Joy Through Service

March 14, 2014

¡Hola!

Happy St. Patrick´s Day, I´m wearing green in honor of the holiday even though hey don´t celebrate it.  I´m still with Hermana Casey in Pinozá,  which everyone has told us is really rare because usually you´re only with your trainer for two transfers and then you get a new companion.  I think it´s just a testament that we have work here to do in this area! But we are both grateful for the opportunity to have another transfer together.  We have a couple of people progressing in the gospel and besides that, we just really get along, there is a lot of laughing some days!  Since I´m a normal missionary now (no longer training) we leave to work at 10:30!  But this last week was far from normal. 

We had a service project with Operation Smile here in Paraguay.  I believe they do surgeries for kids who have cleft palates. Thursday they had a huge truck full of supplies for surgeries and clothes and toys and whatever other stuff.  So we helped unload the truck, which ended up being a lot of work.  There were lots of heavy boxes and we had to take it up to the second floor and to the other side of the hospital.  It took about 3 hours to do.  Our arms were super sore the next day, but it was so fun and so worth it.  Really the true way to find joy in this life is through service to others. Also, we went to McDonalds afterward to reward ourselves.  Not as good as in the states, and not as many options, but really it was fun. 

Also, I had to go to the mission office this week to sign migration papers, and so I got to see a lot of the people who I was in the CCM with so that was fun to see and hear how they are doing. One random thing, our investigator Patricia(who gave us the milk) hasn´t been home forever and we were getting kind of discouraged, but Elder Walsh who was in our district this last transfer is now companions with Elder Petersen who I know from the CCM.  Anyways, we saw them, and the first thing elder Walsh says to us was, "We found Patricia!"  Apparently she is living with her Dad right now for health reasons, but they are giving her the discussions so I´m relieved that she´s taken care of.  We have a conference with half the mission this Wednesday so hopefully we can ask them how she is doing and progressing! 

Other than that we´ve just tried to put some time into finding more and more people to teach, I know there are people here prepared for the gospel, we just have to find them and work with them. 

And no, I´ve never gotten sick from the food or water...yet, but besides that all is well! 

Rohayhu!

Hermana Lindsay