McDonalds...

This week was one for the books mainly because it started out with McDonald's.

We went to zone conference this week out there in Encarnacion which is a huge difference from San Ignacio because they actually have stop lights and restaurants. So we went to McDonald's and I kid you not it was one of the best burgers I've put in my mouth. It could be because I've been eating Paraguayan burgers for the last 6 months but in all reality their burgers here are different from the states and they were so good I wish I could go back. But then we had a good time after that hanging out with other missionaries and had Zone Conference.

One of the cool things that President Faundez said in Zone Conference was that we have all been assigned a small portion of God's earth to organize. God is a God of organization and we have been called to organize a small portion of it here in Paraguay. I don't know why but that really just stuck with me and continues to rattle around in my head on the daily. Especially as we are trying to organize the San Ignacio area more and more and help ourselves out but also future missionaries that come here.

After that we went to this super nice hotel for lunch I got major wedding vibes because all of us were in our suits and looking good and then we got served some super good food as well. All and all a great time. After that we hopped on a bus home but not before I bought a soccer jersey. It's the jersey I've been trying to find for the longest time down here but in San Ignacio there's like no place to buy any but I finally found one in Encarnacion so that was sweet.

Back in San Ignacio we met with a lot of inactive members in order to try and help them get back to church. While visiting with one family the wife told us that she really would like a blessing because she just needs some comfort and knows that through a blessing she can get this type of comfort. As she was telling us this personal thing that really had her down her husband was just messing around clearly not caring at all what his wife had to say. And it was all my comp and I could do to bite our tongues. Because we saw this lady suffering through this time in her life and her husband couldn't care less. On the way to the next visit my comp and I were talking about how sad it is out here. Most of the men out here don't really care for their wives or families. That's definitely a generalization there's a lot of good men out here as well. But the backbone of this country is definitely the women of Paraguay. Anyway long story short seeing this is 100% driving me to be the man my family deserves one day.

Also another very interesting story. We went back to the Gomez sisters house, Jessica, Maria, and Julia, (with the boyfriend in the wheelchair) and were talking to them. About 2 weeks ago their brother was in a terrible motorcycle accident and just woke up from an 11 day coma. We got a text from Jessica one night asking if we could pray for her brother and of course we said yes. And this past week was the first time we could talk to them since the accident because they've been up in another city at the hospital with the rest of their family.

But we went by their house to see how they were holding up and they were surprisingly pretty good. But what really hit me is what they told me. As we were talking about what happened they said that their whole family was a wreck because they didn't know if their brother was going to pass away or live. But while all of their family was a wreck the 3 of them were calm. They looked at me in the eyes and said slightly tearing up "the things you shared with us prepared us for this". They told me that because of me they were able to have peace in one of the hardest times in their lives. They told me that they remembered the very first time I was at their house and couldn't speak Spanish but I bore my testimony about eternal families. They told me that through my testimony they knew that their brother would be OK and even if he passed away it would be OK. They then told me that they know without a doubt that our church is the true church. Because if it was just any other church it wouldn't have brought them so much peace in this time of their lives.

It was one of the most heartfelt moments I think I've ever had in my life. All of us were basically in tears. And then I told them that God put us all together in this exact time for this exact reason. Definitely an experience I will never forget. And Jessica and Julia are now going to get baptized here really soon.

On another note. There is this restaurant here in San Ignacio called the Arcadia it's by far the nicest restaurant in town and the most expensive. And this week we decided it was finally the week we would go there and see if it's any good. It's also right next to where we usually eat lunch so we pass by this place all the time. We went there and my comp ordered some lamb chops which looked really good. I of course ordered something slightly more sophisticated, I ordered a mileneasa (the giant chicken nugget). I ordered it because I had the know if it was better than the one I normally eat. So after walking in to this super fancy place, chick-fil-a sauce in hand, I ordered myself a giant chicken nugget. And it actually was delicious. We had a great time and spent a chunk of cash on this restaurant. Like 4 times what we normally spend for lunch. But then on the way home we did some quick math and figured out we really just took ourselves to In n Out or at least we spent the same amount of money.

Also one day this week we were walking around and this drunk guy called us over so of course we walked over because drunk people here love us. He started asking us a couple questions and asked if we had a book. I pulled put a pamflet and he quickly rejected that and said he wanted the other book the bigger one. So we pulled out a Book of Mormon but he quickly rejected that too, saying "I want the red one, if it's blue it ain't true" (at least that's how I translated it) but apparently he wanted the old style of Book of Mormon that was red and he would only accept that book. After that he told us we were going to be best friends and we would "be his passport to Alaska" I have no clue why but he just kept saying that. As we said goodbye he grabbed my hand and put it to his forehead and then kissed my hand so that was interesting.

Needless to say it was a great week.

I love you all and love hearing from you

Elder Schofield