June 26, 2016

Hola familia!

So this week has been a really good one, we have been really busy lately and lots of stuff has been going on. A couple of the highlights are the multi-zone zone conference that we had, President and Hermana Mcmullin finish their mission this week which means President Evans is almost here, and we ended up finding some really cool people this week. 

So this week we all got to go to Luque to the stake center there to hear our last Zone Conference from the Mcmullins. It turned out to be one of the coolest Conferences i've had in my whole mission so far. President Mcmullin has been one of the greatest examples i have had in my life, who has constantly helped push me to go way beyond what i thought were my limits when it comes to this work. I am grateful i had the opportunity to work alongside him for 5 months and learn every step of the way. Going to miss them for sure and hope the best for them. I'm excited to meet President Evans too, from what they shared about him it seems he will fit right in here. 

But about some of the people we are teaching..

One is named Silvina. After the Zone conference we got back to our area really late and just had enough time to go contact for a little bit. We found her our second contact of the day. She is mother of 2 daughters and is a really humble lady. We go up and clapped her house and she was like"come on in!" haha such a nice lady. turns out she had never talked to missionaries before and once we got inside and sat down and got to know her she told us a bunch about her life and what she has been going through. Her daughter almost died recently and she has suffered a lot in this life. Something that really catches my attention about her is that she has one of the hardest lives i have heard about but yet she has one of the most bright and happy personalities that i have seen. She believes a lot in god and always recites her prayers every day and night. We taught her about the restauracion of the gospel and the spirit was really strong. She accepted the invitation to follow Jesus Christ and to be Baptized. We ended the lesson with a prayer kneeling on her dirt floor and it was one of a kind. When we had just left the house the first thing me and my comp said, almost at the same exact time to each other, was "Man, did you feel that?". It was a one of a kind lesson for sure. Can't wait to go back on tuesday and see how it goes.

Next one is one that happened yesterday night. So sunday night were just walking around, the person we had planned to visit wasn't home so we just kept walking a little bit looking to contact some people. As we were walking we just hear this lady shout "Hermanos!!" haha so we look over and there is this big lady waving us down. So of course we go over there to talk to them and they invite us right in there yard to sit down. We got talking and the lady`s name is lidia that is like 45 years old with her sister and her old mom too sitting next to them. They wanted to know alot about the church and had tons of questions. They are passing through a ruff time too, none of them have work and they have kids to feed. Her brother got into drugs and stuff too and they have been suffering alot lately. The coolest part was when she asked us what time the meetings are in the church, i told her every sunday starting at 8:30 in the morning, then she just looks at her sister and her mom and was like "you good to go this next sunday?" they say yeah and then she looks back at me and was like "don't worry we will be there for sure". haha so i'm stoked to see if they show up! We taught lesson 3 about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and all three of them Accepted to be Baptized.  Were going back tomorrow and bringing a member to our lesson that lives close by them. 

Last cool experience was yesterday after church got over we got a call from a guy named marcos we have taught once. He had tons of questions and was a pretty cool guy. He calls and on the phone he's like "where you guys at?! i'm looking and were you at?!" Kinda confused, i told him we were just by the church. and then he says he was just out walking by the river and he remembered that we said our house was over by the river so he gave us a call haha. I asked him if he wanted to meet up at the church so we could share a little bit with him and he said sure! So 5 min later we met up at the church and we gave him a tour of the place. Then we sat down and went over the Restauracion of the gospel and taught about the Book of Mormon. It went really great, i'm stoked to go back and see how he progresses.

But i'm out of time, hope you guys have an awesome week! love ya!

Elder Nyberg

Nate's Comp. Elder Starks 

June 6, 2016

 So i bet you guys are wanting to know what happened in changes............. yup i got changed! my week long vacation in Itaugua finally came to an end. Now I'm in a Little farm town called Piquete Cue. Right next to the Rio Paraguayo. And my comp is Elder Starks from a Little town in Utah. He just got out of his training so his spanish is still really iffy but he is a really great guy that likes to work. He really loves to learn too so I'm trying my best to teach him all the tips and tricks to the misión;) The área I'm in right now has about 1 investigador that they have taught, its literally a Brand new área that just got opened up so that means there is alot of work to do. My week consisted of pure contacting.... clapping house after house after house. It was kinda tiring but it was alright. I hope when i get through with this área the next people that get in here will actually have lots of people to teach.  Hope you have an awesome week this week!

Love ya!

Elder Nyberg

May 23, 2016

hey mom!

i have a suprise to tell you haha

President just called me last night and told me that i would be leaving

this morning to go to an area to be comps with Elder Hunter from Spanish Fork, Utah. 

The coolest part, besides i get two pdays in a row haha is I am in ITAUGUA

AGAIN!! back to the first place i came to when i got here in Paraguay!

May 30, 2016

Hola familia!

This week has been one of THEE coolest weeks so far in paraguay. To get to be in Itaugua for a week has been just a dream. It has been really fun to see all these people that helped me out so much back when i was starting the mission and couldn't speak a word of spanish haha. Besides seeing lots of great people that i haven't seen in forever, we worked really hard this week and i'm super stoked to start seeing how everything works out with the people we are finding and teaching.

So for one of the first days when i got here we were doing our nightly planning that we always do, and we decided to just see if i remembered any investigators houses that we taught while i was in my training. So for a couple citas in our agendas for the next day it said "Elder Nyberg`s memory" haha. Turns out i remembered a lot more than i thought i did. I don't know if you guys remember that one time i got chased by the guy with a machete? Yeah so we were actually teaching a lady named Veronica at that same house, I looked at the Teaching Record and it said that she was dropped by some other missionaries because she moved to Asuncion.  But i decided to go by and see if anyone was home anyway. We passed by and it turns out she moved back a little bit ago and we actually got to teach a little lesson with her. She had a couple doubts about the book of mormon but we left her with one and the invitation that Moroni gives us. Were going back this week and i guess we will see what happens.

