que lo que

 Heyyyy que lo que. Hope you’re all doing good. 

Los Insectos

A miracle this week was that I got a mosquito net! So now I can sleep without any sheets and not die from bug bites. It’s been great. Another nice thing was that while we were walking home one night we stopped by a colmado to buy some jugo de pera and saw that they had a bug zapper thing. I bought it right away. So now I have my bug zapper with me at all times while in the apt and it’s really fun to kill all the weird bugs flying around and to see the electricity zap them. I accidentally already zapped myself twice with it and it killed but I’m recovering. While we were doing a comp study a giant black wasp flew into the apartment and I about lost it. My comp had never seen me so animated. I yelped pretty loudly and sprinted as fast as I could to the other room but the floor was recently mopped so I just scampered on the floor for a second but was able to find shelter okay. But yea bugs here have been a problem but I’m feeling better about it now. 

La Obra

We’ve been super super busy. All day every day is just going at it 100% and it’s exhausting but we get a lot done. It’s been kinda tricky because everybody is totally happy to talk to us so we have to let the spirit guide us as to how we should use our time. It’s been interesting to talk to people about God and our message, to have them agree with everything we say, but then to decline living it for themselves. One conversation went like this-

 “So you think it’s important to follow God?”

“Yes!”

“So when God asks us to do something, we should do it, right?”

“Yes!”

“So will you guys come to church with us on Sunday?”

“Uhhhhh no”

It’s a matter of being “doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22–25). Nobody really questions the existence of God or anything, it’s just hard to help a lot of them live his commandments. 

But we have had some really great people we’ve been able to talk to and some really great interactions. We are teaching all day every day so it’s been really good. We also had a lot of people come to church on Sunday. 

There was this one family we’ve been teaching that we really wanted to come to church. They said they would, but we had the feeling that we should go to their house and double check. So on Sunday morning we sprinted over to their house before church started and woke them up and they were able to come! It was great to see them there and all of the members welcomed them really well. 

I can hardly keep track of everybody we’re teaching but it’s going good. One of our friends Jeremy will hopefully get baptized this week. 

The hardest thing this week was that my family was on vacation in Park City which is kinda my favorite place on earth. Throughout the week they were sending videos of them all hanging out and I was feeling pretty trunky for a bit haha. 

Every year at the Park City resort on thursday evening me and my brothers would play saxophone with the band there. Well on Thursday this week we ended up walking by a saxophone shop and I got to play the saxophone with this guy and then we taught him the restoration. It was a cool experience. 

Pensamiento Espiritual

This week was better for sure. It’s just a big adjustment but I’m learning and growing. During one of my personal studies I took a minute to read some old letters that I have with me from friends and family that I’ve collected over the years. I was reading one that my dad had written to me back when I was 14 years old and on Trek. If you don’t know what trek is, it’s when you dress like a pioneer and walk around in the heat for a couple days with wagons and stuff to better appreciate what the pioneers went through. So it was rough. My dad had written this letter and the leaders of the Trek activity handed out these letters at one of the hardest parts of the trek. Reading this as a missionary, I couldn’t help but cry. It was pretty special!

“Ethan, soon enough you will be back home, clean, enjoying a nice meal and relaxing in a very luxurious house. Then soon enough again, you’ll be a missionary somewhere crazy trying to convince a foreign people to join the church.

Enjoy wherever you are in the moment.”

Love you all very much

Email me if you can and I will try and respond

Ciao

mi p day es hoy

Hola que lo que Bacanos

You're probably wondering why I'm emailing you right now. So some crazy stuff went down this week and my comp is getting transferred and I'm getting a brand new missionary and officially taking over the area. So they moved our p day today. Quite exciting. I'm pretty stressed not gonna lie but it will be good.

This week was really really hard. I've never felt so overwhelmed as a missionary with all of this stuff. Physical, mental, and spiritual hurdles going on all day every day. It's pretty rough. But I'm gonna keep striving to do my best and I know I'll get through it.

