Chicken Fight

This week was pretty good. This week is Semana Santa and nobody works and nobody goes to school so I'm super excited for all the wild stuff we are going to see.

This week went by really fast so I don't really know what happened.

We went paint balling in Santiago and it was super fun. I'm not very good at it and got hit a bunch of times but whatever. I got to see my old district and I miss them so much.

This week we have been trying a lot harder on how we invite people to do things. We try to talk about the benefit that they will get out of it instead of just saying we want you to do this. It's been working and I'm learning a lot about people. We did it on this lady named Fatima and she always reads and prays, but we just know that she doesn't want to go to church. So we talked about the blessings and changes she has seen from reading and praying and told her we only want more blessings for her and they are waiting in the church. I felt good about it.

This is a picture of me by this river. We call it the trash river because it is full of trash and diapers and dead cats and plastic. The water is green and brown, it depends. But on the big hill is a big hill. We call it the trash hill because they put so much trash there. This area is super cool.

The other picture looks weird, but we saw two chickens fighting then another two started fighting and I had to take a picture. If you zoom in you can see two blurs and that is them.

Anyways, the church is true. I love the Dominican Republic. Have a good week everybody!

Most Interesting Man/Burger King x3

Hello world,

I am doing pretty good and this week was a good one. We went to Santiago Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and we went to Burger King every time we went. It was awesome!

We had interviews with President Castillo this week and he is a really good guy. He was really nice to me and he told me that I have definitely been blessed with the gift of tongues which made me really happy. Also he told me to tell everybody at home that he says HI!

We found maybe the most interesting man in the world this week. We went to Papo's house who has been going to church for 2 months and his step dad was there. I don't know how to start so Ill just say everything. First, Papo's mom is deaf and only speaks sign language. The step dad's name is Ajecka. He is from Indiana. He is half Cherokee and half something else. He played college basketball for Syracuse. He is a big black man. He speaks English, French, and Sign Language, but not Spanish. He married a Dominican and is going to take his new family to live in Indiana. He is hard of hearing, but still speaks good English and sounds almost exactly like Forest Gump. He talks a lot when we are there because not a lot of people understand him. He is super cool and I'm so excited to teach their family. He loves Jesus a lot. He prayed in sign language and I felt REALLY good. It doesn't matter who you are, God loves everyone of his children and wants to hear from them no matter what way. He listens to every prayer!

I called Elder Cortez a little while ago in my old area and he told me Joan is finally going to get baptized. I called him again today and Joan is lost again. Maybe one day he will get baptized.

I love you all. Here are pictures of Burger King, Enjoy!

Jello Pics from Elder Alba's Mom

I gave a haircut

Everything is going pretty good over here. I love the music here.

So one day we were walking and this guy said hi to us and we started talking to him. His name is Keni and he is 29. He is super cool and we have been teaching him a little bit. He is really nice and pretty shy. He came to church with us this Sunday and he said he felt good. He is pretty different and he needs friends so I'm really happy that we found him and he is just a really cool guy.

I don't know what the missionaries that were here before us did, but there are these two kids, Papo and Carlos, that have been going to the church for two months and hadn't talked with missionaries yet. Carlos' family is pretty cool but they are a little bit of a challenge, but I like that a lot.

It is starting to get hot here again and sometimes it is horrible. Nobody is ever home from 3 to 5 so we have a hard time finding people to teach and just walk in the hot sun forever. But also it's really cool here and I love living in a tropical climate.

I cut Elder Guajardo's hair and it looks amazing. He cut my hair and it could've been worse for his first time. The other picture is of me and a few missionaries from our zone.

The mission is going good. Sometimes its hard and I still have challenges but I feel very strongly that I am supposed to be here and that this is the best thing for me right now. I feel like my perspective on the world has gotten so much more broad. Life is hard and we all have challenges. We can choose the easy paths that bring short term happiness, but that will never take us where we want to go. If we are willing to take the harder paths and do the things we should be doing we will always be happier. Its not always easiest, but you will never regret making the right choice. This has been some of the hardest 6 months of my life and it is still hard sometimes, but I am so happy that I came to the Dominican Republic. The church is true. God is real and he loves us. Jesus loves us and we can find real lasting happiness through him and his suffering for us and our sins and trials. 

Elder Eliason

Jell-O

Hello Everybody

This week has been pretty good. We are still working hard and we have found so many people to teach. We are so blessed here in La Española and there are so many people that are ready for the gospel. 

One of our first days we contacted this one house and this guy and his wife let us in and we had a good lesson. He said that he always saw the missionaries pass and they were always ready to accept them with love, but we finally found them. He prayed and said he feels good about the church and he has been reading and said that he could try to get work of on Sunday so that he could come to church. His name is Junior and his wife is Ofelia and they are both probably 20 years old. I'm really happy for them!

We were walking on this dirt road and these guys asked us if we wanted coconuts so they cut one open for me and I drank it under a palm tree! All the people here are so nice and will just yell "God Bless You" at us when they are driving by.

We also have been making a lot of jello this week and decided that it would be a good idea if we filled the fridge. So we did. I love Jello and the Dominican Republic!