Well, this week has been very eventful and very rewarding. We walk a good solid 5-10 miles a day, and at the end of the day it takes a toll on my feet. Luckily we are so tired that it is very easy to fall asleep. It really makes me appreciate the moments where we can sit and just rest for a second before we get up and back to work. There is a lot of work to do around here too. Compared to Ohio where a lot of the work was digital over either Facebook or Zoom with members, constantly going from house to house and lesson to lesson is a breath of fresh air. Even if during the lesson it’s hard to keep track of what’s going on when everyone speaks at 100 MPH, it’s so awesome to be out and about. It definitely is more tiring, but it is also very rewarding and I’m happy to be working.
Right now, we cover two branches, one is where we live, which is the 2nd branch of the district in and around Encarnacion, or ‘Rama 2’. The other branch we cover is called Ita Paso, which is a bit of a ways away so when we go there to visit members and teach other people we either have to get a ride from a member or take a ‘colectivo’ (bus). We have two people on baptism date at the moment, one in each branch that we cover. One is in Rama 2, his name is Alfredo. We have been really pushing him to get to church lately, but recently someone stole his clothes while they were out drying, and he was apprehensive about going without some nice clothes to wear. So we found some old clothes in our apartment and we gave them to him. It was really awesome to help him out and he will be able to attend church in the future!
Our 2nd person on baptismal date is Juan Carlos. He lives in Ita Paso and is an awesome guy. On Saturday we cleaned the font here in Rama 2 for a baptism of a girl in Ita Paso. We invited Juan Carlos and he came! He was super excited and is super willing to be baptized and we are so excited for him. He attended church with us yesterday as well and we are excited to continue teaching him. We have him on date for the 27th of February so we are very excited for that day to come!
Since Encarnacion is on the border of the river that separates Paraguay and Argentina, we can see the Argentinian city of Posadas across the river. Since Argentina is still closed down due to COVID, there is no traffic between the cities which makes for some interesting situations. There is a member here who’s fiancé lives in Posadas, and they got engaged in February. Because of COVID, they can’t see each other, and the only thing that is stopping them from getting married is waiting for Argentina to open up. It really makes me think, because I know a lot of missionaries that are just waiting for the call to go to Argentina, they just need the green light. I can see their original assignment, while they have no idea when they will be able to go. It really makes me grateful for the opportunity I have to be here. I have already learned and grown so much by being in a foreign country for a week, and I am really excited for my peers to also experience that growth when they go to their assignments.
I hope you all have a great week!
Elder Watson
This is a big ol’ quarry that is behind a members house. We chucked some rocks down and heard it echo around and it was really cool.
