Rolla Holla! Saturday, July 18, 2009

Family! I miss you! Sorry for not writing last week. Turns out that during the week it´s even more impossible to find time to write than P-day. Well, here I am again. A whole 6 week transfer period has come to an end and now this week we have to go about the crazy, busy work of preparing for and picking up the new missionaries, and debriefing and taking the old ones to the airport.
The work in our area is still moving along. It is a big deal to baptize a family as office Elders and I´m excited to feel the joy that one only feels seeing others make important covenants with God and steps towards becoming an eternal family. Marcial and Saide are moving along. Their 1 year old son just started walking, Aldo, and he loves my companion and I. Marcial got sick last week and we gave him a blessing. A few nights later in a moment seriousness and powerful feelings of the spirit, he told us of how he felt something lifted from him. He expressed his desire to someday have that same power and bless his family with it. I love that family and am so excited for them.
Several weeks ago we contacted Javier, a one legged man who was fiercely catholic all his life. That is, until recently, when he found himself in disagreement with his church, searching for something, and in front of 2 young ¨Mormon missionaries¨ one chilly humid night. He too has a goal to be baptized, and every day finds himself more convinced of the simple truths that we teach.
One night, as we taught him, a youth from the ward was with us and decided to play with my camera while we taught. Without wanting to, he erased ALL of my pictures! Pictures of the beautiful Lord of The Rings-like views from last weeks trip to Caacupé and Tobatí, where we cut our way through Paraguayan jungles and took Captain Moroni pictures on windy mountain tops with a torn cloth tied to a stick (the Title of Liberty) that we conveniently found. Pictures of me preaching to a multitude of tourists, scriptures in hand, atop a mountain of Indian-carved faces overlooking the lush Paraguayan valley. Pictures that are now just memories. Unfortunately that happened 2 days ago and so now have nothing to show.
I am loving the opportunity to be around our President so much. He is a wise, loving, and hard-working man who expects excellence. At times, the pressure is great: pressure not only to achieve excellence, but to balance office work and field work excellently. It is a great opportunity for growth, and I am learning so much about how to organize and establish the church, as well as how to be a great missionary.
I did a division with Chief (Elder) Frutos last Sunday. The man speaks and teaches in his deep profound baritone but with clear, easy to understand examples. He too is a great mentor and has given me several talks to read or scriptures to study, always following up the next day here at my desk with some powerful, touching application that makes me want to be more like my Savior.
I love the mission! I am so happy to be here and to know each and every one of you! I miss you so much and love you. Thank you for your support and your prayers. They make miracles happen!
With Love,
Elder McCarty