My Chicken Friend Alfred

This past week has definitely been an adventure. The week always goes by so fast and I can not believe I am already writing again. So the day after P-day last week, we were followed by the cutest dog ever, I named him Buster, and he is a keeper, no picture sorry, also we made homemade sloppy joes and pasta stuff with homemade juice with a Mburucuya, which is a really amazing fruit they have here, love it! It was pretty chilly that day, so we were telling stories as we walked and there is a butterfly here in Paraguay that if it lands on your skin will lay eggs into your skin and then worms start growing in your body... yes this is a real thing, in Guarani it is called Ura, so making sure I steer clear of that guy. Then the next day, we killed the pig... it was different to say the least, like really it was really crazy, I love piggies so it was weird to see one killed right in front of me. The way they do it is they slit its throat and wait for it to bleed out, and then they take boiling water and pour it over it to get all of the hair off of it,,, good times, good times. And during all of this I got to hang out with my chicken friend Alfred, we took pictures together and is really cute, it was a pretty chill day, the family we killed chancho with is a less active, and they are really sweet, the pig was for their birthdays! Thing that I keep forgetting to tell you guys, they do not flush toilet paper here, the pipes are too weak... it has been an experience, to say the least, but now that I have been here for 5 weeks, it really does not seem to weird to me. Anyhow, I talked during sacrament yesterday... in Spanish, and it was not too bad, if I do say so myself :) I am still as clumsy as ever, totally walked in to a barb wire clothes line.. might of gotten a cut on my head, it is not too bad. We celebrated some birthdays with our new members, and made brownies for them, and brownies with dulce on top are the best!! After we taught a lesson at Rosalino's dad's house, and things were going good, then it got dark and they turned on the lights in the house, the entire ceiling was full of webs, and there were super big spiders, just chilling and going ever where... it was great. This morning we went for a jun (jog-run) and the pictures of the lake and bridge were there, it is so pretty!!! Oh a dog almost attacked me this morning, they do not really like it when we run... at all, so we just have to be careful about not being by crazy dogs! But a quote that I loved this week:

¨Compared to God man is nothing ; yet we are everything to God¨- President Uchtdorf 

Things are going well, we have a baptisms coming up next month, so we will see how those go! Have a great week!!!

Love, 

Hermana Douglas 

Alfred the chicken

Taina and the Tortilla

******HEADS UP! TAINA SENT PICTURES OF THE PIG SHE KILLED. THEY ARE PRETTY GRAPHIC. I'LL TRY TO POST ONLY THE LEAST GRAPHIC ONES. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED*****

There's more pictures of the pig but they are creepy Lord of the Flies style pics of the poor pig's dismembered head and feet. Use your imagination for those ones... Taina made mention of how sad it was for her to kill the pig because she loves little piggies, but she also understood the culture in Paraguay and how important it was for the family to have the meat. It is an experience she will never forget.

Mondungo and Brownies

Hey Everyone!!

So things that have happened from last week to this one: 

-We had a marriage and a baptism

-I ate Mondungo... which is cow Stomach cooked straight out of the cow, with all the yummy things the cow has eaten also in your food!! So much fun!

-Home made Brownies with Dulce De Leche on top, is wonderful

- Walking if difficult when you also try to talk at the same time... you will trip and fall 

- the frogs here sound like Roman (roaming) candles- the fireworks 

- Limito is sooooooo good, I love it!!! 

- The language is coming... I think :) 

I love Santani, I sent some more pictures to Kaia so ask her for them!! (this is kaia :) the pics are posted below Taina's letter today!) It is so pretty here, amazing!! I finally sent a picture of my house, check it out! I love the steps going up to it, we live above a really nice family.

So things that I studied this week and loved. Read Mosiah, like go right now and read the whole book of Mosiah, it is amazing, chapter 13-15 are so good about the Atonement. Also Abinadi is a beast!!! New favorite!! 

I know I did not write much this week but, I am having such an amazing time, I love being a missionary! It is the most amazing calling in the world and I would not change the experiences I have had for anything. 

Have a great week!!! Do not forget to write, I love hearing from you!!! 

Love, 

Hermana Douglas 

Taina's house

Taina's current compañera Hermana Hall from Spring, Texas

Rain Boots! Rain Boots!

Hey guys!! 

