26 December 2016 - Quisqueya (San Pedro de Macoris)

(General e-mail)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO......ME!!! Yay!! 22 I mean 21 years old! ;) To celebrate, I did nothing! Cus Pday is alot shorter than it seems and we life out in the fields. Christmas was about the same. Just another day in the mission field. We only had 9 people in church today which was a little sad, but Im sure next year itll be better. I sent some pictures of our little branches chapel as well.

Lets see. This week was full of complete normalness except for a few christmas themed things we did during the week like randomly breaking out into song on the public bus and going to the capitol for the mission christmas activity. This weekend we also learned a fun new game called "Dodge the drunk motorcyclist and/or help him up when he crashes". Very exciting but not recomended for all (or any) ages.

Well this week we finally put a baptismal date! A young man named Yoel. We contacted him in his neighbors house and while he seems like kind of a bumb and hoodlum, hes pretty cool. He accepted the Restoration and even read in the pamphlet the first time! Thats very unusual for those of you who dont know. He especially liked how we didnt just tell him to convert and try to obligate him like all the other churches do, but that we focus more on prayer and his own conversion and decision to follow God.

Weve also been knocking on alot more doors, talking to people in the street and asking for references from everyone. Thats the missions big focus right now. Talk with everyone and ask for references. Its exciting to see the growth, not just of the work, but of all the missionaries as well.

Life is good for me here! Just sweatin away, workin my tail off! Love you all! Sorry this is a little short, but like normal I dont have alot of time.

Christmas!

My "Chapel"

12 December 2016 - Quisqueya (San Pedro de Macoris)

(Response to Dad's e-mail, in which he shared some insights from studying Ether 12--overcoming weakness.)

Pops! Man I have some stories from this week, but they won't be in the weekly letter. ;) So really fast, I just got back from the dentist and we just drilled a really deep cavity. The dentist says I might have to have a root canal...so...thats fun. Apparently I've had that cavity in there for like 2 years. The first, temporary filling cost about 20 bucks and the second costs more. Also she wants to make me a new grind guard and that costs over 100 dollars. Apparently the temporal ones are only for like emergency, dont provide the necessary protection and can actually damage the placement of your teeth.

So whats been happening is that I clench my teeth REALLY hard when I sleep and that has cracked or worn away the enamel on alot of my teeth making them really susceptible to cavities. The mission doesnt cover any of that so...:D 😁 Love you!!

For the call, President says I can call whenever I want. Im plannin on calling at about 7 my time. It depends because in my new area there is only one member who has wifi and a computer, and they also have a missionary who they need to call, so I have to work out the schedule with them. Theyre also not super happy with me right now so we'll see.

Ok. Thanks for the insight and the study. I've been noticing my weaknesses for a while now. We used an example with the some missionaries a while back that the close we come the The Lord, the more light shines on us, and the more light we receive the easier it is to see the darkness we have inside.

Love you Dad! I'll put some more details in the big letter.

(Post script.)

Oh, and dad. Apparently I might have to get a root canal...Prayers? Thanks!

(Response to Dad's other e-mail talking about the snow storms we had last week. Also talking about photos of the house and Christmas decorations.)

Yeah, I would wait on those photos until the call. Send me them then. haha Also, Have your email open on that day so that I can just email you and we dont have to be waiting upon one another with communication.

(General e-mail.)

Okey so this week was pretty whacko. It started off normal with the transfer and stuff. I got to my new area which is SUPER campo (rural), unpacked and went to work. Here in quisqueya (keess-keh-yuh) we are the branch secretaries because there are next to no active men. Also, the branch president only comes to church like once a month because of his work...so thats fun. My area in general is like city in the middle, but the further out you go, the more cows, goats and pigs you see. The other day we were in a lesson and a guy drove his herd of oxen right next to us. It was pretty swell. Then on Friday night we had a special transfer. My comp, Elder Carlos, got sent home to Brazil for some mental health issues. As a result, I spent a few days in the capital, camped out with the assistants. That was pretty fun though. They both are really good friends of mine and we did lots of fun harmonizing during our hours of car rides.

Now, Im with a mini missionary named Hermano Cenot. He's haitian, and super cool. He's already been a mini missionary for 5 months and knows alot. Apart from that, not alot happened. The time with the assistants kind of devoured our week so I didn't get to work in my area much. We have alot of really old investigators who dont want to be baptized who we're thinking of dropping cus they dont really progress. Apart from them we dont have alot and are practically starting form nothing. Love you all! If I think of anything else before I leave Ill send it.

Bishop's birthday party:

Burning my pants. It happened. Just move on.

Zone conference:

5 December 2016 - San Pedro de Macoris

(Response to Dad's e-mail, in which he talked about an wonderful Thanksgiving Day family get-together and asked about the Christmas phone call; also Dad is teaching Ether in Sunday School.)

Wow! Well thats pretty swell. So for "The Call" to start, I think I could do it later, maybe at like 6 my time, but I dont really know anything cus I´m going to a new area and I don´t know what members have computers we can use so...Ill keep you updated! Still no package, but Im sure Itll get here all right. I also sent you guys a package like almost a month ago...not sure if it went through....oh well.

Gah! I love Ether! So many awesome things and cool doctrine. I love the example of exemplary and unmatched faith that Ether shows and the lessons it teaches us. Super awesome. Also kind of scary to think of the curses that might be in store for our dear Promised land.

This weeks letter will have many more details, so now worries. Thanks! LOVE YOU!!

(General e-mail)

Ok! So! Today I actually have time to write and I actually have alot to say! Sorry the last few weeks have been pretty void of info, but this letter will be rich full of details. So...where to start....

Well the coolest part of this week was our Zone Conference/Mission Tour with Elder Claudio Zivic. He is the first councilor in the area presidency and us Zone Leaders spent almost 2 days with him. First he came to our Leadership council to talk about the needs and feats of our zone. Amazing! He showed us the comparison of last year to this year in regard to baptisms. Last year, in one month we normally got about 30-40, now its normal to have 150-180! The Lord is greatly blessing us! He also gave us some tips about how to help members and be true instruments of The Lord. We were all given a copy of an amazing messge about purifying and sanctifying ourselves. Truly leaving the world behind and only focusing on the things of The Lord.

I was also asked to direct the meeting! There were like 4 or 5 zones there, Pres. and sister Corbitt, Elder and Sister Zivic...woo! I was almost trembling.

Apart from that, Transfers! Im finally leaving Las Americas! I´ve been in this stake for 9 months!! Now I´m headed off to San Pedro to be whats called a Super Zone Leader. Pretty much all I do is train the Zone Leaders and advise them in how to be better. I dont have to receive calls or take down numbers or worry about counseling companionships or anything. Not that I don´t like doing that, but Itll be nice to be able to work in the area book and write in my journal again.

