Email August 29, 2011

Hello mother!!!

Well another P-day in Paraguay!!! Sorry this keyboard really stinks so my letter could really be rough to read... but that is how it goes... sorry. So I am trying to figure out how to attach a voice recording that I made, but this computer will not recognize my device.. So you might not get to hear that....

I will keep trying. Sounds like everything is going good at home. Congrats to Niglet on his hole in one!!! Pretty cool. I never was able to do that. Congrats to Natali with her triatholon, sorry I dont know if that is spelled correctly. Spanish has killed my spelling. I will be praying for Maxine, I am sure she will be fine though. She is the strongest lady I know. I was unable to bring my peanut butter.... They actually had it at that texas barbeque we went to but it was pretty expensive. My companion in the MTC for those few days was named Adamson. Hopefully that got all of what was in your email.

I hope I can put my voice recording on here, because I have a funny story on it that happened yesterday. But yeah. Life is good here in Paraguay. It is hot now. Doesn´t quite make sense to me. It was cold when I got here. Really cold. Now it is hot. It took about all of 2 days to change. Haha I am sure KO is loving the warm, but as you know I am sweating like crazy. It is not too bad yet though. It will get super super hot in November December January I am told. So I have that to look forward to hahaha.

This week we found a couple of new investigators. We found them by visiting the many inactive people that are here. We taught lots of lessons it seemed like, people are progressing, everything is peaches. Then Sunday comes... We are supposed to have 10 investigators in church. We had 2... One of which can´t get baptized until he gets married, and he can´t read so that is sort of a problem. But it is all bueno.

I still can´t understand a whole lot. As it turns out, most of the people here speak really bad Spanish. Really bad Spanish. Haha so it is really really hard for me to even distinguish words with them. With the other latin elders and with my mission president I can understand at least a little bit, but not the Paraguayans.... Haha but I just smile and try my best. They all seem to find it hilarious to ask me if I know Guarani once they realize that I dont speak any Spanish.

Well I am running out of time, and I cant get this computer to recognize that thing... So my encounter with the drunk man yesterday will have to wait for another day. I hope all is well. The church is true. I know by the Spirit, just like Alma did. He saw an angel, but his testimony came by the Spirit.

Love, Elder Naegle

- Show quoted text -

Email August 22, 2011

Hey Mom!!!

Well my first email from Paraguay! Sorry if my grammar is terrible, this keyboard is going to take some getting used to. Alright. Where to begin??? So I flew into Asuncion first class, how about that? haha it was pretty nice. The airport is a tiny little place. Customs wasn't anything more than a walk through some doors. President and Hermana Madariaga were waiting for me and they drove me to the mission office. I emailed you, filled out a few things. Had an interview. Then went to lunch with President and the office elders. We went to a chinese place. It was pretty dang good. Figured I better eat up while I could.

Then they dropped my companion and I off at our apartment. My companion is Elder Shirk. He is from Logan. These are his last two transfers, and he is awesome so they should be really good. Our area is called Trinidad. It is in Asuncion. The best way to describe it is... Well it is like the best of both worlds. Part of it is Asuncion, so a fairly nice city. From where our apartment is down to the river is extremely poor. That is where we have spent nearly all of our time, except for today.

So anyway. President gave us permission to rest, but I just wanted to unpack for a bit, then we went out. We went to teach a couple. The man has been baptized, but they aren't married and I don't really know all of the details. So anyway. I didn't say much. I can't understand a whole lot... I can understand my companion and other Americans that speak Spanish. But the majority of Paraguayans speak much to fast for me. Haha I just smile. I thought it would be super stressful but honestly I am having the time of my life. It has been the biggest adventure. So anyway.

We have taught quite a few lessons, I share my testimony and a personal experience when I can. It is pretty fun. Minus the fact that it has been freezing. I wasn't expecting it at all. I am doing my best to soak it up though, because I know it will be super hot in a matter of days so I am trying love it.

Last night we had a pretty funny lesson. So we went down by the river, which has been flooding pretty good. We were visiting these 3 less active ladies. We were just sitting outside the little shack thing. There was a drunk guy standing behind listening in. There were a bunch of pigs making a ton of noise, probably 15 dogs running around. Haha it was just a crazy experience. As I was sitting there, I just thought to myself. I am in Paraguay. What the Heck?? How did I ever end up here? But I am loving it.

Today we went and got a nice lunch and this little Texas barbeque place. Couldn't believe my eyes and ears. A white guy with a Texas accent. Thought I had switched places with Connor and Butch! Had a good sandwich. Man it was good!

Anyway. Life is pretty good here in Paraguay. Really really really different. Much different than I could have expected, but it is awesome. The people are really nice. They are patient with my lack of understanding. So anyway. Can't think of anything else to say right now. I am going to try to attach a few pictures. Hope it works out alright. It is super super super slow. So you only may get one or two. Sorry about that.

Sorry if you want more information too. You will just have to ask me more questions. So much happens that I can't even remember what happens. Well I hope everything is going well. It was so good to talk to you the other day. I love you so much. Tell everyone I love them too.

Love, Elder Naegle

A group of missionaries in the MTC all from Bountiful High

Email August 20, 2011 Paraguay!!

hello parents!

