Day 1 in Paraguay - August 9, 2012

After a long day of travel via El  Salvador and Peru, Dave and I arrived in Asuncion, Paraguay on Thursday, August 9, at 2:40 a.m.  We rented a car at the airport and with some effort found a hotel to stay in for a few hours of sleep before we had our reunion with Elder Snow.  We arrived at the mission home about 9 a.m. and greeted Zach with hugs and a few tears (Mom's tears!).  We were happy to meet most of the MTC group that Zach served with just before they all left to travel home.  We also met with the new mission president and his wife, Presidente and Hermana Agazanni. 

MTC group that Elder Snow served with...ready to return home.



Hermana and Presidente Agazanni, Elder Snow and Happy Parents!!!



After leaving the mission office, we had lunch at a very modern mall and then traveled to Minga Guazu.  In Minga Guazu we visited the home of Sister Petrona Lesme, a recent convert and her family.  They served us fruit from their garden and a sweet potato gelatin treat.  Sister Lesme showed me her garden where she has fruit trees and grows beautiful orchids.  They have a pet monkey that lives in a cage in their garden.

Erika, Carrie, Elder Snow, the son of the Lesmes, Eriko & Petrona Lesme

We left the Lesme family and continued on to the home of Sister Maria Clara Alacante and her family.  She lives with extended family and friends.  On our way there we saw the missionaries from Minga Guazu, Elder Bulkley and Elder Hinton with Fagnar, a young man who is a member and lives with the Alacante family, walking to the Alacante home, so we pulled over and gave them a ride.  We were priviledged to sit in on a lesson on temples that the elders gave the family.  Sister Alacante and some of the others there were going to the temple that Saturday.  Maria Clara was a great hostess and made us empanadas, which so far have been our favorite meal.  She also served homemade bread and delicious hot chocolate.  It was a very uplifting visit and so great to see the enthusiam of these new members of the church.

Maria Clara Alacante on far left with family and friends

That night we went to Ciudad del Este where we had a reservation at a hotel.  We tried in vain for quite a while to find the hotel using the GPS and the directions we had printed up before we left home.  We asked several people for directions and someone oftered to show us the way for several dollars...it was worth the money.  We finally arrived at the Hotel Casa Blanca and it was worth the effort.  We have a nice room that overlooks the river.
We all slept well that first night!