As far as the work itself goes, we have been contacting a ton! We also received some great references and complete families that can all be baptized this month. Alot of them were actually planning on going to church, but then it started raining....exactly at 2:40 (our church starts at 3)....so nobody came. That was slightly discouraging, but the work continues.

I think thats about everything. My new area is a branch in a district and apparently its pretty campo (rural) so Itll be a fun experience.

Love you all! Thanks for your help and sacrifice in getting my college stuff figured out and for all your prayers and love. Bye!

29 November 2016 - La Llave (Santo Domingo)

OOOOOOOOOOK! So weekly letter, super fast! (alot of stuff I had to do. Sorry everyone) So this week was super crazy, full of the kind of experiences Ill tell Mom about after the mission (oops).

So first off, it rained ALL WEEK. Im not exaggerating. All day, every single day, it rained. Apparently there was a hurricane passing a bit further south and we got winged. So that was fun. All the members were freaking out saying we´re going to get the flu for even allowing water from the polluted sky to even touch our heads. Haven´t even had a stuffy nose. Silly dominicans.

Yesterday we did a gnarly service project, shoveling out bucketfulls of mud. I got super dirty. Ill try to send the photos next week. The good news is that the Lady that the service was for went to our baptism that night and now has a baptismal date! She was kind of a miracle to begin with. youll have to remind me to tell you her story next week.

Christmas is coming everyone! Im going to call at about 3 in the afternoon our time. Who should I call? so that we dont have the normal cloud of confusion and last minute scrambling.

Love you all! Sorry that this letter is also short!

22 November 2016 - La Llave (Santo Domingo)

(General e-mail, which is very short this week, but at least we get pictures.)

No big letter this week because of college applications, but love you all!!

Halloween!

Service!

Service day!

Elder Beard and I. haha
Beach White night.  I got better photos on a disk...

14 November 2016 - La Llave (Santo Domingo)

(Response to Dad's e-mail, in which he gave some advice about finding through less-active members, but admitted he was "preaching to the choir"; shared that many people are rioting since the election; and that the world is experiencing many earthquakes.)

Definately to the choir. haha But, our area presidency doesnt want us working much this less actives. Only to find new people to teach. So Dad....Did you have a different white handbook as a missionary? :P Now as im thinking back on missionary movies and things that Ive seen, they dont keep like any of the rules. hahaha

Yeah. Belive me, we heard Trump won. The whole country has been asking me if I wanted trump. I just tell them I was indifferent. Thats crazy about all these earthquakes. The prophecies must be fulfilling themselves! Its exciting but scary at the same time. We actually had a mini tremor the other day. Love you Dad! Thanks for the tips and your prayers!

(General e-mail)

Ooookey. So I dont have alot of time today but I will try to put in the most important parts.

So this was a week of lots of contacts and rain. We have found some really great people and some just really...really........really ignorant ones. Like...wow. haha But theyre loved children of God! hahaha On sunday we left with our bishop who is a totaly beast and he showed us a whole bunch of less actives so we´re gonna be working a bit more with them to get some references comin.

I also have to start doing college stuff! Thats weird!

My companion and I are getting along swimmingly and working hard.

I will put in more details (and photos) next week! Love you all!!!

 

PS Family! Who do I have for christmas...? I actually know how to send packages now, but they might be a little late.

Okey, I have like 2 seconds so ill write more. We also had tons of meetings this week and I finally got my first pair of shoes resoled! Hopefully theyll last me these 6 months. Okey! Bye!

Oh, and Dad. I need a favor. So I need to start thinking about college. Im thinking of going to USU for the first year, then switching to BYU. All of that depends however if I still have my 1000 dollar scholarship to USU. Do you think you could get me signed up for like the fall/winter semester? My A number and password are on my ipod. Or, you can send me the info I need and I can do it next week. Thanks!

7 November 2016 - La Llave (Santo Domingo)

(Response to Dad's e-mail)

Well I actually just wrote you an awesome letter, but my interenet crashed and it was erased. It said something like, Love you Dad and Im really proud of you and all the work youre doing. Exciting stuff and count me in for the reunion. Love you!!

(General e-mail)

Well I still dont have photos becuase i forgot my camera cord...so...Not alot to report on this week unfortunately. We put 2 baptismal dates (finally) with some old investigators. The first is a little sister of a recent convert. Her name is Franyelis. The others name is Roger. He is the last member of his family who isnt a member, but alot of his family are inactive. bumbs. He has to get married and actually start progressing, but he´s always excited to talk with us.

In other news, I hit 17 months. So...thats weird. I dont feel old, but I am...bizarre.

Things are great in the work, even if we are seeing a TON of opposition. SO many dates fell last month. We had over 500 as a mission, but had a very low baptism number. We are also seeing more companionship problems and disobedience. We´re working with the missionaries to recognize the source of all this stuff, but its still hard.

Apart from that everything is cool though. Our ward is awesome! Definately the best ward Ive had in my mission, even if our area is tiny. Like seriously. Our area takes up a whopping 2 STREETS. Yeah. I can walk my whole area in like an hour, maybe a little more.

We had ward council last night and that was swell. We now don´t have a ward mission leader cus ours got released. He suddenly got super lazy and was always late and etc, so Bishop let him go. Now we just have the assistent who is way cooler.

Don´t really have anyother news. Life is good. Lovin every second and hope you all do too!! Paz Afuera [transliteration of "peace out"].

31 October 2016 - La Llave (Santo Domingo)

(General e-mail)

Everybody Scream! Everybody scream!!

Huey! Family and friends! Keloke? So today is halloween! How fun! To celebrate we took a trip down to the capitol to eat mexican food and ice cream. I would love to send you pictures but this stupid computer won´t recognize my camera. Oh well.

So this week was...well...kind of meh. It started out all chillin chillin in the new area, contacting, meeting the bishop and fun times, but then thursday night I got sick! Woo! I spent all of Friday and Saturday in bed. So fun. I watched so many church movies. We even found an old one the recounts the entire Old testament (at least the most important parts). That took a while and my companion and I were snoozin by the end.

As for people we´re teaching...well...we´re pretty much starting from scratch because we got the short end of the stick as far as areas go. We contacted several interesting people though, so here are some stories!

Esmeralda is a lady who lives with her "man" and 4 daughters (all above the age of baptism. ;)). We contacted them and returned a few days later to teach the Restoration. When we asked her if she had read the pamphlet she said "Just one small page." For those of you who dont know investigator lingo, that means no. I shrugged and started to ask her about what she had learned.

"What is the pamphlet about?" I asked.

"Oh...about Jesus." She vaguely replied. At this point I´m pretty positive she didnt read. "Oh, and how he called apostoles (Psshhh. didnt read), and.....how three of them appeared to Joseph Smith the prophet to confer the priesthood."

