The night of the "huge moth" experience

Some pictures from her first area.  The 3rd one is the view from their apartment.  The 4th one is a picture of the church.  (Look familiar, Damon? -haha)

Kelsea said, "We wash our clothes in a weird little washing machine, but it´s kind of fun. We put it in the machine for a little bit, take it out, let it soak in clothes softener, and then put it in the ¨dryer,¨ which doesn´t actually do much, but it helps a little. We let out clothes air dry.  Then we drain the water and sweep it off the balcony.  I think it´s fun."

Kelsea's apartment family room

Hola!

First off, I want everyone to see how good I look in my fanny pack. I definitely see this coming back into style. haha

I sent some pictures of our apartment. We´re so lucky to be in such a nice apartment. It´s bigger than any of the houses we´ve been in, and a lot cleaner. We have electricity, and hot water, which is such a blessing. I´ve only had to take a bucket shower once, and that was my first day. It was a fun experience. haha We wash our clothes in a weird little washing machine, but it´s kind of fun. We put it in the machine for a little bit, take it out, let it soak in clothes softener, and then put it in the ¨dryer,¨ which doesn´t actually do much, but it helps a little. We let out clothes air dry.  Then we drain the water and sweep it off the balcony.  I think it´s fun. The only thing that isn´t very fun is that we can´t flush our TP, we just throw it away. Luckily that hasn´t been too gross, but I definitely make sure to only use the bathroom in our apartment or at the church.

I gave my very first talk in Spanish this Sunday. And I found out about it Sunday morning. haha So I didn´t have a ton of time to prepare it. I chose to talk on Faith, and I felt like it was an awesome talk, but once I got up to speak, I just couldn´t relay it the way I wanted to. Sometimes it´s a little frustating that I can´t say what I want. I just need to have patience, and I know it will come. I just wish it would come a little sooner. haha But really, it´s going pretty well. Everyone tells me that I know so much to begin with, and I can understand at least part of what everyone says. It just takes time. 

Last week, we had a ton of meetings in La Vega, so we didn´t have a lot of time to proselyte. I was so frustrated because it meant that we missed a lot of our appointments. I was also feeling frustrated because the people we did teach were just not willing to keep their commitments. But on Monday, I worked as hard as I could to get to all of our appointments, and to have the Spirit, and that made all the difference. We were on time to all of our appointments, and they all went so well. I´m starting to see the power of hard work. I know that when I do my best, the Lord will do the rest. 

Here are some of my thoughts about teaching with the Spirit. In the CCM, my teachers stressed the importance of focusing on having the Spirit, rather than knowing the language. They said that as long as you have the Spirit, it doesn´t matter how much Spanish you know. On Monday, I had a really wonderful personal study, and I felt the Spirit so strong. Then we had our district meeting, and I still felt it. But afterwards, we all went to lunch and starting talking about normal things, and I lost it. It wasn´t a bad thing to talk about those things, but I wasn´t focusing on the Spirit, and I could feel the difference. Afterwards, I was reading the BoM in Spanish for language study, and the Spirit came back. I worked hard to keep it with me throughout the rest of the day, and our lessons were so wonderful. It made me think of something my CCM teacher said. When he was a missionary, his president challenged him to always talk about things with his companion that brought the Spirit, so that when they arrived to their appointments, they already had the Spirit and the didn´t need to try to find it during their lesson. I saw that in my mission, and I know that if I focus on keeping my thoughts always on my purpose, that I can teach so much stronger. I think that applies to every day life too. When we give talks, when we teach a class, or even for FHE. I believe that, as a teacher, it doesn´t matter what you say, it´s the Spirit that matters. So my advice is, when you are teaching a lesson, focus more on having the Spirit with you BEFORE you teach. Prepare enough in advance that you aren´t running to the classroom stressing about what you´re going to teach. Maybe listen to church music before. Or take a few peaceful moments to think about what you´re teaching and how important it is to you. Have everything prepared so that from the moment you walk into the classroom, the people you teach are learning from the Spirit that you bring. That´s my two cents for this week.

