As my time finishes up here as a missionary of Jesus Christ I’ve been reflecting over a lot of the things that I have learned.  Something that I have truly come to believe during the past two years is how the power of desire influences one’s choices and the ultimate sum of who that person is.  I’ve met a lot of people who live in addiction and who’s families suffer due to the desire certain family members have to “live in the moment,” drinking, using drugs and partying.  I recently spoke to a woman who had been drinking and she laughed when she said that she was going to feed her baby with her beer whenever he cried.

I cannot pass judgment on the woman. That is God’s job.  I only want to say that I have seen the consequences when one places God and their families on a low level.  After two years, I know that some of my strongest desires need to be focused on the Savior and strengthening my family so that we can all return to the presence of our Heavenly Father one day.  I know that by applying what is taught to us in the Bible as well as the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, all these blessings can be received.  I truly believe that in order to strengthen our families, God has called a prophet in the world today to help us all return to the presence of our Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ.

I feel like I could honestly do another two years.  And I’m not just saying that.  I don’t feel like you feel when you get to the top of the mountain and want to rest and just see the view.  I feel like I could keep climbing and… its time to go home.

I could write more, but I’ll just share a scripture that I think you’ll like.

2 John 1:12  Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.

I love you all and will speak with some of you soon.   🙂

Elder Wyatt

Looking at beautiful Paraguay while I can!

!Hola!

Caacupè (Ka – ah – coo – pay) has been one of the most unique areas of my mission.  The city is very foresty and the land is filled with lots of hills.  Our church is on top of a big hill so we all do our exercises getting to church on Sundays.  We usually break out in a sweat by the time we get into the top.

Caacupe

Our branch president is a German immigrant who has been picking up Spanish over the past two and a half years.  He has several children who stand out because of their red hair in Paraguay!

Over the past few months I have been teaching the _blank_ family (probably not kosher to give their name here).  They live quite far away from the city and have really shown a lot of faith in God making the sacrifice walking over four kilometers in order to get to church.  They are really special.   They have felt that they have received a lot of blessings as a family since they starting going to church together and see the difference it made in their lives.

I want to invite everyone to Google the word “chipa paraguaya” because in my area it is sold on almost every street corner.  It is a bread type food that is very common here.

¡Hasta la proxima!

Elder Wyatt

June 25, 2012

There has been a lot of political unrest in Paraguay the past couple of weeks.  There were 17 people gunned down by police in an area in a town called Curugaty, by the Brazil border,.

For about two days, everybody was tense here in Paraguay because of the incident in Curuguaty and the impeachment of Paraguay’s President Lugo.  In Asuncion, there were tons of protests and a several riots.  The leaders of the mission told us on Friday if we saw anything suspicious or if we saw large groups of people gathering to go straight home.

Pres. Lugo was officially impeached and there was a peaceful transfer of power to his vice president.  Everything now is back to normal.  No more violence. No more danger.  Completely tranquilo.

I know Curuguaty.   I always had a “layover” there when I would travel from  Puente Kyjha to Santanì.  The bus always stopped there to let passengers off and on and to refuel.

On a lighter note,  today we are going to a place called Eusebio Ayala.  Evidently there is a man there that lived in New York for twenty years and makes legitimate American style pizzas. We’re pretty stoked as we haven’t had a real pizza in two years!!!

It is cool now in Paraguay.  At night it is cold.   By the time I leave it will be full blown out winter just in time to get back for the August in Kansas.   🙂

Elder Wyatt

Posting the Flag

Bird’s Eye View of Caacupe

So here in Caacupe (Caw – a – coo – pay) there is a HUGE Catholic cathedral with an interesting legend.

It all starts hundreds of years ago, when Catholic French Missionaries arrived to Paraguay and started teaching the native tribes found here.  One native named Josè was selected by the French to carve an image of the Virgin Mary to place in the new church that was to be built near the tribe.  He prepared himself and went deep into the forest in search of a suitable tree whose wood would be utilized to make the sculpture.  However, while in the forest, danger crept near.  An enemy tribe was traveling through the forest, and if they caught even a glimpse of Josè they would chase him and cause him to be put to death.  Trembling with fear, Josè knelt down and began to pray. He prayed that he would be protected from his enemies and that they would pass by without seeing him.

The legend says that after finishing his prayer, a pillar of light fell upon him and the Virgin Mary appeared to him in a vision.  Josè promised to her that if she would protect him, he would make two sculptures of her in her honor out of the tree behind which he was hiding.  The virgin accepted his offer, disappearing, and leaving Josè alone once again.

The enemy tribe came closer, but as they approached, they failed to see the man crouched behind the tree and continued on with their journey without stopping.

True to his word, the native chopped down the tree and carved a statue of the virgin.  Later, it was painted with brilliant blue and yellow colors and placed in the newly finished Catholic Church built by the French missionaries.

There are a lot of people here who have a strong belief in this story. There are others that believe it is a legend.  I thought you might enjoy a little history of the area where I’m currently located.

