Email Jan 30, 2012

Hello Mom,

As far as my shoulder bag I asked for? Not sure if you are sending a package soon? And as far as the letter with the MP3 card goes, well my letters have been getting opened, so it probably was stolen, but I still have some hope. Transfers are this week. We will find out tonight. I explained in one of my voice recordings, sending 2 this week. But we find out transfers on Monday night. Pretty sure my comp will be leaving, but we don't know for sure.

My armpit is all good now. It went away. I bought an umbrella, don't worry about that. it also broke the same day... hahah but it still works. Isaias is almost 15 years old, turns 15 in March.

That is way cool for Coulter, I am way happy for him. He will be a good missionary. Tell him good luck from me. I am sorry to hear about Marie's brother. Their family is in my prayers.

Well don't know if that is everything from your email, but I tried. As far as my week goes, nothing too exciting. But it was still a good week. Monday night we were able to teach Isaias the Word of Wisdom and it went very well. He accepted and committed to live it. He is progressing very well, but didn't go to church yesterday..... A little frustrating... We haven't been able to talk to him yet to figure out why, but that is ok. He is an awesome investigator. I have never seen a 15 year old kid progress like he is.

Wednesday we went down to Santani for a training and interviews from President Madariaga. I explain more in the voice recording, so I am not going to spend much time explaining here, sorry about that. But, as always, I came away from the experience learning a lot and knowing the President Madariaga was called of God. He is a great man.

Friday we were in a really nice ice cream place in my area, and the guy had some regular American music going. I mean regular, cause it wasn't Black Eyed Peas, "Dirty Bit". If I hear that song one more time....... Hahahaha but I heard some Taylor Swift and others, and well it made me darn right trunky for some good music hahaha.

Sunday we didn't have any investigators in church, but we did have a less active guy and his family for the second week in a row. His name is Cesar. He served in the same mission as Nate in 2004 2005 or so. He came back, married a girl and baptized her. They moved to Argentina for work. He was a second counselor there in the bishopric, then they moved to Buenos Aires and didn't know where the church was and got lazy and stopped going. Now they are back in La Paloma, and we are helping them reactivate. He is a way cool guy. Super blunt about why he hasn't been going to church, and is starting to come back. So awesome.

Well. This is the true Church of Jesus Christ. I know it. I want everyone else to know it too. I hope you have a good week. Chau!

Love, Elder Naegle

Email Jan. 23, 2012

Hello Mom,

So I just spent 120 bucks on a pair of shoes... Hope you dont mind!! Hahaha I figure it is my money anyway. They are some catepillars. Pretty nice, heavy duty church shoes, like my eccos. Cheaper than you sending me another pair, and now I will make it through my whole mission no sweat. I did it so early because I might not be able to find my size anywhere else but in Saltos. I put it on my credit card, so if you could watch for that please, that would be great. Alright. So thanks for the news of the week. Sorry I wont be responding to much to it today, but know that I appreciate it and it sounds like everything is going well at home. Coulter is going where again? I cant remember where, sorry I am losing my memory a little bit. As well as some of my hair... and gaining a gut... Haha but I am keeping the gut in check for now.

So anyway. I am attaching some pictures. The first is of me making pancakes. That is right, I made some pancakes after church yesterday. Delicious. The next is of Brazil from across the river. The next is in between Saltos and La Paloma, a whole lot of nothing. The last... Well you dont see that kind of car here in Paraguay very often. That was out in Saltos today.

As far as my week goes, well it was a pretty good one. Tough at times, really tough. But we saw some good results as well. That is missionary work in a nut shell for you.

So the week started off with our investigator Liz telling us that she thinks her church is true. That church being the Catholic Church. This was a real bummer for me. I asked her if she felt like she had done her part to know if what we have is true, she said no. Well there you go.... If you want an answer, you gotta do your part. We have done our best with her, but she hasnt done her part. I am really really sad, especially because her boyfriend is a less active and it was a good situation. He is really cool, but he isnt helping a whole lot though.

