Transfers are coming up

Love you more than… Otoño nobles (fall clouds)! We can kind of tell that its getting fall because of the clouds are getting more frequent covering the sun and it’s in the 80s now! The mission feels like a pause from the real world, including the weather; no seasons means time doesn’t pass ;)

Me,  Elder Whitworth (our zone leader) and Elder Coombs

Answering questions etc.: transfers are the fourth of November and every six weeks. (Kinda unfortunate cause there’ll be transfers a week before Christmas and we aren’t very excited for that) Training meant I would be in an area for two transfers, but from here on out, every six weeks the butterflies come. Elder coombs and I do have like 6 days now of set time to work with Yeffri and also another investigator named Andi/Andri.  Yeffri is our biggest hope and he felt like he got an answer to his prayers, that these things are true!!! He said he was praying and he felt the chills, the Holy Ghost, and asked to feel it two more times if it was true, and he did. I don’t think miracles always come when we ask for signs, but it was a miracle that he prayed and I knew he would feel it is true. We are so happy, but were in a tough spot because we are supposed to get families to partake of the gospel together. Yeffri’s parents like us, but they don’t really have the interest he does. The mission doesn’t like only helping one or two people in a family, but we might not have a choice, so that’s our goal. We have been teaching Andri for a while now but it’s been interesting. We asked him to pray about Joseph Smith being a prophet when we taught him about prophets, but he said "No i don’t need to pray about it, because I know he’s a prophet because you just taught me". He said he wants to get baptized but he also feels nervous he will make mistakes after baptism. We are working with him. We also found a great family with two inactive parents, that has a lot of potential. 

Dominicans don’t celebrate Halloween or la noche de las brujas but they know what "Aloiin" is from movies haha. Our next holiday is Christmas and many lights are already up. 

Dajabon just is one branch, although it used to be two and was really close to being a ward. Its sad that this 35 year old branch progressed so far, but then kinda fell, we’ve met like three ex-branch presidents who are now inactive and lots of inactive members. Us four missionaries and our strong, but small branch of about 40 gather in the chapel every Sunday. Elder Coombs and I also do a small sacrament meeting for Hermano/Granpa Blanco at his house. We love to go and talk about life and the gospel and just sit in the rocking chairs outside pondering life and enjoying the heat. 

Our area of Dajabon A is made up of the main city of Dajabon (Most of it) and the the surrounding neighborhoods and then a little further out is the neighborhoods of La Fe and La Speranza and then Carbonera is like 20 minutes away by gua gua. 

I’m super jealous of your fall weather and hot chocolate. We don’t get hot chocolate a lot, even though Dominicans have it with bread for breakfast. We do get hot food always though, which makes us double sweaty, haha. 

Hermana Jennings, my mission mom and oldest Hermana in my 1st zone

Last weeks email about intercambios by the way was in no way complaining. It is just stressful and uncomfortable being in charge of areas by yourself for a day with your boss (zone leader) following you around watching your every move. Its good, but just uncomfortable, for lack of a better way to describe it. I did the math and a missionaries month is like 3.5 years of human life. I feel like a baby, still but I now am like 16 years old haha. 

Transfers just got changed to telephone notification, so probably on Tuesday we’ll get a call in the morning and find out what will happen and who is staying or going. If I go, I will miss this area. My hometown with the heat, our messy but big nice house and our neighbor who I call “one eyed Willy”, who is an older man who we pass by everyday but he says nothing to us, he just stares at us with his one eye. A true pirate of the Caribbean haha :)

Habichuelas con Leche with Batata on my spoon

Wow another good long week. This week in a wrap... Bought a muffin/cupcake and made frosting  to celebrate Elder Coombs one year mark in the mission. Elder Rojas and Elder Verde also made brownies. In Carbonera we decided that we are going to go back over the first three lessons with the menos activos because we have found that not a lot of the inactive and less activos know or remember the plan of salvation and the Gospel of Christ. Our tia tati this week went all out and made us ensalada rusa which is like American potato salad!!!!!! Also she made us huge bowls of a Dominican original of Habichuelas Con Dule. Normally it’s only eaten Easter week, but she wanted us to try it, so we got huge bowls for my fist time trying it. It’s different, but I love it. Yeffri is getting answers like I said, which is probably the week highlight. Carboneras menos activos stepped it up and about half of them came to church! So amazing! Elder coombs and I couldn’t stop smiling. The menos activos, Welfrido and our new convert Frammi both got the priesthood and were ordained to the office as priests. Doubling our priest numbers. Our Golden investigator named Alecs (who kinda fell away because was so busy with college) had time to share with us again and seems interested again! He asked about repentance and we are excited to restart teaching him. We have two members who offered to help us in La Fe area because we don’t know very many people there and it’ll help a lot. There was a big rainstorm yesterday and Elder Coombs and I were actually a little cold ha ha - go fall weather!  Today was our last zone activity and meeting with zone leader and my hero Elder Whitworth which was sad but good. He is planning on playing soccer at BYU so try and find him.

"Happy mission birthday" to Elder Coombs who hit his mission 1 year  mark

Wow big letter and not very much time left. Quiero dasafiar Joshua con tarea. Joshua yo se qe esquela y la vida es dificil pero hay ayuda para nosotros. Nuestro padre quiere muchismo para ayudarnos. Su desafio es empieza a orar sobre su bendicion patriarchial. Este es un bendicion para mi es que yo use para fijar mi metas de la mision. Reciba este bendicion para usted mismo.

Spiritual ponders I'm gonna focus a lot on scripture mastery and since this year is old testament  Moses 1:39. If you want to know what’s on Gods mind, read Moses chapter 1 verse 39 “for behold this is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the plan of the immortality and eternal life of man, hey!” (Bro Will scripture mastery song) We are Gods work and His glory, how great it is to have that knowledge. I know He is there working with his son to help us, we just need to let them help us. 

With love E. Sheffie 

(E Sheffie #2 with reference to cousin nate)

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Elder Andrew W. Sheffield