Elder Cade Mooney: Happy Dominican Mother's Day

Hey guys!!!!

Whelp, another week down... Taylor only has 3 more to go.... Ha. I'm basically dying of trunkiness for him... Can't imagine what it must be like to be him right now... The real world is a scary place... with homecoming talks... and girls.... haha! Good luck, buddy!!!

This week was super great for us here in the Caribbean sun. :) We are working real hard, and getting rained on a lot... Our wives are gonna be SMOKIN'! hahaha.

On Tuesday morning we went out and had a talk with Julio. He's been un poco flojo lately, and hasn't been coming to church... So we talked to him and he explained the situation with work, and how crazy his schedule is. He's been working 13 hour days, 7 days a week. He wants to build a house for him and his wife and baby, and he wants to go to college, so it's not like he's doing it for anything bad. We read from Jacob 2 with him, and talked about the importance of putting God before the things of the world. We explained to him that we need to focus our time and efforts on the people that are trying whole heartedly to progress, and that for now we'll just keep loving him, and waiting for the day when he has some more time and wants to come to church... Breakups are hard... But I know it's what we're supposed to do. I just hope Julio will notice the difference the gospel has made in his life, and make some time for the Lord.

That evening we went out to the Montero Family's house. Dioni was up in bed with a fever, and was stressin about having to get back to work to keep supporting his family... So we gave him a blessing which promised a quick recovery, and the strength to keep being the dad he is. :) Dad's like Dioni give me hope for the world, and make me grateful for the hard-working example that I have to protect and provide for me. Dads are cool. Moms too. :)

Wednesday is what we'd call a Fracaso. ha.
We woke up to a rainstorm, and things went down hill from there...

In the morning we got ready to go over to the chapel for our District meeting, but got a call from the Office Elders, so we stayed in the house so they could come inspect it. ha. They came, and we showed them the problem with our toilet (it hasn't functioned correctly since before any of us got to the house, and no one has had the guts to tamper with it, so's not to make the problem worse...), and Elder Pití said he bet he could fix it. ha. But then left. He's all talk.

After that we went to the church, cuz we were supposed to have our district meeting, but the ZL's have our church keys cuz they borrowed them last week and never gave them back, so we went to borrow some from a member, but they weren't home, and it was raining, so we called it quits and went to the hardware store in hopes of solving our toilet problem... ha.

After waiting out the rain, we came home and I gave it my best shot. The toilet was SO gross. Years worth of grime built up in the bowl, and a nasty plastic bag/duck tape contraption that someone had used to clog the hole that the water enters through (we flush our toilet with a bucket), so the pressure would work when we threw water in.... ha. The DR plus irresponsible 19 year old boys equals bad news bears. haha. Anyway. After I cleaned it all out, I found the problem with the flusher mechanism, but because it's a modern style toilet none of the hardware stores we went to carried the part... So we got some pieces to do our best to fix the problem. ha. After like 4 hours, we got it all back together, but it still has to be flushed with a bucket. So we called the office elders and told them to send us a plumber. Ha. We're still waiting on them... So I guess we'll just keep living like we do.

All smiles. :)

Although the morning and afternoon were rough... God took good care of us in the evening. We went to Sandra and Edward's house (that couple I told you about last week, the one we contacted, then they moved then we contacted into them again), and had a SUPER great first lesson! They are SO golden, it's crazy! Edward's dad was a Jehovah's Witness, and just passed away a couple of months ago. Sandra used to be an evangelical Christian, and got out of an abusive relationship a couple years ago, and really didn't find what she was looking for in her church. They found each other about a year ago, and are currently searching for the truth. :) Because of the family situation, and the recent death, we left them to read about the Plan of Salvation, and we invited them to pray afterwards. :) The Spirit was EXPLODING in that room! God wants this family in His fold!! And He's entrusted us with the responsibility of explaining the steps of salvation to them. :) We're blessed.

Thursday was planning day... But not much more than that. ha. Lots of first lessons, and some rain.

Friday was Zone Conference with President and Hermana Rodriguez. :) It was a good one. :) All the missionaries going home in the next two transfers got up and bore their testimonies, and I just thought about Taylor the whole time... ha. Then my companion and I did a practice in front of all the peeps to show them what a good companionship study looks like. haha. Cuz ours are so awesome. Obviously. Ha. I really don't like practices that much, but they're a good opportunity to get some new ideas and get a feel for how other missionaries do things.

