"Soon, a thousand people called to serve will change the world" -- Especially for Youth CD (Photos at end)

Querida Familia Mia (because at 16 months in, honestly no one is going to read this who isn´t family...haha),

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Neal and Sabrina this week! I will be thinking of you on August 9 and the 11th. I love you so much and think about you and pray for you. I´m so thankful for the family we have all been blessed to be a part of. 

What a WEEK. But it ended so happy. What an emotional roller coaster I have traveled. Every feeling under the sun almost. But as I said yesterday in my testimony at church, I have never been happier in my life, even though I´ve had a very, very happy life. I´m happy because I am seeing so many people accept Jesus Christ in their lives, and I know that He is the source of all hope and happiness and relief from pain. I´m happy because we have seen a lot of miracles and I´ve seen a lot of the prayers I´ve prayed my whole mission finally come to fruition. 

 

I´ll go chronologically I suppose. On Tuesday my awesome district celebrated my half-birhtday which was August 1st. I´m 22 and a half already. It was WAY better than my real birthday was (which I also recognized in Isla Bogado)! My new district is really tight, just us two sisters and Elders Wolfgramm and Alvarenga. They surprised me and had a cake and a new journal and a sweet card, and afterward we all had an asado (bbq?) with Faviola Bogado, one of our old investigators who is now the elders' landlord who invited all of us over. It was the nicest thing!  Elder Wolfgramm, our district leader, told a very inspiring story. He´s Tongan, but from Utah. His dad had cancer before he left, and was told he had 6 months to live. Every day of his mission (been out 10 months) he has awakened wondering if his dad was alive. As his dad's condition worsened, Elder Wolfgramm began to fast once a week, then twice a week, and then three times a week for his dad. And last Monday, his mom wrote that his dad is now free from cancer. It was so touching to me. Elder Wolfgramm has lost two of his 11 siblings already, one to a car accident during his mission. He´s quiet but so inspiring. And he serves us a lot, running all kinds of errands and never calls us "needy sisters" as some elders might be prone to do. 

 

Thursday I had to find my bank card, because it was the first of the month and I needed to take out money. I hadn´t been able to find it for weeks and was worried, but couldn´t call anyone to cancel it because we´re still without a cell phone (SO DIFFFICULT!). I went in my room and prayed, saying that I had looked everywhere I could think of, and said that if it was in the house, please help me to find it right now. I got off my knees and thought to look in my old scripture case I don´t use anymore. Sure enough, I had hidden it there before we moved and completely forgotten. Some might say it is psychological or coincidence; I know it is the gift of the Holy Ghost, and I´m so thankful for it. 

 

ALL week we were SO excited for Saturday, for the baptisms of the Escobar kids and the Estigarribia family. Friday we had their interviews and the ones for the Escobar kids were great. That night with the Est. family Elder Blackmore, our zone leader, was out with Carlos for over an hour, and I heard him say something about waiting a week. My heart just sank. Elder Blackmore came in and said Pres wants to interview Carlos the next day. The girls didn´t understand why their dad didn´t pass his interview, when they passed with flying colors. I don´t want to say anything, but interviews give people a chance to confess their sins to a representative of the Lord , who can help them repent. Baptism is very sacred, and repentance must come first, and Carlos had some repenting to do. We had been SO excited and it was so hard to see Susan and the girls have to wait a week. Hna. Macfarlane perfectly explained how we felt when she said, "I feel like I just got dumped." I was like, "Yeah, I feel sick to my stomach. But I´ve never been dumped." She said, "Me neither, always just done the dumping, but now we know." We were melancholy all day but happy for the other baptisms. 

It was a beautiful baptism and everyone came, including the Estigarribia family who really enjoyed the baptism, and I was thankful no one made a big deal about why they were not getting baptized that day. We had to correct the programs that had been beautifully printed with their names and re-copy them. Afterward Carlos had an interview with Pres McMullin who graciously sacrificed his Saturday night to come interview him. They talked over an hour and afterward gathered us and the family together, and Pres tearfully said that he has felt the Spirit tell him that this man has fully repented and is ready to be baptized. Never did I want to hug a Paraguayan man so badly as I wanted to hug Carlos right then.  I am, in the end, thankful for this experience. For them it was a blessing to associate with Pres and to see a baptism before their own, and to really think about repentance, and for me it was a blessing because I thought more about repentance and baptism in my own life. Repentance is such a happy thing! It means we are doing what God wants us to do to so that the atonement has "full sway" in our lives! It makes us happy, not sad. It is a blessing, not a curse or punishment. I have been working on making repentance a bigger part of my life for the past few months, and want to continue getting better at incorporating it into my daily thoughts and priorities. It hurts sometimes, like I´m sure it did for Carlos, to confess and forsake, but it´s sure better to get the hurt done here in life than to face God at the judgement bar with those sins. What a miracle it is, that if we just repent and are baptized, and keep repenting until the end of our lives, God forgets and erases those sins! To me it is just the most beautiful thing. My heart aches that not everyone knows this, and that not everyone repents now while we still can. 

