Well, it sounds like you all had a fun week, and that you went and did some service, which is good. :) well done :)
Also, I hope that the camp out was super fun. Dad, was this the first time you shot a shotgun? I really want to buy me one. I think it is super fun. Maybe Jake got his shooting skills from his big sister :) haha
Thanks for the fun Email. I am so happy to be a part of such a cool, fun family :)
This week for me was a tough one. Not one part of me really wanted to go out, but somehow every single day we were out and every night at 8, I was glad to be home. But I was also glad that I went out to serve. It was just a tough one. I feel like Satan is really trying to get me to be trunky. Putting thoughts into my head about home all the time, and it's rough. And since my time is running short, he's working double-time! But I know that God is more powerful and HE can work WAY harder than the adversary, so I am not worried. I just really need to pray hard these next few weeks, or I might die. Ok, that was an exaggeration. But wow, they could be miserable. hahah
But here are a few of the things that are cool enough to make this week's Email :)
• I finished the Libro de Mormon once more!!! and I am going to try to read it again before I get home. I think I will be able to, since I read 1st Nefi in about an hour. haha
• A__ and C__ officially have one year as members of the church!! and they are going strong :) I love them so much and am thankful to be their missionary. :) Man, thy are great.
• We had our theatre thing on Friday and we were in Azua all day. We had to make up skits as a district and me and Hermana Peck ended up making it all. Once again, it turned into a musical, haha I guess that is the only thing we know :) But our district didn't really practice until Wednesday, and we only ran thru it twice. Then the thing was on Friday, but it turned out great!! It was super fun. I had some solos again. I don't know how I keep getting all of these signing roles, but whatever!! I sure enjoyed it :) I wasn't shaking in my boots this time, so I am considering going into theatre, since apparently others think I’m cut out for it–hah haa, KIDDING. It's not for me. Although someone came up to me after and asked why I wasn't in Hollywood... hmmm...
—For the musical, my hubby in the skit was addicted to cigs, and I got to use my skill of making fake cigarettes for the production. (Thanks Jeff, for all that practice!! I remember chilling in the basement making fake cigarettes. :) Hahaha, it paid off!)
• The Azua branch had another temple trip. I know that K__ and his friends went. As did C__. I saw both of them at the thing in Azua. K__ is doing really well, and thanked me for the PMG I sent to him.
• Apparently there is not going to be a short transfer. So... I will be coming home in the middle of one. Weird that all of this happened, cuz at first when there wasn't one, I was gonna come home this week. Then they said there is, so I changed my mind, but now that there is not anymore, I am still here. Maybe it was just part of God's plan to get me to stay a little longer. I guess I am supposed to find some really cool people here :) !!!!!! :)
• T__, a guy we had been teaching - and a brother of a super cute family, came to church. Right now he is in bad shape. He can't eat anything and has lost like, 100 pounds. You can see his bones and he's getting worse. But he came to church. It might be a little too late, but we can just hope that God pulls a miracle with the poor fellow.
• Sadly, S__'s baptismal date was moved back to the 28th of June. I guess that made me a little sad, cuz I won't get to see another baptism. :( But God knows best, and it doesn't really matter if I am here to see it, just as long as she gets dunked. :) I'll see her eventually :)
• Also, I found out that one of our investigators is pregnant. She's only 14 :(
• I was in church yesterday and I heard the men singing thru the walls. It was a sweet reminder that the church is worldwide and it is literally the same no matter where you go. I am so thankful to be a part of the true and living Church of Christ and that it is available to every one. :) Hearing the voices ringing out the happy chorus of "secreta oracion" reminded me of that great truth. It was happy :)
• We have a cool investigator named Y__. She's like, 16 and super cool. The elders taught her before, and she didn't go anywhere, but she is starting to go somewhere finally. Anyways, we had a lesson with her the other day, and I testified that if she reads her BOM before studying her schoolwork, she'd do better in her classes. She told me she never had time, so I told her to do it then. So she tried it and then when we went back, she was able to testify of it as well. It was really a neat thing to see and experience. Her heart was softened. :) After, she proceeded to tell us that if you don't brush your teeth before going to bed, or if you sleep with honey on your mouth, you'll wake up to cockroaches biting your mouth!!! super nasty. Was she hinting at my bad breath? Trying to scare me? If so, it worked. You can bet that I'll never go to bed without brushing my teeth again!!! NO SIR! Also, the member we were with testified of THAT truth (instead of the scripture one haha) because it had happened to him once... YUCK!
