Email November 28, 2011

Hello Mom,

I wasn´t able to get my package today because we did the first zone activity in a long time. I am not sure if it is here yet, but I will call the office elders this week. We are starting to play basketball with them in the mornings because they are so close. We played soccer today... Lets just say I don´t know why anyone would want to play soccer in this Paraguay heat and I got pretty burned, but it was fun.

So it sounds like you had a good week. Sounds like Thanksgiving was a good time. I had a good meal here. Those potatoes you sent me and a grilled tuna sandwich. It was good, but not nearly as good as a Thanksgiving in Bear Lake I am afraid. But I need to be here in Paraguay. Also got my hair cut on Monday from Elder Shirks convert. That is there house in that picture. That haircut costs me less than 2 bucks. Not bad.

Alright. So Wednesday we played some B ball with the office elders in the morning. As it turns out, the secretary was in Bennys MTC group. He has been waiting to meet me so he could say hi for old Billy. Wednesday night we were at the Pintos, and they were talking about their huge guinea pigs and how good they taste... So.... I might be in store for some guinea pig soon. But yeah. I am used to eating weird stuff. I ate chicken feet last night. About made my comp puke. I didn´t think it was too bad. Wasn´t good by any means, but wasn´t terrible.

Thursday was Thanksgiving. Elder Richins and I played some paper football to celebrate. I also had a pretty cool experience contacting. I felt prompted to contact a really nice house, so we did. We didnt get in the house, but we had a cool contact with the lady taking care of the house who also lives in our area. Then right after we ran into a guy outside his house next door without even clapping and we had a really cool lesson. He said he couldnt come to church cause he was going to be drunk.... Hahhaha but we can work with that. He promised next week.

Friday... Well lets just say the heat has arrived... We had a lesson with a lady who has a Book of Mormon from 1999 and she reads in it all the time to get strength. It was really cool. I am really hoping she will progress.

Saturday we had the baptism of Lilian. She is awesome. Her dad reminds me of a professional athlete but I cant think of who it is. You will have to help me out if you can. I also had to baptize an 8 year old, so that is him in the other picture.

Well Mother, family, and friends. I just want you to know that the church is true. Even when it is so hot you want to die. Quick side note. I heard that all the missionaries in the south mission have air conditioning. Run that by KO. If it is true... Well dont tell me. My fan will have to do... Haha I love being a missionary. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and through him the true church was restored. I know President Monson is a true prophet. Most importantly, I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. I love him so much.

Love, Elder Naegle

Email November 21, 2011

Hello Mother,

So I wouldnt be too worried about the package. I am pretty sure it will be here this week. I will go pick it up next P-Day or something. I am sure it just didnt get sorted by the time the office elders picked up the mail is all.

That is really exciting for Jessica! Tell her congrats for me. Sounds like a good way to put lots of stress on Scott and Mary... Haha but that is really awesome, I am really excited for her. Tell Menlove congrats as well!! That is awesome! I was hoping he would come to Paraguay actually... But Africa is pretty cool too. Uruguay for Dane Hansen huh? Awesome. Wish I could say he is right next door... But Paraguay is on its own planet... I cant quite describe this place. Just go buy some Mandioca (I think it is called yuca root in the states) and start to eat a ton of it and maybe your mind will start to change like the Paraguayan mind.

Anyway.. I am sad to hear that the old Mazda is gone. I see a ton of Mazda trucks down here, so it always makes me think of that truck. But I also see a ton of Nissan Pathfinders too, more than any other car I think. Except they are diesel down here. So it is all good.

Well a little bit about my week. Not much happened. Elder Richins and I have been contacting like crazy... So that means some funny contacts... One guy, really grumpy I might add, started yelling at me asking if I personally knew Joseph Smith. I calmly replied, no sir, but I have never seen Jesus Christ either, I simply have faith. That shut him up pretty good! hahaha.

We had a really fun family home evening with the Pintos Family this week. That is what the pictures are from. They absolutely loved it. It was a riot. I have really come to love that family.

We also had zone conferences this week. One thing I think every single time I am around President Madariaga is that he will be a General Authority one day. He is so inspired, he has changed this mission a lot from what I can gather, and he is very smart too. He speaks Spanish, Portuguese, English, and some Guarani as well. I left the zone conference really wanting to be a better missionary and Elder Richins and I are striving to make our companionship better too.

This week we had an awesome lesson about the Restoration with a lady named Anna. She made it clear that she is very catholic, but she listened as we taught and the Spirit was so strong as when we shared our testimonies of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. I feel like she is one of my first real investigators. And by that I mean that I am teaching someone that wants to know, and is doing what she needs to find out. Paraguayans are so tranquilo sometimes it drives me crazy!! Hahaha but I am getting used to it. I am really praying that she will progress.

Yesterday was a classic. That means that Olimpia and Cerro were playing. That means... No one wanted to let us in... Haha it was a tough day. But the Church is true regardless. I am having a blast with Richins, and we are working hard. Tell Menlove to get to know Preach My Gospel like the back of his hand, every page. Elder Holland says that Preach My Gospel was written to convert the missionary first, so he could then help the investigator. I love the work.

Love, Elder Naegle

Email November 14, 2011

Dear Family

I am enjoying myself here in Paraguay. I just got back from all you can eat Pizza Hut. They stopped bringing me and this other kid pizza after my 19 pieces... Am I in another country? Sometimes it doesnt feel like it. But it does when you have all you can eat mondongo....

