Papo se bautizo

This week was pretty good.

Papo got baptized! and I did it! Papo is 13 and has been going to church for a long time. We had to move his date back a few times and he got pretty upset haha. We have been working with him for a long time and he finally got baptized. I have been in this area for a while and this is the first baptism that we have had. He is probably going to move to Indiana with his family so I can go visit him there.

Good news!! Today we played basketball and went to McDonald's. I really haven't been playing basketball very well for a long time but today was different. I realized that I still have it and I just need to play more. I feel good.

The mission is going good. Sometimes it is still hard but our trials make us stronger. I feel like I talk about this a lot in my emails but I know that God has a plan for us. Sometimes things are hard and our faith is tried, but they will always get better if we are righteous! I know that God is real.

Pictures:

I went on exchanges for a few hours in Santiago during this meeting and this is the house that some elders live in. It is super nice and pretty.

Me and my comp and Papo. 

100 percent free from sin Papo.

Ups and Downs

This week had some good ups and downs.

First, I went on exchanges with Elder Garcia, the new missionary. He has less then 2 weeks in the field and he is still learning Spanish. We had a super good day and it gave me a lot of confidence in my abilities as a missionary and also in Spanish! We taught 4 lessons that day which is actually pretty dang good.

We taught in English! We went to Papo's house and taught Ajecka in English. We talked about the Book of Mormon and it was actually pretty good. He says he believes in the bible and that the BOM has some weird names in it but he read what we left him. He has a lot of questions and I know that he can get his own testimony. It felt super good to bear my testimony in English and Elder Garcia said he really liked talking in English. Also, if everything goes good Papo is getting baptized this week!

Some things were pretty hard this week. I thought I was so cool after I finished my training, but I still have so much to learn as a missionary and also as a person. Im really grateful for this opportunity to learn and grow but sometimes it is hard. But I have a lot of faith and hope in God because I know he has a plan for everybody and he is shaping every one of us.

Also I gave a talk in church and it was medium.

This is a drawing that my companion did of me. Idk what to say. Tell me what you guys think.

Elder Hooker had his birthday and also I'm still pretty bald, but its coming back!

I love you all! I love la Republica Dominicana!

Snakes

This week has been good. Elder Alba left and same with Elder Guajardo so that was sad. A new Elder from Colorado is in our house now and my new companion is Elder Feliz. He is Dominican and he is a really good missionary. He knows a lot but we are pretty different. We don't talk a lot, but I live in a house with cool people.

I gave away an English Book of Mormon! I'm really happy about that. I gave it to Ajecka (the most interesting man) and so I hope he reads it. Papo is hopefully going to get baptized in two weeks and he is doing pretty good. He is going to move to Indiana eventually so we want him to have a really strong testimony so he will stay in the church forever!

We have a lot of good people here, but not a lot of them want to go to church. It takes time for somebody to become really converted so I'm trying to be patient. I've gained a very strong testimony that hard things and sacrifice make us stronger. So far I've seen myself go through a lot of trials and now I've seen my faith grow. The church is true and the Book of Mormon will help everybody with literally any trial we have. 

This is a picture of me and Elder Feliz and a guy without a shirt on skinning a snake on a tree. Love you all. Have a nice week!

Semana Santa

This week was basically spring break for the Dominican Republic. I thought I was going to see a lot more crazy stuff but there were only a few fights and it wasn't super interesting.

A long time ago we contacted this house and we went back a little while ago and taught her. We went to her house again and had a really good lesson. She started asked us if you had to be married to join the church and some other questions like that and we didn't even bring up baptism. She is super good and super prepared but she will have to get married or leave her husband if she wants to get baptized. But I have faith and Im super happy that we found her.

Ajecka (the most interesting man) is doing good. We taught him in English, it was so weird, and he translated in sign language to his wife. I don't really know what we can do for them but hopefully when they move to Indiana the missionaries will find them so he can go to an English church. Papo is doing pretty good too. Hopefully he can get baptized in the next few weeks. 

Conference was pretty good. I learned some good stuff and we are really blessed to have a living prophet and apostles on the earth.

My companion is leaving and I dont know who is coming here so Ill let you all know next week! Also Elder Hooker is going to train so there will be a new missionary in my house!

I love you all. The church is true. The Book of Mormon is also true.

P.S. Eric has always wanted a buzz hair cut, but his dad would never let him. He not only got one, he did it himself!