Happy P-Day! - Monday, November 5, 2012

 Hello fantastic family and friends,

It’s getting harder and harder to believe how quickly these weeks are flying by. This last one was great!

Tuesday was a discouraging day… All of our appointments failed us, so we did a TON of contacting, and even that just felt ineffective. Then 7 pm rolled around, and we had already exhausted our plans AND backup plans for the evening… So we decided to visit a member’s house. It came down to the two closest members (La Familia Carazco or La Familia Guzman), and we ended up opting for La Familia Guzman. We walked up the hill to their house, and as always were welcomed as family. Then Hna Guzman sat us down and told us that God had heard her prayers and that He had sent us. I guess she has been having a lot of headaches as of late, and it was worse than usual on Tuesday.

Anyway, she had received a blessing of comfort from her son Agustin, but because there aren’t two priesthood holders in the house, she hadn’t had a blessing for the sick yet. She said that a little while before we showed up she was telling Amelia (her daughter) that she needed help remembering to call the missionaries later to ask us for a blessing. Well, it slipped her mind, but it sure as heck didn’t slip Heavenly Father’s. So we all huddled in their front room, and we gave her a blessing. It was INCREDIBLE! I can’t even explain the Spirit that was felt during that blessing. It was like being able to feel a fraction of the love that Heavenly Father has for Hermana Guzman coursing through my body in waves from head to toe. It was so cool. After the blessing we all sat down and we shared a spiritual thought. My companion shared from Alma 7:11-12, and we had a small testimony meeting about the power of the Atonement, and the love that God has for us. We all cried. And then as we finished up our testimonies, Hna Guzman stopped us, and said “Elders, I don’t feel a thing. The pain in my head is completely gone.”

I am SO grateful to be here as a missionary, as a tool in the Master´s hands. I know that Heavenly Father cares for each and every one of His children more than we can even imagine. He knew that Hna Guzman needed a blessing and the chance to exercise her faith to be healed, and He knew that that experience was exactly what I needed to turn a discouraging day into an incredible one! He is so merciful, and I am so grateful for the constant help and support that I receive from Him. 

Wednesday was Halloween. So naturally we got all dressed up in our missionary costumes and went to knock on some doors. Lol. Sadly, no one really celebrates Halloween, so we didn’t get candy. But as usual, we got miracles. We received a reference on Sunday to go start teaching a lady named Ana, so we got her address, and then on Wednesday night we embarked on the house hunt. As it usually is, I was expecting to get to the street and then just ask around for an hour or so until we found her (addresses do nothing for you in this country…. NO organization) or give up.

So we started in on that, and as we were making our way up the street, Shirley, a lady from our ward, stopped us in the street, and said “are you looking for Ana?” Ha. We were actually looking for Alourcin Charles, and not having any luck… Turns out she goes by Ana, and she happens to be Shirley’s sister-in-law. So she led us through a maze behind some houses to Ana. Ha. It was a HUGE tender mercy of the Lord. We could’ve spent hours looking for her and never would have found her in that back ally!

Then, that same night, we stopped at the Grocery Store and picked up a pumpkin. Lol. We brought it home, cleaned it out, and then carved it into a Missionary. Ha. Then we took a bunch of pictures with it while we ate chocolate and talked on the roof. It was basically an American Halloween! So fun! 

We carved a missionary. 10/31/12





Pumpkin carving fun



We ate chocolate on our roof. With our pumpkin. 10/31/12

Halloween party

 spooky moon



cool night shot of the city 10/31/12

On Friday we were teaching Amelia (one of our new investigators) and got to talking about her family. Turns out, she is Josefa’s (one of our progressing investigators) sister! Ha. It is a small world… We had no idea they were related, but I’m super excited about it! They are both progressing really well, and now they will both have a buddy to investigate the church with! God is good!

On Saturday morning my companion and I looked at our pumpkin, which was beginning to decay, and received some inspiration from the spirit of fun. Haha. We decided to run down to the beach for exercise, and take it with us. We picked a good spot on the Molicon and Elder Maner hucked it out into the sea. He told me it would sink, and I told him if it floated he owed me a peso. Yep, it floats. Ha. Then we yelled “Wilson!!!” a bunch of times in the best Tom Hanks voices we could muster. Definitely an inspired activity.

My comp with the pumpkin. 11/3/12

the pumpkin in the ocean.

Last night we had an AMAZING family home evening with Josefa and Kimberly. We invited Hna Guzman to come with us, and I’m SO glad we did! We also invited Amelia (Josefa’s sister/our investigator), and some young women from the ward. So while we were waiting for the other people to show up, Hna Guzman and Josefa got to talking, and somehow Hna Guzman’s conversion story came up; so she recounted it. It was PERFECT!! She talked about her challenge with giving up Coffee. It was a weird coincidence… We didn’t know that that had been a challenge for her, but it was exactly what Josefa needed to hear! That is the one and only thing in her life that she needs to change before she can be baptized! I was SO grateful for Hna Guzman and the guidance of the Spirit! I know it strengthened Josefa’s testimony of the Word of Wisdom, cuz it strengthened mine FOR SURE!
Well, the young women never showed up, and Amelia called and bailed, so we had a little Noche de Hogar just the four of us. We watched the Joseph Smith movie, and then ate Chaca (Pronounced Cha-ká). Ha. It was awesome.

Eating Chaca (pronounced Cha-ká) It's a pudding like substance that they make out of corn. They take corn (that has been dried and smashed up) boil it for a couple hours, then put in milk, raisins, cinnamon, and lots of sugar. I think it's what Nana valiantly attempted to make for my missionary dinner. But they serve it hot, and they make it out of that special corn that is probably only sold here in the DR. 11/4/12

This morning was a little crazy. We cleaned our house, and then headed for the Zone activity. We called a taxi to take us, but about half way there the car broke down. Ha. It’s actually not all that abnormal… We got out and pushed it to see if we could get it push started, but it didn’t work… But there happened to be two other taxi’s sitting on the side of the road. So we just hopped in another one. But as we were pulling away Elder Alba realized that his wallet was missing… So we all got out and searched the road for it… but no luck. Well, while we were pushing the first taxi he had it in his hand so it had to be close by, but then we realized that the third taxi wasn’t there anymore and neither was the wallet… So we went on a wild goose chase to see if we could find the taxi driver that took it… All we had to go on was the name of his taxi company. Lol. It was hopeless. But it was an adventure. I just feel bad for Elder Alba… His WHOLE identity was in his wallet, and a bunch of money as well. And he only has 2 weeks left in the mission… I guess it’s just the final trial… Anyway. Pray for him.

Elder Domine, My comp and I at the Apolo Taxi office... Elder Alba got his wallet stolen by a taxi driver, so we went to see if we could identify him and get it back. No luck. 11/5/12 

My comp at the place where Elder Ballard dedicated this contry for the preaching of the gospel. 11/5/12 

I love and miss you all! I hope you’re all doing well, reading your scriptures and praying always! Keep the faith!

Love, Elder Cade Mooney