It just felt like a special day to talk with family

Love you more than…snow... La Republica has been trying to snow!! We have been getting a lot of rain lately and I feel like I’m in Jakarta Indonesia sometimes, until I hear Bachata music blasting from a speaker tied to a wheeling motorcycle riven by a Dominican tigre. The other day I looked up in the hills slash mountains and imagined snow on the peaks.

 

Elder Jeppesen and I didn't shave... just kidding

More about Tamboril, so its like the suburbs of the city Santiago, but more city like than Dajabon. We live on the first floor of a big rich person house. We have three bedrooms and two bathrooms. I haven’t had much weird food but pigs head, pig feet, and something called modongo are all on my list. For Christmas Dominicans eat lots of big fatty greasy pork that’s roasted of big fire spits and eaten with the hair still on it, I don’t like the hair part and it always gets my stomach going and it all gets through the body in about two days. I took down my paper Christmas tree today and the whole time thought of Emily singing “I cry the day that I take the tree down” song haha. Soon I’m planning on buying some nice handmade scripture cases, even though its a little costly. We go to district meetings in Santiago (Villa Olga) by taking a guagua (bus in Dominican) or a Ruta (pretty much a taxi) the way it works is they follow a route and you wait on the street and like hitch hike holding out your thumb till the pick you up. If it’s the guagua which should fit 12 they squeeze in about 19 and if its the Ruta (normally a barely running old Toyota Camry) they squeeze in like 7 or 8.  

Wow this week felt like it was a month long, it went by fast but it felt like Christmas was a month ago. I guess it didn’t feel like Christmas even with the parties and stuff. It just felt like a special day to talk with the family. 

 

My Christmas presents

So last Thursday night we had a big Christmas eve dinner with the old lady whose family lives in the capital and Nuevo York which was fun. Friday we ate waffles, listened to Christmas music, watching two missionary movies, Freetown and one of my all time favorites “The other side of heaven”, with our district in Spanish, ordered pizza haha and talked with the family. We had a different week since lots of people were visiting family and or were busy. Walking around was crazy since the street was covered with people, Borachos, and cars blasting Bachata and Merengue music. 

I gave away one of the remote control cars I received from home to Elder Payem,
who was also trained in Dajabon, I think it might have been one of the best presents the Haitian had received, but I think it broke pretty soon after

We had great Sunday with some great lessons in church and with investigators. We have this one family who is trying to decide if they should get married and then change their daughters name (something is wrong with her birth certificate) or change the name and then get married and so we are trying to help them figure out what to do but encourage that getting baptized sooner than later is better. 

The other day we had a greeaaat lesson with a 15-year-old named Christian. His dad is a member, he isn’t, but he has been coming to church for like a few months now, even before we started teaching him, thank you missionaries here 8 months ago! We got into his street-contacting-proof front gate and wall and started to talk when his older sister asked if she could join too!!! We reviewed the first part of the restoration which he completely remembered and helped her understand too. We then shared the first vision and it was great and we felt the spirit. The best and kinda annoying part though, was as I was closing with my testimony he wouldn’t stop interrupting me and sharing his testimony and sharing his thoughts. Whenever we need people interested - they aren’t, whenever we try to put a pause on it they can’t help but talking more! He said he believes it all to be true and he thinks other churches are crazy. 

We left the lesson almost skipping down the street. Me and Elder Jeppesen spent the whole walk home exhilarated and laughing. Like the “preach my gospel” video, I get so happy sometimes that its almost strange. What a miracle! Lately we have been playing a lot of “Uno” which is also a miracle, we gain the peoples trust and grow so close as we have fun playing. Today I made blueberry waffles from one of the blueberry muffin mixes I got for Christmas which worked out great. Also we ate at a sweet member family´s house and Elder Jeppesen and I watched “La Otra lado del Cielos” or “The Other Side of Heaven” again today, (its not against the rules, so we normally watch legacy or Meet the Mormons around lunch time) as we cleaned the house and exercised to work off all the pig fat.  

Elder Jeppesen and I got some presents from the Hermana's this was one... the house 

A scripture(s) I was thinking about lately is the change that came over King Lamonis father in the Book of Mormon. At the beginning he offered half his kingdom to be spared his life, but when he learned of the gospel of Christ, he offered up his kingdom and everything he had to know of its truth. It really strikes me how we often forget that the things in the world are temporary, but the gospel and families are forever. How much are we willing to give up to have forever with our families, our Father and our Savior. I know the gospel is true. I know it. I know it. El evangelio bendecirán sus vidas, en verdad este sencilla sacrificio vale la pena porque nos bendice con todo. Testifico con mi corazón y mi alma que este es verdad. Atrévete a creer, atrévete a saber, atrévete a vivir. 

Hurra por Israel!! Hura!