A Day in the DR:

All of the bugs here are so much bigger than they are in the US. We had a huge moth in our apartment a few days ago. It wasn´t bothering us until it flew into our room in the middle of a really spiritual heart to heart. We spent the next hour trying to get it out of the apartment. This was our method- throw a shoe near it, hide under our covers while it flew around the room, spend the next five minutes trying to figure out where it went, and then starting over. haha Very effective. We finally threw my laundry hamper over it and took it outside. We had a pretty good time. haha This is a picture of us trying to reenact that night. 

A few days ago, we taught a family. The father is a member, but his wife isn´t. We´ve been teaching the whole family. Well, this last time, we walked in, and the two youngest ones are just running around naked. When we started the lesson, the youngest boy (he was young, but not that young) jumps on his mom´s lap, pulls down her shirt, and just starts breastfeeding. I was so shocked. I knew that that happened here, but I just wasn´t prepared for it. haha After a few minutes of talking, my companion turned to me and asked me to talk about repentance, and I had the hardest time focusing and teaching. haha It was just too much nakedness for me. haha But the next time we taught her, I was prepared and I was able to focus and teach the lesson. 

Hola familia y amigos!

It´s been a great first week here in Jarabacoa! The weather here is so much nicer than down below. Even though it´s hot, there´s always a breeze. And the nice thing is, when you go in the shade, it´s cooler, but in Santo Domingo and Santiago, the shade is just as hot as everywhere else. There´s no escape. haha But up here in the mountains, there´s always a breeze and it rains every once in a while. And the mountains are beautiful!

My companion, Hermana Hunsaker, from Idaho, is wonderful! We get along so well, and she´s a great missionary. She has really helped me ease into the mission, and tries to make me as comfortable as possible. The other two missionaries in our district, Elders Galvez and , are a lot of fun. Elder Galvez came out the same time as me, but he speaks spanish, so he has the advantage. haha It´s fun to have them around. We both serve in the Jarabacoa branch.

The people in the branch and so great. They are so loving and friendly. Unfortunately, there are so many inactive people, but the members that attend are strong in the gospel. The branch president and his family, the Burets, are so wonderful. They remind me so much of the Yanez family. Two return missionaries, and three amazing children. They are so helpful. Someone in their family goes out with us to teach nearly every day. They are so willing to help, and they have really helped the people who are struggling in the branch. And they give us delicious food! haha 

The people we meet and teach here are so friendly and willing to listen. Nobody has ever told us that they don´t want to listen to our message. The only problem is, they aren´t willing to act. The other day, we taught a less active lady in the branch. I taught about the sacrament, and the importance of taking it every Sunday, and she totally agreed. She talked about the blessings we will receive if we take it and how it´s so important. So we asked her if she would attend church this Sunday, and she said she didn´t know. It´s frustrating that these people know the truth, but they won´t act. It makes me so sad. I need to help them see the importance of our message, and I´m not quite sure how to do it. But I know that if I am obedient and teach with the Spirit, that I will do my part. I can only hope that they will accept what I´m teaching. 

A Day in the DR

There are three things that I see everywhere, and that´s motorcycles, colmadas, and stray dogs. Everyone here rides a motorcycle, and they are SO loud. I can´t hear anything my companion says when someone drives by. haha And the dogs are everywhere. It´s so sad. Colmadas are little stores that sell things like candy, bread, water, and the necessities. They´re really convenient. And then there are the dreadful roosters. I don´t see tons of them in the streets, but I sure hear them in the mornings! There are so many of them. The first day, I woke up, and I had no idea what that awful sound was. It took me a good 20 minutes to figure out that they were the roosters. The best description I can think of is it sounds like dinosaurs are attacking the city. haha 

I hope you all have a wonderful week! You´re in my prayers!