The nights here are getting extremely hot. Saturday night, I went to bed after my cold shower around 9:30. Me and my comp stayed awake, sweating. Not one part of my poor body was not drenched in sweat. We have fans and such, but when there is no power, the fans obviously don't work, :( so we stayed awake, tossing and turning until the light came on around 12. Finally we were able to sleep. I am sure grateful for AC! Sadly, the last 2 nights
have been the same. No light. Oh well.
Today we went to the parcela with a member. The parcela is like a giant garden of fruit and stuff... we ate some mangoes and ate some salami guisado with onions and some platano and guineo sancochado. :) It was really good. Here are a few pictures from it. We had to peel all of those guineos (bananas). I will for sure make this when I get home :) I am stoked to feed you all of this Dominican food!!!
OH! we had transfers last night. Hermana
Alcantara - the Dominican that I am living with, is leaving. I hope they send another Latina here, cuz if not, I'll only have lived with ONE Latina person this entire time!!! :) So yeah, Hermana Peck is getting a new comp, and me and my Philippina are staying together. She's really sad that she'll see me die. Oh well, she'll get over it I think. :)
Yeah!! that was my week!! I found out that a bunch of kids have a really fun time feeling how poky my legs are... it's really a win-win situation. I don't have to shave, and they get to laugh and be entertained!!! haha
Love you all so much!!!! Have a great week and go astonish someone!!! :)
Love you all beyond words. Thanks for your help and love, :) peace out my loved ones!!!!
-Hermana Erickson :)
Hello!! Yeah, it was good to talk to you for the little time that I had. Kinda sad that I never got to talk to dad and Head. But life goes on. It's not like I won't see you soon...
Speaking of that, HAPPY 17 MONTHS, to ME! That's weird. Where did these last 5 months go? The time has flown incredibly fast, ever since I hit a year. But whatever. OH! So my bestie from the MTC, Hermana R__ :) is HOME! And she went on a date already!! Man, she sent me pics of the airport, and it was fun to see. I sure do miss her, and I am excited to hang out with her (if she gives me some time–she has a boyfriend, and I might be like Jeff's go-cart in Uncle Bill's garage..:/ man) But yeah, people are doing great!
This week was good. I told mom about most of it. Our investigators are using their agency unwisely, but I can't do anything about it, sadly. We just have to keep teaching them gospel principles, and they will learn to govern themselves, like Joseph Smith said... I think. I just love this gospel.
The rest of the week was great. Just missionary stuff. We are working on a possible skit that we have to perform in front of the entire district of Azua. Hopefully it happens cuz it's fantastic. The only crazy thing is that I am singing again!!! but I have like, 3 songs... yeah, it's another musical. Hahah — I guess I am just so talented in the music department! Oh gosh, not true, but I guess it's boosting my confidence! :)
Um... let's see. Me and Hermana Peck have been hanging out all today, which has been so much fun. For some reason, our comps prefer each other, so it's nice cuz me and Peck don't initiate it, so I don't feel bad about hanging out with her. It's cool; but yeah, so we went around shopping and we ate at Pollo Rey (Chicken King! — like Burger king for Dominicans!! :) haha) but that was nice. It was nice to eat something that wasn't rice and beans cuz we sure have been eating a LOT of beans! ...which is alright ;)
These pics are me and Hermana Peck making tamarindo juice. It's like... sour. I want to take the fruit home, so I am planning on that, just so y'all can try how it is. :) The juicing process looks gross, right? But it's official! I asked how to do it from a Dominican. :) Also, the tamarindos were free–so they were good!!! :) MUST BE! :) haha. For me and my comp, we actually get free stuff every single day—mangoes, tamarindos, melons, plátanos, chinolas (passion fruit-like the stuff Jeff drank in China!) and all sorts of good stuff! Life is just really good for me.
Oh, it was raining the other day. The first time since I have been here, so that was nice. :) I sure do love the rain. It's so warm and nice. I love the rain, and the constant thunder. It's a great place, the DR. :)
Yeah! I love being a missionary. It is starting to hit me that I don't have a whole lot of time left :/ and it really breaks my heart. I have been looking forward to coming home since the day I left. I have had it pictured in my head, how the reunion would be, but now that it's coming, I don't wanna leave! Like, I do cuz I miss you all to death, but I just know I am going to miss my life here. There are so many people that I have grown to love, and it makes me sad that I might not see them again. Well, I will, but I can't keep in contact with lots of them cuz they don't have email or Facebook or even a phone. It's just sad. But oh well. I will see them in the Celestial kingdom, right? But overall, the mission has been really rewarding. I feel like I have become a better person and that I have more trust in God and all of that fun spiritual stuff. So that's good :)
Man, I just love you all so much and I am grateful that we were able to chat for a few minutes last night. :) Thanks for all of your support and love. :)
Until next letter,
Hermana Rachel Erickson :)
So hello! Sounds like a great week for you guys, which makes me happy :)
CONGRATS TO KATY for graduating!!! Such a big deal, :) way to go! :)
The week for me was fine. Today, we went crab hunting, and it was fun, but I realized that I really HATE crab. They actually scare me. I sent some pics for your enjoyment haha. Also, I did NOT catch this. I failed at catching them. I enjoyed walking in the river, though. Also, if you can't tell, I pulled of the jean vest look really nicely, haha. Hermana Peck told me I looked like a hippie. I think I was born in the wrong era, cuz I would LOVE to be a hippie–without the drugs, and other bad things. Haha.
