Handwritten letter sent on Nov. 11th, .2012
"Dear Mom and Dad",
Every time I think of all of the gifts you sent to me and Hermana Santiago, and all of my Paraguayan faily, I can't talk because I feel like I'm going to cry.
#1 Dad, I thought this might make you feel better to know that we have to pay for our packages to receive them and because you both sent me half of WalMart and the DI (like the Salvation Army in Utah), I don't have money this month to wash clothes, so I bought 50 cent soap and am "super quapa" as they say and wash by hand for the month! Please don't feel bad...I'm only telling you this because I am grateful...it is teaching me to know how it feels to "need"...just a little. :)
#2 When my District Leader received the "announcement" that I had four packages waiting for me...he asked jokingly if I had been ASKING for packages...(Let me clarify...Shauna, who is typing this...the Mom...Our ward donated dozens of skirts, white shirts and ties and the Achievement Day Girls and Young Women made flower headbands to donate to all the people in Natasha's area and investigators who wanted, but didn't have, nicer clothes for church...this lead to me sending several packages and for her companion to have a Christmas, too. I also sent several bottles of mosquito spray one time, because of all the heat, humidity and annoying mosquitos...so, no...I don't just go to WalMart and randomly send Natasha lots of extra stuff) :)
Natasha...continued...My district leader asked if my parents were really worried about me or something...ha ha...nope, they just love me lots and want to be a part of my mission, too, by blessing the people that I love here in Paraguay!
#3 Hermana Santiago hasn't received a single card from her family. We opened my Christmas boxes that day because I assumed we will have transfers and I wanted HER to have the gifts because she has so little. Mom and Dad, she felt so special. I think the thinks that you sent her are some of the nicest things she has ever had. As I pulled out the CDs, skirt...then the earrings, etc. and everything else, she looked so surprised! "Wow", she said, almost with tears in her eyes...."it's too much." She said softly with a smile. (no, they didn't steal anything from our packages, Mom :)
#4 I can't make a list of "thank you for the watch, the book the piano music, the music CD's skirt, etc. because I would never be able to it it all on here. I carry the gum around and it's so fun to give. Small, silly gifts actually soften people's hearts to be willing to listen to the Gospel.
Thank you Mom and Dad for the gifts. It was so much and I feel overwhelmed as I look at them and then I think of my friends that are in my area that have barely enough to buy cheap bread. Oh, Mom and Dad, we are blessed so much in every single aspect of our lives. Thanks for teaching me the Gospel of Christ so that I could learn to love others.
Tu hija,
Hermana Jones
"Dear Mom and Dad",
Every time I think of all of the gifts you sent to me and Hermana Santiago, and all of my Paraguayan faily, I can't talk because I feel like I'm going to cry.
#1 Dad, I thought this might make you feel better to know that we have to pay for our packages to receive them and because you both sent me half of WalMart and the DI (like the Salvation Army in Utah), I don't have money this month to wash clothes, so I bought 50 cent soap and am "super quapa" as they say and wash by hand for the month! Please don't feel bad...I'm only telling you this because I am grateful...it is teaching me to know how it feels to "need"...just a little. :)
#2 When my District Leader received the "announcement" that I had four packages waiting for me...he asked jokingly if I had been ASKING for packages...(Let me clarify...Shauna, who is typing this...the Mom...Our ward donated dozens of skirts, white shirts and ties and the Achievement Day Girls and Young Women made flower headbands to donate to all the people in Natasha's area and investigators who wanted, but didn't have, nicer clothes for church...this lead to me sending several packages and for her companion to have a Christmas, too. I also sent several bottles of mosquito spray one time, because of all the heat, humidity and annoying mosquitos...so, no...I don't just go to WalMart and randomly send Natasha lots of extra stuff) :)
Natasha...continued...My district leader asked if my parents were really worried about me or something...ha ha...nope, they just love me lots and want to be a part of my mission, too, by blessing the people that I love here in Paraguay!
#3 Hermana Santiago hasn't received a single card from her family. We opened my Christmas boxes that day because I assumed we will have transfers and I wanted HER to have the gifts because she has so little. Mom and Dad, she felt so special. I think the thinks that you sent her are some of the nicest things she has ever had. As I pulled out the CDs, skirt...then the earrings, etc. and everything else, she looked so surprised! "Wow", she said, almost with tears in her eyes...."it's too much." She said softly with a smile. (no, they didn't steal anything from our packages, Mom :)
#4 I can't make a list of "thank you for the watch, the book the piano music, the music CD's skirt, etc. because I would never be able to it it all on here. I carry the gum around and it's so fun to give. Small, silly gifts actually soften people's hearts to be willing to listen to the Gospel.
Thank you Mom and Dad for the gifts. It was so much and I feel overwhelmed as I look at them and then I think of my friends that are in my area that have barely enough to buy cheap bread. Oh, Mom and Dad, we are blessed so much in every single aspect of our lives. Thanks for teaching me the Gospel of Christ so that I could learn to love others.
Tu hija,
Hermana Jones
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