WHOA WHOA WHOA!! What?? So apparently she had read like the whole thing and remembered it. So we did a review to reinforce some points and she was takin notes the whole time. We did have a brief bicker about if its ok to baptize in salt water (just a silly question really). Anyway. Good Lesson. We´re going to but a baptismal date this week.

Ramon is a swell chap who we contacted. He´s an older gentleman who invited us in at once and spilled his whole life story on us. He even started crying right there with us. Apparently a few years ago he lost his wife and now his kids aren´t very fond of him. So, we talked briefly about how the gospel can bless the family, the power of the atonement and forever families.

We also met this young guy named wilkin. He´s got a big dent in his head cus he got stoned! He was on his way home from school and got jumped by some tigs (teegs, like street thugs). One of them knocked him down and the other one drilled his head (not literally, he just threw really hard) with a rock. Wilkin woke up in the hospital with absolutely no pain. 2 days later, we showed up!

Anyway. Good times. Love you all! Have a happy halloween!!

26 October 2016 - La Llave (Santo Domingo)

(Response to Dad's e-mail, in which he shared several amazing stories about the importance of working hard both through members AND in your own efforts to find all the Lord's children who are waiting to hear the gospel, and that Dad fell asleep while watching a filtered version of X-Men Apocalypse.)

Wow. Thanks Dad. Thats actually like a really inspiring story. Thats actually something I´ve been having problems with is talking with everyone. It just feels so awkward on the bus...it doesnt matter though. With contacting Im still not a huge fan just because the members are the full time searchers and we are the full time teachers. The only contacts I´ve baptized already had member friends and were inveloped imediatetly into the church as a result. In my new area though, we have almost no investigators so we´ll be doing alot of door shouting, but also member visits to win their trust and ask for references. Do you have any suggestions to help us out? Right now we´re studying in PMG about how to find new people and also putting together a lesson plan to use with members to help them seek personal revelation in which of their friends is being prepared to recieve the gospel.

Dad, why does it not even surprise me that you fell asleep during that movie? hahahaha sounds like an awesome time. Love you dad! Have a great week and thank you for your prayers!

(General e-mail)

Remember when I told yalls that my area was conspiring against me? well tis true!! EVERY monday the power doesnt come until about 5:30pm so we never have time to write. Except this last monday that happened in the whole zone!! Nobody wrote. Now, I know what youre all thinking. Why on earth am I writing on wednesday?! Well thats easy, tuesday was transfers! Everything was crazy! I left La Caleta and now im in La Llave with Elder Lanzas. I spent monday night in a double Family home evening with Sandra (my convert) and her family and also the Collado family. Brother Collado is pretty much my second dad. He´s just such an amazing man and stands out in stark contrast to the other dominican men. I almost cried saying goodbye, but the Lord Needed me elsewhere.

On the upside my new companion is awesome! He´s from Panama and only has 7 months in the mission, but he´s already a Zone Leader. Super awesome guy, and way funny too. Our area is a bit rough, but the members are awesome. Our bishop is amazing. Every sunday he´s gives a fat boche (like a very stern talking too. Telling someone off) about mission work and how the members need to be more involved. He´s a bit stern sometimes, but all I hear are good things

The house....is....well...terrible. It used to be awesome. Its big, and on a third floor. Its gets plenty of breeze and even has a meh view. The problem is that is has just been abandoned by the owner (even though he lives right below it) We NEVER have water. Like never. We have one 5 gallon bucket to shower, use the toilet, wash the dishes etc. Needles to say, the house is pretty dirty as we´re not able to wash anything.

And the missionaries in the house are another story all together. One, Ive heard stories of since the beginning of my mission. He likes to play with knives and stare at his companions while the sleep. He´s kinda creepy and rather close mouthed. The other (two different companionships) has crazy bipolarism and tends to scream at his companion in public. He also is fond of sneaking into your room very early in the morning and snuggling with ya. Its a rather interesting situation. Needless to say, we lock our door at night.

I dont have tons of time left, but the White Night was a bit of a disaster. The stake presidency planned it very poorly and the busses came super late. What was supposed to start on the beach at 4, instead started at about 6:30. We were baptizing my moonlight and phone screens. The photographer still got some cool photos though. Ill try to send pics next week. Love you all! Bye!

17 October 2016 - Las Américas/La Caleta (Santo Domingo)

(Response to Dad's e-mail)

To answer your curious questions...

There are 14 missionaries in the zone with three districts (the wards). My comp is more of a special assignment and the other Zone leader is in my old area Boca Chica (its on your apron map). We get up at 6:30, but if I get to bed before 11 its pretty weird. Doin paper work and calls. We do one hour of Language study every day and I just read church manuals or teachings of the prophets in spanish. Right now Im reading the manual for the Pearl of great price. ITs fascinating!

Thats awesome that Ian is gonna work with you guys! I could like...write pamphlets...or biographies? haha Whatever. Glad youre feeling better, and although it brings me a chuckle, remember an email I wrote you a year ago. After conference we talked about a talk given by Elder Hale (I think) and I told you about age and patience and stuff. I also read a talk that explains the purpose of aging, that as our body gets weaker, our spirit has less inhibitions and can take more control of our actions. Most of our big decisions in life have already passed so now, in the more advanced years, we just need to grow and learn to become more like Christ! ;) Love you Dad! Hope you have a great week!

(General e-mail)

Time keeps on slippin slippin,

Into the future....

Friends! Family! Another week has passed! So this week was pretty routine. We're working with our baptismal dates so they can all get baptized on saturday. More than a few have fallen and some others need some divine intervention, but we have faith. We had some pretty swell lessons and also went on divisions [exchanges] with people....ummm. Im trying so hard to think of details to tell you guys, but this week just FLEW by. Way too fast. Lets see

Well we're supposed to be gettin vaccines this thursday, but theyre optional! HA! Take that system!

To increase Zone Unity we've been doing a nightly zone prayer and asking the gente [people] to pray for specific investigators from specific areas.

Transfers are comin up! I think i'm leavin, but we'll see.

As for the upcoming white night, It looks like about 60 people will be baptized. A little less than we were hoping, but thats still ALOT of people. If anyone wants to check out the beach, just look up Boca Chica Beach. Fair warning, Im not sure what might pop up knowing this country, but oh well.

In my personal life...not much. My companion and I are fine even if he drives me a little nuts sometimes. If any of you have seen Drake and Josh you might remember an episode where Drake blows all his emergency money on stupid stuff including a mexican robot that just says "Por favor?". Thats pretty much my comp. The robot I mean. He has a preset number of programmed phrases that he just repeats over and over and over. Love him though! Treasured son of God!

I'm also eating a bit healthier. We threw a tomatoe into our daily diet. Woo.

So today Elder Beard and I went up to El Conde to go through the first catholic church again, which was really cool. Hadn't been there since my training.

