WEEK 7 I LOVE PARAGUAY

Wow I love Paraguay so much! My area is Pedro Juan Caballero, right on the border to Brazil. It was an 8 hour bus ride from Asuncion. They speak Spanish, Guarani, and Portuguese here and I really don´t understand most of what is being said because they love to interchange the 3. But, I have loved it here. The people are so nice. One thing I noticed is that time does not mean anything here. The only thing people have a schedule to be on time for is church (unless it is raining. in which nobody goes).

Random Facts

The weather in Pedro Juan has been great. About 75-80 with a lot of wind. It is super dusty here, mainly because the roads are dirt with some having basically a poor man´s coblestone on it. Everybody and their dog has a motorcycle. They don´t have speed limits or traffic rules. The police don´t do anything but drive with their lights on all the time. I have never seen so many dogs, of every kind. They burn their trash, There are a couple really nice houses, all of course belonging to drug traffic people (especially in Pedro Juan). Any place worth remotely anything is guarded by a man with a shotgun.

Teaching Story (You are going to want to read this)

So, my first day in Pedro Juan and the zone leader wanted to divisions. So I did not even get to be with my companion the first day haha. But the zone leader, Elder Aldraca, was so great. We had some really good lessons, some not so good ones, and some great chats (or so I was told because I didn´t understand most of what the people said) However, in our good lessons, I did know they went well because I could feel the Holy Ghost even though I didn´t know what was being said. Now, the funny story. We showed up to teach an investigator around 6pm. Elder Aldraca says to me,¨We are going to need to talk very slowly, and reteach a lot. This man thinks very slow due to past drugs and alcohol.¨ Well I was very excited because I actually understood that lesson as well. Anyways, we taught the Plan of Salvation and he understood everything! We asked him to come to church and he said yes. He went to get his phone to put our number in. While he left, Elder Aldraca told me that he is always confused when he comes here because the house is so so poor but they have nice trucks and there are always a lot of people around. He wondered if someone there was involved with drug trafficking. When he got back he says, ¨So marijuana is legal in the U.S. now right?¨ We look to each other and say wow that was random. We asked why he said that and he said, Öh my boss deals it in Brazil. We told him that we shouldn´t do that and he said ok. Elder Aldraca then said, ¨You don´t though right?¨ He said, ¨Well yes because sometimes I need the money! It is legal in the U.S. so it is ok right?¨ ¨No..definitely shouldn´t be doing that! What if the cops found out? What would they do?¨ He then responded and said, ¨They won´t find out. It his hidden.¨ Well, with all that being said, it was definitely a funny lesson. But it was very sad because he loved to hear about the gospel. He still wants to talk to the missionaries so we will see what happens from here.

Story number 2.

We taught a woman outside her house (so many distractions so it was very hard for her to concentrate. Plus she was holding her baby.). After about 30 minutes she said she is Catholic and doesn´t want to be baptized but her son could if he wanted to. He always talks about how great church when he goes to the LDS church on Sundays but he hates going to Catholic churches. Elder Aldraca then explained Priesthood Authority and we went into the Restoration of the Gospel. He then asked me to share Joseph Smith´s first vision. I was really nervous but I was able to share it in my broken spanish. At the end of the lesson, she agreed to be baptized but wanted to pray and receive an answer first. I could feel the Holy Ghost so much during the lesson. I want to share this with all of you and let you know that if we are looking for the Holy Ghost, or looking for good, we can find it. No matter all the distractions around us, we can choose to do good. I am so grateful to be serving our Savior, Jesus Christ. I love you all. Thanks for the prayers and emails!

Elder Zaugg

Brody took a pedometer with him, to see how much he walks!  Here are his stats for the week!

Thursday- 18564     10.0miles

friday-17602     9.6 miles

saturday-17222     9.5 miles

sunday-15809     8.6 miles

today-so far 34000.........

you might need to start walking a bit more to keep up with me....

 Pics:

1. Zone activity playing volleyball and soccer. It was so much fun and our zone is so great. Everyone loves to play sports.

Paraguay

Elder Justin Garner (from Mesa) was able to see Brody on the day he arrived.  Familiar faces are always comforting!

He got his first package... The ingredients to make no bake peanut butter protein balls.  YUM!

Streets of Pedro Juan Caballero--- yes that is broken up pieces of cobblestone