to increase, from 40, to 49, now to 63 last week. We have the goal of 80 in church and met and prayed with the branch President to bring it to pass. He is a good man with a humble heart. We are working with him, and plan to continue organizing and coordinating our efforts to establish the kingdom in Pedro Juan Caballero. Well love you all and miss you. Hope you have a great week!
Elder McCarty
Pics
001 Me and the Villalba brothers. Juan and Froilan. AWESOME.
002 The whole group in San Pedro
003 At changes with good ol Elder Vail and Elder Maddux, both going home ALREADY!
004 Elder Walker and I preaching outside the temple
005 Me watching the bags of like 4 Elders.
006 On the bus with giant fancy comfortable seats.
007 See what Im sayin
008 Elder Snow and I with a little chubby girl wearing my hat. Shes cute and likes to swear, oops.
010 After a big FHE at an inactive family. Most of them came this Sunday for the first time in a long time.
011 The baptism of Sunilda. She has a great testimony and will be a good solid member!
Elder Kyler McCarty
Paraguay Asuncion North Mission
Avda. Santisima Trinidad 1280 c/ Julio Correa
Asunción Paraguay
It is exciting to be a part of such a great work. This week it showed that as a zone we were more consistent in our prayers, faith, and felt need for the miracles we desired. It was incredible to see the big leaps of progress that came, which are only possible through mighty miracles of God.
We won´t be having District Meeting this week, and will have to travel all Thursday for Zone Conference, so as we Rendired, we asked the District Leaders to stress that we didn´t want to make any excuses or have any set backs because of those things. They passed that on to their districts along with several things we´ve been applying to move the zone forward and we will all be praying to see the miracles necessary to raise the bar to the next level in the zone.
The area itself is also moving forward. We were able to see a very well organized and executed baptism with the help of the ward (after insistence and careful coordination), and the overall attendance continues to increase, from 40, to 49, now to 63 last week. We have the goal of 80 in church and met and prayed with the branch President to bring it to pass. He is a good man with a humble heart. We are working with him, and plan to continue organizing and coordinating our efforts to establish the kingdom in Pedro Juan Caballero. Well love you all and miss you. Hope you have a great week!
Elder McCarty
Pics
001 Me and the Villalba brothers. Juan and Froilan. AWESOME.
002 The whole group in San Pedro
003 At changes with good ol Elder Vail and Elder Maddux, both going home ALREADY!
004 Elder Walker and I preaching outside the temple
005 Me watching the bags of like 4 Elders.
006 On the bus with giant fancy comfortable seats.
007 See what Im sayin
008 Elder Snow and I with a little chubby girl wearing my hat. Shes cute and likes to swear, oops.
010 After a big FHE at an inactive family. Most of them came this Sunday for the first time in a long time.
011 The baptism of Sunilda. She has a great testimony and will be a good solid member!Monday, May 17, 2010
The Rolla Holla, Monday, 17 May, 2010
From helping established wards in downtown Asunción stay organized and do things in the Lord´s way, to watching the Lord prepare, help progress, and organize the church from the nothingness that was San Pedro. Now I´ve been sent to help sound the call of repentance in a Branch of the church with over 500 members. This week 49 of them went, and things are looking up. Patient, consistent work from dedicated Elders is starting to pay off, and I´m excited to do my part in that effort.
Here in Pedro Juan Caballero, there are 5 branches. One of them has a total of between 10 and 15 people in church each week. I imagine the church here started much as it started back in San Pedro, with lots of excitement and solid, prepared converts from the beginning. In the excitement, 5 chapels were built, and the growth continued. For whatever reason it may have suffered set backs, the beauty is that these people have testimonies, and have them deeply. Now we´ve just got to help them remember.
We´ve been doing our best to find quality men and families to strengthen the church. One night, a man passed by on his motorcycle whistling some familiar tune. Five minutes later we came to a house and decided to get to know the family. Out came 45 year old Elisha, happy to be living, and curious about our message. He offered us coffee, or if not tea, and we settled for hot chocolate. We had a good talk about how he could be with his family that he loved so much for the eternities. As we left and continued chatting, I took my eyes for a moment off of his giant german shephard. 2 minutes later I heard him growling and felt something bruch my leg and jumped. He grabbed my pants and tore them, but somehow, maybe miraculously, my flesh escaped the jaws of death. Yikes. But don´t worry, I´m ok.
Today with the whole zone, which is very spread out, we met in our chapel with the rain pouring down on the cement outside. After an inspiring meeting and feeling our vision being raised together, we went as a zone to play soccer in a nearby field. As the rain poured down and we got soaked, I looked up at the blowing palm trees and realized how much I love this place. Pedro Juan Caballero is on the very border of Brazil and we see brazil almost everyday from our area. Lots of people speak Portuguese so I may get to learn it a little myself. I´m loving the mission and excited about the new challenges and opportunities to learn of the mission!