So things here in Santani are really good, I am loving it. It is really hard work and sometimes I would rather cut off my feet then walk on cobble stone again, but the experiences that come from the hard work make it worth it! So after I wrote you last week, a lot of stuff has happened... for starters, the buses are scary, like never ride one, they are crazy- always packed full, and you have to jump on them- like they slow down a little, but usually not all the way, so that is always fun :) There has been a lot of rain recently so I usually wear my rain boots, because there is always a ton of mud, like enough you could drown, it is crazy! 

Something that I love about my companion is she is also every big on movies, so we quote movies all the time I love it!! Any who, during the week the lights decided to go out on Wednesday for about three hours, and because we are in a dangerous area, for girls, we had to go back to our house and wait it out, really the lights were out in all of Santani and San Jose and two other cities around us, it was crazy and kinda scary, because in front of our house (i will send a picture next week ) these dogs started to attack each other and it was really loud, they were out to do damage! With all the rain, one time last week it rained all night, but then at about 5.30 there was a gigantic crack of thunder, and the lightning was so bright!!! it woke us up, because it sounded like it hit right outside!! Also this past week we got to have zone conference, and low and behold, me and my companion are not only the only hermanas in our district but also in our zone, we are the smallest zone in our mission, with only 14 people- I love it, all the elders are really nice and it was good to be able to listen to presidente talk about what our area needs to do to improve. But meeting a new zone was weird, I loved all the Elders in my district at the CCM, it was quite an experience, but I think my new district are cool too.

 Food, food is amazing, and I am in love with everything. Bread is delicious and somehow tastes better here, even sodas taste wonderful( I can not drink Coke or Mate,but everything else is wonderful). This last week I got to see two ostrich, which is crazy, some lady has them as pets in her backyard, and they have been named- Philip and Donoso (by my Companion and I)- they were really cool, I will see if I can get a picture, Philip is a little camera shy. Did you know you can make homemade hot chocolate, and it is delicious!!! So good, and wonderful after a long day of hobbling in the rain, I loved it! The other day I got told I looked liked a girl in a movie, a Disney movie, mind you. So that was cool, and random.

 Also a fun fact, the guys here are different.... it is not really safe for us, because all of them are snakes, but you would not believe how many looks I get because I am hard core white, It is not really hard to see that I am American :) Oh the hot water has been restored at our house, and that means I am able to take hot showers!! So good, worth it! We have two baptisms this week, and I am so Excited!! We are having their marriage and baptism on the same day and I am so excited for them, they are wonderful!! Not sure if I am forgetting anything but... I hope you all have a wonderful week!! Love you guys so much, and keep it up with the emails I am loving them!!!

Love, 

Hermana Douglas 

Is that a chicken under your bed?

From: Taina Douglas [taina.douglas@myldsmail.net] 
Sent: Monday, July 06, 2015 1:51 PM
To: Daniel Douglas
Subject: Re: Re

 

Hey guys!!!!

Things are good here, I may of lost all the pictures on my flash drive because the computer ate them but I am trying to save as many as I can, and Dad do not make a struggle bus joke, this really sucks. Anywho I am in Santani, google it it is so pretty... my Companion is Hermana Hall from Spring Txas she is really cool and I am glad she is so nice. My first day working here it rained all day and unfortunatly I did not have rain boots so my feet were super wet and everything else was too, pero I was able to get some the next day and that all turned out well. The people here are amazing and Kaia has the pictures of where I live and such, I have never seen so many animals outside of cages ever, really pigs, dogs, chickens everything just chilling on the road. I love it here so much, it is amazing and the food is great! We are going to make brownies this afternoon, and I am really excited, for them, I am missing food from home but some of the stuff here should defineltly come home with me. The shower in  our house the hot wáter is broken so we make do with cold, it really wakes you up in the morning, also all othe families here live in shacks it is crazy. Our house is a nicer one compared to others in the Ward. One family had a chicken that lived under there beds, I am pretty sure we ate him for dinner last night at their house, but so much fun, It is so cool to be here. In the área Santani it was just recently opened up to sisters, last year, and I have the eighth sister to ever be in this área, it is crazy!!! if you have the time google Calle Viente it hac the prettiest view I will try to send you some but hey my flash drive might get hungry again, please pray that the computer was just being dumb and all the pictures are all still there... We have two baptisms in two weeks, i am so excited for them, they are ready!!! love you guys, good luck and have a great week!!!!

Hermana Douglas