Tuesday, January 20, 2015

January 19, 2015 - Hello All

I hope everyone has enjoyed their week. It has been a good one here. Very hot but enjoyable and we worked really hard. We still aren´t seeing the success the way we want to but we know it will come.

We walk a lot and my feet are usually sore. Our house is in the middle of everything really, but the church is far away and the areas we are working in are way far away from each other. So anyway we just walk a lot. We are going to start taking buses for really long walks maybe, but it is hard because there aren´t many.

There is an area called Villa Tropicalia which has people who are pretty well off and well educated. We have some references from there and they seem to want to progress. I hope and pray that they can! We are working hard to get them to visit the church. We will see how it all goes. It is a well off area, where the power is almost 24 hours a day.

There is a member named Lorenzo who has a nice Lincoln Mountaineer. He is helping us. He is probably 65 but way funny. A little eccentric but a cool guy. He took us around a little bit and helped us out for some lessons. He loves to talk though. He speaks decent English, but has New York accent with a DR one so E. Frampton barely understands anything. I can do alright though. He usually gives us cake and orange juice which is way nice. We will keep working hard there.

Then we visited this family last night and it was an animal house. But literally. A parrot, little chicken, dog and cat all in the house. My comp was super grossed out haha. I just am used to it, though it wasn´t super great. Kind of a gross place to be. They weren´t super interested sadly (or maybe my comp was happy that we won´t go back.. who knows hehe).

So on Wednesday we went to the temple which was pretty great. I enjoyed it a lot. I got to see the newest film (I believe). We took some pictures before and after. I also got to eat free pizza. I talked to E. Turketo and he is doing well. I love that guy. He is training a missionary and is also District Leader. It was awesome to see him.

So we still have the date of the 31st with Yoscar (Pablo). He may have to move because of financial situations. So please keep him in your prayers so he can make it. I feel he should stay here but he truly has nothing and can´t find a job, though he wants one. We are praying hard for him. But I guess it is in the Lord´s hands after all. We will see how it turns out and if he can make it!

The Old Hymn book looks super cool! I have seen some cool Bibles here in the DR from years and years. Most not in great condition but cool to see.

Sounds like the sports situation is going crazy. Tough the Utes lost but they will keep playing well I hope! Awesome football ended number 21! and that Whit has a new contract with the U.

Oh so transfers are next week. I don´t think we will change but we have to be prepared for everything!

I am reading in D and C 50 now. A third of the way done!

Sad the Wagner's are moving. I have been thinking about them lately, and my buddy Oliver. I will have to visit them when I get back!

The cookies were still great. My comp loved them so thanks again mom! Coconut cream pie sounds so good Dad!

Today we played soccer at the mall Megacentro, in a fenced off parking lot part. I also ate taco bell and a mango shake. Pretty good. I bought some more souvenirs. I also saw some of the football highlights while we were eating in the food court.

Yes I plan to send a box home soon. I will work on it today. I am also working on letters. I got another from Aunt Theo. She sends a lot! Pretty cool. I love that lady.

I loved the Pray Always chapter in Ezra Taft Benson´s book. Super enjoyable. We are working to get more people at church still.

Well I think that is all. Love you tons and be safe!

--
Love,

Elder Chez Green




January 12, 2015 - Ello Lovelies!

I love you all a ton! Thanks for all you do for me! I am doing well here in the DR. Emailing a little early because we have a short P day today. It is because on Wednesday we are going to the temple in the morning! Wahoo! I am excited!

Today we bought empanadas from a member named Jessice (the ward mission leader´s wife). Then we went shopping. In the morning we cleaned the house and that is really our day for now. It was good and I enjoyed it a lot though it went by super fast!

The week has been full of a lot of work. We are working to get some people to progress. Melania is a new investigator who has come to church a couple times now. 

We also have Yoscar (pablo) who came to church again. We are still working hard to help him get baptized. He really wants to and said from now on he is going to keep the Sabbath day holy so we are excited for him. Hopefully the end of January now. That is the goal!

We had the ward council yesterday that went well. I enjoyed that a lot though it was long. We have some plans that I hope we can put into place. Other than that, the week has been full of walking a lot. My shoes are putting up and I should be fine. I try to rotate them but a lot of times I don´t like them all, just one pair. My Bostonian brand are my favorite and they are still doing alright for now.

We have gotten a lot of references and we are working hard to keep up the work. It is hard to keep it all going but I am enjoying. Lots of work here that is for sure but I am happy about that.

Yesterday I got to teach the primary kids. So poorly behaved wow.It was a mad house and difficult but I hope they got something out of it. Dominican kids do not behave well at all..