Grr....more facts! (grunts from exertion as face goes purple)

Ah! Fun side fact! The 2nd councilor from our Stake Presidency stopped by our ward yesterday and just ROASTED all the local leaders for not doing their jobs (they really arent). So that was fun, kinda sad and scary, but it brings hope.

Love you all!

I remembered something else! Today I got a random email from the two missionaries that are serving in my Utah stake.  They asked me for references and I had to laugh because I was kind of a hermit before the mission! haha I didnt talk to ANYONE! Sorry friends, can't help ya there.

10 October 2016 - Las Américas/La Caleta (Santo Domingo)

(Response to Dad's e-mail, in which he shared that our baby is due in about five weeks, I participated in his ward's golf tournament, Miley Cyrus and Alicia Keys are judges on The Voice, Chiara (a recent convert and friend from Italy) is visiting in Utah, the elections are looming, etc.)

Dah! The baby! I remember when Dave sent me the picture of the...the...sonograph? Sonogram? The thing where you see inside the womb. My english is failing me. Count me in for next golf tournament (if I´m anywhere near there and not crazy busy). Miley Cyrus as a judge????? ARE YOU KIDDING ME????? Gah!! What is the world coming to?!?!?! She cant even sing super well. Not like any of the the other super stars we´ve had. Alicia is pretty good, but Hannah montana? Really? Thats really awesome about Chiara though. What an amazing experience.

Elections. Sigh. Im not sure I even want to know. Can Christ just come now? I was just reading yesterday in the teachings of Joseph F Smith about he prayed for the end of the world and described how awesome it would be etc. Nothing really big this week unfortunately, just 9 people in church and 28 new investigators. Typical Frogley, blessed missionary work.

Love you Dad! Thanks for being such an amazing example in my life and teaching me how to work and love a spouse respect people and help and shave and all that good stuff. (yes that was quite a horrid run on sentence. Oh well. ;))

(General e-mail)

Subject: Here I am! Rock you like a....

Not like a hurricane. For all of you that let loose a little cry of terror upon hearing of Hurricane Matthew, your prayers were answered, and nothing happened. Thats right, just enough rain to partially destroy my second pair of shoes. Woot.

Thank you Elder Frogley for that weather report, now in recent news...

nothing much really. Well, aside from finding a whole bunch of little kids who can get baptized in the white night, but aside from that... Ha! Yeah, so we started this week with 1 baptismal date, then it shot up to 12, and now has rested down on 9. Almost all of these are for the white night. A few stories.

First off, I hate contacting, or tracting as you might say. Its very inefficient. However, it does give the Lord chances to bring the prepared people to us and visa versa. So here we go, shouting doors and handin out pamphlets close to our house. We shout in one door and this teenage girl comes out dressed a little less than modest (here thats called a chapeadora) . She instantly invited us in, but we very politley refused and offered to come back another day when her parents were home and we could bring a member with us. She agreed and we left, rather hurriedly. We went back with Hmno ["Hermano", or Brother] Collado with truly low hopes. We shouted in the door and met the young girls mom. We entered and sat ourselves down to wait. Out comes the teenage Chapeadora, dressed worst than before. We told here that we´d like to share with the whole family if possible and she agreed. She called her parents and little brothers in and they all sat down and we shared the restoration. What we thought was going to be a waste of time turned out to be a really great lesson! The all accepted to be baptized, but don´t yet have a baptismal date.

Other contact we did was this reeeeeally fat kid named David william, well, at least his family. He wasn´t there. As we walked down their street, the dad randomly started calling us over. "Elder! Elder! Finally, You guys havent been here in forever!"

A little perplexed my comp and I approached and met the dad and his 8 year old son. Apparently, David William, who wasnt there, had been taught by missionaries before, who then got transfered and David was lost in the transition. He´s been to church quite a few times and had actually met the missionaries again when he was out visiting his grandman in another city, one of which was my step dad, Elder maatatia. Small world. When we went back a different day to meet David, he was all ready to go, pamphlet in hand. Now he´s getting baptized on the 22nd. His parents are down even if his Mom is super Catholic.

Also, Ruth´s mom went to church and said she really liked it. Last night we went to visit our first councilor because we literally had nothing to do and he gave us a reference of an old investigator named Francisco. He´d dropped the missionaries because he wasn´t ready to make changes in his life. Then he almost died from some weird disease, infection thing in his leg and has decided to put God first.

Etc. Etc.

Lots of kids and a few adults and a family. The Lord Does his work ladies and gentlemen. we´re counting down to the white night and are all very excited.

Also, for those of you who this would interest, Quincy Berry just left for her mission in Spain! and I saw Alec from MC in the Missionary choir during the Saturday session! Pretty cool beans!

 Appreciate you prayers and support! Love you all!

-Elder Frogley

4 October 2016 - Las Américas/La Caleta (Santo Domingo)

(Response to Dad's e-mail, much of which mentioned General Conference.)

Thanks Dad! Oh yeah, we bummed out for ALL of conference. We bought chips, salsa, cheese dip, cookies etc. Took lots of notes. It was sweet! I loved Elder Hollands talk in priesthood session because the HUGE challenge here is that NO ONE does their home teaching. Thus, we have like 700 less actives in my ward. Anyway, we´re weathering a hurricane right now (super lame. Really wet. Not exciting), but aside from that, nothing new. Ill throw some more details in the big letter. Love ya!

(General e-mail)

Yet another Tuesday letter, but this time is different. We actually switched our Pday to tuesday to go see The Faro Colon, which is a really cool toursist sight. The Hurricane that is circling our little island had other plans. Alot of the big tourist places are closed including our aquariam back up plan. So we´re just goin to go eat at the Sambil super mall. Yay.

So! What happened this week? We did lots more contacts and we´re down to about 2 or 3 investigators. So the times are a little rough, especially since we´ve literally contacted almost my whole area, but we´re just getting started! 2 missionaries from our district got sent of to Puerto Rico, (They were here waiting their VISA) and we absorbed their area into ours so we have more proselyting space! Also some more people who can get baptized in our Huge White Night on the 22nd.

As of now, in the zones we have about 130 dates for the white night, but we´re shooting for over 200.

In other news, CONFERENCE!! WOO!!! Wow what a great conference, except for the fact that like none of our investigators came and so we had to drop the majority, BUT I was blessed immensely. Rut and the Urena family got confirmed and we hung out with the Elders from our neighboring areas to watch it in English! (I refuse to watch it in spanish. Its just so lame with monotone voice overs) Elder Nelson, Holland, Rasband and Renlund really impressed me. I loved all the talks and our whole group cheered when Elder Cornish was called to speak. He used to be in charge of our little corner of heaven and we were able to visit with him several times. His talk was also really awesome.

Elder Ballard´s talk made me think of all our less actives. "Where will you go?". Its so true! After having tasted the sweet truth of the restored gospel, what else is there?? Nothing. Just lame living.

What else...hmm

Im really thinkin here guys.

