WAWAWA

Hello world,

I'm still here in La Republica Dominicana and I love it!

Everything is going good over here. We were able to see some miracles here this week.

We have to talk to 130 new people every week and give them an opportunity to learn more about the gospel. Sometimes its hard to do because Salcedo is pretty small and we have to find time in between appointments to find people but its going really good. We are working hard to do it and it seems like contact numbers 125 to 130 are always good. We have found some really good people late at night when we are tired.

We found this couple that seems pretty good. We just shared something small with them the first visit. They had lots of good questions so we left them with 2 pamphlets to answer their questions. When we went back Alexander told us that he felt something different and that he read the whole folleto. He felt the spirit and noticed the difference from just reading a little. AWESOME!

On Saturday we were on our way to an appointment and we contacted this house. We talked to this kid and he said that he's never been to a church but his dad wants him to go. Turns out his dad got baptized in our church and he loves it. We went to their house in the morning to go with him and he was sleeping. We were yelling into the house for so long and his dad finally came to the door and said that he would try to send him. Then 5 minutes before sacrament meeting he got to church!!! It was awesome.

We were playing dominos in our house the other day. I don't know if anybody knows how to play but me and elder durham were loosing 114 to 419 and we were going to 500. We made an epic comeback. SOMO´ LO´ MA´ DURO´

WAWAWA por el mundo entero!

We play basketball all the time. I love it.

I've gotten used to the heat and humidity so I don't talk about it anymore but look at my shirt haha.

I bought a suit to take home!

It's hot here

This week was interesting.

First, it is so hot here. If we walk in the street for more that 5 minutes during the day, I get soaked. It's so uncomfortable.

We had to contact so much this week. I feel really lucky to be here because the people are so nice and let you in a lot, but nobody let us in. I don't even know how many people we talked to but it was a lot. It was sad because these people don't know what they are missing out on. But... 

we did find a part member family that is super good. The mom hasn't gone to church in like 20 since she moved, but her family is cool and she gives us lemonade. So all the work was worth it.

Also this week so many people have been saying crap to me about Spanish. So many people judge me because I'm white and if I don't start talking to somebody first, they don't think I speak Spanish. It was bugging me really bad so I read about when Jesus was crucified and he said, "Forgive them for they know not what they do." I really liked that because a mission is hard and I've only been speaking Spanish for 9 months. I'm trying to help people and they don't know how it is so I don't have to worry about what they say.

I just keep learning more and more about Jesus and how amazing He was and is. I know that Jesus lives and that He loves us. He lived a perfect life and suffered for us so we don't have to. But we have to follow Him. Even though a mission is hard, I am happy. Jesus equals Happiness.

I didn't take any pictures this week, but here is another one of me on top of Puerto Plata! I love Puerto Plata!

I gave a haircut

Everything is going pretty good over here. I love the music here.

So one day we were walking and this guy said hi to us and we started talking to him. His name is Keni and he is 29. He is super cool and we have been teaching him a little bit. He is really nice and pretty shy. He came to church with us this Sunday and he said he felt good. He is pretty different and he needs friends so I'm really happy that we found him and he is just a really cool guy.

I don't know what the missionaries that were here before us did, but there are these two kids, Papo and Carlos, that have been going to the church for two months and hadn't talked with missionaries yet. Carlos' family is pretty cool but they are a little bit of a challenge, but I like that a lot.

It is starting to get hot here again and sometimes it is horrible. Nobody is ever home from 3 to 5 so we have a hard time finding people to teach and just walk in the hot sun forever. But also it's really cool here and I love living in a tropical climate.

I cut Elder Guajardo's hair and it looks amazing. He cut my hair and it could've been worse for his first time. The other picture is of me and a few missionaries from our zone.

The mission is going good. Sometimes its hard and I still have challenges but I feel very strongly that I am supposed to be here and that this is the best thing for me right now. I feel like my perspective on the world has gotten so much more broad. Life is hard and we all have challenges. We can choose the easy paths that bring short term happiness, but that will never take us where we want to go. If we are willing to take the harder paths and do the things we should be doing we will always be happier. Its not always easiest, but you will never regret making the right choice. This has been some of the hardest 6 months of my life and it is still hard sometimes, but I am so happy that I came to the Dominican Republic. The church is true. God is real and he loves us. Jesus loves us and we can find real lasting happiness through him and his suffering for us and our sins and trials. 

Elder Eliason

Losing Power

Eric wasn't able to send a group email this week. The power went out and when it came back on, it took a while for his computer to reboot. He ended up with just 30 minutes to read all his emails and respond. The guy at the internet place reset his time, but p-day ends at 6 p.m. :(

He did send an email to his little brother, Carl. Last week he told Carl to play in the snow for him. Carl sent him a picture of himself laying in the snow from a few weeks ago in the canyon. Eric responded, "You look like you're having fun in the snow and that's good because it's still hot here. The only thing that is cold is the showers and they are really cold."

Eric asked me to "say on the blog that everything is the same and the power went out so I only had 30 minutes to write."

Here is a picture I got of my favorite Dominican and Eric at church on Sunday morning.