Hello Family!!!! I hope you all had a fan-freakin-tastic week, cuz we sure as heck did!! :)
Rockin' things that went down this week:
We went to the Temple on Wednesday morning with President and Hermana Rodriguez. It was SO great to be in the temple again! It is kinda hard to believe that our last Temple trip (when I was with Elder Maner) was 6 whole months ago!! Time is flying by!! Also, a few nights before our temple trip I gave my Mama Guzman (from my first area) a call and asked her what her temple schedule was like for the week (she's an avid temple goer), and it turns out that Wednesday's are her temple days! So, she was there when I got there, and we got to talk for a while afterwards! She said that she attempted to call and wish me a happy birthday, but she only had my number in Ocoa, so to make up for it, she brought me a late Birthday Breakfast to eat after we got out of the temple. :) She's such a great lady. :)
Then after our temple trip, we went to McDonald's as a Zone. Ha. I realize how ridiculously strange it sounds to celebrate something so big as a bi-annual temple trip with McDonald's, but it really was the perfect little cherry to top our perfect trip to the temple! You have life SO good in America!!! Count your blessings! And your Chicken McNuggets! ha.
On Saturday, Dioni's Birth Certificate finally came from San Juan!!! WOO HOO!!!!! The Records are now complete, and we can have a wedding!!! Today we went and gave the office all the paperwork, and got everything set for a wedding this Friday in the afternoon! I can't even explain how excited we are!!! And also, how much weight came off our shoulders as we watched the office lady put our wedding in the office planner on Friday at 3:30. :) We are so blessed! Now we will be praying out hearts out that everything goes well with the wedding, and the baptism this week! This family, regardless of Satan and his obstacles, will be baptized, and will march through the door that leads to eternal life!
Today, Elder Fassett, Elder Wadman and I went golfing. We originally had a golf trip planned to celebrate my birthday at the beginning of this month, but because of Birth Certificate complications we had to postpone it, and postpone it again. But this week, we said it was a must, because transfer calls come this Sunday, and we had to get it done just in case Elder Fassett gets transferred out of here. I must say, I had a grand ol' time! But, I still don't quite understand why old dudes spend so much money, and so much time on the sport... haha. Maybe I'll put golf lessons on my "things to do when I get home" list, and then with some practice, I will discover the passion shared by all wealthy, old men. ha.
Quick update on the Progressing Investigators:
The Family is still doing great! Yoel isn't quite sure about being baptized this weekend with his parents, so we will continue talking to him, and helping him in anyway that we can to fell prepared. Leidi hasn't been to Church for a while, so we will also continue talking with her and praying that she finds the same desire her family has. Dioni and Adriana couldn't be more excited for their wedding and baptism! The day is finally here!! :) Adoni and Esperanza are still as strong as ever. Adoni said the closing prayer in our lesson with them last week, and his mom looked up crying afterwards. Children are so pure! You can't help but feel the Spirit when they are around!
Anni and Yoel are doing well. We had some fun at their house this week, and had some good lessons as well. During one of our lessons Anni shared the following story: She and Yoel went to a law office on Tuesday, because her ex-husband is threatening to take her kids away (yeah, Satan is still attacking this lady), and while there she got a huge urge to smoke a cigarette to calm her nerves, so she and Yoel went on a hunt around the office and hit up 7 convenience stores and/or cafés that should've had cigarettes for sell... But, they were all either closed or out of cigarettes. Ha. So, they went back to the office, and sat back down, and in attempts to calm her mind, she reached into her purse for some reading material, and pulled out the Word of Wisdom pamphlet we left with her last week. ha. She doesn't remember putting it in there, but she does know that Heavenly Father was helping her keep the commitment she's made to stop smoking! :) Heavenly Father really does want the best for His children, and if we will put our best foot forward, He will bless us in ways we've never imagined!
Also, during one of our lessons, Anni asked us when the next Baptismal Service would be. :) She has an amazing understanding of the need to be baptized, and it's something she really wants to do! Currently we are still working with her to stop smoking, and stop drinking coffee, and also to figure things out with the guy she's currently living with... i.e. whether she's gonna marry him, or separate from him. So we'll keep workin' hard, and praying for her way to be prepared by the Lord. I know His hand is in anything, and with her desire and faith, anything is possible!
Amparo (recent convert) and Manuel (her non-member husband) are still doing well as well. Manuel has been doing a lot of studying lately, and in our last lesson together he told us that he read in the Bible that the Gospel is the base of everything. So we need to start with the Gospel Pamphlet. haha. He is a funny old guy. He likes to be right all the time, and he likes his Bible. So it's been fun to teach him. We spend lots of time finding good Scriptures in the Bible to back ourselves up, and we spend lots of time inviting him to pray. :)
Wascar (an old investigator from a few missionaries back) is still meeting with us twice a week, and still studies everything we leave with him. He came to church with us on Sunday and did lots of participating! But he's still unsure about the Book of Mormon. So we are focusing on prayer, and the need for a personal witness from the Holy Ghost. He's got lots of potential, and I really hope he lets the Spirit into his heart so that he can begin this great change. :)
Apart from those peeps, a few stragglers and a few newbies, we've just been knocking on lots of doors, and meeting lots of wonderful children of God. ha. i.e. Great people that like to say "no, no, esta bien. Somos (insert random religion of your choice)." then close the door. ;)
Anyway. I should get going. We've got so much to do, and oh so little time!
I love you all, and I hope you all realize how much I love being a missionary! Life is good!
Love,
Elder Cade Mooney
Monday, March 18, 2013
Monday, March 11, 2013
Faith, Hope, and... Firefighters? Ha. - Monday, March 11, 2013
Whelp, this week was one of the more interesting thus far!
On Monday night we had another Family Home evening with Desereé, Elvis and their adorable little boy Edward. We talked about our Eternal Potential as individuals and as families, and we talked about the need to stay focused on Christ in order to achieve said potential. The conversation reminded me of a Conference Talk that Elder Meek shared with me. The speaker talked about a childhood experience when he was learning to plant seeds in the fields. His dad told him that if he picked a point on the horizon and walked straight towards it his corn rows would always be straight. His dad left him for a while to plant a few rows, and when he returned he found a bunch of wiggly, uneven rows... He asked his son what he used as his focal point, and the boy said, "that big, brown cow in yonder field." haha. His father then lovingly explained that he needed to pick a static focal point next time... ha. The speaker then related this experience to our lives; if we pick the things of the world as our focal point (always moving, like the cow), our path through life will be far from "straight and narrow," but if we chose the Rock of Christ as our focal point, we will be guided STRAIGHT Home! :) Christ is there, and he is never going to move, or change on us. He, like a light house, will guide us safely home! He is the "light and the life of the world," and if we put our faith in Him, NOTHING is impossible!
On Tuesday night we went to the Fam Bam's house and told them the bad paperwork news... Dioni immediately called his mom up and got to work on getting the ball rollin' out in San Juan. His mom said that all of his siblings have had the same problems with their certificates, and that it shouldn't be too hard to take care of. So we're hopeful! On top of that good news, we talked it out with Dioni and Adriana and they told us that they didn't want their kids to have to wait to be baptized because of them. So we asked the kids what they wanted to do. Yoel and Leidi want to wait for their parents, but both Adoni and Esperanza were still full speed ahead for baptism! We finished the visit off by reading 1 Nephi 3:7 together, and testifying that with faith, God will help this family with the paper work, and He will help them be baptized. Dioni closed the lesson with one of the more fervent prayers I've ever heard. He asked for help with his birth certificate, and he asked a special blessing over his family. Very Powerful. I feel extremely blessed to be a part of this family's conversion story.
On Wednesday in the afternoon we had a lesson with Anni. She asked us about baptism and we explained to her what it means, and why we do it. She said she's already been baptized in the last church she was attending, but then she left them for our church... So what's to stop her from just leaving our church after she's been baptized? We explained to her the need to receive a witness from the Spirit that the church she's in NOW is the TRUE church. She told us that she'd start praying now for her answer, and that she wasn't gonna get baptized til she's sure. She's spent the last 20 years moving from church to church looking for the truth. She says she feels like she's going through the motions, but that she still doesn't feel like she's "saved." It's been cool to see her gain more and more light and truth, and I am still praying for the day that it all clicks for her. She's desperate for salvation... She just has to open her eyes and realize that she's found it! It's right here, under her nose!
On Thursday the mail came!!! That means Elder Mooney finally got his birthday package! Thank you family! It's perfect! Elder Fassett also sends his Gracias. He was goin' a little crazy when he saw all the Dots. haha. Plus, we were mutually pumped to get started on P90X! No more boring push ups in the mornings! haha.
Then that evening we went to the Fam Bam's house to get Adoni and Esperanza prepped for their baptism. And we found out that Dioni actually doesn't have to go out to San Juan!!!! His mom is taking care of everything out there! Woo Hoo!! If everything goes as planned, the birth certificate should be here within the week!! :) God is good to us!
Friday morning we got up and started P90X. ha. So great. Thus far we've both noted that it's easier to drag ourselves out of bed in the morning cuz we've got a real work out to look forward to!
Then in the afternoon we went back over to Anni's house. Yoel and his buddy were chillin in the barber shop playin some cards, and we had some extra time in our schedule for the day, so we sat down and played with them. I must say, Dominican card/board games are funner than ours. haha. We played a game called Casino, which is a four player card game played in teams of two. I guess it's a popular game in the Casinos here. ha. It was ridiculously complicated (I think if I tried to explain it all out, I would butcher it... So I'll just teach you all when I come home), with lots of random rules, but we held our own, and we had lots of fun! haha.