Another cool experience is we were walking down in the Asentamiento(the poorest part of our area) and it was about 8:30 at night. Then as we were passing by this ghetto little bar place with drunk people all out front, this guy ran out to us to come talk to us. At first we thought it was some really drunk dude, but it turned out to be the opposite. His name is Daniel and he told us he has been waiting for the missionaries to pass by his house for a while now so he could talk with us. He is a really humble guy who has chosen lots of bad decisions in his past. Now it's coming down that he is about to lose his familia, and he really wants to change. It's so cool when you find someone that you can tell has pure desires to follow christ, and i could definitely see it in him. We talked about the Atonement and Repentance. It was a super cool lesson. He acepted to be Baptized and has a baptism date set for the 2nd of July.

There is a guy named Alex that we are teaching right now. Alex is a little different than any other investigator i have ever taught, just because we teach him in english! haha. i didn't think my english was that bad, but i am a lot more rusty than i thought i was. But Alex is a Paraguayan that just learned english by himself. He speaks it perfect too! he is a really cool guy, and really interested in the church. We have only taught him twice but he has been reading the Book of mormon and progressing really well. We have another cita for this thursday.

Bianca is a super cool contact we had, we talked with her and she didn't have time for us to share but my comp gave her the book of mormon and explained a little tiny bit about it before we planned to pass by another time and left. She wanted us to pass by when her husband was home so he could hear about us too, so we passed by yesterday when they told us and had a lesson with Bianca and her husband Rodrigo. They are young and just barely got married a year ago. One of the coolest parts though was we asked to see her book of mormon and if she had read any of it. She pulls it out and shows us that she is already in Mosiah! haha we then had a super cool lesson where we basically just answered ALL of her questions, she had TONS! It was super cool and they both accepted to be baptized. Were going back next sunday too, to have our next lesson. 

Im running out of time but this week has been one of the coolest. The mission is just the best.  Tomorrow are changes so i will know tomorrow if i am staying in Itaugua or if God wants me in another part of paraguay. But i love you guys so much! Hope you guys have a great week!

Elder Nyberg

May 21,2016 Office Picts.

May 14, 2016

Hola familia!

First off, It was super cool to get to see all of you guys on Sunday. And Roachy i hope you had the BEST mother's day! I don't know how you are able to put up with all of us, especially all living under the same roof haha but somehow you make it possible;) But really thanks for everything you do mom! This week has gone by pretty fast... the time is really flying by. Had some pretty cool things go down this week and some more awesome people we found to start teaching. I guess i'll get right into it!

This week we had a couple more lessons with the familia Quinde and familia Parodi. (the 2 cool familias that were teaching right now). So since sunday, The familia parodi were the only ones that were able to come to church but they seemed to love it so much. As for the familia Quinde, we were positive they were going to come but when they didn't show up we knew that something was wrong, so that night we decided to pass by their house to just see how they were doing and man i'm so glad we did. We came that night and found the whole familia except fernando(the dad) just super sick. The mom had dengue and was stuck in bed for 5 days. They always say it feels like your bones are breaking when you have dengue so i can just imagine just how painful it is. Then their three little kids all with bad fevers in bed too. We had a lesson one on one with fernando and man it was one of those moments in the mission that i'm never going to forget. This guy is one of the coolest father's i have ever seen. his day starts at 4 in the morning to go do manual labor for the whole day until 9 at night then he gets home to his little house to take care of his family. I could tell he was giving it everything he had to try and support his familia, he told us he didn't even have money to pay for any medicine to help his wife or children and he doesn't think he is going to be able to pay for his rent for his little house this month and how he feels like he is becoming a failure as a father. We had one of the coolest lessons and he asked us if we could give his family a special prayer or something to help. We taught about the Restoration and Priesthood blessings. We ended up giving his wife and kids blessings and i don't even know how to put all of this into words, but for sure one of the coolest experiences that i've ever had on my mission. 

As for the familia Parodi, we went over to their house a couple times this week and they could not just stop talking about how much they loved the church on sunday haha. It was super funny too, just while we were sitting by their house, two different people came up and Alfredo and Silvina were like ¨HEY! these are the guys i have been telling you all about!¨ (pointing at us). Needless to say one of those people was their niece Shirley, she is now an investigator and is reading the book of mormon and praying for her answer. And the other is an older lady named Carmen that lives next door, She has accepted to be Baptized and is also coming to church this Sunday. The Familia Parodi is one of the coolest, that's for sure. Already helping us with more references than lots of members and their not even baptized yet! But everything is coming along good.

The mission simply the best.

Elder Nyberg

May 7, 2016

Hola familia!

This past week has been one full of miracles, It has been really one of the coolest i have had in my mission. So many rad things going on where do i even begin haha. 

So here we go, one night last week we were all just getting ready to leave the office here in Asuncion and go out to start proselyting when we heard the bell go off for the front door. Since the office here is part of the church, We looked out and saw a whole family just chilling there. Two parents and 3 little kids. We opened the door expecting it to be a landlord of one of the missionarys houses or work related but they were just there to ask if they could know more about the church! We invited them to church this past Sunday, and what did you know they showed up! Both the parents and their 3 kids all dressed up in their Sunday best. They are a really interesting family, the dad is from Spain and he said he knew the church a little bit there and had a couple work friends that were members. The mom is from Paraguay and each of their little kids are from different countries because they travel all over. One from Spain, other Ecuador and finally Columbia. They are golden and are for sure going to progress towards baptism. So i thought that this was enough of a miracle after that happening to us and seeing them all in the church this past Sunday.... but no. God definitely works in the weirdest ways because he had way more in store for little Elder Nyberg haha. So sunday we set a cita that we are going to go by their house on Tuesday to teach them. On Tuesday we end up finding their house and just about when im about to clap the house, i recognize the man that is sitting in front of the house. It was a guy named victor that i taught back when i was in huguito. To give you some background if you don't remember, i was only in Huguito for 3 weeks until President called me to work with him in Asuncion. In those 3 weeks we taught Victor and he was golden! He came to church twice and then i got taken out of the area. One week later my comp got taken out of that area and Victor hasn't had the chance to talk to any missionaries since. So what does God do? It turns out that the dad of this new familia(Fernando) and Victor are working together in construction and Fernando told him that we were coming over to teach them that night and once victor heard he asked if he could join them. So we ended up having one of thee coolest lessons i've ever had in my mission with a whole familia and Victor. They all accepted to be baptized and committed to come to church this Sunday. I'm still stunned how crazy it is to see how God can lead someone who is really searching for the gospel, not only to the missionaries but to the same missionary that started teaching him in a whole different city in Paraguay! 

