goodbye Bonao

I'm leaving!

Four transfers, six months in Bonao and I'm finally leaving. I have learned so much here in Bonao and my testimony has grown so much. I have learned so much more about Jesus. I know that He lives.

My companion had to go to Santo Domingo for his visa or something so Elder Garcia came here with me for a little. It was super fun. We lived in the same house in Moca and I love him.

The Sister missionaries that came to the mission with me go home this week. haha.

I'm going to Salcedo! I don't know that much about it except that apparently the house is haunted. Sweet!

Things here in Bonao are pretty tough. Still a lot of people that don't want to listen to us or go to church. But, this super good guy that we are teaching named Cheo came to church! He lives super far away. He came and hour and 20 minutes late but at least he is a man of his word. God bless him. He is so good and humble. Hopefully I can come back for his baptism.

Pictures,

Me and some dominicanos

The church has a super cool camp in Bonao. We went today for Pday and it

amo a la mision

This week was super good. I learned so much.

This week somebody that we were teaching that had a baptismal date moved. Ugh. It's not the first time it's happened to me in this area. Its the fourth. But oh well.

I downloaded a talk from President Monson last week and it changed me as a person and my whole mission. He talked about seeing people as who they can become instead of who they are right now. I feel like a judge people a lot less and I feel a lot more hope talking to people. He talked about how one missionary tried to imagine every person that he talked to as who they could be as a member of the church. Ive started doing it. The first guy we talked to said that he's not about what we teach and didn't even let us tell him who we were but NO ME DESANIMO! It's helped me a lot. Everybody is a child of God and nobody is perfect. People can change. And they will change if we love them.

We had these 3 super good kids come to church on s

Sunday for the first time. Out of the 17 solid YESes that we received, 3 went. I'm doing my best haha. We have a lot of good people that have been to church, the problem is getting them to go the second time. Its kind of hard here in Bonao, but I have learned so much.

We saw a man carry a moped on top of a motorcycle. Never seen that before.

We were teaching some of our best investigators and their cousin was there. But he was super drunk. Elder Tupou was praying and then this dude says ¡BENDIGA CESAR! BLESS CESAR. It was kind of funny but after we told him that if he doesn't behave he has to leave.

Being a missionary is hard, but there is no place I would rather be. There is so much wickedness in this world, especially in la republica dominicana and especially in Bonao. But the church is still true. I know that Jesus is our Savior. No matter who you are or where you are in life, you can change! I love the Gospel! I love the DR!

I spoke to one of the 12!

This week we were walking down the street and decided to contact this one house. The guy let us in and was really nice. We talked a little about the Book of Mormon. Towards the end of the lesson, he started opening up a little and said that his house was getting foreclosed on the next day. He said that the whole morning he had been praying and that all the stuff that people say about the missionaries and church is wrong because we are good people. It was a good experience.

We got to meet an apostle this week! Elder Soares came to visit us. I got to talk to him and shake his hand too! He said como esta and I said bien y usted then he said de donde viene and I said Utah!!!!! What?! Isn't that so cool. He shared a lot of good stuff with us and I felt the spirit. He is a very humble man and I know that he really is an apostle of the Lord. 

On Sunday, everybody that said that they would come to church didn't. We were really bummed because we have a lot of good people, but if they don't go to church they don't progress as fast. Then almost at the end of the meeting we see Cheo! We had taught him a lot of times and he told us a week ago that he would go, but when we passed by his house during the week he wasn't there and he lives super far away. But he remembered! It took him a while to find the church, but he said that he was going to go every Sunday now! We are blessed.

Today we went to this river where a bunch of people go swimming. We didn't go swimming, but it was still really cool. I'll have to come back after the mission.

Pictures,

This place is super cool

DANGER!

Another week in Bonao

Carlos came to church! He is so good. He has to drive so far on his moped to get there but he did it. God bless him. I feel so blessed to have found him.

We went to this Haitian families house during the week. They are super cool and live on a fish farm haha. They took their friend to church last Sunday and we went to teach her. Everything was good except for that she doesn't speak Spanish or English. I've studied a little Creole in my mission, but it was so crazy. God has blessed me with the gift of tongues. I don't even know that much, but I could like form sentences and understand some things. I'm pretty excited about learning it now so today I read in the Liv Momon An.