The name Caacupé comes from the Guaraní word caaguycupé, meaning “the other side of the mountain.”  The city is in a valley of the Altos Mountains.  Oranges, and sugarcane are processed here.

I have faith that our Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers as we pray to him in the name of His son Jesus Christ.  The power of prayer is a blessing that I am truly grateful for, as I have needed much of His help in my life.  I appreciate all the prayers on my behalf as I work here in Paraguay.

PS:  Click on the map.  Look to the right of the capital, Asuncion, and you’ll find Caacupe.

Paraguay. Find the capital, Asuncion, then look to the right and you'll find Caacupe.

Basilica

We were walking down the road heading off to a service project.  We are building a fence for a woman.  She is building a heurta, or a vegetable garden, and needs a fence to keep the dogs out. We saw a man sitting by himself staring at the ground.   We made our way to him and starting talking with him.  He said that he really wants to make changes in his life.  He wants to turn over a new leaf in his life.  After speaking to him about repentance, he asked if he could one day be a missionary like us and asked what he had to do in order to serve a mission.  He really wants to turn his life around, quit some bad habits, and help others with their challenges and come unto Christ.

 

READ THIS: I just was writing my letter home when the mission president called me.  He told me that I will depart from Paraguay on the 9TH OF AUGUST 2012.

Big news: see you all on the ninth or tenth of August!

 

Elder Wyatt

 

 

Hola,

I thought I’d share a few more photos of the area here.  I’m about 40 miles from the Brazil Border.   Here’s a bit about each of the pictures.

1.  My apartment.  Look for the picture that looks to have two houses.  One behind the other.  The building in front is actually a despensa (store) and our house is the house in the back.

2.  “Planeta Juegos y Net” (I think thats what it is called).  It is the Cyber (Internet Cafe) in La Paloma that we use every week to email home.

3.   Municipalidad (Town hall) We live right in front of it.  It is by far the most “Chuchi” (Choo – chee or high class/expensive) building in town.

4.  Nice park a few blocks from our home where we can get a little exercise.  Check out the plants and flowers.  It’s definitely not winter here in Paraguay!

You can click on the photos to make them larger.  Hope you enjoy a view of my world.

Elder Wyatt

Home Sweet Home

Cyber

Municipalidad

 

Park

 

 

We found a HUGE beetle outside of our house this week.  I mean huge!  Check out the picture.

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FYI, this is my name tag written in the language of Guarani.  It says:

Elder Wyatt (I’ll bet you got that, right?)    😉

The Church of Jesus Christ

of Latter-day Saints.

Moby Dick... or should I say Moby Beetle?

Not much news since Christmas but I thought I would share some photos taken recently.  Check out our straw hats that are traditionally used to keep the sun from frying us.  Yes, it’s summer in Paraguay!

Elder Aaron Wyatt

Bath Time for the Dog

Jammin' Time

Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone!

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Right now, I am serving with a new missionary who just arrived from his home country – Canada.  As the temperature drops back home in the states, it rises higher and higher here.  Christmas in Paraguay is much like the 4th of July in the states.  Hot, with a lot of people cooking meat and a lot of drinking.

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I’ve reflected quite a bit during this holiday season about the Savior and everything that he did for me and all of the world.  A few days ago, I was studying a scripture from a book of scripture that testifies and teaches of the Savior along with the Holy Bible called the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.  In it a prophet of Christ who lived in the American Continent several centuries ago received counsel from the Lord.  He wrote the following:

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Ether 12:27  And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

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With the Lord’s help, and through the faith that we show in him by keeping his commandments, our weaknesses are made strong.  I think of my weakness in speaking the language and am grateful for the help that I have received from the Lord in learning Spanish and being able to communicate with the people here in Paraguay.  It doesn’t matter what are challenge or weakness be, we can be made strong through the redeeming power of Christ.

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I love the Savior and am grateful for the blessing I have to share his gospel to everyone here in Paraguay.

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Happy new years to everyone!  I love you all!

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Elder Wyatt

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PS:  You can click on any of the photos to see them larger.  My head happened to be right by where the stone hit the windshield!

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Windshield Accident - previous post

Grandma's Gift: a tie tac made from one of Grandpa's rocks

Christmas Presents made it to Paraguay!

Food from Home!!! I'll put this to good use. 😀

New Contacs! Yes!!

Yay, more ties? 😉

Today we needed to go to Saltos del Guairà to have another meeting with our mission leaders.  We were returning in a taxi when we had an interesting incident.  There was a man cutting the grass to the side of the road with one of those mowers that is attached to a tractor.  Just at the right moment – just as we passed in front of him.   He hit a rock and sent it flying toward us.  The rock luckily didn’t fully penetrate the windshield but it pretty much destroyed it.  Man, the sound was loud when it hit!  We needed to wait for a while while the taxi driver negotiated with the man in order to pay for the replacement, and because of that we lost a bit of time.  No danger at all involved in the incident.  We are all perfectly fine but it makes for an interesting story.

Turning 21: Birthday Cake at the Brazilian Bakery

Free Day Activity

Local Fishing Pond