La Semana de Divisiones (The Week of Splits)

How's it going everyone?

This week was awesome and wild not much sleep was had haha.

On Tuesday I traveled to Pilar a city on the very western border of Paraguay right on the Rio Paraguay. There we met up with Elder Perrier and Elder Pavon two Paraguayans. On Wednesday we woke up and got to work. I went out with Elder Perrier which was really cool. His mom is a translator for English so he speaks basically perfect English and is also a super intelligent person. So it was super fun to dive deep into some topics of doctrine as well as science and other things. I missed having these kinds of conversations because my Spanish is not good enough to have super deep conversations.

The two of us had a lot of success and met a lot of interested people. We also met a lot of interesting people. Like this super drunk guy in the street who was shirtless came up to us and wanted to hang out. He led us to a corner store and ran inside and started yelling "mis mejores amigos estan afuera" he ran up to every person in the store and told them we were his best friends in the whole world. It was awesome. He then proceeded to tell us that we need to start teaching the dogs (yes the animals) our lessons because "the dogs are more Important than the people." He was super wasted but very fun to spend some time with.

Later that day the APs texted us saying that they were going to be in San Ignacio the next day. So we had to be there to meet them. Which meant we had to catch the only bus we could because they only run at midnight and noon. And we missed the noon bus so we got on the midnight bus to San Ignacio and didn't get home till like 2:30am.

The next day was super amazing I went out with Elder Nicoll one of the APs and we contacted every person we could see. We met all sorts of families. One family let us help them peel mandioca which is a root vegetable they eat religiously down here. Then we bought Chipa from this girl as her and her family were cooking it right there. So we asked if they could teach us how to make it and they were more than happy to teach us. We spent a while with them learning how to make Chipa as well as teaching them the Gospel. They invited us back for lunch sometime. Which was amazing this family that we only have only known for 1 hour is inviting us back into their home for lunch. The charity the people have down here is unmatched.

Nicoll and I were contacting some more and while he was talking to someone an old man came out of his house to see what was happening. I started talking to him and found out that his wife was sick but she knew if she was able to talk to "hombres del senor" or men of the Lord that she would feel better. So we went in and talked to them. This lady is 95 and we found out that she loves to sing but she only sings about Jesus and the Spirit. And she only sings in guarani (the local dialect) As she began to sing for us I had absolutely no clue what she was saying but I felt the spirit so strong. It's just a testament to when someone is testifying of something true the spirit will be there in the midst of us. This was probably one of the coolest experiences I've had so far.

We said goodbye to the APs at 1:30 in the morning when they had to catch their bus back to Asuncion. And the next day we got up and packed our stuff up again to go to Ayolas. A city on the southern border of Paraguay. The bus was supposed to come at 4:00 but classic Paraguay it didn't come until 6:30 so we just waited in the middle of a huge rain/thunder storm. Which was honestly so cool I can't complain. I love the thunder and it was so loud it was amazing. The bus finally came and I sat next to this lady and said hello. She immediately started talking to me. We talked about everything, politics, the Gospel, books she likes to read, our families. We talked politics because she works for a campaign against Paraguays current president because he's extremely corrupt. She also said the she thinks that Uncle Joe has a couple screws loose up in his head. So you can imagine we became good friends after talking about our similar thoughts on Joe Biden. Haha. We talked for the whole 2 hour bus ride it was so fun to really get to know someone.

In Ayolas we met up with Elder Johnson and Elder Cardozo. Which was super interesting because Elder Johnson was reassigned to Reno before he was able to come to Paraguay. So it was super fun to talk to him about home. Their apartment doesn't have a couch or extra mattresses or anything so I slept on the tile that night. And it confirmed that I honestly can sleep anywhere. Ayolas was cool the entire town is surviving off of the fishing industry because they're right on the Rio Parana.

We came home later that day and caught up on some sleep. I was super bummed out because I broke my watch. The little clip that allows it to stay in place. But good thing I'm basically MacGyver and made my own out of some wire I found. Honestly I like it better than before.

We also met up with 2 sisters in our branch who were baptized a couple years ago. Adaliz and Adaluz and their 7 year old sister Ariana. Adaliz is 17 and Adaluz is 16. Also Adalizs' boyfriend is super interested in the church so we will start teaching him. His name is Gustavo and is a super nice guy. Also I'm pretty sure Ariana (the 7 year old) has a crush on me which has been really interesting and fun to combat her hugs Haha.

All in all it was a great week. And this week is transfers. I'm staying here and receiving a new companion Elder Stillwell from Quincy Illinois. I've been told he's a super hard worker so I'm pumped. We're gonna get some major work done here.

I love you all and I know that this gospel is true without a shadow of a doubt. I have seen too many miracles to purely chalk them up to coincidences. As Master Oogway (idk if that's how you spell it) said from Kung Fu Panda "there are no accidents." I've come to know that that is true and that God truly is watching over us.

Love you all

Email if you want

Elder Schofield <3

The clip on my watch broke so I made my own.

I'm basically MacGyver.

Adaliz and Adaluz and their younger sister Ariana who has a crush on me haha

Ariana drew this for me

Adaliz and Adaluz. They were baptized a couple of years ago and we just saw them at church again.

I think that is the Southern Cross, but I'm not sure.

In Ayolas where fishing keeps the town alive.

Liver pate. It's not bad actually. The member that was feeding us was impressed that I kept eating it. She said that most Americans hear that it's liver and they stop eating it.

We made aside with a family which is basically just BBQ over charcoal.

The asado and potato salad that has beets in it so that's why it's red. It was super good. Reminded me of home.

The family that we met that was making chipa.

Making chipa with Elder Nicoll.

This is the main family that makes up our branch. The girl on the far right is Daisy who is marrying the guy in the chair. Notice his Corona hat haha

Found a family with Elder Nicoll and asked if we could help them peel mandioca. Mandioca is a root vegetable. Kind of like a cross between a potato and a carrot without any flavor. They eat it with everything.