Um, apparently the Dominicans celebrate 5 de Mayo more than the Mexicans because every lumping thing was closed today, which really caused a heartache for some people. It was annoying, but whatever. Life is full of excitement I guess!
Um... something pretty gross keeps showing up in my bed. Poop—yep, and it's NOT mine (dad! haha) nor is it my comps. It looks more like lizard or mouse. I am hoping it is lizard, even though either one is undesirable! But hey, it's all part of the Dominican dream. Just living it up! :)
Also, mom, I don't know if Louie has a blog, but I would love to see pics of her. It's been so long, and I think about her a lot. Also, I appreciate Mishka, cuz she always updates me with dearelders, which is THE BEST! So thanks to her :) Speaking of friends, Derek's birthday is this week, so wish him happy birthday. (5-10 haha)
Um... our investigators are alright. People are progressing slowly, but I am happy doing what I am. I am completely oblivious to how much time is left for me. You should be proud, cuz I haven't let myself count days; but I know the time will fly by.
Yeah, that's my week. Sorry that nothing happened. All sorts of little things did, which made it a great week, but nothing noteworthy here. Just know that I am safe and happy, the two most important things, right?
Also, I am still obeying the rules, even though we are orphans without a president.
How are you doing on your resolutions?
Also, when I call on Mother's day, you should have a list of questions cuz I don't wanna be in charge of the conversation. :)
I love you all! Can't wait to talk to you in a few days! Keep up the good work being my great family. I am so blessed to have a family like you. I love you all. You're all great examples and I just miss you lots. Can't wait to credit card you all and do a beacons landing on Jakey. :) But I can wait, and I will, and I will enjoy the time I have left here. Thanks for everything! Peace and blessings, my dear family :)
Much pero, oh so much love, Herm Erickson 1
Hello!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!! :) Just so you all know.
Well, I am glad that my family is doing so great.
Ok, here is my short letter. No worries, I am fine, just busy :)
Ok, so the conference we had this week was great. I didn't share my testimony because it was a DESPEDIDA for our pres and his wife. They announced that they would be leaving this week, instead of in June, so I was originally worried cuz the transfer that I planned to come home on was made up for their departure, and I thought that maybe it was going to be changed, but no, still a transfer June 18th, so no worries. But yeah, I didn't give my testimony, and I may not, cuz I don't think we'll have another conference.
I got to see my bestie, Hermana B__, and that was a SWEET reunion. I just love her so much and miss her. We're like, bffs. I talked to her and it was GREAT – nuff said.
I got my travel plans.... that was weird. Still is. I just don't think about it. Turns out that my comp is more trunky than I am. Mainly cuz her bro comes home next week, and all she thinks about is that. Rough. Not me though, thank goodness!
We have been contacting this whole week, looking for golden investigators, and found some great people. Also, S__, the girl we have been teaching for a while came to church and brought her friend. They are both great. I love them. Their families are great, too. I am stoked to see them get baptized. :)
I finished Jesus the Christ. Good book.
Um... we have a complete creep guy that we have a "you-come-to-church-we-teach-you-once-that-week" policy. He didn't come to church! I feel bad saying that I am happy that he didn't come, haha.
But yeah, my week was short, and great. Nothing really exciting happened.
Actually, here are the pics.
The food is what we ate. Looks like poop... hehe.
And this is MY beautiful area. Riss always sends pics of her area, so I thought I would make you all jealous by sending you what I see daily :) enjoy :) haha. I can't include pics of naked children, that could get me arrested, haha.
Well, I think that is all. I love you lots. Can't wait to talk to you in a few weeks. Keep doing FHE and your scripture study and such! They are so important. I know the church is TRUE! and that our family is foreva! Yay for the gospel! Go share it and find references for the missionaries!!!
Peace and lots of love :)
Herm Erickson :)
PEACE!
Rachel will return home on June 18th. She arrives at the SLC International airport around 4:15 PM. (It is definitely a bitter/sweet upcoming event.)
