Week 41

Note:  These pictures are a bit out of order but hopefully you'll get the idea of a super fun yet difficult P- day hike with the whole district of Horqueta, with ice cream as the reward at the end.  The pictures at the bottom are from last week's Pday also in a neighboring town of Yby Yau, her companion's former area.  It looks like they are really enjoying each other in this rare all -English -speaking district.

What missionaries bring on hikes

The elders have bikes!

Dear Family!!!

Ok, well again, I´m high key stressed on account of I spent like plus half of my cyber time sending freaking pictures and now am way short on writing time. noooooo. The good news is I´ll just copy and paste what my comp wrote... again... to help you guys get the low down and to save myself time. Also she said some nice stuff about me, so that´s cute. But I´ll try to hit a few details before we get to her supes cheery-spiritual filters of the week. Lolz.

Zone conf: So this week we had zone conference up in Concepción, and it was interviews with Presidente this time. So, as usual, I was a teensy bit apprehensive on account of that fear of authority life (don´t worry, it´s gotten better.) But anyway, it ended up being way chill! Like the whole conference was really good and pretty relaxed and we just kinda had a few stations with the APs no mas and talked about contacting and obedience and such #theusual. But then my interview with President was pretty chill and we just talked about how I´ve been doing and I actually felt like he cared about me and stuff, which was a nice feeling. I actually do really have a lot of respect for President McMullin because he´s just very consistent and focuses on doctrine and is very by-the-book with a lot of things (which goes back to the consistency.) So anyway it was nice to have a teeny bit more of an emotional connection forge por medio de this experience. Then afterwards we had a post-conference pizza lunch with our district and the Cranney´s and it was real chill. V fun .

Divisiones: So this week we all had exchanges with the hermana leaders, and I again went with Hna Fardos. It was a pretty good time and actually pretty chill. True story though is that between the two companionships we were able to visit with every single member (active, less active, and recent converts) in our entire area. So that´s how small Horqueta is for ya. But we did some solid work and it was nice to feel like we caught up/even jumped ahead. 

Cerro Memby: So today we ended up coming back to Yby Yau to go on a "chill" hike my comp went on when she was here. Turns out this hike is legit just scaling up a mountain and was actually pretty dang hard. The Cranneys were going to come with us, but it´s a DANG good thing they didn´t, cause they would NOT have made it. I legit fell twice and am lucky I didn´t legitimately fall down the side of the mountain. Dad, you actually would have been V scared of the ledge we were on and I had your voice in my head telling me to get down from there. Anyway, it was pretty intense and super, super Paraguayan. Like, walking through straight up jungle and bugs and huge spider webs. It was finsane. And it was pretty dang burning hot up at the top/pretty small and crowded. But looking back it was a cool experience, although at the time I really wondered if it was worth it or not. I would say all in all 5/10 would maybe recommend. But today was actually still a way good day and afterwards we all got ice cream and played card games and walked around the city a little bit. It´s nice to get out of Horqueta and do something *exciting.*

Sunday: So yesterday´s Sacrament meeting was actually so so boss. Our asistencia was wayy better this week (like 30 status) and it was fast and testimony meeting. And a ton of members bore their testimonies and they were actually really sweet and spiritual and it was just an awesome experience. Maybe one of my favorite Sacrament meetings ever. Really good. And then somehow later in the day my comp and I ended up hypothesizing about changes and I just realized I would be very, very sad to leave Horqueta. I have learned and grown sooo much here. And I have really learned to love the people and to love the rama. Honestly I was straight up scared to come so far out into kinda the middle of nothing, but it´s turned out to be such a blessing. I´m so grateful for the time I´ve had here and for everything I´ve experienced. But let´s not jump to conclusions, cause I´m still praying that I´ll get to spend Christmas here with Hermana Lundberg. Time will tell.

Ok, well those are the main highlights of the week. It was pretty good and pretty chill overall, I would say. My comp and I are setting tons of contacting goals, and we´ve improved our numbers every single week we´ve been together. Which is actually pretty great, tbh. So we´re still working on finding the people truly prepared to receive the gospel, and in the meantime we´re having tons of good experiences and living up dat mission dream lyfe. God answers prayers.

Love you tons!! Hope you enjoy like three weeks worth of pictures... hopefully it will partially compensate for this not-that-detailed letter. 

xoxoxoxo Hermana Ross

Here´s my comp´s weekly letter as well:

Hola Hola Coca-Cola!

This weather though... it's actually been pretty fresquito the past couple of weeks thanks to the rain and God being super merciful to my white skin. Oh and get this! The past 2 weeks for P-day my lovely companion and I were able to visit my old area in Yby Yau because get this: it's less than an hour away from Horqueta. Woot Woot! So we may or may not be doing cyber in Yby Yau right now! Haha #roadtrips

Oh! Funny Story: so I am in an all English District right? And normally we all sing together and can harmonize when we sing. Anyway, this one Sunday the missionaries were scattered throughout the capilla. I wasn't sitting next to anyone "note"'-worthy nor did I pay attention when the teacher said we would just sing the 1st and 4th verse of the hymn. So, as everyone went to sing the last verse of "Sunshine in the Soul" I went into the 2nd verse and sang SO loudly that literally everyone changed from singing the 4th verse to singing the 2nd. I am still not sure if that was a good or a bad thing...

On a more spiritual "note" (I'm sorry it's just so funny now! Okay but really...) this last couple weeks we have been studying Repentance and Baptism. It was a fantastic thing to study right before the holidays. #ChristmasSpirit I however would like to focus more on the repentance aspect. 

As you know I am with a FANTASTIC companion in a FANTASTIC area during a FANTASTIC time of the year. Basically the recipe for Hakunah Matata right? Don't let the meercat fool you. Life is not perfect and we definitely are not. Yes, I have been doing SO much better this change. Heck! I have been doing probably the best I've been doing my whole mission. Yet, I was becoming overwhelmed by my countless weaknesses. I know you all probs NEVER experince that. Am I right?

Anyway, Hermana Ross lovingly listened to all my drama. Then she, with the Spirit of Elder Holland, said to me, "Hermana Lundberg, today is the day of our Repentance NOT the day of our Perfection." #futureGeneralReliefSocietyPresident 

That is my message to you all: Today is the day of our Repentance NOT the day of our Perfection. It's a cold hard truth but try as we might (and should) we aren't going to be perfect in a day, nor in a week, nor in a month, nor in a year, nor in this lifetime. But we can repent all day everyday. We can constantly prove to God that we have not given up. It's a pain sometimes but it prevents us from experiencing greater pain. Kinda like taking vitamins. Okay actually not at all like taking vitamins but you get the picture. 

I am so eternally grateful for the Atonement, the infinite and eternal sacrifice that allows us to become infinite and eternal. I hope you all remember the reason for the season. 

And now I am sounding cheesy so I hope you enjoy this picture my companion took of an owl.

Love you all!

Amor de Paraguay,

Hermana Lundberg

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