As for another miracle that happened this week, I found out about this one today when i went to go visit Junior and his family from my old area in Cocuere. Junior is doing great, he is still super active and loving the gospel. About 2 weeks ago he just baptized one of his friends that only speaks guarani. Junior had to translate every single one of the missionary lessons so his friend could understand the missionaries. I was so pumped to see this dude, he is already a better missionary than me! hahaha. But the miracle that happened today was i found out that his mom and his 3 brothers are all getting baptized in 2 weeks!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, the same mother that threw me out of her house when i first found junior just because she saw that i am Missionary of Jesus Christ. Making us teach the lessons on the side of the street in front of their house. The same lady who banned Junior from stepping foot in the church for more than a month because she didn't want anything to do with us. She has been through drugs, alcohol and crazy trials in her life. It hit me like a brick wall today when i walked in their makeshift hut and i hear the church hymns playing in their hut with her just singing right along. Man i can't even express how great it felt today. If there is one thing i know, it is that the church is true, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives. Im so grateful that God has given me the opportunity to get to know Junior and his family. And now they are one of the happiest families i have seen here in Paraguay. 

Well I'm running out of time but i hope you guys are all doing great and i’ll get to see you guys tomorrow for mother's day! Love you guys!

Elder Nyberg

Junior and his family

April 16, 2016

Hola familia,

This week was a pretty crazy one here in Asuncion, with changes on Tuesday we have been preparing everything to get things ready. Lots of stress for sure but we're getting things done and we're almost ready. Right now as i'm typing this in the mission office, President Mcmullin is right behind the wall i'm sitting next to, in his office, receiving the transfers for all of the missionaries. Its super cool to be able to work in Asuncion with him. He has been in his office since Thursday and has only left for a short time once in awhile. President Mcmullin is a stud of a guy, and a huge example to all of us. I don't have any doubts that he is called of God and that our transfers come straight from God. 

But as for some cool highlights of the week, one of them is for sure our investigator Cido. He ended up not showing up for church and also cancelled on our cita that we had set for Tuesday. I was super bummed and constantly thinking about what was going on. I got a hold of him on Friday and he said we could come over for a little bit, but he sounded really weird on the phone almost as if he didn't have time for us to come over or something. Anyway we went and got to his big apartment building and he wasn't looking so good. Turns out he had been feeling really bad that Sunday so he didn't go to church and Monday when he just got out of a meeting at his work he fainted and fell and hurt himself pretty bad. He was in the hospital with them doing tests on him all week to figure out what was going on, ending up with not to many conclusions. He got home from the hospital a little bit before we went over and said he had to go back today for more tests. It's crazy in my mission i have seen many times that some of the coolest people that we find have the weirdest things happen to them to delay their progress. I mean "delay" probably wouldn't be the right word for Cido because he asked for a ton of the lesson pamphlets that we had so he could read them all while he was chillin in the hospital haha. But as for our lesson goes, we went over a little bit of the restoration again and focused a lot on the Book of Mormon. Last time we gave him the homework of reading the introduction of the Book of Mormon and he read it all before we got there. He had also been praying everyday since then to know if it is true, he says he hasn't gotten a solid answer yet but at the pace he is progressing i'm sure it will come soon. Cido is such a stud, he's had a couple road blocks in his way to slow him down but he's still going strong. 

Well next time i write you guys i'll let you know what happened in changes. Hope you guys have a great week!

Elder Nyberg

April 9,2016

Hola Familia, 

This week has been a pretty tranquilo one, not as stressful as it usually is here in Asuncion. The weather is finally dropping a little bit, i mean as much as i love just 105 degree weather and humidity all week long, i really missed the rain and cooler weather haha.

This morning we got up an early and went to go play fútbol, half way through the game it started pouring rain and man it was fun. We split up on teams of Latins verses Americans and i was reppin the US soccer jersey, needless to say when we actually scored against the Latins there were some pretty funny Goal celebrations haha. Fútbol down here is for sure one of the funnest things, everyone is so into it its awesome. 

But as for some cool experiences go, we had been calling Cido all during the week to confirm a cita with him but he wasn't picking up his phone at all. It had my comp all worried haha but i knew there was some good reason for it because this guy is way too golden to just drop us that fast. We finally got a hold of him yesterday and we went over to have a lesson. It turns out he was out traveling to a little town out in the chaco called Loma Plata all week where it's so far out there normal cellphones don't work. What was he doing in a little town out in the chaco?  He just barely finished building the first working hospital out there. Super cool huh? But anyways as for the lesson goes, well before we even started teaching, he told us that he had been praying every day and night so that was rad. But we taught lesson one or the Restoration of the Gospel. We talked a lot about prophets, Dispensations and Apostasy. I think a really cool part of the lesson was as we were teaching the great apostasy, he compared it to the world today and thought we were still living in a time of Apostasy. When we then started to talk about Joseph Smith he compared himself to Joseph, saying he has been searching and searching for the truth but has never been able to find it. And as you can imagine when we taught the Book of Mormon and testified of having a Prophet, Thomas S. Monson and the 12 apostles today he was beyond eager to start reading and praying to know if it was true. Something that stuck with me after i left his house, were the words in the closing prayer that Cido offered. He said in Spanish "please help me to know if this is the path i should take and if this is true."  I don't know why but those words really stuck to me, Cido always tells us that he needs to work on his faith and that he really doesn't have much but to me Cido is really an example. He is ready to obey God's will and take that step of faith knowing that God will point us in the right path. I really know that is true, sometimes life gets hard and we have to take a step of faith or maybe even a leap only trusting in God that everything will work out.  But no matter how hard that step is to take or leap even, trust in God, because he always comes through for us. I know it. 

