Mom,

      So.........I'm gonna tell you something but you have to promise not to freak out.=)   I got to go to the hospital! But not for anything major.  They just send everyone to the hospital for anything!  It was for my eye! It got a million times worse!  But I'm getting better now!  They gave me a FREAKING IV! Yea, I was a little stressed about that and it made me cry and then the nurse asked me in her broken English "you is baby?...... Then be quiet!" But it is okay now.  I told her she was mean and then we were friends afterwards.=)

     I don't know what's wrong with it.  It has just been infected for a long time and they gave me and anti inflammatory in the IV.   They use IVs for everything here but I guess they do work faster. Yup that was mean of her, I'd just gotten stabbed by a needle and then she told me to be quiet!

     I  didn't do a letter, but i just told you the most exciting thing that happened this week! I was in a 3rd world hospital! Whoo Hoo! Also I bought a giant ball bigger than my face this week and bubbles! 

Love,

Leah

Last weeks email and this week.  

 Hey Mom!

       So... Hna Calderon went home today! Last night the other two sisters that live in our house came with us to the mission home and we had an amazing last dinner before she left.  Then she had her interview and President let us watch movies almost all night! Frozen and Monsters University! SO FUN! We had one big giant sleep over the last night! But this morning was hard and today has been hard. Five months! wow! And now she goes and sees her family tonight! I can't even believe it! I cried SO much today! Especially with it in the middle of the transfer things are super difficult now and I'm kind of working the area by myself somewhat... Well I guess God let me keep her long enough for a reason!=) But she called from New York just a minute ago! She hates all the English! Ha ha!  Ask dad about my companion situation going on. It will be interesting! Hna Calderon and I have had so much fun and now this truly is heartbreaking! I have never had to say goodbye to so many people in my life! So many HARD goodbyes! But I will see that girl in one year! She goes to BYUI so, I will see her in a year=) This will be pretty hard but this is what Heavenly Father wants me to go through right now so I will be fine.  I love her so much! Anyways that was the big thing that happened, the rest has just been teaching, saying goodbye and whatnot.  But I will make Hna Calderon proud! Love you mom!

Leah

Companion situation....I have sister leaders in my house. They are temporarily splitting them up and giving me one and giving the other a mini missionary (kid who lives in the area who hasn't gone to the ccm and is pretty much just your shadow while they look for a real companion)

Hello everyone!

     Well this has been the slowest week of my entire life but good too! Our investigator finally came to church which was a miracle! I got to sing in the ward conference choir, and I was in the sketchiest guagua ride of my entire life! Man... those guaguas to Los cocos! Then a man got in with a giant bag full of chicken feet leaking blood and other liquids! Yay!

      I had a fun time leading my area.   It was really cool to be able to be 100% happy.  Trying to do everything that Hna Calderon had taught me and see my people progress a little bit! I have spoken so much Spanish this week!  I'm in a house full of only Latinos now so that's funny! Man, speaking Spanish at six thirty in the morning is rough! But its better now!

       Hna Reveron and I had a special lesson with one of our menos activos because just the week before she had given birth and her baby had died. It was amazing to be there and tell her that her baby is safe and happy and that he was waiting for her. We also had another amazing lesson where Hna Guzman and I shared the purification of the silver story and it really hit our menos activo really hard. Look up that story because it is amazing! We felt the spirit really strongly and felt like we gave him what he needed at the right moment!

      I made pancakes today covered in nutella and sweetened condensed milk! That was amazing! YUM!=) Anyways it was super hard to say goodbye but good to see that I have progressed since I first got here and that I didn't freak out! YAY, go me! I love you! 

     I did a funny service this week I forgot to tell you! We found a spider the size of my face and then a rat and then a lot of cockroaches and the elders tried to play baseball with the rat as the ball! GROSS!!!!! Then we painted a school for little kids with lead paint! YAY! go DR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yep that was funny!  Anyways those are the highlights of the week!

Love you! 
Hna Carey

Hi everyone!

     Okay, so this week was good!  It is transfer week! I´m still with Hna Calderon until she goes home in threes weeks in the middle of the transfer! She's going home just a little early to start school right away! I´m nervous for the change but I guess the time has come! Funny story! I had to eat the insides of a goat this week! GROSS! Well she only made me try it.....we had to tell her we were just too darn full from all of her other wonderful food that we didn't have any room for more! DON´T EVER EAT MONDONGO! ITS BAD! dumb goats..... ugh=) Just another journal entry!=) 

     Also we had an incredible lesson this week. It was all completely guided by the spirit! We started off with prayer, shared a scripture about faith and ended with me giving a baptismal invitation completely unplanned and it all just worked out! She even said yes that she would be willing to get baptized if she received and answer! It really was super special! We felt the spirit so strong and she did too.  She told us that we are different  and that we transmit this peace into her home. She says that she can tell that we are happy and she is just wonderful!

