Klk

Que lo que

This email will probably be pretty bad haha because I don't have much to say. I don't even remember what happened this week. 

Comp Life

Me and Élder Laureano got put into a trio with an American greenie fresh from the US for 2 days but then Élder Laureano left so now I'm with him alone. It's been…interesting. I am praying for charity haha

I have really grown to love the Dominican Republic though. My companion was going crazy all night with the dogs barking, roosters crowing, and people playing their music at full volume, but I have actually come to enjoy it.

Pizza Stuff

I'm still super annoyed though by the giant grocery store by our apartment. It is wayyyy too nice to be here. We went shopping there last Monday and they literally had a take and bake pizza. I bought it, but when I was getting ready to cook it I felt that I needed to continue to live my foreign experience. So instead of cooking it in our oven (which is kinda busted anyways), I cooked it like a pancake in a frying pan. It's weird how all of these little things I always complained about but I think I actually secretly enjoy. And the pizza pancake tasted pretty good. I'll attach a pic. 

Epic Reunion

The highlight this week was that I got to see my MTC companion! Who I have never actually met in person! But have spent several hours just looking at each other's faces haha. We were in a meeting at the mission office and one of the Elders came up to me and was like "hey. Élder Hansen's up stairs". So I sprinted upstairs and saw the beast sitting in a chair with his back towards me. I ran up, put my hand on his shoulder and flipped him around towards me. I was like "Élder Hansen!". He lost it and we both jumped around and gave each other a big bro hug. It was epic. Love that guy

Teaching People

We found some pretty elect people though. One guy named Amilkin and his wife are pretty elect and they said they'd come to church which would be fantastic. Getting people to church here has been rough because of how far it is but I trust that if the people really are ready for the gospel, they will make the sacrifice. In Navarrete, the church building was in the middle of town and everyone knew where it was. People literally lived a 30 second walk from it, and even then, many wouldn't come. So really at the end of the day it just comes down to what we want. Everybody ends up with what they really want. 

We also had a lesson this week with a family that is super elect. We still hadn't taught them the plan of salvation or the gospel of Jesus Christ, but in our last lesson we had with them they asked a ton of questions, and just based on those questions we accidentally ended up teaching all of the plan of salvation and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pretty cool how all of the deep questions of the soul are answered in the doctrine of the church. 

Spiritual Thought

Another thought I had this week is that I think most of God's children are pretty disobedient. Most everyone we talk to believes in God but won't do anything he asks. It says somewhere in D&C that the people of the telestial kingdom are as numerous as the stars. I agree with that statement haha. It is really painful to watch a missionary, but thanks to the plan of salvation, everybody will receive what they were willing to receive. 

accidentally ended up teaching all of the plan of salvation and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pretty cool how all of the deep questions of the soul are answered in the doctrine of the church. 

Also later today I'm going to attempt to teach Dominicans how to play Spikeball so wish me luck. 

Ciao! Love you guys mucho. 

-Élder Wride

Week 65

First off, I feel bad if I'm spamming anyone with these emails that they don't have time to read, so if that is or isn't you let me know because I'm gonna try and condense the amount of people on this list. 

But this week was a rough one. My spiritual high came to an unanticipated end but I'm slowly recovering. 

Nice Lady

I might have already said this in a past weekly, but a lady rolled down her window at me and said "gringito que cosa más lindo". Which literally translates to "little gringo, what thing is more beautiful?". So that made me feel good…? I guess. I don't really know. 

Rubik's Cube

While doing a companionship study this week, I looked at my companion Élder Flakes desk and found that he had a Rubik's cube. I know how to solve them, but I wanted him to think that I was a genius. So I looked at it with a puzzled kind of look. Then I sighed and was like, "man, I've always wanted to solve a Rubik's cube". Then he got all excited and was like "oh I can teach you!" and he started to give me the first basic instructions. I followed along slowly, and then acted really puzzled but also smart. I then started to solve it and it was epic. When I started picking up speed and solving it without any instruction Élder Flake got mad and was like "you idiot you know how to solve it" hahaaaa anyways I don't know if this whole thing made sense but it was funny.

Tiene un burro? 

Elder Flake was looking for a bag this week, so we stopped by a little shop on our way home to see if they had one that he could buy. He was about to ask the guy there if they had any bags, but then realized that he didn't know the word for it. So he turned to me and asked. I told him "bag" in Spanish is "burro", which means donkey. I was trying super hard not to laugh. He could tell I was trying not to laugh and didn't trust me. So he asked Élder Lugo what "bag" in Spanish is. Élder Lugo was on my same page and affirmed that the word for bag is "burro". So Élder Flake went and asked the guy if they had any donkeys he could buy. Right when the words came out of his mouth me and Élder Lugo just died laughing. I was literally crying. Soooo funny. 

