Dominican Republic Santiago Mission
October 2007 - 2009
YESS!!! I made it to the Cover Page! I'm like... a celebrity now right? Oh golly... I'm blushing and everything..... Wow so how is the work you're probably asking me? (figuratively speaking of course...) I couldn't be happier. This oportunity... This chance of a life time... Man! How do you some it up? It has helped me to realize what is REALLY important... I mean, what counts! It has helped me to prioritize my goals! Most of all it's shown me what joy you can have from studying las Palabras de Dios (Whoa watch out for that Spanish!). I remember specifically Max writing a BIG letter home that had a section in it for me... before I left on my mission. I remember specifically him saying "Study the Book of Mormon!" and me thinking... "Yeah... I probably should..." Wow how true that is, how lucky we are to have this book! The Book of Answers as I like to call it. Ok ok, I know you guys already know what I'm talking about, so I'll say something different. Running dust slams the dream boat paper! HA! Hows THAT for something different? (Warning: Don't try to understand that) Anyways, what I'm trying to say is... We are SOO lucky to be here... to have this opportunity. Well, as a short lil update on my portion of the world (which is right next to Logans portion! Haha how ironic... Hey Logan!), The Dominican Republic is great, and the people are so cool! Not to make you guys jealous or anything... but I just can't seem to stay dry! I know they say not to count the baptisms... but once you pass 100, it's just too much to ignore! (Joke?) Haha no, but it's great. It's supposed to be hot here, but I lucked out and got pitched into the mountains where the weather is usually nice :) However, Arizona gets more rain than I do... what's that all about? All is well gentlemen... all is well. The Church is true and don't you EVER forget that! You're all on the right track (Except for Jeff). Be Fearless, Live Strong, and Do your best to make your Heavenly Father proud! Never forget that the Lord is on your side. Take Care... Elders? (or do you prefer more casual like... Home-Dawgs...)
Love Elder Chambers
P.S. Haha here's a lil game fore you... See how many "...'s" you can find!
Elder Chase Judd
Jambo everyone that is hello in swahili I can't wait to learn that language it is just soooo exciting. Well Ijust want to yell at Jeff and say " Zdravstvuite" yeah he knows what that means hahaha. Well I am off to the MTC on Wednesday FINALLY!!! I have been waiting my whole life for this moment and I am really excited to teach some African Americans. Hi Grant Hi Daniel HiGarrett Hi Jeff Hi Mike Hi Logan Hi Brock Hi Gary Hi Scott Hi Max Bye Dallas Bye Lorin and Bye Blake. Well I hope everyone is doing well... besides Jeff because he yelled at me, I was going to send you some peanut butter but nope not anymore. My farewell was yesterday and I cried through the whole thing I know its pretty embarrassing but it was Alli's fault she had to sing my favorite song "Joseph Smith's first Prayer", and in the third verse she sang it in espanol which made me cry even harder so I am just a big baby. Oh and it made everyone in the audience cry even Chas, just kidding Alli made everyone cry......... Daniel that is crazy that you are in the 2nd worst place in the USA. nyobzoo Daniel I am sorry I am not good at writing anyone back, forgive me please! I love you all! Wish me good luck GG I get set apart tonight so I gotta get in all of the cod4 I can get that is call of duty 4!!!!! Halo 3 sucks Halo 2 is way better ok guys. Chase
Elder Mike Kleinman
Hey Kids!How is everyone doing? We had a baptism this last week, she is a Bolivian girl name Danny Paola Oreyai Chavi, and yes she did insist on us using her full name all the time, I don*t know why, and it was a real pain. But she is a wonderful girl with a great testimony. She is going to go visit her parents back in bolivia to convert them as well heh, neat huh? Well, things have gotten a little more interesting here in La Rioja, there is a strike that has been going on for 3 weeks now, where all food supplies and fuel has been stopped from going outside of Buenos Aires City. It all started with the people living outside of the captial city getting angry that all food products and fuel were so much cheaper inside the capital and super expensive everywhere else. So they told the president (a woman ha!) to balance out the prices so its more fair for the poor farmers to buy their own supplies. Well, apparently the pres. pulled a Marie Antoinette "Let them eat cake" thing and cut off all routes for food supplies and fuel to enter any province outside of Buenos Aires city. Long story short, theres no food here and people are now rioting hah! But we got a good supply of rice and pasta to last us. Also, all the trucks that were bringing the food are blockading the highway so buses cant get through, and transfers are coming up so this should be interesting :) Well, I hope all are doing well and I*ll witre you all next month!
