We slept in a
little on Sunday because we had arrived in Pilar quite late the night before
(actually it was early Sunday morning!).
The breakfast was very simple at the hotel we stayed at: bread,
biscotti, juice or coffee. The juice
here in Paraguay is very delicious and the bread and biscotti were flavored
with anise.
When Zach served in Pilar, he spent a lot of time with the Suarez family. The Suarez family was a huge help to the
missionaries. They fed the missionaries at least once a week and Sister Maria
did their laundry. The family was also
great at fellowshipping investigators.
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The Suarez family & extended family members
Brother & Sister Suarez are closest to Zach
Nelson is in front of Carrie & Dave |
While Zach was still serving in Pilar, they had invited us to help celebrate
their son, Nelson’s 9th birthday.
When we arrived, there was a typical Paraguayan asado prepared. Asado is barbeque meats and the Suarez family
served beef, pork and two kinds of chorizo (sausage). The meal also included sopa Paraguaya (corn
bread), mandioca (starchy root) and rice salad with mayonnaise and vegetables in
it. All of the food was delicious.
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| Rice salad and asado (beef and chorizo) |
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| Sopa Paraguaya |
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| Mandioca |
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The Suarez, Servín & Snow families with
Elders Holmgren & Calvert |
The family was happy to have us there and we
felt honored to be part of the celebration. Zach found out that Nelson wanted missionary
items for his birthday, so he gave him a pair of “Elder Snow’s missionary pants
and a missionary tie” which Nelson was very happy to receive. Also in attendance at the party was the Servín
family, who were baptized while Zach was in Pilar. They are a very sweet and humble family.
After our meal at the Suarez home, we still had time before church started at 3:00, so we visited with a recent convert, Pedro, and his wife, Felicia, before church started. Zach taught Pedro while he was in Pilar, but Pedro wasn’t baptized until Zach had transferred. He was very happy to learn that Pedro had been baptized. Felicia is still not committed to join the church, however, she welcomed us and picked some mburucuya (Guaraní for passion fruit) for us to take. Everyone here has been so generous, wanting to feed us and give us gifts, even though they live in very humble homes and circumstances. Pedro is very enthusiastic about the gospel and wanted Dave to mark his favorite scripture in his Book of Mormon so that he could study it later. I am so touched by these people!
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| Pedro, Elder Snow & Felicia |
We still had time so we went to visit another recent convert, Jorge, where he works for a few minutes. Jorge works at a hotel and has to work every
other Sunday afternoon. On the Sundays
that he works, he attends the other Pilar branch which meets in the morning, so
that he can attend church every week. I
admire his commitment to attend.
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| Dave, Carrie, Elder Snow & Jorge |
We arrived at
church and were greeted warmly by the members.
Dave and Zach went to the Priesthood meeting and left me to fend for
myself in Relief Society. There were
just a few of us there and they could not speak English and I have extremely
limited Spanish. We waited and waited
and I was beginning to wonder if there would be a meeting. Each time a new sister came in they greeted
each other and me with besitos (little kisses) given on each cheek, which is how
the Paraguayan women greet and part with each other. Finally,
15 or 20 minutes after the hour, the teacher arrived and greeted each sister
before beginning the lesson. Even after
the lesson began, when other sisters arrived they all greeted each other during the
lesson…no sneaking into the back row for them!
I could not understand the lesson, but I could tell the sister teaching
was a good teacher as she encouraged the participation of all the class
members. In Sacrament Meeting, Elder
Snow was put to work playing the prelude music and then leading the hymns to
taped accompaniment and one hymn a cappella. He was also asked to bear his testimony. I enjoyed being in the meeting where I could
feel the love the members have for the gospel and each other, especially
knowing how much Zach loves the people in Pilar.
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| Dave, Carrie, Elder Snow & the Servín family |
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| Pereira family with the Snows |
After church
we visited more members in Pilar. Our
first stop was at the home of Martina and Gabriela. Gabriela was another convert baptism while
Zach was in Pilar. She is only eleven
years old and very dedicated. Many times
she goes to church on her own and gets there by a 20-25 minute bicycle
ride.
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| Elder Snow, Martina & Gabriela |
Next we
visited another convert, Alan, and his sister, Lilian, who is also a member.
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| Lilian, Alan, Elder Snow, Carrie & Dave |
We also
visited la familia Valenzuela (as Zach calls them), a young family with two daughters and a baby
son. The wife was baptized last September
and the family is hoping to be sealed in the temple in the future.
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| Elder Snow with the Valenzuela family |
We were
invited to eat with the district president’s family, the Mendozas. They also very warmly welcomed us. They have been members for 14 years and have
been a strength to the church in Pilar.
They showed us family photos and Presidente Mendoza played the guitar
for us. Hermana Mendoza served spaghetti
with beef and a really delicious dessert.
The missionaries also eat regularly at the Mendoza home. I really enjoyed our visit.
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| The Mendoza family |
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| Marcos & Mario Mendoza arrived later |
It was a day
filled with visits, good food and church meetings. The love of the gospel that we all share
binds us together and I felt love for these people in Pilar.