Rough Week

So everything was honestly perfect. The area has been popping off lately. Lots of people to teach, lots of people at church, lots of baptisms. I have really grown to love Navarrete so much. I remember having the thought this week that I could honestly just live here forever and I wouldn't even be mad. Then suddenly we got a call from President and he said I was leaving Navarrete. It was super unexpected. The call left me with only a few hours to pack my stuff and say goodbye to people, so we ran to the apartment and I just shoved everything in my suitcase. Then we went around the area and I tried to say bye to and get pictures with as many of my friends as I could. It was so sad. I don't think they are going to miss me that much compared to how much I miss them. My new area is called El Dorado which covers a lot of the east side of Santiago. It's kind of rough here. The church building is an hour away and the area is huge. It's gonna be an interesting time. 

The lowest point was when we went to the grocery store. I have been so used to surviving off of what's in Navarrete, but here there's an actual grocery store. Air conditioning and everything. And they have more than just canned stuff. I kinda cried a little bit in the grocery store thinking about how much I missed Navarrete. 3 months ago I was depressed that the stores didn't have a lot, but now I was depressed because they had stuff and it made me miss Navarrete even more. It's just not the same here. There's not like any mosquitos so I don't get to use my zapper as much. That's been hard. We have an actual laundry machine here which is gonna take getting used to. The dogs and the music aren't as loud either which has been a big adjustment. Basically I'm just super homesick for Navarrete and it's been a rough couple of days. 

It was also really hard for me because two of my good friends Junior and Albert got baptized last week. We have been teaching them for a while and I was really hoping to be there so that was hard. I did get to join over zoom though which was good. They are both super elect and I miss them tons. 

My spiritual thought this week is from D&C 103:36. It says: 

"All victory and glory is brought to pass unto you through your diligence, faithfulness, and prayers of faith." 

I'm holding on hard to that promise right now. It's gonna be a rocky road for a bit but I'm gonna push through. 

Love you guys! 

• Elder Wride

15 months

Wow! This week was totally nuts and I loved it. The DR is so crazy. But I’m alive.

Trio Life

Being in a trio again has been so much fun. I didn’t realize how lonely I was haha but now we have another American guy who has my same sense of humor and it’s been nice. So yea Elder Flake is hilarious. He’s struggling pretty hard with Spanish still but he’s been such a good sport about it. I’ve been messing with him a little too though haha. We were street contacting and ended up meeting a family but they only spoke Haitian-creole, so we just kinda left because me and Elder Lugo couldn’t understand what they were saying. We walked away and I turned to Elder Flake and said “were you able to understand what they were saying?”. He was like, “yea kinda”. Then I paused and was like, “well, they weren’t speaking Spanish”. That made him depressed for a sec haha. Then he turned to me and said “thanks Elder Wride”. But I don’t blame him because the Spanish here is seriously insane. But yea trio life is great.

Lesson with this guy

We had a lesson yesterday with a guy named Lucien. During the lesson Lucien starting laughing pretty hard about Elder Flakes Spanish and I felt kinda bad. But Elder Flake is a good sport so he just started laughing. Then I started laughing too. As we started laughing because Lucien was laughing, Lucien stopped laughing and told me and Elder Flake in a very serious tone that we were going to hell for laughing about the things of God. And he was dead serious. Then for the next 20 minutes Lucien talked about how we shouldn’t laugh and how we will be punished and so forth. It was all just a train wreck. And it was so confusing because he literally was the one who started it. Anyways. He’s an interesting guy. 

Quick Rant

I don’t understand why mosquitos exist. Like what do they even do besides bite people and transmit diseases? Why did a loving Heavenly Father create them? No matter how much mosquito spray I put on or how safe I feel in my mosquito net, they attack me. Then we’re out walking around sweating all day and at the same time my arms and ankles are itching like crazy and it’s terrible. Si Dios es justo, los mosquitos irán a las tinieblas de afuera con Satanás. 