Then we had a little Plan of Salvation lesson with Anni. We've been taking it slow with the whole thing, and we finally got through it and re passed it with a little visual aid! :) I think she gets it! ha. If not, she will understand it with time.
Our last lesson for the night was with Amparo (a recent convert) and her Husband Manuel (not a member). Manuel had a question about the Plan of Salvation, specifically, how do we know we existed before this life. He's a pretty hard core Catholic, and doesn't quite accept the Book of Mormon as scripture yet, so we went with the Bible instead. ha. When we had him read Jeremiah 1:5 he about peed his pants. ha. He just kept grinning from ear to ear! I have never seen someone so happy after having the light click!
Saturday was a crazy one...
We got up and headed over to the Church to get the baptismal font filled up and the water wouldn't turn on... Ha. I'm about fed up with all these ridiculous road blocks in the way of getting this family baptized. Satan is unbelievable... But he isn't unbeatable! haha. And we beat him again!
We spent the morning messing with the water pump out in the back shed, and found that if we left the pump on and the valve closed, water pressure would build up and then we could release it and a little bit of water would come out. haha. Not fun. We did that for a while, and then went home to get some lunch. After lunch we came back and still weren't having any luck... We called the bishop and he told us to do what we were already doing, and that he would get there when he could. We kept slowly filling it up, and we tried using empty garbage cans to carry water, but gave up on that idea pretty quick. ha. By the time the bishop showed up at 5:30 we had filled the font up to my ankles... He and his counselor tried to work on the pump for like 30 minutes before finally giving up. Ha. Then the Bishop pulled a hero move... He called the fire department. i guess he's good friends with the local fire chief, so he can do stuff like that.
Anyway, long story short, three big, burly firefighters showed up in a van with a giant water pump and a bunch of hoses so we could pump the water from the sisterna (well) out by the shed, to the font. haha. Within 45 minutes we had a little over knee deep water, and then had to call it good cuz it was already 8 pm and we had to be finished with the baptism before nine so we could make it home on time! ha. So we baptized both kids in knee deep water (they both had to be dunked twice, but I didn't even have to change my underwear cuz the water was so low. haha), had a short talk and a testimony, then called it a wrap. haha. Craziest baptism ever. From this experience, I know that God truly does answer prayers. It may not be how we want or expect it to be (i.e. He might send the fire department), but if we pray with faith, He will prepare the way. :)
Yesterday the kids got confirmed. The Chapel didn't collapse like I thought it might... so we're happy. :)
Today we woke up to a hard core work out, cleaned our house, and then had an empanada party with our Zone. :) Empanadas are like baby calzones. We made a ton of them with ham and cheese inside. Someday I'll come home and cook you one. ;)
Anyway. I'll letch y'all go. ha. I love you dearly, and hope your week is a grand one! The church is true, and God is always there for you. Never forget it!
Love,
Elder Cade Mooney
On Monday night we had another Family Home evening with Desereé, Elvis and their adorable little boy Edward. We talked about our Eternal Potential as individuals and as families, and we talked about the need to stay focused on Christ in order to achieve said potential. The conversation reminded me of a Conference Talk that Elder Meek shared with me. The speaker talked about a childhood experience when he was learning to plant seeds in the fields. His dad told him that if he picked a point on the horizon and walked straight towards it his corn rows would always be straight. His dad left him for a while to plant a few rows, and when he returned he found a bunch of wiggly, uneven rows... He asked his son what he used as his focal point, and the boy said, "that big, brown cow in yonder field." haha. His father then lovingly explained that he needed to pick a static focal point next time... ha. The speaker then related this experience to our lives; if we pick the things of the world as our focal point (always moving, like the cow), our path through life will be far from "straight and narrow," but if we chose the Rock of Christ as our focal point, we will be guided STRAIGHT Home! :) Christ is there, and he is never going to move, or change on us. He, like a light house, will guide us safely home! He is the "light and the life of the world," and if we put our faith in Him, NOTHING is impossible!
On Tuesday night we went to the Fam Bam's house and told them the bad paperwork news... Dioni immediately called his mom up and got to work on getting the ball rollin' out in San Juan. His mom said that all of his siblings have had the same problems with their certificates, and that it shouldn't be too hard to take care of. So we're hopeful! On top of that good news, we talked it out with Dioni and Adriana and they told us that they didn't want their kids to have to wait to be baptized because of them. So we asked the kids what they wanted to do. Yoel and Leidi want to wait for their parents, but both Adoni and Esperanza were still full speed ahead for baptism! We finished the visit off by reading 1 Nephi 3:7 together, and testifying that with faith, God will help this family with the paper work, and He will help them be baptized. Dioni closed the lesson with one of the more fervent prayers I've ever heard. He asked for help with his birth certificate, and he asked a special blessing over his family. Very Powerful. I feel extremely blessed to be a part of this family's conversion story.
On Wednesday in the afternoon we had a lesson with Anni. She asked us about baptism and we explained to her what it means, and why we do it. She said she's already been baptized in the last church she was attending, but then she left them for our church... So what's to stop her from just leaving our church after she's been baptized? We explained to her the need to receive a witness from the Spirit that the church she's in NOW is the TRUE church. She told us that she'd start praying now for her answer, and that she wasn't gonna get baptized til she's sure. She's spent the last 20 years moving from church to church looking for the truth. She says she feels like she's going through the motions, but that she still doesn't feel like she's "saved." It's been cool to see her gain more and more light and truth, and I am still praying for the day that it all clicks for her. She's desperate for salvation... She just has to open her eyes and realize that she's found it! It's right here, under her nose!
On Thursday the mail came!!! That means Elder Mooney finally got his birthday package! Thank you family! It's perfect! Elder Fassett also sends his Gracias. He was goin' a little crazy when he saw all the Dots. haha. Plus, we were mutually pumped to get started on P90X! No more boring push ups in the mornings! haha.
Then that evening we went to the Fam Bam's house to get Adoni and Esperanza prepped for their baptism. And we found out that Dioni actually doesn't have to go out to San Juan!!!! His mom is taking care of everything out there! Woo Hoo!! If everything goes as planned, the birth certificate should be here within the week!! :) God is good to us!
Friday morning we got up and started P90X. ha. So great. Thus far we've both noted that it's easier to drag ourselves out of bed in the morning cuz we've got a real work out to look forward to!
Then in the afternoon we went back over to Anni's house. Yoel and his buddy were chillin in the barber shop playin some cards, and we had some extra time in our schedule for the day, so we sat down and played with them. I must say, Dominican card/board games are funner than ours. haha. We played a game called Casino, which is a four player card game played in teams of two. I guess it's a popular game in the Casinos here. ha. It was ridiculously complicated (I think if I tried to explain it all out, I would butcher it... So I'll just teach you all when I come home), with lots of random rules, but we held our own, and we had lots of fun! haha.
Then we had a little Plan of Salvation lesson with Anni. We've been taking it slow with the whole thing, and we finally got through it and re passed it with a little visual aid! :) I think she gets it! ha. If not, she will understand it with time.
Our last lesson for the night was with Amparo (a recent convert) and her Husband Manuel (not a member). Manuel had a question about the Plan of Salvation, specifically, how do we know we existed before this life. He's a pretty hard core Catholic, and doesn't quite accept the Book of Mormon as scripture yet, so we went with the Bible instead. ha. When we had him read Jeremiah 1:5 he about peed his pants. ha. He just kept grinning from ear to ear! I have never seen someone so happy after having the light click!
Saturday was a crazy one...
We got up and headed over to the Church to get the baptismal font filled up and the water wouldn't turn on... Ha. I'm about fed up with all these ridiculous road blocks in the way of getting this family baptized. Satan is unbelievable... But he isn't unbeatable! haha. And we beat him again!
We spent the morning messing with the water pump out in the back shed, and found that if we left the pump on and the valve closed, water pressure would build up and then we could release it and a little bit of water would come out. haha. Not fun. We did that for a while, and then went home to get some lunch. After lunch we came back and still weren't having any luck... We called the bishop and he told us to do what we were already doing, and that he would get there when he could. We kept slowly filling it up, and we tried using empty garbage cans to carry water, but gave up on that idea pretty quick. ha. By the time the bishop showed up at 5:30 we had filled the font up to my ankles... He and his counselor tried to work on the pump for like 30 minutes before finally giving up. Ha. Then the Bishop pulled a hero move... He called the fire department. i guess he's good friends with the local fire chief, so he can do stuff like that.
Anyway, long story short, three big, burly firefighters showed up in a van with a giant water pump and a bunch of hoses so we could pump the water from the sisterna (well) out by the shed, to the font. haha. Within 45 minutes we had a little over knee deep water, and then had to call it good cuz it was already 8 pm and we had to be finished with the baptism before nine so we could make it home on time! ha. So we baptized both kids in knee deep water (they both had to be dunked twice, but I didn't even have to change my underwear cuz the water was so low. haha), had a short talk and a testimony, then called it a wrap. haha. Craziest baptism ever. From this experience, I know that God truly does answer prayers. It may not be how we want or expect it to be (i.e. He might send the fire department), but if we pray with faith, He will prepare the way. :)
Yesterday the kids got confirmed. The Chapel didn't collapse like I thought it might... so we're happy. :)
Today we woke up to a hard core work out, cleaned our house, and then had an empanada party with our Zone. :) Empanadas are like baby calzones. We made a ton of them with ham and cheese inside. Someday I'll come home and cook you one. ;)
Anyway. I'll letch y'all go. ha. I love you dearly, and hope your week is a grand one! The church is true, and God is always there for you. Never forget it!