 

But oh man how I love the Estigarribia family, especially Carlos. I´m so proud of him for truly repenting and leading his family in righteousness. He told me that a few days ago he was in his truck (he´s a truck driver) and he closed all the curtains and read the BOM and prayed for about 10 minutes, asking God if what he was doing was right, if all of this was true. He asked for a sign. And then he cried for 15 minutes. He cried more than he has in years, more than he did when his dad died. But it was a good feeling, he said. He also really enjoyed the testimony meeting yesterday. I love kneeling to pray at his house at the end of our lessons. He has gone from someone who doubted missionaries´ motives and therefore wouldn´t listen, to praying that we can find many, many more souls to teach. Man, I love that family!

 

AND, on Saturday we found Christian Morales at home, taking a break with his co-workers from building a house in front of his. They were drinking a little bit, but Christian wasn´t drunk so we wanted to take advantage of finding him at home and teach him. It was a classic sight, their little table with beer bottles on one half and my plan of salvation diagrams on the other. :) But it made an impression. During that lesson I asked Christian if he was going to church the next day, and he said probably not because he had to work on this house. I said it was a sin to not go to church, that it is a commandment to go. The next day, HE WENT, with HIS WIFE! Rossana, his wife, is very hard. She went to a Pueblo de Dios church before and just isn´t very nice to us sometimes. But yesterday she loved it. She loved the gospel principles lesson on fasting. She loved the testimonies, and she loved the baptism they could see afterward of an 8 year old in the ward, who was baptized by his older brother. We visited them later that night with Javier and Leonela and they have a baptismal date for August 24th! They just have to get married and Christian has to quit smoking and drinking. But he says he knows the church is true. Their kids are the cutest kids ever and actually behaved better than the member´s kids who (still) wreak havoc in sacrament meeting. So we had 7 investigators in church yesterday, on a testimony meeting day, and they also got to see another baptism. Best Sunday ever! And Jacklyn and her husband and Ester and her sister all came....and Paola Benitez got up and bore her testimony and said, "I want to thank Hermana Goimarac for always visiting us and giving us strength, and I want to say I know the church is true and it has changed my family so much. We dont´fight like we used to, and our home is completely different." What a paycheck. :) Everything is worth it 100000000 fold when you hear your convert say that, or see two complete families of investigators enjoy a testimony meeting. 

 

Sally, the drug addict we´re teaching, is also really progressing. She almost went to church, which is a huge step. 

 

Exactly opposite from Hope, as of yesterday I have 16 months down and only two to go, so everyone WRITE ME A LETTER before it´s too late. :) I could use a few dear elders before I´m painfully ripped away from my dear black name tag and forever excluded from the Dear-Elder-Receiving demographic. I love you so much and am very grateful for the support I´ve received already during  my mission.

Hope, I loved your email and hope you guys can find some people through your creative finding approaches.... I think in the beginning of my mission I was frustrated and upset at people who didn´t understand the importance of our message, but now I´m just more sad for them and I feel a lot of love for them. For instance, the older Catholic ladies who have a whole room of their house devoted to the Virgen and their saints and let us in and talk our ears off for an hour used to drive me nuts. Now I´m just amused at their sweetness and my heart just fills with love for them. Love those that hate you, do good to them that despitefully use you. They know not what they do when they say, "You can go right back out." Ouch is right, but I´m sure Christ thought "ouch" sometimes, too, when he kindly forgave and served those who rejected Him. Man, I miss you. And I will think about your plea to wait until you get home to get married, but can´t make any promises. I wish we could figure out our email time on Mondays to not have to wait a week for responses to last week´s email....oh well. Also, what you call a lesson we call a "contact." I admire you missionaries in the states, I really do. People in Paraguay (and I´m sure in Brazil) are much more believing and accepting and friendly. Probably closer to God.

 

Have a wonderful week, and I invite you to each pray about what you can repent of and repent this week, to experience the joy of the redemptive power of the Atonement. As we pray to know what we need to repent of, the Holy Ghost will bring us a "bright recollection of all our guilt" and we can know what we need to repent of.

 

Love,

Your Sister Missionary,

Sister Goimarac, I

"No man can become a citizen of the Kingdom by partial surrender," --James E. Talmage from his book, Jesus the Christ (Photos at end)

Dearest Family,

 

Well, let´s see what I´ve done for the first time this week, to go with Hope´s theme. In my second-to-last-change, it´s not easy. For the first time I put my weekly baptismal goal as 7, and my monthly goal as 9. Other than that....I´ve mostly done things that I´ve done many, many times. And things I will painfully miss when I am no longer a missionary. But Hope, 59 lessons in a week!? Sheeesh! If I had done that it would for sure be the first!  I´m happy when we get 4 or 5 lessons a day. What´s your secret to time management? I suppose the car would help. Anyway, way to go!

