Mom,

     Do you want to know what we did for P-day??????????? WE WALKED AND HIKED FOR EIGHT HOURS. Fun right? I thought for sure I would die on the path and just told them to bury me. I'm actually in a lot better shape now with having to walk everywhere every day. I at least did it! Yeah we were looking for a cave that was SUPPOSED to be amazing. I was convinced that it was imaginary. We got lost and in all spent 8 hrs on that freaking mountain. I'm so tired and we haven't even gone teaching yet. Hey, this might have to be short because something happened with Hna Calderon.  I need to go.  Love you! Ask Daniel for his email to get a little of my week.  I'll try to email Dad real fast. Te quiero mucho!

Love Leah

Hey Dad,

      This has to be fast because something is going on with my companion. We're teaching some good families this week that we have a lot of hope for. For the first time I talked more in a lesson than Hna Calderon! Whoo hoo! Also, I attempted to cook for myself and only made ramen and then found worms in it after I was almost completely done with it.  NOT OKAY! ALSO IT WAS WAY MORE SAD because I had to learn how to light a match and then the stove, without burning myself.  That's what I get for trying to cook. Love you.
Leah

Daniel,

     I FOUND AND ATE WORMS IN MY FOOD THIS WEEK! NOT OKAY! Hna. Calderon made me down a coke afterwards because supposedly that kills everything.   Sooooo...…I might have a parasite or maybe they were just worms, not a clue…I think I'll name him Stewart if He's going to live in my body. So anyways... yeah that was way gross. Love you! Oh and the weather here is only a nice temperature when its raining. So it's either you can be wet from sweat or rain.  There is so no in between!   Love you!

Leah 

     Daniel had more emails from the past few weeks with some good stuff in them that he forwarded along to us.  Hopefully Leah will get the hang of a group email:-)
Andrea


Daniel,

     I saw the coolest thing this week! We had this guy we were teaching and the first lesson was a disaster becasue the old man couldn't get past prophets and the whole time the thought just kept coming to me that maybe if we taught the P.O.S. it would be a better way in. So we went back for another lesson and Heavenly Father really softened his heart! He said straight up that he decided that he´d bothered us too much the last time and that he´d listen better this time. So we actually could see him struggle internally!  We could see he felt the spirit and how it made him uncomfortable and he just didn´t want to acknowledge it! BUT HE FELT IT! We saw it! Super cool! Anyways love you!

Leah pot

    Everyone believes in Jesus and everyone will let you in.  We really are only allowed to eat with members on Sundays because we can get sick, but if they offer for other times we still go and get fed. People are in the streets constantly and it's LOUD ALWAYS.  Between the car horns and the music its always loud, even until the middle of the night! I'm fantastic at bucket showers now!

      Honestly the bucket showers are pretty funny! I'm pretty dang good at them! This week we had almost no water, so I've been trying to do laundry for a week to no avail....thats annoying but it's fine.   At least we dont have any major bugs in our apartment! I only found a cockroach in my shower the size of a toy car once! IT WAS GROSS! Anyways... as far as weird food goes- we went to this place to eat after district meeting and a Dominican elder told me that another thing an elder had been eating was ……..wait…….., wait for it……….. CAT……..no joke! And then he asked if I wanted to try it and I said no. Yes, I know it's good to try things, but I draw the line at freaking cat! Anyways love you! 

Leah

Hello Everyone!

     All right, this week we got to clean the chapel, which includes throwing horrendous amounts of water everywhere and then sweeping it out with a broom. Haha-no carpet in these chapels. Also we had to go in and clean the baptismal font for a baptism. Hna. Calderon and I were in the font with soap and brooms scrubbing it while it was partway full, while the elders watched. Then when they did decide to help us, we ended up soaked as we had water pored all over us! Then later we were decorating the chapel for the baptism and we saw that the font was draining, so Hna C. told me to wade in and fix the stopper thing. IN A SKIRT! Thank goodness there was no one there! I couldn't even fix it, so she had to get in too and we just stood there and laughed as our skirts were hiked up to our hips. Quite the experience... Also we went and painted a girls room pink! I think we came home covered in more paint than the room!

     Hna C said that I have actually started to teach our investigators principles instead of just bearing my testimony! And she only has to explain to me what is going on some times! I'm working on being bold in the message I am here to share and my missionary purpose. I'm working on feeling no shame when I speak. I'll never learn the language if I don't talk.  So now I just talk and make mistakes and move on!

