The Rolla Holla, Monday, March 22, 2010-03-22

I am amazed every week with the progress of our little group here in San Pedro. Joel, in whom I have absolute trust and who only lacks maybe a LITTLE training to be prepared as a branch President, gave a talk, along with Dionicia, an excellent convert and probable future Relief Society President. She accompanies to visit references from her or other people 4 or 5 times a week, bears powerful testimony, and loves every minute of it. Their talks were excellent and I learned a lot. It is incredible to watch them progress. Joel and Juan blessed the sacrament and Patricio and Elder Walker passed it. The group is functioning great and, while we are preparing for a District Conference next week (renting a charter bus, arranging for Breakfast and Lunch and other necessities for the 5 hour bus trip, on which we are hoping to take 40 people), we will be preparing Joel to conduct the meeting the following Sunday.
This week, the 11 investigators we had in church were mostly unexpected. Those that we thought were certain to come, didn’t, and people we thought wouldn’t come, did, including an 80 year old grandma, Sebastiana, and her 14 year old grand daughter. After the meeting Sebastiana asked for a blessing because here whole body hurt. Anyhow, after seeing my best efforts fail, to be replaced by miraculous and merciful results, I felt the gentle reminder that it’s not me, Elder McCarty, who does this work, but my Father in Heaven.
Some crazy experiences this week as well. After Joel’s wife who was sternly opposed to his baptism, set a goal herself to be baptized, she mentioned her greatest doubt: the same opposition in her family that she herself had been to Joel. Well, we couldn’t exactly use her OWN example to convince her, so we marked Lehi’s vision of the Tree of Life and the Iron Rod to take her focus off the mocking crowds. As wer were about to mark and explain it, we heard a creeking sound and a large tree next door fell in Joel’s yard about 10 feet away from us. It seemed like it had been cle an cut with a giant axe. We all sat there amazed. Who knows if it was a miracle, but it sure was a crazy experience.
If I had more time I’d tell you about all the little kids that follow us around and ask us questions, or the drunk ex-husband of one of our converts that we had to kindly escort out of her yard, or a thousand other experiences. The mission is incredible! Love you all. Have a great week!
Elder McCarty


005 THe family of Juan the grizzly bear Villalba. I gave him and Patricio ties when they got baptized and they used them to bless and pass the sacrement. I also gave Juan a haircut with the little hair he has left (mostly in his ears, hahaha).

004 Patricio, my ompanion, and Juan, Patriio’s dad, the Grizzly Bear.

003 WE did a big birthday party for Patricio and I made him cake and led Happy Birthday in 3 languages, and then we went around and all said something we liked about him.

002 Gloria and I just after her Baptism.

001 The baptism of Gloria (15) and Sandra (10). They are awesome young women and their families will surely follow their example some day soon.

The Rolla Holla, Monday, 15.Mar.2010

We sat in counsel with the future foundation of God’s church here in San Pedro. We were two young missionaries, two members we had found here both by miracles, and 5 other incredible converts. The 9 of us formed the 9 person adult population of what will one day be the San Pedro Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was the first weekly leadership training meeting.

We taught simply. The basic, yet perfect, organization of the church, with it’s loud and clear focus on the family was drawn on a large piece of card-stock, for lack of a white-board. As we taught and explained how leaders of the church EXIST to help out the families, memories flooded my mind of the people in this small town that I have come to love so much.

Last Saturday, in the rush to invite people for church and ensure a good attendence the following day, we took a moment to help the Villalba family learn about the habits of family prayer and scripture study. We had invited them to do it, given them a checklist to mark each day, and even helped them set up a rotation for who would say the prayer each night, but they hadn’t followed through...yet.

That night, Elder Walker and I played the part of Laman and Lemuel, and Patricio (age 12) and Cristina (age 10) played the part of Nephi and Sam, with Juan, their father, as Lehi. We read 1 Nephi chapter 3. We felt the spirit strongly as we each read a verse and paused so that each could read verse 7: “I will go and do.” The magic words. They felt the spirit as well, and were inspired to promise us that they would form and maintain these VITALLY important habits every day.

Sunday Elder Walker and I got a break. Joel blessed and Juan passed the sacrament. Victorina, one of the members we found here, who had not been to church in over 10 years, gave a great talk about Missionary Work. Next week Joel and Dionicia will be giving talks. Once again, this week we were blessed to have 30 people in the meeting and the spirit was felt strongly. We are striving to prepare them for that day when other missionaries come to fulfill the normal misisonary role and it will be THEIRS to lead, direct, and help this family of believers grow. The miracles from Heavenly Father are brought to pass in order to achieve HIS purposes. We are blessed to be along for the ride.