One funny thing is that my comp invited some active members to get baptized. Jaja it was great. That's what we get for not keeping accurate records. Had we kept it up to date we would have known that they were members. I should have guessed it too based on how well the lesson was going. They already knew all about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and I was super excited. But yea then Elder Florentino gave the invite and they were like "uhhhhh somos miembros".

We've had a lot of solid lessons this week and have been giving it our all. It's been hard but good.

I seriously love all of you guys tan mucho. Lately I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on people pre-mish and I really miss you guys. I’m grateful this life isn’t all there is because I want to hang out with y’all in the Celestial Kingdom. So here’s some verses to remind you all how great it’s going to be. 

I remember reading these verses as a little kid and feeling a lot of peace and a big desire to be there. It’s gonna take a while, but I know all of the hardships we face in this life will have been worth it once we get there! 

D&C 137

1 The heavens were opened upon us, and I beheld the celestial kingdom of God, and the glory thereof, whether in the body or out I cannot tell. 

2 I saw the transcendent beauty of the bgate through which the heirs of that kingdom will enter, which was like unto circling flames of fire; 

3 Also the blazing throne of God, whereon was seated the cFather and the Son. 

4 I saw the beautiful streets of that kingdom, which had the appearance of being paved with gold.

Ciao 

- Elder Wride

Un Año - One Year Mark on Jul 15th

This week was absolutely insane and I’m super drained right now. But it’s a fiesta!

Los Dominicanos

Dominicans are great. A little weird sometimes though. The other day on our way home a dominican guy who was definitely on something (wasn't the spirit) walked up to me and just started speaking the fastest spanish I have ever heard and didn’t stop. I had literally no idea what he was saying. So I just kept walking and he followed me. I just nodded and would occasionally be like “si siiii claro”. It went on for probably like 10-15 minutes of him just talking about who knows what. Then we were finally at our apartment and he still wasn’t leaving so we just stood and listened for a while. Then just as fast as he had showed up, he just walked away. It was really weird but I kinda enjoyed it. Afterwards my comp said that he was asking for money.

Spanish

I feel like my spanish is getting worse haha. But that's okay. At a lesson we had this week we invited a member to join. It was a rough lesson. The teenagers we were teaching were really out of control and we couldn’t get them to focus. Then the member we brought stepped in dog poop. Then she called me a “gringito” and told me my spanish was bad. Jajaaaaa. But I know I just need to give it time and I’ll start to get the dominican flow of things. 

Muy Ruidoso

There is so much noise going on 24/7. I just want to shrivel up and cry sometimes. It’s so annoying. At night it’s insanely hot and our fan is still broken so we opened the window one night. I could hardly sleep because my head was next to the window and the motorcyclists were driving back and forth all night long. And the dogs get excited to see motorcyclists so they start barking really loudly every time one drives by. So the entire night was listening to loud engines and dogs barking. Now we sleep with the window closed and it's quiet but it’s just a lot hotter. Also people here throw giant speakers outside their house or on their car and blast super loud crazy music all night long. that makes it really hard to focus during the day and sleep at night. But yea that’s been exciting! Good thing I grew up with 11 siblings. Good practice. 

Bautismo de Darlene

The highlight this week was that our friend Darlene chose to get baptized. It was a great experience. I am always a little hesitant teaching niños because I want them to really understand the gospel and stay active in the church if they get baptized but it’s just kinda hard sometimes when they’re so young. But Darlene is great. She is the only member in her immediate family, but most all of her cousins are active members and she is with them all the time and has been coming to church every week for a while. So I don’t really feel worried about her going inactive which is a relief. She also showed up 30 minutes before the meeting started so she could help everyone get their hand sanitizer and stuff. Super sweet! And she gave the closing prayer in sacrament yesterday and did amazing. She is super awesome and I’m so happy that she chose to get baptized. Her older brother also came up to us after seeing her get the gift of the Holy Ghost at church and said that he wants to get baptized too. So we’re gonna be working with him a lot this week. 

