December 15, 2014 - Hello All

So I am headed to a new area. I am sad because I wanted to be here with the Pimentel Family as they are getting prepared for the 27th of December. But such is life and I am off.

I will be going to Villa Liberacion. It is in the Stake of Hinamosa. I will be training once again. So it should be good. I will be starting the area up from scratch it looks like so wish me luck and that we can find a lot of families. I will be there tomorrow.

So this week we had the Mission Tour and Elder Cornish came and spoke. He taught us about the Atonement and it was so awesome. I learned so much! It was very spiritual and I am so grateful for the opportunity.

Elder Cornish made some pretty good jokes, we asked him doctrine questions and he taught us a ton. Pres. Corbitt also taught us a lot. We got fed and I also got a Flu Shot!

So we also had our Branch Christmas get together. It was alright. Nothing huge but the Pimentel family came and some less actives which was good! I took a lot of pictures with the members because I was pretty sure that I was leaving the area. Turns out it is true. But I love the people here. A big part of me did not want to leave!

Then today I started packing and we also went to find more info about the marriage. We now have all the info. It's just about getting all the documents ready and the appointment set. But I think we are good to go. Pres. Corbitt said that I could probably come back to see the baptism of the Pimentel Family in his letter to me today so that would be super awesome!

Uh what else. Well I am all packed. I have so much stuff wow haha. I need to get rid of stuff but I have the genes like me dad and I like to save!

W o the W is buho which is an owl. I learned that this week!

No snow? Wow that is crazy! I hope we get it in Utah.

Awesome that Utah beat BYU in Provo!

I am glad the Christmas letters all made it! That was fast!

Well that is all for now. I love all my friends and family! Be safe all please. Remember the Lord is always there for us and his ¨Grace is sufficient¨. Of that I truly testify everyday and have seen it on my mission. He can save and heal all of us. Only through Jesus Christ is there Salvation. I know the Lord has a plan for all of us! Lots of love!

Love,

Elder Chez Green

December 8, 2014 - Hello Family!

Well I think I forgot to tell you guys a W o W so this week it is Dádiva which means gift, but it is more of a religious word. Él es la Dádiva is the inicitive we are telling everyone about.

So it´s Christmas time, and that means time to wear Christmas ties. I wore mine for the first time on Thursday! I love the He is the Gift video and we have showed it to a lot of people here. I hope they keep seeing it and enjoying it. We are hoping to help people come unto Christ this Christmas. It is hard here though because people really like to drink and what not. But I can still feel the Christmas spirit!

We are still working with the Pimentel family in order to achieve the goal for Dec 26th to get married. I hope and pray we can achieve it!

Luis David got called as the teacher Quorum Pres. which is pretty sweet!

This week I did an exchange which was enjoyable and I got to know some of the investigators in the other area of Bocachica. We played some chess during the night as well and that was pretty cool. I like chess though I am not super great.

So transfers are next week. We will see what happens. A lot of people think I will go to a new area because I have a lot of time here but we will see. Our area needs some new people to help us out again. We are doing what we can though. 

Awesome about Utah Basketball beating number 8! Super cool! Keep it up! And the Utes in a bowl game! Wahoo! We gotta beat Colorado St. in Vegas too.

I hope you all have awesome Christmas houses now! Ours doesn´t have much, except for my mini Christmas tree but it looks good!

Today I used a face mask and we just relaxed in the house. It was super nice and I loved that!

So I was reading about Israel Barlow and our family history in a book mom sent me like last year. So good wow! I love reading about our family history! I want the 17 page article about Grandpa if possible! I remember you all talking about it!

I was also wondering if Aunt Theo has a biography? Just curious.

Ah well all is well. I have been doing just fine! We also talk with one family of members and they are some of my favorites. I want to visit them again for sure. He is the ward mission leader. It is the family Lireano. Such great members and so faithful! Love them so much!

Well I am just being happy and doing my thing here. I hope to finish the puzzle you guys gave me today maybe haha. I finished the temple part but I was lazy with the sky and tress. Ah such is life here in the mission. So little time haha.

