Empanadas... pizza... asado... empanadas... pizza...

This last week was really good. I'm pretty sure I prayed more than ever in my life this week for Beto. On Friday he passed his baptismal interview. He has stopped smoking and drinking completely. We taught him the Law of Chastity, the Law of Tithing, and the Word of Wisdom again in about 2 minutes because he understood it all and didn't have a problem with keeping them... usually we have to teach each one of them for a whole lesson. He really is one of the most converted people I know, and he is a lot happier than ever. He is a different man than the person he was when I met him. He was going to be baptized on Saturday, but he wants his mom and his son to be present, so due to General Conference this week he will be baptized on the 12th and confirmed on the 13th. We are really excited and praying very hard for him. Also, he buys us dinner just about every day. We've eaten a lot of empanadas, pizza and sandwiches. Also yesterday we had an asado. I tried morcilla again (blood sausage) and it wasn't as nasty as the first time.

So... funny thing about the Paraguayan family... on Monday we had a very spiritual Lesson 3- The Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, The Holy Ghost, Enduring to the End). So spiritual that all present would want to be baptized. So spiritual that Cristian and Edgar remembered that they were baptized 6 years ago in Paraguay. We were somewhat skeptical, because whenever people tell us they've been baptized it's usually in another church. However, they proceeded to explain about the baptismal records with 3 different colored sheets and the baptismal font and everything. I shot a text to the mission offices and they looked them up in the church records and found them... so they're already members. It was kind of an interesting experience. The good news is that we have 2 more young men in the ward, bringing the grand total to 4 haha. Their cousin Isaac is really great, but he told us that for now he isn't really interested in baptism, and he would like to wait. We are excited to find many new investigators this week.

Something interesting yesterday is that it rained a lot, and not very many people came to church. The sister that teaches the gospel principles class didn't come, and the Bishop told me to teach the class. It was a new experience for me, but I think I did alright. 

Anyway, I hope all is well in the United States, Chile, Taiwan, México, the Philippines, wherever y'all may be. It's still getting a bit cold here... a different cold... a humid cold that penetrates to your bones... it's rough... it's only Autumn. However, I'm pretty sure I'm happier than I've ever been in my mission. It's a good day to be a missionary and wear the plaque on my chest.

Love,

Elder John William Garrett