But, with this rough news... Comes the good news... Isaías, came to church this Sunday! Yes! Finally it feels like my efforts in La Paloma are starting to pay off. I have worked hard here and it is pretty tough when you dont have people in church, but we finally did it. This week we had some awesome lessons with Isaías. He has really taken off with the Book of Mormon. He always reads what we give him to read and he loves it. But what really did it, was Thursday night. We got the Branch here to do an activity. We had an awesome lesson with him before the activity in front of the baptismal font, and after we had the activity with the branch. He got to know everyone and he had a blast with President Zalema shooting hoops for a minute. After when we were with him he told us that before he didnt come to church because he had vergüenza, or shame, but that now he didnt anymore. Oh yeah!!!! Awesome. This is why the work with the members is so important. He came to church. He had a good experience there. All because of an activity. I love missionary work.

Saturday night we witnessed some more amazing lightning. Utah just doesnt know what lightning is. It is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen here. Friday I saw the La Paloma landfill. Made me miss the dump back at home. The dump has a distinct smell and I miss it. Paraguay smells bad and I have gotten use to it, but I have always liked the smell of the dump. Let us just say I enjoyed walking past the La Paloma landfill. Plus there was a monster pig in there. HUGE. This thing could kill you easy. Not kidding. It has got a mane on it like you cant believe...

Anyway. Gotta run. Love you so much Mom and everyone else. Have a great week.

Love, Elder Naegle

Email Jan. 16, 2012

Hello Mom,

How are you? Sounds like another busy week like usual. Sounds like you are keeping up pretty well though. I am glad to hear you are reading Jesus the Christ. I am loving every single word in that amazing book. I am learning so much about my Savior. Well I am sending another voice recording. Hope you like them. Pretty boring I know, but I enjoy sending them. Sorry no pictures. I havent really had much to take pictures of. So alright, now for my week.

Well last Monday night was a rough one. We had the boyfriend of our investigator Liz, who is a member, tell us that she doesnt want anything to do with marriage or baptism. Turns out he was having a rough day, and was venting a little bit, but still it is tough because I am thinking some of it is true. We are struggling with her. I want her to see the truth so bad I cant even describe it, but well, everyone has their agency.

Tuesday night was a fun one. Staker came down from Saltos because there was a nurse from Asuncion that his comp had to about his ingrown toenail. The nurse ended up doing the surgery right there in our branch presidents house, Staker has the whole thing on film. Pretty funny. Late night though. Wednesday I did another exchange in Puente, but this time I went with Elder Bennett. It was a good exchange and we found some cool investigators.

Thursday the rain came.... Friday it continued to rain... But I had one of my favorite lessons in my entire mission on Friday. It was with our investigator Isaías. We were talking about the importance of the Book of Mormon, and I felt prompted to show him a list of questions of the soul, that the BOM answers. He wanted to look one up. We ended up looking at like 4 or 5 of the questions. The Spirit was so strong in the lesson. We were answering his questions. His countenance changed. It was a really awesome lesson.

I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It has so much power. I love reading its pages in my personal study in the morning, but I love even more when I see the people of Paraguay let the book change their lives. I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. I feel the Spirit so strong every single time that I bear my testimony of that great man. I am so grateful for my calling.

Hope you have a great week everyone! Love you Mom!!! Paraguay is great!

Love, Elder Naegle

Email Jan. 9, 2012

Hello Mom,

Ok to answer some of your questions. Our attendance in the ward is usually about 20 to 30 people. During my first 2 sundays we had 14 people there, but that is only to be expected with the holidays. The members don't help us too much with the work, but we are trying to get them to help us more. It is a struggle in all of Paraguay. My comp brought back some dearelders for me, but that is all I had. Haven't gotten my other letter yet. Hope it comes soon. Hope I answered all of your questions, sorry I am a bit short on time today, we went out to Saltos to hear from one of our zone leaders, he missed his bus... So we had to wait a bit longer for him out there... He was coming from Santani. He is a Paraguayan. Great kid, but that would be tough to be serving in your own stinking country haha.

So anyway. Yeah we went to Saltos today. That place is booming. There is anything you want to buy as far as electronics or watches or sunglasses and stuff. It is pretty cool. Growing like crazy out there. Ate at Burger King. I am really start to appreciate Burger King now that I am in La Paloma.

Ok so as far as the news for the week goes. Well last P-Day we had a sweet grill session in my back yard. Made me want to buy a hammock really bad. It was a great day. Plus I found out that I have a avocado tree and a bunch of banana trees and they should be ready here in a month or two. So I got that going for me. I hope I don't move for a while. I can live with rats and roaches for a few more months, cause my house is pimpin!