La Obra

I am working so hard out here but at the same time it feels like we don’t get much done. There is just so much to do and not enough time to do it all. I haven’t even had time to poke anyone back on Facebook! Haha. It’s been really stressful coming into an area that’s really great but where no records are kept and trying to get it all organized. We’ll be walking and my companion will be like “ella es una de nuestras investigadoras” and I’m like “whaatthdskasldf” and then we’ll go and mark down in google maps where they live, get their number, make them a registro in area book, etc.. It’s just super overwhelming. And on top of that we get a bunch of referrals every day but then can’t contact them. Yesterday we got a really solid referral and went to go find her and her husband. We walked like 20 minutes to where we thought she lived, but realized that it wasn’t an actual address. So we ended up spending the next several hours just trying to find this lady. And without success. By that point we were at least 45-50 minutes away from our apartment, so we decided to just head back. On the way back we saw a little alleyway and thought it would be a shortcut but it ended up taking us in a loop back to the top of the road we had just come down.

Basically there’s just so much time spent walking and looking for people and it can be kind of rough sometimes.

But it’s great! I really enjoy it. I know I’m doing my best and the Lord will make up for our lack of efficiency. 

I am also super impressed with the faith of all these people. Members and non members. Our bishop is an absolute beast!! He is so cool. After Darlene’s baptism on Saturday he casually walked up to us and handed us a list of 20 referrals. Members are definitely the key to the work going so well here. 

Un Año

I hit one year this week which was pretty exciting. The time has gone by fast for sure. I know I’ve given it my all thus far so I don’t have any regrets. I’m grateful that the Lord has been leading me along step by step. Which reminds me of one of my favorite scriptures-

D&C 78:17-19

  “17 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;

  18 And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.

  19 And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.”

I know that the Lord will lead us all along as we are faithful and patient. That’s one of the things He is teaching me a lot about.

Love you guys! Have a good one

- Elder Wride

¡La República Dominicana!

Que lo que bacanos!? Espero que todo está bien con ustedes. Aquí estoy finalmente en la República Dominicana. Es muy loco.

My brain actually kinda hurts a lot right now. I thought I was ready for a culture shock but I wasn’t. I appreciate the US a lot more right now. 

Leaving St. Louis

So last week (on Monday) me and Elder Pugsley started packing. It’s pretty cool that we ended up leaving St. Louis at the exact same time. We drove to St. Louis (me, Elder Hess, and Elder Pugsley) and got to have dinner with President and Sister Bell and some other missionaries. It was a good time. 

Elder Pugsley left before I did, so I got to see him off. We had a great time together as companions. Gonna miss him a lot. Also Elder Pugsley if you’re reading this I hope your new comp is a deep sleeper because you snore really loudly. 

I left for the DR at like 4 in the morning so I’ve been pretty wiped the past couple days. At the airport while I was talking to people I ended up talking to a lady at the Miami airport from the DR. It took me a while to figure out if she was even speaking spanish though because of how crazy her accent was. But she was really sweet and showed me where the wendys was at the airport. 

At Miami I found another american elder headed to the DR so we had a good bonding moment and then headed out. Only three of us Americans were able to come this past week. The next few come in on the 22nd.

The Language

I’ve been practicing spanish a lot so communicating with people hasn’t really been a problem. My comp (Elder Florentino) is a DR native and doesn’t speak english so it’s been interesting but good practice. Occasionally we both get really confused at each other but overall it’s going good. The Dominican accent is super insane though. They talk really fast and don’t pronounce most of their words haha. Elder Florentino said that I should have it down within the next couple of months though. 

When I first got here to the apt, I saw that there wasn’t any soap. I just assumed that soap in spanish would be “sopa” so I kept asking Elder Florentino for “sopa”. When we were out in the streets we stopped by a little shop and I was like “tiene sopa? Necesito sopa para lavar mis manos.”. Long story short, apparently sopa is soup, not soap, so I’m not surprised that nobody knew what I was saying when I was asking for soup for my hands. 

