Hi Mom!!!!!!!

     Guess what I learned this week! I'm not nearly as patient and loving as I thought....I'm working on that. My companion is a little four foot three inch Mexicana. She's sweet..... we just are not on the same page....like ever. She only has four months in the mission and besides the 15 day companionship she had, I'm her first companion after her trainer.  She's just interesting...... but I know that I'm here to help her, but it's really hard to help someone who throws you under the bus.....but it's okay. I had a good crying session this week. I know I will be held accountable for my behavior and not hers, so I have to do my part and be kind and loving and patient. That's hard.....but I feel terrible that I am not being that patient, loving person ALL OF THE TIME.  I definitely feel inadequate in the whole understanding and love department. I know who Heavenly Father wants me to be and yet....how the heck am I supposed to become that person? Well... The Book of Mormon has become my best friend and I'm just reading and reading and reading=)

      You know when you think of missionaries or at least when I did... you always think of happy go lucky spiritual giants that preach happily every single day and love everyone. And when I read the emails of other missionaries it still seems that way.....and then theres me..... okay... not just me.  I was talking to Hna Bowen and Richardson from the ccm and they agree. Maybe it's just the difference in a US mission and foreign? Probably not.....

     

     It's actually kind of funny.  Normal occurrences in my life are finding spiders in my bed (not even a big deal now,) hauling 5 gallon buckets from the bathroom to the kitchen to fill the laundry thing, walking for hours on end in the Caribbean sun while men yell at me "AMERICANA!"  Having the lights go off almost every day, being eaten by mosquito's and finding centipedes on our patio. They can get BIG!!!!!!

      US missionaries are so spoiled. I don't even know what they complain about. But I know all missions are hard but wow....they have couches in their houses! I have a tile floor and a metal chair.... it really just makes me laugh.  I read Axl's email about how healthy he eats and laughed.....well when we are out we have access to unlimited amounts of cake and soda and no one ever feeds us dinner..... almost never.....=)    And yes.........I have officially walked to the end of the world and back in this area. It is so big!!!!!! 

Love,

Leah

    

Hello,

     Well.....this was different.....let me just set up this scene for you, here we go.

Hna Blanch and I had a normal morning.  We studied and prepared our talks for our district meeting and whatnot. We left early though because we had to find the house of an investigator. We left the  house at about nine twenty and were looking for the house when at about nine forty-five I get a call from the assistants....."Hi Hna Carey how are you?    Oh I'm good Elder how about you?   I'm good... well... we are having special transfers and you are going to Moca. So say goodbye if you can, pack your bags and we will be there in two hours to pick you up......     ARE YOU KIDDING ME? ARE YOU JOKING?  WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M GOING TO MOCA?"   Yep.... THAT WAS OUR CONVERSATION. The SISTERS IN MOCA COULDN'T GET ALONG SO WE GOT TO SWITCH COMPANIONS.  So now I'm lost in the middle of a new area in the middle of the transfer without having said goodbye to one single person from my favorite area....I'm learning a lot about moving forward in faith without knowing beforehand what I am supposed to do. I was reading in the Liahona about Nephi and how he didn't know how Laban would be delivered into his hands but he moved forward in faith. It's like the taking one step into the dark in faith and trusting that the light will come. Yep.... I'm currently having a growing experience here. But I know I'm here for a purpose. Not sure what it is but I'm going to trust that Heavenly Father knows what's up......

     Hna Blanch and I were both told that that our new companions need lots of hugs, love and patience....so that's cool. She seems really sweet, but I feel bad for Hna Blanch because this is her first Spanish companion and she called me crying this morning because she can't communicate. Sometimes I wish that whole tower of Babel thing hadn't have happened, because wow...... we suffer.  Man I didn't say goodbye to anyone! I'm pretty heartbroken by that actually.  But my new companion is sweet.  Just insecure, new and demanding ...but I'm a lot more mellow now so I think we should be fine.   I just feel like I'm babysitting here....

     Also I'm in the most Catholic town EVER! There's even a giant cathedral thing in the middle of the town. Yep.... they think it's really funny to ring bells at six AM. Yep the freaking Catholics are waking me up! But it's cool and I'll adjust. It was just a huge shock. This only happened on Monday. But yep that's the news for the week. 

Love you!

