Saludos!

President Castillo has arrived! We probably won´t get to meet him for a couple weeks, but it will be exciting to have a new president with a new vision. I´m excited to see what I can learn from him. But, unfortunately, President and Sister Douglas are gone. I´m going to miss them. Luckily, they came to our branch this Sunday to announce the new branch president, so I got to see them before they left. And the Lockhart´s moved back to Utah! I´m going to miss that family so much, but we have a new branch president, and he´s great. He got back from his mission about 7 months ago, which is so great because he´s so involved and interested in the missionary work. So there have been a lot of changes lately, and I´m excited to see what happens!

We had intercambios this week with the Sister Leaders. They both came to Bonao to do splits with us, because we just have too many people to visit. It was nice, and I had a good time. I went with Hermana Belvis, one of the sisters that I came to the mission with. She´s fun. :) We had a sister meeting in La Vega as well, and I got to talk to Hermana Kellogg about Jarabacoa. A few of my old investigators are still progressing, including Yudi (the lady I worked with for 8 months), and Berta and Wilson (the lady who we took to the hospital). It was so fun to catch up on my little branch in Jarabacoa. I sure love and miss them. 

This week has been a little tough. Every time I think about how I only have 6 months left, I feel so stressed and disappointed with where I´m at. I´m not where I feel like I should be as a missionary with a year in the mission. And this week I just felt so blatanly aware of all of my shortcomings and weaknesses. I aked Elder Mortensen for a blessing, and that gave me a lot of peace and comfort. I also found a little time to sit with Hermana Douglas and talk about what I can do. So I feel a lot better. Today for Pday, Hermana Seenaraine and I rode bikes with the elders up to the mountains, and we stopped by a stream to sit and take a break. I sat on a rock by the river and just listened to the water, one of my favorite sounds in the world. I sat and pondered and prayed about what I should do to change and to make all that I can from my mission. Then one of my favorite Primary songs popped into my head: 

Give, said the little stream

Give, oh give, give, oh give

Give, said the little stream, as it hurried down the hill

I´m small I know, but wherever I go, the grass grows greener still

Singing, singing, all the way

Give away, oh, give away

Singing, singing, all the way

Give, oh, give away

I´ve been feeling to insignificant, like my efforts don´t make any difference. But thinking of this little stream, I realized that I may not be having success in the way that I want it, but I do believe that "wherever I go, the grass grows greener still." I feel like I have blessed the lives of these people here, although not all of them have made the choice to be baptized. But the lesson I learned from this Primary song was "Give." If I want to make the most out of my 6 months in the mission, I have to give everything I can. Give my time, my efforts, my strength, and my love, "singing all the way." I love the simple truths of the gospel, and I am so grateful to be a missionary. Thank you for all of your love and support. I know this church is true with all of my heart, and I am so privileged to be spreading the gospel here in the Dominican Republic.

Love,

Hermana Jorden