Moises

The highlight of the week was Moises getting baptized! I’ve been teaching Moises since I got here 3 months ago and he’s been taught for a while before that. His parents are inactive members but his older brother is active. He’s been coming to church regularly since he grew up in the church and has still been going since his parents went inactive. It’s taken a while to get permission from his parents and get some other stuff sorted out but we got it and it happened this week! It was super spiritual. His parents came too and I’m pretty sure his dad was crying in the back so that was good haha. Right when we walked in the room we could feel the spirit so strong. Elder Flake turned to me and was like “woah, it feels really good in here!”. And he wasn’t referring to the fan that was on. (He was referring to the spirit). And I agree, it felt great in there. 

Before his baptism we walked around with Moises and Jhonni (the member who baptized him) and invited people. It was just pretty epic. It made me really happy. 

Other Stuff

Our area is doing really well. We have tons of stuff happening. I’m most excited for Albert and Junior. They are both set to get baptized next week so we’ll see how that goes! We started teaching Albert after Johans baptism and he’s still pretty elect. And then Junior is the boyfriend of a member and is quite elect as well. We also met a lady named Noelia who is super elect and the told us last night that she’s gonna read all of first Nefi today. So that’s gonna be sweet. But yea great things are happening here and I’m loving Navarrete.

These aren’t bad days - Spiritual Thought #1

This week was great, but I did have some hard experiences that were really discouraging.

So despite some really discouraging stuff this week, I have been really happy. Lately I feel like my trust in God has grown so much. Looking back at who I was in highschool and even at the beginning of my mission, I really didn’t know squat. Haha and I feel like I’m going to have the same epiphany years from now but about where I’m at right now. Anyways, it’s just been really exciting and I feel so grateful to the Lord for all the things I am learning out here that are so important. 

There was a quote by Winston Churchill I heard this week in a BYU devotional that I thought was super cool. In addressing the remarks of people who at this time were dwelling on how hard things were and how dark of days they were having, he said this:

“Do not let us speak of darker days; let us speak rather of sterner days. These are not dark days: these are great days—the greatest days our country has ever lived; and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race.”

And it just kinda hit me, like “yea, these aren’t dark days. These are great days!”. So despite feeling like I’m getting punched in the gut and in the face occasionally, these are great days! And It’s actually fun! There’s this quote from the trailer for the movie La La Land if you guys have seen it. But Ryan Gosling is talking about Jazz haha and he’s like “it’s conflict, it’s compromise, and it’s very, very exciting!”. 

That’s totally about life right there. It’s conflict, it’s compromise, and it’s very, very exciting. I just love it so much. I love this crazy (w)ride where I get wrecked and grow a lot. Any good thing I have become has come because of how I’ve chosen to react to problems I’ve had.

Reminds me of this quote I heard recently-

“Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he’s been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just ordinary people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. 

Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. 

Life is like an old-time rail journey—delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.”

Wherefore Can Ye Doubt? - Spiritual Thought #2

I also had another huge epiphany this week that I thought was really cool. I was feeling extra discouraged towards the beginning of the week about God doing His part. I was feeling doubtful about the future and frustrated about some challenges I’ve been facing and some promises I’ve been given that seem to be going unfulfilled. Then I had a huge moment where I looked back and realized that honestly most all of my prayers have been answered. That’s not to say that it hasn’t been a struggle. I’ve been stretched a lot in the process, but eventually, if I keep doing my best, the blessings always come.  God has done so much for me, and when He answers a prayer, instead of being grateful, I quickly move onto my next problem. 

For probably the first time, I relate with Laman and Lemuel a lot. At the beginning of the Book of Mormon, they make several attempts to get the brass plates from Laban, as the Lord had commanded, but it doesn’t work. Finally, Laman and Lemuel are pretty mad and they start beating Nephi and Sam, their younger brothers, with a rod. Then this happens:

“29 And it came to pass as they smote us with a rod, behold, an angel of the Lord came and stood before them, and he spake unto them, saying: Why do ye smite your younger brother with a rod? Know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him to be a ruler over you, and this because of your iniquities? Behold ye shall go up to Jerusalem again, and the Lord will deliver Laban into your hands.

30 And after the angel had spoken unto us, he departed.

31 And after the angel had departed, Laman and Lemuel again began to murmur, saying: How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us?”

I remember reading this before and just thinking “Man! You guys are dumb! You literally saw an angel! How can you doubt the Lords promises!”

But then, I find myself in the exact same situation. I haven’t seen any angels or heard any audible voices, but I have seriously felt impressed upon my heart and mind so strongly about certain truths of the gospel that I don’t know if an angel appearing to me would help me know any better that they are true. And yet, despite all the spiritual confirmations I’ve had and all the many many times my prayers have been answered to my satisfaction, I will get to a certain problem and doubt. I will doubt that the Lord will do what he said he’d do. After all these many confirmations and blessings I’ve seen, I think I finally got to a problem that is too big for the Lord. But nothing is too hard for Him.