 

I don´t know how to start explaining to you all that I learned this week about faith, prayer, fasting, God being a God of miracles, how true our living prophet is, how exciting missionary work is, how involved God is in the small details of our lives, how God asks us to meet goals in order to bless more people, how God helps one stay missionary-focused even when she gets distracting mail, how patience is an important virtue to the salvation of souls...

 

I have a great story about how we are all in the work of salvation together, we all play an important part. Hermana Greer, pay attention. :) On Saturday we went to a baptism of the zone leaders in Palma Loma. The convert´s name is Raquel.  My former companion Hna. Greer contacted her on a bus one Friday at the end of April.  It was a fairly normal contact that she didn´t necessarily remember, nor probably recognize as having just sown an imporant seed in good ground. Little did Hna. Greer realize that this lady had been "praying for angels" in her life, because she had a lot of problems. The next day, Elder Blackmore gave a talk in his ward and raised cain a little bit on how we as members need to open our mouths and share the gospel. A member in his ward, Hermana Moreira, thought to herself that she needed to open her mouth more. So she grabbed some pass along cards from the wall in the church building and while walking home, saw her neighbor whom she didn´t really know, and decided to invite her to learn more about the church. Her neighbor was Raquel. This being Raquel´s second contact with the church in three days, she recognized this as an answer to her prayers and asked if the missionaries could visit her. Yesterday we attended her beautiful baptism and it was a testimony to me that "God does notice us and He does answer our prayers, but it is usually through another person that He meets our needs," as President Kimball said. God answered the prayers of this woman through a missionary who was just trying to be a good missionary, and a member who listened to a talk in sacrament meeting and decided to apply it to her life, neither of whom immediately saw the big picture or saw immediate fruits.  Let the seeds be sown, we really have no idea when or how they will sprout, and then the sower and the reaper shall rejoice together (John 4:36-37)

 

On Wednesday night Hna. Macfarlane, and Hna Aguero and I were all out together because Hna. Macfarlane was feeling good enough to go out. We hadn´t planned on visiting the Resquin family, but we had met our daily goals already and I felt we should visit them, even though the majority of them are very active now (preparing to be sealed in the temple, and to think when I got here they were super inactive!). We went and found the sons Angel and even Arnaldo (Ester´s husband who avoids us like the plague now!) and they were there with their friend, Alfredo. We talked about the blessings of the temple with their family and congratulated them on their goal to go and be sealed there in August. We know that Angel hangs out with a rough crowd and we´re pretty sure he does drugs. Hna Macfarlane shared her experience, of having gone inactive for several years and doing drugs and smoking and drinking, and then how the Book of Mormon changed her life, and how it was a long road of repentance, but she eventually became temple-worthy. The spirit was so thick. She was very blessed to share all of this very clearly even with her very limited Spanish. Hna. Aguero also shared her testimony, being a fairly recent convert, and I shared mine and my love for the Resquin family. We all testified of Jesus Christ. In a way, it is very exciting being in a three-some instead of just a companionship of two. It was like 1, 2, 3 testimonies! Three people who love you! BAM! Fight that! The gospel is true, and we three witnesses testify and invite you!

Anyway, we left not really expecting much of it because Angel hasn´t been to church in years. But on Sunday, half way through gospel principles, he walks in with his friend Alfredo! As they walked in, I felt the Spirit remind me that that very morning I had prayed for the less actives of this ward. I had prayed that God would touch their hearts and give them a desire to go to church.

 

Being a missionary, I pray for lots of things and for lots of people. And I don´t always recognize or even see the results of my prayers. I guess sometimes I have even doubted that my prayers make a difference, because it seems that whatever happens would have happened whether I had prayed or not. But this experience, with the impression coming to my mind that Angel going to church was a blessing from my prayer of faith, helped me realize that God is just waiting to bless us, but usually requires us to ask Him first, to exercise faith in Him. The same thing happened on Monday night when I really wanted to get our daily goals and we lacked one lesson with a member present. The only member in the neighborhood is an inactive convert of one year, Sergio, who lives with his nonmember wife. It was our only hope for getting our goals. When he came to the door, he asked if we could come back tomorow. I said, no, and prayed in my heart that he would let us in. He went in to ask his wife if we could visit. As we waited I just prayed in my heart. And he said to come in! I again felt that this was a result of my having prayed. It was like God is trying to teach me that my prayers do make a difference. We taught and his wife asked us to visit her sister Sally the next day, who is a drug addict and very lost in life. We went the next day to visit her, and our visit was an answer to HER prayers. She said that that morning she had been crying and asking God to help her. She is so captivated in her addiction. She felt bad for letting her 5-year-old daughter see her cry. When we showed up and asked to visit with her, she began to cry and told us all of this. We taught her of Jesus Christ and the healing nature of the atonement, and we all cried together. :) She has a long way to go to change her life, but don´t we all.