Love,
Elder Cade Mooney
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." (Ether 12:6) - Monday, March 4, 2013
This week has been just that.... A bit of a trial of our faith. But we know from experiences and from beliefs that our "witness" WILL COME!
This week started off with a bang! After sending you all that pathetic little email (don't worry, I already wrote it all out, and put it in the mail in letter form so my lovely mother can type it all up when it gets there next month. ha) we headed home to whip up a four course meal to take to our Fam Bam.
When we told them that we cook for ourselves, they wouldn't believe us, so we told 'em we'd make them something deliciously American. And that's just what we did! We made 7 Up Chicken (put equal proportions of 7up and BBQ sauce in a pot, bring to a boil, and then simmer on low for like 45 minutes), with garlic mashed potatoes, gravy and a side salad. Ha. It was epic. And a LOT of work... I now have a better understanding of why my mom cringes at the thought of cooking dinner for 9 every night. ha. I don't think I could handle that on a daily basis. But is was SO worth it just one time! ha. I can't say the Family liked our American cooking as much as we did, but they ate it all, so we felt accomplished. :)
On Tuesday we got up and went to get our hair cut by Yoel the Barber in the pretty, blue barber shop we built/painted last week. I was pleasantly surprised with his job. He used scissors, and cut everything just how I like it. Ha. Seeing that he's only 16, I would say that he's got a solid future ahead of him in the haircutting business. Then, Anni, being the gracious Dominican she is, invited us for lunch afterwards, so we helped her cook, and then had a nice conversation over some Rice and Beans with her, Yoel, and Axel (her youngest son).
Then, that afternoon we went back over to the Fam Bam's house, and had a rockin' discussion inspired by 3 Nephi 27:27. We even pulled out Preach My Gospel and talked about some of the Christ like Attributes found in Chapter 6, and how we can apply them in our lives so we can be the "class" of men that He wants us to be; "even as He is." It was cool to discuss Christ's life and His example in a family setting. Dioni had some awesome comments, and even Adoni (the littlest) was involved in the conversation. :) It's fun to watch this family learn and grow, and to see how they are always there to help each other out. Obviously it's great to teach the Gospel to investigators, regardless of their age or family status; there really is something special about watching a family make those first few steps towards being united for eternity. THAT'S why I'm here as a missionary. I up and left my family for TWO WHOLE YEARS, so that Dioni, and Adirana, and Yoel, and Ysable, and Leidi, and Esperanza, and Adoni can be with their family FOREVER and EVER.
On Wednesday we had our weekly district meeting, and Elder Fassett was in charge of the spiritual thought. He talked about faith (ha. How interesting that God teaches us what we need to know, RIGHT when we're about to experience a trial), and he read Ether 12:13-18. It talks about how all the miracles that happened to the prophets in the Book of Mormon, were 100% according to their faith! With our faith, ANYTHING is possible. We just have to put our best foot forward, and roll with the punches. If we trust in Him, it will ALWAYS work out in the end!
Then in the afternoon, we headed over to talk to Anni and Yoel. Yoel was busy with the Barber Shop, so we had a one-on-one lesson with Anni. Almost immediately after the opening prayer, she broke down and opened up to us about some of the trials she's facing right now. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly and how brutally Satan attacks a person, the SECOND they start investigating God's true church. She told us that she smoked twice that day, and that she'd been thinking mean thoughts about the people causing her stress, and that she really just didn't even feel worthy to pray or go to church... We sat and listened for a while, and when she got to the worthiness part, we stopped her, and we asked her one simple question, "Is it the healthy or the sick that need to go to the hospital?" She said "the sick," and then she smiled. We explained that prayer, and scripture study are like medication for our soul, and that church is like a weekly wellness check/energy boost that we get every week. NO ONE is perfect. EVERYONE has trials, but if we rely on the Lord, apply the medication He's provided us, and frequently visit His hospital, we can work our way, step by step, back into His arms.
On Thursday we had some solid lessons and found some decent new people. Also, we taught that Dani guy I told you about last week, and this time we took Hna Angela (a member that lives close by) with us. :) It was a good lesson. He still had lots of questions, and had a rebuttal for every point we taught during the lesson, but I think we got through to him a little bit. :) Also, it was really good for them to meet Angela as a Member. She is a teacher at the school their kids attend, and she lives around the corner, so they've known each other forever, just never as member and investigator! It's always cool to see how much the members begin to care for our investigators as we involve them in our work! Missionary work is the greatest work there is! If you have missionaries in your ward, GO OUT AND HELP THEM! Going on splits with the missionaries is a win-win situation! I promise you, you'll come home feeling like you're on top of the world! :)
Friday started off good... We had a Zone conference with President and Hermana Rodriguez. They are good people. :) The Hermana talked about appearances, and our need to look good. She said "Your first impression is your last chance to give a good impression." And I second that! If we look like bums on the street, we really can't tell someone that we represent Christ, and expect them to take us seriously. We should always be modest, and professional in our appearances and our actions. :)
Then President shared with us about receiving personal revelation, and how important it is in missionary work. The Spirit is EVERYTHING! Without him, we're helpless.
Then, with previously received authorization, we left the conference early so we could get back to our area, hustle down to the Fam Bam's house to get all their papers, and then come back up to the JCE office building in our area. We got to the office, with ALL the necessary paperwork in hand, with full expectations to plan a wedding, and we got turned down... Turns out, the Birth certificates of everyone except Adoni and Yoel (cuz we just got new ones for those two last week) were out of date and needed to be renewed, which has to be done at the Main Office in the Capital... So, we talked it over, and decided to make good on our commitment to do EVERYTHING in our power to get this family baptized, and hopped on a güa-güa. The clock said 4:20, so we figured we would be okay to get in before 6. That's when things went bad... It is clear as day that Satan does not want this family baptized...
On the freeway, the bus driver dropped his transmission... Ha. So we got out and waited for another bus to pull over and pick us up. 30 minutes later we hopped off the second gua gua and got in a public car to ride down to the Office. Welp... We drove right into the biggest traffic jam I had every experienced. We told ourselves we would see how far we could get in the car, and that when the clock hit 5:40 we would run the rest of the way. Ha. So that's what we did. I kid you not, we RAN the 5 and a half blocks to the Office building, and made it through the doors and up the stairs with 5 minutes to spare. Covered in sweat, we begged the workers to help us out. ha. They accepted our pleas, and pulled up the Birth Certificates for us. They printed off two, but the rest were "in control" and they couldn't get anything done with them cuz that section of the office had already closed up and gone home for the weekend... We were told we'd have to come back on Monday... So we took the two certificates we got, and walked out the doors defeated again. haha.
We lifted our spirits a little by swinging by Krispy Kreme Donuts on the way home. Ha. We justified it cuz it was my Birthday's eve, and we had preplanned to celebrate our Birth Certificate success with a treat.
Saturday was my first birthday in the mission field. And to tell you the truth, it just wasn't the same... Ha. We still worked, and ate, and taught, and testified, just like normal. But hey, that's what the mission is all about, right?!?! These two years are about God, and my investigators! Not about cool birthday parties! Although, two of my mission moms from Ocoa (Milagros and Nermis), and my old companion Elder Logue all remembered to call me and wish me Feliz Cumpleaños. :) That made the day pretty great. :)
Sunday we had a spark of the "witness... after the trial of our faith." We had TEN investigators show up at church! :) Every single member of our Fam Bam was there (except Dioni cuz he worked til 3 am, and then got called into work again at 8 am...), as well as Anni and her two boys, Anna, and Johan. :) That was a much needed spiritual face lift. :)
Then in the evening we went out and had a cool lesson out of the Liahona with Dioni and Adriana and their next door neighbors (the members that gave them to us as a reference), Santos and Nana, about raising resilient children. Parenthood is a hard core responsibility, and a respect all of you that are currently rockin' that. haha.
Then we headed over to Anni's house to have a Taco party. haha. A real life Mexican Taco party. It was refreshing, and reminded me of home. :)
Then we came home and boosted our spirits even more with some P-Day eve Banana Batiras. :)
Then this morning came around, and we took another hit... We got up, cleaned our apartment, and then headed back into the capital with the hopes of finishing this whole Birth Certificate Shenanigan. On the way, believe it or not, the tire on the public car we were in went flat. ha. What a joke. When I get to heaven, I'm gonna junk punch Satan right up in his man business.
Finally we got there, and after waiting in line for a while, to no avail, we snuck into the office of the one and only Josefa. She is the mother of Kimberly that I found and taught with Elder Alba, then Elder Maner back in Independencia. She is the head honcho lady at the main JCE office, but wasn't there the last two times cuz we went after 4 (which is when her shift ends). It was really cool to see her again and to get an update! Seeing that she is constantly working with birth and death records, the Bishop in Independencia has put her in charge of the Family History Program in the ward! How cool is that!!! I was So happy to hear it!
