I love the Temple

   This week was so, so, so great!  Tuesday we didn't do anything because we had to take an early bus to Nissau.   Nissau made me very grateful for Ocoa. It was very beautiful, but so hot I thought I was going to die.   And they don't have 24 hour light.. that's when I became a Dominican.  I was really scared because they said they might not have light in the morning so I wouldn't be able to do my hair and I didn't want to show up at the temple looking like an orphan.  So they convinced me to do a tuve which is basically like a hair net.  You do your hair and then you pin it up around your head, put on the tuve, take out the pins and twist it and then you're done.  It's not very flattering but it's magic.   When I took it off in the morning it looked like I had just done it.  

Madison (on left) and Hermanas in their sweet Tuves.  Women wear these all the time in the DR, not just to sleep in.

       That night was terrible because we all had to share beds with our companions. I wanted to sleep on the floor but they said they have rats and centipedes that will eat your hair.  Around 11pm the light (and all electricity) left so it was really hot.  Around 11:15 another girl in our room started snoring, and didn't stop.  Around 2am I went and tried to sleep in a chair in the kitchen.  At 3am I shoved toilet paper in my ears and slept for an hour.  Then at 4 we all got up.  Not a great night but so worth it because we got to go to the TEMPLE!  I love the temple so much and the spirit I felt there was so great. I have had a lot of spiritual experiences being a missionary, but there is nothing in the world like the temple. It just gave me a chance to reflect and feel the spirit and remember why I am here.  

       I saw Olivia at the ccm!  I was so excited and it sounds like she is doing great.  I cant wait to see where she ends up!  After that we went out to eat at Wendy's with our zone. American food! I ordered a huge frosty just to celebrate.  The funny thing is that it's not like I loved Wendy's when I was at home, but there is something about living in the D.R. and eating a ton of rice and beans that suddenly makes chicken nuggets and a frosty seem soo good.  After that we went to La Yuca, an area in the capital, to sleep over and go on intercombios for the day. I got to see hermana Smith!  That's her area. I miss her soo much. Our intercombios were really short...but good. I don't even know how to act in the capital. There are so many people, cars, lights, noises, trash... I kept tripping because there was so much going on.   Ocoa is so great and tranquilo, I never want to leave.  We contacted some intercombs which was weird because you have to talk so fast.  Also there are some HUGE houses there.  Nothing like our tin houses in river bottoms.  Also I noticed that no one had 6 fingers which was kind of nice. 

       The next day was the Hermanas conference. It was soo good and I loved seeing all of my friends! I talked to Hermana Olsen (Barbara Brimhall's niece.  She is in her first area/transfer) for a little bit and she is super nice.  She was also asked to bear her testimony. Not only was her testimony super great but she spoke Spanish so well. Probably better than most of the girls in my group. I was very impressed. The first part of the conference we talked a lot about confidence and stuff like that.  After that Hermana Rodriguez talked for a really long time about modesty which was good, I guess.  Then we all sat in a circle and president talked about how women are co creators with God and how important our role on this earth is. It was really special.  We are so blessed to have the president we do because he is so great and really cares a lot about us.  One thing one of the hermanas shared in her testimony was a quote by Elder Holland that says "this work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience." That was a great reminder for me. I think a lot of missionaries get caught up in things they don't have on the mission. The baptisms they aren't having, the people they don't have to teach, the things they are missing at home.  I really really don't want to be one of those missionaries. I just want to love the work I have.  God gives us certain situations because he knows we can handle them and that we will be better for it. He also knows we are the best people to handle certain situations and be in certain areas. We are given certain trials because God knows we are capable.  And how great is that? To know God trusts us with our trials and God trusts me and Hermana B to work with the menos activos in our area.  That really is a privilege. 

        We only were able to work two days this week but we had a great two days.  We are working with a woman named P.  She has a really sad story and really has a great testimony but has a lot of verguenza (shame).  We had a really great lesson with her about covenants and I know she felt the spirit. She might not come to church this Sunday or the next but I know she is making progress. One day it was raining super hard so we had to go into a little tienda (store) to wait and we got talking with this guy.  He was being super stubborn and tried to bible bash us so we just bore our testimonies and gave him a foyetto (pamphlet).  We didn't expect to ever see him again but he called us last night and said he read the whole thing and asked us to visit with him. So that's exciting! 

       In Parra we have a Dominican family, M, E, A and R and we love them so much.  M broke her leg so we went to help her out and we ended up making Dominican spaghetti while she sat in a chair and told us how to do it.  We were so excited because now we can make it all the time.  We had a bunch of great lessons with the mujeres jovenes (young women) and some of the women. On the way down we ran into this guy who is really fresco (flirty) and likes to follow us around. He said something to me so I just said "si" because I kind of thought he asked if I had had a good day but i couldn't really hear him. Then he weirdly touched my back so we walked away really fast. Brockman was laughing super hard because it turns out he had said "queire salir conmigo." translation... do you want to be my girlfriend?  I was super embarrassed and I am just hoping he didn't hear that I had said yes.  

       Sunday was a super great day for us in Parra.  They started doing a short Sunday school class before sacrament which is an answer to our prayers. We think it is going to make a huge difference. Also a lot of the families we have been working with showed up.  We are working with a 19 year old and we really want him to work toward getting the priesthood and he showed up on time wearing a suit.  We were so proud!  He is the one who gave a talk last week.  Also a ton of our menos activos bore their testimonies and they were so sweet and sincere.  We are seeing so many great things happen in Parra.  I love it so much! Transfers are this week... I don't think either of us will leave but if I do I will be so sad because I love Ocoa so much, especially Parra.  But, we will see what happens! Really though, I hope hermana B and I get to stay together in Parra for one more.  Anyway, I love you all and hope you have a great week! Hermana Rush