Ardiente, Caliente

This week has been hot! Fevers, and fires in the street, and investigators making moves.

I got super sick this week. We went out to teach for a while, but I felt bad so we went home for an hour. We had some important appointments in the afternoon so I left with a fever of 102.1. Caliente! Then the first one wasn't even there so we taught the second person we had. I still felt sick, but I contacted this dude and he tells us that he hasn't ever been baptized and that he has been thinking about it lately and that he wants to get baptized. KHAN!

We have been teaching Jay for a while and she is doing really good. She has a baptismal date for Saturday but if she drinks she can't get baptized. Her whole family always drinks and we know that its hard for her. She disappeared for a few days and we got really nervous and I had a dream that she drank. But we found her on Sunday and had just been sick. And she told us that she hasn't drunken!

On Monday there was a riot in the whole Cibao (the north part of the country). They made us stay in our house the whole entire day. It was the first day of my mission in the field that I didn't go out to preach. I read a lot of the Book of Mormon though and updated the area book and cleaned the house so it was good. 

On our street they were burning some tires haha. There was a lot of smoke. It was cool. The whole day we could hear gunshots from all around Salcedo. 

I love the mission. The gospel is true. It makes me happy.

VIVA LA REPUBLICA DOMINICANA

pelota

Francisco didn't go to church on Sunday which was a real bummer, but his aunt did. We had taught her a few times and she is really cool and she talks A LOT. They both told us that they were going to church on Saturday night and on Sunday morning she comes walking in alone without Francisco. She said he didn't get to her house on time so she left him haha. But it was testimony meeting on Sunday and halfway through the meeting she just gets up and starts walking to the front hahaa. I got SUPER nervous because I didn't know what was going to happen but she said that she felt a lot of peace and she thanked everybody for their testimonies. She is the MVP! It was awesome! After she told some people that she wasn't a member, but that she would be.

On Sunday we went back to some people that I was teaching like 3 months ago because we have talked to entire neighborhoods and I don't know where to go to find new good people. It was actually really good and all 4 of them said that they would go to church. 

One of those people was this guy that read the bible 2 whole times but went to Santo Domingo to work for a while. But we read Moroni 8 with him and he said that he learned some new things about baptism. The Book of Mormon is true and we need it to understand the bible.

Today we went to San Francisco and played baseball. Soy Dominicano.

I met a gringo this week

Something really cool happened last that week that I forgot to write about. But we were in splits and this guy stopped on a motorcycle to talk to us. He said that he found an old Book of Mormon in the street and he started to read it. He talked about Nefi and Lehi and he read Joseph Smith's testimony too. He said that he knew it was a book of God. It helped strengthen my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I was super happy to find him even though I won't be able to teach him.

We play basketball at the church every once in a while and it's awesome. I love basketball.

I bought an awesome shirt today. I'll send a picture of it next week. 

The CRAZIEST thing happened this week. But there is this inactive family here and we went to visit. But this guy is a gringo 100 percent and he is from Virginia. He used to be a member of the church, but not anymore. His wife is a member too, but she's Dominican. We went to his house on Sunday and he died on Tuesday. Wow it was really sad. But nobody speaks English so they had us go to the hospital and I had to call this guy's son to tell him what happened. It was really sad. A few other things happened during the week with this family and I feel like we were really able to help and she said that we were the answer to some of her prayers. I feel like it was a good ministering opportunity for me and I feel like I'll have more opportunities to help them even after my mission.

The church is true. Going on a mission is the best decision I've ever made. Jesus is our Savior and He lives. 

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!

This week was good.

I don't have a lot to say, but I'm learning a lot.

We were walking down the street and Elpidio yelled at us. He was back in his house! He got kicked out like 2 months ago, but he talked with his lawyer and is back. We went in to teach him and all the stuff got taken out by the old lady's kids. But he is going to be baptized this Saturday! He's such a stud.

We had stake conference this week. President Cowan and the temple president came. Our president is so cool. He has so much energy. He is learning Spanish again and makes a lot of mistakes, but he doesn't let it bother him.