After we finished our practice, and the audience did an evaluation, we listened to a talk from the Hermana. She's a good lady. Eccentric at times, but good. ha. She read D&C 58:27-29 with us, and talked to us about being our own agents and acting for ourselves without being asked or directed to do so. She shared a quote from John Taylor (another reason to think about Taylor and the fact that he goes home like tomorrow), that said "I've never asked the Lord for something that I could do/get for myself." Or something along those lines; it was in Spanish and sounded lots prettier when she said it. haha.

Then we ate some lunch, and reconvened for another practice on how to teach the Covenant of Baptism, then we discussed it as a group with President Rodriguez. He's an intelligent man. I now have a whole new outlook on the covenant I made at the age of 8, and the things I promise the Lord every week as I participate in the Sacrament. I've decided that Baptism is like a job contract. We sign up with our Father to work in his Fields til the end of our days. If we keep the rules he has set for his fields, our lives are easier, and our tasks are much less daunting. And if we endure through all the storms and the heat and the hard times, ALL the way til when he calls us home, we'll get our own Ranch to keep workin on. ha. :) Good deal.

After that mind blowing chat, Pres blew our minds again! He pulled out the talk that he had sent to us before hand to study (Missionary Work and the Atonement, by Elder Holland) and we discussed it and the role of the Atoning Sacrifice of the Savior in missionary work. It was INCREDIBLE! One of my favorite parts is when Elder Holland says "Anyone who does any kind of missionary work will have occasion to ask, Why is this so hard? Why doesn’t it go better? Why can’t our success be more rapid? Why aren’t there more people joining the Church? It is the truth. We believe in angels. We trust in miracles. Why don’t people just flock to the font? Why isn’t the only risk in missionary work that of pneumonia from being soaking wet all day and all night in the baptismal font?

You will have occasion to ask those questions. I have thought about this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? It seems to me that missionaries and mission leaders have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane. Missionaries and mission leaders have to take at least a step or two toward the summit of Calvary. Now, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not talking about anything anywhere near what Christ experienced. That would be presumptuous and sacrilegious. But I believe that missionaries and investigators, to come to the truth, to come to salvation, to know something of this price that has been paid, will have to pay a token of that same price.

For that reason I don’t believe missionary work has ever been easy, nor that conversion is, nor that retention is, nor that continued faithfulness is. I believe it is supposed to require some effort, something from the depths of our soul."

SO GREAT!!! I know these things are true! Working in our Father's vineyard isn't easy, cuz it wasn't meant to be easy. If it were easy, we'd be following Satan, and we'd under appreciate all that we have. It's hard. But it's possible. :)

Our Zone with Pres and the Hermana 5/24/13

Friday evening after the conference, we came home, and went straight to work (cuz we were late), and had an AWESOME lesson with Edward and Sandra. They DEVOURED the Plan of Salvation pamphlet and had some great questions about it. We spent over an hour discussing it with them, and explaining all the little details. They are SUPER intelligent, and hardly need to have things explained to them. Therefore, we can go deeper with our discussions, and they don't get lost. :) They've both studied a lot about the Gospel, and it's clear that all we have to teach them is ringing true. :)

The Lasagna I made 5/25/13

Saturday was chill. After study I made some Lasagna. ha. Like I told you, my comp likes American food... So I've been attempting new things. ha. It turning out really well. :) My comp has requested less vegetables for the next one, but he ate it all, so I felt accomplished. lol. Work was all right. Lots of new people, and more rain...

Yesterday was good. We had a great morning at church, I taught a lesson on the Sacrament, and used lots of the cool stuff I learned from President to teach it. :)

Then we came home, ate some Mashed Potatoes, and BBQ chicken for lunch, I called my Dominican moms to say "Felizidades," we went to teach some lessons, and then finished off the evening with a missionary fireside! It was great! The members actually showed up for our activity! We sang missionary songs, and listened to talks from myself, Elder Melara, Hno Reyes, Elvis (2nd Counselor) and the Bishop. :) I spoke on the history of missionary work in Christ's Church. :) I'm not the first missionary there ever was, and I sure as heck wont be the last! We're all called to the work! It's always been that way, and always will be! If you're thinking about serving full time, DO IT! It's the best decision I've ever made.

Today was solid. My companion and I wanted to get out of the monotony, so we went adventuring and found a touristy area close by. :) We saw monuments, and old buildings. ha.

And now, I'm back where I was just a week ago... At the end of a NOVEL, and out of time... Ha. I hope you all know how much I love you. And how much I love the Lord. I'm right where I'm supposed to be. :) I'm Mormon. I know it. I live it. I love it.

Love,

Elder Cade Mooney