Elder McCarty

Rolla Holla, Monday, March 8, 2010

By last Thursday morning with all of the preparation for our 4 planned baptisms this week, the fact that Sunday was Fast Sunday had, at that moment, completely slipped my mind. The night before had been a discouraging one, but we never lost faith. Elida, the wife of one of our converts, Juan Villalba, and their 2 children were set to be baptized. Elida had told us while sobbing that she didn’t think she could go through with it. Joel, another incredible man and future leader in the church had told us that he wouldn’t be baptized without the presence of his wife, and she was firmly set against it. 4 planned baptisms was starting to look like 4 of God’s children side-tracked by Satan’s tricks and tactics.
Well, Thursday morning I woke up with the distinct impression: “Fast until the Baptsism.” I told my companion about it and we began a fast, trusting in the great power of our Father in Heaven. Twenty minutes later the phone rang and I picked it up to hear Joel’s voice: “Estaremos ahí,” he told me, “we’ll be there.” As the day progressed, we made it to the house of the family Villalba to find them gathered together as a family, waiting for our visit. The wife told us, simply: “I’m going to be baptized,” in her half Spanish, half Guarani, and her kids smiled, since they’d wanted to be baptized all along but didn’t have the courage without their Mom. As if to add to the already miraculous nature of the day, we received a phone call from Dionicia, another recent convert, telling us that her daughter was back in town early (she always comes on the weekends and attends church with us) and wanted to be baptized along with the Villalba family, since one of the daughters is her age.
As we continued the fast and had one of the most spiritual baptismal services of my mission, I stood in wonder at the goodness and love of God. I know that He can and will work miracles, if we simply believe that he can, expect that He will, and listen to His voice!
This, and countless other experiences made this one of the most memorable weeks of my life. After the miraculous baptisms, we were went by to visit Elida to prepare her to receive the Holy Ghost. After chatting for a few minutes, she said something in Guarani, and Juan told us, she wants to offer a prayer. We listened as she said one of the most simple, child-like prayers, thanking God for showing her the way, and for giving her strength to enter into His true church. I felt the spirit deeply and powerfully, and KNEW that she did too: the universal human language.
After teaching the family, they invited us to a game of soccer, and we couldn’t refuse. In our big, awkward church shoes, we tried not to flatten the toes of the little kids. Turns out Elida is terrible at soccer but excellent at cheating and wouldn’t let us stop playing until we said that she won...haha. The family is united an happy. When we ordained his 12 year old son to the Priesthood, Juan pulled me in from the hand shake, and gave me a giant bear hug as he wept. I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for giving me these experiences. I love you all and miss you!
Elder McCarty

PICS

005 Our soccer game with the Villalba family. Ok, maybe a little faked. I love Juan's pose...hahaha, cracks me up.

004 This week in Sacrament meeting: we reached the goal of a total of 30 souls in the meeting!

003 On Ronalds birthday. He'll be receiving the priesthood this week.

002 Elder Walker and I, Patricio, Elida, Joel, Sandi, and Cristina. 5 incredible people who will be the great pioneers of the church.

001 The whole group and the baptism this week! ANother beautiful day at the river!

The Rolla Holla! Monday, 1st of March, 2010

A mist-like rain fell Sunday morning as we prepared to leave our apartment to invite investigators to church. The dirt roads in all directions had been transformed into pools of mud. Rainy Sunday mornings on the mission: something I will always remember.

As we invited people whose commitments were “unwavering” just a day before, we got a lot of the usual Paraguayan responses: “Yeah, we’ll go...if it stops raining.” We made a quick decision and after inviting one of our most commited investigators, Joel, we bought some plastic bags from his little store to the side of his house. “We don’t usually like to make purchases on Sunday,” we told him, “but this is a special situation.” We ripped holes in them, put them on and, looking pretty goofy ourselves, began handing them out to investigators as they laughed at how ridiculous the idea was. Meanwhile, we laughed and just promised them blessings. 8 of them came, for a total of 15 people in our little Sacrament Meeting room and it was one of the most spiritual meetings of my mission.

Joel, happened to be in Asunción this week on the same day that we were for Zone conference. President Wade invited him to come, but he couldn’t make it. Yesterday, in our lesson with Joel, he mentioned with a chuckle that people were telling him that we got paid for every baptism. We laughed with him and assured him that it wasn’t true. Just another one of the many lies he has seen in opposition to this important step he will take. One of the obstacles he has, with incredible grace and continually strengthening conviction, simply overcome.

