1.26.15

Hey all! I dont have much time to write anything long because I still have a lot of packing to do! Yep I got transferred! I am leaving the beautiful city of San Juan and going back to the Capital! My área is called Bella Vista. Or Beautiful View :) im really sad to go but i am also excited/nervous! Itll it be a new adventure, thats for sure. My new comps name is Hermana Adams. She is from Washington, I believe... I dont know I havent met her yet. I leave in about an hour for the Capital. ahhh! so much to do still. anyhoo, but in other news, my old Comp Hermana Hildman is going to train! and My trainer Hermana Flores is going to train again! So I am getting a mission sister and step sister at the same time! Haha.... But anyhoo, everything is going good. Just busy getting ready to leave! Goodbyes are the hardest and I am going to miss this área so, so so much. But change is good. Hard, but good. :) Just wanted to let you know that all is well and I love you all! 

 Ill write more next monday. Have a wonderful week! Everyday is a good day if you make it so :) Choose to be happy even when things are tough or not going as planned. Be happy! Be positive! Jesús loves you!

con amor,

Hermana Dibble

P.S. Im going to the área that is the closest to the mission home which means I wont have to wait for mail! wahoo!

1.19.15

Hello all! I hope this email finds everyone in good health and feeling happy! Because Im feeling pretty happy! This last saturday I had my first baptism! Waho! He really did follow through! And I may have shed a tear or two out of sheer happiness for this kid :) I´m so proud of him! It was a beautiful baptism. We had two great talks and wonderful special musical number by one of the Tongan Elders here who is way cool and has a beautiful voice. So the other hermanas had two investigators who got baptized and me and my comp had one- Erick. The other two guys were baptized first and wow.... that was interesting. The same guy baptized both of them and...phew were they baptized hard... like really hard. The member literally smashed them into the water. I feel like baptism is already a kind of traumatizing event because Dominicans dont go swimming a lot (yes I know, weird, because they live on an island). But its true! So a lot of people are scared of getting dumped in the water. And one of the guys is like 70 yrs old or something so it was quite traumatizing for him. Poor guy. But Erick was baptized by a different member and that went a lot smoother, thankfully ;) It was all really great though. And Im just for happy for him. It was so cool to see get confirmed the next day in church and watch him stand up proudly as a new member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Its been quite the journey for Erick. If you all remember, he had a date back in November to be baptized but it fell. He´s been receiving the missionaries for about a year without any support from his family. They accepted his decision and let him do what he wanted but none of them are interested... really quite sad.. but that is why I am even more proud of him. He chose this all by himself and continues to be an amazing example for his family. The church is true!

In other news, transfers are coming up again. (time seriously flies). This Saturday we´ll get the call and Im kind of nervous! I might for real, leave this time! I´ve been here for awhile now and theres a really big chance I´ll leave! Im not really sure how I feel so Im trying not to think about it :)

Well thats all Ive got for today. Sorry its not much but i wanted to tell you all about the baptism! Hope all is well and everyone is still actively particpating in the Church and continuing to build your faith and testimony. Because a testimony is a continual process. You have to be actively doing things to build your faith and testimony or it will slowly begin to decrease and break down. I see it time and time again with inactives here. They think their faith is still strong and they still have all the knowledge they had when they first got baptized but in truth they dont. When it comes to testing that knowledge, they´ve forgotten all. Its very sad to see so don´t let this happen to your testimony! Continue to do those ¨primary answers¨. Pray. Study the scriptures, Go to Church, Keep the commandments, Go to the temple... We hear these things time and time again but that´s because they are the most important! ¨Through small things are great things brought to pass¨. Remember to do you part! Through these things, we can obtain eternal life and salvation- which is the greatest gift we can receive. Remember to act and not be acted upon. 

Love you all!

always,

Hermana Dibble

12.30.14

Hello all!

How was everyone´s Christmas? Filled with family, good food, and music, I hope! 

My Christmas this year was very tranquillo (chill). I thoroughly enjoyed all the Christmas messages we were able to share this month. but somehow it didn´t quite feel like Christmas. Probably because there was no snow on the ground and I was surrounded by palm trees. Seriously so strange.... I´m so used to cold and snow and sledding and ice skating and doing other outdoor activities for Christmas. but it was still a good Christmas nevertheless :) 

Christmas (which is the bigger holiday here than Christmas day itself) we ate dinner at an investigator´s house. So good! All sorts of Dominican dishes that I don´t know the names of. It was really really delicious though. On Christmas day, we (us sisters in the house) opened some small gifts we got from our families or from each other. Then we met up with the Elders in our zone and had a potluck lunch together. Us hermanas made cake and peach cobbler for dessert. then we all just played games and talked until we got to skype our families. (which was wonderful :) 

Yep, very calm... but still very good :) Hey! Tomorrow is New Year´s Eve! And yes, Dominicans do celebrate that too. We´re going to order pizza and maybe drink some sparkling apple cider. Pizza and cider in the DR? yeah weird... but luckily there´s a really good pizza restaurant here in San Juan. It almost tastes American :) And the cider is a speciality that´s only available around the holidays. Kind of expensive but definitely worth it. 

