Incredible/Crazy/Rewarding Week - March 24, 2011




Elders Stewart, Snow, Bazán and Villegas


Dear Familia!

Wow! This has been such an incredible/crazy/rewarding week. We´ve been looking for a new house because we have to move, on top of the baptisms and weddings we were planning, all with it being changes week. Needless to say, Elders Snow and Bazán had a little bit of stress, but it all worked out for the best.

So I´ll begin with changes. I´m staying in Santa Rita! I was so pumped. Elder Bazán and I will have another change together and we are really pumped. I really love that missionary. So now Santa Rita consists of Elder Bazán and I, then in the other area Elder Stewart and his new trainee!  I was so pumped he came here. He is from the same group as Elder Bazán and I, we all got to Paraguay the same day. Elder Stewart and I were on all the planes together on the way to Paraguay, so I already knew him a little. He is also coming from Ybate, my last area, so it´s been so cool to get updates and everything. Elder Stewart is training now, so cool! His new companion is Elder Gleason, from Pleasant Grove, Utah.

I will have the opportunity to serve as the District Leader here in Santa Rita. I´ll have to rely on the Lord a lot. Long story short, we are super young here in Santa Rita but full of excitement and ready to achieve a lot! It´s going to be a great change.

Now about the Baptism Guazu... Izaías and Mirta ended up getting married and baptized. It was such a cool experience. We really had to fight for our investigators last week. We were having all kinds of problems trying to find the judge first of all, because the one we had planned on using went out of town. We got that all figured out, made the cake (cakes are super expensive to buy, who knew, so we just made one, it turned out well) and were all ready for Saturday.



Cakes are expensive to buy...who knew?
No problem for Elders Snow and Bazán though...
they baked their own cake!

Then Saturday morning we go to clean and fill the font and all sorts of problems break out. We have a so so relationship with the owner of the place where we rent the chapple. The supervisor lady there kind of got mad that we were having baptisms and then told the owner and all heck broke lose. She doesn´t want us to do baptisms behind the church anymore. So we had a big problem with just a couples hours before.  So we started scrambling, trying to figure out how we are going to baptize them. Finally we found an old investigator that had a little pool thing we borrowed. We hurried back to the church, filled it up as fast as we could with bottles and buckets, then got ready for the marriage.


Mirta, Izaías and baby Emerson excited for marriage and baptism.



Check out the happy smiles!

Not even the lack of a font was going to stop this baptism!

We had the marriage alright then went to do the baptisms, but then one of the investigators couldn´t fit all the way in the water so we had to fill it up more. But in the end, they were baptized alright and confirmed the next day.

Throughout the whole experience, I really felt the Lord´s help. We were able to accomplish everything and help two of the Lord´s choice children enter into the waters of baptism. I think I learned much better this week what it means to lose myself in the work. We put in all this effort and time in the help for others. I worked probably harder than any other time in my life, and it felt so good because it was for the benefit and service of others. I know that the Lord will help those who help others. The promise in Mosiah 2:18 is so true.

Dad asked if we have the chance to see Falls of Iguacu. I personally haven´t. I know there are some really cool waterfalls over in Ciudad del Este, I don´t know if those are them or not. Lots of missionaries go there but we haven´t had the chance yet because Ciudad Del Este is actually a couple hours away from Santa Rita so it would take like all day on Pday. So our P days usually consist of rest and playing Monopoly, but I think we have to stop because there is a new rule on board games. Sigh, I´ll miss Monop, but oh well.

Well, I´m about out of time. Sorry this letter was going on and on about different themes. Oh! This Saturday Mariela is getting baptized! We are pumped about that. And the following Saturday we are hoping that Hernán and Sandra will get married and baptized. It will happen!

I appreciate your prayers and all your love. I´m am enjoying every minute! I love you all so much. Chau!

Elder Snow