On the flip side, in once sense, yesterday was one of the “pay days” of the mission that make it all worth it. He told us, after a moment of silence and with a tremble in his voice that he is ready and willing to be baptized this Thursday. He only wants to make sure that it won’t cause friction in his marriage, or between him and his parents. He seems to be thouroughly converted and is a capable, intelligent man, who is a professor in the local university of Agriculture. I am very excited for him and feel he will be a great leader for the church here in San Pedro.

San Pedro is progressing GREAT. Despite the rain and other discouraging obstacles this week, we are excited to keep moving forward. Our little group is growing both spiritually and in numbers. The spiritual growth is most exciting. Juan received the Priesthood this week and will be able to baptize his wife and 2 children this week. Though they are humble and simple, they understand the basics and desire to serve. Those are the kind of people the Lord uses to work miracles!

Elder McCarty


Pics
001 We brought a bunch of supplies and books back from Asunciòn. We also needed a shelf, so we decided it would be easier to carry them all by putting them in it and taping it shut. Worked pretty well, even though they charged us an extra bus fare to stow it beneath, haha.

The Rolla Holla, Monday, February 22, 2010

I had the priviledge of seeing and participating in one of the most beautiful baptisms of my mission. The clouds parted, and the sun shown through as Juan said to me, “Brother, I’ve seen this place in a dream.” We were standing in the middle of the Jejui river, wading through water to our knees, trying to find a place deep enough to perform the ordinance of baptism. We reached the middle of the river before the sandy river-bottom gave way to firmer ground and deeper water. It seemed that God had sent the rain to clear the many recreational swimmers that congregate in the place called Little Port (Puerto’i), but held it back and sent the sun to warm the baptism.

My companion and Juan’s family, along with investigators and our small, tight-nit band of members stood on the beach enjoying the peaceful serenity and privacy of the place prepared specially for that moment. As he came out of the water and smiled wide, showing his remaining teeth, I asked him how he felt. “Arrrrrrpelete”, he told me, a Paraguayan Spanish slash Guarani phrase meaning something like “incredible”. A moment I’ll always remember, along with the many simple lessons we taugh him, full of examples to overcome the language barrier, and the miraculous change from receiving the Holy Ghost that thereafter made them unnecessary. He has been quickened, and now stands ready to strengthen his testimony, serve his God, and love his family.

Seeing him reach that point, in and of itself was a miracle. He overcame vices and sins of the past to make this life-changing covenant with God. Another small miracle led us to Javier’s house when, according to what he’d told us, he should have been at work. As we clapped outside his old, rickety wood fence, we saw a dark figure from inside the house get out of bed and come toward us. It was him. He told us he had been laid off and had fallen into old habits and vices and that he needed our help. We helped him form a plan to overcome and to gather strength. He nearly wept as he prayed to end the lesson and committed to do what was necessary.

This week was full of incredible experiences, some of them too sacred to record. BUt I bear my witness as a represantative of Our Savior, Jesus Christ, that He lives, and He continues His work today through tens of thousands of hands like mine, which are blessed to be a part of it. Another week of incredible experiences and miracles await me and each of you, if you look and keep moving foward with Faith.

Elder McCarty
002 My Companion, Elder Walker, and Juan and I at Little Port. 003 Looking for the right place. 008 Music classes, preparing for the San Pedro ward choir. 010 The activity last Thursday. We taught how to do family home evening and had a fun activity, laughed together, felt the spirit together, and came together as a big family. 011 Last Sunday in church. Looking from the pulpit out to the congregation. The group is growing and getting stronger each week.

The Rolla Holla! Monday, February 15, 2010

My friend Russ Condie wrote me a letter in February of 2009 that I have reread many times since. He said, “The mission is a beautiful parable and deep foretast of life.” This week I caught a glimpse of what he was talking about.

I realized that I am learning to deal with and tolerate other people’s faults. 19 year old Rodrigo, an investigator who has gone 3 times to church but suffers from what seems to be some kind of obsessive compulsive disorder, sat explaining to us why his family members should put thebroom back where they found it or how he feels completely overwhelmed by the dirtyness in which he lives. We tried to stress the importance of prayer and asking for God’s help and guidance, but he feels unworthy even to pray, he tells us. We have seen many improvements in our little time with him, but are hoping and praying that he’ll take the SMALL steps to overcome. Despite all of his imperfections, I am amazed with the love I feel for him and how much God blesses me to truly desire his happiness.

