Spencers´ getting Married! It´s about time. And Dad got a new truck and is going to get work this Fall! Please send pictures through emailand mail. I want to see Dad´s new truck and the Wedding pictures. A lot has happened since I´ve been gone. I just realized that I´ve been gone since April 13 and it is now August 1. Time is going by rediculously fast. I still remember the last day I saw all you at the setting apart.
Well, I just got news that E´Butcher´s Mom is going to contact Mom and Dad. Because Sister Callan (President Callan´s wife) is in Farmington for her Daughter´s wedding. So if you want to meet her, there you go. Hopefully she contacts one of you.
Well I bought a card reader here, but it looks like it doesn´t work properly. I was hoping that it would work so that I could sent pictures through email but not today. So, I´ll need a real card reader or the cord from my nikon camera. Either one will work. I want to share what is going on more, but I need one of those to do that.
As for the package, you can just put alot of different stuff. I know I don´t need any razors. I only went through about 5 or 6 razors since the beginning of the MTC. And I have enough shaving cream to last till at least March. The somethings you can put in a package either now or in the future. Peanut butter, money, LDS music cds and a flashdrive (Just like I wrote before), chocolate (different kinds of candy is good), toothpaste. That is all I can think of right now. I know I´ll need more mulitivitamins in two months.
I guess it´s about time to tell you some things that I ate here since I´ve been here.
1. Cabeza de Vaca- Cow Head
2. Salads- containing onions, beets and tomatoes and that´s it
3. Mandioca- Boiled Tree Root, no joke
4. Pollo y Carne- Chicken and beef
5. Corn on the Cob- with no butter!
6. A lot of Rice
7. Fideos- Noodles
8. Pan- Bread. Lots and lots of bread
9. Beju- Flour that is mixed with milk and deep fried
10. Sopa- corn bread that doesn´t have flavor and has onions in it
-Saturday w are eating capibarra. Oh yeah!
Bye for now!

In the town of Hernandarias (zona 3), Cuidad del Este, Paraguay (Where I reside). Which is considered "country and not city". A young man is writing, it reads... That is cool that you had a bomb fire, I see one everyday. They burn their garbage out in the street. so HA! jk And you had the family over and La. I actually know La a little. I`ve met her a couple times. I heard that the laws for fireworks are not as strict now, that`s cool. Because Elder Butcher got a email about it from his family. Did his Mom or Family contacted you? Did my first companion contact any of you? Has anyone asked for me to write them or who wants to write me? How does it feel when someone asks Where`s your son, Cory. Or to say, "my son (or brother, friend, cousin,enemy, fri-enemy, etc.) is in Paraguay right now"? Is it still weird with Family prays, because it feels like someone is missing?

I don`t have much time but Today was a wierd day because it was the first time being in normal clothes in the streets of Paraguay. We (my district) played basketball for the first time. It is against the rules to play with anyone else, because some Missionaires abused that rule. We played for about 2 hours because one Elder is going home and the other is being transfered. After we walked in the streets and everyone stares at us even more.

I really enjoyed today because we got what we had to do, done. The end of the first change is this Tuesday:Wednesday. I have about November or January till I move out of this area. My trainer will be moving out of here in September and I`ll be the one to know this area. I can`t believe how fast time is going by. The longest I`ve been away from the family was 6 days.
Sunday, there was a big game Uraguay vs Paraguay. Paraguay lost. It was so funny because they are so prideful. They were playing their paraguayo music and honking their horns. Getting beer for the celebration, buying their food for the game, etc. And then they lose. The thing that makes this country rediculous is that they were fine with 2nd place. They settle for less. Last night was nice and quite. I`m glad they lost because we got a good nights rest. People still have their flags on their cars, buildings, houses, etc. I just don`t get these people.