Love you guys tons!

Elder Nyberg

March 19, 2016

Hola familia Por´a,

Como estan? Siento que hace poco estaba en esta misma silla escribiendoles, pero aqui estoy de nuevo. Probablamente papa va a ser el unico que entiende esta parte jaja pero vamos a ver si alguien mas en la familia entiende un poco de español jaja.  Este semana fue uno de los mejores que he pasado aqui, uno de estos razónes es porque pudimos ir al templo como misión! Pienso que voy a hablar un poco de eso, porque fue tan pureté. 

So this week was definitely one to remember here in Paraguay, This week we had the opportunity to go to the temple as a mission. I think the mission has really helped me better understand the importance of the temple, and with the possibility of only going to the temple once a year here in Paraguay this trip was well waited for. I still didn't quite get to escape the stress of working here in the office because i had to help plan how to get 2 Zones from different parts of Paraguay to get to Asuncion safely. Yeah that was a fun one haha. But our day started bright and early, about 3 hours earlier than everyone else who was going because we still had to finish up a couple things. So we finally arrived at the chapel next to the temple at 7am with everyone else and begun one of the coolest meetings i have ever been in. Before we got to go into the temple we got to have a testimony meeting within about 50 missionaries. Just sitting there listening to all of the different testimonies, getting to see lots of old companions and friends that i have worked along side of for the past year and a half, testifying of the love they have for the savior and for this work was unforgettable. I was really thinking about everyone of these missionaries and all the work we have put in, and one thing i could see in the faces of every single one of them were the future leaders of this rising generation. People that love the Lord and because of that, are obedient to his commandments. People that are courageous in choosing the right, time after time again, not giving importance to the consequences that follow. And most of all, People that follow the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and are HAPPY. 

Once we got to go into the temple, It felt so nice just to forget about the worries of the world and to be close to my father in heaven. All of the stress, the phone, all of the problems and things going on in the office just to leave it all behind for a bit and focus on other more important things was such a great feeling. I still remember the first time i got to go through this temple at the beginning of my mission and not really understanding that much spanish, Compared to when i got to go through just barley. I had lots of time to think and reflect on my mission up until now and the things i have learned and how i have grown. I really feel like i have grown in so many ways in this year and a half that i could have never done if i was anywhere else. I don't think i could even start on how many things i have learned, but one thing is for sure, i am so grateful that God has given me this privilege to be able to serve a mission and to have called me to Paraguay. I can already say it has changed my life completely and for the time i have left, it will continue to change my life for the better. The temple trip was exactly what i needed this past week and i can't wait to be able to go again. Without doubt i know that the temple is the house of God on earth, i know that the priesthood has been restored to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith and that same priesthood which we read about in the times of Peter, James and John can be found again here on the earth and in God's temples. 

I hope all of the family is doing great! love you guys so much!

Elder Nyberg

April 2, 2016

Haupé familia Kuera,

This past week has been a fun one, and a couple cool experiences that i wanted to share. I don't have a ton of time because we have to get over to the church in Trinidad to watch Conference but it's going to be cool because i get to be able to watch conference for my Pday. 

Okay, i think the coolest thing that happened this week by far was a lesson that we had with a new investigator named Cido. Cido is a guy that has like 40 years and has a family but is divorced and lives alone. Cido is a doctor and an architect. So it all starts out with a friend of Cido´s. His friend is a member of another ward like 30 min away.  And this friend is just a normal guy that lives the gospel, Cido said that just seeing how happy his friend was all the time made him really curious about him and they got talking and his friend told him it is all because of the gospel of Jesus Christ and following his teachings. So the member gives us his number and we give him a call up and Cido invites us over. We get to this big high rise building and Cido lets us in, next thing i know im going up an elevator to almost the top floor to this massive apartment overlooking all of Asuncion. We got talking and Cido turns out to be one of the most perfect investigators i have ever seen. We don't usually do this but we felt to go forward and teach about the Gospel of Jesus Christ about the 5 basic principles of the gospel. The spirit was with us in the lesson, you could feel it so strong. After we were a ways into the lesson Cido had a really cool question and my comp was explaining a lot about faith and exercising his faith. I remember my comp just looking at me and i got this prompting that i needed to invite him to be baptized right there, I just went with it not really knowing how anything was going to end up and Cido not only accepted a Baptismal invite but he also accepted to be baptized in 3 weeks on the 23rd of April. It is one of the coolest things to see how the spirit teaches these people and testifys to them. 

There were a couple more things that went on this week like i got to go give an emergency blessing with President Mcmullin, got to eat over at his house too and one of my favorite members in San Lorenzo passed away on sunday but i'm getting short on time so i'll have to save it for another day. Hope you guys are all doing great and that you enjoy Conference! Love you guys!

Elder Nyberg

we had some fun on April fools after finding a whole role of plastic wrap;P

Family home evening ¨Wasú¨ with a couple menos activos and a that new convert Brazilian family too

March 26, 2016

Hola familia, 

This week has gone by so fast. i mean they usually go by fast but this last one felt...... man i just wish we could slow things down a bit haha. But this week has been a fun one, Down here in Paraguay this week it's called ¨Semana Santa¨ or Holy Week. I think i am just going to talk about some fun stuff that has been going on this week. 

So... Chipa. Yeah, Chipa is like this really hard crunchy cheesy bread stuff they make for ALL of the Semana Santa. I've easily eaten like 50 chipas so far this week, just because EVERYONE gives you them. Every house we go by, every person we talk to, everyone. The weirdest thing is it is not even that good, but it's a major tradition down here so you just gotta eat it anyway haha.  

Down here it's all about tradition, Most people don't even know why they do half the things they do during the Semana Santa but it's really special to them because of the tradition. Once you get to Friday down here, there is literally NO ONE in the streets. it looks like a legit ghost town, (and i'm in the capital city of Paraguay haha). Another fun fact about ¨Viernes Santo¨ or holy friday is that they don't eat meat for the whole day and the only food they are allowed to consume is Chipa. They all stay close to home and usually recite or chant prayers to these little Shrines of the Virgin Mary. Down here for sure every house has a little table shrine in front of their house with a couple candles going and some flowers with a big Virgin Mary Statue in the middle. We would be walking down the street and we would find like 30 or 40 people gathered in front of one house doing a ¨rezo¨ or chanting a prayer together to the Virgin Mary Statue. But overall the Semana Santa was a really cool experience.

