Hola from the Dominican Republic!
IT IS FANTASTIC. I already love it so much and am learning SO
MUCH EVERY DAY! Thursdays are my P-Day so that is why it seems like I've been
dead for more than a week. no worries, I'm alive. Alright, y'all ready for the
recap of this last week? Didn't think so but i'm going to go ahead
anyway.
Last wednesday, I traveled safely, met some great people along
the way, had a grand time in New York, and arrived in the DR (dominican
republic) around 1am. Getting through customs was a breeze. "Oh you're a
missionary? Go on through." Haha... I only traveled with one Elder and one
other sister. At the airport another Elder was there. He had the "Other
Side of Heaven" experience because he was supposed to arrive with the
other earlier group, not us. Anyways, we found our driver. Didn't speak
English. We all piled into a ghetto van and started driving. About 5 min into
our journey we got a flat tire in the middle of freeway with crazy drivers. Oh
my word, Dominicans drive crazy! the elders helped the guy change the tire
while experiencing several near- death moments as cars zoomed by, inches from
us, going 100mph. seriously. but it was alright. We got to the CCM (MTC) and
they even had a meal for us there. I was too tired to eat though. We found our
rooms and went to bed, only to wake up 3 hours later for the LONGEST day of my
life. 630am to 10:30pm at night. Our first day was filled with classes,
language, and orientation. It was so hard to stay awake since I had only had
about 6 hours of sleep cumulative for two nights. No worries, the Lord
sustained me :)
My companion's name is Hermana McFarland. She is from North Salt
Lake City. I love her so much already. She is a small, cute Polynesian (Samoan)
girl. She has beautiful naturally curly hair which she complains about all the
time. Don't worry, I'm used to it (aka Hannah) ;). I guess I will never
understand since i dont have curly hair but want it so bad. We get along
together every well and have learned so much from each other already. though,
she has never had any sort of spanish class in her life so it is really hard
for her. Oh my gosh, I am so thankful I took Spanish in high school, even if it
was for three years. The teachers here are all dominicans and speak nothing but
spanish to us. I may not be able to speak back but i do understand them 80% of
the time. Most of my memory of spanish has come back now and has served me well
in class. And words I dont even remember learning, come to me. Just in a week I
can say a simple prayer and bear my testimony in spanish. They really force you
into it. the second i was here, my comp and I had to give a lesson in spanish
to a fake investigator. That was stressful since I don't know any church/
gospel vocab at all. But i'm learning. A lot. All the time. Spiritually and
mentally. I am so grateful for tender mercies and small blessings from the Lord
that make all the difference. The Gift of Tongues is real because my rate of
learning is 2x faster than my learning rate in high school.
Okay, food! Let's talk about food since I know that's all you
guys really want to know about. 3 meals a day, every day. Breakfast and dinner
are normal and lunch is HUGE. Breakfast is usually some kind of sausage or
bacon with eggs. Or we have banana bread or brownies. Yes, we have brownies for
breakfast. I knew this was the right place to come to. The dominicans believe
that if you have your sweets in the morning then you have all day to burn them
off. Maybe that is why America has an obesity epidemic. But the thing is, I
don't want sugar in the morning.... My intake of sugar has definitely gone down
and i miss snacking. I want candy and granola bars/ fruit snacks up the yang.
So if anyways wants to send me snacks....hehe. Okay lunch. Lunch includes two
MOUNTAINS of rice (one flavored and the other just white), two kinds of meat
(chicken, beef, or pork), and of course- beans. BUT they serve the beans
separately so I don't have to eat them :) Lunch always includes fruit and
a green salad. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. The pineapple and mangoes here are
DIVINE. I love having fruit and salad at lunch. Dinner is usually varies. WE've
had mac and cheese, taco salad, etc. Typically we get potatoes with some kind
of pasta. Carbs and starch. Oh and more carbs and starch. At every meal there
is bread and juice. The bread here is white and pretty looks/tastes like hot
dogs buns but bigger. The thing here to do is smother them in butter and cook
them in the panini grill till they're flat and crispy. So good. My weakness.
And the juice here is so sweet. I like juice but man, i cant even handle it.
Johnny would like it a lot :). So yeah, I'll gain weight here but everyone
tells me I'll lose it quickly in the field. Still haven't decided if that's a
good thing or a bad thing....
Everyday, we have a full schedule. We always have something to
do. I'm so tired all the time but I can sneak in little cat naps after lunch. I
still have yet to learn how to fall asleep instantly, anywhere, anytime, but
desperation will kick in soon enough i think. Nah i'm fine. I try to go to bed
right at 10:30pm so i get a good sleep. And let me tell you, the sleep is
great. I close my eyes and boom, my alarm is going off. It's all good. I'll
adjust soon enough. P-days are great though. We get to go to the temple right
after breakfast and are there till lunch. Oh by the way, the temple is
literally right next to the CCM. There is a big wall/fence that surrounds the
CCM and the temple. For "gym" time, we can go outside and run/walk
around the temple. "Gym" time is kind of a joke. They don't actually
have an excerise room here. The gym rooms consists of two fuse ball tables and
a ping pong table. But they have a volleyball net outside and balls to play
with. My comp and I run/walk run around the temple a few times and then play
basketball or volleyball. It is sooooo hot and humid. The weather isn't bad,
its just the humidity that is crazy. Im drenching sweat within 10min. so yes, I
shower twice a day. Everything is ghetto here but I love it. Since the CCM is
used for the temple and other church stuff, there's always members around who
are so friendly. It's a lot of fun.
there's about 54 missionaries here. It is a lot of fun being
able to get to know everyone more personally. I love our MTC president and
wife. I love having the temple right outside. And I love the beauty that is
here in nature and in the people. There's some Haitians who are here training
too. They only speak french but they are so nice. They all have wonderful,
humble spirits. I just wish I could communicate with them! I love my district
(group of missionaries who are assigned to be with each other in classes). We
have a lot of fun. We have three teachers. One in the morning- afternoon- and
evening. Our morning teacher is the best. His name is Hno Nuñez. He's hilarious
and always happy. He likes to lie all the time though. (joke with us, take
advantage of our newness by convincing us of untruths about him). It's all
super funny and he's great to tease because he takes it and dishes it out. We
have a lot of fun in class. I was the only one who didn't believe his lies
though so he knows he has to watch out for me ;)
Dang, time goes by so fast. I wish I could say more but I have
to go. I love you all and thank you for all your emails, prayers, and support!
I'm here and doing good!
con amor siempre,
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