But, back to the story... She, being the awesome lady she is, used her super receptionist powers to get all the papers we needed to renew all the Birth Certificates, EXCEPT Dioni's... I guess his parents took out his birth certificate like 3 years after he was born... So they don't know if his information is correct or not, and because of that, he needs to return to his place of birth, with a photo ID, and Photo ID of his parents and 3 witnesses, so that they can prove that he's a citizen of this country, and that he was actually born when he said he was... HUGE BUMMER!!!! We have yet to talk to him, but seeing that his work schedule is nuts, we don't know when or if he'll be able to make that trip in the near future... So as of now, we will continue teaching this beautiful family, and we will keep praying for miracles. I.E. We will stay strong in the faith, and keep working and waiting for that promised witness in Ether 12:6.
I know this church is true. I know that what I'm doing right now is exactly what I need to be doing. I know life isn't easy, and Missionary life is even more difficult. I plan to keep pushing forward with faith, and hope. I know God lives, and He loves each one of us. He is always there, and no matter how hard the devil fights against us, with Him on our side, we will ALWAYS prevail.
I love you all. I am so out of time. The power went out in this stupid Internet center 5 times while I was writing this, but I promised myself that I would make this one count, regardless of the impetuous winds blowing about me. So, now we're a little late, and must go running to our FHE. :)
Love,
Elder Cade Mooney, Missionary.
This week started off with a bang! After sending you all that pathetic little email (don't worry, I already wrote it all out, and put it in the mail in letter form so my lovely mother can type it all up when it gets there next month. ha) we headed home to whip up a four course meal to take to our Fam Bam.
When we told them that we cook for ourselves, they wouldn't believe us, so we told 'em we'd make them something deliciously American. And that's just what we did! We made 7 Up Chicken (put equal proportions of 7up and BBQ sauce in a pot, bring to a boil, and then simmer on low for like 45 minutes), with garlic mashed potatoes, gravy and a side salad. Ha. It was epic. And a LOT of work... I now have a better understanding of why my mom cringes at the thought of cooking dinner for 9 every night. ha. I don't think I could handle that on a daily basis. But is was SO worth it just one time! ha. I can't say the Family liked our American cooking as much as we did, but they ate it all, so we felt accomplished. :)
On Tuesday we got up and went to get our hair cut by Yoel the Barber in the pretty, blue barber shop we built/painted last week. I was pleasantly surprised with his job. He used scissors, and cut everything just how I like it. Ha. Seeing that he's only 16, I would say that he's got a solid future ahead of him in the haircutting business. Then, Anni, being the gracious Dominican she is, invited us for lunch afterwards, so we helped her cook, and then had a nice conversation over some Rice and Beans with her, Yoel, and Axel (her youngest son).
Then, that afternoon we went back over to the Fam Bam's house, and had a rockin' discussion inspired by 3 Nephi 27:27. We even pulled out Preach My Gospel and talked about some of the Christ like Attributes found in Chapter 6, and how we can apply them in our lives so we can be the "class" of men that He wants us to be; "even as He is." It was cool to discuss Christ's life and His example in a family setting. Dioni had some awesome comments, and even Adoni (the littlest) was involved in the conversation. :) It's fun to watch this family learn and grow, and to see how they are always there to help each other out. Obviously it's great to teach the Gospel to investigators, regardless of their age or family status; there really is something special about watching a family make those first few steps towards being united for eternity. THAT'S why I'm here as a missionary. I up and left my family for TWO WHOLE YEARS, so that Dioni, and Adirana, and Yoel, and Ysable, and Leidi, and Esperanza, and Adoni can be with their family FOREVER and EVER.
On Wednesday we had our weekly district meeting, and Elder Fassett was in charge of the spiritual thought. He talked about faith (ha. How interesting that God teaches us what we need to know, RIGHT when we're about to experience a trial), and he read Ether 12:13-18. It talks about how all the miracles that happened to the prophets in the Book of Mormon, were 100% according to their faith! With our faith, ANYTHING is possible. We just have to put our best foot forward, and roll with the punches. If we trust in Him, it will ALWAYS work out in the end!
Then in the afternoon, we headed over to talk to Anni and Yoel. Yoel was busy with the Barber Shop, so we had a one-on-one lesson with Anni. Almost immediately after the opening prayer, she broke down and opened up to us about some of the trials she's facing right now. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly and how brutally Satan attacks a person, the SECOND they start investigating God's true church. She told us that she smoked twice that day, and that she'd been thinking mean thoughts about the people causing her stress, and that she really just didn't even feel worthy to pray or go to church... We sat and listened for a while, and when she got to the worthiness part, we stopped her, and we asked her one simple question, "Is it the healthy or the sick that need to go to the hospital?" She said "the sick," and then she smiled. We explained that prayer, and scripture study are like medication for our soul, and that church is like a weekly wellness check/energy boost that we get every week. NO ONE is perfect. EVERYONE has trials, but if we rely on the Lord, apply the medication He's provided us, and frequently visit His hospital, we can work our way, step by step, back into His arms.
On Thursday we had some solid lessons and found some decent new people. Also, we taught that Dani guy I told you about last week, and this time we took Hna Angela (a member that lives close by) with us. :) It was a good lesson. He still had lots of questions, and had a rebuttal for every point we taught during the lesson, but I think we got through to him a little bit. :) Also, it was really good for them to meet Angela as a Member. She is a teacher at the school their kids attend, and she lives around the corner, so they've known each other forever, just never as member and investigator! It's always cool to see how much the members begin to care for our investigators as we involve them in our work! Missionary work is the greatest work there is! If you have missionaries in your ward, GO OUT AND HELP THEM! Going on splits with the missionaries is a win-win situation! I promise you, you'll come home feeling like you're on top of the world! :)
Friday started off good... We had a Zone conference with President and Hermana Rodriguez. They are good people. :) The Hermana talked about appearances, and our need to look good. She said "Your first impression is your last chance to give a good impression." And I second that! If we look like bums on the street, we really can't tell someone that we represent Christ, and expect them to take us seriously. We should always be modest, and professional in our appearances and our actions. :)
Then President shared with us about receiving personal revelation, and how important it is in missionary work. The Spirit is EVERYTHING! Without him, we're helpless.
Then, with previously received authorization, we left the conference early so we could get back to our area, hustle down to the Fam Bam's house to get all their papers, and then come back up to the JCE office building in our area. We got to the office, with ALL the necessary paperwork in hand, with full expectations to plan a wedding, and we got turned down... Turns out, the Birth certificates of everyone except Adoni and Yoel (cuz we just got new ones for those two last week) were out of date and needed to be renewed, which has to be done at the Main Office in the Capital... So, we talked it over, and decided to make good on our commitment to do EVERYTHING in our power to get this family baptized, and hopped on a güa-güa. The clock said 4:20, so we figured we would be okay to get in before 6. That's when things went bad... It is clear as day that Satan does not want this family baptized...
On the freeway, the bus driver dropped his transmission... Ha. So we got out and waited for another bus to pull over and pick us up. 30 minutes later we hopped off the second gua gua and got in a public car to ride down to the Office. Welp... We drove right into the biggest traffic jam I had every experienced. We told ourselves we would see how far we could get in the car, and that when the clock hit 5:40 we would run the rest of the way. Ha. So that's what we did. I kid you not, we RAN the 5 and a half blocks to the Office building, and made it through the doors and up the stairs with 5 minutes to spare. Covered in sweat, we begged the workers to help us out. ha. They accepted our pleas, and pulled up the Birth Certificates for us. They printed off two, but the rest were "in control" and they couldn't get anything done with them cuz that section of the office had already closed up and gone home for the weekend... We were told we'd have to come back on Monday... So we took the two certificates we got, and walked out the doors defeated again. haha.
We lifted our spirits a little by swinging by Krispy Kreme Donuts on the way home. Ha. We justified it cuz it was my Birthday's eve, and we had preplanned to celebrate our Birth Certificate success with a treat.
Saturday was my first birthday in the mission field. And to tell you the truth, it just wasn't the same... Ha. We still worked, and ate, and taught, and testified, just like normal. But hey, that's what the mission is all about, right?!?! These two years are about God, and my investigators! Not about cool birthday parties! Although, two of my mission moms from Ocoa (Milagros and Nermis), and my old companion Elder Logue all remembered to call me and wish me Feliz Cumpleaños. :) That made the day pretty great. :)
Sunday we had a spark of the "witness... after the trial of our faith." We had TEN investigators show up at church! :) Every single member of our Fam Bam was there (except Dioni cuz he worked til 3 am, and then got called into work again at 8 am...), as well as Anni and her two boys, Anna, and Johan. :) That was a much needed spiritual face lift. :)
Then in the evening we went out and had a cool lesson out of the Liahona with Dioni and Adriana and their next door neighbors (the members that gave them to us as a reference), Santos and Nana, about raising resilient children. Parenthood is a hard core responsibility, and a respect all of you that are currently rockin' that. haha.
Then we headed over to Anni's house to have a Taco party. haha. A real life Mexican Taco party. It was refreshing, and reminded me of home. :)
Then we came home and boosted our spirits even more with some P-Day eve Banana Batiras. :)
Then this morning came around, and we took another hit... We got up, cleaned our apartment, and then headed back into the capital with the hopes of finishing this whole Birth Certificate Shenanigan. On the way, believe it or not, the tire on the public car we were in went flat. ha. What a joke. When I get to heaven, I'm gonna junk punch Satan right up in his man business.