During this week we also found a really cool investigator named Jessica. She is a mom of a couple little kids and she has been having lots of problems with her husband. We contacted her and she said she was busy and didn't seem super interested but said we could try again and come back some other time when she had more time. So we did exactly that haha. We got sitting down and talking and she came out with a question after a bit that kind of surprised us, she asked where do the people go that end up taking their own lives? At first we just thought it was out of curiosity but after teaching lots of The Plan of Salvation and trying to find what her real need was, she came out and told us she was really considering taking her life because of her situation she was in with her husband and kids. Out of all of the things one can think of to respond to that, i had a really strong impression to simply, make sure she knows she is loved by her father in heaven. It felt like my companion was right on the same page too because we didn't leave that house that day until she knew how much her father in heaven loves her and of her potential as a daughter of God. Missionary work is really the best. 

Hope you guys had fun this week! love you all!

Elder Nyberg

Divisions with Elder Dufort from the CCM

March 12, 2016

Hola familia!

Well this week was a pretty crazy one that's for sure. It was transfer week and again being in charge of moving around 200+ missionaries is not the easiest task. I really do like being here in Asuncion though with the other elders that work with me, somehow we always find ways to make it fun with as much work there is to do around here. As you might remember, this week was much like the last months transfers. A week full of deadlines, no-sleep, airport trips and planning trips for lots of taxis and collectivo buses haha.  But lets see if i can remember some of the highlights.

I think first off, this week i got surprised by a phone call when i was waiting at the airport to pick up the new missionaries. It was Lisandro from Cocuere and it was super cool to be able to talk with him again! I think the coolest part was when he called he was super excited to tell me he just got ordained to be an Elder and have the Melchizedek Priesthood. He told me he is planning on leaving the day he hits one year of being a member for a mission. September 26th will be a year from his baptism and he is beyond pumped to get out to the mission field. You bet that just about made my whole entire week haha i can't even describe what it feels like to have heard those words from him. 

I don't know if you guys remember the familia Monzón from cocuere, But they are one of the most solid member families in this world. The dad is the 1st counselor to President Mcmullin for our mission. His son is in our mission too and the whole family are just some of the coolest people. Anyway since i've left Cocuere, Presidente Monzón had a couple heart attacks and he is not doing so good. He was hooked up to oxygen and has lost tons of weight from having heart problems. This week he was getting ready to have heart surgery and since his hospital is in my area a member here went to take us to say hi and hopefully cheer him up a bit. Man i wish you guys could be here to just meet this guy, He is such a stud of a guy and has been a perfect example for me. We got to visit the hospital and when we got there his room was packed full of people, like tons of some of the first members of the church ever here in Paraguay. It was so cool to be all around them, but what really surprised me is he chose me to give him a blessing. It was a really special experience for sure. Man i wish you guys were here, someday you'll have to come meet some of these people down here and get to know them like i do. I love paraguay so much.

Thanks for all the emails, Love you guys so much! have a great week!

Elder Nyberg

Visit to Cocuere & Elder Bednar

Hola familia!

 

This week has been really great! Lots of work as always but one of my favorite weeks for sure. There were just a ton of fun things going on this week and i definitely learned a lot too. I think ill just go over a few cool things that went down this week. 

I cant remember if i talked a little about this last week but remember that convert lady who just moved into our ward here? So we have been going over there to teach and she has the coolest family ever! Every time we go it is so much fun, mostly because the whole family are from Brazil and only moved like 6 months ago. Which means the Recent convert (hermana Val we call her cuz her name in portuguese is too hard to say) speaks only portuguese mixed with bits and pieces of spanish. Her husband is super cool but he only speaks portuguese haha so basically we just wing it when we teach them and it always turns out super cool. It's been really fun to be with them and keep helping them out, and i'm hoping i pick up a bit of portuguese while i'm at it too;) haha. Spanish and portuguese are really similar so atleast its a bit easier trying to learn haha. 

Since i work here in asuncion, i get to see a lot more missionaries. There are always missionaries coming and going, and i learned a couple cool things this past week from some other missionaries. I don't know if you guys remember a guy named Richard that i was teaching when i was in Huguito? He is 18 and is going to college. me and my comp in huguito found him contacting one day and we only got to teach 2 lessons before i had special changes to Asuncion. But an Elder let me know this week that last saturday was his baptism! Cool huh? I don't know if you guys remember Armando from when i was in Cocuere, san Lorenzo too? anyways the elders let me know that since we found him he hasn't missed a sunday since! Its super cool how word gets through all the missionaries of the people we have taught and the people we continue teaching. 

But i think the highlight of the week was by far a special broadcast from Elder Bednar. It was just to our mission, and two others in Argentina. It was probably one of the most spiritual experiences that i have had on my mission so far. The first thing he did when he got up to speak was ask us to get out a pen and paper to write notes on, but then he told us straight up not to write anything he said or what any speaker said. You could tell everyone kinda got a little confused haha. But what he said is so TRUE. Today in the church you always see everyone talking all these big notes on every word the speaker says. Now be honest, where do all these notes we take end up? we usually hold on to them for a bit, but as time goes on they always get lost or we forget what the speaker talked about. But the one thing we can never forget is the holy ghost touching our hearts. He talked about the big plates and the small plates of the Book of Mormon. The big plates were written to contain the historical text of what was happening with the people, But the small plates contained the majority of inspired words and prophecy given to the prophets. So then Elder Bednar proceeded to invite us to ¨Write on small plates.¨ To write down what the holy ghost testified to our hearts while we were listening to him and others speak. I can tell you at the end my notebook wasn't filled up all the way with notes, but the few notes i had at the end of that meeting, i will never forget. I am trying to think how to even begin trying to explain what i felt during that meeting, and im not sure it can even be put into words. But i will sum it up by one line that can be found in my notebook, ¨Elder Bednar es un apostol de Dios¨. I know that Elder Bednar is an Apostle of God, and I have not the smallest doubt about it. And its not because my parents told me he is, or other missionaries told me, or some friends, its because the Holy Ghost testified to my heart this truth, and as Elder Bednar said, This is something that i will never forget. 