Last Tuesday I recieved a Dear Elder from you, Dad. Thank you. Oh and by the way we don`t contact drunk people, it`s more like they contact us. We can`t avoid them sometimes. I would like to show you what my area looks like but I need a card reader. Did you sent it in the package? If not you can send another one. Oh and If you could, get me some church music (CDs). I have a music player that I can put a flash drive in. Or better yet, have a flash drive with mp3 music on it. Jackie can figure it out. You just need to convert them to mp3 using a converter on the Mac. Those are the only two things I would need.

Thank you for all your letters, the dear Elders are really good to have because they are in my hand and I don`t have to use a computer. I can read it whenever.

Right now there is a girl playing a video game behind me. these people do alot of working, watch TV, Futbol, and video games and other stuff. They are just content with their lives. Living in their little bubble. The people are very alike here. meaning there is hardly any individuality here. They don`t express themselves very much, not in food, art, writing or sewing (some do but they just copy what they see). Even their music is the same over and over and over and over, etc. I feel bad for them because they have no idea what is out of here. With every person that have seen the real world, they leave and never return.

One more thing too, Jackie, if you want to do this for me. Is to find a poem that goes, "one bright day in the middle of the night, two dead boys got up to fight. back to back they faced each other...". And to sent it through a dear Elder. That would be awesome!

Love all of you that are reading this right now. ¡Chao!

WOW, that is really good to here that Dad and Uncle Noel are alright. It´s crazy that all that stuff happened. I´m glad that they are okay. I am praying for all of you each day. I like hearing that we are a close family.

Well, that´s awesome that you are going to sent a package real soon. Even though it will take a month to get here. Oh, they have salt here but not pepper. I wouldn´t need that. But they don´t have garlic here. Not good garlic anyways. But they do have soy sauce here. That made me happy.

-You probably will get my first written letter, this week or the next. I will write an email and a hand written letter each week. I like writing on P-days´ because it is sort of a relief from the stress of the work. I walk about 5-7 miles a day, depending on who we teach. But I enjoy everyday. I expected this to be hard. Elder Holland said, "Missions have to be hard. It never was easy and never will be easy... Salvation is not a cheap experience and does not come with not working your absolute hardest". I see an outcome now (of my first area). I see partially of why I´m in Hernandarias as my first area. -Every 2nd week is for the missionaries to give talks in sacrement meeting. I wasn´t told this until the friday before. I didn´t have anytime to prepare a talk. So I ended up giving a 15 min testimony. I want to share something that I said, "(in Spanish) You can always return to Christ, you can always return on the path of good. Jesucristo is my Savior and your Savior, please return on the path when you faltar... y mi compasión por ustedes aumentar cada día(my compassion for all of you increases everyday). Please, strenthen your faith...( And I wanted to say, ...because your the ones that will be the ones that will retain the new converts)". This is why I´m here. God wanted me here because He saw something in me that I do not yet see. I have something that will strengthen this area. That is how I know why that I am here. Because God knew I would be the one to strengthen it. And if God Knows that I can do it, then I know that I can. Because I know God cannot lie and that to every single thing in our path has purpose.

I am not used to the humidity or all the culture yet. It is really different here. The people here are really easy going. They just don´t care about the house they live in or their clothes. They can have tons of holes in their shirt and pants and not give it another thought. This is their winter right now and it is about 87 degree out right now (Feels like 97), with the sun shining. And I can tell that the summer is going to be miserable... I mean miserable fun :)

Well, it´s time to write my president a letter. I really like my Mission President, he is strict, but that is just what we need. I see this area as being where it is supposed to do. I want this area to be strong and I want to be part of it in becoming stronger.

I love all of you, stay strong and do good.

It´s so good to hear from you, monday is the only day where I think the most about home. It sounds like everyone is enjoying life as you should. -Mom, I would like peprika, cinnimon, pepper and what ever kind of spice that would be useful. That would be great, thank you. I think the kind of recipes that would be good would be like, dough, pancake, etc. That would be great to have.

I am learning really fast, I love reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish each day. I will stop speaking english this Wednesday. My Comp. will no longer speak any english. I am glad for that, because I´ll learn alot more faster. But I will still write in english in my Journal, so I would have to translate it for others to read.

