Flexed on by 102 Year Old Man...

This week was pretty sweet and we had a great way to start it off.

So we were out contacting this one day and we came across this old dude who pulled us aside to talk. One of the first questions out of his mouth was "tienen mujeres" or "do you have women?" after answering his question he wanted us to come inside his house. And right as you walk in literally the first thing you see is a giant picture of a leopard. Which I secretly snagged a picture of because it was too great. He proceeded to tell us that he was 102 years old and had more women in his life than he is old. And I mean I had to take his word for it, the giant leopard spoke for itself, this dude... meant buisness. So basically we just got absolutely flexed on by this super old dude.

After that we headed down to Ayolas to do splits with the Elders down there. While waiting for our always on time Paraguayan bus this dude pulled up in this super junky taxi and told us he would take us wherever we needed to go. He was extremely drunk but said he would take us there ridiculously cheap. We almost took him up on the offer but then once he asked us to push his taxi for him so he could roll start it, we decided to continue waiting for the bus. While on the bus my comp fell asleep super quick. And I didn't want to sleep through the stop so I stayed awake. And in order to pass the time I began holding my breath for a long time having competitions with myself. Also to note I have been doing breath capacity training while walking as well because I want to be able to hold my breath for a long time. And it's definitely paid off because on the bus I got 2 minutes and 45 seconds which was sweet. And definitely helped pass the time.

Splits in Ayolas was a blast as it always is. The Elders down there are super cool and we all get along really well. However I swear Elder Harris and I are cursed because every time we're together all of our plans fall through. So we didn't have like a super successful day but it was still a blast to hangout with those guys. On the bus back tho I meant my first Paraguayan Karen. This bus was absolutely packed and like halfway through the ride home this lady gets on with her suit coat jacket and all the seats are taken. So I stand up and offer my seat to her. She just looks at me basically disgusted at the fact that I offered my seat to her. I then told her she could have my seat and she just scoffed and looked the other way. But I wasn't going to let that stop me. I didn't sit down for the whole rest of the ride and that one seat stayed open for the whole rest of the ride too. Both of us too stubborn to sit down in it. Needless to say it was a very interesting experience.

Back in San Ignacio we were contacting this other day and we ran into a bakery. So of course we had to check it out and we went inside and started talking with this lady that worked there. She loved the fact that we were Jesus people and so we talked to her about that for a while then she offered us one of her baked goods so we both got some and she said we didn't even have to pay for them. I asked her if she could teach us one day how to make these Boyos (basically donuts without a hole) and she said yes. So one day we will definitely be going back there to learn how to make this super good donut thing.

One of our good friends out here named Gustavo had a really cool experience. One night we were at his house and his girlfriend who is a member told us that Gustavo wanted to share his testimony. He told us this story about how he knew the power of prayer was real and how he received an answer to his prayer. And that he really wants to get baptized but first has to get married. I hope they get married quick because I would love to see him get baptized I hace been meeting with him for quite a while now and its been super cool to his progression.

This week we also focused on reactivating inactive members. And we decided to go about it by inviting a lot of them to our "noche de rama" that we are starting to have again. This is the first one we've had because we are finally allowed to do it with Covid. So we invited a whole bunch of people to come and told them there would be food and games and a good time. Which there definitely was. We bought UNO which is always a hit out here. Everyone loves that game. And then after that one of the teenagers started an arm wrestling competition between all of the guys that were there which was actually fun and even the inactive people got into it which was awesome. I went undefeated in the branch and because of that made some pretty good friends and a stronger relationship with a lot of the guys in the branch. It was actually one of the most fun nights I've had.

After that on Saturday we had the Baptism of Sofia Cuenca. Who is a little girl that just turned 8 and wanted to get baptized basically all of her family is members except for her parents who are going to be baptized when they get married. But we went Saturday to fill the font and there was no water. In Paraguay a lot of the time there just isn't water and it really sucks because no water = no baptism. So we said some prayers and hoped the water would come back on. It didn't come back on until the 11th hour we were this close to calling the firefighters to come fill it up but luckily the water came back on and we pulled the hose out right before she stepped into the font. But prayers were definitely answered that day.

After that on Sunday we had a lot of our inactive buddies come to church! Which was awesome. And then we helped with a seminary class which was also really fun and met with a member this night whose grandkid told us he wants to be baptized so we might have another baptism on the horizon if all goes as planned.

I love you all, write if you can :)

Elder Schofield