      Transfer came and a lot of people changed and I had to say goodbye to a really good friend that has helped me since day one. That is hard. The mission is all about change, and learning to change and learning not to resist it but to do the will of the father so that He can shape you into the person that He wants you to be. That is something that I really am learning. I hope that I can embrace all the changes that are coming and face them head on! I'm so grateful to be learning here! I´m learning everyday how much I need my Heavenly Father and how many weaknesses I have. I know without a doubt that we have weaknesses for a reason and that we cannot do this by ourselves! I know that this is God´s church on the Earth and that it is true. I know that my Savior loves me and that he has giving an amazing gift of the atonement that we have to take advantage of.  I know I´m doing God´s work and that I have people waiting for me that I told I would find. I'm grateful that I can have this opportunity to grow and be shaped and be put through the refining fire. I love you all!

Hna. Carey

Dear everyone!

     This week was good! We were invited to our mission house with our sister leaders to a family home evening! We took familia Guzman and they loved it! We talked all about eternal marriage and the plan of salvation! Afterwards they were hugging and it was the cutest thing ever! I got my package! YAY! Thank you for that! Everything there was fabulous! Everyone made fun of me though because they called me a pharmacy. But I sure proved them wrong when Hna Calderon got a giant stress knot in her neck and started walking crooked and I gave her some Ben-gay and she felt better! HA! Anyways that's all that happened this week pretty much! Love you guys!

Hna Carey

Dear mom,

     So this week sure was interesting.....Hna. Calderon had parasites so we had to go to a Dominican Clinic (which is better that a hospital) and eesh....never want to go there ever again! That was not a fun experience. And two and a half days just in one room! NOT FUN. 

     Yes I did get my hair trimmed! But they sure are not used to cutting blond hair! I´m going to let it grow my whole mission and then see how it looks with trims of course though! You know how you can see every cut? Well you can just see that in the front part so I have to pin up my ¨bangs¨ My scalp is doing better! Tea tree shampoo is amazing! I love it so much and it smells like home! Mom I really just want to tell you that I love you so much and appreciate everything that you do and have done for me! You have been an amazing example to me of who I want to become! I love you!

     Things I've learned......I´ve learned to be more confident with myself and how I walk(not trying to hide anymore as much) and that yep sometimes things suck, but we can always learn to adapt to that. I've learned to make food for myself with out a microwave and even a fridge for a while.  I have learned SO much patience and love! Also learning to open up about problems and fixing them instead of letting them eat at me.  Oh yeah and to have fun and laugh every chance you can or else time will go slower!  All good things to learn

Dear Dad,

      I got to meet someone super amazing today. Just one of those people who has an incredible spirit to them and makes you want to be a better person. He was one of Hna Calderon´s first baptisms and his name is Robinson and he is Haitian and is amazing! His story is amazing and he is just a testament to how the gospel blesses people. He told us how he prays for food because he´s hungry and how Heavenly Father provides for him. You know we are so blessed. I  have never in my life had to pray for food because there was literally nothing and he has to do that regularly. He sometimes goes days without eating. And yet he still has an incredible testimony that is stronger than people who have been members for years. He is one strong person! He was amazing and I barely know him and I already love him.  I feel like my life has been blessed by meeting him today.=) Anyways I love you a lot dad!



They bought fabric and had a lady make them matching skirts for $10.00 each.

The Bishops son posed with them because his yellow tie matched their skirts

      Hey Mom! 

     You look good! Love that dress! So for this week.....I accidentally got blessed by a priestess in the middle of the street! So I didn´t feel good one day so we were just standing on the sidewalk and I was leaning against Hna. Calderon and this woman comes up to us and asks if I feel okay. So I explained how I didn't feel good and she goes oh!  I can say a prayer for you! And I thought she meant that she´d go home and include me in her prayers and so I said yes. She then grabbed my elbow and tells me to close my eyes and proceeds to give me a ¨blessing¨. It was strange but I guess it's the thought that counts....=) I got to visit a different area this week because  Hna Calderon ends her mission soon.  So she´s allowed to visit her old area and I got to go to La Vega with her! That was way fun! I love seeing new places and being out and being in rutas and guaguas! So fun! Other than that it was a quiet week. Love you all!

love,

Leah

Hi dad, 

      I love you! I had a good week this week! Are you counting down the days to graduation? I´m getting a new companion in threes weeks! Scary! its weird to think about being in Los Reyes without her though but she is going home.  It's weird though becasue she goes home in the middle of the transfer because she is going early for school. So I get another companion in the middle of a transfer! But I'm excited as well! I hit 6 months on the 12th! Almost one third done! It's going really fast though! Well I love you!