We played some dominoes as well. Well I love you all! Be safe and smile big!

Love,

Elder Chez Green

December 1, 2014 - Hello All!

Hi Everyone!

Well this week has gone by well. At times it seems fast but other times it is so slow.

Mom I got the Liahona. Thanks so much. And for the letter!

So we got Hno Marion and his sons to attend the baptism this Saturday which was pretty awesome. They came to church (except for the mom because her daughter just gave birth and she was taking care of her). Then we had a lesson with them that night. And the big news is....

They decided to get married! They want us to find out all the requirements so that they can take the step. They are now shooting for the end of December! We will see what happens. Just because of them I don´t want to leave but we will see how it all works out in the end. They decided that if it was just civil marriage, then they could do it. And we are hoping we can do the baptism with them right after that! I pray we can get it with them, no matter if I am in the area or not. They are a great family!

Other than that we are working to find people who are truly prepared and interested. We found a cool guy named Nicholas who read all the pamphlet we gave him. Now he just needs to have an open heart and pray about it.

I have been enjoying the conference talks a lot. I read the one by M. Russell Ballard about the prophets and the organization and I learned a lot. I did that today as my comp got a haircut. I got one as well!

The Christmas Spirit is starting for me and here in the DR (though there isn´t any snow...) The church has a program we are using called El es la Dádiva or He is the Gift. They are using it world wide to invite people to come to Christ. The video is awesome. You should all watch it and share it with friends and family and try to invite new people as well. It is at christmas.mormon.org and only like 3 minutes. We are trying to get all the branch involved to help us out!

We had a meeting in the capital about the He is the Gift program. Then on Thursday my comp had to get a blood test cause he has been sick. We stayed home for one day sadly. I hate staying in the house. Makes you homesick and feel lazy.

Church was good. I got another surprise talk and a surprise lesson. We are some of the few Priesthood holders in the branch so we have a lot of responsibility. 

The trip sounds good! I am glad the rental care was a better choice. Lucky you got to see Connor. Can´t wait to meet that kid!

For Thanksgiving I made no bake cookies. They were delicious. I also made some more today because the district came over. They were good and I am super full now. No turkey here as it is very expensive. Sad day. I had some mashed potatoes at the zone thing and some pumpkin cake though. The best I could do here in the DR

Utah had some close games for sure. Awesome we are 25, even without a good offense. I hope we make a good and winnable bowl game.

Christmas season is here. Sounds like you are all prepared!

Oh, go Eagles. That is awesome!

Well I think that is all for now. I love you all! I am praying for you all! Be safe and smile big!

Love,

Elder Chez Green

November 24, 2014 - Hawaii was a Success!

First off, I got the package thanks a ton mom and dad. I enjoyed my picture book a lot. It brought back a lot of good memories wow. I truly miss my soccer team. That was some amazing times. It was great seeing the pictures of the temple as well and some others like seminary graduation. I also enjoyed reading my farewell talk. It is still weird to see the ward bulletin with Ron Mortimer´s name as Bishop but it is awesome!

So our activity was a great success. We had about 70 people show up. The only problem was getting people´s information. That didn´t work out but it was super fun. So much work though. We spent all of Friday and Saturday getting it ready. But it turned out super great! I was very happy that it turned out so well. Our mission President showed up at the end to give a small message as well. We had a great turn out and we showed the airplane and acted as if it crashed, then took the people through 3 rooms, representing each of the three glories. A lot of people liked it and had good questions. I was very happy with how it turned out but it was so much work! We had a less active who is super good at art help us make it all happen. He is a professional artist. It was super great!

We have been visiting the Pimentel family still and they are doing well, though marriage is still up in the air. 

Other than that we are trying to find new people and still working hard here! We really are trying to get the branch more stable and hopefully it will keep improving. I believe the Branch Pres. will be here every week from now on! A strong member named Eduardo got married in the temple with another member and they both have moved now sadly. But we are doing well here in Valiente. We will see what Thanksgiving and Christmas bring us though I am not sure if I will be here in Christmas.