Well last night we went to visit Ruth and her parents with the Collado family, and it was realy great. Before Ruth´s baptism, her mom hadn´t showed alot of interesting in hearing us, but now she seems a bit more animated [enthusiastic]. After hearing the testimonies of joy, blessing and togetherness from the Collados, she said that that´s what she really wants. We left her with a BoM and we´ll see where it goes from there!

Well this letter seems a bit short, but I really cant think of anything to add! Love you all! Hope you have a great week and fear not to do good (DyC 6) [D&C 6]! PEACE!1

Baptism:

Baptism of Sandra! Completed family!

Baptism! Ruth and her family.

Baptisms! Familia Urena

Chips and Dip!

Conference Pizza!

4 October 2016 - Las Américas/La Caleta (Santo Domingo)

(Response to Dad's e-mail, much of which mentioned General Conference.)

Thanks Dad! Oh yeah, we bummed out for ALL of conference. We bought chips, salsa, cheese dip, cookies etc. Took lots of notes. It was sweet! I loved Elder Hollands talk in priesthood session because the HUGE challenge here is that NO ONE does their home teaching. Thus, we have like 700 less actives in my ward. Anyway, we´re weathering a hurricane right now (super lame. Really wet. Not exciting), but aside from that, nothing new. Ill throw some more details in the big letter. Love ya!

(General e-mail)

Yet another Tuesday letter, but this time is different. We actually switched our Pday to tuesday to go see The Faro Colon, which is a really cool toursist sight. The Hurricane that is circling our little island had other plans. Alot of the big tourist places are closed including our aquariam back up plan. So we´re just goin to go eat at the Sambil super mall. Yay.

So! What happened this week? We did lots more contacts and we´re down to about 2 or 3 investigators. So the times are a little rough, especially since we´ve literally contacted almost my whole area, but we´re just getting started! 2 missionaries from our district got sent of to Puerto Rico, (They were here waiting their VISA) and we absorbed their area into ours so we have more proselyting space! Also some more people who can get baptized in our Huge White Night on the 22nd.

As of now, in the zones we have about 130 dates for the white night, but we´re shooting for over 200.

In other news, CONFERENCE!! WOO!!! Wow what a great conference, except for the fact that like none of our investigators came and so we had to drop the majority, BUT I was blessed immensely. Rut and the Urena family got confirmed and we hung out with the Elders from our neighboring areas to watch it in English! (I refuse to watch it in spanish. Its just so lame with monotone voice overs) Elder Nelson, Holland, Rasband and Renlund really impressed me. I loved all the talks and our whole group cheered when Elder Cornish was called to speak. He used to be in charge of our little corner of heaven and we were able to visit with him several times. His talk was also really awesome.

Elder Ballard´s talk made me think of all our less actives. "Where will you go?". Its so true! After having tasted the sweet truth of the restored gospel, what else is there?? Nothing. Just lame living.

What else...hmm

Im really thinkin here guys.

Well last night we went to visit Ruth and her parents with the Collado family, and it was realy great. Before Ruth´s baptism, her mom hadn´t showed alot of interesting in hearing us, but now she seems a bit more animated [enthusiastic]. After hearing the testimonies of joy, blessing and togetherness from the Collados, she said that that´s what she really wants. We left her with a BoM and we´ll see where it goes from there!

Well this letter seems a bit short, but I really cant think of anything to add! Love you all! Hope you have a great week and fear not to do good (DyC 6) [D&C 6]! PEACE!1

Baptism:

Baptism of Sandra! Completed family!

Baptism! Ruth and her family.

Baptisms! Familia Urena

Chips and Dip!

Conference Pizza!

27 September 2016 - Las Américas/La Caleta (Santo Domingo)

(Response to Dad's e-mail, in which Dad shared that he'll be watching the presidential debate and isn't exactly thrilled about the candidates, as well as home-made Italian for dinner with Ian and a former missionary.)

Well thats cool! Except for the presidency. Not excited about that. Everybody here always asks me who Im supporting and I always blow their minds when I say nobody. Ah! Food! Anyway, I will tell you about our totally awesome 4 baptisms in a sec.

(General e-mail)

Yet another tuesday letter. Sorry everyone, but my area is conspiring against me. Every monday the power leaves at exactly 6:30 and doesnt come until late at night. So...thats fun. BUT! The week!

So this week was pretty routine. Contacts, lessons, baptisms. Ya know. Missionary stuff. Wait! Yeah! Baptisms! So we baptized 4 people this weekend! The Urena family, Ruth and Sandra! All Miracles! I dont have pictures this week because I dont have my camera, but it was totally awesome. Sandra has been recieving the missionaries for over a year and just now, suddenly decided to get baptized! Ruth..well is Ruth. Shes awesome. I told you about Urena family already, but theyre awesome as well.

The baptisms were great, at Sandras we had like 100 people there! Including the Stake President! The others had alot of support as well.

Apart from that, the week was pretty normal, except for a very important announcement.

The 22nd of october, we are planning a huge White Night in Boca Chica...ON THE BEACH!! The Waters of Las Americas! We are planning on having at least 100 baptisms! The only problem is that we need a TON of baptismal dates to get a special permission to baptize on the beach.

Im out of time, but I love you all! Bye!!

19 September 2016 - Las Américas/La Caleta (Santo Domingo)

(Response to Dad's e-mail, in which he shared that we attended the 18th Semi-Annual International Book of Mormon Evidence Conference and that Dad and Ian are taking some online classes.)

Yeah, mom told me a few snippets about the conference. Thats really cool! Id love to go to some upon my return. The work goes forward as you will soon see. I really apreciate all your prayers. The blessings come. Haha yeah online classes arent the best. Even when its something interesting its just not the same without a class and a teacher. i didnt like it much when I did mine. Anyway. Love you dad! Think you could tell me how much is on my card?? I cant check and Im trying to do a budget. No coge sol! [It get's no sun... No idea.]

(General e-mail)

Dear bedraggled citizens who sure sacrifice much to be able to read this transmission,

Well this week was pretty ok. Nothing crazy. Ruth passed her Baptismal Interview and now just needs to come to church on Sunday. The Urena Family came to church again on Sunday and are totally pumped to be baptized. Their interview is tomorrow. Margot sadly didnt come as she got called off by a good friend to do a visit of some sort blah blah satan´s influence blah. She tells us she wants to though so we´ll see. Elder Rios and I have been pretty busy contacting and visiting and preparing the peeps for baptism.

As for miracles. We randomly got a reference from a member of her sister who has been to church a whole bunch and wants to get baptized on Sunday. BOOM! They live super far away and we have to like hike up through some rocks and stuff to get to their house, but its worth it! The only problem is that she got rushed off to the hospital for some crazy virus/allergy rash thing so we havent been able to visit her since. Goin up there tonight though.

This week we have a zone conference with the new area 70! So that should be cool!

