#59 [La Venta - 19] Jan. 20th, 2014

HAPPY MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DAY!

I love you!!!! How are things in the 801?

My new comp is Hermana Olsen. She is younger than I am, but I like her so far. She was in Azua right before here. She has 7 months, and is currently living, like her family, in Salt Lake? She's been all over the world.

•    Could you possibly send me Hermana Peck's emails from her blog? I think you know what it is. You can just dearelder them. I would love to know what is going on with her. I miss her.
•    The other new hermana is named Hermana Conrady. She is American. MOM! she is from Eureka, Illinois. I told her that I knew where that was, and she didn't believe me. Her family is from Peoria. Maybe you know some of them?! M__ is the name that lives there :) – she's cool.
•    Hermana Olsen is going into Neuropsych, too. So that's fun. We're similar, but very different.
 
SO, news from Azua —
    ▸    K__ is the YM pres!!! and the gospel doctrine teacher. :)
    ▸    A__ is the 1st counselor of the Elders quorum, and C__ is the secretary of the same group. LOVE THEM. Apparently they still love me, so that's good, too. :)

SO... J__!!!! He left for his mission!!! Crazy – they called him on Monday and told him he was leaving Tuesday. He's in Santiago, now; crazy. So we haven't had a mission leader for a bit, but they just called one. :)

No, I didn't feel the earthquake. (Marissa felt an earthquake last week in Puerto Rico, 6.4 mag.)

•    So the new mission leader is E__! He hit 2 months the other day!!! and he's now the mission leader!!! He'll do great.
•    Also, A__ is the 2nd counselor of the Branch Pres.!!!! – crazy. I am so proud of my so called converts. :)

- Ok, like two more things.

•    M__!!!! she told us for the first time that she wants to be baptized! It's a HUGE step, cuz she told us at the beginning that she didn't want to convert to anything that she wouldn't stick to. She didn't want to commit to anything that she didn’t feel in her heart, and now she loves the church and the gospel. She’s been sharing it with her friends, and coming to devotionals and she has like, 10 church books and she wants to finish the BOM in 40 days like the rest of the branch. :) Love her. Also, her "hubby" used to hate the church and God, but now he is opening up. She wants to be baptized with him. We'll see. :) Pray for them. :) I love them so much.

•    Pics... 
Our house. We live on the 2nd floor.Thought that would be good to know.

And also the new zone. I have 2 more sons, so that's fun. Makes 7 for me here in La Venta.  

Um...I think that is all. This week has been forever long, and it's been crazy. So many things have happened, and it's been insane. We've been teaching a lot of recent converts and I don't think Hermana Olsen is used to that. I think that she thinks we're slacking, but it's what we've been asked to do by the Pres. of the branch, so we do it, and it helps. If the branch isn't strong, the converts aren't going to last.

Dad, we do not have an iPad. I don't think this mission will ever have them. It's too dangerous to have them cuz if people see us use them, we'll surely get robbed. So the Pres. thinks we'll be one of the last missions to get them, which is fine.

Tell Pres. McGinn, HI for me!!

Also, it’s cool you're royla, dad! That means I am royal, too!!! :) Yay!!! (It's amazing what a little Family History researching will reveal.)

I didn't know it was my 400th day on Wednesday. I don't think I took any pictures; darn. That's a shame. 400 sure seems like a long time... it is! I am feeling super old, like, my body sometimes just hurts, and I feel like I look like I am 30 years old. It's sad, but oh well.

Well, that is pretty much my life here in Paradise. Life is different without Hermana Peck. Tis hard, cuz I expect my new comp to be like her. It'll pass, but it's different. We’ll, have a great week!

I apologize for this crazy letter, and all this random info. I hope it doesn't sound like I am complaining. I really love the mission and this area and my comp. I am glad that I am serving here and that I have met so many new people. I am in love with everything about this place. I love the gospel. I think that is part of the reason I love this place – I have so many good memories of it. Preaching the gospel really makes everything great. The gospel makes everything great. :)

Well, peace and blessings!!! :)               

ox ox ox

Oh!!! some white guys from SLC came to our branch on Sunday. They are doing a project about jobs or something. That was cool. :)

Peace!!!!

