Letter from 6-24-15
Saludos!
Santiago was wonderful! I got to do intercambios with Hermana Salazar
while Hermana Seenaraine went with her companion to Santo Domingo.
Santiago is WAY different than serving in the campo, like Jarabacoa
and Bonao. I felt like I was in a different mission! Everyone lives in
big nice houses, they´re all so educated and professional, and no one
yells at me on the street. haha We tried knocking on doors as well,
and people told us no! What?! It was great! I loved being with Hermana
Salazar. She´s from Costa Rica. We had a good time together, and we´re
hoping that President puts us together as companions someday. We had
some really nice lessons together, and I felt like I learned so much
from her. I love the mission! They´re are just so many opportunities
to learn and to grow and to love.

This week was a little discouraging. We have so many people to teach,
and not enough time to visit them all and focus on their needs. It
feels like we sit down, teach a quick lesson, and then hurry to the
next. It´s hard to build relationships and to focus on each person
when we have so much to do.  We don´t have any progressing
investigators because we can´t find them or we´re just able to visit
them enough. I felt a little overwhelmed Sunday night. But then on
Monday, we found Regina. She´s an amazing lady that´s been coming to
church for the past two months, and we´ve only been able to teach her
twice because she´s always traveling around trying to find information
about her ancestors. But we found her on Monday. We taught her the
whole lesson about the Restoration, and it was so beautiful. She´s so
prepared. She even refers to the church as "our religion." At the end,
we invited her to be baptized, and she accepted. Then we asked to be
baptized on July 18. She sat there for a moment, then said "Wow, that
would be beautiful.......To be cleansed from all sin........ That
would be so nice." It was such a special moment. She truly understands
the importance and beauty of the baptismal convenant. After a few
minutes, she told us that she would tell us her answer on Sunday. She
wants to ponder and pray to know if it´s right for her. She´s amazing.
I´m so excited to see the beautiful things that are about to happen in
her life.

A Day in the DR:
I can´t really remember all of the things that I´ve talked about, so
hopefully this is new. But Dominicans love New York. When they ask you
where you´re from, and you say the United States, they say "Ah, from
Nueva York!" And when I tell them that I actually live far away from
New York and that I´ve only been there once, they get so confused. To
them, the United States is New York. Just about everyone I meet here
has either lived there or visited or has family that lives in New
York. Which is why every so often, someone yells out to me "Bye bye my
visa!" haha
Have a great week!
Love, Hermana Jorden

Buenas!
It´s been a wonderful week here in the Dominican Republic! Not much to report, but I´m just so happy to be here! I´m writing early today because at 11 my companion and I have to head to Santiago. The mission is renewing all of the missionaries´ visas, so every week they are sending a group of missionaries to Santo Domingo. My companion gets to go this week, so today we´ll head to Santiago, then we´ll split up and she´ll go to Santo Domingo and I´ll stay with some sisters in Santiago. Tonight she´ll get to go to the temple, and tomorrow she´ll spend the day in the government office renewing her visa. 

This week, we got a call from Danilo Guzman, cancelling our appointment. Such a bummer. I was so excited to teach them the rest of the Plan of Salvation. We were going to touch on temples as well and the work that´s being done in the Spirit World. Danilo called and told us that he was still in Santo Domingo because their house is almost sold and they´re looking for an apartment in the capital. That was so sad to hear. We just love this family so much, and we´ve been working so hard to teach them and help them understand the principles of the gospel and to bring this joy into their lives, and now we have to hand them over to the missionaries in the Santo Domingo mission. It just makes me worry- are the missionaries going to find them? Are they going to do a good job teaching them? Are they going to love them as much as we do? It makes me feel like a worried mother. haha But I just have to remember that it´s all in the Lord´s hands, and that this is His work, and not mine. I know the Lord will take good care of them. 

Well, tomorrow I will have completed on year in the mission! It´s so crazy to think! As I think about all of the things that have happened to me in the past year, I realized that I have been so blessed. I have had so many wonderful (and strange) experiences, and I have seen the hand of God in so many ways. I have met incredible people, I have learned a new language, I have learned to love a new culture and way of life. My knowledge and testimony of the gospel have grown so much, as well as my love of the Savior. I have learned to love and appreciate the life I have so much, and all of the small blessings the Lord has given me. I have gained appreciation for the small things, and even the things I used to take for granted- clean bathrooms, carpet, air conditioning, dishwashers and . I have also gained a deep love for God´s creations. I love being up in the mountains, feeling close to God, and seeing His mighty works. I just love life. The Lord has blessed me in so many ways, and I am so grateful to share that with everyone I know.Thank you for all your love and support.
Love, Hermana Jorden

Buenas!

This week has been so wonderful! It's been really busy, because we've been working hard with the people from our area and from the elders' old area as well. We have lots to do, but it's been so great! We are teaching some really amazing people who are so ready to receive the gospel.

Unfortunately, the Guzmans didn't go to church this Sunday. Danilo has to go to the capital every weekend for 5 weeks re receive training for his new job. Major bummer. But we had another incredible lesson with them. We brought a different family with us to teach them, and we taught the first half of the Plan of Salvation. We gave each of them a part of the lesson to study and to help us teach, and they did such a great job. I studied really hard as well that morning, because I wanted to be sure to prepare the lesson well so that the Spirit could be with us in the lesson. While I was studying, I came across a scripture that I have never read before in Moses 5:11. During the lesson, after we talked about Adam and Eve and the Fall, Miguelina told us that she had a doubt. She wanted to know why, if the Fall was necessary and a part of God's plan,  He punished them and sent them out of the Garden of Eden. I explained that it was actually a blessing that they left the garden, and I shared that scripture. It fit perfectly with the lesson, and it made total sense to them. The Lord truly blesses us when we prepare ourselves spiritually. After the lesson, Miguelina told us that her husband told her that he feels so peaceful since we've been teaching him. That when we're at their house, he feels a peace and things make sense. They're such a special family.