 

These experiences made me think of the song by Cherie Call that goes, "There are yeses that our Father can hardly wait to give, and they are packed in every crevice of the lives we live."  We so often just recognize the "no´s" that God gives us, times when our prayers are not answered how we wish they were. The truth is, He gives us SO many yeses, and even the "no´s" are yeses in the end. I know with all my heart that God answers every single prayer, that every time we speak to Him, He listens.

 

Last Saturday after lunch I decided to fast until lunch the next day, even though I hadn´t previously thought to do that. I fasted to have 6 baptisms this change. We already had the four Estigarribia family set for the 3rd, but I felt we could have more and desperately wanted to find more people to teach. That week we found the aunt of Ramona, Fatima and Junior Escobar and talked to her about her nieces and nephew getting baptized. Actually, before we even brought it up she asked us if we could baptize them or bless them or something, because they were never baptized. It was a very spiritual visit. Within a few days of my fast, we had 7 people with the baptismal date of August 3rd. This Saturday is a white Saturday and we are all so happy. Yesterday I asked these youth how they feel about being baptized, and they just beamed and said they are so happy and wish it was Saturday already.

 

Christian Morales is also really progressing. He was already baptized in an evangelical church, by immersion, but after learning about the Restoration says that he feels in his heart he must be baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ. He didn´t go to church yesterday but feels really bad. It´s just that his family didn´t have one cent and had no food, so if he didn´t work that Sunday morning they wouldn´t have eaten that day. It broke my heart to hear that. We must help people in temporal ways so it doesn´t interfere with their spirituality and salvation. Anyway, we clapped his house as our last visit one night at like 8:30 at night when it was freeeeeezing cold, and I honestly didn´t think he would come out, but he did. He braved the cold to listen to two little sister missionaries.

 

Here are some blessings you should all be grateful for this week:

-Heated water in sinks. I forgot about its importance until washing my face was like unto the cold shock of the Titanic hitting a glacier.

-Heated houses. It seemed overrated until getting into bed was like unto slipping into the icy sea after the Titanic hit.

-Living where the people are generally honest. On Tuesday someone stole our cell phone. There went 6 months worth of phone numbers of the members, contacts, and investigators. It´s my fault because I put it in the mesh pocket on the back of my backpack, and while contacting someone I just didn´t feel someone take it. How sneaky. The bishop´s motorcycle was also stolen while he was doing interviews at the church. And if anyone doesn´t deserve that, it´s him, such a saint.

 

Last night we had another great lesson with the Estigarrbia family. They are so converted because of the Book of Mormon. They have a strong testimony of it already. Yesterday Carlos said that before going to church he wanted to get his family together to pray and read a little bit in the Book of Mormon. He likes to say a prayer and then open the Book of Mormon randomly and read the verse his finger is by, randomly. Yesterday he opened up to Mosiah 26:20-24 which talks about the blessings of baptism. It really made an impression on them.

 

I am reading the New Testament one more time before the end of my mission, and yesterday the story of the pearl of great price once again drew my attention. The man who found the pearl of great price sold everything to be able to find this pearl of GREAT price. He probably had lots of good pearls, but when he recognized the greatest, it was worth everything. Seekers after truth may find lots of things that are good and desirable, and not find the greatest truth of all, the truth that will save. But, I truly believe that if one seeks persistantly and with real intent, in search of pearls and not imitations, God will lead him to the truth and he shall find. But, it comes with a price and he will have to abandon many of his cherished possessions, perhaps cherished traditions and even acceptance from family or friends. As Hope said, many people don´t want to do that. It´s hard. I am eternally grateful to have been blessed with the pearl of great price in my life, and to have a family who also recognizes the truth. The gospel of Jesus Christ will always be my pearl of greatest price, and I am willing to give all I have and am to live it.

 

Love,

Your sister Missionary,

Sister Faith Goimarac I

 

photos:

1. We printed a bunch of these photos to give to our neighbors with a copy of the Book of Mormon and choc chip cookies and a note saying we are their new neighbors. Very Utah-ish, but inspiration none the less.

2. Angel and Alfredo. This is for you, Hna. Greer!

3. Raquel and her children (future missionaries they say!) at her baptism.

4. In front of our house, a beautiful morning.

I

Publishers of Peace (Photos at end)

Dear Family,

Mom, I just love your enthusiasm for the sisters in the ward. And I am so impressed with all the baptisms coming up in Sedona! That 40 day fast really paid off. I need to suggest it. I will be here for the next 40 days, at least, haha. I`m still in Isla Bogado. I honestly thought I would get transfered because I`ve been here since January, but I`m content. I might just be here half my mission. But we moved houses (closer to the sister who does our laundry and closer to the church! Halleluja!) so it`s kind of like I had transfers. 

But I am now training again! So I`m not a sister training leader anymore. :(  President called me Monday and said he really needed us to train. I am finishing the second half of Hna. Macfarlane`s training; she had a rough start with a difficult companion, so I`m happy to help her. Although, I really wanted another change with dear Hna. Macahuachi. Good things we`re friends for life. 

