Another week in La Paloma

Ah.. this week was super fast and slow all at the same time!.. and I don't know how that makes sense.. but it's weird that it's already Pday again!

Just wanted to tell you all THANK YOU for writing of me and thinking of me. Your words and letters always help me so much! 

THINGS THAT HAPPENED:

-We travelled to this city called Cuided Del Ester (atleast I think that's how you spell it..) and we had a conference there with Dallin H Oaks!!! well.. kind of. He was in Resistencia.. another mission in Argentina.. but there was camera's on us and them and we could see eachother on screens. So he was talking to two missions. It was really cool. Him and his wife both spoke.. and then a guy translated for him. So so cool. He spoke on revelation and inspiration.

-We are teaching lots.. but still having a hard time getting people to recieve us for a second lesson. We are also focusing on reactivating members.. so we're doing a lot of tracking down people. haha.. it's fun. Something crazy about this city.. is there is literally no street signs or any directions or markers or anything.. so that's really fun.. hahah. 

-Something funny.. we were walking to an appointment to teach an investigator.. and all of the sudden we here some shouts and barking and all of the sudden a bull comes charging out of this tall grass to our right.. haha I was dying! It took of sprinting down the street in another direction with about 5 dogs and a man and 1 kid running after it.. it was so funny.. it shouldn't have been as funny as it was, because it was probably that pour family's livelyhood.. but I was dying. it was just hilarious. ahh... #onlyinParaguay Shoot... i hope you all think that was as funny as I did.. because looking at it written out doesn't seem that funny. Maybe it's a just "you had to be there sort of thing"

-We taught an awesome lesson this week. A couple weeks ago.. I think my first week here we contacted this girl named Carol.. she was sitting on a bench and just hanging out by the avenue like most people here.. and we tried and tried to find her house later but we couldn't.. anyways.. long story shorter.. and a few miracles later.. we finally found her house! seriously the hand of the Lord was there. Anyways.. it was pouring rain and dark when we found her.. and we started talking to her on her front porch with very little light. she opened up to us a little bit and we started teaching her about God.. and who he is.. and who she is as a daughter of God. The spirit was so strong. I could tell she was on the verge of tears the entire time. She is 16 and has had a pretty hard life. We taught and invited her to pray at the end.. and she said the most sincere prayer ever. She finished with tears rolling down her face. She is VERY DIFFICULT for me to understand because she literally speaks straight Portuguese.. but I'm able to follow what's going on based on what Hermana Olvera is saying. anyways.. the rest of the week she wasn't available to meet again. I hope so badly that she doesn't forget what she felt that night. Satan works hard on us right before and after something amazing happens. Ugh.. so I'm praying for her. she is amazing. I want to help her so badly!

Anyways.. all is well here in La Paloma. My feet are basically stained orange now from the sand and red dirt that is caked onto my feet by the end of the day! I have lots of bug bites too! 

There is a disease here called Dengue.. and it's passed from mosquitoes.. it's like a really bad a long flue.. and lots of people are getting it right now. It's sad.. and we are doing our best to serve and help them.. but my comp said something really funny this week.. she said "if we don't die from dengue.. we are going to die from some crazy blood poisening from bug repellent.. haha we laughed. we laugh a lot.. it's good.

Two things I know.. 

First.. I know that every person.. no matter where they are in life or who they are or what they have done or what they are doing can benefit from this gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ is grand and incredible, but also very simple when you get down to it, and very personal thanks to the atonement. So incredible.

Second.. the Lord is so COMPLETELY aware of us and our desires and needs and our heart. he loves us. I read a talk this week from boyd k packer.. he gave it last april I think.. but he says something along the lines of "of all the names of diety God could have chosen.. he chose Father". I have thought about that constantly this week. I love that. He truly is our father. Literally. Just think about that for a second. Anyways.. 

I love you ALL! SO SO SO MUCH. 

Also.. just a house keeping thing.. I am by no means expecting packages or anything.. but I can only recieve two a year... so maybe hold back from sending those unless it is somethin that I absolutely need or ask for or something like that. BUT! I can always recieve cards and letters and pictures! Printed pictures are always fun!! 

I hope you have an amazing week! Thank you for your prayers. When I'm struggling.. I think of you all and how you pray for me and your faith in me. Thank you for your supports. I love you all my family and friends. 

xoxox

Hermana Ehlert

Week 2 in Paraguay

Holy moly.. it's Pday again! This week was kind of a long one for me.. but definitely a gooder full of ups and downs and lots of learning! 

