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

Feliz Navidad!

This week was good.

We are teaching this family that has talked to the missionaries a lot. We put a goal with them to read the whole Book of Mormon and they are going to read one page everyday. The dad's parents live in Brigham City. Yes, Utah. They said that they went to visit last year and went to a Jazz game. AHHHHHHHHHH! I haven't even seen a Jazz game in so long and they went to one... oh well.

We saw these two dudes reading the bible so went to talk to them. We started talking about the Book of Mormon with them. He asked me to tell him about one of the prophets in it then this dude comes up to us and starts preaching. He was so crazy omg. He was talking in vosotros which is like the way they talk in the scriptures. Turns out he is from Great Britain and knows 5 languages. He said, "sopla espiritu santo" and started blowing on us. I was thinking about fake passing out like I got struck by the spirit or something but I don't think it would've looked good for us. If I wasn't a missionary I would've totally done it haha. He told me and my companion that we were in the wrong path. I decided to pray about it because that's all I invite people here to do. Long story short, I'm still here and La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias is still the true church haha.

We also found this really good guy. He reminds me of one of my best converts. I feel really good about him.

I have been reading Jesus the Christ. It's a great book. I've learned so much about Jesus and his atonement. My testimony just keeps getting stronger and stronger. If you have time to kill, read it.

I love you all! FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Pictures,

Merry Christmas from Bonao

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.

Visit from a 70

This week was super good. We had zone conferences and Elder Alonso from the 70 came. Presidente and Hermana Cowan talked about La Doctrina de Cristo (Faith, repentance, baptism, the reception of the gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End) and how we should be implementing that in every lesson. Elder Alonso spoke to us and it was so good. Oh my goodness. He blew my mind. I learned so many good things from him and he said that if we work for it we can achieve 200 baptisms every month which is more than twice of what we are doing right now. My testimony in Prophets and Apostles is so much stronger after listening to somebody that represents them.

We went on exchanges with the zone leaders. I learned a lot. We are teaching this kid named Andrew and his siblings. He is so receptive to our message which has been a good change from lots of other people we teach. We put a baptismal date with him and I have a lot of confidence in him.

We still work in this neighborhood super far away from were we live called Los Arroces. There are a lot of good people of there, but it's frustrating because we will have a good lesson, invite them to church and they will say yes. We will keep talking and realize they have no motorcycle or car and the church is super far away. If they let us buy a bus, we would fill the chapel every Sunday. 

This guy stopped us in the street today and told us they he was Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. And did it in English. I don't think it was actually Him though.

My life is very good as a missionary. I feel very blessed for the opportunity to be here. Being worthy of the Spirit is the best feeling that there is. I know that Jesus lives.

Go to church everybody.

Pictures,

There was a lizard in our house so we put a leash on him.

¡Viva Los Utah Jazz!

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!