Nephi responds to their complaints with the following: (1 Nefi 4:3) “Now behold ye know that this is true; and ye also know that an angel hath spoken unto you; wherefore can ye doubt? Let us go up; the Lord is able to deliver us, even as our fathers, and to destroy Laban, even as the Egyptians.”

Anyways I just thought this was cool. We all doubt so much and I’m sure God probably feels really frustrated. But wherefore can we doubt? Why do we do it so much? I started to feel really strongly when Nephi is ranting in the Book of Mormon and says “o the wretched man that I am”. I wish it wasn’t so easy to doubt and forget what we know is true. So I guess I just want to share my testimony that if we keep doing our best and give it time, everything will work out the way the Lord needs it to, for our own good. The evidence of the reality of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel is so overwhelming. How can it not be true?

Love you guys! Have a good one!

Still out here. Having a good time

Hola. Esta semana fue buena, así que puedes leer sobre ella si quieres.

Ella Tenía Sueño

In one of our lessons this week the lady was half asleep the whole time and it was really funny. She would keep dozing off and we would just sit there quietly until she regained consciousness and then continue where we left off. We didn’t want to interrupt her sleep. Idk it was just a funny lesson. So there you go.

Power Outage pt. 2

Last night, the power went out again, so all of the music stopped which was nice. But for some reason the roosters were having a rough night and they were crowing alllll night. It was actually worse than having music play because it was dead quiet except for the roosters. So I ended up not sleeping very good.

Cool Personal Study

Bugs here have still been a problem. My desk is by a window and during one of my personal studies there was a big spider just watching me. It was pretty high up though so I didn’t mind too much at first. Instead I would just check every couple seconds and make sure it wasn’t any closer. It was a really stressful personal study. At one of my check-ins I looked at it just in time to see it literally jump at a fly and catch it in it’s mouth.  It was crazy. I was pretty fed up with it at that point and we don’t have any actual bug killer stuff so I just febrezed it to death and went back to my study. So that was fun. 

Trio Life pt. 2

We got put into a trio which has been interesting. The new Elder just got here in the DR so it’s been fun to see his reaction to all the craziness that I’ve gotten used to. Like the power will go out or he’ll see a family of 5 driving on a little scooter on the wrong side of the road going 10 over the speed limit (if there even is a speed limit) and be like “what the...is that normal?” so it’s been fun. And the answer is “yes” by the way. Totally normal. But his spanish is kind of a struggle so it’s also been fun to be teaching him a bit. Anyways yea we’re in a trio!

Los Investigadores

The amount of work here is super overwhelming but we’re doing okay. Our friend Moises was supposed to get baptized this week but we decided to move it to next week because of general conference. And we have four other friends on date for baptism this month. I probably won’t get to be here for all of them but we’ll see. One super elect guy is Albert. He is Johan’s friend who is progressing a ton. We taught him the law of chastity and he was a little scared to commit to it, so we told him to pray about it and that we would follow up on our next visit. We said that if he was willing to live it, we could pick a baptismal date. We also talked in that lesson about baptisms for the dead, which really struck a chord with Albert because his dad died a couple years ago. While we were teaching that he said, “do I have to wait untill our next visit to tell you if I will live the law of chastity? Because I know that I want to live it now.”

It was pretty epic. And he’s been working really hard. We promised him that if he read the Book of Mormon every day he wouldn’t be overcome by temptation and he told us that it has been working and that he hasn’t even felt tempted. Pretty sweet!

But there’s a ton of people and I wish I could tell you about them all but don’t have the time. Sorry

In Closing

This week as I was walking with my comp I was telling him about my mission in the St. Louis and it kinda just hit me like a wall right there that that part of my mission was over. And it made me really sad. Three months later haha and I just kinda realized that those times are really kinda gone forever. And today I had that same feeling but about being out here in Navarrete. It’s pretty likely that I’m going to be out of here soon and I didn’t realize how much I’ve come to love this area and the people here until now. 

Also last night, we hijacked another bar playing music and I changed the song to “Life's Incredible Again” from the Incredibles. Another epic moment.  

Also general conference was great! The best talk was definitely when President Nelson talked about temples a bunch. Super sweet. If you didn’t watch any of conference you should go hit up some of the talks. They are pretty good. 

My favorite scripture I read this week in my personal study was in D&C 90:24-

“Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good”.

Ciao

• Elder Wride