Hermana Erickson :)

#58 [La Venta - 18] Jan. 13th, 2014

HELLO!

It is past time to say goodbye!

Wow, so a pretty boring week then, that's ok. Thanks for the update anyways. Heather wrote me a lot, so that was nice. I haven't heard from her in a while. A lot has happened here. Ok, not a lot, but I feel like this email will be long; get excited. :) maybe.

So M__ came to church. And she stopped working all day, everyday, so that's good. We will continue to work with her. We taught her 8 year old son how to pray, and when he prayed for the first time in front of his mom, it was a proud moment. It was really cute. :)

So my bag is getting pretty gross. Here is a pic. I use it still even though I have others to use. I just can't seem to get rid of things!

Also, these are the pants that I got Riss, too. Me and Peck are modeling. So cute, super comfy. Ok, not so cute, but comfy. :) haha

My 13 months was lame. No one remembered until about 5 pm. Which was fine. :) I celebrated at church by taking the sacrament. hahaha

I got a package, but it was from the Abbott's :) it was a pretty necklace and a CD, which was nice. I really like them :) .... :)

Ok, so I actually don't have much to say. BUT on Saturday, we had a temple trip with the converts. It was great. We took a few people. E__ freaked out. He loved it so much. He is such a great man. He's fantastic!!!! ah!!!! I love him; words cannot describe. If you want to facebook friend him, you can find him under E__ B__. He knows English, kinda. Speaking of facebook, our ML got on our accounts to accept his friend request, so if it asks, it was him – just fyi.

The temple trip went great. We went straight to the baptism after, and it was nice. The other herms also had a baptism, so it was good to end the transfer that way :) 2 elders also had a baptism planned; we had no idea, and J__ freaked out and made everyone stressed.

Can I just say that I am super grateful for the mission? I have come to discover a lot more about myself. I am very grateful for my attitude, like things happen, and other people freak out, but I have come to realize that I am a pretty calm person, so that's good. Thought you oughta know :)

The baptism went well. F__ is fantastic. Fantastic F__. So far, he's well. :)

Speaking of converts, Y__ hit her 3 months yesterday, and she also finished the Book Of Mormon. :)  She told us that some days she had to read for up to 3 hours! She's great. I always worry about her cuz she wears immodest things, but then I realize that with time she'll change, :) love her.

So..... transfers were last night. We had NO IDEA what was going to happen. NO CLUE. We get the call, and find out that Hermanas Peck and Hamblin are leaving to who knows where!!! and that me and hermana Jorgenson are staying, and she is training. I am not. I guess my kid didn't turn out real good... hahaha, kidding. But there are 7 hermanas coming in this transfer, 6 are Latina.

Yeah, I am happy to stay here in Paradise. I love it here. I would be sad to leave, but at the same time, I love new things. I would've been happy to leave. Whate'er.

Well, I don't think I have more to say. Love you all and miss you all the time, but not super a lot. I hope you are all well, and I hope life is treating you well. Much love from the DR :)

Hermana Erickson #1

#57 [La Venta - 17] Jan. 6th, 2014

These are 4/5 of my "sons" in the zone. They think they have the coolest mom. They are right. :) This was at baseball today. The ones in the hat and the grey shirt are practically pro.Add caption

HELLO! :) Thank you for the updates :)

Just so you all know, I am 100% on my new years resolutions. I made a lot. I will talk about those later, probably.