Elder McCarty
Here in Pedro Juan Caballero, there are 5 branches. One of them has a total of between 10 and 15 people in church each week. I imagine the church here started much as it started back in San Pedro, with lots of excitement and solid, prepared converts from the beginning. In the excitement, 5 chapels were built, and the growth continued. For whatever reason it may have suffered set backs, the beauty is that these people have testimonies, and have them deeply. Now we´ve just got to help them remember.
We´ve been doing our best to find quality men and families to strengthen the church. One night, a man passed by on his motorcycle whistling some familiar tune. Five minutes later we came to a house and decided to get to know the family. Out came 45 year old Elisha, happy to be living, and curious about our message. He offered us coffee, or if not tea, and we settled for hot chocolate. We had a good talk about how he could be with his family that he loved so much for the eternities. As we left and continued chatting, I took my eyes for a moment off of his giant german shephard. 2 minutes later I heard him growling and felt something bruch my leg and jumped. He grabbed my pants and tore them, but somehow, maybe miraculously, my flesh escaped the jaws of death. Yikes. But don´t worry, I´m ok.
Today with the whole zone, which is very spread out, we met in our chapel with the rain pouring down on the cement outside. After an inspiring meeting and feeling our vision being raised together, we went as a zone to play soccer in a nearby field. As the rain poured down and we got soaked, I looked up at the blowing palm trees and realized how much I love this place. Pedro Juan Caballero is on the very border of Brazil and we see brazil almost everyday from our area. Lots of people speak Portuguese so I may get to learn it a little myself. I´m loving the mission and excited about the new challenges and opportunities to learn of the mission!
Elder McCarty
Monday, May 10, 2010
The Rolla Holla! Monday, May 10, 2010
Hugo and Fernando are the grandsons of Elida Garcia Villalba, the wife the humble and always incredibly happy bread salesman Juan. They live about 20 minutes walking from San Pedro, but come to visit grandma almost every weekend, and that is how we found, taught, and baptized them.
From the beginning they loved the church and felt the spirit clearly and powerfully as little children so often do. When there baptismal date approached the path to their house was blocked by giant puddles, 2 or 3 inches deep from the previous day’s rain. We went barefoot so our shoes didn’t get wet. We were on a mission to their little village of Curupayty, where we’d help their parents overcome doubts about their sons’ baptisms. They both consented and their home filled with excitement to see them take this important step towards bringing the blessings of the gospel into both their own and their family’s life.
The next day, the famous day-of-the-baptism-phone-call came and I figured something must have been wrong. As I’d suspected, the Father’s doubts had returned, and, as usual, because of negative comments from his neighbors. We prayed about it and took the leap of faith to rent a truck to take us to their house and then afterwards to the river for the baptism.
We arrived in Curupayty and talked with their father for almost 2 hours, determined not to return without his consent to allow these blessings into his family’s life. All of that talk seemed to get…nowhere. The truck we’d rented kept the clock running as he waited for us. But suddenly, as if by some unseen power, the father consented, signed the Baptismal Record, and we were off. The next day, their mother, Graciela, attended church to see their confirmation and is excited to prepare for her own baptism. Their father continues to open up to us little by little, and even invited us over for a Barbeque next weekend.
We found a new house and moved into it today. It will be a bit of an inconvenience since it is about 10 blocks from the chapel, but is otherwise a great house, with plenty of space, low rent, meets the conditions of the mission, and is owned by the father of my good friend and great convert Joel Caballero.
I was amazed by the members this week and their strength. Though only about 6 women and 7 men stay for the classes after Sacrament Meeting, they have solid testimonies and support each other through visits, encouragement, and magnifying their church callings. This is a great and a marvelous work. Love you all, especially my mom. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
Elder McCarty
001 Anahí, Joel’s little girl, wearing my hat and name tag.
002 Me lookin chubby with a sweet old grandma. The great grandma of Hugo and Fernando that were baptized this week.
003 Hugo’s baptism, it was a cold day, so they were especially courageous to follow the answer they’d felt from God, despite the obstacles
004 Fernando’s baptism. Little Fernando threw himself into the current after his baptism, diving headfirst into the water, and everybody laughed. He was just so excited Lol.
006 Here I am in my old room. Those brown lines, we didn’t know what they were at first, but afterwards discovered that they were tunnels made by some strange bug that made holes in the wall and tunneled to the roof. Weird.
From the beginning they loved the church and felt the spirit clearly and powerfully as little children so often do. When there baptismal date approached the path to their house was blocked by giant puddles, 2 or 3 inches deep from the previous day’s rain. We went barefoot so our shoes didn’t get wet. We were on a mission to their little village of Curupayty, where we’d help their parents overcome doubts about their sons’ baptisms. They both consented and their home filled with excitement to see them take this important step towards bringing the blessings of the gospel into both their own and their family’s life.
