Rain, Rain, Mud for Days

February 8, 2016

Hola todos!

Ant hill taller than her comp!

So this week I really have no time. My comp has surgery in like half an hour.Hahah. But this week I definitely felt like I was in a jungle because it has been SOOOOO hot and then when you get to the point that you think you can't go any longer it rains. Oh blessed hot rain....where vapor rises from the asphalt on the street. It is crazy! Then it is cooler for like 3 hours and then it is hot again. But hey...i will take fresh and cool for a little bit.

So this week we were able to work almost normally. I love my comp. She makes me laugh quite frequently. We are working to help those that are progressing to really make the big step towards baptism at the end of this month. We were able to teach Juana and she was able to accept a baptismal date for the 5th of March. We will see how it goes. The great thing is that she is already married! Win!!! Love that!! 

Our guide to an investigator's home

I have been studying a lot about how as a missionary I can make the sabbath day a delight when it really just feels like any other day, but as I have studied the scriptures I have found that the Sabbath Day is really all about forgetting oneself and trying your very hardest to do all the things the lord would do, say, and feel on that day. As we ask ourselves this question it becomes super clear and I can testify that the day becomes a delight and something different from the rest of the week! 

I also found a killer scripture in Alma 5:40 that really defines how I feel about the work and my part in it! I hope that you all have a great week and remember who you are and that the Lord is calling each and every one of us to do a great work. We just have to call upon him to know what, when, and how, and then be willing to go and do!!!

Love,

Hermana Albach

More photos:

Ouch!

Frozen bananas keep us cool!

Beautiful countryside

Ah! Blue skies.

Rural Paraguay

Don't Give Up...You. Are. Loved.

February 1, 2016

Hey all,

So this week was full of good-byes and hellos. It was definitely bittersweet to leave Rama 2 (Encarnacion) and so very many people that I love and hope for the best. You just end up giving your heart to these people and areas. It is amazing that I still have any left to give. But I do! Had a great finish to my time with Hermana Castillo. I learned so much from her and she made me a card with a dead grasshopper covered in glitter. That is unique and memorable!! ;) 

Thursday came way too fast and I was headed with my new comp H. Velàsquez to Obligado which is about an hour away from Encarnaciòn on bus. What the what? I left Encarnaciòn.....if I had stayed until the 25th of February I would have been in Encarnaciòn for an entire year!! Crazy! But hey. My new area is HUGE and gorgeous. It is a German community but they speak Spanish too. So it is really pretty and the people are blonde and white. Freaks me out. Not used to seeing so many blondes or people with colored eyes. 

We did some nursing stuff with H. Velasquez because she just so happens to be the same girl that was hit by the motorcycle. I have been able to do some infected wound care and that has been fun....maybe just for me and not so much for her. Hahaha. We visited a recent convert and then he came to church.....two weeks in a row now. Super great! Church was great. Way different. Still leading the music. Fun stuff. And rocking the primary participation where they give us snacks. All about that life. It truly is like a green version of Montana to me. Lots of farming and fields and open skies. I LOVE IT! I am excited for the weeks to come and to see the progress and work we can get done here in this new area. A scripture I found this week that was awesome for me was Acts 20:19. So true and just what the mission is all about. LOVE IT!!! 

Well I hope this email finds you all well and happy and that you remember how important you are all. Don't give up. In the words of Josh Groban "remember that you are loved!!!!" Sorry my comp is really trying to learn english so I write down lyrics for her in english and the last one/first one was this song. But it is SO TRUE!!!

Love,

Hermana Albach

Obligadooooooooooo!

January 25, 2016

Hola todos!!!

Just a few of the faces I'm going to miss most

Espero que tuvieran una semana productiva y buena!! <I hope you have had a productive and good week> So this week was spent almost none of it in our area. We were doing things for the health of my companion, for the hermana that was hit by a motorcycle, and interviews, and a worldwide missionary training for all 75 million missionaries. It was awesome. 

Obligado

Something that I learned from the training that Elder Bednar gave about the Spirit was priceless. It wasn't anything that he said. It was something that I felt and learned. It was about how we are truly the instruments in the hands of the Lord. So I was thinking of a violin. The Spirit is the music that we hear when we have tuned, practiced, and prepared sufficiently that the Lord can play a part. We truly have to do our part and then we are promised the Lord will do his. He will use our instrument and he will be able to make beautiful music that is truly the spirt playing through us. I also know that the Lord prepares us to face all challenges. I have learned SO MUCH about charity and loving even and especially when we don't want to. I know that as we turn to our Savior he will truly make all our challenges light and possible to overcome. 

Hermanas Merchan and Velasquez
She's sporting sunglasses to protect her eye.

I love this work and I am so excited to be headed to Obligado to work with Hermana Velàsquez and have some new exciting challenges!! You are all such great examples to me and I hope that all is going well! Remember that we are truly strongest, tallest, and supported when we are on our knees. Get working on getting that knee callus!! Hashtags: #realthinginthemission #reppinthekneecallus

Love,

Hermana Albach