Torrential Rain, Wicked Lightning, and Tender Mercies for days...

Torrential Rain, Wicked Lightning, and Tender Mercies for days...
2-months into this adventure!

Wow!! The last week has flown by!! Here I am again writing this email. Apologies now because this keyboard doesn't believe in a lot of the keys especially the space bar. So that is why it is all sorts of crazy!! Lets start it off then!!

I understand Hna. Chandler's concerns!

P-day Last - I watched 17 Miracles and it was such a kick in the pants in reminding me to work harder and to count my blessings. They sacrificed their lives and I am only asked for a year and a half. If they can do it, so can I. Good reminder. Oh, and it was in English! Tender mercy!

Tuesday - Such a crazy, awesome, adventure-filled day. It rained like crazy but we went out tracting anyway. I found out Hna. Chandler's greatest fear during this. We were climbing hills of mud and climbing/sliding down them. Her biggest fear is slipping and falling. We conquered it though (mostly, kind of) on our adventures. We also saw another monkey and it performed for us. Our lucky day and perfect timing because we had just finished talking to a lady that was not happy to be listening to us. Another tender mercy. 

Then that night walking home after a lot of lessons and tracting, I saw a field of fireflies. SO COOL. Also heard the crazy sound of tons of frogs and then almost killed a baby frog but Hna. Chandler saved it. Then Hna. Chandler was chased by five BIG sapos (toads). It was so funny. Oh, and I of course,  picked up the baby frog but didn't kiss it because what is the use of a Prince Charming if I am on a mission? Maybe after, I will come back and kiss 'em all. :) This day was good because we worked so hard and laughed just as hard.

Another beautiful sky after a storm

Wednesday - I did the patriarchal blessing color study for personal study and it opened my eyes a lot. (First, in color 1, you mark the counsel and warnings; second, in color 2, mark the descriptions about you; and finally, in color 3, mark your gifts and talents.) I have so much to work towards in my life and what better preparation than a mission. We taught bunch of people today during tracting, one of which was a 16-year-old girl with a new baby. It was so sad to see what she was bringing her daughter into. We will keep trying with her.

Thursday-We had a zone meeting and it was scary. I was separated from my companion and in a group with a Sister Training Leader (STL) -- they are known to be a little intense. It was different but ended up being a good experience and I was able to learn as we did a practice lesson. Not with the STL, thankfully, but with another hermana in my zone. The Spanish still is hard but I have hope it will come. Then that night we taught Fatima and I was SOOO excited for this lesson! It was so sad because then she basically dropped us during the lesson but we are going to keep dropping by because we both feel that she knows it is true but is too scared. 

"Hey baby! I love you!"

After we contacted her, we contacted the two referrals she gave us. They live in a tent by a field. While we were walking up, there was a whole field of men playing soccer and they yelled in English, "Hey baby! I love you!" Hna. Chandler said all 30 of them were staring at us so we almost didn't go up to the tent but decided to anyway. We met Rayna and Nestor: mother and son. Their house burned down so they are living in this tent. We taught them and invited them to church. They accepted! They were so sad because they were so destitute. I am so blessed. Then there was a crazy lightning storm that night and we got ice cream to celebrate Hna. Chandler's 17 month mark!! Hurray!!

Friday-All day rain. I finally brought out the "babushka" rain coat again. This day was great because I took all the nursing calls which is scary because they are usually all in Spanish. But one of them this day was Elder Ah Quin who was in my MTC district. It was so good to talk to him even though he was super sick. Tender mercies are all around us.

The "babushka" coat

Saturday- We taught sweet little Crame this day. She is so cute and agrees with everything. It is just her husband holding her back. She prayed just like we do at the end of teaching her about the restoration. Then we went and visited crazy-card-lady-Lorena and invited her to church and she accepted(!!) and so we planned out for the Lugen's to pick her up the next day. This day we also had the primary program practice which Hna. Chandler plays the piano for because no one else plays in the ward. Yikes. I'm scared for when she leaves. :) Then another hermana in the zone shared a great experience with me about how hard her mission was but then the mission president noted how the greatest thing was seeing the change she had wrought in her companion's life. Success can be so many different things in the mission but if you are serving the Lord then it is always going to be the right kind of success. Awesome day!

View of the church building from our flat

Sunday-LORENA CAME TO CHURCH!!! It is a miracle. My companion and Hermana Holmes before me had been trying for 22 Sundays to get her to come and she came!! It was so awesome! I was so nervous because I couldn't really speak to her but I tried and then I prayed like crazy to have her feel the spirit because she doens't have a religion and every church she has been to has felt wrong. So hopefully she felt right about ours. We will find out when we visit her this week. It was so awesome. Sunday was a great day for me. I know that I can do this work and that it is so worth it. Still hard but worth it. I know that I can be an instrument in the hands of the Lord if I just give him my all. He will make it all possible. Sunday was good.

Sorry this email is a bit more disjointed then usual. Suffice it to say it was a good week. I learned a lot and I know that my Savior is there for me. I know this work is hard because it is worth it. The only things in life worth having are not easy. They are worth it. Such is this work. The reason it is hard for people to accept at times is because it invites change and change is hard. But it is the change that makes all the difference. It is coming closer unto our Savior that brings the greatest happiness.  If you want to know how I feel about this work and how I have tried to handle it. Read Alma 31:27-38. This has become my example. If I can just be like Alma and have his faith and pray to be what the Lord needs me to be then I know it will all work out for the best. 

Love you all - hope you have a fantabulous week!!

Hermana Albach

Random Paraguay Stuff

A beautiful home in Cuidad del Estes

-We light our stove with a spaghetti piece lit on fire.

-Tons of different Tang such as guarana just like Aunt Karen said.

-They eat Halls cough drops here like they are candy. They consider them mints. It's nasty. They are at the front of every store like the candy is in America.

-They have super loud music here all the time. I might be deaf when I get home

-SO MUCH RAIN this week but not very much thunder. Crazy lightning storms.

-They don't fill up their own gas, like Oregon.

-Mint chocolate chip ice cream is much better in the USA but chocolate is better here.

-Dad would fit right in. All the old men wear jean shorts…made me laugh!