The Culture

The culture is super cool here. The driving is absolutely insane though. I can’t even describe it. I’m surprised I haven’t seen anybody die yet. We’ll be walking and then a family of five all on one scooter will zoom past us and it’s a little concerning. There’ll be two lanes in the road but to the Dominicans that means that there’s 3½ lanes. And then the motorcyclists just kinda go wherever they want. Even if it’s going against traffic. And my seatbelt didn’t even fit when we were driving the other day so I was just praying the whole time that we didn’t hit or get hit by anything. But it’s all really neat and I love it.

The People

The people here are incredible. They are all super friendly and bacano. They do kinda look like they want to eat me though. My first night I went out visiting some people with two elders from the office and they told me to walk in between them so nobody came and robbed me. They also made me give them all the valuables I had in my pocket just in case I got kidnapped or something I guess…? Maybe they were just joking idk. But everyone is really friendly. I got to play some songs on my ukulele for this one guy who is blind and he loved it. 

The Food

From what I’ve been able to try, the dominican food is really good. Hermana Bretòn cooked breakfast for us at the mission home and it was superrrrr bacano. But since then I haven’t really had the chance to eat much. My companion was confused when I tried to put time in for dinner in our schedule. It was really frustrating. He said that they don’t really eat dinner here. So that’s been a struggle and i’m trying to figure out how I’m going to survive haha. I called another american elder in my zone who’s been here a little longer and asked him about eating dinner. He was just like “welcome to the DR elder”. So yea haha. There’s not much food in our apartment either. I found a bag of milk powder though so I mixed that with some water and it was alright.

Luckily, after a few days we went to a little supermarket and I was able to get some cereal to go with my milk powder. But hopefully I can figure this out soon because I’m pretty sure I’ve already lost a couple pounds. 

Covid

There’s a mandate in the country that everyone has to wear masks outside. So we wear our masks whenever we go. But nobody else really cares. I still don’t really know what the covid rules are exactly, but from what I do know, we aren’t allowed to approach people and share the gospel, but if they start talking to us, we can talk to them. So that’s been interesting to work with. And from what I know we’re allowed to visit people in person. So most of our day is just spent walking to peoples houses. Honestly I don’t really know what’s going on. I’m just following Elder Florentino and trying to figure it out as I go. 

The Area

My area is called Navarrete. It is kinda close to Santiago. Like about 20 minutes west. When the office Elders found out I was going to Navarrete they told me that I was going to die por medio del calor. They said it’s hot for dominicans and they are built for heat. And our first night en Santiago I was like “hace mucho calor” and they were like “elderrr tu vas a morir en Navarrete”. And yea it’s super hot here. I’m sweating constantly. Even in the shower. And it’s cold water. But it’s really fun. I really love it. 

El barrio is bastante grande. I was really shocked to see how many miembros estaban a la capilla ayer. We cover one ward and one branch. The branch is outside of Navarette. Then there’s two other elders who cover the other ward in Navarette. It’s been pretty cool meeting miembros on the other side of the globe who carry the same light of the gospel y saben que es verdadera with the same certainty. We were out visiting people and ran into this couple. I knew right away that they had to be members. You could just see the light in their eyes. And they were. The members here have a lot of faith. I’m really loving it. 

Another big change has been walking everywhere. I really took advantage of the US. but it’s honestly pretty fun. I just get really tired. 

Our apartment is pretty cool. It’s really big and bulky. It’s all concrete walls and stuff. Pretty cool. There’s also no air conditioning. Which isn’t great when it’s as hot as it is. Our key to survival is a fan that we have but last night we accidentally broke it. Hahaaaa

This mission is very very different from what I’m used to. I love it, but it’s just very different. I’m very used to a daily schedule and rules to go by and stuff, but here (as of right now) it’s all kind of up in the air. I’m not really sure about any mission policies so I’m just trying to be obedient to the ones from Missouri. It’s just not very organized. So I really don’t know who we’re all teaching and where they live and what they’ve been taught because the records aren’t really kept.