Finally we got there, and after waiting in line for a while, to no avail, we snuck into the office of the one and only Josefa. She is the mother of Kimberly that I found and taught with Elder Alba, then Elder Maner back in Independencia. She is the head honcho lady at the main JCE office, but wasn't there the last two times cuz we went after 4 (which is when her shift ends). It was really cool to see her again and to get an update! Seeing that she is constantly working with birth and death records, the Bishop in Independencia has put her in charge of the Family History Program in the ward! How cool is that!!! I was So happy to hear it!
But, back to the story... She, being the awesome lady she is, used her super receptionist powers to get all the papers we needed to renew all the Birth Certificates, EXCEPT Dioni's... I guess his parents took out his birth certificate like 3 years after he was born... So they don't know if his information is correct or not, and because of that, he needs to return to his place of birth, with a photo ID, and Photo ID of his parents and 3 witnesses, so that they can prove that he's a citizen of this country, and that he was actually born when he said he was... HUGE BUMMER!!!! We have yet to talk to him, but seeing that his work schedule is nuts, we don't know when or if he'll be able to make that trip in the near future... So as of now, we will continue teaching this beautiful family, and we will keep praying for miracles. I.E. We will stay strong in the faith, and keep working and waiting for that promised witness in Ether 12:6.
I know this church is true. I know that what I'm doing right now is exactly what I need to be doing. I know life isn't easy, and Missionary life is even more difficult. I plan to keep pushing forward with faith, and hope. I know God lives, and He loves each one of us. He is always there, and no matter how hard the devil fights against us, with Him on our side, we will ALWAYS prevail.
I love you all. I am so out of time. The power went out in this stupid Internet center 5 times while I was writing this, but I promised myself that I would make this one count, regardless of the impetuous winds blowing about me. So, now we're a little late, and must go running to our FHE. :)
Love,
Elder Cade Mooney, Missionary.
Hola de Nuevo - Monday, February 25, 2013
Well... At this very moment I am about ready to scream.
Last week I wrote you all a pretty little letter, and then the power went out in the internet center, and I lost it all... So I did my best to rewrite it in the time I had... Hence the short letter last week.
This week, my letter started out, Hey fam bam! Sorry about last week's shorty letter, this week will be SO much better, cuz I have SO much to tell you all, AND I have a super good plan to avoid losing all the stuff I write if the power goes out again... Or something peachy like that... But hey. Nobody's perfect. Including myself. ha. I have been sitting here, for the last hour, writing you all a ridiculously long letter to make up for last week. The whole time I've been saving the document so that even if the power went out, I wouldn't lose anything, but for whatever retarded reason, the power went out, and unless you have your document saved in a certain folder in the computer, it gets lost anyway... I sure wish the Internet center guy would have explained that BEFORE the power outage... Cuz yet again, I am sitting here, with numb fingers from all my typing, and I have noting to show for it.
Clearly I was sent on a mission to the Dominican Republic to learn patience. haha.
We truly did have an incredible week this week. But sadly, you will only get a half summary of it, because I am out of time. Just trust me that I intended (more than intended, I HAD IT ALL WRITTEN OUT) to blow your minds with all my spiritual experiences.
We are currently working with 3 of the most incredible families I have ever seen.
First, Dioni, Adriana and Kids (Yoel, Leidi, Esperanza, and Adoni). They are beautiful. They are the ones that we have been preparing for baptism this weekend. This last week we've been focusing on marriage. Dioni and Adriana have been living together for 20 some-odd years, but like most Dominicans, never felt the need to get hitched for real. They basically just need to tie the knot. So this last week we've been discussing the Plan of Salvation, and the law of chastity, and reading The Family: A Proclamation to the World, and other faith promoting stuff like that.
On Tuesday night we talked about the requirements of marriage, and we found out that they had lost 2 of their kids birth certificates. Luckily we have an office right here in our area, so we figured it would be super simple to get new ones. Well, on Friday we went over there, and they told us we had to go to the big office that, according to them wasn't too far away, so we hopped on a bus expecting to go a few kilometers, and ended up in the Capital. haha. Next to my old area. But I am fairly certain it was led by the Spirit, cuz it all worked out SO perfectly! We got to the office at like 4 in the afternoon, took the family's info to the second floor, and within 15 minutes we were back out the door with two brand spankin new birth certificates in hand! The coolest miracle, was that when we got up to the desk to print off the certificates, we looked up at a sign that read "Impresiones solo entre 4p.m. y 6p.m." then looked down at my watch which read 4:16 p.m. haha. God is good. It was amazing that we were able to get that paperwork within a matter of minutes, when usually it takes up to a week! Clearly God wants this family married!
Second, Rafael, Anni, and Yoel. They are the ones I told you about last week. We started teaching Anni alone, but since we helped Rafael with a computer problem, we've been teaching them as a couple. Then this week, we were able to help Yoel, their 16 year old son, build and paint an addition to their house that he's gonna use as a barber shop! And now he's onboard too! Also, this week we've been talking to them about the Plan of Salvation, and what do you know? This week Anni's Aunt died... I'm not saying that's a good thing, but it was definitely good timing. Being able to explain things, and apply them directly to someone, is so much easier than using theoretical examples and stuff. haha.
Third, A family we found while contacting this week. Dani, Graciela, and their two kids (Daniel, and Soé). Graciela accepts everything we teach her, and loves it. But Dani has a mind like mine. haha. Lots of doubts and questions. So it's been fun teaching him, and helping him make connections in his head, while simultaneously testifying and inviting the spirit to make those same connections in his heart. I love missionary work!!
I really am sorry it's so short... I will have to write it out by hand and beg my mother to type it up later... ha.
I know this church is true! I love you all, and hope you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Cade Mooney
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Que lo que from Los Alcarizos! - Monday, February 18, 2013
Hey fam bam.
This week was great. Like Tony the Tiger GRRREEAAAAT. Ha. The best way I’ve found to describe it is the way I told my mom about it a few minutes ago, “I couldn't have asked for a better situation to land in as a fell from the Heaven that is Ocoa. Ha.”
My new companion, Elder Fassett, and I just picked up right where we left off. We’re both the exactly the same as we were in the MTC; same jokes, same sense of humor, same attitude about the work, etc. But… we both speak Spanish now. Haha. So we’ve been workin' hard, and havin' TONS of fun!
My new area: Los Alcarizos. We are on the outskirts of Santo Dominigo. As far as the mission is concerned, we are still part of the capital, but our area isn’t like Independencia (my first area, in the heart of the capital) at all. We have lots of streets and buildings stacked on top of each other just like in the capital, but if you walk about 15 minutes away from our house, all you can see for miles is tin roofed, huts and palm trees. I’m a fan. We get the hustle and bustle of the capital, but we also get people with chill, humble personalities and low prices on everything just like in the country. ;) I would have to label it “the best of both worlds” (Hannah’s words, not mine) ha.
We’re currently working in two different parts of our area, and we’re seeing lots of potential and success. One of the areas we’re hittin' pretty hard is right next to our church, so we’re hoping that the mere vicinity of our chapel will fight off a few of the pathetic excuses we hear from people about having to attend church every week. Haha
Our investigators: Elder Gatherum (Elder Fassett’s previous comp) left the area lookin’ pretty good. We’re currently working with a family that I fell in love with the moment I met them -- Dioni (dad), Adriana (mom), Joel (19), Leidi (15), Esperanza (12), and Adoni (8). They are AMAZING! Elder Fassett and Elder Gatherum received Joel (the older boy) as a reference from a member, who’s also their next door neighbor. After a few lessons with him, Dioni (the dad) sat down with them and stated that he had been reading all the pamphlets they were leaving with his son, and that he wanted to learn more. Haha. So they started teaching them as a family. I came in at the climax of the missionary discussion process! The had discussed a baptismal date, in the beginning of March, but hadn’t set a sure one yet, so Elder Fassett and I talked it out with them, and we decided that if they make the effort to come to church the next two weeks (yesterday, and this coming week), they’ll be more than prepared to enter the waters of baptism on the Second of March. And guess what?!?! All except Leidi came to church yesterday!!! Leidi probably won't be able to meet the goal with them, but I’m sure that with the example of her family, she won't be far behind.
Also, we’re working with another lady that Gatherum and Fassett contacted into a week or so back. Her name is Anni, and she has TONS of questions. Ha. I like people that like questions. We have some of the greatest lessons ever with her! Also, this last week, Elder Fassett and I helped her husband work on his computer, and then he sat in on a lesson with us. He also has a lot of questions! They are a great family, with three (if I remember correctly) kids, and based on the fact that they live on the same street as the church, I’m fairly certain they will progress! They came yesterday with their son Joel, and loved it. Obviously, they had A LOT of questions afterwards, but we got things all sorted out, and they are excited to go again next week!
Other than the two families, we have some other solid progressing investigators, and are finding more and more people every day that want to learn more about what we have to share!
Thus far I am loving my area, and my companion, and my investigators. Our ward is great too, so basically I’m all set for a GREEEEAAAATT transfer!
I love you all, but again I must go.
Keep the faith, and never forget that the church is true! The one and only!
Love,
Elder Cade Mooney
This week was great. Like Tony the Tiger GRRREEAAAAT. Ha. The best way I’ve found to describe it is the way I told my mom about it a few minutes ago, “I couldn't have asked for a better situation to land in as a fell from the Heaven that is Ocoa. Ha.”