Also, General Conference!! Comin up soon and the whole mission is gettin pumped! We´re inviting the entire world to come see and listen to the Lords servants.

Umm...what else....

My companion and I are gettin along just fine.The zone is looking pretty good. As of yet we have 9 baptisms with like 25 more this weekend/next week.

With good old Ruth, the only challenge is getting her to church this week, same with the Urena family. I know the enemy is gonna throw alot of obstacles in the way but "those that are with us are greater"! Wish us luck! love you all!

Paz Afuera! [Transliteration of "peace out". Literally "peace outside".]

12 September 2016 - Las Américas/La Caleta (Santo Domingo)

(Response to Dad's e-mail, in which Dad suggested "someone" should write and publish the Tommy Shoelace stories. If you don't know what those are, you don't know my family nearly well enough. Also a recent convert from Italy will be visiting Salt Lake City for conference.)

Subtle dad. Haha just have to remind me of the stories and ill write em! I wanna get rich off of some one elses ideas! hahaha Thats really cool though how tommy has survived all these years. Thats awesome about the girl from Italy! i remember you telling us that story and thinking it was amazing.

(General e-mail)

Friends and family! So yesterday we didnt have power in the city ALL DAY (#DomProbs) so we didnt have a chance to write. Thus another tuesday letter.

So this week was pretty swell if I do say so myself. Lots of spirit and several miracles. First off, Ruth is totally awesome! Her date is now for the 25th cus she cant attend church always, but still just all around awesome. She´s the youngest one in the temple photos I sent. Now its story time.

Alright, Saturday. Temple trip. So we spent saturday morning running around trying to invite people to the temple cus we had just been informed about the trip the night before. As we were walking, we pass by Isaura´s (she is the awesome young woman who´s parents sent her tons of anti mormon stuff) house and a thought comes to my head. Why not invite her? Instantly Other thoughts were like "no, she doesnt want to listen to you, her parents have her convinced, just leave her."

But, behind all that, I felt a certainty that we needed to pass by. So we went up and knocked on her door! After a few seconds the wind slots open and we start talking. As soon as we mentioned an activity, her face lit up. Then, we we mentioned temple, she just about shot out the door. Apparently she had had a really rough day and was feeling really depressed. Then, when we showed up! The Lord knows His children!

We also invited Nauri, the really pregnant wife of a less active.

We get to the temple and start walkin and talking and everything is good. We share about family history and baptisms for the dead and how its similair to Christs atonement in that his sacrifice too was a vicarious work. He took our place and now has given us the oppurtunity to give others a chance as well. President Corbitt even showed up to share a few words!

We finally answered Isauras questions which were all about as stupid as expected.

Awesome trip.

Then Sunday roles around. My comp and I didnt have much hope because we knew that both Ruth and Isaura were going to work and Nauri was going to the doctor. Sandra, the mom of some members who for some reason isnt baptized yet, showed up and that was cool, but it was toward the end of sacrament meeting that the miracle happens. My Elders Quorum president leans over to me and asks, "Hey, are you guys teaching that family?"

And Im like, "What family?"

"That family that just walked in. Right behind you."

I turn around and there, standing in the back is the Orena family!! Yalls might not remember them, but they were like the first ones that Elder Allen and I were teaching. Theyre already married and have most of the lessons, but could never come to church because the husband works from 6 at night until 6 in the morning which made 9:00 church a bit difficult. When I asked him about it though, he just said, "Weve got to make the sacrifice. God has given us everything, whatre 3 hours in comparison? I decided that when I comit to something Ive got to go all in. All in or all out and Im all in."

It was awesome. We´ve got an appointment with them at 3. Ill tell you next week when theyre gettin baptized.

Love you all! Appreciate your prayers, but also pray everyday for missionary oppurtunities so that you can share the gospel too!! Bye!!

How we eat in the DR. Who needs plates?

Temple trip!

12 September 2016 - Las Américas/La Caleta (Santo Domingo)

(Response to Dad's e-mail, in which Dad suggested "someone" should write and publish the Tommy Shoelace stories. If you don't know what those are, you don't know my family nearly well enough. Also a recent convert from Italy will be visiting Salt Lake City for conference.)

Subtle dad. Haha just have to remind me of the stories and ill write em! I wanna get rich off of some one elses ideas! hahaha Thats really cool though how tommy has survived all these years. Thats awesome about the girl from Italy! i remember you telling us that story and thinking it was amazing.

How we eat in the DR. Who needs plates?

Temple trip!

5 September 2016 - Las Américas/La Caleta (Santo Domingo)

(General e-mail)

Righteo so here we are, typing the big letter, once again on a monday.

This week was pretty...well....yeah it just kinda happened. All of our investigators kind of went to miércoles [Wednesday (used here as a substitute for a vulgar expression that sounds similar)] so Elder Rios and I have been doing alot of contacts. The only real progress we've seen is with a youth named Ruth. (really her name is pronounced Root because its in spanish, but thats just such an ugly name so I write Ruth) She was one of the first contacts we did when I was with Elder Allen. We taught her once, but then kind of dropped her right before teaching the Book of Mormon because we could never find a man to come with us. Then, a couple weeks later we were visiting a less active member who teaches an English (almost wrote Ingles. HA) Immersion (is that how you spell that in English?) class and he asked us to come upstairs and meet the students. Well we walked in and low and behold, there was Ruth. We said hello and wrote down the information for all the students and also set a follow up appointment with Ruth. We passed by her house with Hermano Collado, our second councilor and taught the Book of Mormon and left her a copy and a part to read. We also invited her to be baptized and she said yes. So we were pretty excited about that, but Im not gonna lie, my hopes werent high. I was thinkin she might just want to talk with the white boys. When we went back, she had read the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet and 2 nephi 31! I was impressed and we put a date with her for the 24th of this month. She told that she couldnt attend church though because sundays (and only sundays) she works in a hotel. We talked to her about finding a replacement and she said she would try. Sunday roled around and she didnt come. We werent surprised, but a little bumbed.

For the next few visits, she consistently read everything we left and she said she had prayed and she felt it was all true. Now very happy, we invited her a baptism from one of the other missionaries that was held last saturday. We went and she watched, fascniated. Afterward, Collado gave her a tour of the chapel. Before leaving, she comes up to me and asks, "so tell me more about the mission."

"Oh you want to serve?" I replied, jokingly. She just shrugged and said, "Well I'd like to know what it is first."

Needless to say. She's awesome. With the eye of the faith, she's already baptized and serving.

Then, on sunday we went to pass by her house to wake her up to go to church (on saturday she had promised us that she would attend). As we walked up her dusty street, she was just leaving the front door! She was not only up and ready to go, but ready to go EARLY. You have to understand that we have this thing called Dominican Standard time. When you say something starts at 9 it means everyone leaves their houses at 9 and it really starts at 10 and thats if we start early. Ruth was going early! Mind blown!! This is some one I can honestly say was prepared by the Lord to recieve the gospel. She's already made some good friends in the ward and is excited to be baptized.