I being here so much. I just want to be able to say what is in my heart but it is so hard to express all that I want to share. But I know I need to have patience and I do. I know that the most important thing to do is to open my mouth. -Being on a mission, I don´t ever want to regret one thing, such as," Dang it, I needed to talk to that man but I was afraid". That is not going to happen to me. I am not going to let that happen to me. I will not be shy with this conmission. And you will see when I get back that I am not shy. But I am quite when I need to be. I want my reputation to be as a fearless missionary. I feel that the only thing to hold me back is the language. But even still, that is no excuse. This truly is the greatest thing ever. Even when not one will listen, I will know that I did my absolute best. But I know that there will be others that are fully ready and will stay faithful and presever until the end. Those are the ones I want to find. I know that I will be guided to them, when the time is right.

The 4 of July, It is really weird to miss it for the first time in my life. And Mom, your 55 now. I show the picture of you at my setting apart and they say,"She´s 54, are you sure?". Yep, I just wish I had more pictures. Oh and speaking of pictures, I wrote you a letter about how I can send pictures through email. I need a card reader. Like the one that you can put 19 or more different cards... ergo SD card, microcard, SD Slim card, etc. with the cord of course. Then I can share more of what I see.
Spencer went Jeeping in Moab, huh? I hope he finds a way to edit/put them on the computer alright. Jackie knows, if she remembers. It was to bad Spencer didn´t have me to film for him, jk but not really.
I started on a list of "stuff" I´ve eaten here. But you wouldn´t know all of it, until it is finished. The other day, we ate a brazilian familys house. The are weathy. They gave a full meal for lunch and it was really good. That never happens, ever. My Companion said it was the first time that he was invited into their house. And he has been going there every week for 4 months or so. "That´s what happens when you have Blue eyes and blonde hair here. You get invited into peoples houses and get to eat like a king"- Elder Butcher.

Well, I am starving, we just bought some food for the week and I want to eat it. I will working really hard this week. To make up for all the Travel that we did, these past three weeks. Which adds up to more than 34 hours in Taxi´s and busses. I´ll actually get in a normal work week this week. I LOVE ALL Y`ALL. All my friends that are reading this too. And those whom I don´t know. I love all of you. Peace out

From the frontlines, fighting against Satan,

ELDER CORY NOEL GRISHAM

I will be praying for Dad, for comfort. You´ve had a very hard life Dad. You deserve to be rewarded for all that you challenged in life. I´m really glad that your enjoying life. It sounds like everyone is progressing and that you enjoyed my card.
Sorry my letter was so short last week. I didn´t have much time because I was in the bus station in Asuncion, waiting for our bus (5 1/2 hour bus ride). I left at 5 pm and I we arrived at our apartment at 11 pm. And this tuesday night we go again for a special seminar for new missionaries. I´m excited to be in the semiar but not travel. It throws us off, but oh well.
I said last time that you should only sent small packages, I mean that not to sent huge packages(it takes 1 month to recieve it here). The things to sent would be food, candy, summer sasage(if it would last for a month of traveling), chocolate, and stuff like that oh and spices would be really good here for when I cook. And anything you think would be good. -Every thing is cheap here. I just got a haircut for 2 dollars (10 guarani). And that is not what I need. I already get stared at all the time. I always here "Rubio" (blonde) and they talk about my blue eyes. But now, with a fresh to death haircut, I´ll have to have a walking stick to keep them away. But, I give no heed to them. Some of them, well actually most of them freak me out because they are missing teeth *yesh*. Back... you... creature of the night!
I´m picking up Spanish pretty quick. It´s still hard to understand people down here sometimes but I don´t worry about it too much. I know I´ll get it soon enough. I always remember the words of President Baer "...You will be more able to comunicate in you mission language then your native language" <-- that is why I do not worry so much. I still just do the best I can and not worry, because that is when the Holy Ghost takes over and gives power to my words and I need not worry.
Well, It´s actually cold right now. It´s about 40 degrees in the shade. But at least it´s not raining right now. It was about this cold yesterday and the Paraguayos use that as an excuse to not attend Church. !Que amor! Well we can´t force them they do have their albedrio.
After this email, we are going to go buy food. A weeks worth of food is about 30 US dollars. And we can get a lot of food with that. and ten I´m not sure what is next. Maybe almuerzo, the biggest meal of the day. I miss having dinners (cena) as the main meal.
There is so much to tell you but not very much time. I´ll just have to tell you when I return. But I do have a story right now. There a man a bike and he had his kid with him on the bike. This guy looked freaky. He had smeagol teeth. Anyways he had us follow him to his shack, I mean home. And the lesson went pretty good, except for he was a little drunk and he was very hard to understand. We finished with the lesson and he started talking jibberish like."The elephant is part of this plan", as he gestured to the Pamphlet. And that was the end of the lesson. And after we shook his hand he had a weird look in his eyes and he said with clenched teeth, "If your lying about this, I´m going to put a bullet though your heart" -The thing is I didn´t know what was going on at the time. I´m not worrying about it though. I´m not invincible but I am protected. It was pretty cool.
Thanks for your prayers. I am loving it here and I feel more grown up spritually. Love all of you.