Wednesday was my comp's birthday. So of course I informed our members so that we could have a good evening. They love birthdays down here. Our branch president's wife set up this little party for him and she was all secretative about it, it was hilarious. But she invited one of our investigators which was really awesome. Needless to say, Wednesday night was incredible. When it comes to giving us great food and cake, the members here in La Paloma got it down.

Thursday I did an exchange with Elder Wyatt in Puente Kyhja. It was a pretty good exchange. He has a bunch of taco seasoning, so we made tacos and it was delicious. Friday we had a sweet lesson with our investigator Isaías, and also with a less active guy named Maulio.

Saturday we were getting Lomitos, this arab thing that they eat here in Paraguay, and an American country song came on. Something about being cooler online. Don't know what it is called, but it was a great 3 minutes let me tell you. Haha I like hearing some good American music. We hear hip hop and stuff, but never country. It was great. I was never a huge country fan, but now I am starting to be. Must be the water....

Well sorry this email wasn't very exciting and all over the place. My mind is kinda scattered right now. It was a pretty tough week for me and made tougher when we didn't have our investigators in church. But I want everyone to know that I know that Jesus is the Christ. He knows how I feel when I am sweating from head to toe and no one will let me in. He knows how I feel when our investigators don't come to church. This gives me comfort. I love my Savior. I love being His missionary.

Love, Elder Naegle

Email Jan. 2, 2012

Hello Mom,

Happy New Year!!! I hope you had a good one. The a key is sticking on this keyboard so you might be getting a few more a than normal. But anyway. My new year was pretty good.Yes I was fast asleep at midnight. Fireworks went off like crazy at midnight apparently, but it didn´t wake me up, just my comp. Hahaha I am way to tired to be woken up by firecrackers big enough to kill someone. So yep.

Old Benny as assistant. I have been waiting for that email. He is a stud. I figured it was only a matter of time. I miss that kid. He is tearing it up in Colombia. Good for him. Congratulations to Jess and Dallin. I am excited for them. Wish I could have been there for it, but the Lord needs me to have the runs here in La Paloma.... hahah but seriously. Not sure why, I have never eaten so well in my entire mission.

But Anyway. I will give you a rundown of the week. Monday I had a good chat with Elder Bennett from Cardston. He is a good kid. He worked up on an oil rig 6 hours north of fort mac so we had a good chat about all that stuff. Tuesday we had an awesome lesson with our main progressing investigator. Her name is Liz. She is the boyfriend of a less active member. She had started to fall, and this was the first time I had really talked to her, but it was an awesome lesson. We explained how the Spirit works and how her answer of the BOM would be. She started to realize that she was receiving an answer to her prayers. It was a sweet lesson.

Wednesday my comp had to go to Asunción to sign some stuff like I had to last transfer, so he got on a bus with a kid from Saltos late the night before and Elder Staker hopped off. Staker has 1 more change than I do in the mission. It was a sweet division. He lived out at the sand dunes before the mission, so ofcourse we hit it off right from the bat. He loves to snowmobile too, and he loves that we have a huge excursion hahah. He has a big old truck that he has restored. Him and his dad have a body shop in Riverton. He likes riding quads though, so I am going to have to convert him to dirt bikes when I get home... Hahaha it was a way fun exchange though.

Friday it rained super hard, which is always fun... But I dont mind. And Saturday/Sunday we had a cool experience. My comp and I were in the street figuring out where we were going to go next because everything had fallen through, when this lady came up to us. She was from Brazil, but she could speak some Spanish. She had her son with her that couldnt speak because he has some disabilities. She was just visiting her family here in La Paloma. She had been baptized in Brazil 14 years ago and she goes to church every Sunday. She asked us when church was, but then she didnt come so we went to visit her. She told us her son was having some health issues in the morning so she couldnt come, but we shared with her a little bit. None of her family is member, and they didnt want anything to do with us, but she was so humble and the coolest lady ever. It was really cool.