Tuesday we were with the Pintos family saying goodbye with Shirk. Damian is the kid we baptized and we reactivated his family. They are really awesome. So anyway, we went and they told us that they had made food. They brought out milonesa. Not sure how to spell it. Usually it is made with crappy meat or chicken. It is pretty good. But once again, I got to eat mondongo(animal stomach). They brought out a ton of it. It was Elder Richins first time eating Mondongo, mine and Shirks second. Let us just say that Elder Shirk and Elder Richins bugged out after only a few pieces.... Haha old Naegle hung in there until the Mondongo was finished. I ate so much stinking mondongo. I am getting pretty good at it though, so I think I will probably have to eat it at least a few more times in my mission.

Wednesday was my last day with Elder Shirk. I am glad he was my trainer. A great missionary. Thursday morning we dropped him off at the office. Thursday night we had the baptism of Sebastian. He is a good kid, and we have been working on reactivating his family. Trinidad has a huge problem with inactive members.... So sometimes I feel more like a hometeacher than a missionary because when we go out and do contacts we are almost as likely to clap a member house as a non-member house.

But Thursday we had a cool experience contacting. Elder Richins clapped a house, and turned and asked me which excuse we were going to get. No one is home, I am leaving, or my favorite, ¨otro día¨ . Haha without a pause I replied back to him. I have faith. We are getting into this house and teaching an awesome lesson. The girl came out and told us to come in without us saying anything. We went in and talked to her grandma. The grandma is pretty catholic, but is very willing to listen to us. It was a really cool lesson.

Sunday it rained... Paraguayans are afraid of rain. I dont understand. So not very many people were in church. Sebastian didnt come to get confirmed.... That was a little frustrating, but he will be there next week. But because Elder Shirk left, I am the only one that can play the piano. It was a bit rough, but I managed to play in sacrament mtg. With a little practice I will be able to do it every week I think. Sunday night we were walking across this little field thing, and because of the rain you couldnt walk without stepping on a frog. It was crazy. After kicking a few frogs.. My redneck comp decided it would be funny to kick one at me... He got a lot more mud than frog... Hahaha so I will be wearing some muddy pants this week. But the good news is that he did hit me with the frog.

So now that I have everyone thinking I am a terrible missionary because I kick frogs when there are so many I cant walk without stepping on one... Let me tell you that I know this is the work of the Lord. This is His Church. I am so glad to be his missionary. I love the Gospel. I love you so much family and friends, especially you Mom! I hope everything is great at home.

Love, Elder Naegle

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Email November 7, 2011

Hello Mother,

So I got a new comp on Saturday! We are in a trio right now until Elder Shirk leaves on Thursday. Elder Shirk already had his day with President Madariaga since he is gone until wednesday night, so he should be with us until Thursday morning. My comp is Elder Richins. He is from Hennifer, UT. Big kid. Real tall. I like him a lot, he is a nice guy and really out going. He is just hitting his year mark this change. He is the guy in the middle, Elder Shirk on the right.

Alright. So first off. I forgot to mention I got dearelders last week. Read a comment from Elder Billy Belnap saying he still hates cold showers.... Hahahahaha got a good kick out of that. I take 2 cold showers a day. It has cooled down a tiny bit here in Paraguay, so I havent been dying... But it is still pretty hot. I love showering and thinking of Bear Lake and water skiing. It is one of my favorite parts of the day. We also took a trip out to Itaugua last Monday for Elder Shirk, man was it awesome. I loved being out away from Asuncion. I hope I can go out there sometime in my mission.

Tuesday we had President Madariaga in our district meeting. I had to do a practice with him and his daughter, who recently returned from her mission, but was still a missionary. Anyway, it was pretty intimidating because he was a tough investigator, but I was able to share my testimony and help overcome his doubts. He is a brilliant man and I feel like we could really learn a lot from him, but this mission has been so disobedient in the past he is trying to get everyone to a high level of obedience, so I feel like that is all he ever talks about... Haha but it is good. I need it.

Funny things of the week. I am getting pretty good at kicking frogs... Haha they come out like crazy when it rains. I usually dont kick them, but Elder Richins is kind of a redneck and well things happen... Hahaha. Elder Shirk and I also got invited to be in a gang of 30 this week. The guy says to us, ¨we kill, we rob, we could really use your help¨. Oh it was great. We turned him down, so he just asked us for money instead.

Cool news for the week. I saw Elder Treviño at changes. He has been way out in the country. Like 6 hours away or so. He is looking great. He has dropped like 25 to 30 pounds, I am so happy for him. He gave me a big old hug. I miss that kid.

So yesterday I had to teach the Gospel Principles class in church. The teacher has gotten really sick, or so she says. She is crazy. But anyway. I taught about the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was a cool experience, but it was even cooler when I bore my testimony of the power of the Holy Ghost with an experience in my mind that happened this week. So the guy Daniel, who is inactive, we are teaching his 2 kids, anyway we were teaching them the Word of Wisdom. We knew going in that Daniel had a problem with smoking. As I said last week, he is pretty intimidating and I didnt know how he would take it. But the Spirit was there, and he accepted everything very well and committed to try to stop smoking at the end of the lesson. He has tried lots of things to quit, even the cooking up the cigarettes and drinking it and it didnt work, so it will be tough, but I know he can do it.

I love the Gospel. I love being a missionary here in Paraguay. It really sucks sometimes, and someone who hasnt done it couldnt understand, but it truly is an awesome experience. Have a great week.

Love, Elder Naegle

Elder Naegle, Elder Richins, and Elder Shirk