¿Hola como están?
So here I am in Ypané, I got here Tuesday morning and have been enjoying it ever since. Ypané is half city half suburb, where there are areas where it’s winding streets with lots of people, buildings, and vehicles, while there are other parts where it’s just fields and fields and fields. It’s been an interesting time, my new comp Elder Orr knows the area pretty well and I have no idea where anything is, or where the buses go, or what we have planned for the day, so it’s been a lot of following and learning this week. I found the area in an interesting state, it’s been pretty dormant as far as missionary work goes, but there is so much potential here. The majority of the families here are part member families, so we are always hearing about new people who are interested in the church because their relative or partner is a member and goes to church. We didn’t have lots of time this week to visit them due to weather and other circumstances but we still had a good time nonetheless. I’m really excited to sink my teeth into this area as I start my final 6 months of my mission.
Up to this point of my mission it’s been pretty easy to focus only on the Lord and his work, my release date was far away and I had nothing but time on my hands to just work as best as I can. With me hitting my 18 month mark this week that changes a bit, as I have to make important decisions for what I want to do after my mission. I’ve learned on the mission that whenever Satan wants you to lessen your efforts he’ll tempt you by distracting you. On the mission it can be seen as overthinking about home and future plans, but in our daily lives there are many things that can distract us from what’s really important. We can choose not to focus on these distractions by instead focusing on the person who we covenant to represent, Jesus Christ. The first verse of the hymn, “The Lord Is My Light” goes;
The Lord is my light; then why should I fear? By day and by night his presence is near. He is my salvation from sorrow and sin; This blessed assurance the Spirit doth bring.
I know that if we put the Lord first in the things we do, we will avoid focusing on distractions that don’t matter and can focus on the important things that the Lord has entrusted us with.
I hope you all have a good week!
Elder Watson
I took this picture at a restaurant owned by a guy from Saudi Arabia, he moved to Paraguay and opened up a restaurant and he has a bunch of decorations like this around it.