Sunday. Well let me just tell you about my lunch on sunday.... It was incredible. I could have been eating it at home and the only thing I would have noticed was that it wasnt as good as my moms cooking! Seriously though, I was blown away. I even had to take my shoes off to go inside this members house. Actually a few members houses here in La Paloma. Lets just say I didnt have to do that in old Trinidad... Haha I am loving it. She made this dessert that you will have to try mom. She put Mburcuya, which is passion fruit I believe, and condensed milk and a cream of something. I dont know, someone interupted her, but she put it in the blender and then in the fridge and it makes like a mousse type dessert, then put it on green jello. It was delicious. thought I was in Utah with the green jello hahaha. But we will have to try it. It was way good.

Quick fun/weird thing of the week. I was in a little despensa talking to some less active members yesterday, and they had a pair of fox shoes. A pair of fox shoes. I couldnt believe it. I was blown away. Hahahah what are the odds?

Anyway. I know that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ. I am so happy to be a missionary in 2012. I enjoy singing El fin se acerca, the end is near, Dont know what the hymn is called in english,a but anyway I enjoy singing it to mess with people a little bit because everyone in Paraguay is worried about the end of the world haha I dont do it very often dont worry. But I love then sharing the message of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is so amazing. I hope everyone has a great new year and a great 2012. See you in 2013!!! Haha

Love, Elder Naegle

Email Dec. 26, 2011*

We had a wonderful video chat with Preston on Christmas Eve. He looks and sounds great. He expressed his appreciation to all that wrote him. Thanks for your kindness and generosity.

Hello Mother,

Well I will start this week's email. I haven't gotten yours yet, but hopefully sometime today I will be able to get back on and write. Just a quick tid bit for the family... I will be writing at 10 every week I think.

So anyway. This week was pretty good. Monday night our zone leader pulled fake changes on me and Elder Richins. He told us that I was going to Reducto 2. One of those areas that people don't want to go to haha. We didn't find out they were fake until Tuesday morning at district meeting. It was pretty funny, but I am not a big fan of jokes like that. Tuesday I said my goodbyes. It was sad, but I was happy too. I was happy to see the changes people had made while I was there. I said goodbye to Catelina, the woman I have been teaching who got baptized yesterday on Christmas! Pretty awesome. I got permission to call Elder Richins in Trinidad and talk to her for a minute. I am super happy for her. She is super happy.

I am sad to say goodbye to Trinidad, but happy to be here in La Paloma. My new companion is Elder Gardner from Taylorsville. It is very different. Not nearly as many members out here, but it is quite a bit nicer. Well, not my house... Haha unless you like rats... My house is huge. I attached a picture of it. The first picture is of Catelina, on the left, and her cousin Julio and his wife Rocio on the right. They are Elder Shirk's converts. I was super sad to say goodbye to them. The second picture is of Hermano Borjas. He just went through the temple a week and a half ago. I am so happy for him. He is the funniest guy. I got some really good video of him.

Well here I am now in La Paloma. My Christmas was pretty good. I had to give a talk. I don't think my comp has ever had to give a talk in the mission... Haha but I gladly volunteered to give it. Christmas in the mission is a lot different, but I can't complain too much. Thank you so much for the Jesus the Christ! It is amazing. I must admit, I opened it a few days early. When Elder Richins and I found out I was getting changed he convinced me to open it so he could see it. He was convinced it was a book of pictures. Haha but thank you so much. It is great.

Funny story of the week. Out here in La Paloma most of the people are better off the most of the people I talked to in Trinidad. So naturally they drink cleaner water. It was pretty hot one day. I asked this guy for water. He gave us water that my comp thought was questionable and I thought was cleaner than 75% of the water I drank in Trinidad... Short story even shorter. I drank, he didn't... Hahahahaha do I have the runs? Well I am in Paraguay, you can answer that question for yourself... hahaha. The answer is always, by the way.

Well one thing I know is that the Church is still true out here in La Paloma. True everywhere we go. I love being a missionary, even when it sucks. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I am grateful for this time of year and the time we get to celebrate his birth. Thank you for everyone at home and for your support. I loved opening the letters each day! I love you all.