Elder Kleinman
Elder Grant Huish
Hey everybody hows it going? things here in Oregon are going pretty well. im actually back in civilization which is a nice change. my new area is pretty tiny though just like 4 sq miles or so. oh and im on bike now which is actually pretty nice, makes me feel like a missionary though my weak video game legs are struggling. my new companion actually grew up in mt vernon washington which is weird that he ended up in oregon. we are teaching some pretty sweet people here. its kind of weird, this lady who just moved into the ward was investigating in another area of the mission and she had a baptismal date set so that was pretty cool to find out until she told us where she lived and it just so happened to be the address of an excomunicated guy and then we found out that she still smokes and is on probabtion for like 17 more months which pretty much means she cant get baptised as you probably could tell. well i dont really know what to say othere than that. oh the other day i was riding my bike and night on the wrong side of the road so i turned of my light so that i wouldnt bling people driving past and then all the cars went by so i turned my light back on just in time to se a mail box pole sticking up out of the sidewalk which i was just lucky enough to crash into.... it was great i have a huge bruise on my leg now but dont worry there was only a little bit of blood.... well i believe that that is all that i have for now.... good luck everyone!
elder huish
Elder Garrett Jones
Greetings from the Bronx. Everything is going well here and I am so happy to be a part of this great work that we are all in. We have been able to see a lot of the Lord's elect come forth asking us to be baptised recently and its been such a cool experience for me. Natividad was baptised and confirmed by her husband and then I was blessed to be able to confirm Eddy after he was baptised by my companion. This coming week is transfers and I'm almost 100% sure I'll be getting a new companion who I don't really know, which is always awkward for the first little while. Whoever I get should be able to teach me some new things.Time here makes absolutely no sense. I start talking to somebody in the street thatI think I contacted yesterday and it turns out that it had been several weeks ago. I start talking to somebody that it seems like forever since we last visited and its been three dadys. Anyways, it comes down to just putting our trust in the Lord to guide us and remind us through the Holy Ghost of who we need to visit and who is ready to really progress and come unto Christ. As a District we've been looking for ways that we could do some service and one of the things that we've come up with is to teach English for free to whoever wants to come every Thursday and Saturday. We'll teach English for an hour and then share a spiritual thought for 30 minutes afterwards for those who want to stay. Tomorrow will be the first time we do it and we are excited to see how everything goes. I love this work and am so happy to be able to be a part of it. I love and miss you all.
