Mimi

The area presidency just changed the rule to allow us to have the full 2 hour church service again. I was honestly planning on just serving my whole mission on one hour church. It was actually pretty fun. I can't even remember my last 2 hour block. It was probably around March almost 2 years ago. I thought it would be a jarring change but it actually feels pretty normal. It makes the day a little bit shorter. And lunch not so far away.

I gave a talk yesterday, which is a pretty normal thing. I've given a very good amount of talks in my day. I used to get nervous and have to have everything written out and make sure I had all of my scriptures marked and stuff but I just sort of winged it. It felt good though. I'm considering giving my homecoming talk in Spanish just to make things easier. But that is a long way away.

We really focused on finding people this week because a lot of the people we were teaching were not progressing at all. Overall we found 20 new people to teach this week which ties my record. It's good to find new blood. I actually find it relaxing because there is so much hope attached to finding a new person. The lesson can go horribly wrong but it still means that I have brought someone maybe just a little bit closer to the Savior that day. 

One of the new people we found was a sweet middle aged lady named Modesta. But she has a nickname that's pretty close to home: Mimi. Mimi is what my nephew Charlie calls my mom. I told her that, even though I was afraid she would take it as an insult. She just said "Ahh bueno." She is a super nice lady. One thing I have realized with these lessons is you have to make them quick and powerful. If you make it too long the people that you teach lose interest quickly. That's a skill I got down pretty well from my time making phonebook calls in Reno. President Dunn would always say, "Short and powerful lessons are key."

I'm making you proud Prez.

There was another batch of trash fires here in Paraguay which left the whole sky filled with smoke for a couple of days. It was actually kind of appropriate because about a year ago in Reno I was dealing with that same issue. It gave everything that patented rubbery Reno smell. I never realized how many missionaries back then were re-assigned. From what I've seen just from a couple people I stay in contact with is that the mission has shrunk down tremendously. When I was there I always considered myself an oddball for leaving but the ratio was actually about 50/50 when it came to the missionaries that were just "passing through" or the ones that were there to stay.

This week flew by honestly. Most of my weeks do at this point. I got to go on 2 exchanges this week. That's like what I did in a transfer back in Ayolas. I love going on exchanges because I love seeing other areas. I went to a city called Ita this week. I was with a pretty new missionary and we were out early in the morning trying to find a couple of people to teach. We ended up finding a guy who repairs clothing for the police and has a ton of piercings. A really cool guy and I got to know him really well for like 10 minutes. I will probably never see him again but I honestly hope he is doing well. I pray for him every night. That is the beauty of my job.