Hola!

    I had a strange sensation this week: I was cold. It's been wonderfully cloudy and rainy all week, like the streets flooded so bad that they became rivers! I'm super grateful for the lack of sun!:) 
    On Tuesday, I went on splits with my best buddy, Hermana Balls, in Quisqueya, and we got to teach lots of people, wahoo! Our awesome ward mission leader, Neal, got married on Thursday, and even though it was the night before his wedding, he still wanted to have one last correlation meeting on Wednesday:):) Other sweet thing: we found out that darling Daniel and Starlin Martinez gave up their jobs to go to EFY the other week. Can you believe that? They have made such incredible changes in their lives--it's amazing to see the difference in them and Victor, who blessed the sacrament yesterday, while Starlin and Daniel passed it:) Plus, less-active Patricia came to church for the third Sunday in a row!! So wonderful to see her progress like this! Sunday was Dominican Father's Day (because ya know that Dominicans just do whatever they want, including changing national holidays), so the Bella Vista ward had a fun Dia del Padre activity, and seriously everyone showed up! What a miracle! I have loved getting to know these members so much:)
    Friday morning, my life did a ginormous somersault. President Nuckols called and asked me to WHITEWASH one of the Elders' areas!!! WHAT?!? Apparently, there are a lot of Elders leaving and a lot of Hermanas coming in this transfer, so a new area needs to be opened for las misioneras. That means I'll have to find everything without a companion who knows the area: people's houses, the grocery store, Internet, todo. It's going to be a ton of work, but that's not all...I will also be TRAINING a new missionary!!!! Ahhhhhh you can imagine that I've been freaking out a bit; there couldn't be a bigger challenge than to do both of these big things at the same time. 
    For the very first time, President has asked both members of a companionship to train. Yep, Hermana Ventocilla will also be training!! Plus, Hermana Balls will be finishing the training of a Jamaican Sister in another area! In that same house lives 2 of my old companions who are serving together: Hna. Flake (MTC) and Hna. Alas (my 'step-mom/mom' of Hna. Ventocilla); however, Hna. Alas is finishing her mission, so Hna. Flake will be training as well! All 3 of us will be 'mommies' in the same zone!! Entonces after 7 straight months of intercom contacting in 2 of the richest areas in the mission...I will be staying in the capital! Crazy! The area I will be whitewashing is called Ivan Gusman in the zone of Las Caobas, and Hna. Balls will officially be my Hermana Leader for half of my mission, ha! I never imagined going back to a 2-man house, but wow, what an absolutely insane adventure I'm about to have. 
    All of us have been feeling inadequate and anxious, but I read D & C 68:6 and Elder Mervyn B. Arnold's talk from this past General Conference. He said, "When [God] commanded Moses to rescue the children of Israel, Moses was afraid, just as many of us are afraid. Moses excused himself, saying, "I am not eloquent,...but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue."
   The Lord reassured Moses:
   "Who hath made man's mouth?...have not I the Lord?
    "Now therefore go, and I will be with they mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say."
    In effect, the Lord told Moses, "You can do it!" and you know what, so can we!"

    I'm about to learn, more than ever, the real meaning of the phrase, ¨Whom the Lord calls, he qualifies.¨ I will only be able to handle the responsibility with the Lord´s help. He has helped carry me during these past 3 transfers in Bella Vista, and He will guide me during these last 3 of my mission. The Spirit gave me peace yesterday during church, especially when I got to play the song I arranged, "Brillan Rayos de Su Luz," and shared my testimony. It's been hard saying bye to everybody, but I know that God needs me to be His servant in another place, and I'm willing to do whatever He asks of me.


Wish me luck!

    Hermana Randall

-Last Sunday with my Peruvian

-Disney night, starring Mulan, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, and Snow White:)

-Patricia's turtle

-Nothing like a green banana stalk! Those and plantains are super common here.

-Adios Neal! Last time with our ward mission leader.

Greetings from la isla!