       OH YEAH AFTER ONE OF OUR LESSONS WE SAW A PROPOSAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are going to get married.  After we talked about how God is our loving Heavenly Father and how the gospel blesses families, he got down on his knee and proposed to the lady! Then he told Hermana Calderon to set a date!!!! Guess who's going to a wedding on May 2nd? THIS GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!

Love you guys!

Leah

Family and Friends,

     Leah had a rough entry into mission life in Santiago.  She was physically sick as well as dealing with the stress and anxiety of a new culture and language.  She seems to be doing better and I am cutting and pasting some excerpts from her emails home.

Andrea

Hey mom!

     Yeah I'm fine! This week was good! I had my major melt down, but now I'm pretty okay, I think. Every day is hard, don't get me wrong, but it is now just normal missionary frustrations...language and teaching and constanltly being exhausted.  As far as the anxiety goes I'm dealing with it and learning to replace my fear of change with faith. Dad's email to me last week was incredible and he gave me some amazing advice! He hit every single thing I was worried about and helped to calm my worries. I read it every morning! 

     I got the first package!!!  Thank you!  Mom I've lost a lot of weight….I'm learning how to learn to eat, rather than live to eat. Then again we are just running on coke and whatever we buy at the colmado as meals currently….I've never been too tired to eat but I am when I get home! We work right through dinner and then I just go to bed! On the bright side my yoga pants are super cute on me! And I wore my hair down today because we aren't proselyting until 6 and went out with people in our district.  I got hissed at a lot.... totally awkward when you´re walking next to your district leader and people start yelling rubio Linda and hissing... He told me men who do that are called snakes.  I didn't wear make up for the first week and a half because I was a basket case and I pretty much shocked the elders in my district when I actually wore make up and did my hair. One of them said you are not the person we played bball with this morning.....that was funny.... Dominicans are very blunt.....So now whenever we all go out the elders hiss and yell rubio to make fun of me....haha it's funny. They made me practice looking the other way when people hiss because you are not supposed to acknowledge it. You're supposed to just keep walking, which is what I already do, but they made me practice...=) It's funny you'd think the people here have never seen a white person...... actually I had kids point at me in the streets with wide eyes. So... yeah there´s that. But you know me its not like I mind attention.=) The reactions are mainly just funny.   Oh do you want to send me some fun stickers? That would be nice! Thanks mom I love you!

Leah

Hey Dad!

     Way better this week! Went way faster and now that I'm not sick every morning it is a lot easier to start the day and get through the mornings. I had a cool experience.  We visited this lady who is less active and she was telling us how she is sick and doesn't understand why and how she tried to commit suicide, but knew it was wrong. But she still wanted too and thought about it.  And it was super tender because I just sat there only half knowing what was going on and just feeling so strongly that I needed to tell this lady that I knew God loved her and that he would give her strength. And I just bore my testimony of that and it was really sweet because even though I can't completely speak I still have that simple knowledge and that can make a world of difference. Also General conference was amazing! That talk by elder Uchtdorf was an answer to my prayers! I saw it in english too! Also at the stake center half of it is kind of outside. Like you go outside from the chapel and walk to the classrooms.  Anyways a man rode his motercycle right on in! it wasn't technically in the chapel,  but it kind of was...it was funny! I love you!

Leah

Leah left the MTC yesterday.  She is now in Santiago. 

Departing Group Picture

Here are some address's.

Letters:

Hermana Leah Carey

SDQ 8013

PO Box 025725

Miami, FL 33102-5725

Packages:

Hermana Leah Carey

SDQ 8013

2250 NW 114th Ave. Unit 1A

Miami, FL 33172-3652

Hello Everyone!

     This week has been...interesting…good….. I GOT TO GO INTO THE FIELD LAST FRIDAY AND TOMORROW AS WELL! It's pretty different here. :) It dawned on me that you guys totally have no idea what it is like doing this! Can you even imagine being dropped into a foreign country and NO ONE speaking English? It was a funny thought for me. I guess I'm just the first one in our family to have this adventure!:) SUPER COOL THOUGH! 

     The field was way stressful! It kind of just makes you feel inadequate.  They say that no one knows anything after the ccm anyway, so I'm trying not to worry! Haha, my companions that were on splits with me were both AMERICAN! I was way excited for that! I got put with them and thought "thank goodness prayers are answered!" I could use someone who speaks English! 