THINGS THAT HAPPENED:

-I've officially endured my first few rainstorms.. and when I say rainstorm. I mean DUMPING. haha.. so that's awesome. it was great fun.

-We are teaching a lot of people.. and we are able to contact a lot.. and teach a lot of first lessons.. where the Spirit is so strong...where it touches me and their heart.. but we have a hard time getting people to progress. So that's kind of frustrating.. but I'm going to keep having faith.

-One lady in particular.. all of our appointments fell through.. and we were just walking trying to decide what to do. I was praying for someone prepared to be put in our path.. and someone totally was. It was amazing. The theory among the people here.. is that all churches are good. All churches have god in them.. but we try to explain that it really isn't like that. anyways..HER question was if there is one god.. why is there so many churches. AH. It was amazing. I loved it. I get chills thinking abot her. She rocks. We met her on Saturday.. and tried to stop by again on sunday.. but she wasn't there. So we'll see what happens with her this week.

-The branch here is awesome. It is small.. and I REALLY want to build it up. It hit me this week.. that my responsibility is to do exactly that. 

-I gave a talk in church this week.. it was definiely a struggle... hahah but I hope the members felt my love. I replaced a missionary that was from paraguay and could speak perfectly and I know they all loved her.. so I'm doing my best to earn their trust and love by working hard and representing my savior the best I can.. anyways.. I was giving a talk.... and s SPIDER crawled onto my paper while I was talking. hahaha I started laughing.. so I flicked it off and carried on. You would have all been so proud. I'm seriously getting better with bugs. You would all be proud. hahaha it rocks

-Our lights in our apartment only got cut a few times this week, and I took only 3 cold showers.. the rest of the time our water heater was working so that was awesome!!

-We eat lunch with a member every day.. and OH MY HEAVENS.. so much food. hahaha you would all die. they just keep pushing it on me. I';m working on creative ways to avoid eating so much as much as possible. Lots of carbs.. .but it's all really yummy. they are all so nice.

-We went to this town called Saltos today for zone conference..about 30 minute taxi ride.. ITS SO BEAUTIFUL HERE.. you all would die. anyways.. there is a store there called shopping china.. and they have this huge store FULL of American imports. It's so awesome. We walked around and I was just giddy. Like hershey chocolate and reeses peanut butter cups. haha it was awesome. You all would have loved it too

-This week we also had to travel to Asuncion.. the capital to do some paper work with other missiories.. it was super fun.. but.. needless to say.. this week I spent 15 hours on a hot and stinky bus.. but so so fun. haahhaha it's an adventure. 

Anyways. I was wondering if you all could do something for me.. I really want EASY recipes like for treats and stuff.. cookies.. anything like that.. but as EASY as possible. If any of you have any ideas.. send them my way POR FAVOR.

You're all in my prayers and I miss and love you so much.

Just know even though it's hard I'm doing my best and working my hardest. I represent my Savior. I'm taking that personally. I am trying to only do things that he would approve of. Thank you for your prayers. I really felt them this week. You are all such a strength.

two other hermana's in asuncion with me!! so fun! THey have this SUPER yummy bread thing called Chipa.. so good.. so I'm holding that. 

LANGUAGES and first week in ARGENTINA

Oh my goodness!! I AM HERE. IT HAS BEEN THE FASTEST AND SHORTEST WEEK OF MY LIFE. My fingers are flying. I have only 30 more minutes left! So many emails to read! I am typing as fast as I can.

So we got to Posadas. We met President LaPierre and the assistants. It was awesome. I love him you guys. He's awesome. His wife is great too. They are the best.

We stayed in Posadas for 2 nights and got to know President and did a lot of paperwork for our visas and stuff like that.

Anyways.. MY AREA.. I am in this tiny city called La Paloma. It is the farthest north you can go in our mission, and the farthest area from Posadas. We took a 12 HOUR BUS RIDE HERE. You guys.. it was so rough. Goodness. I was dying. And it only broke down ONCE. Miracle. But we finally got here.Oh my gosh. Google map it. It is really close to the boarder of Brazil. 

