Mom,

    This week was a little hard.   Some days are still hard and I'm learning to choose to be happy.  It has been really hard this week because I'm white, blond and American.  I got told a lot that I don´t know what hard work is, how to work, and that I have never had any real problems.  That's hard because people here just judge me for what I look like and so they automatically think we have nothing in common that they can't really trust me and so it's hard to build relationships with the people especially because even though I can somewhat communicate I can't really show them who I really am still. And it's not just the investigators, but the ward members too.....so that's hurt a lot this week.   If I could really show them who I am I know they'd like me more.   Or at least trust me more but the ward members  have already judged us as American and aren´t willing to change their minds. Also if you don´t clean like a Dominican it is wrong- bottom line. So that's irritating...especially because they are SUPER inefficient....but I'm learning how to clean like a Dominican....

Love you.

Leah

Dad,

     I've never experienced being judged purely based on what you look like. And I can now say that after living here for almost 5 months I have been judged more in that way then in my entire life.... but other that that we had an incredible opportunity to serve people this week.   I have been praying this week to be in the right place and in the right time so that we can be where He wants us to be and help someone, and He provided! It was really cool! We helped a contact I had made about a month ago with a member clean her house.   And she said she had been wondering how on earth she would do all that work in her house when we showed up.  And then we shared with her after! She said that she knows God sent us to her to help and the scripture Hna C. shared was the exact same scripture that she had been given 30 yrs before by some other christian missionaries right after her daughter had died. It was the "can a mother forget her child" scripture that is also in Isaiah and it was so special. She said that she had been thinking of me and wondering if she´d see me again and here we were.  Amazing that one contact can make a difference in someones life! Love you. Send this to mom!

Leah