Garrett
Elder Max Crandall
My Brothers,*Que pasa? Things are going good here in Everett. My new companion is a native Spanish speaker from Costa Rica. His name is Elder Martinez. Elder Martinez only talks to me in English. I keep asking him to speak Spanish, he agrees it*s a good idea, then he talks in English. Not really much help. My mom sent me *Learn Spanish in Your Car* CDs for my birthday but Elder Martinez won*t listen to them in the car. Lo siento big guy, I thought we were supposed to be helping me learn Spanish. We don*t have much in common but the good news is he doesn*t have an American driver*s license so I get to drive! w00t! Elder Martinez and I both got whitewashed into this area so the work in kind of slow. I*m pretty much in the mission president*s back yard; less than 10 minutes from the mission home in Mill Creek. We live in a member*s home. Her name is Sister Smith. She is a 79 year old widow and has virtually seen the entire world, **but before you go off gallivanting to Europe and all those exotic places, I recommend seeing this great nation of ours.* We talk to her almost every night for about 30 minutes. She gets peeved if we don*t and I guess sometimes you need to kiss some member bootie. I accidentally told her that I know how to crochet now, so she wants me to make a ton of little beanies for the babies in the hospital. Honorable, but not why I*m out here. Her house is just filled with weird old stuff. She*s a big fan of antiques. We live downstairs and have our own little teeny kitchen. We have a car, but the trunk has duct tape on it so it won*t fly open. Apparently when another elder was serving in this area, someone ran into the back of him. I guess they figured a working trunk isn*t all that important. There are pretty much two parts to the Mukilteo area where I am * actual Mukilteo, which is really rich and prideful, and Southern Everett, which is full of Mexicans. Our ward has tons of people moving in and out. There is one road in South Everett that is just lined with apartment complexes. Since there have never been Spanish speaking elders in this area before, we*ve kind of been starting from scratch. If you wanted to know the update on the Spanish, I can understand about 80% of what*s said to me and I can communicate around -3% of what I want to say. I know it*ll come though. I have faith. The work has been kind of all over the place. It seems like we can find tons and tons of Mexicans who are interested in hearing about the gospel, when it*s preached in their home. But come Sunday, you*d think they thought we had the plague. I*ve never faced so much rejection in my life. At least it*s givin* me practice for when I get in the dating scene again. Well, I love you guys and pray for you. You are all amazing examples to me. *Elder Crandall
Elder Scott Ball
Ciao Everyone!
Everything is going good here in Genova still. Transfers are coming up in two weeks and I'm very scared that I'm going to be transfered to some very small town. It is so fun being 4 in the apartment here and going into 2 is going to be difficult, also depends how funny this companion might be. Right now, this week, we are working to give a baptisimal date to a Ecudorain guy who didn't believe in god. We had a good easter here in Genova and everything is completly closed here. No one is on the streets and it is very funny. Also the day after easter is a holiday and again nothing is open. We couldn't do any finding work really, so we just set meetings with some members and investigators then. During the day after easter, we went to a park and played ultimate frisbee with the sisters. On our way over there, we took the bus and there was this old lady sitting in one of the seats. A note, all the buses are usually full (meaning most of the time, you are stuffed, STUFFED in the bus). So this lady was getting out of her seat and a sister missionary started helping her out. The lady took her umbrella and started whacking the sister over the head yelling, ROBBER ROBBER! Then, the old lady started to run out the door and whacked me and another missionary with the umbrella. It was quite funny. Everyone on the bus was laughing. We saw that old lady again, but we didn't want to go up to her and say anything in fear that we are going to get hit with a umbrella. Have fun Elders, till next time.Vi voglio bene.
Anziano Ball
Elder Jeff Stoker
Dear Elders,
I hope things have been good for all of you. I got my first transfer two days ago, and i will be moving to my new area today. I am excited to experience some change, but i love it here in my first area with my trainer. Things have been good, but i think that it is time for a change. The weather here has been getting really nice. The only bad thing is all the snow is melting and it is make mud everywhere. I normally have mud over everything when we finally make it back in for the day. I am in a hurry, and i am sure all of you know how that goes. Just wanted to write and say hello to all you missionaries out there, and all you future missionaries. Keep on working hard. It is hard to believe that it is already the end of march. Well Love you all....sometimes. Have a great month.
Elder Stoker
ps. Mark Gets home May 1st. How crazy is that?