We have been working really hard with Johan's family so that they can all get baptized. The good news is Brian and Mariani have a baptismal date for this month! The bad news is that they moved to the other branch and other missionaries will baptize them. Also one of our very promising investigators moved to the same other branch. We might not be doing a very good job of strengthening our branch, but at least we are strengthening somebody haha. Oh well. In the future I'll know why God did that.

I've learned a lot this week about the scattering and regathering of Israel. I didn't know anything about that for so long, but it blows my mind. Israel means like true believers in Jesus Christ or something like that and we have the Book of Mormon to find those people. There's so much stuff in the Bible that says that TCOJCOLDS is the true one.

Carnaval started this week. This country is wild. If my camera worked I would send pictures.

still here

Transfers were last week. I'm staying. This will be like 6 months in the same area and 4 months with the same companion. I feel good though.

This little store on our street burned down. It was pretty sad because it was somebody's house too. But like the whole neighborhood gathered around. It was crazy!

We found a lot of good people this week. A lot of married couples that have never talked to missionaries before!

We went with Carlos this week and he is super good. It was only the second time we visited him but he basically already knows that this is the true church. The only hard thing is that he lives super far away. He told us that we were the first missionaries to ever go into their little neighborhood. I felt super blessed and looking back I could see so many things that happened so that we would end up at his house. The Lord directs this work.

Carnaval starts next Sunday officially. It basically started yesterday though. Every Sunday of February, everybody just goes and parties haha. Last year was crazy. This country is so wild. Get ready for some good stories in February.

We were walking down the street and we saw Johan´s little brother who we are teaching riding down the street on a motorcycle. That sounds normal. But Brian is 12 years old. And he was on a grown man's motorcycle. 

I dropped my camera and it broke. Sorry.

Johan Se Bautizo!

This week was a week of fruits. Not fruits that you eat, but the fruits of our labors! I have been here in Bonao for a long time and it's been one of my toughest areas. I've worked harder than any other area and I've seen less success than any other area. But! ... that all changed.

Johan got baptized! We have been working with him for a while and he has progressed a lot. Johan is 16 and he lives with his mom and two little siblings. He is such a good kid even though he is surrounded by a lot of hard stuff. Elder Tupou baptized him! His first baptism! The baptism was super good and everything went really well. Halfway through the baptism Johan's mom showed up who has never really shared with us, so that was a miracle! After the baptism his mom said that his two little siblings want to be baptized too! WOO! It will take a little longer but we will baptize her too. 

Transfers are in two days and I have been here for a long time so I might of had my first and last baptism in Bonao, but I'll be leaving a few more people for the missionary that replaces me to baptize.

Here are pictures from the baptism! It was a good day.

A NEW YEARS MIRACLE

Hey everybody! This week was super good.

We had interviews with Presidente cowan and it was awesome. I asked him about the miracles he has seen as a mission president and we talked about that for a little bit. I know that he is called of God to lead and direct this mission.

Johan went to church again! He's going to get baptized soon and I'm very grateful for him. I think I'll be leaving soon from Bonao and I haven't had too much success if you look at the numbers. But, I'm super happy for Johan and being here in Bonao will have definitely been worth my time.

On Sunday, we went to this appointment that I knew was going to fall so we planned to contact this place close by. It didn't look like anybody was home, but we saw a door opened and we called. This dude came out and let us in. We started talking to him a little bit and he said that he was going through some really hard stuff and said that just a few moments before we got there he was praying to God for help. It was a super good experience. We taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how that can help him with what he is going through. I know that God sent us to that house and there is no better feeling than knowing that God has used you as an instrument in his hands.

A bird pooped on me today for the first time of my life.

I love you all. The church is true. Jesus lives and loves you!

Pictures,

The first look at Elder Tupou and Elder Eliason in the new year.

A Christmas Miracle

This week was awesome!

First off, we went to Santiago for our Christmas missionary party. It was fun and we watched a movie haha. It was just fun because I got to see all of my friends. I love the mission.

