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. 

the mission is hard

This week was crazy.

They took my new missionary away from me. It was super sad.

My new companion is Elder Baldiris from Columbia. We really don't have anything at all in common but he met Shakira one time so that is super cool. All I can say is that I'm going to learn a lot of patience these next 6 weeks.

When Elder Maltez was saying bye to everybody we went to Deurin and Marlen's house. They are the couple that we have been working with for a while. They said they had something for us and gave my comp a bracelet and they gave me a tie. They are the best people in the whole world. Their baptism is going to be on Saturday. I feel so blessed to be in this area and to have met them.

We were playing basketball today against Dominicans. We won three games in a row and during the fourth this kid hit me so hard in the face. I hate playing basketball with Dominicans.

Pictures,

Me trying to get into the picture before the timer went off.

Me and Elder Maltez's last picture.

One of the people that we are teaching had this massive English Spanish dictionary. I asked him if I could have it. He said yes. It has all the words in the world in it!

Elpidio!

This week went by super fast. I don't even remember what happened.

On Tuesday, we went to almost every single one of our appointments and found a lot more new people to teach which is awesome.

We had interviews with President Cowan. He came all the way to Puerto Plata and he and his wife are pretty cool. The interview was pretty good and in English. We were finishing and I asked him how he likes being a mission president so far and then he talked to me for a long time. They are both really nice and I can tell that they are loving it so far.

On Sunday, Dewdy and Marilyn came to church again. They've come 3 Sundays in a row and I'm so happy to have been able to meet and teach them. Elpidio who was going to get baptized came to church again too. He was going to get baptism then the lady he took care of died and her kids kicked him out of the house. He has been living all over the place, but we have been praying for him and prayers work!

I don't even know how to say this word in English but the girls here are so freca. They are so flirty and they don't have any shame. We will just be walking down the street and some girl will just tell us that we look good. Its kind of weird, but blessings come in all sorts of ways I guess haha.

This week wasn't as interesting as the others but I'll make sure to tell some good stories next week.

...

I totally forgot to talk about the best part of the week. The kid in the picture is named Frandy. We had an appointment with him but he wasn't there so we passed by this internet center where there are always a lot of kids and asked where he was. They showed me a video of him fighting with this other kid. I shouldn't laugh, but the video was so funny and they had scissors and everything. Frandy won so its ok. Thats it.

It's a Nicaraguan!

So this week my new companion came and he is from Nicaragua. I'm training him and so far things are going good. He already knows a lot of stuff so I don't have to teach him that much haha. When I started my mission I didn't know anything. hahaha. He just turned 18 and almost everybody we talk to says he looks really young so I kind of feel bad for him, but he is doing good.

This week we were about to teach this lesson with one of our investigators and he got in a big fight with rocks and boards and ripped shirts so we left. But he came to church on Sunday so it's all good.

Today we were playing basketball in the big arena place again. We were playing 5 on 5 and it was 18 to 18. The guy defending me was talking to me and said he was going to take the ball from me then I pulled up from the 3 and ended the game. I tried not to stare him down because I'm a missionary but I'm not that strong.

We met Rudy from Buffalo, New York. I taught the whole lesson in English. He is like a 60 year old black guy and super cool.

There is this minimarket by our house and these two white guys always sit outside it. Their names are Mike and Mike. One if from Massachusates and the other is from England.

We went to one of our investigators houses and this white guy was there who I guess is her husband. He said he just got off the plane from England then our investigator starts speaking perfect English to me. It was so weird.

On Sunday, like 10 white girls came to our church building. I talked to them and it was super weird. I've been here for so long.

Anyways it was a good week. Thanks for writing me everybody that does!

A picture of me and my companion.

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.

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!

It's almost Christmas!

This week was pretty good. I went on splits with Elder Jarvis from Cedar City and we stayed in my area and my companion left.  I had to find a bunch of people and talk a lot because he didn't know our area and almost every appointment fell through but we ended up finding something to do. We have kind of been struggling lately to find people to teach so its hard when people aren't in their houses when they say they will be. It was pretty nice to be with an American for a while and pretty weird to speak so much English.

So we were driving to pick up the Hermanas with a member because Hermana Lynch sprained her ankle. We are stopped at this light and the second counselor comes the other way and basically just stops in the intersection and tells us we are giving talks in 20 minutes. I was super freaked our but I talked for more that 10 minutes in Spanish and it was actually pretty good I think.