Happy Mother's Day yesterday!
Thank you to all the wonderful women who have helped me get to this point in life, who have loved and supported me through the years, who have gone about doing so much good:) Especially my mommy!! It was absolutely amazing getting to Skype with her and mi pequeña familia yesterday:) It went by in the blink of an eye...just like this transfer. Yep, Hermana Perez is leaving for a different area in the capital, and I'm getting a new companion! Right after I left Ocoa, my comp, Hermana Alas, trained, and it's her "daughter" who's going to be my comp! It's Hermana Ventosilla, and like Hermana Perez, I'll be her third companion and second American. I'm super stoked for this transfer with her!
My English has gotten so bad that I said to Hermana Balls today, "I bought 8 milks" instead of "8 cartons of milk," and the thing is, it sounded perfectly normal to me hahaha:) But yeah, you can't buy normal, cold, gallon-sized milk here--it's the little boxed stuff on the shelf. And you have to bleach your fruits and vegetables and clean your rice because it's all very dirty #thirdworldcountry Oh, and I had my first legit, Caribbean coconut! The guy cuts it with a machete right in front of you and you drink the milk--so yummy!
This week was a bit wacko with not teaching very much, due to putting together the first joint Bella Vista/ Quisqueya activity! Us 4 Hermanas and a member, Hermana Cruz--the one I met while still in my last area--put on a super fun fiesta Hawaiana, and it was so worth it. Thursday night alone, we spent 5 hours cutting & making paper leis (which caused us to go slightly psycho). We got up the next morning and spent 2 more hours making them, then headed over to Hermana Cruz's house to eat breakfast and cook all the food for the activity until 3:30, went home for an hour to rest and get ready, decorated the church, and by 6:00, it was party time! And it was a total hit!! The Tongan Elder from my district did the Haka, we had games, a devotional, the dinner, and then a dance party! And Adolfo came! Man, what a blast:)
But we couldn't come home and crash because we had to wait up for President Nuckols to call--we all knew Hermana Balls was going to train, and we were right! Plus she's going to be the new Hermana Leader (her comp, the HL, goes home this week). Hermana Perez and I still had to wait for normal transfer calls the following night, but the burden was made lighter when the Cruzes came and brought us pizza and breakfast for Sunday morning! So sweet of them!
That afternoon (Saturday) was nutsy withe the rain--the streets were totally flooded and no one was out, but we decided to make a fun day out of it and reenacted "Singin' in the Rain" the whole time (well, I did):D We went to Yamilka's apartment (the golden investigator we found the other week) to teach her a second time, but a different lady answered the door and said she wasn't home. As we were leaving and almost out of sight of the apartment, Yamilka popped out of the window and yelled, "Hermanas, I'm here!!" and came out to bring us back in:) She had another million questions for us, had read the whole Restoration pamphlet,and invited the other young woman who lives with her and the 3 little kids to come listen. It was a super great lesson and so powerful when we taught the First Vision:) Yamilka asked about baptism concerning marriage; her "husband" has to work in New York right now and comes every 3 months to visit, but he's not religious, and Yamilka doesn't think he'll want them to get married by the law so that she can be baptized. I hope his heart can soften and he'll understand the importance of all this.
3 Nephi 13:7 "Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." With the astounding faith Yamilka has, I know the Lord will provide a way for her to be baptized:) The Lord will never forget us and can't wait to bless us! I know that to be true, and I hope you know how much I love you!
La Dominicana,
Hermana Randall
Thank you to all the wonderful women who have helped me get to this point in life, who have loved and supported me through the years, who have gone about doing so much good:) Especially my mommy!! It was absolutely amazing getting to Skype with her and mi pequeña familia yesterday:) It went by in the blink of an eye...just like this transfer. Yep, Hermana Perez is leaving for a different area in the capital, and I'm getting a new companion! Right after I left Ocoa, my comp, Hermana Alas, trained, and it's her "daughter" who's going to be my comp! It's Hermana Ventosilla, and like Hermana Perez, I'll be her third companion and second American. I'm super stoked for this transfer with her!
My English has gotten so bad that I said to Hermana Balls today, "I bought 8 milks" instead of "8 cartons of milk," and the thing is, it sounded perfectly normal to me hahaha:) But yeah, you can't buy normal, cold, gallon-sized milk here--it's the little boxed stuff on the shelf. And you have to bleach your fruits and vegetables and clean your rice because it's all very dirty #thirdworldcountry Oh, and I had my first legit, Caribbean coconut! The guy cuts it with a machete right in front of you and you drink the milk--so yummy!
This week was a bit wacko with not teaching very much, due to putting together the first joint Bella Vista/ Quisqueya activity! Us 4 Hermanas and a member, Hermana Cruz--the one I met while still in my last area--put on a super fun fiesta Hawaiana, and it was so worth it. Thursday night alone, we spent 5 hours cutting & making paper leis (which caused us to go slightly psycho). We got up the next morning and spent 2 more hours making them, then headed over to Hermana Cruz's house to eat breakfast and cook all the food for the activity until 3:30, went home for an hour to rest and get ready, decorated the church, and by 6:00, it was party time! And it was a total hit!! The Tongan Elder from my district did the Haka, we had games, a devotional, the dinner, and then a dance party! And Adolfo came! Man, what a blast:)
But we couldn't come home and crash because we had to wait up for President Nuckols to call--we all knew Hermana Balls was going to train, and we were right! Plus she's going to be the new Hermana Leader (her comp, the HL, goes home this week). Hermana Perez and I still had to wait for normal transfer calls the following night, but the burden was made lighter when the Cruzes came and brought us pizza and breakfast for Sunday morning! So sweet of them!
That afternoon (Saturday) was nutsy withe the rain--the streets were totally flooded and no one was out, but we decided to make a fun day out of it and reenacted "Singin' in the Rain" the whole time (well, I did):D We went to Yamilka's apartment (the golden investigator we found the other week) to teach her a second time, but a different lady answered the door and said she wasn't home. As we were leaving and almost out of sight of the apartment, Yamilka popped out of the window and yelled, "Hermanas, I'm here!!" and came out to bring us back in:) She had another million questions for us, had read the whole Restoration pamphlet,and invited the other young woman who lives with her and the 3 little kids to come listen. It was a super great lesson and so powerful when we taught the First Vision:) Yamilka asked about baptism concerning marriage; her "husband" has to work in New York right now and comes every 3 months to visit, but he's not religious, and Yamilka doesn't think he'll want them to get married by the law so that she can be baptized. I hope his heart can soften and he'll understand the importance of all this.
3 Nephi 13:7 "Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." With the astounding faith Yamilka has, I know the Lord will provide a way for her to be baptized:) The Lord will never forget us and can't wait to bless us! I know that to be true, and I hope you know how much I love you!
La Dominicana,
Hermana Randall
The district--all of the Americans will stay next transfer.
As a farewell present, Hermana Villegas cooked for the zone leaders and Elders from our district:)
Hermana Perez's investigator uncle works in our area, and he took us out to Cuban food today!
Las misioneras with fabulous Hermana Cruz!
This baby was the most adorable thing ever:)
At the temple with Hermana Perez
Mother's Day!