Aside from that, no news. :P This week will be full of meetings and stuff, so Im not sure my next letter will be very long. If you have any specific questions, let me know! Love you all!

29 August 2016 - Las Américas/La Caleta (Santo Domingo)

(Response to Dad's e-mail, in which Dad shared a recipe for a salad he made, among other things.)

I like that last phrase dad ["You have never had nor will ever have a better boss."]. Week sounds pretty swell to me! And Ian has told me nothing! Punk. Oh believe me Dad, Bourne is already on my list (Hidden in the very back of my journal :D) Have you heard anything about the new Ben Hur movie?

Yeah, I would love to make that salad but....its really hard to find good lettuce here.

Good Luck with school! My week was ok, but youll hear all about it in a sec.

A couple things Id like to share though. So on tuesday, Elder Allen and I finished reading the 4th missionary talk. (not sure if youve read that. its amazing) So one of the final traits for the 4th missionary is that he is redeemed. Forgiven and able to forgive himself as he completely surrenders to the will of God. After the study I knelt down and Promised our Father that I would do my best to stop fighting and just let him change and use me. Since then, my [personal struggles] have been so much easier as I feel my self guided and protected by the Lord.

Other point. So today I finished mormon and started chewing through ether. I thought is was interesting that Moroni refers to the Land where the Jaredites lived, as the land where he currently was, or the land northward. He also refers to it as their land of promise and other hints and little nudges that point alot more toward North America. So thats pretty cool.

Anway, I gotta start on the big letter, but do ya like the apron? And could I get that sloppy joe recipe? Love ya Dad!

(General e-mail)

Another week has come and gone and here you are, reading my latest transmission in form of the typed word on you chosen electronic display. I hope that you dont strain your eyes while gazing ceaselessly at the screen before you.

So! This week happened! Interesting week. So first, on monday, we recieved a text saying that Elder Allen was staying with me. Then we got another message saying that he was peacing out and I was recieving a mini missionary. So, thursday morning I head off to the office to go pick up my mission visitor. After waiting for several hours, we start the "trainers meeting". Then comes the announcing of the companionships. One by one, all of them were announced....except for mine. Turns out I wasnt even getting a mini, just a normal missionary so I didnt even need to go to the office! Sigh. Also, my new comp didnt even know until about 2 that same afternoon! Yay organization.

So now Im with Elder Rios from Mexico. He´s lived in Nevada for quite a few years, but doesnt speak much english. He understands ALOT, but doesnt like to speak. He´s kind of shy and Im pretty sure its a special assignment to try and animate him as he doesnt really want to do much. The following days were rough as many important citas fell and all of our baptismal dates went down with them. Almost the whole zone followed suit and we are ending this month with a bit less than we had hoped. That just means next month will be better though!

What was supposed to be our big highlight this week was our special lesson with Isaura. Her mom had showed her a whole bunch of anti mormon stuff and she was having serious doubts and alot of questions. Thus, we planned a lesson to go and answer them, but everytime we passed by, Isaura wasnt there or said she couldnt recieve us.

We were going to have a lesson yesterday, so I called to ask if she was home. She said yes, but that she wasnt going to recieve us and that she had had enough. She was just to confused and felt that her prayers had been answered in the negative. A little panicked, I bore a quick testimony, said a quick prayer and proceeded to say whatever came into my mind. I promised her that if she started in the very beginning of the Book of Mormon (she´s been reading alot but in different parts) and both started and ended with a prayer to know if its true, that she would recieve an answer, because God fulfills his promises always. Tonight we have another lesson, so I guess Ill tell you next week when she´s getting baptized! :D Love you all!

My dying friends...

Family night with the Collado family! We made dumplings and played Jenga.

Golfing! Golf cartin'! I miss driving!

23 August 2016 - Las Américas/La Caleta (Santo Domingo)

(Response to Dad's e-mail, in which Dad talked about the booming business at the office, and pulling a muscle while playing with the grandkids, as well as teaching the war chapters in Alma for Gospel Doctrine).

Ahi mi madre. Dad, stop hurting yourself! Hahahaha Thats really cool, and Im glad to hear that things are growing. Part of why I serve! In my studies I just finished 4th Nephi. Its kind of just bumming me out to see the same patterns over and over again and always for the same cause. The gadianton combinations always sneak back in as Satan whispers his lies. I feel like, in this time, thats Hillary Clinton. The more I hear about her, and whats happening in our society, the more i see similiarities in the BOM. Actually, in my last interview with President on thursday, we talked about that. The liberal agenda, the promises and warnings of the promised land, etc. It was really cool. i feel like you guys would get along swimmingly.

Love you Dad!

(General e-mail)

Now...I know what youre all thinking. "Isnt Elder Frogleys Pday on monday??" The answer is yes, but for the past 3 weeks now weve gotten back way too late to our area and had to write the next day. AKA today! Sigamos [on we go]!

So, this week was very interesting. Margot, one of our investigators, needs to get married, but her male partner wants nothing of it, even though theyve been together for 40 years and have 5 kids together. Que tonto [what an idiot]. As a result, Margot is getting really disanimated [discouraged] and hasnt been to church in 3 weeks! Weve been trying to visit her and encourage her, but i think shes losing hope.

On a lighter note, we have this dope investigator named Isaura. Shes the reference [referral] of an Ex missionary named Omar and she is pretty awesome. She has tons of desire to learn more, but is also reserved because she was born and raised in the pentecostal church and her mom is SUPER against the church. We actually passed by last night and she told us that her mom had told her to look up an anti mormon web page. After doing so she has tons of doubts, BUT she says that if we can clear them up, shell get baptized this weekend! We invited her to read more in the BoM and pray to know if its the truth, because thats like the base of everything and she said she would. Well see in our appointment tonight.

Other investigators are droppin like flies as we sift the wheat from the chaff. Those 2 are the only notable ones for now.

So on monday, we went off to this place called Agora Mall. Its in the west mission, but we got special permission to go. i ate Carls Junior and it was AMAZING. Something thats not rice and beans or cheap Dominican pizza. While there, we also saw several missionaries from the west mission. Apparently they can go wherever in normal clothes. It kind of made us sad because it was so obvious that they didnt understand the importance of obedience and their covenants.

We went there with a whole bunch of elders who are dying [returning home] tomorrow and they were trunky as a suitcase! My comp and I just kind of followed them around, cracking jokes and admiring a whole bunch of stuff we werent going to buy. haha it was fun though.

In other news, were geting a special transfer this week because of all the early ship offs. Elder Allen is goin to Boca Chica to be with my second son Elder Valle and I am getting a mini missionary. That means someone who serves with us as a missionary, but doesnt have their calling yet. Its weird. We´ll see how it goes.