In other news, we have one baptism set for the 17th of January. He´s been an investigator for awhile now and goes to Church consistently. He had a date back in november but that fell because he didn´t feel ready. We´re really praying that he´ll stick to this date and follow through. We read with him and taught him the Vision of the Tree of Life in the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 8. And it was so cool to watch him go from not understanding the vision at all to completely understanding it after our lesson. It was a really neat and a very satisfying lesson because when the investigator understands, you feel very happy. It´s a moment you share together as ¨teacher and student¨. One of the first things he said after he understood the lesson was that he wanted us to start working more with his family. He told us that he too wants his family to partake of the fruit that is ¨most desirable and precious above all other fruits¨. this Gospel is true! And remember that the fruit of the tree of life represents the love of God or eternal life which we attain through Jesus Christ who is the greatest of all gifts that God has given us. remember that there is only one path to attain eternal happiness! 2 Nephi 10:23

I love you all! Thank you for everything! Happy New Year´s!

siempre,

Hermana Dibble

My parents sent me a ginger bread house kit in a package!

My new comp and I

12.15.14

Hello all!

How is everyone doing? How are the Christmas festivities going? It still boggles my mind that Christmas is in two weeks and there´s no snow on the ground! It´s just weird to me that I won´t have a white Christmas this year or next. but winter here is glorious. It´s so much cooler now and I love it! It´s nice not to be sweating all the time. 

Alright yáll, so transfer calls came last Saturday. I will be staying in San Juan but my trainer is getting transferred which means I´m receiving a new companion. I am extremely sad that I have to say goodbye to hermana flores. I love her so much and I have so enjoyed our time together. I´m really going to miss her. She´s going to the Capital and my new companion is coming from the capital. My new comp is Hermana Hildman. I guess she´s from Idaho too! I´ll meet her tomorrow. 

Actually Hermana Flores and another hermana that we live with are getting transferred so we´re getting two new hermanas in the house. It´s going to be very interesting :) 

In other news, I can officially say that I had Chikungunya! It´s a mosquito transported virus here. But I had a very mild case. Usually it can put a missionary in bed for 3 days to two weeks. But like i said, I got a very mild case. I was very achy and had headaches and a little fever for about four days (not enough to keep me from working though) and then I got a really bad rash all over my body. Red dots everywhere. It was ugly and my hands hurt a lot but now it´s finally all gone. Yay! I´m really grateful that i didn´t get it too badly. All your love, thoughts, and prayers must be working. So thank you!

Investigator News: We found out today that we completely lost one of our investigators. She was so wonderful too! She always kept all of her committments and soaked up everything we taught her. She originally started taking our lessons because her boyfriend/fiancee is a member. and they were supposed to be getting married this week. But we just found out that apparently they broke up, she´s pregnant, and she´s not getting baptized anymore. We were very surprised... and sad. we´re going to try and get in contact with her so we can hear the story from her. 

But in other news, we have 3 scheduled baptisms for January that i´m really excited about. We have some great investigators but we just need to get them to go to church! Always a problem here...

anyhoo, that´s all I´ve got. These next couple of weeks will be exciting/interesting adapting to a new companion and the changes in the district and zone. we´ll see! 

Spiritual goodness: I was able to watch The Nativity Story with some other missionaries and it was so good! I really like this movie and I would recommend it to everyone! It´s really a wonderful persceptive on the story of our Savior´s birth. And it´s very realistic! It definitely made me think about the circumstances surrounding Christ´s birth and how each piece in the story was orchestrated by God. Here´s my challenge for you:

Women- Imagine what it would have been like to be Mary. An angel tells you that you are going to bare, not only a child, but the Son of God. But it´s one thing being told something like that and for it to actually happen. But it does! And can you imagine having to go more than a hundred miles, 8 months pregnant, riding on the back of a donkey? That is one strong woman.

Men- Imagine what it would have been like to be Joseph. You´re engaged to a woman and suddenly you find out that she´s pregnant. Can you imagine how devastated you would feel to think that she was unworthy to you? And then imagine seeing an angel in a dream telling you that your fiancee is carrying the Son of God. not only that, but suddenly you become responsible for that child. You suddenly are given this huge responsiblity to care for, provide for, and protect this child and his mother. 

I would encourage you all to reread the nativity story in the Bible and ponder it carefully. Imagine yourself in the story and what it would have been like to be there. Whether you imagine yourself as Mary or Joseph, or maybe a shepherd or a wise man. And then think of the significance of Christ´s life here on the Earth and what He did for all Mankind. :)

I love my Savior and I love this Gospel! 

Merry Christmas everyone!

siempre,

Hermana Dibble

My mission mom and my mission grandma. (My comp and her trainer)

Chikungunya!

12.1.14

Hola everybody!

Sorry it´s been awhile. It is so hard to get a group email out in the amount of time that I have on the internet. But I´m alive and doing well!