Well I am safely in Paraguay. The trip went well. Nothing too exciting happened. It is surprisingly a little chilly here. I actually ended up flying first class from Brazil to Asuncion so that turned out nicely. My bags got here safely. My mission president and his wife picked me up from the airport. Everything went smoothly. Things are pretty crazy in Paraguay! Just a little bit different than good old Bountiful. But I am loving it so far. My companion is Elder Shirk. Just met him. Don}t know where we will be going to but I am sure I will find out soon enough. Anyway. I hope everything is well. I will email again soon I guess. Love you so much. Thanks for everything. Paraguay is everything I hoped it would be. I can actually understand a lot of my Presidents spanish, but they are from Argentina. Well I gotta run. Tell everyone hello.

Love, Elder Naegle

Email August 13, 2011

Hey Mom and Dad,

So I get another 30 minutes to email today. I got my package. So no need to worry. I really hope that I go through Argentina, otherwise I will need to drop a bunch of stuff. My carry on full of my books alone is 30 pounds. I packed it today to test it. They are sticklers there too I guess. But it will all be alright. I will just have to pay for one of my bags being overweight if I can't make it. The phone idea sounds really good to me. That would work great. I just need to have all that on Thursday because I could leave that night. Probably not but it is possible. A kid in our zone got his visa and left for the Guatamala MTC 4 hours later. I am going to be as ready as I can be on Thursday to go, but hopefully I will be leaving Monday or so. I misunderstood my MP3 player so I am sorry about that. I thought that other memory card was for my camera. I knew it had the smaller sd memory in it, but I didn't realize it had the music on it because we can't listen to music in the MTC. So sorry for the confusion. I was just expecting the micro SD card that I sent home. But that will work great. I was going to put all the pictures on a cd here, but the picture machine is broken. So I am hoping it will be fixed by Monday, but if not I just won't worry about it.

The Bishop sent me a dearelder. Gave me some good advice. Please tell him thanks. Tell him I am doing my best, but not killing myself over it. I can't believe that Andrew will be home way soon.

Pretty cool that Biss is home now. Tell him hello for me. I can't think of anything else that I need to say in this email, but I have quite a bit of time left so I will check it later before dinner if I can. Dinner starts at 5:45. So 5:15 or so. I will keep checking the journal over the next week so please keep checking that as well. Thursday could be a pretty crazy day depending on what the travel office does to me. I'll be sending home a package on Thursday or Friday depending on the plans. Tell everyone hello. Sorry these last few weeks have been all about me in all my letters, but I have a lot on my mind at the moment. Honestly, I think I can say I have never been this stressed in my entire life. I am not quite sure why. I am not even leaving yet. But the idea of being in a foreign country for 2 years is finally starting to sink in a little bit. Anyway. I am pushing forward. It will all be ok. I guess all the missions are on a new program where the new missionaries are with their trainers for 2 transfers, they have an extra hour of companionship study, and they are supposed to teach all of the first discussions. And a few other things. But those are the main ones. Basically. I am a guinea pig. Anyway. I will check this later. Gotta run.

Love, Elder Naegle

Email August 5,2011

Hey Mom,

Well you talked to President Harris yesterday. I'm glad you enjoyed your conversation. He really is the bomb. A man that has been through a lot, but hasn't let it get to his head. For those of you reading this that don't know what I am talking about... My time in the MTC has been extended for two more weeks. I have been dealing with some headaches(migraines). Minor issue. Shouldn't be a big deal. I'm not too worried about it. As President Harris said (one of the six district presidents here at the MTC), he wants me to go as soon as possible, so I could possibly even leave on time or maybe a week late. He said as soon as possible. He is the bomb. Probably the best conversation I have had with anyone here at the MTC. He speaks Spanish. Told me that there is no way that I could ever learn Spanish in the MTC. Told me to take it easy on myself, which he knows is easier said than done. He said, in his words "I am no doctor, but I know exactly what is causing your headaches. It is this place. This place is tough on young people. I was a mission president and all my missionaries took a sigh of relief when they got there. They worked hard, they were tired, but it was different." Haha it was great. I couldn't believe my ears. A man that talks to the apostles all of the time, was so down to earth. Very spiritual, but down to earth. Anyway. Life is good. Sure it was tough to hear that I have two more weeks here... Haha but there is a reason for it I am sure.

That is basically all that has happened here this week. I got to leave the MTC twice this week for the doctors appointments. That was pretty weird. Not going to lie. On the first one, a man took me because it was in Orem and the shuttle couldn't take me. So he was my companion for the visit. He was an older gentleman, and we were just talking about our lives a little bit. He moved here to Utah in 1980 to get away from a rough life and divorce in California. Started taking the discussions and was baptized. Family disowned him. 6 years ago. He got married. A week after his honeymoon his wife got very sick and passed away. They were planning on serving a mission. Now he volunteers at the MTC and is a temple worker. My problems seemed very insignificant at the moment in time. Helped me realize that we all have problems, no matter who we are. The question is how we are going to deal with them.

The church is true. Paraguay is tight. Can't wait to get there and not understand a word. Life is bueno. Podemos hacerlo.

Love, Elder Naegle