The past couple days I was able to get some stuff organized with a few of our friends we’re teaching but overall it’s still really difficult. It’s all in Elder Florentino’s head haha so I’m gradually figuring it out and then putting stuff in our area book. There is a lot of work that needs to happen but I know that as I keep doing my best it will all work out. 

como solucionar cualquier problema

Spiritual thought for you - 

There are two things that I’ve found thus far in my life that have solved every problem I’ve had without fail. Time and faithfulness. 

Being stretched to become more patient is what God does to us. It’s not very fun, but it’s good. We always want answers right then but God always seems to have a different plan in mind. It takes time to understand, and if we give any problem enough time, it works out. But only if we give it time combined with faithfulness. 

Throughout the scriptures, God tells us “keep my commandments, and ye shall prosper”. If we don’t keep God’s commandments, we aren’t on the path that leads to the most happiness. We need to always be faithful to the gospel and things will work out. 

With every problem I’ve faced, as I’ve given it time and good decision making, it has always worked out. So I guess my spiritual thought for you guys would be to wait patiently on the Lord with whatever you’re dealing with, and to keep the commandments. Then everything will work out. 

Los amo muchísimo. Por favor continúen orando por mi. Siento muy feliz para ser aqui pero tambien estoy muy cansando. Me encantaría tener más ayuda del señor. 

No vemo bacanos <3

-Elder Wride

Week 50

Hey guys! It’s Elder Wride here for another update. 

Overall, this week was pretty tough. We’ve all been pretty depressed. But it’s all good because we’re learning a lot. There was so much that happened that I’d like to tell you but I have like zero time today so it’s gonna be brief. 

Elder Pugsley’s Nightmare

I thought this was funny. So the other night we were all laying in our beds asleep. Suddenly Elder Pugsley woke up, and according to him, he said he thought he saw me standing above him ready to attack. So he karate chopped the air to scare me away. But nobody was there. I think we’ve been together too long haha.

Baptisms

We got to do baptisms for the dead this week which was way fun. The last time I did baptisms was in March of 2020 with Elder Pugsley. So it was cool for us to go again and baptize each other as missionaries. I love going to the temple so much. 

Missionary Work

So this week was really hard because a lot of our friends that have been progressing so well are starting to fall away. Jennifer in particular is really struggling. The week started off well though. We taught her the Plan of Salvation this week and she started crying with joy when we told her that there isn’t just heaven and hell, but that God has provided a plan for all of His children to have the chance to accept His gospel and be put in a place where they will be comfortable. We told her how God loves all of His children and would not send someone off to burn in hell for all of eternity just because they didn’t have the chance to hear the gospel in their lifetime. 

But the adversary has really been working on her and at the end of this week she’s just been struggling a lot and doesn’t know if she can go forward with it all, even though she knows it’s true. Please keep her in your prayers. 

Our friends Sean and Johnathon are doing great. We had a lesson with them yesterday that kinda blew everyone’s minds. The spirit was very strong. We invited everyone in the room to be baptized and they said they would if they get a testimony of the Gospel. Now we just need to help them get their testimony. So we talked about the Book of Mormon and they are all committed to come to church and read. 

So we learned a lot this week. One memorable thing came while I was listening to a song recorded by MoTab. It’s from the movie “Prince of Egypt” and is called “Through Heaven’s Eyes”. I was feeling pretty down that night. I just wanted to disappear. But the lyrics to this song really got me. You guys should go listen to it.

But yea I love you guys! Hope you have a great week. 

• Elder Wride

pretty exciting week

Hey guys! This week was pretty great actually. Me Elder Pugsley and Elder Hess are having a good time here. I’ve really lucked out with all my companions. 