Hna Carey 

 Hello,

    Well, news from last week, we found a farm! And a less active member who lives on the farm! He was looking for a cow to butcher. Yep, so he lassoed it (sorry i don't know how to spell that) and just chased it to the butchers with a rope around its neck. But.... that made the cow very upset so he tried to run away in the rice field. Rice fields are pretty though! Also, that cow died and I got to see  right after and...... cows sure do have a lot of blood....that was a first. 

      We have a new district leader who used to be the assistant. Its pretty cool and fun =) We got to help build a house this week too! That was such a fun service project! It's good when the people can see us out and helping and working together with others. They can see that we are willing and then they get to know the church better too, so that is always a plus! 

     I had to cross a bridge with holes this week and the wooden planks would bend whenever someone stepped on them...also the whole bridge was slanted. I got stuck in the planks on the bridge and my companion and a member had to get on the bridge to help me get off the bridge.....gravity challenges me a lot  But those are the highlights!

Hna Carey

Dad,

     We set a baptismal date this week with our golden investigator! Whoo Hoo!!! So psyched! Also these past two weeks we´ve seen a huge change in one of our less actives! She is starting to get her life back on track and even started wearing her garments again and has goals to go to the temple! We can see a light and happiness in her countenance!

       Also, our fridge broke last week and we haven't found anyone to fix it.... so we have learned to live without a fridge....But we forgot to buy food for Sunday.... so in the night time we were about starving and officially begged for food.....It was kind of funny. Oh yeah so that same Sunday we were hungry and proselyting and saw a cherry tree (and we can pick fruit off of any tree and it's totally cool here) so I was in the process of climbing on top of my companion to pick some cherries (she was trying to boost me up) when a member walks by....haha....try explaining that one!....yeah... so we´re hungry and just really wanted some cherries=) He gladly helped us=) Well that's about it!

Love you!

      Alright, I´ll be honest.... I don't really remember what happened this week that much besides transfers today. I´m still in Esperanza with Hna Blanch, for which I am grateful. We really feel like miracles are going to happen this transfer.  The area is FINALLY  starting to progress! YAY!!!!! So we are super excited! 

      So highlights of the week........My companion and I were both obscenely sick! Whoo Hoo!!!!!! wow......IT. WAS. BAD.  We just took turns feeling horrible and using the bathroom. But it's cool.... we are kind of better and on antibiotics now.....but we were in the house for two days. THAT IS SUCH A LONG TIME!!!!!!! Wow......but on the bright side I don't think it could have been worse.....Thank you DR!=)  

     My companion now knows again that I am still the worst sick person in the world. But seriously guys if I ever get a fatal or terrible painful disease, JUST LET ME DIE.  I will accept it as my time!

      That's pretty much it for the week. We are finding lots of new investigators who are beginning to progress so I'm super excited for all the progress we should see!

Thanks, I love you all!

Hna Carey

     Leah told us she comes home on Aug 13th, so we have a date!!!!!!!  She'll be home 3 1/2 weeks before she goes off to BYU Idaho.

     Allright,  everyone listen up! This is by far, has been the best week of my whole mission! Why you may ask? Well I´ll tell you why! We went to Puerta Plata!!!!!!!!!!!! WE WENT TO THE FREAKING BEACH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have no idea how beautiful the beach is here in the DR!!!!!! The ocean turns blue and green and white and turquoise and dark blue all in different parts!!!!!!  It is so BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I´ve decided I want a beach when I get home. It was so fun and my legs are burned but it is was so worth it!!!!! And I have pictures!!!!!!

      Also a funny Dominican moment is that something peculiar about them is whenever you compliment them they offer to give whatever it was you liked to you sometimes. Which I still don't get because sometimes you just want them to know that they look nice! So I told a recent converts mother that I liked her shirt.  So she proceeds to strip in front of me and then gives her shirt to me as my jaw has just hit the ground. Yeah, my comp and I just lost it laughing as she walked out of the room in just her bra. And then her son just looks at us like what's wrong with you guys? Yeah.......that's a new one. 

      Also we had rum ice cream given out at a baptism.....that was funny....kind of.......ha ha the Bishop bought it......=) Well, it doesn't get much better than that!  I love you guys!

Hna Carey

It is mission tradition to burn a tie, skirt or dresss at the one year mark so I burned a dress and it didn't burn as fast as it should have! So.....the bucket melted!!!!!

Hello my dear family!