 

So much has happened this week, I don`t remember what. Oh, we had to get the rabies shots for Hna. Macfarlane, and after getting 14 (pobrecita!) (poor thing!) she was ordered to stay in bed for 10 days. Gulp.  I would not have that. SO I asked Pres for a local companion and said I would find members to stay with Hna. Macfarlane during the day. We`ve been doing that. Hna. Aguero from a ward nearby who is waiting for her mission call came. She`s great and teaches better than me. She`s great and I like being with her. It`s my first three-some. We are quite a crowd. But I don`t recommend three-somes. Today we waited for 3 HOURS for a rabies shot. After talking to everyone in the waiting room....I realized I have learned lots of patience on my mission but still have a ways to go. But I have seen how the Lord has really helped us to find new people and do lots in the little time we have had to work this week. He is really walking right in front of us I feel, preparing our path. I wish I had time to give examples.

 

So we moved houses and it was definitely a downgrade, haha. The elders helped us move and tactfully said it is a "Hansel and Gretel house," because it is very simple. It kind of feels like we`re camping all the time because there is no kitchen sink and the doors are all very breezy and we`ve been FREEZING for the past week (it`s 7 degrees again today!). But it was the only house we could find, and really, it`s fine. I`ll send pics someday. The best part is there are goats behind our house and I get to wake up to their beautiful little bleats. Takes me back. :)

 

Yesterday after church Hna. Aguero stayed home with Hna. Macfarlane and I went out with Leonela. She`s a convert of just 4 years who married the Perez`s son after her mission. She`s like my best friend. We loved being comps for a few hours. It`s a plus that she drove us around in their little car and we didn`t have to walk in the cold. 

 

On Saturday morning I called Susan to confirm an appointment with them for that night. She said, "Hermanita, I`m walking into my exam right now (she just started law school) but yes! Come later!" So when we went later she mentioned, "When you called this morning I was in line for my exam, and after hanging up the lady next to me said, "Who are you calling 'hermanita'?" and I said, It`s an hermana from the church, a missionary." And the lady said, "Don`t tell me you`re a MORMON?" and Susan said, "Yes I am! But the truth is, it`s called the Church of Jesus Christ. Mormon was just the prophet who wrote in the book of Mormon, which is a book that testifies of Jesus Christ." and Susan pulled her book out and showed it to everyone who was in line for the exam. She asked them what church they go to, and they said, "church of San Blas," "church of Maria," etc. And she said, "Well if you go to the church of San Blas you follow San Blas, but I go to the Church of Jesus Christ because I follow Jesus Christ." I couldn`t believe her courage and how accurately she explained the BOM! I definitely never explained it like that; it`s all from her own studies. They all went to church yesterday and their daughters loved church. After primary their 11 year old daughter Estephanie came up to me and said, "Sister, what is this beautiful feeling here?" :) Children are so good at recognizing the spirit because they`re so pure.

 

I feel like my prayers and fasts that I`ve done recently to improve the work in this area are really paying off, finally. I have a lot of hope, but sometimes I lack faith in people. People who keep saying they will go to church, and don`t, etc. We are teaching three youth, two sisters and a brother named Ramonita, Fatima and Junior (ages 15, 13 and 11). They live with their aunt who (according to all the neighbors) is not a kind person. They have had a hard life. But they love church. They go all by themselves, for 4 weeks in a row now. 

Also, mom, yes, I leave on October 9. Plan away for our church history trip. In November Emily Armstrong and I want to go to Utah to find housing and I want to apply to work at the MTC, and see some friends there. Hope, I have been thinking of you all week and loved your email. Someday you`ll get the package I sent to Brazil on June 5th.....in the mean time I hope mom keeps sending you dear elders and brownies. 

 

I don`t have anything spiritually as deep as what you said, Hope. I am out of time but just want to say that the Spirit really works. It leads us and protects us.  I don`t think I`m fully aware of the many things I have been protected from, the many dangers that have not crossed my path because the Lord protected us. I am so thankful for the warmth of the truth of the gospel, keeping me going in this frigid weather. 

In such a distraught world, all I want to be is a peace publisher. That is my goal. And I know the gospel is what brings peace more than anything in the whole world, because it is from the Prince of Peace himself,  not from men. I know the Book of Mormon is true, my testimony of it has tripled on my mission. It is so important and is truly the proof that this is the Lord`s church. 

 

Have a wonderful week and keep working hard in the work of the Lord. 

Love,

Sister Goimarac, I

Fotos

1. Susan and Carlos and two of their daughters, on Hna. Macahuachi`s last night. 

2. Leonela de Perez and I. She is my favorite!

3. Hna. Aguero, my local comp, and Hna. Macfarlane and I at our favorite P-day lomito arabe restaurant.

4. Elders, elders, elders. How we love them. This is my zone before transers. 

5. Jacklyn and Hernardo in their little house, about as big as it looks. Pray that they can quit smoking. They`re doing great so far. 

