Rachel #8 [Azua - 4] January 28th, 2013

Thank you for the step count thing. It appears that we walk about 5 miles a day? ish. Thank you for those though. I have been wondering for awhile now :) Yesterday, we took 17500 steps, and almost walked for 3 hours! We had a rough day. We had 11 people cancel appointments on us (so our back up plans failed, as well as our back up back up plans.) all before 4:30. Then we had a meeting at 5, but the elders thought it was at 6, so we waited for an hour, missed our other appointment, and then our last appointment failed as well. So it was a rough day. I did get to play the piano in the chapel for the hour that we waited for the elders though. That made it worth it. Also, while we were walking to one of our investigator's houses, he stopped us on the way there *(on his motorcycle,) and we set up an appt. He was the one that we missed because we were waiting for the meeting. He's one of my favorite people- His name is Argeli. He's 22, and has a cute little son. I will tell you about him more in a bit :)

Ok, Mom, I got your dearelder on the 21st of January, and you sent it the..11th? So it took 10 days to get to me. What happens, is that the elders go to Santo Domingo on Sunday night, and they pick up mail and all that fun stuff, and return on Monday.  Then, they deliver our stuff- either our mail, or food we order from Pricemart (like Walmart or Costco.), and deliver it once a week. I am glad that you cannot put all of the letter on the website- that is wonderful news.

Ok, this week went by pretty quick, At least Monday-Thursday did. We have a couple of investigators that we LOVE and are super excited about.
1.    One is named Isy. Have I told you about her yet? Well, she is 17, and super into the gospel. We met her a few weeks ago. Her family is just as great! Her dad joined us for a lesson one night, and he asked a bunch of questions. When we get into their house, we can feel the spirit so strongly! They are such a great family. They all have respect towards each other- which is very uncommon here. The parents always treat their kids horribly, but not this family. I love the Ramirez family. We are hoping that they can all get baptized the same day. Their mom always asks when we are going to return, and the siblings are just as receptive to us. Her sister is names Maritza or something, and I told her that she has the same name as my sister, and now she tells everyone that she knows that they have the same name. We rarely teach them because they are in school. But hopefully this week we can teach the whole family. The elders had a baptism this Saturday, and we invited her and her family. Only she went because the others were working, and she loved it. I am excited about her. Also, she really wants to go out with us all the time. It's great. She also came to church for the first time yesterday, and she participated! Also, we learned about the 1st vision- which is fantastic, since we are teaching that next lesson! Ah, good things are gonna happen with her and the fam.
2.    Next, is Argeli. The 22 year old. He is so funny. I like him a lot. I look forward to our lessons. He is shy, and I am pretty quiet, so we get along well, haha. But he also came to the baptism the other day. He wants to be baptized, but said that he wanted to see one first, so now that he has, we are going to put a date at our next meeting with him! yay! He treats his son so well. He doesn't hit, or yell, and his son behaves so well too! Ah, I want him to get baptized.
3.    Samuel and Ana are ? They never come to church, so we cancelled their date for baptism, until they take it seriously. Hermana Gamez thinks that they don't really want it, but I think that they do. I dunno what to do with them. We have a meeting with them tonight, and we are going to tell them that if they (don’t) come to church, there is nothing more we can do for them. Maybe they will get baptized. I sure hope so.
4.    Aracelis, also is wavering. I am not sure if she will get baptized. At least not now.
5.    Elias is great. She came to church yesterday as well. She wants to get baptized, and it shows. I am excited about her.

My church

6.    Last, there is this guy who sells ice cream, and he is so great. His name is Jose. He's old, but he dresses like a teenager, and it is the cutest thing ever. He wears his ball cap, and his plaid shorts and t-shirt. Haha, it's funny. But he asked for a BOM and we set a baptism date for him. YAY! I like teaching him, because we always get ice cream after. (Super cheap ice cream- a whole cup worth for 25 pesos- about 50 cents?). It's probably not good for me, because I love the ice cream. Ah, so good! Speaking of ice cream, do you know how to make it? I can't remember all of the ingredients.

I am glad that I know how to cook, and that I know the basics for food. I make most of the food, and the recipes come out alright. We haven't died yet. We had some oranges the other day. They were like, grapefruit- lemons. I liked them, but they weren't really good. But I couldn't stop eating it! I miss California oranges though. We tried sugar on them, and it tasted gross.

Well, that is pretty much all. The work is progressing, and I love it here! I am very grateful for your love and support. I love all of you! Once again, the church is TRUE!

oxoxox!
Hermana Erickson