This year for new years wasn't very crazy. It was a normal day. At night, there weren't many drunk people. Well, there always are, but there weren't particularly more. So that was good. We got to eat with Liu this time, and we went and helped her prepare a few things. I had some of that Pastel thing that Riss mentioned. I have had it before. I will send a picture, so you can know what it looks like... :) But lately, I have prepared SO MANY salads; still hate them, some things never change. :) But I have become expert on cutting up tomatoes, for future reference :)

This week went by super slow. I don't know why, but I feel like nothing happened. But some times the mission is like that. I celebrated my 1st full year on the island by doing nothing. I didn't mention it to anyone, and I think we were fasting, so I celebrated in my head. It's crazy that I have been immersed in this crazy culture for over a year. I love it here. It is so different, but I love it. Maybe I will live here... oh wait, probably not, but still, I love it. I feel like I have only been here for a few weeks because there is something more crazy that happens every week. Pretty much every day is a new adventure, and I love it. Man, you're gonna have to experience this :)

I did though, get a package of the testimonies from the ward. That was nice; some really nice testimonies. I don't know what I am going to do with them though,... they are all in English. So... we'll see what happens with that. The pictures attached are nice though. I plan on writing back and sending personal thank you notes to everyone, so look for that. :) And tell Bro. Brown thanks :)

So do you remember me telling you about a guy named G__ from Independencia? of the G__ family? Well, I found out that they are baptized :) They just recently got baptized. :) I am so happy to find that out. I remember the first time teaching them. Me and Hermana Beesley felt so excited, and they are so prepared. I think they had to get married. :) Man, missionary work is great. I love being a missionary. Even though sometimes you probably can't tell by my emails. :/ but yeah!!!!!

Speaking of baptisms, we have one this Saturday. F__ is getting dunked, and he is such a cutie. He's 13, and he takes his grandma to church and to baptisms that are 30 minutes away. He's adorable. He's very prepared. He comes to church early and sets up chairs and gets there before members. Like, the first 10 people at church are our converts and investigators. We are so blessed here.

Transfers are coming up; this Sunday actually. No one knows what is going to happen. The rama is praying super hard for all of us to stay. They have really grown attached to us. :) Also, J__, the mission leader wants to talk to Pres. Rodriguez about letting us 4 stay. Mainly because the event in Tierra Llana brought a few families, and we're the only ones who know them. The elders think I am leaving to my last area............ and I have no idea what to think. I wouldn’t mind leaving, but I would love to stay. We'll see what God has in store :)

E__ invited us over to cook the other day. He's a crazy man. We love him. He also bore his testimony for the first time. What a good guy. He's always trying to speak English with us. His son is in the US, and only speaks English, so he's practicing. He's also randomly practicing Portuguese. Reminds me of Uncle Ryan. How are they doing? and Cole? :)

Um... some of my resolutions are:
    -finish the BOM 2 more times in Spanish
    -floss daily
    -shower daily (You better believe it! I went there, and I haven't missed a day! Even when I have to use a cup because there is not much water!!!!)
    -I have like, 2 pages full of them, and I forgot my journal. Maybe I will write a letter to you guys telling you more. :)

I realized that I love making lists, so making a list of resolutions was great. :) Good times.

Do you guys have resolutions? If so, please let me know! I think they are great things. I support them :)

So we have an investigator named M__. She is great, but she just started working, 7-9pm daily, and she gets Sunday mornings off because she asked for them and she works in a cafeteria. She had a battle with her mind this Sunday to come to church, and she CAME! This was her 2nd time, but the first time she didn't like it... so I am glad she gave it another chance. She decided to come again because we had an activity a while ago and watched the JS movie, and she felt the spirit really strong. We're excited for her, but it's hard to teach her.

Also, we have a family in TL, and they are great. We took J__ the other night to our first cita, and he spent TWO HOURS talking. I said about 50 words, and that was weird. If they had enough patience to listen to that, I think they could be golden. :) We'll keep you updated for sure. :)

Well, I think that is all. This work is great. I love being here. I love representing Christ. I love this church. I love the gospel. I love that we have the Book of Mormon. I love our prophet. I keep wanting to write him a letter, but it's not allowed while on a mission. Maybe I will tell Bro. R__ to tell him hi. Or maybe I will write a letter to give to Bro. R__, and he’ll give it to the prophet. :) That would be a nice thing :) hahahaha loopholes :)

Well, I should go. I hope you are all well. I would never know, cuz only mom and dad write me, but whatever. I am not bitter. I just think it's funny that you all lumping wrote Jeff! Goodness; whatever ;) haha. I love you all so so so much. I hope you had a great 2013 and a happy new years, CHEERS! And that you are being nice to each other and going to church and reading the scriptures. The church is true and I love it.