The time i have to write you guys never seems like enough haha, i can't wait to get back and tell you about all the crazy stories i have that i just didn't have the time to write down. But i love you guys so much! and i hope you have the best week coming up!

Elder Nyberg

p.s got to visit junior and lisandro today. ill try to drop a pic below. they are both doing great, haven't missed a sunday since i left the area.

In the Office w/Elder Zarabia

hola familia!

This week has flown by, it really feels like just yesterday i was sitting down to write you guys. Its crazy how fast time goes by on the mission.  I was just thinking since i have gotten here to asuncion and Elder Vela left i haven't really talked about my comp yet haha. So i think im gonna fill you guys in on a little bit about my Comp!

My comps name is Elder Zarabia and he is from Lima, Peru. He always just loves it when i tell people he is from machu picchu (not really but its really funny haha). He is a super cool guy and we get along really great. A little different than most missionaries because he is 24 years old and already graduated college but he loves to work hard and is really focused which is sweet. Him and his whole family are converts to the church and he has a super cool conversion story about the missionaries that first contacted his family. He studied lots of business and administration and has learned how to speak perfect english on the mission. He has had only American comps too which really never happens to often in the mission but its super cool. He is going to work like crazy he says so he can move to the states and bring his family with him. He is really one of my favorite comps ive had, just because he is one of those guys that has my back in anything we do. I can tell he is always watching out for me and can count on him in anything that goes down. He is probably one of the companions that i have worked the hardest with(example, right now its our pday but we have a lesson in an hour even during p-day haha.) It's really fun being his comp and learning a lot from him. 

But other than that something that i have been really thinking about and focusing on this week is the atonement. It's one of my favorite things to study, to see the savior's example that he sets in everything he does for us. This week i have been putting an extra effort into really bettering myself everyday. Really finding time to take a look into each day and see what i did good and what i can do better. To repent of the mistakes i make and try my best to follow the savior. A scripture that i haven't been able to get out of my head this week is Mosiah 3:19 and it says ¨For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever,unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child,submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.¨ This is one of my favorites, and just shows us why we all really are here. I invite you guys to take this verse and memorize it, go over it bit by bit and then apply it. That just reminded me of a sweet quote i heard off of meet the mormons, (i still haven't seen it in english but i know it in spanish) it's ¨no soy perfecto. pero soy perfecto en una cosa, en intentar¨ But anyway, Love you guys so much! and hope everything is good at home!

Elder Nyberg

Driving in Paraguagy

Hey fam!

Hope you guys are doing great! this past week was a really fun one, and as you guys can probably guess it was a really busy one too. This past week we had our zone confrence, All of our interviews with president, and just a ton of random fun stuff that comes up like always.

So as for zone conference, i mean i never actually thought of how much work it was to plan everything out for president until i got here to the office. Props to all the elders in the past that have worked to help pres. out cuz it is not the easiest thing haha. But i had a fun experience for this zone conference especially, I was just getting ready to go in and listen to zone conference when an elder that works in the office too comes in and asks us if anyone knows how to change a couple tires. Of course everyone just looks around with that ¨uhh ohh i don't know¨ face haha and of course elder nyberg with the suit on and everything has to step up hahaha. So my zone conference consisted of dirty greasy hands and tire jacks. Missed out on my interview that day with pres but i'll get to do it another day. But definitely a zone conference i will always remember haha. 

This week i officially got my paraguayan licence too. So now i'm fully legal for driving;P It's been crazy driving down here too. Here in paraguay there are NO speed limits, NO lines in the road and the police don't give tickets because they're kinda really corrupt haha. So i bet you can just imagine how much fun it is driving down here;)

Okay sorry for the shortness but i have to cut it off there, i gotta go because we got to take a couple missionaries out to the terminal. see ya next week! 

Love you guys!!

Elder Nyberg

P.s Watch out Elder NATHANG is out on the roads haha man i love paraguay.

Recent Convert

Hola Familia! 

This week has been a really good one, lots of stuff going on haha but a good one. Today we just got done doing a service project at the bishop's house, and then he cooked us a super good asado(kinda like BBQ) it was sweet. But as for the week there were a couple cool experiences i wanted to share. 

So this week there were about 4 special changes with missionaries in the mission and we are always the ones who have to figure out how to move them all as smoothly as possible. So Thursday there was one elder in the office with me just helping out for that one day until his new comp could come meet up with him. I could tell he was getting pretty bored not really having too much to do, so i tried really hard and got all that i needed to get done that day and i took him out contacting in my area. There was a reference that was from the hermanas here that was supposed to be like a super prepared familia so we went on our way to that reference, while doing some contacting on the way (it was pouring rain haha). And just saying, i really don't know my area like at all because i'm still super new here haha. But anyways we were walking down this road in the rain and just as we were turning a corner to the road i thought this reference was on we heard this lady yell something to my comp. So of course we go over there and hide under the little metal roof to get out of the rain and my comp just looks at this lady and the lady just starts flipping out of how excited she is to see my comp. I was pretty lost what was going on haha but we got talking and it turns out the lady is a super recent convert that just got baptized from the area of the elder that was with me. She was telling us that she felt so lost because she had to unexpectedly leave her house and come here to Asuncion for work, and with her being the only member in her family, she felt like she couldn't find a way back to church. She told us that the elder that was with me was exactly the person she wanted to see. I just thought it was super cool to see how even being super new in my area and a little lost the lord puts people in our path to find. It has happened to me several times on the mish and it still never gets old. The mission is simply the best. 

I had a couple other cool things happen but i have to go in a sec, so i'll guess it will have to be for another time!

Love you guys tons!