My new companion, Elder Fassett, and I just picked up right where we left off. We’re both the exactly the same as we were in the MTC; same jokes, same sense of humor, same attitude about the work, etc. But… we both speak Spanish now. Haha. So we’ve been workin' hard, and havin' TONS of fun!
My new area: Los Alcarizos. We are on the outskirts of Santo Dominigo. As far as the mission is concerned, we are still part of the capital, but our area isn’t like Independencia (my first area, in the heart of the capital) at all. We have lots of streets and buildings stacked on top of each other just like in the capital, but if you walk about 15 minutes away from our house, all you can see for miles is tin roofed, huts and palm trees. I’m a fan. We get the hustle and bustle of the capital, but we also get people with chill, humble personalities and low prices on everything just like in the country. ;) I would have to label it “the best of both worlds” (Hannah’s words, not mine) ha.
We’re currently working in two different parts of our area, and we’re seeing lots of potential and success. One of the areas we’re hittin' pretty hard is right next to our church, so we’re hoping that the mere vicinity of our chapel will fight off a few of the pathetic excuses we hear from people about having to attend church every week. Haha
Our investigators: Elder Gatherum (Elder Fassett’s previous comp) left the area lookin’ pretty good. We’re currently working with a family that I fell in love with the moment I met them -- Dioni (dad), Adriana (mom), Joel (19), Leidi (15), Esperanza (12), and Adoni (8). They are AMAZING! Elder Fassett and Elder Gatherum received Joel (the older boy) as a reference from a member, who’s also their next door neighbor. After a few lessons with him, Dioni (the dad) sat down with them and stated that he had been reading all the pamphlets they were leaving with his son, and that he wanted to learn more. Haha. So they started teaching them as a family. I came in at the climax of the missionary discussion process! The had discussed a baptismal date, in the beginning of March, but hadn’t set a sure one yet, so Elder Fassett and I talked it out with them, and we decided that if they make the effort to come to church the next two weeks (yesterday, and this coming week), they’ll be more than prepared to enter the waters of baptism on the Second of March. And guess what?!?! All except Leidi came to church yesterday!!! Leidi probably won't be able to meet the goal with them, but I’m sure that with the example of her family, she won't be far behind.
Also, we’re working with another lady that Gatherum and Fassett contacted into a week or so back. Her name is Anni, and she has TONS of questions. Ha. I like people that like questions. We have some of the greatest lessons ever with her! Also, this last week, Elder Fassett and I helped her husband work on his computer, and then he sat in on a lesson with us. He also has a lot of questions! They are a great family, with three (if I remember correctly) kids, and based on the fact that they live on the same street as the church, I’m fairly certain they will progress! They came yesterday with their son Joel, and loved it. Obviously, they had A LOT of questions afterwards, but we got things all sorted out, and they are excited to go again next week!
Other than the two families, we have some other solid progressing investigators, and are finding more and more people every day that want to learn more about what we have to share!
Thus far I am loving my area, and my companion, and my investigators. Our ward is great too, so basically I’m all set for a GREEEEAAAATT transfer!
I love you all, but again I must go.
Keep the faith, and never forget that the church is true! The one and only!
Love,
Elder Cade Mooney
God knows me all too well… - Monday, February 11, 2013
¡Hola Familia!
I hope your week was awesome, cuz mine sure as heck was!!
I cant believe how lucky I am to be a missionary!! My life is the BOMB!
On Monday, we got a call… We’re kinda like the Ghost Busters. Ha. Mama Juana, as well as Juana and Rosanna wanted blessings, and they wanted us to help them dedicate their houses. :) Oh man. The priesthood is SO great! I know that God loves each one of us more than we can imagine cuz I get to feel a sliver of that love every time I give someone a blessing! It blows my mind! There really aren’t words to describe the feelings of love and peace that the Spirit brings!
Also, cool testimony builder that my comp shared with me on our walk home: While I was voicing the blessing of Mama Juana, my companion cleared his mind and said a few sentences of the blessing, word for word, in his head just split seconds before they came out of my mouth! Priesthood blessings really do come from God! They are inspired! And I feel SO privileged to be a mouthpiece!
On Tuesday, our washing machine came!!! I am SO happy!!! I instantly started a load of wash! It is so great to be able to walk away from the wash, then come back 20 minutes later and have it clean! Plus, we can now put it in the spinner before hanging it up to dry, so our clothes only take a couple hours to dry instead of a few days!!! God is good! We are SO blessed! I watch, and often help, Dominican women washing by hand out of buckets. And they wash for entire families… I vote we all count our blessings.
Then in the evening, after my wash was done, we had an AWESOME lesson with Anairis. She is a girl we received as a reference from some of her friends, and she’s getting ready to be baptized this coming week, but hasn’t been reading the pamphlets we leave with her. So we had a serious talk about her desire to be baptized and explained the things she needs to do to achieve her goal. It was a great lesson, with an awesome spirit present. Since then, she’s been completing all her commitments, and as shown by her actions, her baptism is the most important thing to her right now!! :)
Wednesday we celebrated! Elder Meek turned 20!! Wow! So old!! Haha. We got up, and I surprised him with a box of Cookie Crisp (it’s his favorite, and he’s had his eye on it at the super market for the last couple of weeks), then left him to his package opening, and letter reading. Haha. I kept trying to talk him into opening his presents early, but he stood firm and waited til his actual birthday. So while he trunked himself out, I made a cake. Tres Leches. His other favorite. We ate it after lunch, and it was delicious!
Then we spent the day crossing rivers, scaling cliffs, and changing lives. :) I’m pretty sure God knew it was Meek’s birthday, cuz our lessons went SO well! We taught with lots of power, and the Spirit was super strong with us all day! Then we came home, and made arroz con Leche to finish off the night! Rockin' birthday! Missionary style!
Thursday was good. Just lots of good lessons. We taught a that new family I told you about last week, Angi and Penco, and we lucked out! They were both home, AND their baby girl (who is adorable, but ridiculously loud and distracting…) was SOUND asleep!!! it was awesome! We had a good restoration lesson that they understood really well, and then we finished it off with a Q and A session. I have really high hopes for them! :)
Friday, my companion received a package from his old companion. Ha. It had a tres leches cake in it. So we considered ourselves blessed, and didn’t think about the whole milk that sits out goes bad thing… It was AWFUL!!! The cake was sour. Lol. So sad. Such a waste!!
Our day of work was good. We are finding TONS of new people to teach in the Barrio San Luis. Lots of golden investigators. :) Plus we taught Juana and then Carmen! Both of them are still going strong with their Word of Wisdom goals!! Yay!
Saturday, we got up and cleaned the church, played some volleyball, and then came home and my comp made lunch while I created a masterpiece. Ha. By masterpiece I mean Tres Leches round 2.5 (the .5 is for the attempted tres leches by mail. Ha). Then tons of our lessons failed us in the afternoon… So we went exploring in our area, and had a photo shoot. Haha. My companion jokingly referred to it as Senior Pics 2013. lol. Cuz it’s about that time of year again, and our poses were a bit cheesy. ;)
Then in the evening we went over to Milagros’ and celebrated Meek’s (2/6) and Miguel’s (2/7) birthdays! :) They made the spaghetti, and we brought the cake. :) It was AMAZING! To top the cake, my comp and I found FRESH strawberries!!! It was like being back at Café Rio! Haha. SO good!
Yesterday was…. Too many emotions to type out. Haha. It started off with church, Angi and Penco came!!!! I was SO happy! And during church Angi was talking to some of the ladies about baptism, and now she wants to know when and how she can get baptized!! Sadly, she isn’t married by law to Penco yet, so we cant put a solid date, but she has the desire, and that’s all that matters!! :)
In the afternoon we finally had a lesson with Gregorina. We haven’t been able to get a hold of her this whole last week, cuz she has recently found a boyfriend, and they moved in together… BUMMER!!! But she still came to church, and she still wants to get baptized. So we talked it out, weighed some options (i.e. move back home, or get married), and then left her to think and pray on it. She still has a strong desire to live the commandments of God, and she still wants to get baptized, so we’ll keep working with her.
After some other lessons, we came home at 8:45 so our Zone Leaders could get Transfer Calls from the AP’s faster (they don’t release the transfer info until all the missionaries are in the zone are in house. Haha). We were all expecting that Meek and I would stay, and that Tuanama would leave, and Leyva would receive a new comp. Well… Tuanama’s out, as expected, but as usual, there’s a twist… I am leaving my beautiful home in Ocoa…
When I heard the news I about cried. I was getting ready to call Pres and start a Huelga (the Dominican version of a protest… Usually includes barricades and burning tires in the streets. Ha.) to make him let me stay, but God knows me too well. Just like last time I had to move, God made the Transfer JUST what I would have picked for myself if I was FORCED to leave.
I am headed to Los Alcarizos to be the new companion of… wait for it…. ELDER FASSETT!!! That’s right! My MTC companion, and long time mission best friend! I am SO pumped! I don’t know how many times this has happened in the history of missions, but I feel pretty blessed!
I am super sad that I have to leave all my loved ones here in Ocoa. And I’m really gonna miss my hot water heater… But I’m all kinds of excited to be the companion of the one and only Elder Matthew Fassett! We are gonna baptize the whole world!! Plus, more than likely, we will celebrate our one year mark together!! J So ridiculously awesome!! :)
Anyway. I will let you all know how awesome my life is next week, in my new area. :)
I really gotta go.