The next day, the famous day-of-the-baptism-phone-call came and I figured something must have been wrong. As I’d suspected, the Father’s doubts had returned, and, as usual, because of negative comments from his neighbors. We prayed about it and took the leap of faith to rent a truck to take us to their house and then afterwards to the river for the baptism.
We arrived in Curupayty and talked with their father for almost 2 hours, determined not to return without his consent to allow these blessings into his family’s life. All of that talk seemed to get…nowhere. The truck we’d rented kept the clock running as he waited for us. But suddenly, as if by some unseen power, the father consented, signed the Baptismal Record, and we were off. The next day, their mother, Graciela, attended church to see their confirmation and is excited to prepare for her own baptism. Their father continues to open up to us little by little, and even invited us over for a Barbeque next weekend.
We found a new house and moved into it today. It will be a bit of an inconvenience since it is about 10 blocks from the chapel, but is otherwise a great house, with plenty of space, low rent, meets the conditions of the mission, and is owned by the father of my good friend and great convert Joel Caballero.
I was amazed by the members this week and their strength. Though only about 6 women and 7 men stay for the classes after Sacrament Meeting, they have solid testimonies and support each other through visits, encouragement, and magnifying their church callings. This is a great and a marvelous work. Love you all, especially my mom. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
Elder McCarty
001 Anahí, Joel’s little girl, wearing my hat and name tag.
002 Me lookin chubby with a sweet old grandma. The great grandma of Hugo and Fernando that were baptized this week.
003 Hugo’s baptism, it was a cold day, so they were especially courageous to follow the answer they’d felt from God, despite the obstacles
004 Fernando’s baptism. Little Fernando threw himself into the current after his baptism, diving headfirst into the water, and everybody laughed. He was just so excited Lol.
006 Here I am in my old room. Those brown lines, we didn’t know what they were at first, but afterwards discovered that they were tunnels made by some strange bug that made holes in the wall and tunneled to the roof. Weird.
Monday, May 3, 2010
The Rolla Holla! Monday, May 03, 2010
Friday morning the cell phone range and showed the ominous name: “Pte Wade.” In the history of my mission outside the office, this has usually meant some big change. Apparently it came down from the area Presidency that they don’t want missionaries living in the same building as the chapel any longer. So, we’ve been searching for a new house since the morning he called. There are a few options, though they are pretty far from the chapel. San Pedro is largely populated by students and since school is in session, most houses are being rented to them. Of course, I’m sure we’ll find something before this week ends and have commited to being in a different house by next Monday.
To be honest, this was a faith-trying week. It would have been easy to get discouraged as 2 excited and intelligent men we were working with (Jimmy and Edison) left town for what seemed like no good reason before their baptisms, and Raquel, who has been baptized but not confirmed, was basically grounded by her husband, deprived of her cell phone, and forbidden to talk to us. The hardest blow came when she herself told us that she wasn’t sure she wanted to continue, and felt that she had been confused, and that we should not try to contact her anymore. To top it all off, ALL of the 4 wonderful families we were blessed to find and begin teaching fell to some obstacle or set-back and weren’t able to make it to church (though the wife and 3 kids of one family came).
But the work must go on. Most of all, it was a lesson in “counting your blessings.” We were able to have 12 investigators for a total of 36 of Heavenly Father’s children in Sacrament Meeting, and will be praying and working our hearts out to have at least 1 of 3 possible baptisms this week. The members took charge of the meetings, once again, and it was another beautiful testimony meeting, followed by well-taught classes. Though perhaps not exactly the results we had hoped for, Elder Walker and I decided to kneel and return thanks at the end of the two meetings. We are cheerfully doing all that is our power and have the utmost assurance that His arm will be revealed.
Elder McCarty
To be honest, this was a faith-trying week. It would have been easy to get discouraged as 2 excited and intelligent men we were working with (Jimmy and Edison) left town for what seemed like no good reason before their baptisms, and Raquel, who has been baptized but not confirmed, was basically grounded by her husband, deprived of her cell phone, and forbidden to talk to us. The hardest blow came when she herself told us that she wasn’t sure she wanted to continue, and felt that she had been confused, and that we should not try to contact her anymore. To top it all off, ALL of the 4 wonderful families we were blessed to find and begin teaching fell to some obstacle or set-back and weren’t able to make it to church (though the wife and 3 kids of one family came).
But the work must go on. Most of all, it was a lesson in “counting your blessings.” We were able to have 12 investigators for a total of 36 of Heavenly Father’s children in Sacrament Meeting, and will be praying and working our hearts out to have at least 1 of 3 possible baptisms this week. The members took charge of the meetings, once again, and it was another beautiful testimony meeting, followed by well-taught classes. Though perhaps not exactly the results we had hoped for, Elder Walker and I decided to kneel and return thanks at the end of the two meetings. We are cheerfully doing all that is our power and have the utmost assurance that His arm will be revealed.
Elder McCarty
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