We had a zone conference on Friday. We talked about how the Book of Mormon can help answer any question. We don't need to fight with people, just make them read the Book of Mormon.

We passed by this guy's house that we contacted. A lady there told us, el esta pero no se encuentra. He is here, but can't be found is basically what she said.... hmmm

I'll write more next week. The church is true. Love you all.

Pictures

Elder Alba is going home. He is a good guy. Funnest transfer of my mission.

The TRIPANIONSHIP is reunited.

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

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!

Hey

Hey everybody!

This week was really good. I love my new companion! We get along really good and we work so much harder. Three cool things happened this week...

We were walking along this giant road and there were these puppies that somebody dumped on the side of the road. We couldn't just leave them there so we walked to a colmado and bought milk and bread for them. They were so hungry! We took this box and put them in and carried them to this field where we know puppies live. So we were really happy to help.

We were walking down this street that we have walked down so many times and we felt like we should go contact this house. The lesson was pretty good and after Anderson told us that he prayed 4 days ago that he could find a church to go to. So that was super awesome!

The other day we were trying to find this girl the missionaries here used to teach in this neighborhood that I had never been in the last 3 months. We couldn't find the house and so we were going to leave the street but then there was this lady that asked us if we were with a church. We went to her house on Sunday and it was so good. She told us she talked to the missionaries one time and they gave her a Book of Mormon and she read a lot but couldn't find them again. She told us she has prayed so much because she wants to do what is right. She told us that every time she read the Book of Mormon there started to pop up on her phone stuff from the church and she got freaked out haha. But she basically has a testimony of the church even before we found her so we are really happy!

My life is getting a lot better. Me and Elder Cortez are working harder and we are starting to have more success. My testimony has grown so much and I know that God answers our prayers!

Love you all.

Elder Eliason

NEW COMPANION

HEY!

This week was pretty good. Transfers were on Wednesday and I got a new companion! His name is Elder Cortez from Nicaragua. He is pretty cool and even better we never fight! We have been working a lot harder in this area than with my old companion so hopefully we can start seeing some more success. 

This week it rained so much which is weird because it hardly ever rains here. The whole entire street on the side of you house got flooded and it was so cool. Whenever it rains there is always mud for like 3 days after too.

Our area is kind of struggling right now. We are going to start dropping people this week because they aren't progressing very well. Its kind of hard but also its really good because we will be able to focus more on finding people that are ready and we wont have to waste so much time.

My Spanish is getting really good and I can basically communicate whatever I want now. With my new companion, I realized that I can actually do a lot. I realized that Elder Mieses kind of dominated the conversation a lot and my new comp sometimes doesn't talk so I'm like oh, ok I can talk to these people. I've realized that I learned a lot with my old companion and even though it was really hard I feel like God has a plan for Elder Eliason and he knows that I would grow the most with Elder Mieses. 

The mission has started to get better and I'm starting to be more happy! The church is true and the Book of Mormon changes lives. I've realized that nothing is easy, but if we work through the hard stuff and do what we should be doing we will be blessed. 

Elder Eliason and Elder Cortez

Elder Mieses, Elder Eliason, Sister Niceler, Sister Lynch

4 Months

Hey everyone!

As of saturday I have 4 months in the mission wow! that means I have less than 20 now! Today is my last day with my companion and I really struggled with him but I also learned a lot. I feel like I was put in this position to struggle and to grow. Looking back I feel like I didnt know anything and I there was so many things that I could do better. Ive learned so much and I still have so long to learn more.

President Monson died this week and it was pretty sad. The last two things that he talked about it conference were charity and the book of mormon. I read both of his talks. Both were really short but I learned so much and he really was a prophet called of God. He said that we should read the book of mormon every single day and I know that if we do our lives will change.

The mission is getting better and better everyday and my spanish too. I can almost understand everybody now and Ive started to not be so young in the mission.

Also this is me in front of a giant catholic church.