Awesome news the Utah Utes are number 9! Boo ya! Superbowl soon wow. I think I want Seattle or the Colts. RSL schedule out once again. Time really does fly by!

Cool Lhing will be visiting Utah! Tell her hi from me and her family.

My regards to Natalie Mortimer and her family. That is really hard I can imagine. Also regards to the Hoki family. I remember how nice and caring Kik was.

Funny Jay got homemade cookies for Christmas too. I still have a bag left for the coming week to enjoy!

Well I don´t think there is much else to say. All is good here in the DR: I am happy and enjoying it all!

My love to all!

--
Love,

Elder Chez Green


January 5, 2015 - Happy New Year!

Hello all,

I hope it has been a great time. A happy 2015 to everyone! It was pretty good for us! It was also E. Frampton´s birthday on the 3rd so we celebrated that before Fast Sunday. I made him some no bake cookies and his favorite lunch. I also found him some simple gifts.

Today to celebrate his birthday I bought him some pizza! Pizza Hut because he loves pizza. I also got a Philly cheese steak and we feasted. I am so full! wow. I also bought a couple souvenirs here so they should be pretty great. I will send a pic next week when I have all the stuff needed. We talked with some missionaries and it all turned out pretty good. We are so full though, wow!ª

At the mall I checked out an apple tech store, that was fun! Wow I am so behind on technology but it will be fun to see it all when I come back. I am excited to see all the changes (and a little scared too).

We also cleaned the house this week. We are waiting for the water to come back on to finish the dishes but it is pretty clean.

So I used some Lavender essential oils that Whitney sent me and wow it is good. I like the essential oils a lot. It is just a sample but it was nice.

On Tuesday we stopped by the mission offices and on the way back I saw the capital at night. That was a weird feeling, because I have never really seen that before, but it was cool.

Sounds like Utah is cold and it got a lot of snow! Fun stuff. Hee it is still just very hot.

I am reading Doctrine and Covenants now. I am in section 28. I am in Helaman in the Book of Mormon as well. Great books, you all need to read them!

Our area takes a lot of walking. I hope my shoes can last but it is good. We are trying to find the people ready to accept the gospel and to change their lives. It should be good though. The ward is helping a lot and we are working to meet the goals made by the ward.

Pablo aka Yoscar didn´t come to church again sadly, so we will see but the 17th won´t be it. Maybe the 24th but I doubt it too. He just needs to be firm in his decision and do it for the right reasons.

I also made 2015 goals which I am proud of. I also made eternal goals which comes from a talk by Elder Hales in the January Liahona (yes I have read the whole Liahona already). A good talk.

Hno Wilkins is the 1st counselor in the Bishopric.

I got letters from Dad, Aunt Theo and J.J. and Whitney as well. Thank you all for that! I appreciate it a lot.

I have seen pictures of JJ´s house via email. It is very nice and good looking. I am glad they enjoy it so much! I can´t wait to visit!

W o W is centro which means center or as in the case of the mall it is called Megacentro!

I am slowly eating all my Christmas food. So delicious. I am now trying to stop drinking soda here on the mission. I don´t really like it at all so I thought I would try. Juice and water is better.

hmmm oh cool experience. So on Saturday night we were going to visit a member and I had been to his house but the apartment buildings all looked the same. We passed one and I was sure it wasn´t it, but something told me to go visit. So we went up to the second level and then I was like, yep I knew it wasn´t it. Then a member came up the stairs and we talked to them. It turned out great because he is preparing for the mission and we gave his mom some peace of mind and they also have a reference for us. A cool experience. The spirit truly guides us!

I gave two surprise lessons on Sunday. One to the investigators and the other was to the Deacons and Teachers. No manual for the youth but I winged it and talked about fasting with them. It turned out alright I hope. I am grateful for my teachers in church I have had though. It isn´t easy but worth it.

Awesome Utah Basketball is 10 in the nation. Keep it up. I love the stadium! March is coming quickly!

Well sports world sounds great. I was wondering what I miss most, and sports would be at the top of that list. But all is good here. Very hot and a lot of walking. We are happy though!

Take care all! Happy new year!

--
Love,

Elder Chez Green


December 29, 2014 - Feliz Ano Nuevo

Hello Everyone. I hope everyone has a great and Happy New Year!

I got the packages and a lot of Christmas cards on Friday! I still haven´t gotten any Christmas letters but I know they will come.

So today we played some basketball on a wood floor there in the Stake Center. It was pretty fun, though the DR kids play pretty much prison rules. Lots of hacking and just running and throwing up junk. I miss playing with JJ and Jay and Jamie and the guys from the ward. But it is good stuff and I got nice exercise which is good. The court is pretty decent too. Running shoes aren´t the best for it but they work.

