Email 06/15/09

It´s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel FINE!!!!!

Now there is a reason for that song but I´ll have to start from the beginning.

Last Monday, not too long after I sent the email, the Zone Leaders called us to tell us that sister missionaries were coming to Branch 1 and they would come into Ca´a Guazu at about 9:30 or 10 that night and told us to be there to pick them up. They also told us that the office elders didn´t have an extra cell phone so the sisters didn´t have a cell phone. That worried me and Mercado a little bit so we got to the Bus Terminal at 9 just in case they came in early. The last thing we wanted was to have to Sister Missionaries stuck at the bus terminal of a strange city with no idea of where to go. So we got there at 9 and at about 11 the bus came. It was SOOOOO not fun waiting in the cold but I didn´t think anything about it at the time, we were there to help the sisters. The bus gets to Ca´a Guazu and 2 ELDERS get off. We asked where the sisters were and they said there never was any sisters, just them. And they had a cell phone. It turns out the zone leaders just wanted to do a prank. I was NOT happy. The new elders for Branch 1 are Elder Beyer and Elder Reed. Elder Reed came to Paraguay with me.

The next day was Zone Meeting so we were all together. Elder Rosell, one of the zone leaders, comes up to me, "Wasn´t that a funny joke? I bet you felt pretty stupid." "Actually Rosell I just felt mad that my zone leaders lied to me. I didn´t think it was funny at all." That probably wasn´t the right thing to say but I did not like sitting out in the cold for 2 hours when they actually had a cell phone that we could call. My reaction REALLY surprised them so the zone leaders had a quick meeting. "Elder Wills, we were planning on saving this till later but we´ll just tell you now because you´re not in a good mood. Elder Reed came to reopen Branch 1 but his companion isn´t Beyer. It´s you!"

I was VERY surprised. So I got a special transfer. I´m now in Ca´a Guazu 1. There are two perks to this. 1. My new apartment is completely spotless and 2. I´m no longer with Mercado. Reed is from Salt Lake, he came here to Paraguay with me. In the picture of us with the Bradleys, he is #4 on the back row. The interesting thing about him is that he became an office Elder after his first transfer (In December) and he just came from there. So basically he´s a new missionary. It is wonderful. He follows the rules RELIGIOUSLY, and quite frankly he´s an awesome guy.

The funny thing about coming to Branch 1 is that with the exception of a few members, I knew nothing about the people here. So this week has been an exploration, finding investigators, members, etc. But is was SOOOO sad getting yanked from Branch 2. I still can see them, kind of, but the main reason I was mad at the zone leaders is that because they wanted to make it a joke, I lost my chance to spend some quality time with my friends and say goodbye. But, this area is AMAZING and we found some wonderful people this week. The coolest was a man we found last night. His name is William and he´s from London. No that´s not a typo. He´s going on a bike tour of South America and he decided to spend a couple of nights here in Ca´a Guazú. He seems REALLY interested but it´s rather strange teaching in English.

The family reunion sounds so cool. I definitely wished I could have gone. I love the pictures. Please congratulate Justin for me and tell Brent to squeeze Angie for me. I miss her.

Yes and I got the cards from the McGees. Very cute. Thank them for me. And I got a letter from Sister Jestes.

Thank you so much for everything. I love you all so much.

Elder Frank Wills