09 December 2013

Mon 12/9/2013 3:36 PM

Vacation week

Hello family.

How’s it going? Alright, so, woo. Today: I almost wasn’t able to write you because all of the computer places in Horqueta are closed or don’t work today. And when I say all of them, I mean just one. But we came to write at the church - so thank goodness for that. It just stinks because my companion and I had to take turns and he went first. But here I am. This week was a bit crazy.

Alright,  so Tuesday afternoon we had to get on a bus. It was because Wednesday morning, Elder Zeballos, of the seventy, was coming to talk to our zone in Santani. But Santani is about 4 hours away from where I am. So we had to leave Tuesday night and we traveled through the night. It was a nice little travel. I sat by Elder Wolfgramm and we pretty much just talked the whole time. So we got to Santani around 3 am, I think.  The rest of the zone was in the chapel and everyone was just talking and gossiping, ya know. And, naturally, I just joined in - catching up with all my buds and what not. Then around 4:30 or 5, Elder Wolfgramm and I decided to find a little room and set up some chairs and slept for about.. 2 hours, maybe.  Then we got up and Elder Zeballos came with President. We had a conference until about 1 pm. It was a little had to focus, but a good conference. I really enjoyed it though and learned a lot. After, President took us all out to eat at this Brazilian restaurant - all you can eat. It was awesome. After that... well, my companion and I got in the car with the office elders and assistants and went to Asuncion – about a 3 hour drive. That was a fun little road trip. Alright, so Wednesday night we didn’t want to just sit around doing nothing all night, so we did divisions. I went out and worked with Elder Bayles. Do you remember him? The one you all met when you dropped me off at the airport. So that was fun going out and working with a friend. We had a good time working and talking. He is a hard worker. But it was really good catching up on things with him. Um, that night, we slept at the office Elders apartment. Anyway, Thursday morning, we get up and the other missionaries were all having their conference with Elder Zeballos, but we weren’t aloud to attend, so we basically just kicked it. We went to some fancy restaurant and yeah... until, somehow, we ended up at my doctor’s appointment at the hospital - which is the reason we went to Asuncion.  

Oh man, I think I know more than Paraguayan doctors. So I get in there and he looks in my mouth and in my ear. Then we sit down and he tells me, “Your tonsils are infected.”  I’m thinking, “... Well, duh.”  So he starts writing down stuff and then looks at me and says, “Well, this infection is serious, so we are going to have to give you shots for fast action.” I’m like, “Aight, cool.” So I say, “Hey, just so you know, I’m allergic to Penicillin.” He asks, “Why are you telling me that?” And I said, “Because when I take Penicillin, I get a rash all over my body and can’t breathe.” Then he says, “How do you know that’s how you react to Penicillin?” I told him, “Well... because it’s happened before!” He goes, “Hmmmm, well, we can just give you the shots anyway and see if you react.” I told him that wasn’t okay with me. So he left and comes back and gives me a prescription for some other pill. So I leave and then call the mission nurse to tell her. She is like, “Uhhh, he gave you Penicillin.” So we went to the office and figured out another pill I could take. I’m feeling all better now. Anyway, we traveled that Thursday night got home at about 3 am. So that was our vacation.

So Friday and Saturday, we have the responsibility to find some new homes to move into, so we mixed finding homes into our work and that was fun. We found two good houses. Two more missionaries will be coming to Horqueta soon. 

Oh, Sunday, our investigator, Gustavo, came to church again and we put a for sure baptism date for the 21st. I’m really excited. He is super cool and progressing a lot. He is a soccer player and was sooo worried he wouldn’t be able to play soccer anymore if he got baptized. But we cleared that all up and went over all the commandments and laws with him and he accepted everything really well. It’s great. Our church attendance got up to a whopping 35. So things are progressing here. We have some investigators I’m really excited about. Sundays I have started giving English classes. So that’s been really fun. Oh, and this week, a new Elder arrived in my district. He is from the Dominican Republic. He is like a normal American black guy, but he speaks Spanish. He loves baseball and basketball, so we get along pretty well. He is pretty hard to understand sometimes, though. Oh, I also traded this member for a bunch of cool stuff made of reptile skins, but they are a secret, except one.

Today, we went and helped the branch president on his farm for a while and then we went off into the wilderness and put up our hammocks and just relaxed. It was great.

Love, Elder Rigby