 

Obedience is the best way to show God we love Him (photos at end)

Dear Family,

Hope, Colorado Springs! How exciting! I can only imagine that you`re a little scared and nervous right now; it`s a lot of change in very little time. I remember being in the airport on my way here, and it was the first time I was in public with my name tag. It felt different but so good. I felt like a real missionary. I bet it was hard to say goodbye to your MTC district.  And you`re probably nervous that you`re going to forget all your Portugese....or mix it up with Spanish. Just know that GOD is WITH YOU. You know. :) I hope you get to Brazil before I go, though. We have to be neighbors for at least a change...I`ll mention that to God and hopefully your visa can speed up. ;)

 

Hermana Greer (er...should I be calling you Maggie now? How about I just say "best friend"?)  remember that less active, Jacklyn, you found on the collectivo and made me promise to find? We found her! She got baptized 7 years ago actually and got confirmed and never went back to church. She said it`s because one day she found a brand new box of cigarettes in the street and, in a moment of weakness, fell back into smoking (she had smoked since she was 13 but quit for a long time and got baptized) and felt too guilty to go back to church. She and her husband got married and baptized the same day and have four little sons. She and he are only like 27 years old, and she`s so beautiful. And, on Sunday they all went to church!!! We passed by their little shack of a house (she has nothing) and we all walked to church. It was quite a walk but they didn`t have any money to pay for the bus. They seemed to really feel good being back and we`re going to work with the members to help them be active members and get on their feet. They`re about to separate, so hopefully we can help their marriage and help them become a beautiful, eternal family. 

An old investigator, Christian Morales, also came (visiting him was inspiration on my part that I didn`t realize was inspiration until we visited and he said that that very day he had been wondering why we don`t visit him anymore [he wasn`t progressing]). We had a great visit and he went to church, and felt the spirit in priesthood meeting and got personal revelation about how to help his wife! Way to go principle number 5! (Revelation through church attendance!) and two other youth, Fatima and Junior. We had 5 investigators in church just like you did in Sedona!

 

All during the week Susan and Carlos said they were preparing to go to church. Susan even sewed herself a skirt to wear. On Sunday morning they were not there, and so I called them after the first hour (Sacrament Meeting is last). Susan said Carlos got home at 4 a.m. but they would be there for Sac Mtg. At 10:20 they were not there, and I was praying my heart out as I played the opening hymn on the piano. I was looking at the back door in my peripheral vision even though "Did you Think to Pray" has 3 flats and needs my careful attention. But in the corner of my eye I saw Susan and Carlos walk in, welcomed by Javier and Leonela. Boy did I think to pray, in gratitude! 

 

Come to find out, their arrival was quite a miracle. They had all piled in their car but it wouldn`t work, the gas tank spurted gas or something...and so they had to go on their motorcycle. But it wouldn`t start. They tried starting it 20 times, they said. So then they decided to go inside, kneel down and pray. At this point it was 10 a.m. They prayed, then went to try their moto, and it started like a charm. Carlos was going to take Susan and their youngest daugther, then come back and pick up his two older daughters. But when

they got to the church it was 10:30 and their moto wouldn`t start again, so their two daughters couldn`t come (they were heart broken). But it was a great faith-strengthening experience for all of us. Yet again, I know that God answers prayers. 

 

We taught them last night and Carlos and Susan said they both have friends who have seen their Book of Mormon and given them a hard time for it. But Susan said, "I just say, "Listen, I have prayed about this book and I know it`s true." And then her friends stop. She had a dream that a man was showing her the BOM and told her to read certain parts. She woke up and knew she had to read page 354. In Spanish, page 354 is Alma 34 which talks about today being the day of our salvation, and not procrastinating the day of your repentance. What a dream! 

 

The talent show on Sat was postponed to this Friday because it was pouring rain on Saturday. 

 

Well, I still haven`t explained the main news of this week. Monday night Pres called and said Hna. Macfarlane had to come to our area for a week because we live close to a hospital that has a rabies shot she needs. She was bit by a dog in my area when she came here for divisions and then again the next day by a dog in her area in Pedro Juan. So Hna Macahuachi had to go to Pedro Juan with her comp and I`ve been with Hna. Macfarlane all week, until changes on Wednesday. We have spent a lot of time waiting in the hospital for her rabies shot, and we saw wheelchairs there with the church name on the back.  Made me so proud!

 

We should find out about changes any minute. I`m very curious, because I`ve been in Isla Bogado for over 6 months now, but I also want to stay with Hna. Macahuachi. I love her lots. 

 

Pres McMullin has been calling me a lot to ask what I think about hypothetical changes, because I know almost all the sisters from having done divisions with them. Soo.....you`ll have to wait until next week I guess to know if I will finish my mission here (Isla Bogado will have been half of my mission...) or I have another area for the last two changes. If I go, I will be so sad to not see the Estigarribia family in white. It will be my first complete family of mother, father, and children.