Elder Nyberg

In the office

 Hola familia!

i know it's been a couple weeks since i could get a good email off but it's just been really busy here in the office in asuncion. There is literally ALWAYS things to do, haha my list never ends. like right now i only have about 45 mins because i have to go contact a reference we got yesterday then go to a lesson we have set up. This past week has been probably one of the hardest but most rewarding weeks of my whole life. ill try to give you guys a quick run down on the life of Elder Nyberg haha. 

So something that happened this week overall was we had transfers for the whole missionaries, it's a super cool process to see president Mcmullin literally lock himself in his office for almost 3 days in prayer and fasting to know in what areas the missionaries are going to serve in next. Biggest perk of working here in Asuncion is getting to work alongside of Pres. That guy is someone who i really look up to and just seems to know the answers to everything! 

So this whole week we were making preparations for transfers and how it was going to work. The area 70 had us change the way of how we do our transfers so we had to think up of a system to ship around 200+ missionaries all across Paraguay. Also we were expecting the new missionaries coming in, and having to take the Missionaries that are going home too. And out of the 200+ missionaries moving around, the new ones and the old ones coming and going, i was in charge of every single thing that had to do with money. All the plane stuff, taxis, buses, luggage fees, medical stuff, visa documents for everyone. So this week was a pretty hard one for me, i don't want to go into all the details but my testimony did grow a lot this week especially about prayer.I probably prayed more this past week than any other. For 2 days in a row i didn't have time to sleep and on the third i got a little more than an hour in and i just remember having to wake up and starting my day off with a prayer, throwing on the first shirt and tie i could find and heading to the office. After this week i really have a gained a testimony of that saying ¨ If life gets too hard to stand, Kneel¨ By Gordon B. Hinckley. I know God listens to our prayers, i know he answers them too. He is always there to help us out in whatever we are going through, especially if life gets a little hard. 

But as for the Rewarding side, This week was Alex´s baptism! It turned out to be soo cool! We ended up asking him to see if he wanted to move his baptism date to Tuesday, and he didn't mind. So we planned everything out to the minute and surprised Alex and the New Missionaries all at the same time! haha. We got it so the baptism was right at the time when the new missionaries came here to the office after the airport and got to help out in singing a hymn at the baptism. Alex loved it and got to meet all the new missionaries that came into the mission, it is so cool to see all the newbies because they just have so much energy to get out and work haha i love it. It really couldn't have been better, I'm telling you all the hard work, sweat, lack of sleep and sore feet from walking all day every day just goes away once you watch someone enter the baptismal font. It really is the best feeling i have ever felt, i just love it. The mission is the best. 

Elder Nyberg

Special changes...Financiero Guy

hey fam,

Okay so first off, Happy New Year!! 

this week has been pretty crazy that's for sure, i had a really busy new years a lot different than what i was used to in the mish, lots of stuff going on haha but it was great. You're probably wondering why i get to write you guys on Saturdays now too. So i'm gonna just run by the stuff that happened in the week!

So on Wednesday the 30th i was on divisions with another Elder in my area in limpio, just like any other of the millions of normal divisions that i've done haha. It was going really great, i mean it was really hot as always but we found some new cool investigators and taught a couple of recent converts. It was going good, just like any other divisions. Then i got a call from President Mcmullin...... So he calls me and tells me i'm going to be having special changes. That i would be called to serve as the Financiero for the WHOLE mission. And that i would need to be ready in the morning so the Assistants could come pick me up and i could get straight to work. So my new area would be in downtown Asuncion and my new companion was going to be Elder Vela from my same group. Yeah it was pretty crazy, i was liking my area in huguito, limpio but i am looking forward for what the Lord has in store for me here in Asuncion too.  I left the area really good for the next elder that comes in to take my place, we had 2 set baptisms one for victor in one more week and the other is in 3 weeks for Richard. But I got to say goodbye to a couple cool members i got to know and had to pack my bags... yeah that took foreverrrrr haha. 

So the 31st, In the morning i had everything packed and ready for the Assistants to be there and we left at 8 so we could get to Asuncion at 10. I said goodbye to my comp Elder Castillo and left for Asuncion. Once i got here they showed me my office and i had a meeting with President Mcmullin. So up until this point i never really knew what the finance dude does in the mission other than pay for our taxis to get to other areas but once i left out of the meeting with the President.... man lets just say i have ALOT of responsibility here. I literately have to be in charge of all the money for the whole entire mission, down to knowing where every last penny(guarani) goes for EVERY single missionary. In this calling there is really no room for error, i get tons of stuff ready for the president to meet with the 70´s and man its crazy. It still amazes me of just how much the Lord trusts some 19 year old to do his work. But i know that when he calls us, he sure does qualify us too. Right now it seems like i have a lot on my plate(well i kinda do haha) but i know that with God's help I’m going to be just fine. But anyway we got to the mission office at 10 in the morning and once i walked in those doors till 9pm at night i guarantee you that i did not even have a full 2 minutes where i wasn’t busy. But once we got home the other elders had bought a bunch of meat and found some sweet BBQ sauce and we all cooked a massive BBQ for new years. It was so much fun, so right now i live in a super nice house in Asuncion with the other 4 missionaries from the office and man i love it. So yeah my pdays are going to be Saturdays from now on because we have to work on Mondays so the mission can keep running. Today we went to the zoo, i took a bunch of pictures but i forgot my camera cable so i'll just have to send them next week or something. But i'm super stoked to be here in a new area and i think this is going to be a really great challenge for me to take on, i'm looking forward to it a lot. 

Love you guys!

Elder Nyberg

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Haupeí familia kuerá!

Happy New Years!

Christmas was so cool to get to see you guys! looks like you all are doing great! Braden, Alli and ash are growing like crazy too, everyone is getting so big. (still not gonna pass me up braden, sorry bro;) There is really not a ton of new stuff going on because we talked like a couple days ago -haha but i think i'm just gonna share a little about mi noche buena aquí or my christmas eve here. 