We had our branch Christmas party on Friday. It was so unorganized omg. But it was super fun. Johan and his little sister and her friend came. I'm so grateful for them. Bonao isn't as loving as some of my other areas have been, but they are super good people. We had some good food and music but missionaries can't dance...

We found this really good guy during the week. We had passed by his house like 100 times probably, but never contacted it. He let us in and was very nice. He said he would go to church on Sunday. He didn't, but he did read the BOM and thats better than 98% of the people we talk to! He told us Saturday that he couldn't go but still says him and his wife will go.

On Sunday, we invited so many people to church. A lot of them had to work because it's close to Christmas. We had 3 people come to church on Sunday and I really feel like it was a miracle. Everybody backed out of their commitments, but we were still blessed. 

I'm very grateful for this Christmas even though I'm far away from my family and its not even cold here. The best CHRISTmas present we could ever get is Jesus. He gave us a perfect example of humility and love. I feel honored everyday to be able to wear his name over my heart and preach His gospel. This Christmases Christmas miracle is how much my testimony and love for everybody has grown. I hope that we can all remember the true meaning of Chirstmas and why that is important to us this year!

Pictures, 

Me and The Divine Child

Like 5 weeks ago I said we met a dude that said he was Jesus. Yep, this is him.

Me and Elder Call from Utah

Branch Christmas party

Me and Johan!

Santa delivers in the DR

We went to a fish farm

This week was amazing!

These 2 Haitian members moved to our branch about a month ago and we went to go visit them. They live so far away! We had to walk forever to get there. They moved from Haiti to Santo Domingo then to Bonao for work. They take care of a fish farm haha. We shared with them and their friend that was there that doesn't speak a lot of Spanish. I spoke a little bit of Creole with them and they thought it was funny haha. Probably because they're super black and I'm super white. Mwen pa pale kreol. Mwen grangou. Something like that. Thats basically all I know how to say.

We found this family in the area book and went to teach them this week. They are so good WOW! Anderson who is 15 and Hasmerly who is 13 are the 2 kids. They talked to missionaries before and were going to get baptized, but went to live in the US for a while so they didn't. Their grandparents are members and live in Salt Lake City haha. We have been struggling here in Bonao, but I feel like they were a huge blessing.

Last week we had this kid named Joan come to church the first time. We went over to his house on Saturday. There were these 3 girls hanging out with him and his little sister was there too. We taught about the Plan of Salvation. Joan was like backing up our church to his friends and said it's a normal church and they don't do that thing when they make people pass out and nobody yells haha. Elder Tupou invited him to be baptized and the spirit was so strong. He took the 3 girls to church on Sunday and I was so proud of him!

The other night I was thinking and I don't know why I'm so blessed. It's such a blessing to have a family. To live in America. To have to restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I feel like I have been too blessed. But I am a very grateful boy.

Pictures, 

Me holding up THE BIGGEST CANDY CANE OF ALL TIME!!!

This is basically the only other picture I took this week. Its a swimming pool.

Blessed

I feel like every week goes by so fast and they are all good. but.. this week was good.

We went on intercambios with the zone leaders. We found this family that is pretty good. It's so awesome to find people that are receptive to our message! 

On Sunday, we had this kid that we are teaching come to church for the first time. We found him contacting in the morning which always sucks because its just old ladies cooking and its hot. But we contacted Joan and this other dude while they were fixing a bike. We saw them in this alley as we walked past and decided to turn around and talk to them. They didn't seem very interested but we put an appointment and when we went back Joan listened super good. He is 17 and is super humble and a little shy but he is cool! 

I shared my testimony on Sunday. I talked a little about the young rich man in the bible and how Jesus told him to leave everything and to follow him. We can't inherit all that God has if we are not willing to give all that we have. I feel like 2 years is so short and so little compared to the blessing that I have received and the blessing I will receive for being here. SACRIFICE BRINGS BLESSINGS!

Lately we haven't been having a lot of success here in Bonao, but I have learned a lot from it. The Lord gives us so many opportunities to get better and does all he can to help us. I feel like my relationship with Him has grown as I have struggled to help people here keep their commitments. I know that the church is true. Life is hard but it helps us grow. I know that if we have faith and repent then we will be happy. Spread the Gospel. Be a light. I'm very grateful to be a missionary. CRISTO VIVE!

