Luque, Paraguay (December 7, 2009)

Well hello there family. How are you all doing?¿¿?¿
I hope that everything is all going smooth with all the rush and everything for Christmas. Down here there is really nothing. There are a little Christmas lights, but nothing really. It's just a lil different. It will be weird going to the states and seeing all the lights and all the stuff.
But this week was a good one... a long one but good. I will start with the stories...

(Chandler standing next to an ant hill.)

So last week on Tuesday we had to go to a meeting for only zone leaders. So we had to leave in the morning, at about 5:45, and the buses are already packed at that time and so it was already a pain. Everyone is pushing, it is hot, and all the girls like stare at the Americans and so it gets pretty awkward after awhile. But then we were driving and we stopped for a second and then started going and when we were stopped some man jumped on the back of the bus without paying, trying to get a free ride. So the busdriver shut the door on his arm, and it's not like it hurts. He could have pulled his arm out. But then the guy who jumped on got really mad at that and began to punch the window until the glass came out, and that made the bus driver stop in the road and block traffic.
The guy who jumped on began to yell and cuss a lot at the driver and then it got really out of hand. The man who jumped on ran to the front of the bus and began to fight with the bus driver, like a full on fist fight. Then it got bad and the bus driver was punching the guy a lot in the face so that he would get out of the bus. It was not ending, and so someone who was sitting in the back got up all calm and went to the front and then showed the guy who was boss. He grabbed the man who jumped on by the neck and lifted and threw him out of the bus and then against the wall. Then the bus driver began to beat on the thief. It was crazy because it was all in a small bus and like we were stopping traffic for the longest time. People were screaming call 911 and jumping off the bus. It was crazy and not gonna lie, a lil scary because a lot of people carry knives and guns with them and I think if one of them had that it would have been used. It was a crazy story to tell to the mission pres though. haha
This week has been a really big learning experience. It is cool to be zone leader, but at the same time it is hard because I have to basically make sure 20 missionaries are working and try to get them all excited to work and stuff and so it is a big task. But it was cool, cause at the meeting that we had with our mission pres. for Christmas he gave all the zone leaders a palo santo wood statue of an Indian, and they are really cool. He is a really good pres. One of the 70 said that our mission is doing really good not because of the work that we are doing, but because we have the BEST mission president in the world. And I thought that it was crazy cause a 70 said that. I know it's true. Once you guys meet him you will know what I mean. Him and the Hermana Wade. I know that mom and her are already best friends, but it is really crazy cause she knows us so well. When we call her we don't even have to say our names or who we are. She recognizes our voices. It's cool.
But this week we found a family that is I think golden. I invited them to get baptized and they said yes, at what time? So I was happy. They are reading the Book of Mormon, like alot.
But I like the area. It is like a forest and it is really pretty.
But that is really all for this week. Hope that you are all safe and stuff and love you all a lot.
Chan aka elder chan