          Love,

          Leah!

Hello everyone!

     Allright I had some interesting experiences this week! Well mainly today..... I was stopped at a corner getting rocks out of my shoes and Hna Calderon walked a couple feet in front of me and looked around the corner and then ran back yelling.... AHHHH.... HNA CAREY, THERE'S A MAN PEEING!!!!!!!! That was SO FUNNY! Also to get back from our baseball activity, which was in the middle of no where, we got to hitchhike on two bolas which are these big funny looking trucks! On the first truck  we could just sit in the back, but there were no sides so we had to be careful.   In the second truck there were sides, but nothing to hold on to, so we both had to stand and hold onto the top of the  truck cab! Super fun? When else in my life will we get to hitchhike standing up in a truck, driving through a tropical country in the middle of nowhere? It was great! I also saw a proposal today! Two MISSIONARIES GOT ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They were boyfriend and girlfriend before the mission and both were called here.  They are never in the same district or zone but they  got permission from the president and he was allowed to propose to her in the middle of the mall in front of everyone! BUT THEY COULDN'T EVEN HUG OR KISS! Hahaha... this mission is crazy! Then we got to go and translate for US doctors for a service with the street children and it was way fun! But it is interesting to see the difference between the Haitian kids and the Latino kids qualities of life. It's sad because the Haitian kids are always a little more beat up. But anyways having life changing experiences over here, so that's always cool!

     Aww.... thanks Mom! I got the package! Everything is fabulous!!!!!!! Thank you so much! I really do appreciate all that you do for me. And I wear mosquito repellant every day and sleep with a mosquito net so you should be proud! Love you!

Love Leah

Mom,

      I still have ear issues that I'm working on and an infected eye, but I saw the doctor AGAIN and hopefully I'll get everything taken care of!  The doctor said I have to get meds for a month to help my ear drain and then it should get better.
     We were inside for 5 days because Hna C had chikungunya and I thought I'd die of boredom. We watched a lot of movies....did you know we are allowed to watch the Best Two years, The Other Side of Heaven, The RM,  Charly and  all LDS movies like that?????  Super cool so please send some of those for the next package!
     When she felt better it felt so good to go back out and work and bear our testimonies again. It was like an old muscle that we needed to exercise, and the last two days were amazing.  We just used our time so well.  We found people that we really needed to find and we gave the first lesson in 30 min flat and the lady understood everything! And Hna Calderon said she was so proud of me for how far my teaching and my Spanish have come! good stuff!!!!!
     Also, please send me fungal cream in general and saline eye drops.  The doctor said that it's been so dirty here lately that they have seen tons of eye infections.  So I have to wash my eyes out every night with eye drops. I have one bottle now, but that will only last so long..... Oh yeah I learned today that most all of the bug spray that they import into the DR is expired from the US....so I still have some and  just to let you know I still have two full bottles and I use it everyday by the way=) Oh yeah and my head is legit freaking out.....it's not getting better. I have looked EVERYWHERE for anything tea tree related and it does not exist in this country! Please send tea tree shampoo and conditioner.  Thank you so much and I really am sorry for asking for this stuff......I do feel really bad.....

 Love You!

Leah

Dad,

FREAK YOU BROKE YOUR ARM?????????? ARE YOU KIDDING ME????? Dad! You have to watch where you are going! Are you ok?????

     Aye aye aye Dad....well at least Ollie is okay=) But I hope you feel better! I'm praying for you guys. Are you guys doing OK? I hope so and I really love you a lot and I miss you a lot! Hey tell Mom I can cook like a Dominican now.   I'm still working on the big dishes, but some of the small items I can manage! I'm making you guys mangu when I get home! I hit 5 months on the 12th!!!! Whoo hoo! I had some cool teaching experiences this week just because I'm finally becoming more comfortable with the lessons and more confident in Spanish. I didn't flounder for words so much. But I know that only happens with obedience! 

      Chickungunya is mosquito disease! You should look it up and tell me about it more! It's from Africa and makes your whole body hurt! OH FORWARD THIS TO MOM TELL HER TO SEND AN ICE PACK!  AND A MUSCLE RELAXANT!

 Love you!

Leah

painting toes while stuck inside sick!

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