Paraguay, Part X

This is the last Jillian's Journeys I am sending from Paraguay itself. I have so enjoyed my time here, and am sorry that it is drawing to a close.Before the programming last night, our pastor took us to see the monument that overlooks the city, honoring the fallen heroes of Paraguay. It was impressive, especially as it was silhouetted by the sunset. What we thought at the time was the last children's meeting went well, and the adult meeting went well, also. I met someone who wants to come to California and study to become a conductor. He was very interested in the LA Philharmonic, and I just had to marvel that they luckily asked me. I was glad to answer his questions.Afterwards, our pastor had us over for pizza and ice cream at his house. He introduced us to his wife and daughter--both are incredibly beautiful, and showed us excellent hospitality. Today was insane. We woke up to torrential rain (the first rain we've seen the entire time) and got ready to go. We stopped by the children's site to drop off a Sabbath School quarterly, and discovered that we had to present an entire program that we somehow had to fabricate straight out of our heads. Fortunately, the rain offered a great retelling of Noah's ark. It was so loud, beating on the tin roof, that we could hardly hear each other speak.Scott, Shaddai and I all team-preached the final sermon (after getting lost on the way there, but that's another story). It was sad to say goodbye to this church--it was small, but its members had large hearts. We enjoyed a brief rest for lunch at the hospital, then it was time to go to the women's prison to give a VBS program to their children. This involved even more improvisation, as I finished telling my story, ready for the craft, just to discover that Shaddai had left the craft supplies at the security checkpoint. So, we got out the puppets and completely winged a second story, which was exciting.I was already tired after that, but there were still two more appointments. First, we spoke before a group of leaders from the district of our first church to motivate them for their next efforts in evangelism. Then, after a brief stop at the hotel, the conference president and the pastors threw a party for us at the hospital. They had pizza, ice cream, and everyone we had worked with there. They showed pictures and had a musician they'd hired in play guitar and harp for us. I've never heard the harp played with such incredible life. They made speeches thanking us for coming, and gave us going-away presents (including a comb for Pastor T., who is bald). We said good-bye to everyone there, and I believe I will miss them.Well, the bags are mostly packed now. Although our first flight leaves at 10:00 AM tomorrow morning, we don't arrive in San Francisco until noon on Monday. It's a long journey, with long stopovers. Pray for our sanity and for our hydration. Thank you for all your support throughout the entire trip. I look forward to seeing you all when I return.