Week 1 in Jarabacoa!

So I am exhausted, but pretty happy after my first week in my new area! The area is HUGE. I thought Mao was big. It´s huge, and we have only a small branch. 

I´ll admit that I was a little intimidated about being in a branch after serving in Mao, where there are 2 wards, but I have come to love the branch and all the members super quickly. I am currently serving as a missionary, primary pianist, and a counselor in the Young Women´s program.

We had a farewell for the Carrolls, the senior couple who has served in Jarabacoa for nearly 2 years. They are headed home today for their home in Nauvoo, Illinois. For their farewell, the kids sang and played the piano because Sister Carroll had taught them music. We also sang ¨Oh My Father¨ to the tune of ¨Come Thou Fount.¨ I was pleasantly surprized to find that most of the members can actually carry a tune and beat, quite the opposite of my old ward! 

After church on Sunday we had lunch with the Carrolls... We were in charge of it, so we had to wake up early to bake potatoes and make meatballs. It was pleasingly delicious, and we accompanied it with a fruit salad of watermelon, pineapple, and mango, then finished it off with a cake with BLUE icing from the Elders. My mouth was blue for the rest of the day to give you an idea of the incredible blueness of this pastry.

The elders in Jarabacoa are Elders Memmott and Henriques... E. Memmott is from Provo, Utah and Henriques is from Jamaica. It´s interesting to have all English speakers. We try to use spanish as much as possible though.

We have one investigator with a baptismal date named Britany. She´s 15 years old and knows SO much about the gospel. Her testimony is amazing. She is one of those people that makes the missionary feel like the investigator. For example, we were talking about faith with out works is dead. She said that she knew that to be true, because one day she was in the shower and the water ran out and she was praying that the water would come back, when the thought came to her mind that she had to act. She decided to search for water and she found an extra bucket of water sitting beside the shower. She knew she had to search and act to be able to have an answer to her prayer. It´s a simple story, but I really felt the spirit as I listened to her testimony. She´s getting baptized on August 1.

WE HAVE HOT WATER!!!!! I know that that´s not something THAT big when it´s a normal thing, but after 9 months of cold bucket showers, I was really happy to find that our apartment has the rare commodity of hot water. It´s handy because I am currently in one of the ¨Colder¨ areas of the DR.

Well I´m running out of time... Got lots to do! Love you all and miss you all!

Hermana Twiner