Old Lady

So we went to this rest home again and played piano for the people there. It’s a lot of fun! This one old lady came up and started talking to me and Elder Hess a lot while Elder Pugsley was playing piano. She started trying to hold my hand and stuff and tried to dance with me haha. Then she asked me and Elder Hess if we had girlfriends. The answer should have been no, but we said yes out of fear. Then she was like “alright I gotta go. Bye” and left.

More Priesthood power

We had some other cool priesthood experiences this week. One member has had some really bad back pains. We gave him a blessing and when we saw him the next week he said that his back was fine the next morning. Pretty neat!

We had another member who was going into a surgery that was supposed to be pretty serious. All of her family and the doctors were telling her she shouldn’t do it because there was good chance she would die during it. But she decided to go through with it anyway, only after getting a priesthood blessing. We blessed her that her body would be able to be strong during the surgery and that it would work out. It was a bit nerve racking to hear those words when everything else was saying otherwise. But it worked out! She got through the surgery okay. 

Church!

The biggest miracle of the week was that we had four of our friends come to church in person this week! Mark, Chuck, Heavanah, and Jennifer. Jennifer is still good for her baptismal date. During the entire church service she was crying. Especially during the sacrament. It’s so fulfilling as a missionary to see someone feel the joy that comes from living the gospel. 

And it was so great to see our friend Heavanah at church!! We’ve had someone ready to give her a ride the past two weeks but when we show up at 8:30 in the morning she never comes to the door. So during one of our lessons this week we asked what we could do to help her wake up. She mentioned that the window on the west side of the house is where her bed is. So we were like “if you don’t come to the door again on Sunday morning, can we come to the window and blow our bike horn?”. 

Flashback - a couple weeks ago we were doing service at this place and Elder Pugsley found a bike horn thing and kept scaring me with it. So I bought it and we’ve been using it to scare each other when we least expect it. So we thought it would be a perfect incentive to help Heavanah wake up on time for church. 

Anyways, Sunday came, and before we could even knock she texted us saying that she was ready. We talked to her a little more later and she said that the fear of the horn going off is what got her up. Pretty good stuff!

But yea church was so great. Me and Elder Pugsley both gave talks and it was just super fulfilling to see all of these friends we’ve been working with there together. I’m going to miss Litchfield.

Elder Christofferson
Yesterday we had a devotional with Elder D. Todd Christofferson and our mission. It was great. Especially since he used to live in my home ward. He is really an apostle of the Lord. I remember in elementary school after I had sprained my foot and was walking home on crutches, he was outside of his house on the phone. When he saw me walking he told the person he was talking to to hang on for a sec and then he asked me how I was doing. It was forever ago but I still remember that.

One of the things he said last night that really hit me was about the people we teach. He said “they may not be baptized, but they can at least know that your message is true”.

I loved that so much. I’ve seen this pattern several times on my mission where we teach someone and I know that they know the message we’re sharing is true. The spirit touches these people and they start to change their lives through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Then, after so many spiritual moments and the confirmation of the spirit telling them that this is the path God wants them to take, they choose to walk away from it all. It absolutely breaks my heart. But at least they know that what I taught them is true!

There was another cool story Elder Christofferson shared about a returned missionary. Following his mission, he gradually stopped doing things like reading his scriptures daily, going to church, praying, etc., and eventually he was filled with doubts about the church and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He went to his former mission president (Apostle M. Russel Ballard) with a list of questions that he wanted answers too. Elder Ballard said-

“When was the last time you read the Book of Mormon? When was the last time you went to church? When was the last time that you prayed? I want you to come back into my office in two weeks. I will have answers to all of your questions, but I want you to read from the Book of Mormon every day until then.”

So the returned missionary came back two weeks later after having studied from the Book of Mormon every day. Elder Ballard had answers to his questions and was ready to talk about them, but the guy said “just forget about all of those questions. They don’t matter.”. He had gotten his testimony back.

Just another cool testament of the power of the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It is true! 

So that’s basically it for this week! I hope you’re all doing wonderfully and are having good lives. Love and miss you all. Never hesitate to email me if you’re bored

See ya!

- Elder Wride