Love, Elder Naegle

Email Dec 19, 2011

Hello Mom,

Well transfers are this week. I will find out tonight if I am going or staying or what not. Richins and I have a feeling that I will be leaving good ol Trinidad. Unfortunate because it is right before Christmas.... And I have an appointment to kill a pig on the 23rd.... Hahaha but we still dont know, so I will find out tonight. I will explain about the pig later on. As far as calling goes, I will probably call on Saturday during the siesta. Around 1 or 2 my time. I think I am 4 hours ahead. If I am still in Trinidad, I have it lined up with my boy Arnaldo, where we do our internet, to come open up his place for me. So I am not too worried about it.

It sounds like everything is going great at home. Tell everyone thanks for the letters! They are so great to read every single day. All of the individual packages inside were left alone, but I think they are just trying to mess with me at the Paraguayan post office. I got a letter from Jackee today, and they had opened that too. They put a big stamp on it and wrap it back up in a plastic bag. Hahaha it is pretty funny. I dont think it happens to letters usually, but apparently it does to me.

Alright. So I will start my letter with a miracle. Well it felt like a miracle to me. On Tuesday morning, I woke up and said a prayer and told my Heavenly Father that we had 3 weeks to find a house and that we really needed his help. That day at our lunch appointment I felt prompted to ask Ignacio if he knew where we could find a place to rent, a kid preparing to go on a mission (we were helping him with his papers, it is pretty cool). He told us about a few places that we hadnt looked and he came out and looked with us. They were all full, but he told me to go ask at a despensa further down the street. So Richins and I went down and asked and they pointed us to the sister of a lady who is renting houses. Within a half hour we had a lady (who speaks english, lived in Chicago for 10 years) give us a call about an available apartment. We went and looked at it later that night and decided to take it. We will be moving in a week from today. That may not seem like a big deal, but here in Trinidad it is really hard to find apartments. I wasnt sure how we were going to do it, but the Lord answered my prayer.

Ok. Now for some funny. Thursday we were visiting some less active ladies. They raise pigs for a living. We got them really laughing, Richins and I are pretty good at it, and they invited us down on Christmas for a pig. They got talking more about it and they told us they are going to kill it on the 23rd. These are the kinds of things Richins and I live for. I jumped all over it. I put a huge smile on my face and said I want to kill the pig! Let me kill it! I started making the stabbing motions with my arm. I dont think I have ever seen an old lady laugh so hard in my entire life. Then Richins piped in and asked, ¨dont pigs scream like crazy when you kill them?¨ Then he said he couldnt handle that so he would have to hide under the lady´s bed while I killed the pig. Oh man did that lady laugh.... Hahahaha it was so funny. I was laughing so hard tears were coming to my eyes. So anyway... Now I am going to kill a pig on the 23rd if I am still in Trinidad... Probably not, but maybe. Those old ladies sure think I am.

Other funny story of the week. Friday we sat down with a drunk guy with a second cause he invited us in. He was wearing green cord shorts. Not sure if that is how you spell cords. Anyway. Ofcourse being the person I am... I had to say, I like your shorts. Without skipping a beat, he said, REALLY? Here let me give them to you. He then immediately went into his house and changed his shorts and put the green shorts in a bag to give to me. It was hilarious. I would have felt too bad taking a pair of shorts from a drunk guy... So I didnt take them from him. But Richins and I got a good chuckle out of it.

Now for some more serious. Sorry for my childish behavior.... So not sure if I told you about Catelina, but she is our solid investigator right now. She is so awesome. She is the cousin of Shirk´s converts. She was having trouble recognizing her answer to the Book of Mormon, but on Saturday she told us that she knows it is true. It was such an awesome experience. She is going to be baptized this week, and her cousin Julio is going to baptize her. I am so happy for her. She has her fair share of problems. Her boyfriend is in prison right now, waiting his sentence. Let us just say that his crime involves the commandment, Thou shalt not kill. So he will be in prison for 25 years likely. But there is a bright side, she is accepting the gospel and living the law of chastity. The Lord is preparing people everywhere and it is so much easier to find them when recent converts are trying to find investigators for us. Catelina is already trying to share the gospel with her family. It is really awesome.

So anyway. This is a good season. I really appreciate Christmas now. Being in Paraguay on a mission will do that to a young man. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I am so grateful for his sacrifice for me. I am glad I get to celebrate his birth during this month. I hope everyone at home has a great Christmas. Thank you again for the package and letters. Sorry I dont have the time to write everyone back, but know that I really appreciate it.

Love, Elder Naegle