I learned that the inspired music of the hymn book is a prayer unto God and a protection for each of us. We had our music class this week for the 2nd time now, and 2 investigators and DIonicia came. We enjoyed memorizing some of the hymns and singing together (with goofy drawings Elder Walker and I made up to teach them) and we have all felt more of the spirit by singing the hymns of our Lord both together and in those little moments of personal need.

The office Elders often call me with some random questions and I am glad to help them. This week, in one of those calls, they also mentioned to me that our new mission President will be...that father of my companion’s girlfriend. Wow, crazy. She may or may not come to Paraguay with him, and since my companion only has 3 months in the mission, he will spend the rest of it, after June, with his possible future father in law. I learned that for how much I miss my family and friends, a situation like that could make it a WHOLE lot worse, haha.

I learned again the power of true conversion. Dionicia payed her tithing this weak and has been blessed with strength to save money needed and follow a budget we helped her make, to get out of enslaving debt. She has also shared the gospel with her friend and brought him to church Sunday. He now also has a goal to be baptized the 4th of March. All because one day, in a simple, humble prayer, she felt something subtle, yet convincing in her heart.

Among many, another man, named Juan is experiencing that conversion. He set a plan to overcome his addiction to drinking, and has gone 2 weeks now without any problem. He is set to take the step of baptism, and thereby cleansing this Tuesday. I know that step will give him needed strength to overcome his addiction forever!

The work rolls on. We did a special fast last weekend, and did all in our power to achieve, specifically, our goal of investigators in Sacrament Meetign. We saw incredible miracles in making it happen, especially with 4, well-educated and established men an potential future priesthood holders that attended. The future looks bright for San Pedro and we are determined to do it right, in the Lord’s way.

I love you all! Have a great week!

Elder McCarty
Pics
007 Here’s where we ate lunch today. Good food, great prices, lol.

003 Here we are eating lunch. (haha, ok, didn’t take any cool pics this week, I repent) But at least you can see the cool glass bottles we drink soda of down here. I’ll miss that back home. 011 Here we are outside my favorite ice cream shop. We always make fun of how all of the flavors are spelled wrong on the sign behind where I’m standing

The Rolla Holla! Monday, 08 February 2010

The lights are flickering and the heat almost suffocating in this little internet cafe, where the electricity seems to be working, but not working fully. Today my companion and I decided that it had been long enough without any physical recreation and took about an hour to play soccer in the old, run-down, but most importantly covered from the sun, soccer field here in the city center. Since Paraguayans aren’t too interested in playing soccer during the hottest part of the day, it was just the two of us and so we had to invent some games to keep ourselves interested. Turned out to be lots of fun.

This week was one for the books. The heat, the work, the people, the food (which WE are slowly but surely learning to cook successfully), and the blessings of God were all incredible! We saw two very simple, humble people, take the step of baptism and be made great in the hands of God. From fear and trembling at the thought of praying in front of us, to testifying spiritual giants on Sunday after their confirmations in Fast and Testimony meeting, we learned a new dimension to the word conversion.

I saw a single mother, 42 years old whose live had been torn by unfaithfulness, abuse, and un-just court cases that robbed her of her children, go from a weary, sad, depressive existence, to a hopeful faith in Jesus Christ through baptism. After her baptism and confirmation, she bore powerful testimony last Sunday in church, and by the miraculous help of God, received her 10 year old daughter back into her home, in a matter of 3 short weeks.

A 12 year old boy with twitching eyes and a hard time remembering things, was able to not only understand and apply the plan of salvation, but taught it back to us afterwards with surprising accuracy. He overcame his stage fright to bear testimony Sunday, and is excited to be one of the first members in San Pedro. Some day he will be a great leader and as he reads and prays daily, and sets goals to continue progressing, he feels happier and more confident every day. God knows each of us and our situations and has a plan for us.

The work continues on. We are happy and loving life and always looking for ways to improve. Thank you all for everything! I love you and miss you!

Elder McCarty

018 Here we are at the riverside in the baptism.

028 My companion baptized Ronal and I baptized Dionicia. Today is her birthday so we are going now to celebrate and eat cake!

012 Here we are singing. This is where we had our district meeting, sang, prayed, and talked about how we could more effectively find, teach, and baptize families to be the foundation of the church.

002 A cool canoe with a load of dirt being haulded accross the river. Beautiful Paraguay.