The church is true. I’m SURE of it!
I love you all!
Love,
Elder Cade Mooney
I hope your week was awesome, cuz mine sure as heck was!!
I cant believe how lucky I am to be a missionary!! My life is the BOMB!
On Monday, we got a call… We’re kinda like the Ghost Busters. Ha. Mama Juana, as well as Juana and Rosanna wanted blessings, and they wanted us to help them dedicate their houses. :) Oh man. The priesthood is SO great! I know that God loves each one of us more than we can imagine cuz I get to feel a sliver of that love every time I give someone a blessing! It blows my mind! There really aren’t words to describe the feelings of love and peace that the Spirit brings!
Also, cool testimony builder that my comp shared with me on our walk home: While I was voicing the blessing of Mama Juana, my companion cleared his mind and said a few sentences of the blessing, word for word, in his head just split seconds before they came out of my mouth! Priesthood blessings really do come from God! They are inspired! And I feel SO privileged to be a mouthpiece!
On Tuesday, our washing machine came!!! I am SO happy!!! I instantly started a load of wash! It is so great to be able to walk away from the wash, then come back 20 minutes later and have it clean! Plus, we can now put it in the spinner before hanging it up to dry, so our clothes only take a couple hours to dry instead of a few days!!! God is good! We are SO blessed! I watch, and often help, Dominican women washing by hand out of buckets. And they wash for entire families… I vote we all count our blessings.
Then in the evening, after my wash was done, we had an AWESOME lesson with Anairis. She is a girl we received as a reference from some of her friends, and she’s getting ready to be baptized this coming week, but hasn’t been reading the pamphlets we leave with her. So we had a serious talk about her desire to be baptized and explained the things she needs to do to achieve her goal. It was a great lesson, with an awesome spirit present. Since then, she’s been completing all her commitments, and as shown by her actions, her baptism is the most important thing to her right now!! :)
Wednesday we celebrated! Elder Meek turned 20!! Wow! So old!! Haha. We got up, and I surprised him with a box of Cookie Crisp (it’s his favorite, and he’s had his eye on it at the super market for the last couple of weeks), then left him to his package opening, and letter reading. Haha. I kept trying to talk him into opening his presents early, but he stood firm and waited til his actual birthday. So while he trunked himself out, I made a cake. Tres Leches. His other favorite. We ate it after lunch, and it was delicious!
Then we spent the day crossing rivers, scaling cliffs, and changing lives. :) I’m pretty sure God knew it was Meek’s birthday, cuz our lessons went SO well! We taught with lots of power, and the Spirit was super strong with us all day! Then we came home, and made arroz con Leche to finish off the night! Rockin' birthday! Missionary style!
Thursday was good. Just lots of good lessons. We taught a that new family I told you about last week, Angi and Penco, and we lucked out! They were both home, AND their baby girl (who is adorable, but ridiculously loud and distracting…) was SOUND asleep!!! it was awesome! We had a good restoration lesson that they understood really well, and then we finished it off with a Q and A session. I have really high hopes for them! :)
Friday, my companion received a package from his old companion. Ha. It had a tres leches cake in it. So we considered ourselves blessed, and didn’t think about the whole milk that sits out goes bad thing… It was AWFUL!!! The cake was sour. Lol. So sad. Such a waste!!
Our day of work was good. We are finding TONS of new people to teach in the Barrio San Luis. Lots of golden investigators. :) Plus we taught Juana and then Carmen! Both of them are still going strong with their Word of Wisdom goals!! Yay!
Saturday, we got up and cleaned the church, played some volleyball, and then came home and my comp made lunch while I created a masterpiece. Ha. By masterpiece I mean Tres Leches round 2.5 (the .5 is for the attempted tres leches by mail. Ha). Then tons of our lessons failed us in the afternoon… So we went exploring in our area, and had a photo shoot. Haha. My companion jokingly referred to it as Senior Pics 2013. lol. Cuz it’s about that time of year again, and our poses were a bit cheesy. ;)
Then in the evening we went over to Milagros’ and celebrated Meek’s (2/6) and Miguel’s (2/7) birthdays! :) They made the spaghetti, and we brought the cake. :) It was AMAZING! To top the cake, my comp and I found FRESH strawberries!!! It was like being back at Café Rio! Haha. SO good!
Yesterday was…. Too many emotions to type out. Haha. It started off with church, Angi and Penco came!!!! I was SO happy! And during church Angi was talking to some of the ladies about baptism, and now she wants to know when and how she can get baptized!! Sadly, she isn’t married by law to Penco yet, so we cant put a solid date, but she has the desire, and that’s all that matters!! :)
In the afternoon we finally had a lesson with Gregorina. We haven’t been able to get a hold of her this whole last week, cuz she has recently found a boyfriend, and they moved in together… BUMMER!!! But she still came to church, and she still wants to get baptized. So we talked it out, weighed some options (i.e. move back home, or get married), and then left her to think and pray on it. She still has a strong desire to live the commandments of God, and she still wants to get baptized, so we’ll keep working with her.
After some other lessons, we came home at 8:45 so our Zone Leaders could get Transfer Calls from the AP’s faster (they don’t release the transfer info until all the missionaries are in the zone are in house. Haha). We were all expecting that Meek and I would stay, and that Tuanama would leave, and Leyva would receive a new comp. Well… Tuanama’s out, as expected, but as usual, there’s a twist… I am leaving my beautiful home in Ocoa…
When I heard the news I about cried. I was getting ready to call Pres and start a Huelga (the Dominican version of a protest… Usually includes barricades and burning tires in the streets. Ha.) to make him let me stay, but God knows me too well. Just like last time I had to move, God made the Transfer JUST what I would have picked for myself if I was FORCED to leave.
I am headed to Los Alcarizos to be the new companion of… wait for it…. ELDER FASSETT!!! That’s right! My MTC companion, and long time mission best friend! I am SO pumped! I don’t know how many times this has happened in the history of missions, but I feel pretty blessed!
I am super sad that I have to leave all my loved ones here in Ocoa. And I’m really gonna miss my hot water heater… But I’m all kinds of excited to be the companion of the one and only Elder Matthew Fassett! We are gonna baptize the whole world!! Plus, more than likely, we will celebrate our one year mark together!! J So ridiculously awesome!! :)
Anyway. I will let you all know how awesome my life is next week, in my new area. :)
I really gotta go.
The church is true. I’m SURE of it!
I love you all!
Love,
Elder Cade Mooney
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Baseball, Babies, and Blessings - Monday, February 4, 2013
Hello Family!!
First off. I love you all.
Second off. I just got the news that Craig's family, and all my immediate family members above the age of 12 will be a stones throw away from me the last week in March. Hmmm. Talk about a trunky dagger to the heart. Ha. Thanks guys.
After we played a few games, we came back to the house, showered, and headed over to our weekly FHE at Milagros’ house. On the way there we got a call from our District leader telling us that a member in our area had called him requesting a blessing… So we went and got Indianna, Milagros, and Miguel to help us find her house… Even with our trusty Dominican guides, it turned out to be quite the adventure… This country struggles with their address system (hence the mail problems). On top of that, the Hermana Maria has moved three times in the last 6 months… Ha. So everyone had a different address to find her at. Ha. But, with faith and willingness to ask for directions, we found her house. Turns out, she had suffered an asthma attack that morning on her way home from Bani, and was still super wound up. We talked for a while, and then gave her a blessing. It was SO cool! The spirit was tangible in that room. EVERYONE could feel of God's love for Maria, and immediately following the blessing, her shoulders relaxed, she sat back in her chair, and just smiled. J I am SO grateful for the Priesthood! Then we shared 2 Nephi 27:23 with her and testified of the power each one of us has to work miracles through our faith.
On Tuesday afternoon we went down to part of our area to teach some investigators, and both felt impressed to go contact another part of our area instead… We ignored it… and still went to our citas. Ha. Well God wanted us contacting. So ALL of our appointments failed us… And after a little slice of humble pie, we walked back over to the other neighborhood and contacted. Haha. God knows what’s up. EVERYONE was in their houses, and they were all SUPER accepting and invited us back. Just what we needed to start our week off with a bang!
Then, in the evening we were finishing up with a lesson when Diana called us and canceled the FHE we had planned for the last hour of our night… That was unexpected… But again, God knows what’s up. We felt prompted to go back over to La Hermana Maria’s house to check and see how she was doing, and to see if we could do anything for her. We got there, and she told us we were just who she wanted to see! She has been calling and calling members of our ward to find someone to accompany her to the Capital the following morning to get a check up, and to get an inhalers. She originally had planned to have her daughter (who lives in the Capital) meet her at the clinic, but she couldn't make it work that day… Well, after a quick q&a session to find out exactly where this clinic was located in the Capital, we realized that she was headed for Independencia!!! MY OLD AREA!!! So I called Amelia Guzman up, and she had no problem being at the clinic (a short walk from her house) the next morning to go with Hna Maria! It was SO cool! What a testimony that God knows EXACTLY who needs to be where, and what needs to happen to work miracles in the lives of His children. If our FHE hadn’t’ve canceled, and if I hadn’t’ve just come from the exact ward that she was heading to, it wouldn’t have worked out NEARLY as smoothly. I know God has a plan for everyone, and I know that He works miracles to help us out through those around us. I hope and pray that we can all keep being worthy and willing to act as the miracle workers that God wants us to be.