A sad thing is our recent convert  has stopped coming to church and she hasn´t accepted our visits. That is really hard but I hope she can feel our love and the Lord´s love.

I finished reading Jesus the Christ. It was a very good book and I enjoyed it a lot! Now I am reading all the conference talks. I love the example by Elder Andersen about putting on your oxygen mask first. The talk by Pres. Uchtdorf about nature and light of a testimony is great too. And I enjoyed the talk by the sister on sacrament as well!

It has been a week that goes by pretty fast. Sometimes it is difficult to remember the good stuff. José Lusid and Marilin came to the activity which was good. We keep working with them. We are just doing our best out here and trying to improve everyday!

Too bad the Utes lost. Sounds like offense is a struggle. I hope we can beat Colorado! I hope the bball team keeps advancing and winning. The tournament sounds way cool.

I hope the trip turns out well for everyone for Thanksgiving!

Oh I went on an exchange with a new Elder Graff. His cousin served here and I knew him. He is a cool guy and I enjoyed teaching with him. It was a spiritual exchange but enjoyable.

W o W is grua which means crane. It came about telling a random made up story to Elder Ernst in the house. Ah the house is going well. I am happy. I love you all so much. Thanks for everything and all the support!

Love,

Elder Chez Green

November 17, 2014 - Temple!

Hi Family,

As you can see from the title line, we went to the temple this week with our branch. As missionaries we got to help as witnesses and to help with confirmations. It was pretty cool. The best part for me and the most special was that Luis David came. He got to participate in vicarious baptisms and that was pretty awesome! It is truly a miracle that I got to see this day and I hope and pray to help other investigators get baptized and go to the temple, because we all know that is the real goal. Temple attendance! I am very grateful for that opportunity!

Yesterday we had all of the Pimentel family but the mom because she was busy in the house. We talked about marriage with them and they said that they still need to talk about it as a couple. They want to be baptized but the marriage is the big thing. They also need to stop drinking coffee. We pray that they can get to the 13th of December but we will see. I am very grateful for them as a family to work with. They are reading (the dad mostly) and the kids are enjoying it they said.

At the temple store we bought them a bible and a triplet so that they can have them to study from. I pray that they will make the decision to get married. We need to find out the prices and such to see how much it will cost them.

We are also working with a less active named Angel and the lesson we had with him was super great. Very spiritual and he said that he could feel our love for him and the Lord´s love for him. He didn´t come on Sunday sadly but we are still working with him so he can get his life back on track!

I got the photos from Am and a letter from Dad. Thanks a million for that!

On Sunday I gave the lesson for the investigators and I gave a talk. The attendance with our investigators was really low. We are trying to do our best with helping the branch.

Last Wednesday we had a meeting in the capital which went well. After that we went with the Encarnacion Family and watched the Joseph Smith movie. I believe they enjoyed it but sadly none of them came to church on Sunday and I don´t think they will get to the 20th of December date. They don´t seem to be putting in enough effort to get an answer.

We also shared the movie with the Pimentel family and that went great. Yes so we watched the movie twice in a row. It was very good though and I love that family. They are great! It was spiritual and that way the kids could get involved as well.

Today we went to the capital and my comp bought some stuff. I didn´t really want anything though I need to start thinking about cool souvenirs in a couple months.

This week I have been a little sick with a cold (I think because I got wet from the rain..) but we just keep going.

Awesome that Utah beat Stanford. Sounds like we are a great defensive team this year!

The work this week was a little tough but we have an awesome activity coming up on Saturday. It is called ¨A trip to Hawaii¨and we have been inviting everyone. We are going to decorate the church on Friday and we pray that it will turn out great! I will see if I can forward on the invitation that was made.

Ah what else. Oh W o W is estirar which means to stretch. That is a good one.

Oh my comp says hi to everyone BTW! Be safe to all. I hope the families and extended families are all doing well! Lots of love to all!

Love,

Elder Chez Green