Santo Domingo, República Dominicana

Hey Guys!!

It's almost been a whole week here in the DR! I can't believe time moves so fast!

This place is beautiful. I feel so blessed to be here in paradise for the next two years. :)


To give you an idea of where I am, the MTC/temple grounds are less than a mile from the southern coast. We can see the ocean from our windows upstairs. It's awesome. We are in the city of Santo Domingo but towards the south end of the city. 

The MTC is a little different than the one in Provo... We live in a building that's like 100 yards away from the temple. The church property is about half a city block. The building we live in has 4 floors. The first floor has a distribution center, a kitchen and two lobby/waiting areas. The second floor has rooms for meetings and apartments for the families that come to the temple (people from all over the Caribbean visit our temple, so most of them have to stay overnight). The third floor is all apartments for visiting families and a little gym for the missionaries (When I say little I mean TINY. There's a little weight bench, a ping-pong table, and a foosball table, and ZERO floor space. Ha). The fourth floor is the MTC. It's one long hallway, at one end is the Elders residence and the Sisters live on the other end. Then in between the residences there's a bunch of classrooms, the President's residence, a chapel, a computer lab, the laundry room and the main MTC office. I seems really compact when I describe it, but it's actually really nice. Especially because at the moment there are only 12 Elders and 3 Hermanas living here; so each companionship gets their own room. :) 


We have 2 bunk beds, we each have our own sink space and we each have 3 little closets (about a foot and a half by 5 feet per closet), then we share a shower and a toilet between the two of us. It's the bomb! It definitely beats the community bathrooms at Provo! 

The food here is unreal. Every meal is catered by our cook. He makes it at his place and them brings it all in a van and serves it up. We eat really well. For breakfast we've had banana pancakes, french toast, cinnamon oatmeal, eggs and ham, and we always have a ton of fruit. For lunch we have rice and beans every day. Ha. But it's usually with a piece of chicken, some platanos (huge green banana like things, but they're more of a starch than a fruit. They sort of taste like potatoes), or some mashed potatoes. For dinner he mixes it up. We've had hamburgers, lasagna, pasta, and fajitas and we always have some veggies or a salad to go along with it. It seems like American food, but it's all Dominican style. Ha. The lasagna had shredded chicken in it, and it was more like enchilada sauce than marinara. Ha. But it was delicious! The fajitas didn't quite measure up to Aunt Wendy's, but they were pretty tasty! The beans are always pretty soupy, and they give us a pile of rice and then you poor the beans over the rice and it's amazing. I thought I was going to die eating rice and beans everyday, but honestly I can't wait for lunch everyday just because that's when we get to eat rice and beans again. Ha. Besides the fact that our cook leaves the bones in all the meat (even if it's in soup or something), I have ZERO complaints about the food. I might just never come home! 

Pictures of what they feed us. Ha. It is all catered by real-life Dominicans. So it's good food. We eat a lot of chicken, tons of beans and rice, lots of fruit, and plenty of bread. They definitely feed us well. :)

Outside (which I still only see for about an hour each day) is BEAUTIFUL. On Sunday we went for a temple walk and were blown away by the things that surround us. The only trees are palm trees, the bushes are all covered in tropical flowers, there are literally flocks of bright green Parrots flying around, and there are 8 to 10 inch lizards that just run around on the ground. Ha. It feels like a dream. At gym time we can go out, and play in the parking lot. They have basketball hoops and a volleyball net set up for the missionaries on the North end of the parking lot. We can also (if we get a teacher to come with us) go to the city park across the street to exercise. It's a government protected park/community center sort of thing. There are several buildings on the property that kids can go to to take art classes, or instrument lessons, or other stuff like that. Then outside there's just little paths and pavilions and stuff to play on. Elder Shepherd, Elder Chatterly, our teachers Hermano Nuñez and Hermano Rodriguez, and I all go to the park everyday. We run laps around the paths and then do "Ab Ripper X" in the pavilion. (thank you Elder McRae) Ha. The park is awesome. All the trees are covered in Ivy and there are legit vines hanging off them. All the bushes have tropical flowers on them. It's beautiful here! 

P.S. The centipedes and millipedes are real. Ha. We saw a dead centipede in the road a couple days ago. It was about 8 inches long and probably about an inch wide. And all over the temple grounds there are millipedes that are probably 4 inches long, and the natives all say that those are small. Ha. Essssketch..

Elder Shepherd and I have been called as the District 1 DL's. So for now we have about the same responsibilities as I did in Provo, but there are two of us. I actually like it A LOT more. It's nice to have someone to share ideas with and to share the load with. The catch is that we automatically become AP's when the Latins get here in 2 weeks, and then we're in charge of teaching their district leaders, and also we become the law enforcers cuz according to the President the Latins are pretty rowdy and we supposed to teach them obedience. Ha. NBD.

My district is amazing. All the Elders and Hermanas are way cool. :) We all get along really well!  

There are 3 Hermanas: Hna Porter is from Ogden, UT she's way nice and she has an awesome singing voice. Hna Tuitavake is from Tonga, she is super quiet and it's way hard to get her to come out of her shell, but when she does she's hilarious! Hna Johansen is from Syracuse, UT she's a goof-ball. Ha. She is always laughing about something, or cracking a joke. They are all way cool. Hna's are definitely something I'm grateful for. Just like in Provo, our district is way more mature and better behaved because the Hna's are around!
We have 7 Elders total. There's myself and Elder Fassett of course, and then Elder Chatterly is from Preston, ID he is kinda quiet but super chill, he traveled with Elder Fassett and I on our way here, so I've gotten to know him pretty well. Elder Jensen is Elder Fassett's new companion, He's also from UT, he is a scripture master, He knows where anything and everything you ask about is in the scriptures. Elder Mena is from Santa Barbra, CA, he was raised in foster homes and converted to the Church because of his Foster parents; he has an incredible testimony, it's amazing to talk to him and feel the spirit he brings. Elder Nelson is from Barbados, he's the jokester of the Elders. He is a scrawny little kid with a big ego. Ha. He's always making faces or dancing, or laughing or somethin funny. Ha. 

Hermana Tuitivake

My Comp Elder Shepherd

Hermana Porter (the blonde) and Hermana Johansen (the red head)

It's definitely a group that wouldn't mesh outside of missionary work, but because we're all united in the same cause we are really close! It's amazing! Missionary work is the greatest thing!

This week I've been grateful for the Book of Mormon. We get homework every night to study a certain chapter and then we go to class the next day and discuss it. The Book of Mormon is literally the most true book on the planet. It blows my mind how the Holy Ghost uses it to teach every person EXACTLY what they need to know. I have been blown away at what I've learned and what questions have been answered just from studying the scriptures. I talked with a woman named Emma on the last plane ride here. We talked all about the gospel and I gave her a Book of Mormon. It was unbelievable. She said, "Holy cow you're giving me the CHILLS!" as I was telling her about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. She accepted a copy and she said she couldn't wait to read it. Just from that experience I know without a shadow of a doubt that that book contains the fullness of the gospel. It can change lives.

Missionary work is real. God has called us to preach His gospel to every nation, tongue and people. I know this Church is true.

I love you all. I hope this E-mail finds you all doing well.

Love, Elder Cade Mooney