Amazing days and met some amazing people

Arrived May 18 2016

Love the family more than Mavis (or Mabis nobody is really sure). This is my way of eating healthy, a serving of fruit for just 10 pesos. So imagine a glass bottle that is reused for juice. You walk into the Colmado, choose a flavor, drain (drink) the drink there and leave the bottle for them to clean and reuse. I love the Chinola or passion fruit ones but I feel weird when it is in what once held corona light haha.

 

My favorite juice, Chinola (passion fruit)

So fun stuff that happened this week: I cut my own hair this morning and only made one and a half mistakes (I’m still handsome like grandpa Sheffield don’t worry), we barbeque grilled chicken at our zone activity today, we make tons of waffles and my ring neck tan line has gotten worse. They call white people “rubios” a lot because the sunburns makes us rubio or red.

Along the lines of that there were some crazy things that happened this week as well. Elder Oldroyd was gifted a scary candy that looked like something that belongs in the toilet, so he decided to play a prank on the kids that always run around in the streets. In front of a group of six year olds he pretended to pry the stuff off his shoe, then looked at it and asked the kids what it was. They responded and after thinking for a bit, took a big bite! The kids went nuts and it took us a while to explain the prank, after that they all took a bite and laughed. Two days in a row this week we were visiting people when they offered us "juice" We accepted. The first time Elder Oldroyd took a sip and then with narrowed eyes asked what it was. They gave us iced tea!! They know we don’t drink it but they claimed it was another type, an ok type. We were upset and it was an uncomfortable moment. Day two I was on intercambios or exchanges when the same thing happened except I was the one that realized. The elder I was with had a water bottle so I sneakily drained my glass into that. Two days in a row! I think I will carry around a plastic bag for food and drinks like that.

Some tender mercies for mom. At a lesson with a less active, the teenager half jokingly prayed that we could find a place that sells ice cream that we were looking for, well we found a place and it is super cheap too! Also I found a penny on the street yesterday haha, sorry for the jokes.

On a more serious side we were contacting for a long time the other day and we kept getting excuses for why people couldn’t listen to us. Finally we ran into an old lady and her neighbor. It was amazing how after all our walking around that we found Carmen and Miguel. She was so sweet and funny, using the young Dominican slang to fit in with us. She said we were “vacano” or cool and then said after we went home, we need to marry (and I quote word for word) "cool" girlfriends. We were nervous Miguel was just there because he got stuck in the moment but he offered for us to pass by again and gave us his phone number, willingly. A nice tender mercy for some hot and sweaty missionaries.

The Dominican presidential elections were this week and so things were crazy. On Sunday we were told to be in our houses three hours early to avoid the potential problems in the streets. One lady who may or may not have been sober the other day forcefully gave us hugs as we were passing by, she had a big heart I guess. On the lines of elections, a man told me that the bible says that if so-en-so person wins the US elections the world is going to end, it must be an Isaiah prophecy ;)

My new part in the work has us delivering/receiving mail, receiving/reporting numbers and visiting other missionaries to see how they are working. The other day I gave my first baptismal interview! Normally it happens as a district leader but not this time. In the mission a senor companion is like an elders quorum president, district leader a bishop, zone leader a stake president, and an assistant as a general authority. We went back to my old district and joined them in their district meeting the other day.

We have had some amazing days and met some amazing people. One man named Erison has had a rough life with immoral things but really wants to change. We explained to us that our message could help him and that if he acts upon it not just listening like most people might than he could change. It shocks me sometimes how everyone has inside them some goodness, the light of Christ that naturally gives them the desire to do good. One more sad situation, is of Robin. He is super amazing and told us he accepted us coming even when his girlfriend and amigos made fun of him. He is twenty years old and perfectly read to receive the message of Christ. In our lesson though he said he thinks that god means for everyone to have different beliefs and ideas of how life/religion should be. He used the example of the tower of babel and said that God wants us all to search for whatever manner to follow him. It was sad for me to see this because our Heavenly Father has just one way for us and he wants us to find it, in fact he sends people to reveal it. Robin has a lot of potential.

This we have been teaching a lot about why we need Christ. I just love focusing on the atonement and helping people realize why we have a Christ. It is good and necessary to have faith and amar tu projimo and visitar los enfermos but that isn’t it. We are in debt and we cannot pay it. Only Christ can pay our debt and he willing has/will pay it, pay the price of sin. Doctrine and Covenants section 19 vs. 15-.19 and 45: 3-5 explain it perfectly (so that is your homework) He suffered so we can live. I know he is there asking us to do our part so his part can apply. The best part is that he is always willing and so we just need to be always accepting. 

Love Elder Sheffield