¡Buen día de la República Dominicana! 

    Ay mi madre el tiempo esta pasando demasiado rapido pero estamos trabajando muy duro hasta el fin del traslado. This is it, people: the last week of my full-time missionary service, and I'm giving it my all. We've been working so hard these 5 weeks of the transfer, and we're not going to slow down. This week was full of the Lord's miracles; He guided us to more new investigators in 1 week than we've had the rest of the transfer combined! We met golden investigator Yelissa's sister, Carolina, who is also golden and accepted the baptism invitation! Recent convert Victor had invited his neighbor, Cesar, to his baptism, but we hadn't gotten to teach him, and then Cesar came to church last Sunday! We finally sat down with him, and Cesar really wants to learn about the gospel--he even asked how long it takes to be baptized!
    Our Haitian investigator, Junior, has now been to church 5 times in a row!! it's going to take a little while to teach him all the lessons, and he needs to gain a testimony of everything he's learning, but I know that he can pull through. After weeks of Katherine and Juan never being home for our appointments and not answering the phone, we finally taught Katherine yesterday! She's been reading the Book of Mormon lots and is finishing 1 Nephi, wahoo! She said that it's strengthening her testimony, improving her relationship with God and Jesus Christ, and that it's changing the spirit of her whole home and lifestyle!! Wow!! That's exactly what studying el Libro de Mormon should do. Through that and prayer, Katherine has also received the confirmation that Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God. She's still working on gaining a testimony of our living prophet and wants to learn more about him, so one of the things she's doing is watching the "On the Lord's Errand" movie about President Thomas S. Monson.
    On Tuesday, it dropped down to 79 degrees, and I was a popsicle!! Seriously, it was so cold, like people were wearing coats...pretty sure I'm not going to survive in snowy Utah haha:) That day, our Hermana Leader came to do splits with Hermana Neff, so I went to La Venta to work with cute BYU greenie Hermana Irwin for the day, and it was so much fun:) Wednesday was the training meeting for all parents and newbie children. I learned some awesome things about helping my daughter, getting references, contacting, and obedience, fue muy chevere. Hermana Neff has been improving a lot, especially with Spanish and personalizing her teaching. Thanks to her, my English has definitely improved these past weeks haha:) Thursday was Thanksgiving, yay!! But we celebrated it on Friday with our American neighbors and some other, and oh my goodness, the food was divine...I would've been content to just sit and soak in the aroma of it all because it smelled so darn good:) That morning, President and Hermana Nuckols came to district meeting. wow, President is the most inspired man ever; I'm so grateful to have had him as my mission president.
    Saturday morning, our youth had a temple trip, and Starlin and Anthony got to go for the first time!! I'm so proud of them for making it this far and being so strong; they will be amazing full-time missionaries. They're excited about finding their own family names to do temple work for. This stake loves genealogy work--it's the highest indexing stake in the country! Saturday was also the day of VIRGINIA'S BAPTISM!!! She has been so incredibly prepared to receive the restored gospel and can't wait for her husband, Amable, to be baptized in January. They're planning on getting sealed next year to their baby daughter, Amanda, in the temple and are thrilled about the prospect of becoming an eternal family:):)
    Although Christmas started being celebrated here in September, the spirit of it has really been felt the past few days with the releasing of the Church's new Christmas video, which can be found at https://www.mormon.org/christmas/light-the-world?play=hero  We're showing it to everyone: contacts, investigators, members, and we're asking you all to share it on social media. It's about service and following the Savior's example; it shows us how we can "light the world," which is this year's theme. I know that every follower of Christ is a light to the world, and I've seen here how just one person--one light--truly can make a difference. As we always say, "Every member, a missionary." I'd like to share the words of our mission "commission," which we recite (in Spanish) every day. They're the words of the Apostle Bruce R. McConkie: 

"I am called of God. My authority is above that of kings of the earth. By revelation I have been selected as a personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is my master and He has chosen me to represent Him--to stand in His place, to say and do what He Himself would say and do if He personally were ministering to the very people to whom He has sent me. My voice is His voice, and my acts are His acts; my doctrine is His doctrine. My Commission is to do what He wants done; To say what He wants said; to be a living modern witness in word and in deed of the divinity of his great and marvelous Latter-day work. How great is my calling!"

Con amor, 
    Hermana Randall