Answers!

Monday, October 14, 2013

Family!

Ahhhh, there is so much going through my mind. I have been writing a list all week of things to tell you about, and then you filled your email with questions! I will just start answering.

We are about 20 minutes from the mision home. It is in a different barrio. In the states you know how Provo, Orem, American Fork are all together and there isn't really a split. Well, there is less of a split here, but the same concept. There's a bunch of houses squished together and they draw grids and call each of them something different. So, my barrio and ward is called lambaré. There are about 20 missionaries in our zone, six are hermanas, and there are eight or ten zones in our district. For General Conference everyone goes to the church to watch and they translate it. Saturday we were able to go to a church house in Barrio Central, 20 minutes away, and watch it in English! It was so fantastic. But Sunday we were at a church that didn't have English and we waited and waited for our investigators...but they never showed. Ugggh! Needless to say, watching in Spanish was a little painful for me. I didn't understand a thing.

As for our houses and amenities, we have a small personal DVD player that we take with us to investigators houses to watch things like the Joseph Smith movie. Most of them have TV's and cable but not DVD players. I am thankful for it and the CD's though. We can listen to them and in English! It is so awesome! Haha!

Everyone has runnning water. No one has HOT running water, but they do have showerheads that heat the water as it comes out. There are many horror stories of it shocking you as it comes out, but I don't have to worry about this because ours doesn't work.....brrr! In addition, usually the Elders pay someone to do their laundry and there are many places here to take your laundry, but most people, us included, just do it in a bucket and hang it to dry.

OH...I HATE HUMIDITY. It is so disgusting! Even when it is cold here you still feel like you're sweating buckets and you're wet and sticky. It is seriously gross! It keeps getting warmer too. I don't know if I will survive December and January. Pray for me. I already think I am dying of heat.

Also, one of the Elders in my district lives in Tyler and Suzanne's ward and says his little sister is Sarah's BFF!

So, more about Paraguay... We eat breakfast at our house, study until noon, then we almost always have lunch with a member. The food really is good and normal. They eat rice, lots of sausage, chicken and beef, vegetables and lots of juice. Everyone has fresh juice. A favorite is sweetened beet juice. Yes, beets!  At first, I wasn't so sure about it, but it is really good.

My companion is supposed to receive a package tomorrow that her mom sent in the middle of August. It is best to send everything to the mission home, that is the easiest way. My address is:

Hermana McKayla Thacker
Paraguay Asuncion Mission

Casilla de Correo 818
Asuncion, Paraguay

As for things I may need, I hate to be needy, but I would really love a picture of the whole Thacker family. I have the one of the Fausett family and our family, but I want the other as well. Also, a picture of you and dad in front of the temple would be so awesome to have for lessons. Oh, and I have shown our family picture to a lot of people. They can't believe we are all rubias (blondes). They always tell me how beautiful my mom is and always how gorgeous DaNelle is, then they laugh and point at Mac and say that he is precious. Haha! Seriously, every time! Oh, and as for other things. Do you remember those black socks we bought? They were peds, but more fitted. Yo quiero más pro favor! aka Please send more. For christmas? Anyway, no more time. Next week! Sorry. I miss you all. I went back to my house after printing all your letters and I was a ridiculous little baby. But after I read in all your letters about the mountains and driving around I just started bawling. Haha, ridiculous right? Who knew, that besides you guys, that is what I would miss most. Not the hot water, not my cell phone, not talking to boys. Nope! I miss the mountians. Anyway, I'm silly, but remember that I miss you everyday and one of my most anticipated times of the week is when I get to read your letters. I wish I had time to pack in more because I am not getting much journal writing in. Anyways, keep me updated!

The two pictures are my newest friend!