    I know that it´s fun to live on an island and everything, but ay mi madre, the heat and humidity are a killer! Funny to think that I used to be the person to sleep with 5 or 6 blankets every night; now I just sleep on top of a sheet haha:) So in all that calor this week, we did a ton of contacting! Yay for giving people the chance to accept the gospel! Rafael ended up being out of town for work, so we didn´t teach him, but Hermana Ventocilla and I worked on strengthening relationships with members, which was awesome. We also got to give a talk together at the baptism of Henry, an 8-year-old son of a member family. 
    Yesterday, we had the most people in church that I've ever seen in the Bella Vista ward! Recently, nearly all of the organization presidencies changed, and the ward is already improving with the new callings. The members are also recognizing their lack of unity and are trying to improve it. In ward council yesterday, we made a game plan for obtaining references of new people to teach. In this area, it is an absolute miracle to get a reference--it's one of the best ways to find people who are interested in hearing about the gospel and are prepared to accept it. 
    The youth all had EFY this week, and wow, you can totally see the change in them (it's only once ever four years here, like trek in the States). It was so sweet to hear them share their experiences and testimonies in church yesterday, especially from Daniel and Stalin Martinez and another less-active boy. The best, though, was that a recent convert brought a non-member friend to EFY, and she (the friend) spoke in front of the whole ward about how incredible it was! She doesn't live in our ward boundaries, so we can't teach her, but I hope that the missionaries in her area can help her prepare to be baptized:) Oh, and guess what? Patricia came to church again, 2 weeks in a row, whoot whoot!! Plus, Victor Martinez blessed the sacrament yesterday!! It's amazing to see how much stronger and worthier these brothers have become:)
    Okay, sad news: Yennel dropped us on Friday. She's the one who was raised as a Jehovah's Witness and married a Jew, so we got to help her learn about the real nature of Christ. She simply won't accept that there's only one true church and that salvation requires more than just faith and love. It was super sad. You'd think that after the rejection we face day after day, I'd be numb to it by now. But I still care. I still hope that someone will see something different in us, will give us a few minutes to explain what we believe, will have a desire to learn and change and progress, and will have the courage to take the necessary steps back to our Heavenly Father's presence.
    I want so badly to help these people gain a testimony of this amazing gospel. That's what we talked about in a family home evening this week with an inactive member named Yoanny. A testimony is like a flashlight. You can shine that light to help guide those without their own...for a time. Those without their own light can't depend on yours forever, or they won't progress. When we do things to fuel our own light, like obeying the commandments, our glow becomes brighter, we have greater knowledge and confidence, and then we can help others as they work to obtain their own light. It's a process of a lifetime, because if we don't keep nurturing that tender testimony, it will be scorched, and because it has no root, it will wither away (Mark 4: the parable of the sower). My wise mother taught me that someone doesn't leave the church because they got offended or had a trial that was "too hard"--it's really because their testimony wasn't deep enough. All of the work that I've done with less- and inactive members on my mission has proved that to be true. Maybe for family home evening funness, read Doctrine and Covenants 76:50-70 about what happens to those who have a real testimony:)  But for now, I'd like to add my testimony that that of the millions of souls who have learned for themselves that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer, Ultimate Judge, and the Savior of the world, as found in Doctrine and Covenants 76:22:
"And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!"

Con muchisimo amor,
    Hermana Randall
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-These coconut carts are all over the place--the guy wacks it open with a machete right in front of you, and you drink the milk straight out of the giant shell! (the brown coconuts that you see in the States are used more for cooking with the hard, white meat; the meat inside of the huge green ones is slimy)

-Inside of a cocoa; you can eat the cocoa (chocolate) seeds straight.

-Star fruit is my absolute favorite!! It tastes like a combination of an apple and pear more or less, and it really does look like a star when you cut it:)

​-Lots of ladies in Relief Society! I love our members!


-My best buddy:)

-I have absolutely no idea how BYU fabric ended up in this country, but someone made a little dress out of it, ha!

-My best buddy:)  [Hermana Balls]

-I have absolutely no idea how BYU fabric ended up in this country, but someone made a little dress out of it, ha!

-Lookie what I found!! Utah's got my heart:)

-American ice cream has never tasted so darn good:)

¡Buenos dias!

    So something a bit crazy happened on Friday...I hit my 1 year mark!! Time really does fly when you're having fun:) It has been such a nutsy, unexpected, wonderful journey that I wouldn't trade for anything. I'm SO glad that the Lord sent me here to do His work, that I get to serve my awesome Dominican siblings every day, that I get to learn Spanish, experience a whole new way of life, strengthen my knowledge of the gospel, and help people realize what is most important & how they can apply the Atonement of our Savior in their lives. Being a missionary is the BEST!!!
    So lots of great things happened this week. First off, I went on splits with Hermana Villatoro in Quisqueya, where we had lessons literally all day long! Seriously, it felt so good to teach so much, and the investigators and members there are awesome! Our ward had an indexing activity, and it was a hit! Basically all members of the Church here are only the first or second generation in their families, so there's a TON of family history work to do for their ancestors.
    We had a fabulous lesson on Saturday with golden investigator Rafael and his wife, who we met for the first time. Guess what her name is? Melissa! Too perfect:) They totally understood the first part of the Plan of Salvation that we taught--they have been so prepared for this knowledge! During the week, Rafael had started reading the Book of Mormon, completely remembered what he studies, and had even looked up extra information about the Latter-day Saints' journey in the beginning of the Restoration, so now he knows lots about Utah and even BYU, ha! He's so cool! They were totally planning on coming to church the next day...but they didn't show up and didn't answer their phone...
    BUT someone else cam to church for the first time in my time here: Patricia! She's my best less-active friend in Bella Vista and always says she'll come but never does. It was seriously a miracle to be with her in the church, we were all so happy! Plus, less-active Daniel Martinez was sustained as a teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood! And now he and Starlin are at EFY this week! They have come a long way basically all on their own--they are never home, so we haven't been able to teach them in about 2 months. They are solid:)
    Today was my P-day because President and Hermana Nuckols took a group of older missionaries to the East mission to visit the historic center of the Americas (so I was with Hermana Balls, not Hermana Ventocilla). It's called the Zona Colonial, and it was absolutely incredible!! Seriously one of the most fun days of my entire mission! President gave an awesome tour of America's oldest, most important area; Santo Domingo was the capital of the New World, founded by Christopher Columbus. I learned SO much about him and the colonization of the Americas--best history lesson ever! It's amazing that these buildings and artifacts have lasted for 500 years, and even more fantastic is the story of the people who created them. In preparation for today, we studied 1 Nephi 13 in the Book of Mormon, which prophesies of America (go read it, it's amazing!). Verse 12 specifically talks about Columbus, which says: 

And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land.

I am so grateful for all that has been done to settle the American continents. I'm especially grateful for all that my ancestors sacrificed to give me a knowledge of the gospel in these latter days. I love America, and I love you all! Until next week!

Proud to be a Dominicana,
    Hermana Randall
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​-My first time in jail:)


-America's first cathedral--so stunning!!