With oh so much love, Hermana Erickson #1 :)

•    Me at 12:00 on new years. We woke up at 11:50 and made floats from Red rock. :) It's a type of soda. YUM!

Dominican Egg Nog

#56 (#55 Christmas day) [La Venta - 16] Dec. 30th, 2013

My dear family!!!

Hello!!!! Man, it was so great to be able to hear your voices and see your faces on Christmas. It was fantastic. I love you all so much! It was very fun. I didn't have much to say, but I am glad we got to talk. I am also happy that I got to talk to Riss. I keep getting teary-eyed when I think about it, I just really love her and miss her. But I enjoyed our time to talk.

ALSO, IT was a surprise to see Kelton... it's been over... 2 years, and that was crazy. I didn't know what to say, and I don't think he did either, but thanks for inviting him. It's only fair, since Isabelle was there, haha. Glad she didn't forget our handshake, haha.

I have yet to get a package, but I might get one this next week. We have a zone meeting coming up soon, so I will probably get one there. So far, there has not been a zone meeting that I haven't gotten one... at least not in this zone, :) so thanks. :)

Sounds like Christmas was really fun. Next year will be even funner (more fun), since I will be there. :) We all know that is true, haha. But I am glad everyone could come and that they enjoyed themselves. And it sounds like Christmas for the fam was great.

Congrats to mom about her calling. You'll do a great job, mom!!!! I still have my calling. I am still serving as a full-time missionary. I have been in this same calling for over a year!!! Time flies, but I love this calling. :) haha

Thank you for telling me all about Christmas. I got a few things for the holiday. I got some pants and candy, and then I also got an apple slicer, cuz I really love apples, and they all know that. They, as in my comp and the house mates. :)

This is what happened this week. :)

Well, I told you what happened up until Wednesday night after google chatting with my favorite people in the world, We had a cita with a lady, L__, and she loves us. We're eating at her house on Tuesday, for new years eve. She calls us her girls, and her daughters in the USA get jealous. She loves us, and I love her. Anyways, she fed us a little, and then we went home.
 
The rest of the week has really just been preparing for this concert in Tierra Llana. It's been crazy. We finally had the event last night, and it sadly wasn't as great as we expected. Out of over 600 people invited, about 50 came. We called them all before the event to remind them, and 250+ confirmed their assistance, bummer. BUT it turned out great! The people who went were great. We have a few families that we are really excited for. I will keep you updated on them. :)

Tierra Llana that we contacted for the last 2 weeks. Over 600 apts. Lots of stairs. It's a 45 minute walk to get there from our house.

Also, we got to sing our quartet last night, and it was great. We also played our duet FINALLY! and it sounded great. People thought it was a recording. :) Proud moment for the both of us. Pres. and Sister Rodriguez came, too! Speaking of them, the new mission pres. is announced. They are Americans, and their names are... the Nuckols or something. Nothing else is known about them, but they come in July. I might not see them. Probably not, oh well.

The baptism on Saturday went well. No problems really. Herm. Peck has been sick with a gripe, which means a cold, and I am surprised that I never caught it. But that did not affect the baptism. A__ ended up dunking his son, and I__ would've been more excited about it if her face wasn't puffed up; it was all puffy.

But yeah, that is about all. I am excited for this week. We were going to have 2 baptisms, but we changed them cuz F__ wasn't at church, so it'll be the 11th. and we're still working with C__. So no baptisms this next week.

Other than that... life is good. We have heard rumors about putting two hermanas in Tierra Llana, so we're excited for transfers, to see what happens. I can't believe it's already 2014. I hope you are all safe and that you have a happy new years. :) I am so blessed that I could serve all of 2013 as a missionary. What a blessing!

Well, here are some pics. I love you all. I am going to get off because I have nothing else to say. But I love you!!! Be good. Happy new years, CHEERS!

With much love,

Hermana Erickson #1

Pigs anyone?

Christmas Eve dinner.

This is our cute little Dominican tree. We decorated it with tears of plastic bags for the bows and butterflies :)