 

Today we are moving houses. Long story and such a headache. At least all my stuff is packed anyway in case I`m changed. It`s a step down in quality from the house we`re in, but I say it`s good to practice living in poor conditions. 

 

Yesterday my comp was sick and slept for three hours. It tried my patience, but I was able to update the area book for over an hour, practice Spanish, catch up in my journal, and then I thought about the past week and wrote a quick poem. It`s no Emily Dickinson but I thought I`d share. All the things I mention happened in the past week, pretty much. 

 

For He will Fulfill All His Promises (Alma 37:17)

 

More happiness than you have yet tasted, it said.

That`s what my missionary call letter read.

To me this promise seemed hard to believe,

Yet the prophet said deep joy I`d receive.

 

One might look at my missionary life,

And think it`s not full of joy--but strife.

Talking to everyone, the mean and the nice,

Declaring the gospel in heat or on ice.

 

Dog bites, mosquitos, and rats in your room,

Slipping in mud while thunder clouds loom,

People who sometimes treat you like pests,

Others who mock the name on your chest.

Sisters and boyfriends get married without you,

And all kinds of news comes in to distract you.

But happiness comes just as was promised,

As one forgets her own will and keeps commandments.

 

Helping a man say his first prayer,

Clapping a house and asking to share,

Playing the piano in sacrament meeting,

Feeling God`s love while scripture-reading.

 

Kneeling in prayer with a whole family.

Teaching a lesson in the shade of a tree.

Watching your investigators walk into church,

Seeing the gospel bring an end to their search.

 

Watching a long-lost member re-activate.

Seeing an atheist his beliefs re-evaluate.

Getting a letter from one of your converts,

Admiring new members in ties and white shirts.

The life of missionary can be difficult, yes.

But the promise of happiness has been put to the test.

And I write you a poem to testify,

This has been the happiest time of my life.

I love you so much and am so eternally grateful for the strong family I was born into. You are my greatest blessing over the gospel itself. 

 

I testify that Jesus Christ is our Savior.  He is truly everything to me.  He is the Light of my life, and the hope of the world. How I love wearing His name. Let`s go invite others to draw closer to Him!

 

Love,

Your Sister Missionary,

Sister Goimarac I

 

Well, here are some pictures from about a month ago of my trip to Piribebuy, and of the cold and Hna. Maca and me bundled up. 

 

 

Amar es Servir (To love is to serve)

Dearest Family,

Oh happiness, happiness, happiness. It would truly be impossible to be so happy doing something that wasn`t the work of God himself. God is so good! So merciful! So just! I just love His parenting style, which pushes us to be better while also granting us sufficient sucess along the way to keep us motivated. 

 

Anyway, Hope, I loved your email and know what you mean about the Church film 17 Miracles. I watched it for the first time while on a date right before deciding to go on a mission, and as I sat there in the arms of a great young man, I thought, "I don`t want to be here right now. I want to be out building the kingdom of God like these pioneers. They gave everything for the gospel. The least I can do is go on a mission." It was a turning point. And I know what you mean about your love for Amurica. (I had no idea what you meant by 'Murica for a sec and thought it was a Portugese word...by the way, dad, that country Hope invented as a child was Markeetoo. Remember Hope? Can`t believe that came to my head.) We did absolutely nothing to recognize the fourth this year, but I remember last 4th of July I was brought to tears as we sang the Star Spangled Banner in district meeting. God bless the USA!!!!!

 

Dad, and Sedona ward, I`m so sorry that baptism fell through. I completely understand your pain, just be really patient! Never give up! Dad, thanks for telling me about your testimony yesterday, I think you are doing a great job as bishop. I can see it from here.  Mom, our mission was split but no new mission was created; some areas went to the south mission and some to the Argentina Posadas mission. My trainee, Hna. Quito, was transfered to the south mission and was very sad. I was not able to bid pres Madariaga goodbye, but we said bye a long time ago at zone conference. I can only imagine how hard it was to leave, yet probably a huge relief as well. I would love to be a mission president`s wife, but it is also an incomprehensible responsibility. 

 

Last night I came in from a great day of hard work absolutely walking on air with gratitude and bursting with a testimony of the restored gospel, and I collapsed into bed with delightful exhaustion, as Elder Holland says we should. A little update on Susan and Carlos will give this more meaning:

On Tuesday I was on a division (with Hna. Francois! So good to be with her again!) but Hna. Macahuachi taught Susan and Carlos the Plan of Salvation. She said it was good but they were still so undecided and said they didn`t want to set a baptismal date.  They said maybe they will get baptized in 10 or 20 years. Ouch. 

Friday we visited and talked about how we have to do our part to receive answers to prayer. We read Ether 12 and it said faith always precedes the miracle. I told the story of my birth and my first name, and the spirit was definitely felt by all. 

Saturday night we visited with the bishop. It was a fantastic visit but Susan said she couldn`t go to church the next day because she had already committed to help at her daughter`s San Juan activity at school at the same hour. 