The Barlow Christmas party sounded fun as well as the Green one! The pictures I have seen from emails and cards are great! The families all look great. Keep it up!

So WoW is cancha which means court or field.

The package that I got is super great. I love my Scriptures, thank you Aunt Theo. I am enjoying the food a lot and the Utah shirt and flip flops too. My comp loved the cookies and I did as well. Nothing beats home made! A fun Christmas day after celebration.

We also did a white elephant exchange with the district and I made everyone no bake cookies. That was Friday. It was good. We had so much left over food that we invited the other Elders over from San Isidro and feasted. The work was a little slow because of the holiday. This week probably will be too but I hope all turns out!

We have a baptismal date for the 17th of Jan. with Pablo aka Yoscar. He didn´t come to church this week though sadly. We will keep working with him! We had a lot of less actives show up though, which was good!

We have some awesome leaders here in Villa Liberación and I am learning a lot from them. Hno Wilkins is great and is teaching me a lot. I played basketball with him today too. Just a great guy!

So there has been a lot of blasting music lately and sometimes it is hard to sleep but such is life here in the DR.

I am enjoying it and working hard. Our house is getting more clean and I have a lot to eat. It is nice to have our house all spic and span!

A truly great Christmas and Skype was awesome, Especially seeing Connor (and his bare bum at one point hehe).

I hear that JJ and Whit have an awesome house. I am glad the family got to go visit (well part)

This is my 2nd ward, as Los Mameyes was a ward too.

No new years plans yet. But I think we will not leave as much for safety and difficult to teach.

It has been a good week. They do sacrament meeting early here at 8:30 so we usually have to get up around 5:45 for meeting and such. We are doing well. The chapel really is great and I will work on a picture of the outside for sure.

I am grateful for all that I have. I am enjoying the mission and my testimony is growing more and more everyday. I hope I can be strong and withstand all the trials, temptations and tribulations but I know they are for a reason. I love you all so much. Have a safe and enjoyable new year please!!

Lots of love to all those that are reading!

--
Love,

Elder Chez Green

December 22, 2014 - Hola todos! Feliz Navidad!

Hi everyone!

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! 

So I haven´t gotten any packages or Christmas cards except for the one from Grandma. But that is alright. The 26th I will hopefully get some packages and if not I can open stuff on New Years! Wahoo but no biggy. I am excited.

I hope everyone loves their Christmas and keeps the traditions going. I will do my best from here! No orange rolls here though sadly. But I will enjoy it.

Mom and Dad and Shantaye enjoy the trip to see JJ and Whitney. That is super awesome! I hope you enjoy it!

So my comp is Elder Frampton from Farmington Utah. He went to Viewmont and graduated in 2013.

Our new area is about an hour away from Valiente with traffic and what not. Maybe less. It is about 45 min away from the capital I would say. It is like a suburb. There are a lot of apartment buildings.

Good news. We have the best church building in the country! It is so nice. An indoor Gym with wood floor! Wow it is like a Stake Center back home. But it is about 35 to 40 minutes form our house walking which makes it a little inconvenient. And harder to get investigators to come to church. But the members are awesome and helping us a lot. The bishop is a great guy and I have already become friends with the 1st counselor.

The church is in an area called Almirante. Our zone is Hinamosa. My 4th zone and 4th area in he mission!

We had the Christmas Party on Friday night and it was delicious. I am sending pics!

The Mission tour is just when someone comes to talk to us, usually a General Authority.

The White Elephant sounds like it went great. Hilarious that Dad got the Gnome! haha wow

So the Pimentel family had their interview and passed I heard but the marriage may be a problem because they are missing a document. I hope it can happen in the morning so it all turns out great!

Awesome that Utah won the bowl game! Wahoo go Utes and basketball is doing well too. Sweet!

Sad the Eagles are struggling. Hope they can get back into it. A lot of changes for RSL. That is sad but part of the business. Hope we can keep it up, but we will see. A lot of key players have left again.

Oh big news. Next year the Islands will be taken into a new mission. Trinidad and Tobago. That will be crazy. Just found out 2 weeks ago! Wow!

We had to clean the house a lot in this past week. It was a huge mess but it is now much better. It is a house with just the 2 of us which is sweet. More peace and calm. I am excited for it.

W o W is somaforo which is stop light!

Well I think that is all! I love you tons!

Merry Christmas to all. Remember the season! Enjoy it all!

--
Love,

Elder Chez Green