Email July 22, 2012*

Hey Mom,

Well I was going to send you pictures today, but there is a happy little virus that runs around Paraguay that hides everything so you cant see your files. The guy in the cyber is taking it off for me right now, so hopefully it wont delete everything. I have most of it backed up. We were able to do quite a bit of service this week, and that is what the pictures were of. 

The funny experience of the week. We were with Mariano and Marisol´s family, and their son was taking out some trash so to speak. So I offered to do it. Basically that means go dump the trash on the huge trash pile in front of the house that everyone dumps their trash on. So that is what I did. As soon as I did, an old woman comes out of nowhere and starts yelling at me. Calling me "uneducated" and telling me to dump the trash in front of my own house. Chewing me out, half Guaraní and half Spanish, not letting me defend myself. Hahahahaha so funny.  Then she and Marisol started yelling at each other in Guaraní, oh man it was funny but I felt bad. As it turns out, the lady just has it out for Marisol, and she is a drunk, so I wasnt in the wrong. They always dump their trash there. hahaha. Anyway.

We also had our interviews with President Madariaga this week. pulled out my suit and found lots of mold and that these stupid bugs ate a bunch of holes in it.... hahaha. All I could think was, "ROY!!! INVINCIBLE!!!!!!" If you havent seen Shanghai Noon you should watch it. Sorry I forgot to mention that I am staying with Johnson. Hardly anyone moved in the mission. Tons of missionaries are going home for special changes this next month so lots of people stayed put. 

But back to my interview. I asked President how I can make my prayers more personal. He gave me some great counsel. He talked about how it is very easily to fall into a routine and talk about the same things. What he has found to work very well to keep prayers personal is to talk to Heavenly Father specifically about people. First and last names. But before he even starts praying, he takes time to ponder and write down things he wants to pray about. He told me to not be afraid to open my eyes during the prayer if I forget what I had written down. So using that advice, I tried it. It was great. I had a conversation with my Heavenly Father about my investigators, my family, my friends, church leaders, and myself. I have realized that it takes practice to be good at praying from the heart. Luckily our Heavenly Father understands us anyway, but it is good to be as sincere as we can.

Well I hope you enjoy that little piece of consejo from President Madariaga. Because it was something I really needed. I love you all. Have a great week. 

Love, Elder Naegle