Elder Brock Smith
Aloha Ka Kou My M_town Brogs
Whats up? Well here on kauai things are goin good although Im probably gettin transferred from Kauai in 2 and half weeks and Im thinkin so im not lookin forward to that this island is the bomb but ill go whereevah the Lord want me to go. So E Crandell hows the Espanol? I thoroughly enjoyed last months newsletter it seems as if the time inbetween flys by so fast maybe its just me but it seems that time on a mission is in fast forward mostly all the time. This truly is a great work and Im thankful to be a part of it I see the hand of the Lord everyday and am so greatful for all the he does for me. Im anxious to see what this next transfer holds and I hope that by some miracle I stay here. Well things are goin good my greenie is startin to loose a little bit of his green tinge he is really startin to get into this work howd transfers go for those of you that had them? Well I could ramble on for longer but I think Ill call it quits nothin real cool to report until next time Iesu Pu And May the Force Be With You Always Elder B Smith
Elder Daniel Anderson
Hello Everyone!So nothing too exciting was happening around here before transfers. All of our investigators and people that were coming to church all stopped coming and they don*t want to hear from us anymore*yea it sucks but what can you do? We did find a super fun family. They are part of the Vang clan (white * like me!) and they just came from Thailand like 3 years ago. The family has 3 boys and 5 girls, that*s pretty small for a typical Hmong family. They don*t know very much English so we just go teach them and slowly try getting them to pray with us and then do some other stuff. My companion says that I need to make them *my mission project.* He thinks that they will get baptized but it will take a lot of work and it probably won*t happen until the end of my mission. We are always working on finding investigators and helping the ones that we do have. Sundays out in the field are SO STRESSFUL! I miss having a normal Sunday where everything just runs smoothly*but hey what can you do? Yesterday we had like 12 people set up to come to church but when we went to *face to face* them nobody was home and none of them would answer their phones! It is so irritating when people don*t follow through with their commitments but it*s okay, I am like the least stressed missionary in the branch so it is all good! We got our transfers and I am staying in Stockton! I*m the senior companion and I*m going to be follow-up training my brother * Elder Xao Yang. He was just trained by the Elder that trained me * that*s why everyone calls him my brother. He doesn*t speak very good English, so my Hmong is going to get crazy good*hopefully.
I miss you all and *love you Big, Big* Daniel
Elder Logan Wells
So I am in Caguas and well my companion is from here his name is Elder Guzman he is way crazy he is definitely a nerd and says that he wants to know everything and take over the world, a bit of a wack job if you ask me, but it shall be interesting, I am just hoping that my knee will be fine, with all the walking I was doing it was still hurting but I just didn’t want to go home so I told a few fibs to stay out here, but I have a car now and well it shall be really good, I am in the largest ward in all of Puerto Rico and supposedly all of the members here are really cool and help with everything, its super sweet they have dinner nights for the missionaries so we are going to get fed all of the time, well President told me that if the other two baptismal dates that we have get baptized on those exact days then I am allowed to go to those baptisms so I am hoping that I will be able to go to the baptism this Sunday and then the one on the 13 so that should be really cool because I love the people over there and they are the first persons that I am going to be visiting when I get back to this place that is for sure, I loved it over there and had the best time, it was quite a shock when I found out I was leaving well with all of the work that we were doing it was a bit of a downer well it is all good now because I think that I am going to be awesome here because I think they need someone with a little bit of street smarts here because the other guy that was here before me still didn’t know where to go he used a map the whole time and was here for 5 transfers, so crazy lets just hope that he doesn’t kill himself in the other area because its difficult, but man the other two people that are in my district seem like they are from another world, so we shall see what happens, it will definitely be a little bit different considering my whole mission I have been around normal sane people, well who knows. My companion is the driver and well doesn’t have a clue I had to tell him how to get home and I had only been there for two hours, how funny is that? Well friends, peace out, have a great month! I love you all! Elder Logan Wells
Dallas Rowley
Hey everybody, So my papers are turned in, I sent them to my Bishop about a week ago, & my Stake President sent them to "the brethren" 4 days ago. My call is going to be sent about a week later than usual, because of General Conference. But what can you do. I'm getting pretty excited to find out where I'm going. Man, I might not make it to Chase's farewell today because I have a meeting with my Bishop at the same time. But what can you do. Well, I hope you all are having awesome times, and hopefully I can tell you all where I'm going by next newsletter! Dallas