We're teaching another couple named Claudia and Andi. They were baptized about 5 years ago, and they aren't going to church right now. We've been trying to teach them for ever, but they are never home. A few weeks ago we had a lesson with them, and Andy came off so arrogant. I'll admit that I was really annoyed starting that lesson. He said that he doesn't like being responsable, and that's why he doesn't like making commitments with us, because he feels bad when he doesn't do them. So I said "So, why don't you just do it?" haha By the end of the lesson, he changed, and so did my attitude. He told us that the Lord has given him so much, and he's doing nothing to thank Him. We had another lesson with them last week, and Andy was in tears as he told us that he has no reason to be inactive. He told us that he needs to change, and that he wants to be where he was before. He told us that he didn't want to make any commitments with us, and that he would just surprise us. And he sure did! He came to church on Sunday! He came to sacrament meeting, and he even went up and bore his testimony. It was so wonderful! 

On Monday, we had a zone meeting, and it was so great. Elder Aguirre spoke about unity, and Elder Mortensen spoke about obedience. I loved their capacitaciones. It was exactly what I needed to hear. Hermana Seenaraine and I got together and talked about what we can do to put these things into practice, and we've been working hard this week. I'm so grateful for all of the things I'm learning here on the mission, and all of the blessings I'm receiving. I'm so blessed to be a part of so great a cause! 

Hermana Jorden 

Ps. A Note from kari- I forgot Kelsea wanted me to say that the picture of the zone a few pictures down is At the Lockhearts house. They played soccer and baseball outside their house, and then they went inside and played ping pong and ate lunch.

Saying goodbye to President and Hermana Douglas- thank you for everything!

 P-day with the zone at the Lockheart's house.

 Cristofer, the ward mission leader, turned 22.  Keslea and the Elders went to his house early in the morning to make him pancakes for breakfast.

 Kelsea said, "This is one of the most incredible people I have met in my life. I have learned so much from her, and I hope to be just like her one day. I’m going to miss her and the energy she brings to the mission."

The following pictures and the ones posted last week are all from the last transfer.  Kelsea didn't have a working cord to upload her pictures.  She finally bought one last week and it catching up as much as she can each week with her 1 hour of computer time.

More buyos.

 The next 2 are empanada night with Paola and her family.

 Kelsea has this on her wall of some of her friends that are serving missions.

Kelsea said, "Cristofer, our mission leader, and his family have a buyo business. They get up every morning at 6 and mash potatoes, form them into balls, and then fry them in batter. We went to help them out with the elders, and had a good time."

The picture in the middle is 

The District

Elder Garcia, Elder Mendez, me, Hermana Seenaraine, Elder Alfrey, and Elder Aguirre

Saltos de Jima with the zone and a few members

Exchanges with Hermana Bates

This is actually Sandra and her mom, Nelsa, conversos reciente. They are so amazing.

 During a service project with the Elders

After the service project.

Buenas!

Sorry I didn´t get the chance to write yesterday, we spent the day in P-day with the zone, and couldn´t leave because of the rain. We hiked around the mountains and explored an abandoned hotel, and ate pears that tasted like carrots. Constanza is famous for its strawberries and we had some delicious strawberry juice. In the afternoon it started raining, so we had to wait out the rain. We headed back around 5:00, and that´s when the real adventure began. Constanza is about 2 hours away from Bonao, and to get there you have to take a truck. When were started out, it was just us missionaries in the bed of the truck, but once we left, we picked up a a group of construction workers who had been living on the construction site. So we sat in the back with 6 other men and all of their belongings, plus a live chicken in a bag. haha It was quite the adventure. But we made it home alive. :)

On Monday, we had a lesson with the Guzman family, so we invited the Ramirez family. They´re so fun and remind me a lot of my family, so we had a great time with them. They helped the Guzmans feel comfortable and we were all laughing and having a good time before the lesson. During the lesson we watched a 20 minute version of the First Vision, and the Ramirez family shared their testimonies and their conversion story. It was an incredible lesson. The Spirit was so strong. Hermano Guzman was so apperciative of this family for being there, and he told they how refreshing it was to see such a happy, united family. He told us that he feels a renewed motivation to read and to pray to know if these things are true. At the end of the lesson, we asked invited them to be baptized once they read and pray and receive an answer, and they accepted. I even got a little teary-eyed as I shared my testimony with them. They are so special to me, and I just know that they Lord has prepared them to receive the gospel. The father hasn´t been to church yet because he goes to the capital on Sundays, but he said that he would sacrifice so that he can go to church this Sunday. They are incredible.

A Day in the DR:

This week the other sisters in Bonao moved apartments, so we helped them on Monday. They got all moved in Monday night, but there was no electricity in their new apartment. So they bought an extension cord and asked their neighbors on the floor below them if they could put the cord through their window and borrow their electricity. That´s so Dominican. I love this country. 

Have a great week!

Hermana Jorden