Wow, it is so cool here. Theres alot motorcycles and buses and cars. There are no rules om the roads pretty much. I see people with a nice phone and nice car, but their house is a shack. I'm in Hernandarias, east of the Asuncion mission. I can see brazil outside my Apartment balcony. There is Spanish, Portugese and gurarani spoken in my area. It`s pretty crazy. And the food here, you would be amazed at what I ate. I`m no longer picky about my food, except for tomatoes, I still don`t like. I now eat onions, peppers, etc. I have no choice now. The food here is pretty good though (so far). Oh and I had ramon noodles yesterday, excellente.
My Spanish is taking off, and my english is fading. The first day I was here I was contacting others. But I still need alot of work to learn more. I really like the people here and my companion Elder Butcher. We are an awsome companionship. And the members here are great but they need to be strenghtened. (We can do that)

The reason I didn`t write yesterday was because I went to the Temple today. It`s a beautiful Temple, we get to go every months.
You can sent dear elders here to the mission home.
Well, my bus is going to leave soon (5 hour bus ride back), so know that I`m doing great and that I am working hard.

ps I don`t think I`ll be able to sent pictures, it´s kind of impossible and when you sent packages, just have them as small packages. Love you all (:

I recieved my Travel Plans! Only one week left here! I leave here June 13 @ 8:00 am and my first flight is at 12:45 toward Dallas, Texas (4 hours). I'll call by during that time. After that I fly to Sao Paulo, Brazil (12 hours). Than it's an hour flight to Paraguay. And than in a month I fly down to Argentina (3 hour flight) to pick up my vista. Well, it's kind of weird that my previous companion is gone, but Elder DiPiero is a really good companion. Everything is really great here... I am really excited to get out of here.
I was thinking of how different everything will be when I'm finished here. And how I'll always be reflecting back on my mission. And how I'll someday look back in my journals and relive the memories. I have 7 journals. #1&2:for everyday writing, #3:for elders that I have met, #4:"Missionary Memories" journal, #5: Talks and firesides, #6:Scripture Journal, #7: Language, Doctrine, study. I want to make sure that I have all I need to remember my mission as best as I can.
Saturday, we have another P-day before we go. I'm not sure if I can write another email, but I will write a letter.
When I am in Paraguay and when you sent a package, you should put a sticker or picture of Christ on it or else it will get stolen. Remember this is a very poor place and it is the black market capital of South America. Also letters take quite a long time.
I'll be sending a package home with my debit card, pictures and something else. You'll most likely recieve it next week. I haven't recieved your dear elder yet because they arrive in the afternoon. So I'll write my letter later. I'll talk to you later. Most likely in Paraguay. I love you all. Goodbye!