     Allrighty then, so I have had some interesting experiences this week....first of all, no Mom there are no pictures because it is so dang difficult. But I promise next week! 

     Okay first thing.  Our floor broke.....as in cracked up. My dear sweet companion went outside to put away laundry detergent and came back saying that she had broken the floor. So apparently it is cheap tile and because we are on the second floor all of the smoke from cooking downstairs just collected and broke the floor. But how do the check if the floor is in fact broken? THEY ALL STAND ON IT TOGETHER. Yep...we thought that they were going to die.  Then the landlord takes one of our kitchen knives and STABS  our floor. That was funny and also one of those moments where you just put your head down and stop thinking about it....

     Also this week we were at our investigators house and she had just gotten out of the shower (people shower here all the time because it is so hot) so she is in her towel and is dressing her 2 yr old and then finishes him and then PROCEEDS TO DRESS IN FRONT OF US! Not cool! I know I'm a girl and everything, but wow...Se paso.....

     Also we went to an awesome service this week. We went to Navarrete to help take out this tree that had fallen in a river. So first of all we got to get wet! YAY! On the down side it was still a dirty river and so hopefully we won't get a disease. It wasn't that dirty but it wasn't that clean either.=) Also we got to help build a bridge out of rocks so that the elders can cross it easier when they are out normally because there is no real bridge. And the tree that fell in the river was a devil tree. It had massive black thorns ALL OVER IT!!!!! Yep we were SUPER  careful not to stab ourselves as we were taking out the pieces of wood from the river. Ha ha.... all the plants here just want to kill people. Well that's pretty much it! I love you guys! 

Hna Carey =) 

Hi!

     Alrighty then, so this week I decided to keep a list of funny things or happy things that happened and I even remembered it so maybe this will be a more detailed email. First of all Hna Blanch and  I literally stopped traffic.....that funny moment when we are trying to cross the street and walk out in the middle of the road, only to realize a bus is coming in both directions, so we run back to the side of the road. But the bus drivers have already seen us struggle and not just one, but they BOTH stop in the middle of the road to let us cross. Yep...I was special and challenged at home and the legacy continues! 

    

      Also, new cooking low this week (honestly I have learned to cook and feed myself very effectively) but I accidentally lit my pasta on fire this week, and I don't mean that I burnt it, but I literally LIT IT ON FIRE! But the cooking high of the week was that we made banana, oatmeal, cinnamon and chocolate pancakes! It pretty much just turned into cake so we figured might as well call it cake and added frosting and that made them AMAZING! Also I got to try crackers with mayo on them.....not half bad... I got to wash dishes with a sock this week and we are officially out of toilet paper and have resulted to paper towels that were in the house.......not proud of that......Oh yeah! Last week I forgot to tell you about how we woke up on P-Day with a zillion bugs in our beds......they looked like ants with wings......so gross.....

     

      On a more spiritual note, we had a Caribbean broadcast from Salt Lake! So cool! The first speaker was American but knew perfect beautiful Spanish and it was amazing to actually listen to the talk in Spanish! Usually they are given in English and it gets taped over in Spanish. There is power in listening to a talk in someones actual voice. We also heard from Jeffrey R Holland and he STARTED IN SPANISH!!!!! He did his actual talk in English but he started in Spanish and at the very end of his talk he bore his whole testimony in SPANISH!!!!!! I have a very strong testimony of how inspired it was for them to start having speakers in different languages in general conference. IT IS DIFFERENT.  THE SPIRIT IS STRONGER. I could not believe how strong the spirit was when Elder Holland bore his testimony in his gringo Spanish. The spirit just flooded my body and I am so grateful to know a second language and be able to communicate with a whole other part of the world and know more of God´s children. Anyways  I love you guys!

Hna. Carey

P.S. if you are ever having a bad day just remember the girl in the third world country with bugs in her bed! =) You should feel better!

Mom,

     Want to know something hilarious?????? I have worn each of my new skirts once and now they are sitting nicely in my luggage waiting to see America again. I WILL NOT RUIN THOSE SKIRTS. I WILL NOT DO IT!!!!!! This country is rough on clothes.  They are so pretty but I learned that I can't jump over puddles and sit on the floor in a pencil skirt......which are necessary things to do..... but thank you! They are so pretty! I'll love them in 6 months!!! Whoo hoo!.......also I will send pictures next week =)