So christmas eve, we woke up pretty early like at 5am to travel to Luque for a multi-zona zone conference. The zone conference was way rad, i got to see Elder Gutierrez again and lots of other friends that i haven't seen in forever. But in the zone conference we had a great time, it was all really centered in Christ and focusing on the true meaning of Christmas. There was a big rain storm that knocked out all the power to the chapel we were in but we kept going equal. They gave all the missionaries these little signs to fill out about Christ and we got to share our testimonies about them with all the missionaries. My sign said ¨Esta navidad regalaré a Cristo__________________¨ and i chose to put ¨mi voluntad para seguirle siempre¨ It took me a little bit to think about all the things that Christ would want for Christmas, at first i thought about material presents like maybe a new bike or a new guitar or something but i kept thinking what would Christ really want for Christmas when he has everything. I mean he created the world and i'm sure he could have any possession in the world that he wants. But the one thing that he can´t always have is our will. So i chose to give him exactly that, and as my little sign read ¨This Christmas i will give to Christ, My will to follow him forever.¨ He is my Teacher, my Savior and Redeemer, as i continue to give him my will by following in his footsteps he will make me into the person that i want to become. But this really has been a Christmas that i will always remember, there aren't too many times in your life when you get to be in the mission field serving during Christmas time so i´ll for sure be able to remember this one. I hope each and everyone one of you could enjoy this time of the year and had a great time remembering the true meaning of Christmas.

Love you all tons!

Elder Nyberg

Transfer: city of Limpio in Huguito. w/Elder Castillo

hola familia!

This week has been pretty crazy, and such a fun one. So you guys are probably wondering where i'm at right now and i got changed to the city of limpio in a little area named Huguito. I'm still going strong on having straight latins and i just got another. His name is Elder Castillo and he is from Ecuador. But latins are super fun haha so far i've had comps from Peru, Guatemala, Colombia, Argentina and now Ecuador. He is pretty cool tho, just like every other latin he is a massive fan of fútbol. But he's a really great guy and i think we're going to have a lot of success here in Huguito. 

My area here is a lot more spread out and the houses are a lot more humble than my last area in san lorenzo. Probably the funnest part about Huguito is right after it rains. When i was traveling here from san lorenzo with my new comp he asks me ¨hey do you have rain boots?¨ and i told him nahh i didn't need them and i could just get around without them because i made it through 6 months in concepcion without any boots just fine. and he just looked at me and goes ¨just wait till the rain comes elder just wait till the rain comes.¨ And the rain definitely came this week hahaha i left to get out and work in the morning after the rain storm came and i wasn't out 10 minutes until i had to pass through a road with water up past my knees haha. When they say the streets here change to rivers when it rains it is soo true, they look like legit rivers! so yeah... that same day i went during lunch and bought some massive rain boots while i was at it too. And on the way back in the collectivo from buying the boots i looked out the window and saw something that made me laugh, i saw a street full of water and 5 little kids inside a blow up boat paddling their way down the street. 

We got hit pretty hard with a couple storms this week and it's been super fun getting to explore around the area. The crazy part is that it keeps raining but somehow it's still soo hot during the day. I've been here for like 5 or 6 days now and out of that the electricity has gone out 4 of the days so far haha. Gotta love sketchy paraguay. 

But as for investigators go, we have been finding lots of new ones and i'm really stoked to see how they progress. But for now probably the most solid one we have is named victor. He came to church yesterday which was so sweet, he lives in a little wooden box hut and is such a humble dude. he wants to serve a mission so bad already haha i love it. he comes from a crazy background with abusive parents and tons of crazy stories but he is loving the gospel so far and it's changing his life, i can see it little by little. 

but i hope you guys have the best Christmas ever! and i'll be looking forward to talk with you guys on the 25th!  Love you guys!

Elder Nyberg

MASSIVE Holiday in Paraguay

hola familia!

this week has been a really good one! but a really hot one as well... we are for sure in summer down here. It's going to be pretty weird again to have a Christmas during the middle of summer haha. I hope you all can feel the Christmas spirit this year, this time of the year is really one of my favs. Paraguay is a little special in this time of year, it's A LOT different from the normal Christmas that i've always had haha. 

I don't know if you guys still remember last year in december when i was still in my training in Itaugua at this time of the year and i talked a little bit about the 8th of December.... So this week we passed the 8th and here in Paraguay its a MASSIVE holiday. its the day of the virgin of Cacupeé. So in Paraguay the majority of the people are super super super catholic and they worship the Virgin Mary down here. So every 8th of December all the catholics walk from wherever they are to the city Cacupeé to worship the virgin mary. And man it's super crazy, people leave like 2 weeks in advance to walk from Concepcion, and all those cities super far away just to come to Cacupeé. Our investigator Laura used to be Catholic and she had gone several times to do the walk to Cacupeé and i asked her a little about it and she told me that they recite prayers to the virgin mary so she can bless them with miracles and every 8th of december the people that received their miracle walk to Cacupeé to thank the virgin for blessing them. It was a pretty crazy day. And for sure in almost every single house they light off fireworks and have massive shrines of the Virgin to worship her. All of this probably sounds a little bit weird but man if you guys were here, i felt so weirded out and awkward that day walking by tons of houses with tons of people in groups chanting(reciting) prayers all together to a big statue of the virgin mary. The culture here definitely is not the same as the states that's for sure. oh and while we were eating lunch at the house there was one of these Virgin mary worship things going on and i took a couple pictures from our window so you guys can see haha. 

And as for new things going on..... I have transfers tomorrow! so we'll see what happens and where God wants me to serve here in Paraguay. i have 6 months here in San lorenzo and 4 1/2 months with the same comp so i feel like a change is coming but we'll see what happens! Anyway i hope you guys are doing great and getting ready for Christmas which is coming really soon! I gave another talk this sunday about the spirit of Christmas and the real meaning of it, that it's really a time to serve others and be grateful for the many blessings that our loving father in heaven has blessed us with and remembering the birth of the savior. So make this Christmas a good one and get out and serve someone who needs it. Love you guys tons!

Elder Nyberg

Catholic holiday. 

cheezzzzzz :) in front of the catholic church in my area...... for real its like as big as the temple haha

poor shoes..... they had a good life...... good thing i have more:p