Also, on thursday we had our interviews with president. That was pretty great. President and I talked about political stuff in relation to the gospel, my BOM study, family, the zone. It was just swell.

Well thats all for now i believe!!

Love you all!!

16 August 2016 - Las Américas/La Caleta (Santo Domingo)

(Response to Dad's e-mail, in which Dad detailed a visit to Nauvoo, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa, along with a brief update on the Olympics)

Well, my letter is late! haha Again! But thats cool! I really want to visit Iowa and Nauvoo and stuff when I get back. Especially now Ive studied more about JS and church history. I still have planned to get sealed in my Nauvoo temple. ;) Thanks for the update! I miss the olympics. Ive seen snippets in restaurants and stuff, but I really try not to watch.

I also really wanted to thank you for your special letter last week. Id kind of fallen into a state of mind that after the mission it would so much easier to [maintain the same level of spirituality]. That was kind of a call back to earth, to remind me that its a life long fight.

Love you Dad! Big letter on the way! No photos this week, but next week. ive got a lot of golfing! Also, Im gonna try not to use my personal card for a while. Golfing with all the food Ive had to/chosen to buy has put a healthy dent in that fund and it isnt even mine! :/

Love you!!!

(General e-mail)

Man, I am just so hungry right now...

Oh hey, the big letter.

SO! This week was pretty much the same, just a few fun experiences I would like to share. So yesterday we went golfing with a whole bunch of other missionaries the mission doctor and his family and Presdient Corbitt. It was a blast! We all got carts and clubs and went off in groups. Ona dominican golf course there are no rules so we all had fun derping around in our carts. Donuts, drifting in the sand traps and trying to jump the hills, all the while being cheered on (yes, cheered on) by the staff. They all loved it. I ended with a 55 which was better than I was expecting, but still higher than I would like. I want to get more into golf when I come back. My first whole was great! but after that I just kept hitting right. Oh well. Next time maybe.

So other funny story. So last like tuesday or something like that we were out proselyting and it starts POURING. Like Iowa rain. It was bad. My comp and I take cover and while we wait, this HUGE tank of a man comes walking up behind us. He´s like, "Hey mormons." We turned and my eyes almost bugged out of my head to see a living brick wall towering over me. (seriously his biceps were bigger than my head....but his legs were still tiny.) Anyway, we just talked for a second and he told us that he was a member, just really inactive. He started to walk away as the rain had stopped, but turned back and said "Adios Elderes de Israel!" [Goodbye Elders of Israel]

My comp looked at eachother and we both thought the same thing. This guy is a return missionary. There are tons of inactive return missionaries in our ward, and we had heard about one that went inactive only weeks after returning.

So the rain starts again and Hulk comes lumbering back to our shelter. We talk some more and he agreed to let us visit him. When the rain had stopped, we left up the street. Elder Allen asked if he had served a mission and Bruce Banner said no. I knew right away it was a lie. We both knew that this was the same return misisonary that we had heard about.

When we were almost to his house, He Man recieved a healthy salutation from a friend on the street. Let me paint the picture a little.

So we are at the bottom of a small, wet hill where the broken asfault changes to dirt. Elder Allen is on one side of Hulk Hogan and Im on the other. We reach the bottom of the hill and this other guys just like "HUEY! JUNIOR! (the RM) Chillin Chillin."

"Bigger than Captain Moroni Painting" waved back and said "Chillin Chillin" In this exact moment we hear from behind us.

"Watch out! Slow Down! AAHH!!" Now you have to understand that such shrieks are pretty normal here so we didnt even pay attention. Mistake! All of a sudden I feel something smack my side and this blur goes barreling into Dwayne the Rock Johnson. It was two little girls on a bike, goin like warp 3 and they just nailed him straight on! I watched in slow motion as he slowyly toppled backwards onto the crashing bike. It all happened very fast, but it seemed alot longer. My comp and I burst out laughing while helping Dominican vin Diesel to his feet. THis tatooed mass then turns on the two little girls and is just like " You two are idiots!! Watch where youre goin!"

My comp thought he was going to straight up kill them...or at least eat the bike or something. In the end nothing happened, but Living GI JOE model got pretty scraped up. He also has 1 Nephi 8:12 tatooed on his arm....so thats pretty chuckly.

Alright, thats all for now really. We had some really awesome and spriritually guided lessons and several peeps that are getting ready to be baptized in the end of this month.

Love you all! Pray and study the scripts.

8 August 2016 - Las Américas/La Caleta (Santo Domingo)

(General e-mail)

Alright, here we are again writing the big letter home. Yesterday we got back late from our adventure and couldnt write, so we´re doing it today! Anyway, this last week was interesting. Investigator wise, we have several who are progressing, but weve seen a drop in church attendance. First we have Anyels. He is a contact we did, and he is awesome. He always reads alot and is helping his daughters and wife as well. We are now teaching all of them. THe only problem is that his baptismal date keeps falling because he wont come to church! His family is building a house in another city and so they always have to be over there to oversee construction.

We also have Marcos. He is cool, but makes me sad. He´s got these adorable twin boys, but beats the stink out of them with his belt. Hes not like a bad, mean guy, he just doesnt know how to parent. Anyway, he also has a date for the 28th of this month. Hes fairly new and a little iffy, but hes very open and always happy to recieve us.

Margot is an older lady that had a date since before we got here. She is awesome, but we just found out that she and her husband have to get married and it looks like well have to move her date.

Aside from that...theres really nothing that happened. Transfers, but we stayed the same. The zone is struggling to put new baptismal dates and thats a little worrying but I know the Lord will help us through as we do our part.

Our goal for this month is 42 baptisms in the zone.

Umm...what else...we contacted alot...Its been raining buckets! My waterproof shoes are slowly becoming less and less waterproof. I might go golfing next week. So thats fun. Its 2000 pesos though. Still kind of on the fence about it. Oh well, none of you really care about that. Love you all!

(E-mail to Dad)

2 things real fast dad. Do you think you could send me a basic recipe for sloppy joes? And also, would you be opposed to me going golfing next week? its 2000 pesos which is about 45 dollars and it would come from my card.

Also, sorry ive been using the card alot, but we had a bit of an emergency. Ill actually put that part in a ps for the big letter. haha

(Addendum)

Afterthought.

SO funny story. So we get money every 15 days. money was supposed to come last last saturday. Instead it came on wednesday!! The entire mission was dying from hunger because no one had food or money to buy it. We were going to the atm like everday trying to check for money.

Yeah, thats it. haha

P-Day at Los Tres Ojos

(Fun light tricks in the caves. I'm Edward! Sparkles!)

(There appears to be a snake in this tree...)

So these are called the 3 eyes. It's a series of underground, fresh-water lakes.

SUPER SAYAYIN!!!! Im like the angel moroni!