River view 1st ward

E po na
That's like hola in the wild Paraguayan jibberish.

My mission has been a great experience for me! It has definantly been hard I've had Dengay Fever a sickness from Mosquito's ( lost almost 30 pounds) to my bumm knee to getting 6 stitches in my lip on Christmas Eve and struggling with the Guarani language!



I was very homesick at the start of my mission and it was very hard for me!

The thing that really turned my mission around was a family in my first area, the family Chavez. They have nothing in the world to give, and yet they fed me every week. The dad hunts crocodiles for a living making $20 to $25 a week. They live in a house the size of our bathroom. They have just one room in the little house. Room enough for 2 mattresses and a fridge. They keep all the clothes and anything else they own outside the house. This is a family of 6 people and they have 2 beds. They were the happiest people I have ever met in my life. When I had to leave this area, I didn't know very much Spanish mostly because the people speak Guarani. I was in the poorest part of Paraguay and Paraguay is the poorest country in South America so I was in the ghetto. In the poor parts of Pàraguay, the people don't speak Spanish. It's all Guarani. So I wasn't learning Spanish. When I left Concepcion and had to leave this family it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do! We all bawled. I gave them my 2 hammacks and all the food that I had left and the rest of the money I had for the month. I had a really hard time leaving there. Their little son Javiar is 3 years old and reminded me a lot of my nieces. I am very close with the kids here. Right before I got there, they had a really bad rain storm. It knocked their house over, fell on little Javiar and crushed his head. Little Javiar was my best little friend. I would always take the family cakes and treats and he would always draw me pictures. I will forever remember and Love this amazing family!

I got transferred to Pequete Cue where I was living with 3 other Elders. One is Chase Armstrong ( He was class Student Body President at Jordan High when I was there). Small world. It was quite awkward at first because I dated his little sister in high school so I was always was hearing about it. Ha ha For the past month I had a latino companion. He is just like Inje but from Bolivia. He was sweet! It was the best thing that ever happened to me because it forced me to learn Spanish. Elder Arday taught me so much and we got along great!

Right now my companion is from Alta High school. He has 1 exchange more than me. His name is Elder Crane. All day long, he talks to me about his trumpet. He has a scholarship to BYU to play his trumpet. He is very quiet and so I am working to open him up. He says that he has never had a companion like me. He said that no other missionary can get into houses like me. Some can't get into any and I can get into almost all. This week, we were able to get into an Elderly Lady's house. She said that she is not interested in any other religion then her own, but we got in to visit and now she is listening to our lessons. We currently have 6 people on date for baptism. Hopefully they will all happen. Quite often things just don't work out, but we keep working with people.

The biggest highlight of my mission so far is the conversion and baptism of Ariel. Ariel is a 17 year old boy. He had been taking the discussions from other Elders for about 7 months before I started teaching him. For whatever reason, he and I hit it off really well. I invited him to play soccer with us, come to Church and to get baptized. He now spends a lot of his time helping teach with us. He is Awesome! Another One of the highlights of my mission has been that I have learned how to teach! I not only teach our investigators but I also teach primary and after primary I teach gospel principles and every Wednesday I'm teaching an English class. I am learning and growing so much. It's really sweet !

One funny experience that I have had here. One day an older man drove up with his horse and buggy. We were in the middle of town talking with a bunch of other people. When he got out his buggy, the horse ran away. I ran about a 1/4 mile after the horse to catch it. I then brought it back to the man. The people were all surprised that a Tall White Boy knew how to handle a horse. I was the town hero.

Brothers and Sisters, it is different going to church here. The wards that I have been in, only have 50 or 60 active members. The members that come to church are very strong. We spend a lot of our time trying to get the less-active members to come back to church. It is hard as many of them have to walk for an hour or more to get to the church. To see the sacrifice that some members make has strengthened my testimony. These people have so little, but they love the Lord so much.

I do have a testimony of the Gospel and I see how it blesses the lives of those who live it. I Love Jesus Christ for all that he has done for me. I am grateful to all of you that have helped me in my life. I will continue to work hard to represent all of you in the 1st Ward.

Well ol 'Riverview 1st ward...I love you !
Stay Classy!
Love ,
Elder Trevor Osborne