Hey guys! I'm in heaven!
I suppose you all want the low down on the changes in my life... So here we go!
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| On the way out to the south! 7/30/2013 |
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| My new companion 7/30/2013 |
My new companion is Elder Jimmy Starling Mendoza from Nicaragua. He was baptized when he was 17, and sent in his mission papers a couple years later against his father's will... When his call arrived, his dad came to him and told him that he had prayed about what his son was about to do, and through tears, told Elder Mendoza that he knows it's the right thing for him to be doing with his life. After Elder Medoza entered the mission field, his parents got married, and his mom got baptized. Now everyone's just waiting on his dad to take the plunge. Ha. Pretty cool. To say the least, Elder Mendoza knows why he's out here. And you can tell by the way he works! I wasn't kidding last week when I told you that his nickname in the mission is "La Maquina." He is literally on FULL BLAST missionary mode, 24/7. I literally haven't even had time to think this week cuz we're ALWAYS working, or in a meeting, or planning something. haha.
Our Zone is made up of us two, 4 sister missionaries, and 20 Elders. I am one of 2 Americans in the whole Zone... ha. Our Zone covers the far southwest corner of the Dominican Republic. We cover branch number 2 in the village of Barahona along with two other missionaries, Elder Alvadado from Peru, and Elder Kerr from Las Vegas (the other American). On the other side of the pueblo there are 4 more missionaries, we also have companionships in the villages of Batey, Vicente Noble, Duvergé, Enriquillo, Tamayo, Neiba, and we have companionships working to open areas in Pedernales, Cabral, and Paraíso.
My area is RIGHT on the beach, and there is always a fantastic breeze coming off the ocean. :) That makes the heat a little more bearable. ha.
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| Views from my roof 7/31/2013 |
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| A church in my area 7/31/2013 |
Our investigators are great! We are currently working with a family that is part way through their marriage process. Carlos (the husband) belonged to an Evangelist Church before, and married another woman by law... So we're working with a lawyer here in Barahona to get him divorced so he can get married to Karen (the wife) so they can get baptized. :) We've also got some other individuals that seem to be doing pretty well so far.
Our branch is awesome! I've only been here for a week, and I'm already blown away with how much ánimo these people have to help in the work! :) I'm excited to see what we can achieve in my time here!
Our week was SO busy! We had a meeting in the capital on Thursday with President and ALL the Zone Leaders in the Mission, on Friday we took a 2 hour güa-güa ride out to Neiba to do a baptismal interview. On Saturday we had a Zone Meeting to capacitate our Zone, and tell them all the new information we receive at our meeting on Thursday. Yesterday we took numbers from all the districts and reported them while simultaneously making lunch with some young single adults in our ward, and today we got together with the majority of the zone to play soccer. :)
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| All the ZLs in the mission with the Sister leaders, President, Hermana Rodriguez, and the Clawsons 8/1/2013 |
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| Cool shot on the way to Neiba 8/2/2013 |
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| More cool photos from the trip and my area 8/2/2013 |
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| More photos of my area 8/3/2013 |
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| Playing Soccer as a Zone 8/5/2013 |
My life is different than before. I'm used to just having to worry about my own area, my companionship and my district. But now on top of that I have to worry about 24 other missionaries, and the areas that they work. More stress, less time, but more blessings. :)
Life is good. Sorry it's short today. I have to get some reports off to President. But never fear, I'm keeping a detailed journal that you're all welcome to read when I come home. :)
I love you all! Keep on keepin on!
Love,
Elder Cade Mooney
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