Friday, January 2, 2015

Happy New Year

Our family had so much fun talking to Bannon on Skype at Christmas! He is really doing so well and even bore his testimony in Spanish. (Miguel told him to keep working on it haha but we are so proud of him!) We were skyping with him on my Mom's computer while we were holding up the IPad with my grandparents and aunt and uncle and cousins on it since they were in California and we were in Idaho. We are so blessed to live in a time where we can see and hear from our missionary in a different part of the world! It was so great to hear his experiences and how much he loves the people of the Dominican Republic. Please continue to pray for Bannon and the people of the DR! Thank you all for your love and support of him, he would not be such a great guy if it weren't for the wonderful people he surrounds himself with. Happy New Year!




Christmas was awesome!!
On the 24th (which is Christmas in this country) we had 4 dinner appointments! Dominicans make you eat so much, especially on holidays. So by the end of the night, you could say I didn't need food for a good week and a half! In the morning, I opened my Christmas package from my family and got some sweet things! Especially a ton of Utah State clothes which I am stoked about! Thank you family for all the gifts! Elder Rodriguez, my last companion, got to be in a trio with me and Elder De Bernardi for Christmas so that was awesome! Especially because he had some gifts from my parents in my package. Later we went to a members house to visit with him because I asked him earlier that week what his plans were and he said he didn't have any. So I thought it would be super cool for him if we went and visited with him. We sang a Christmas song and talked and gave him chocolates. It was really cool. He doesn't have any family here, but we are his family. I wish we could have done more, but it was great. Finally we got to the church to Skype our families! It was so good to see my family and talk with all them. Sounds like everyone is doing great and it was a good Christmas. The next morning, I attempted to make fritters like we always eat on Christmas morning, and to my surprise, they tasted exactly like the ones my mom makes! Then we took Elder Rodriguez back to meet up with his new companion and we taught some great lessons the rest of the day. These past two weeks have been killing us because everyone is so busy with the holidays. It has been a challenge to find our investigators and have good lessons without blasting music down the street, but I'm hoping it gets better next week when everyone finally calms down! We have two new investigators who are so awesome and really understand and accept the gospel. They are sisters and always have great questions and are hungry for more. They are ready for baptism and want to get baptized, buuuuuut, they both live with their boyfriends... Gosh why aren't people married in this country!? So it is going to take a miracle to get them married with their boyfriends because both of their boyfriends don't have any interest. Also, one of our best progressing investigators just told us she doesn't want us to keep teaching her. I was devastated when she told us this. I had so much hope and faith in her and she was progressing so much. I honestly have no idea what the heck happened, but we are going to go back this week and talk with her and get it all figured out. So I am asking this of you friends and family: Fast and pray for the people of Los Cocos! If we fast, and you guys fats and pray for my investigators and the people of Los Cocos, I really think we will start to see miracles. Just please fast that we can get our two investigators married to their boyfriends, for our progressing investigator who doesn't want us to come back, and just for us in general to be able to find and teach the people of Los Cocos who are ready for this gospel and have strong interest and desire to partake of these great blessings. That would be so awesome of all of you. Thanks!
So today my whole district and a few others, wanted to go to the waterfalls in my area that are 2 hours away by foot. I have been there 2 times already, and I did a super intense calf workout on Monday, so I could hardly walk yesterday or today. So I had no desire to go, but I didn't really have a way out of going so I just went. We went with two members of our church who know of hidden waterfalls as well. When we got there, I followed one of them up this huge mountain on this zig zag path through the jungle. He got us lost up there... So we tried to find another way down. But it was about the worst and most dangerous decision we could have made haha. We were literally slipping and sliding down cliffs and big rocks were falling down from above, so we had to dodge them. Then the trees that we were holding onto for support kept falling down and were not strong. At one point I was literally hanging on to two vines over a 20 foot drop. It was awesome! Literally felt like I was in a crazy movie or something. I eventually rock climbed my way down using the vines and swung like Tarzan. Felt so cool. Haha. Me and 3 other missionaries went back a little early and a few others stayed and tried to find other hidden waterfalls. They ended up getting lost and were gone for another 4 hours! We left at 7 this morning, I got back at 2:00 and they got back at 5:00! crazy. But overall, it was a great, fun, adventurous day! Lived life on the edge... Literally. :D
Well, Happy New Years! Make this year better than the last!!

Elder Greer
The waterfalls!









Christmas Dinner (one of them)

Thanks family for the package



Today we also watched this pig get its guts ripped/cut out. So cool!

