The Rolla Holla! Monday, April 5, 2010

From the beginning of the week we put our focus and faith in our goal of investigators in church, with a special emphasis on the men and families. We saw many mighty miracles from the Lord, including unexpected people we had invited from just the night before. I know it was done by a power greater than my own, and we were able to participate in seeing these valiant investigators form the determination and then overcome the obstactles to get to church. After all, we had 6 men, a complete family, and many others of our Heavenly Father’s children in church, and with the members and children, almost didn’t fit in our small chapel. I know it was only possible by His loving kindness and mercy.

Together with the members and investigators, we are also very excited to see the conference this week. We don’t have access to a satellite and so will watch in 1 week after all of you, on a DVD they will send us from the office of the mission. We have invited the members and investigators to become even MORE consistent in their personal and family prayer and scripture study, and to prepare a few questions that they would like to have answered by the Prophet, General Authorities, and above all, the Holy Ghost. I know that as they do that (something I should strive to do every Sunday, lol), they will feel the Spirit and receive the answers they need.

Some funny experiences? The other day we were in an investigators house: 85 year old Sebastiana and her 14 year old grandaughter Guadalupe. They have been incredible example of faith, walking the 15 blocks to church each week, the first week having only been invited the night before. As we taught in half Guarani half Spanish (my Guarani is getting a lot better, though still lacks a lot), a lady cam in and sat by us. We asked her her name but she didn’t want to tell us. We resumed teaching, and 3 minutes later, she got up and began screaming and pulling her own hair. She ran out of the house yelling that she was Catolico-Apostolico-Romano. It sure surprised us, and was the first time I’ve been rejected in exactly THAT way.

We’d been wanting to clean the yard up to make a volley ball court for the activies we have each Tuesday night with Members and Investigators (we usually share some lesson, play some game to demonstrate it and then eat jello or cake that I prepare). Well, we would go out with the machete and cut part of the grass every day. The problem was that the first part we cut was grown over again by the time we got to the last part. Well, one day as we passed by on the way to a lesson, we saw 5 little boys going at our lawn with kitchen knives, some with machetes, or whatever they had. WE were surprised and asked them why. They said they wanted to make a bicycle track. So we arranged for them to have their part and to clean up our part for our volleyball court as well….hahaha! Looks like somebody’s watching over us even in the small things!

I love being a missionary!

Elder McCarty
001 This dog is not hers (that’s Cristina, one of our 10 year old converts), but she nevertheless loves to swing it around by its legs. Hahah, it cracks me up. The funniest part is that the dog keeps coming back to their house regardless. 002 Here I am with the hardest working, most clothe washing grandma of 85 years that I know, Sebastiana. 003 Me and Juan, after his wife made a whole bunch of home made bread. Delish!
004 Elder Walker got the Famous Pee-Kay (as it’s pronounced), a bug that enters into your foot if you walk around barefoot (I’ve never got it yet, knock on wood). Here our convert Dionicia acts as nurse and she skilfully removed it, despite the odor of having walked around all day, haha. We’ll take a little more precaution in the future, who knows what the neighbors may have thought, lol. 006 EVERYBODY gave us Chipa, the Paraguayan cheese bread, and also the homemade bread they make on Easter week. WE have TONS, and won’t be able to eat it all. But it is delicious.