The Lord's Hand

Happy Thanksgiving! It was a great Thanksgiving. I ate a meat lovers pizza and I loved it. We got together with some other missionaries. It was fun. Nobody really cares about Thanksgiving here though. Oh well.

The Hermanas had a baptism. The dude who was going to do it had to work so I did it! Woooh! Her name is Maria Isabel. She has a strong testimony and I was happy that I got to do it.

We saw a car hit a moped pretty hard. The ambulance came but she was ok.

This super drunk guy in a colmado at 9 at night got like 6 inches away from my name tag to read it. He asked where I was from. I said Utah to mess with him because I didn't think he would know, then this guy who can barely think started talking about Karl Malone and John Stockton. I was very impressed.

We went and played basketball in Maimon today. When we left, I prayed that we God would put somebody in our path that we could share the Gospel with. When we were on the guagua to Maimon, it was basically empty and I was like well... that prayer wasn't answered but then we got to the basketball court there. We were playing with these kids that live around there. We played for a long time and after I was just shooting around with this kid. His name is Jorge and hadn't ever talked to missionaries before. He was really cool and I hope the missionaries over there can teach him a bunch. I felt like he was an answer to my prayer and I felt happy about it.

On Sunday, we left with this member to go to Los Arroces. We hadn't ever left with him before so we were waiting at a different place at a different time to catch the guagua than usual. This dude comes up to us and asks if we are Mormons. Then he said that he found an old Libro De Mormon and he read about a prophet named Alma and it made an impression on him. He said that he never knew that Christ visited the people in the Americas. It was SO COOL and I felt so blessed. The only bad part is that he lives in the area of the Hermanas. We are just out here finding Golden investigators for everybody else while the people in our own area act like some copper investigators sometimes. Pero... El Señor obrara! (idk how to put an accent on the A)

Pictures!

Thanksgiving Dinner!

Bautismo de Maria Isabel

What would I do if they didn't send me to a country that loves basketball???

A week in Bonao

This week was super good. A lot of things happened, but I don't remember them all but..

We started teaching this super cool guy named Edison. The first time we taught him he said that he would be baptized. This week we found out that his ¨wife¨ is 16 years old.... and she is pregnant. Nothing is easy here. But we will have to baptize the 3 of them.

We were in Los Arroces super far away. All of our plans fell through and we didn't know what to do. My companion said that we could go pass by this one old dude that we contacted once. It was super far away, but we decided to go. We got there and almost didn't share because they were sitting in the street and this dude was smoking something that smelled so bad, but we did. We started talking a little and he actually read the pamphlet that we left with him and had a lot of questions. We left him with a Book of Mormon and when we went back he had read! Heck yeah! He is super cool and his name is Simeon.

One day in the morning I was getting dressed and this GIGANTIC moth flew out of my closet. It scared me to death. It almost touched me. I don't know if I would be writing this email right now if it did. God always watches over his missionaries.

This happened a long time ago but remember the big bull in the movie Cars when they go cow/tractor tipping? Yeah, we saw one of those, it was awesome.

The church is true! Live the Gospel and you will be happier!!!

Pictures, 

This crazy little girl got in our picture. Jk it's Stefani!

After church on Sunday.

It's a Tongan!

Hello world,

This week was great! There were some ups and some downs, but it was really good. 

Elder Perez left me. We went and said goodbye to everybody. He seemed pretty excited to get out of here haha. They didn't tell me I was going to Santiago so on the day of transfers the bus gets to our house and I help my companion with his bags. They told me I was going with them and I looked down and was still in my pajamas so I changed the fastest that I ever have in my life.

My new companion is Elder Tupou! He is from Utah and he is Tongan. He is super cool and chill and we just play my ukulele all the time. I realized how much Spanish I've learned in the last year because I was just like him when I got here. He is still learning Spanish, but he is doing really good.

On Friday, we went to this meeting in Santiago. I saw Brandon... um I mean Elder Todd there. He just barely got to this mission and it was super weird to see somebody that I knew before the mission.

