Other white people

This week was pretty good. My area is super cool and there are a lot of rich people here.

I met this Italian guy that moved here to make cheese. He is super cool. He said he was going to make us some Italian pasta but we couldn't do it when we planned. Maybe this week. I'm excited!

We were walking through these big apartment buildings and we saw this white guy. I knew he was going to start talking to us when he was still far away. He is from England and has been living here for 25 years. He drinks a lot and doesn't want to listen to us. He asked me how old I am and I said 19, then he said, I'm 60 then a lot of explicitives then walked away. It was good.

This super cool Haitian dude named Jimmy came to church this Sunday. It's the first time he has come but he is super prepared. There was this old white shirt in our house so I ironed it and we brought it to him and he wore it and looked super good.

Also, I talked in sacrament meeting. I have given the exact same talk in 4 different wards, 6th, Flamboyanes, la Española, and Torre Alta. But I don't care. Nobody knows hahaha.

I didn't take any cool pictures this week so here are some older ones. 

The church is true.

Amo a La Republica Dominicana.

PUERTO PLATA!

This last week has been super interesting. 

First, I got transferred to PUERTO PLATA! It was kind of sad to leave La Española because I opened that area and I made a lot of friends there. Im going to miss that area but it was good to have a change.

Right now I'm in Puerto Plata, Torre Alta with Elder Benitez from Honduras. Our area isn't very big which means less walking and there are a bunch of cool people that I have already met. We are super close to the ocean even though we can't go. I can see the ocean from my roof and it is so awesome! Also there is this giant mountain here so sometimes I feel like I'm in Utah, but I'm not. Elder Benitez is 22 and he is pretty cool. He doesn't talk too much and he is pretty humble so we have been getting along pretty good so far.

Also we had a baptism! We baptized this guy named Luis who has been with the missionaries for a long time. He is pretty big so my companion asked me if I could baptize him. It was kind of awkward but I did it and it was super good.

Something spiritual. We went to another baptism from the Elders from the other ward and we were singing hymns and I just felt really good. It makes me really happy to see people getting baptized and the songs we sing just helped me to remember that God and Jesus live and are real. In the night, I went up to our roof to wash some clothes and I was just laying there looking at the stars and the universe is just so big. I don't know how anybody could not believe in God. 

I love you all. Choose the right.

Elder Eliason

Pictures,

Me and Azulo. The most coolest Hatian kid in the world. If you don't believe me look at him.

Me and all the young men in the La Espanola ward. They are so cool.

Me and Papo and Ajecka. I baptized Papo. Ajecka is the super interesting guy that is from Indiana and doesn't speak Spanish and married a deaf woman.

Me and Elder Benitez and Luis.

Me on my roof with a big mountain behind me.

We played basketball in this mini stadium place like 2 blocks away from the beach. It was super fun.

I'm out of here

Woah! Hey everybody. This week was pretty good.

We went with this couple named Luis and Jana this week. They are pretty cool and Jana is definitely prepared. They go to some Evangelico church, idk how to say that in English, but their pastor told them not to get tricked by us and he got mad and ripped up their Book of Mormon... but we went back and told them they need to pray because it doesn't matter what humans tell them, it only matters what God tells them. So hopefully we go back before I leave this area and you guys can hear the rest of the story.

On Sunday, we had Paulino and Juan de Jesus and one of the members from that family come to church again and that made me really happy. They are doing really good and I can see them progressing and the gospel is really going to bless their lives.

Today we played basketball again and I love it so much. I hate the way that the Dominicans play but it doesn't really matter. The mission president called us today and he said that my companion is going to train so that means that I am leaving the area. I don't know where I'm going though yet. I'm sad to leave all the people here but my companion and his new companion will have a lot of baptisms.

Pictures

The giant catholic church here

Some super cool member kids

The zone of Santiago Este

8 months...

If my mission was a pie with three pieces I only have 2 left. That went by really fast but I still have a lot left.

Not a lot of cool stuff happened this week but it was still good.

First off, we always play basketball on this minihoop and I never lose. So that is good.

We have been working with this part member family for so long. We found them one of my first weeks here and we go to their house a lot. But there are a lot of them and they have friends too. But I was sitting in sacrament meeting and they walked in! Four of them came and they are all learning a lot and I am happy for them. Its kind of sad and also funny, but the 4 that aren't members came and the 3 that are members didn't but I'm still happy.

I didn't take any cool pictures this week so these are old. The first is what our view looks like. The second is of a crazy dude that went out in the street with a speaker and microphone to tell us we need to repent. I took the picture from our window so we didn't even have to leave to listen to him!

I love you all. The church is true!

We went to Santiago

This week was pretty interesting. I feel like I learned a lot. It was hard, but it was good.

On Thursday, we had a zone conference and it was really good. Something that they talked about that I really liked is that if we really love the Savior, we are going to show it by working hard. I've been trying really hard lately to be better and really have desires to do the Lord's work. I saw a bunch of people there that I know.

We finally had a lesson with this lady named Arysleida again. It was the same day as the zone conference so I felt super spiritual and it was really good. She basically already knows that the church is true, but still has some trials. We put a date with her for baptism. She has to get married but I know she can do it!

We went to Santiago on P-day and we went to this restaurant called Square One. Everybody in this country wants to speak English even if they don't know how. They had sports center playing and a bunch of English music so I enjoyed it.

Sometimes being a missionary is pretty hard, but I know that I'm learning a lot and I'm becoming the person that God wants me to be.

Pictures:

We finally made it to the top of the trash hill. It was super cool.

Me on the cliff overlooking the neighborhoods Viejo Puerto Rico and Villa Bartola.