Sunday morning Carlos shows up at church! THIS IS A HUGE ACT OF FAITH FOR HIM. He said he doesn`t do things like that, especially not by himself. He claims to be very shy and timid, but to me he seems very relaxed and funny. He`s a lot like you, dad. Humble and quiet but has a hidden sense of humor that comes out when he`s in the comfort of his home with his new friends the missionaries. There was a great testimony meeting and lesson on the Sacrament in gospel principles, but I was a little worried about what Carlos would think because the kids were (as always) wreaking havoc during sacrament meeting and I just really wanted him to feel the spirit. And he did! Everyone reached out to him. It all just worked. This is a great ward. 

Sunday night we couldn`t wait to hear about how he liked church, so we visited again with Javier and Leonela with Carlos and his whole family. We asked him how he felt and if he felt the church is true. He said, "It has to be." We asked Susan and she said she feels it is true, too. Guess what beautiful family has a baptismal date for August 3rd! :) Goes to show that when someone truly wants to know the truth, and they read the BOM and pray and go to church, they get revelation from God. They can feel it. We don`t have to do any convincing. I always tell people, "If this is God`s church, He will tell you." And He always does when someone takes the time to ask. 

We had three other investigators in church, and all of my converts were there too. Ester`s daughter was blessed. Ronni passed the sacrament. Miriam Benitez was sitting next to me and I said, "You should bear your testimony for the first time today!" She said she was really nervous, but in the end she did! Last week she was called as the ward librarian to take care of the hymn books and the Liahona magazine and everything. We haven`t been able to talk to her since about how she felt about it, but I was talking with a different member and this member said what a shame that the bishop didn`t pray about what calling to give her, that she should have had a calling that would help immerse her in the doctrine and teach or something. I kind of thought, "Yeah, what a shame. She should have gotten a teaching calling but we have to respect the bishop." Well, what do you know but Miriam gets up yesterday and says, "When the sister missionaries told me I would be getting a calling I was really nervous. I said to God, 'If I have to teach a class or something I just don`t know if I will go to church, I don`t think I can do that, God.  I will clean your house or whatever, but I don`t have the courage to stand up yet in front of people.' And when the bishop called me to be the librarian he said he had prayed a lot to know what calling to give me, and I went home and cried and thanked the Lord. I know that God exists and he knows us. And I know the bishop is called of God." 

What a beautiful testimony, no? Always respect those called of God. As Hope said, calls are not just made by someone saying, "Oh, there`s space here." Hope, you can trust that God will send you where you should be. If He knows new converts in Paraguay should be called as librarians, He knows where His missionaries need to be to touch hearts prepared for them. 

On Thursday we had a Meet-The-New-President meeting. I admire his whole family a lot. They all spoke and introduced themselves.  It was a great time. Both President McMullin and Pres Madariaga met their future wives right before their wives went on missions, and faithfully waited and wrote to them the whole time. Their little boy who is 7 gave a talk that Elder Armstrong (AP) translated into Spanish for him. He talked about how he loves soccer and how life is like a soccer game (what I always tell the Paraguayans!), but that even if we score a million points, we only win because of Christ. I found myself with tears rolling down my cheeks (I am much more emotional after being a missionary for 15 months...don`t know why. I hardly ever cried before). If I have a 7 year old child who understands the atonement that well, I will be very filled. Today we had another leadership council with them and we hermana leaders went to Burger King across the street (never fear, I got a wrap and probably consumed more lettuce in a BK meal than I`ve had in months) with Hermana McMullin to talk about how to help the hermanas in the mission. SO MUCH TO DO. And I love it so very, very much. I`m probably more content in my life right now than I will be in a long time. If God asked me to serve another 6 months I would be even more content. 

 

Oh! Hermana Greer, you`ll love this. I got a call from an unknown number this week and it was Marian from Piribebuy! She asked when I was leaving the country, and I said Octubre, and she said, "Oh good, you`ll be here for the wedding then!" She and Jorge are planning on getting married on Saturday and then she and Steven (just turned 8) will get baptized!

I know I had a million other things I wanted to say but I can`t think of it right now. Next week I shall know about changes, if I stay or if I go from Isla Bogado. I`ve been in Isla Bogado for 6 months but with the Estigarribia family progressing like this, I hope I don`t go. If I stay though I will have been here for half my mission. 

We are having a talent show on Saturday and Carlos volunteered that his three little daugters dance in it. Cute, huh? It`s like pulling teeth to put on a good activity but we are pulling teeth, anyway. The Kingdom of God or nothing!! They will thank us in the end.

 

I just can`t say enough how thankful I am for the gospel. Seeing so many people live without it makes me wonder how I would be without it. It scares me. I am so thankful for the bright lights of sister missionaries that are dotting the horizon of the world. Carry on, sisters! May your light so shine before men that they may glorify our Father which is in Heaven! Share the gospel this week! I love you all so much!

 

Love,

Your Sister Missionary,

Sister Goimarac, I