Sunday was fast and testimony meeting. Two of our investigators got up and shared their testimonies! ESO! HECK YEAH! It was so cool. They are doing really good, but just are having problems with leaving coffee.

The mission is really good. We are finding a lot of good people and working hard. We had some good spiritual experiences this week and we can see people changing. The church is true and Jesus lives!

Mine and Elder Perez's last picture together

Brandon?

My child, my dad, me

Padre Parte 2

Hello everybody!

This week was good. My companion is leaving. I'm sad about that, but we had a good transfer together. Presidente Cowan called on Monday and told me that I'm going to train! haha. It will be fun and I'm going to make him love the mission, whoever he is.

I went on an exchange with Elder Cutler from Cottonwood Heights. We played soccer against each other when we were little. He is a super good missionary and I learned so much from him. He is going home on Thursday. He is the closest one to the camera in the pizza picture.

We couldn't write on Monday because there was a riot because of the gas prices. haha. We went to this one restaurant that these Chinese people own. They saw a big group of people and got scared and locked us in, but it was actually nothing. We didn't see anything the whole day and I told my companion that the riot was lame, but I definitely changed my mind after we got to the house.

I called one of my converts, Elpidio, from Puerto Plata. He is like 55 years old and he told me that he is GETTING MARRIED! He is getting married to a member that lives across the street from him. He told us that he was in love with her when we were teaching him. That makes me so happy. He is such a good guy.

We have a lot of good people. There is so much sin in the world, but I know that I'm doing all that I can. I can't change the world, but I've been able to change the world of a few people and that feeling is priceless. I love the mission. The church is true. Cristo vive.

Pictures,

This is what I look like.

PIZZA

A better way to eat marshmallows... thoughts?

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY

This week was super good. Mainly today.

We were walking down the street one day and this guy called us over. He said he is a member, but has been going to another church for a long time. He started basically following us around and going to our appointments with us. He introduced us to a bunch of his family. They don't seem very receptive to the gospel, but we were walking and he contacted this one house for us haha. He just said, "Would you allow us to share a message with you?" Just super straight forward and I was like, dude that's not how you do it, but then they let us in and they are super cool and very nice. Maybe God put this crazy man in our path so that we would talk to this family...Who knows?

We had interviews with Presidente Cowan. He is such a good guy and I learn so much from him. In the interview, he asked me how everything was going and I said good then he just started saying a bunch of nice stuff about me. How could you not like this guy?

Today is my Birthday. I'm 20. We went to Santiago and I saw all of my missionary friends. My last birthday here we literally did not do anything so I would say that this was a big improvement.

This guy was drunk. My companion asked him what happened to his arm that he didn't have. He said he killed 14 people... uh...

This is what I look like when I'm 20. I don't know if there is that big of a difference from 19.

This week was super good haha.

I laughed about this all week long but we are teaching these two guys and I don't know if they have that much potential but they listen really good and ask a lot of questions. We were teaching them about the book of mormon and where it came from and all of that. They are asking a lot of good questions and stuff then this guy named Alec says, "Nephi and Moroni where Americans because they lived in America right? so why did Joseph Smith have to translate the book of mormon if it was already in English?" HAHAHAHA it was so funny. They are good guys, but sometimes don't think very much. We explained to them that Nefi's family came from Jerusalem so they didn't speak English. Then the other dude, Danilo, grabs the book of mormon and is looking at the pictures and said, "oh theres a mistake here." He said that Jesus didn't go to America. But we explained to him that it was the American continent and not The United States of America. Being a missionary is fun.

We are teaching this guy named Porfirio. He is super good. We taught the word of wisdom to him early in the week and he said he wont smoke or drink coffee again. He is struggling financially right now and so we took him some food that we had in the house. He is super humble and he should be getting baptized soon.

We are teaching this really cool family. It's a couple and they have four daughters. They are so funny and I love going over to there house to teach them. They are super good, the only bad thing is that they live SUPER far away from the church and only have one motorcycle. This Sunday, two of the daughters came for the first time so we are very happy about that. They have a lot of potential and I'm excited to see what happens with them.

There is nothing cool to take pictures of in Bonao. Sorry. But this is me and my companion.