      I have a tan line on my arms which is cool.  But still sad because I'm still really pale. I got told while in el campo(the field) that I need to go outside more and that I glow! Haha thanks! 

     Mom, remember how you said taxi rides are scary in New York city? HAHAHAHAHA, try it here. We all smash into an itty bitty car.  One of my companions was on my lap and two people were in the front seat and then they just go! Seven people in a five person car scrunched together! There is a reason they don't let us drive here, it's because we would all die! I don't know whether or not Dominicans are really good drivers or really bad...because in the terms of the law they'd get arrested, but the fact that they can all weave in and out of lanes and still not hit anyone is amazing! It was funny! 

     Also, in a visiting teaching thing we do here, the people we taught (this is back when we are in the CCM) said I gave an excellent prayer and I explained how we can magnify our callings really well IN SPANISH! Yup. I did that!

      I had and amazing exit interview with the CCM Pres Freestone, he said that he could see me transform after that first week and how he saw me look out towards others to help other girls who were struggling. I told him about my temple experience and he got all teary eyed! He said he wanted  me to write about my experiences of the first week and how I overcame them through the Lord's help.   He said he wanted to put that into the CCM's records because it was a big event. And then when other missionaries are struggling, it will be there in the records for them to read and help them! SO COOL!

    Before I forget I am in el campo in Santiago for REAL next week. We leave on Tuesday.  I was told that my new p-day would be on Wednesday so keep a look out. No idea of time or anything.  I'm actually going to cry a ton this next week.  My companions and I have really bonded and I'm going to be heartbroken to leave them and all the other girls in my district! This will be a rough week! 

      Anyways those were some highlights of the week. I have only kind of skimmed the emails so far!

Love you!

Leah

Hello Everyone,

      This week flew by, though nothing new has really happened.  I have gotten 4 dear elders from Mom! Thanks! One last week and 3 today but I haven't read them yet.  Also is time going fast or slow for you guys? Time has started to speed up for me, so just curious. 

      So...highlights of the week. They feed us cough drops for candy...that's kinda funny. Also we had boiled plantains with Velveeta fake cheese and spam for dinner one day, that was....gross. MOM, you have no idea what a real mango is supposed to taste like! I hated mango in the US, but its amazing when it's on a tropical island! SO SWEET! 

       I have only spent money that we took out of my account before I left,  so I haven't touched my account. I got a cheap back pack for like 3 1/2 dollars... that was cool,  I'll have to get a better one eventually but for now it's OK. It'll last until I get to Santiago.

      Oh yeah! Ha ha, I thought singing in Spanish was hard?  Just add in an excited group of Haitians singing in French at the same time! :)  I have gone to Spanish endowment sessions and a French sealing! COOL! 

      That's all I've got because, nothing else happened.  I'm not even kidding. We went to the store and I bought a Snickers bar, so that was a highlight of my week. Oh, and the MTC president's wife is hemming two of my longer skirts. That's pretty much it. Next week I'll have a lot more to say because tomorrow I go out in the field for half the day for practice!

Love,

-Leah

Pictures are Brother Yordan's sister Grace and her family :-) the temple grounds, Elders in my district and companions.

 

 

Hello everyone!

     This week was good... for the most part there are always hard days but I had some funny experiences! First of all it is freezing cold in the CCM! Sure wish I brought a sweater! I got so sick of it I wore my blanket from my bed to class! Everyone kept asking me if I was sick! Finally I remembered that I have my raincoat thing.  So I'm now kind of warm, but I really clash in my patterns! So, my first week doing the laundry I washed my green sweater with my red dress! It's now like gross brown green so that's kind of funny!

     So in spanish our last name means turtle and or something in the turtle family.   I saw someone make the "awkward turtle sign" and I thought that's what they were doing for my name and so when I was in a lesson with an "investigator" I was trying to explain my name in my limited spanish. Not until much later did I learn that the sign I tried to make has quite a different meaning....I pretty much did  the equivalent of flipping some one off and calling them gay. Go Leah! 1st discussion off to a great start!

     I also fell asleep during personal study! I've never done that before! Last sunday we all fell asleep during personal time and  we were woken up by the the ccm president's wife using her key to walk in and let us know that we were missing our doctrine class. Now that Sister Freestone kind of scares the living daylights out of everyone...so yeah, we ran to class! One of the elders said  that the funniest part was that we all came in with lines on our faces! Great example we set for the new district!

     DAD!!! I ATE SPAM. Not as bad as you think but then again once is enough!  Love you!

Love,

Leah