How was everyone´s thanksgiving? Dominicans don´t celebrate it so there wasnt anything special going on here. Since my comp and I are the only Americans, we made a thanksgiving lunch. Ingredients are limited so we just made chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans and onions, butter rolls, and chocolate/coconut cake. It was delicious :) Then we had to go to work. But we got to share some special messages on gratitude which I loved. 

this last saturday we were supposed to have two baptisms but both fell. Two of our youth investigators were supposed to get baptized but didnt. One girl´s mom won´t let her and the other one feels like it´s too hectic of a time in his life. So he´s wants to postpone it. We´re working hard with him to help him understand that this isn´t something he should procrastinate but he´s on the verge of joining an elite beisball program that will determine if he plays professionally or not. Phew. Beisball is a big deal here. Seriously. 

We currently have two weeks left of the transfer. Which means I have two weeks left of my training! Gah! Time has flown. Its mostly likely that my comp will be transferred and I´ll stay in San Juan. But anything could happen. I really don´t want to be seperated from my trainer, I love her so much! but we´ll see....

Christmas celebrations are in full swing here. Downtown they decorated the whole place and created a massive Nativity scene. There´s lights, vending stands, tons of people, and music every night. Tons of people gather there which is great because well, they´re all in one place for us missionaries :) We contact a lot now because the church launched a ¨He is the Gift¨ program. We have special hand out cards to give out. There´s a nice little mormon message on christmas.mormon.org if you want to watch it. I think thats the site.. I don´t know what it is in english. Anyhoo, Christmas time is a wonderful opportunity to meet new people and share a Christmas message. It´s great here because xmas isn´t focused on Santa and gifts. In fact, most families don´t even do gifts on Christmas. It´s all focused on Jesus, as it should be :) When we ask people what they do for christmas, they always talk about how they gather with all their family and help make a huge dinner together. Usually they eat on the 24th too. But I love it because there isn´t the hustle and bustle of buying and wrapping gifts. People just want to be with their family and eat food. I knew I liked this country :)

So as it is with every Christmas, I challenage you to keep in mind the true meaning of aand focus on the greatest gift that each one of us have received and will ever receive. Jesus Christ. He is truly the greatest gift of them all. John 3:16. I´m grateful to be here in The Dominican Republic and serving this people. I really love being a missionary and I love teaching these people, no matter how broken and incorrect my Spanish is. It is the Spirit that teaches and touches each individual life. So live your life in a way that the Spirit can be with you at all times and in all things. As a missionary, I have to be extra careful of my thoughts, words, actions, so that I may always have the Spirit with me. Because if i don´t, then there is no way my investigators would learn anything. Remember that Jesus Christ is the greatest gift, God gave to mankind. And remember that the gift of the Holy Ghost is the second most important gift God gives us after baptism, through someone holding his power and authority- the Priesthood. 

I love you all and I am so grateful for all your love and support! Hope you have a good week!

Con amor,

Hermana Dibble

11.3.14

Dominicans don´t celebrate Halloween but that didn´t mean we couldn´t have a little fun ourselves ;) We had a costume contest from whatever materials we had in our closets. I was supposed to be a body builder but I just look fat. Oops. It´s all those empandas and juice! I regret nothing :)

-Hna Dibble

Mailing Address

Alrighty so many people have been asking me about mail service here. I receive mail only about once a transfer (six weeks). Its just when the zone leaders go to the mission home or for a special event where we will be seeing our mission president. So about half way through the transfer, the zone leaders will go to the mission home. So that will be in about 4 weeks. As far as Christmas goes... I really have no idea when I´ll be able to receive packages. The next transfer ends a week before Christmas but I´m sure the mission president will try to get all the packages out to missionaries so they can have them for christmas. But I would reccommend getting any package you want to send out soon because it takes a good month to get here depending on the service you use. One Elder´s mom uses missionary mail or something like that and he always seems to get his packages really fast. If you need some ideas of what to send here´s some :)

-Snacks and treats! I really, REALLY miss Reese´s and other common candies. So far Ive only seen snickers, twix, M&Ms, and hersheys here and it´s expensive. They have Peanut butter here too but it tastes weird. You can only get good peanut butter in the capitol. I would love any type of snack food like granola bars, nuts, and other typical american snacks. I need to eat more protein but its really hard here since we have to be really careful about the meat and nuts and other things are expenisive. 

Also, I have never seen any sour candy here. I love sour patch and gummy worms ;)

-Music! I brought some cds but i would adore more. Every house has a portable dvd player that also has a USB port so a USB drive with music would be a wonderful gift. My mission president is pretty chill so as far as I know, we´re allowed to listen to any music that is uplifting and encouraging. So not only church musice but good songs, instrumental, etc. 

I can´t think of anything else.... anything I recieve will be greatly appreciated. I love you all!

Address:

Hermana  Megan Dibble

Dominican Republic Santo Domingo West Mission

C/ Hatuey # 73

Urb. Los Cacicazgos

Santo Domingo

Dominican Republic