I LOVE YOU ALL! THE CHURCH IS TRUE!

Power

I feel like so many things have happened in the last week, I'll do my best.

First, on Tuesday we had the best day ever. We taught lessons the whole day long and we found a lot of good new people. Usually when we have nothing to do, we contact for a while. Every time we contacted, the first person we talked to let us it. It was weird but I felt super blessed. After our last lesson which was really good we are walking out of this apartment complex and there is a 50 peso bill laying on the ground. WOW. I don't know why but I felt so blessed and thanked God for it when I prayed in the night.

So it's Friday night. It's one thirty. We are sleeping. Then we hear this loud noise and there's this super bright light flashing outside. Then the power goes our and somebody knocks on our door. We jumped up super quick and went to the door. We live on the 3rd floor and the light post outside of our house was smoking so bad hahaha. It just like blew up in the middle of the night for no reason and now we haven't had power or water for 3 days. I live in a jungle.

It rains here basically everyday. Lighting struck like right across the street from us when we were in the house. It was so scary. I'm now afraid of lightning, I'm not joking.

General conference was super good. 2 HOUR CHURCH. HAHA. I don't know what I think about that. Hopefully it motivates more people to go to church. But I didn't see that coming at all. I really liked when President Nelson talked about the name of the church. THIS IS THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST. I felt the spirit super strong while he was talking about that and I know that this really is Jesus' church!

This is me and my companion leaving the house without light. He is from Texas and we get along really well. He is still learning a lot of things, but I have learned a lot from him despite his inexperience.

I love you all.

Where am I?

A lot has happened in the last 2 weeks.

I left Puerto Plata, the best place on earth. I love that place so much. It was really sad to go. There are so many good people there and I have so many friends there and my converts there are the best people ever. I feel like I was sent to the Dominican Republic for the people in Puerto Plata. I feel so blessed to have been in that area and to have been able to find the people that I did. YO AMO A PUERTO PLATA!

Anyways, my new area is Bonao 1 which is basically in the middle of the country, I don't know where I am. I'm pretty sure that Santo Domingo is closer to us than Santiago, but I don't care. This area is super cool. First off, we have the best house of all time! It's super clean and we have hot water, and we are on the third floor. Bonao is just surrounded by a bunch of mountains and it rains basically everyday. We work in Bonao which is pretty urban, but also we have this other neighborhood super far away called Los Arroces. It's named that because there are just a bunch of gigantic rice fields all over so that means that we have to walk forever to get to some houses. We have to take a little bus thing to get there and we preach there 3 days a week.

My companion is Elder Perez from Texas. He is a good guy. He has 8 months in the mission. Its pretty weird to speak English so much and I decided that it's a lot better for my Spanish if I have Latino companions. But me and my companion get along really well. He doesn't know how to cook and there aren't any cheap places to buy food by us so I have been experimenting with a few things lately. It's going pretty good, for the most part. haha

I love you all! The church is true!

Pictures

Me and a super cool mural

Me and Maceko and Rodrigo. I love them.

These people are cool. I kind of just wanted to take the picture because both ladies are pregnant haha

Worst Hurricane Ever

The worst hurricane ever passed through here this week. Not worst as in bad, but everybody just made a big deal of it and it only rained for a few minutes. oh well.

We went on exchanges (it took me a whole minute to remember that word in English), but Elder Kyle took me to the coolest wall of all time. I was so happy. Look at the picture. I have no idea how that got there haha.

Deurin and Marlen, my converts, had their baby! She came like 3 months early and is super tiny but she is doing good. They are the best family of all time. I feel so blessed to have met them.

Transfers are on Wednesday and I am out of here! I love Puerto Plata so much and I have enjoyed my mission and had a lot of success here. But also I'm happy to be leaving because I've knocked on every single door in this area. Not really, but this area is small and I'm ready for a change. I wouldn't change the experiences I've had and the people I've met here in Puerto Plata for anything else in the world. I love being a missionary!

Pictures,

VIVA LOS UTAH JAZZ YESSSSSS!!!!!

There is an abandoned basketball court in our area. super cool

I burned an old shirt in the house for my year. My shirt has a samuri on it.