Then we went down to El Barrio San Rafael (the one God made us go contact on Tuesday afternoon) and we found the most Golden family I have ever met!!! Their names are Penco and Angi. We contacted Penco on Tuesday and had a SUPER good feeling about him, then went back and it turns out that his wife Angi is one of the daughters of Maris (a lady we’ve been teaching) and she’s already been in on a bunch of lessons! They have all kinds of animo and want to come to church with us this coming Sunday!!
Then after church and lunch, we went down to a Landia’s (a member in our ward that just had a baby on Thursday) house and met her new baby boy! She is tired, and sore, but happy! She asked us to give her a blessing, and again, all I felt was the love God had for her. It is SO awesome to be a part of God’s great work among men!
First off. I love you all.
Second off. I just got the news that Craig's family, and all my immediate family members above the age of 12 will be a stones throw away from me the last week in March. Hmmm. Talk about a trunky dagger to the heart. Ha. Thanks guys.
Anyway. This week was solid. Tons of work, lots of success, and plenty of miracles.
On Monday night right after I hit send, we went over to the local High School, and played volleyball with a club that meets everyday at 4:30. It was AWESOME!!! We played real life 6 on 6 volleyball, and they all knew what they were doing!! It works out just right so we can go play for an hour on P-days! I am SO happy!!! They told us we are more than welcome to come back and keep playing every Monday!
After we played a few games, we came back to the house, showered, and headed over to our weekly FHE at Milagros’ house. On the way there we got a call from our District leader telling us that a member in our area had called him requesting a blessing… So we went and got Indianna, Milagros, and Miguel to help us find her house… Even with our trusty Dominican guides, it turned out to be quite the adventure… This country struggles with their address system (hence the mail problems). On top of that, the Hermana Maria has moved three times in the last 6 months… Ha. So everyone had a different address to find her at. Ha. But, with faith and willingness to ask for directions, we found her house. Turns out, she had suffered an asthma attack that morning on her way home from Bani, and was still super wound up. We talked for a while, and then gave her a blessing. It was SO cool! The spirit was tangible in that room. EVERYONE could feel of God's love for Maria, and immediately following the blessing, her shoulders relaxed, she sat back in her chair, and just smiled. J I am SO grateful for the Priesthood! Then we shared 2 Nephi 27:23 with her and testified of the power each one of us has to work miracles through our faith.
On Tuesday afternoon we went down to part of our area to teach some investigators, and both felt impressed to go contact another part of our area instead… We ignored it… and still went to our citas. Ha. Well God wanted us contacting. So ALL of our appointments failed us… And after a little slice of humble pie, we walked back over to the other neighborhood and contacted. Haha. God knows what’s up. EVERYONE was in their houses, and they were all SUPER accepting and invited us back. Just what we needed to start our week off with a bang!
Then, in the evening we were finishing up with a lesson when Diana called us and canceled the FHE we had planned for the last hour of our night… That was unexpected… But again, God knows what’s up. We felt prompted to go back over to La Hermana Maria’s house to check and see how she was doing, and to see if we could do anything for her. We got there, and she told us we were just who she wanted to see! She has been calling and calling members of our ward to find someone to accompany her to the Capital the following morning to get a check up, and to get an inhalers. She originally had planned to have her daughter (who lives in the Capital) meet her at the clinic, but she couldn't make it work that day… Well, after a quick q&a session to find out exactly where this clinic was located in the Capital, we realized that she was headed for Independencia!!! MY OLD AREA!!! So I called Amelia Guzman up, and she had no problem being at the clinic (a short walk from her house) the next morning to go with Hna Maria! It was SO cool! What a testimony that God knows EXACTLY who needs to be where, and what needs to happen to work miracles in the lives of His children. If our FHE hadn’t’ve canceled, and if I hadn’t’ve just come from the exact ward that she was heading to, it wouldn’t have worked out NEARLY as smoothly. I know God has a plan for everyone, and I know that He works miracles to help us out through those around us. I hope and pray that we can all keep being worthy and willing to act as the miracle workers that God wants us to be.
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| Tin roofs. 1/30/13 |
Wednesday we went exploring. See photo. Ha. We went down to another remote part of our area and met some super great new people! I have high hopes for both of the new neighborhoods we’re working in right now! The people are really open, and neither of them are too far away from the Chapel. :) Easy access makes people a little more willing to get up on Sunday morning for church. Haha.
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| Beautiful Ocoa. |
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| Crossing the river to get to the other part of our area. |
Then, we crossed the river, shoes off, poking our feet on rocks the whole way. Ha. Adventure status. The river crossing was part of our exploration, and it actually bore some fruit! We found an awesome short cut to get from that little barrio (San Luis) to La Barra where we were headed to work for the evening!
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| More of my incredible Area. |
In la barra we had an AWESOME lesson with Rosanna and Juana. Did I tell you all that we made Juana a no-smoking calendar, and she’s been marking off days without smoking?? Well we did! And she has gone 2 solid weeks now!! Also, Rosanna is all set for her baptism, and they are both SO pumped! The 23rd is gonna be a great day!!!
Then we taught Ivan about Family history and he basically filled out the whole form right in front of us. Ha. He lives with his grandparents (his mom's mom, and his dad’s dad… Sorta strange, but it works), so he had a fountain of Family History knowledge at his fingertips. J He is preparing to go to the temple with the ward on the 16th! I’m so pumped for him!!
On Thursday I needed a haircut, and I refused to go back to the last guy that butchered it Dominican style. So Elder Leyva and I went to a different one… and guess what?? HE USED SCISSORS TO CUT MY HAIR!!! It was SO great!!! Apparently he got a request from some random American to cut his hair with scissors a few years back, so he learned how and he’s been doing it ever since!! I will definitely be going back! Ha.
Then we went down to El Barrio San Rafael (the one God made us go contact on Tuesday afternoon) and we found the most Golden family I have ever met!!! Their names are Penco and Angi. We contacted Penco on Tuesday and had a SUPER good feeling about him, then went back and it turns out that his wife Angi is one of the daughters of Maris (a lady we’ve been teaching) and she’s already been in on a bunch of lessons! They have all kinds of animo and want to come to church with us this coming Sunday!!
On Friday I spent the morning washing by hand… and counting my blessings. We may be out a washing machine, but we are SO blessed to have a roof over our head, food to eat, and clothes to hand wash. Ha. Plus, we have a hot water heater, so everything is okay.
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| Intercambio with Paulino, and Elder Reeder (audante) 2/1/13 |
Then we had an intercamibio with Elder Mendosa, my comp got sent up to spend the day with him, and Elder Paulino came to spend it with me. Then on top of that, the ayudantes del sur (they’re like AP’s but only out here in the campo) surprised us with an intercambio! Rocking trio! Elder Reeder, Elder Paulino and I went down to San luis, and taught some awesome first lessons! Also, we met another super Golden lady named Juana. While we were contacting we stopped to talk to her, and ended up sitting down to help her shuck chick peas, and visit for a while. She is the mother of 10 kids, she and her husband (the father of all 10 kids (that’s SUPER rare in this country)) have been together for 38 years and are MARRIED by the LAW (also super rare). She used to be a catholic, but decided it’s not the true religion of God… So now she reads the Bible in her house and welcomes in all missionaries cuz she’s searching for the truth. Ha. We’re the first Mormons she’s met… Finally she’s found it! I am SO excited to watch her progress!
Saturday we finished up the intercambio with a baseball game with the youth in Sabana Larga. Fun stuff. Then in the afternoon we had a ward correlation meeting. We have a pretty solid branch, and I feel blessed to be here working alongside these leaders.
Yesterday… It rocked.
We got up early and walked down to la Barra to give Carmen a nudge to get to church. She started in with an excuse about a stomach ache, but we promised her blessings if she showed her faith and devotion to the Lord. She got up, got the kids ready and we all rode the Gua Gua up to church!! Finally!! After 6 weeks of empty promises, she came! And LOVED it! She told us last night that she wants to go EVERY single week, and that she has made a promise with herself and the Lord that she will completely stop drinking Coffee, and make sure she is 100% ready for her baptism on March 2nd! So awesome! The church is true!!
We got up early and walked down to la Barra to give Carmen a nudge to get to church. She started in with an excuse about a stomach ache, but we promised her blessings if she showed her faith and devotion to the Lord. She got up, got the kids ready and we all rode the Gua Gua up to church!! Finally!! After 6 weeks of empty promises, she came! And LOVED it! She told us last night that she wants to go EVERY single week, and that she has made a promise with herself and the Lord that she will completely stop drinking Coffee, and make sure she is 100% ready for her baptism on March 2nd! So awesome! The church is true!!
Then after church and lunch, we went down to a Landia’s (a member in our ward that just had a baby on Thursday) house and met her new baby boy! She is tired, and sore, but happy! She asked us to give her a blessing, and again, all I felt was the love God had for her. It is SO awesome to be a part of God’s great work among men!
Then this morning we got up and had a Zone activity here in Ocoa! Baseball with the members! So legit!
Anyway. I am SO out of time. We have to run down to the Barra to go give two more blessings! And then teach some people!
I love you all! Keep on keepin on!
Love,
Elder Mooney
Elder Mooney
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