Feliz Navidad!

Feliz Navidad!
On Friday we had a ward dinner party at our church. The other missionaries in my district and I did a little dance thing that we first performed two weeks ago with our whole zone for a huge Christmas devotional for all the missionaries in Santiago. All the zones had to do an act, so we dressed up as midgets and put big black bags over our upper part of our bodies so we looked like midgets and no one could see who was who. We also did it for our ward dinner party and everyone loved it and thought it was super funny.
On Saturday, we showed the people in our English class the video about Christ and Christmas. It was great and super cool that we could share it with them and not only English. They all really liked it. We asked them after what they learned and what is the purpose of Christmas, and of the 20+ people that were there, not one of them mentioned Christ... It saddened me and really made me realize how our of touch society is with Christ and religion and especially the significance and importance of Christmas. So we bore our testimonies about Christ and what the real meaning of Christmas is. I hope it stuck in their heads! Christmas is not just a time to be with family and get/give gifts and eat a lot, but especially to remember and celebrate our savior JESUS CHRIST! Not just during the Christmas season, but always in our lives!
On Monday we had an activity in Los Cocos with our ward. They all came and we sang Christmas songs and had refreshments. It was great and super fun! Really brought the Christmas spirit to a much needed, out of touch with Christmas spirit town.
Tomorrow is Christmas in the states, but for some reason they celebrate Christmas on the 24th here. So today is Christmas and we have 4 dinner appointments! Wish me luck and that I don't throw up!
Super stoked to see my family on skype tomorrow!! That will be way exciting!
Well, Merry Christmas!! Love you all! And remember, Christmas is about Christ!

Elder Greer
 

Our midget costumes
 

Vamos a la Playa!

This week was great! We have been fasting and praying long and hard for our investigators and have definitely seen the blessings! Although it is always challenging, I realize the blessings more and more. We are teaching a lady who really wants to get baptized, but her and the man she has 4 kids with and living with are not married. So we taught them about marriage and commandments and the Law of Chastity. I just layed it down hard and made it super clear to them how important it is. Honestly, I had little faith that they would every get married or that the man would want to get married. But, when you ask, you receive! Our next lesson with them they told us they wanted to get married! So I am stoked about that! It will still be a huge challenge and super difficult to find all the papers and what not, and actually make it happen, but the desire is there and that is all that matters! My faith was definitely increased and I felt bad that I didn't have more faith in the first place. We had a bunch of other super awesome lessons and have some new investigators who came to church two days after we met them! And they really enjoyed it.
I figured out that if I don't get transferred this next transfer, I will be staying in Los Cocos for another 3 transfers at least because my current companion will be finishing his mission in two transfers. So if I don't leave this next transfer, I will need to stay there until he finished, and then at least one transfer more. So at least 7 and a half months... Which is a really long time in an area. But if I am to stay in any area, I would not mind to stay here. This area is special to me and I have had a lot of success here. I can smell the readiness in the air!
Ok, so now on to my P-Day today...
Today was by far the best and most fun P-Day yet! Last transfer, our zone broke our goals for that transfer so President lets us have a big zone party or do something really fun or cool. We decided we wanted to go visit Puerta Plata. So we got permission to go to Puerta Plata, a beachy tourist city in the northern most part of the Dominican Republic and in my mission. It was an hour drive and we left early in the morning. There are about 10 missionaries in Puerta Plata and is an area everyone wants to serve because it is super chillaxed and beachy and tropical. And they have a stake up there! So a pretty good amount of members.

(I am now going to send pictures of today and add paragraphs or captions about them. Add them in order after this part of my blog. Get ready... there are a lot!)
 
 
When we first got there in the morning, we headed up to the Peak of Puerta Plata in a Gondola where you can see the whole coast and city.

Now to the beach!
A statue of Poseidon on one of the tiny islands.



I think it's safe to say I picked up a few things from my sister Maddie and her photography skills ;)

I don't know why, but I was obsessed with getting sick picks with my plaque.


 And yes, we did get permission to be here and no, we are not disobeying rules :)



Tryin' to be artsy like Sydney Smith

And finally, the group of us Elders of the Santiago North zone taking on Puerta Plata!
Sorry for the cheezy poses, but I had to be a tourist for a sec





At the top, there is a big Jesus statue like the one in Brazil, but way smaller.   
Annnnd my shoes are now forever stained. So that's a bummer... And no, that is not what you think it is... Just mud



Gondola that took us up

More cool views....






 
My Zone Leader, comp (in the brown) and a few others in my zone