So here.. they speak Spanish.. and Portuegese and Gaurani.. oh my heavens. I am dying here you guys. IT IS SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND. When they are speaking Spanish they speak so fast.. and I can get about 50 or 60 % of what they are saying. sometimes they switch in the middle of what they are saying though.. and that is so tough as well. goodness. Gaurani sounds like some crazy African language or something. So yeah.. understanding is really hard for me. but even these last few days being here.. I have learned a lot, and am slowly understanding more and more. It's MUCH harder to talk. but anyways. yeah. woah. 

Somehow here they all understand eachother when they are speaking. It's kind of a miracle. Everyone just speaks and understands 3 languages I guess.. haha it's funny. 

The first day here was SUPER hard. We got to work right when we got here, and we were walking around and I was meeting investigators in this area and meeting members, and I could hardly understand anything.. and it was just really discouraging. I cried myself to sleep that night. In my interview with president he told me that it was okay to cry myself to sleep.. and the feelings I would be feeling when I got there was normal. So yeah.. it was a rough day. BUT.. the next day I realized that Satan was just working so hard on me and I wasn't going to let him have influence over me... and I just prayed that I would have faith.. and even though I couldn't understand, the second day WAS AWESOME. I loved it. Teaching real people is so amazing.

Okay.. my companion. Her name is Hermana Olvera.. Hannah Olvera if you want to stalk her on FB.. but yeah. SHE IS AWESOME. She is from Idaho.. she did a year at BYU before she came here. She is almost at 10 months on the mission and this is her first time training. We get along well.. and work hard together. She speaks really really well and I'm learning so much from her.

**I hope this email is making sense because I'm typing so fast**

LA PALOMA: *here is two hours ahead of utah*

it rocks here. the culture is so funny. If they aren't working.. they are at home and sitting in the front yard and drinking mate. HAHA. THEY LOVE MATE. it's hilarious. The houses here are very humble. wow. There are some nicer houses, but most of them are one or two rooms. They cook and eat and basically do everything outside.. and sleep inside. We teach outside. We either squat down and teach or they pull up a chair. Most of the time they have extra chairs. They are all very nice. 

There are cars here but most people drive around on motorcycles or mopeds? I don't know how to spell that.. oops. AND THEY ARE SO LOUD. In this town they have one main road that we call the avenue. It's paved with asphault and everything.. and at night they sit around the avenue with their cars parked on the side and hang out and blast SUPER loud music and ride their bikes and motorcylces up and down the avenue. it's so funny. they drive up.. and turn around and then ride back down. it's awesome. 

Okay.. so teaching real people.. rather than investigators in the MTC IS SO AWESOME. I LOVE IT. Teaching is awesome.. even though I can hardly speak. 

One story from this week:

We were trying to find a girl that we met at a busstop a few days ago.. and we were walking around and asking people if they knew her.. and no one did.. and we asked these people who were sitting in there front yard drinking mate *shocker* and we ended up starting a lesson with them. It was two really young couples. One had a daughter. THEY ARE SPOKE SPANISH. MIRACLE. So I basically understood everything that was being said, but I couldn't jump in anywhere. It was hard. Hermana Olvera is really good at teaching, and kept looking at me to start talking, but I just couldn't find words. It was hard. But we were teaching the restoration.. and I started teaching about joseph smith.. It was choppy but I was just praying SO HARD for the spirit to touch them.. and the spirit was so strong. or atleast I was feeling it. It was awesome. and anyways.. after we got done teaching and set a time to teach them again this week.. one of them turned to me and said even though I didn't speak very well, it didn't matter, because she felt something and that is all that matters. YOU GUYS.. I WAS DYING. THE CHURCH IS SO TRUE. As we walked away from that lesson.. I just was thinking and thinking about that. HOW AMAZING. 

How in the world could two 19 year old girls.. no matter hor well they spoke or didn't speak.. how in the world could we convert people if this church wasn't true?? WE COULDNT. Missionaries all around the world convert people though.. because of the spirit. The spirit does the heavy lifting. It's so amazing. Does that make sense? If I had more time I would be able to explain it better. 

Anyways.. until I came on a mission.. I don't think I ever realized how much I love you all and my family and how important you all are to me. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. 

I THINK AND PRAY ABOUT YOU OFTEN. Thank you for your prayers. I need them. I love you you all. I  can't say it enough. 

Until next week..

Hermana Ehlert

the roads here. I love them. walking them and clapping doors is THE BOMB. I love being a missionary.

Our little house