New Elders!... I´m not the little one anymore :)

Dear Family,

Everything is going great.  This letter is today (Thursday) because our P-Day this week is today because of transfers.  Next week will be normal again.  Last week we had a Zone Conference in Ciudad De Este.  It was good.  The next day we had interviews with the president in here in Ka`aguazu. Oh and yes the branch president of Rama 3 died 2 weeks ago, but they're all doing fine.

Thanks for thinking about my need of a rain coat.  When it rains, it's really kinda sudden so I wouldn´t even know when to have it or anything.  So we just take plastic bags for our stuff and get ourselves drenched :) Oh and one thing about that as well; I can get almost anything cheeper here then in the U.S., so the best things to send down here is money and a note for what to buy... but like I said I don´t really need much right now, but when I do I´ll let you know.

January 18, 2010

Dear Family,

That's great you had an opportunity to serve in the temple. Speaking of which, it would be really nice to have a picture of the Draper temple to show people, also a picture of the Salt Lake Valley or something, because people like to see where I am from. The temple is incredibly important and its fantastic that the people we teach have one within 5 hours to attend.

One thing that is really needed by everyone is a hunger for the things of God, and a clear mind to discern what things are of God. When someone is truly converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ they don't just do the basics, they seach out opportunities to do what they think God would want them to do in every moment. They become a happier; more proactive people. They improve their lives through the help of God and their willingness to pitch in for themseves. 

But this joy isn´t limited to themselves; they feel a love of the Lord that branches out to those around them. When a person truly seeks out, with the help of the Lord, the very best for themselves and those around them, that person is truly converted to the Lord's gospel because they know that the very best for themselves and those around them is the gospel of the lord Jesus Christ.

Elder McShinsky

P.s. This week I found a waffle maker in our house... If you could send me the recipe for some home made light fluffy wonderful waffles.... that would be pretty much amazing!

Too Short of a letter... that boy (Mom)

Dear Family,

This week was good. We worked hard. I`m getting very proficient with bleach and the grilled cheese sandwich maker. Both are 2 of my new best friends. The bleach cuz, my shirts get very dirty...  The sandwich maker cuz... well you would be amazed what you can do with one of them...

Elder McShinsky

P.s. I remembered you saying cousin Jared served in Paraguay. (Cuz I remembered that he has the slingshot that all the ninos have here.) If you could find out if he served in the north or the south mission and what areas that would be cool. :)

It's raining (Raining blessings... and water... lots of Water)

Dear Family

      This week the big event in Paraguay (and the rest of the world as well) was New Years.  We had dinner with 2 other missionaries at a member's house in Rama 1. And the listened to the fire works for the rest of the night.

     This week the mission has been fasting for every pair of missionarys to have 2 baptisms.  The first day of the month all of our investigators with a fecha (Date for Baptism) fell through.  So we were in a rough situation to meet this goal; then we started fasting on Saturday.  That night we met a young man and began to teach him.  He is great and wants to be baptized.  Then we went to church in the morning.  And to our surprise, we met a man who had been investigating the church for about 2 years in another city and refused to be baptized.  He just moved here and came to church; asked for a blessing and told us staight up that he wanted to be baptized (we began to teach him later that afternoon).  After we finished talking with him, we talked with another lady (who we didn´t know).  She had been inactive for about a year and a half and just decided to come back.  She brought with her, her nonmember friend who lives accross the street.  She also wanted us to teach her daughter as well.  We made plans to visit and teach them later that afternoon.  After that conversation we met another lady who just showed up at church. She´s not a member and speaks only Guarani, so we had some trouble communicating with her.  But we´re going to visit her this week with one of the members.  We´ll see how it all turns out.  Its amazing that if we ask God, Pray, and Fast how much the Lord will bless us.

Elder McShinsky

P.s. You can pray for me, but if you could pray for the people we are teaching more it would be appreciated.  Pray for them to feel the spirit bless their lives and for them to have a desire to have that same spirit with them forever.

P-Days on Mondays.. e-mail from this last Monday

Dear family

It was good to talk to ya`ll.  I talked to you yesterday, so there's not a lot of stuff to say today... Um love ya`ll, be good, and do what is right.

Elder McShinsky

P.s. If you could mail me some clam chowder it would be greatly appreciated. (You could put in the same box as my thanksgiving pie...)

P.P.s If you could mail me the cook book note cards we were setting up before i left it would be greatly appreciated. (in the mean time you could send me some recipes by e-mail... Please)

P.P.P.s Also the guarani stuff you were talking about would also be very nice to have.(And anything else about the language as well.)

P.P.P.P.s I Love You