The Heroic Tales of Hermana Twiner

Ok sorry for the super cheesy title... My creative juices just aren´t working that well today.

Anyways... We´ve been super busy this week. We´ve made it a goal to contact every person we can on one street, then move on to the next. It´s really fun! Even if they aren´t interested they are usually nice and have interesting things to say. We even met a guy who regularly goes to Utah for work and loves the temple and wants to go inside. He said that we can teach him and he lives right behind the church!

My investigator Nelson is officially the sweetest, cutest old man in the world. He likes to invite us to crackers and cheese and orange juice and told us that he always feels better after our visits. He´s like my Dominican Grandpa.

My companion and I have started to try to get into shape... We´ve started running every day and have cut out sweets and fatty foods... We save a treat for Pday so we have something to look forward to. I´m already feeling better and have more energy. We are taking advantage of the avocados which are in season right now.

This week I hit 13 months... WHAT??? 

I love you all! 

Con amor,

Hermana Twiner

Conference, Yaroa, and Creepy Haitian Guy

Well This week was awesome... General Conference was amazing as always! To watch a session in the church on the computer, we bought yaroa, which is one of the best dominican foods... French fries topped with pork and sauce and cheese. 

We made lots of contacts this week, one of which was a guy from Haiti, who is super nice, but I think he´s more interested in his visa to the US than in the church. He´s come to every activity that we´ve invited him to and he tried to walk home with us last night.... We managed to get out of the church and take a detour. We made it to the corner where there is a big cement wall and BOOK IT! we were laughing... Only in the mission would we have this experiences. 

We have 3 investigators that have accepted to be baptized and we have set an offical  date with one of them.

I am really loving training. My ¨daughter¨ is just amazing. I am learning so much.

Sorry I didn´t have a lot of time to write today, but I love you all bunches!!!!!

Con Amor,

Hermana TWiner

The DR has survived Hermana Twiner for 1 Year!

Wow, I never thought that I would have ever made it this far... It´s definitely been a roller coaster this last year.  But I have learned SO much. I am not the same person that I was this time last year.

This week has also been a roller coaster... not much happened. We are trying to find more people to teach, but it seems like almost everyone isn´t interested.

On Friday we had a Young Women´s activity in President Buret´s house... I taught them the magical deliciousness of Smores! They LOVED it! And of course we ate a rice dish... It´s not a Dominican activity without rice and salami!

We had a lesson with Jackson, an awesome guy from Haiti. He accepts all our doctrine except for one VERY important one... the way in which we baptize. We are still working with him, telling him that God gives us answers depending on our efforts. We´ll keep praying for him.

Today we had Pday Santiago! We went with Hnas Frost and Bradford to the office and PriceSmart (It´s like Sams Club) and Wendy´s. It was pretty amazing. Hermana Frost goes home next week, so it was good to spend some time with her.

I love the mission... it´s the hardest but best thing I´ve ever done!

Con amor,

Hermana Twiner

Actually I'm in my 9th of 13 Transfer

Wow! It´s Wednesday AGAIN???? 

Well, this week was interesting... No baptisms, no one new accepted a baptism invitation, we had no investigators in sacrament meeting (Although we passed by someone´s house and they PROMISED that they would go!) 

Something fun? We went with the Elders to eat pizza at some touristy place in town... They served us some over priced and under flavored cherry juice. Oh, and there were about 20 other Americans there... This may sound strange, but I feel really awkward around Americans. They talk so... American. And they look weird. What´s it going to be like when I am IN America again, surrounded 24-7 by them? 

Our branch president, President Buret, is an awesome chef. He made us pizza last week, which was divine. I just realized that the last two paragraphs were about pizza... 

Have I ever mentioned that Dominicans think that the US is New York? I can´t tell you how many times I have to argue with someone that they are NOT the same thing... Dominican men have a tendency to ask us to marry them so that they can get their visa to ¨Nueva York.¨ Then I tell them that I´m not from New York, and they ask me where I´m from, and I reply the US. Then they say, ¨Well it´s the same thing!¨ 

Luckily there is a map of the US in the back of my Book of Mormon, which I have gladly colored in the state of New York and Tennessee to show that the US is MUCH bigger than New York.

What else happened? Oh yeah! 

My companion and I watched Charly a couple days ago... We cried. 

We are going to change Juana´s baptism date AGAIN because she isn´t coming to church. She´s been worried for her daughter, who was in a serious motorcycle accident about 2 months ago, but she wants to come back. She´s doing great with leaving coffee though!!!!

So we have a Haitian investigator named Jackson who is super smart and really religious... and strong in his opinion. He had a doubt about the manner in which we baptize (In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost), because in Acts 2 Paul tells everyone to be baptized in the name of Jesus. Then 3,000 people were baptized. 

So, I studied especially for him, found Matthew 28,19, when Christ commands his apostles to preach the Gospel and baptize in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost. I happily shared this scripture with him, to which he replied ¨But no one was baptized in this instant!¨ I still don´t completely understand why it has to say that someone had to be baptized in the instant, but I know that what Christ commanded his apostles to do is how we should do it.

It was a struggle to not lose my temper in that lesson...

Another funny Dominican tendency... First lesson... We ask what their beliefs are about God. Then they tell us all about the Virgin Mary. 

I found mint-chocolate cookies! 

Today for a zone activity we had a barbecue and karaoke party, and watched a version of Beauty and the Beast while eating. Everyone got me to sing ¨I Dreamed a Dream¨ from Les Mis.

Well, I love you all very much and hope that everything is well with you! Thanks for your support and prayers on my behalf! 

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Twiner

Beginning Transfer 8 of 13! (August 12)

So today we had transfers! We are finally going to have a normal 6 week transfer! 

I am still in Jarabacoa with Hermana Kellogg!! She´s going home in a few weeks to start school, and I found out that I will be recieving a sister from my group who went home in my first transfer... Yep! That means I´m training!!!

Brittany got baptized on Saturday! It was amazing to see the love and support we recieved from the members. Afterwards we went to her house and made cupcakes in celebration.

Last night we had a girls´ night with our Sister Leaders. We made apple pie and had a good time talking. It was Hermana Bates´s last night... She, Hermana Gonzalez (My trainer) and several other awesome missionaries are going home today. I am grateful for my time in getting to know them.

Funny story... One of our less actives was fed up with her 12 year old son constantly leaving the house on his bike, even when she told him not to, so she told us that she slashed his tires... Just enough to let it explode when he put his weight on it. In that moment her son came up and said ¨Mom! My tire exploded!¨ and she said ¨Well, maybe you should listen better.¨ She was cracking up laughing!

I am loving the mission more than ever... It is amazing how the Lord can change you as you forget yourself and get to work. I love these people and am grateful for how the have embraced me as part of their family.

Love you all, and hope you have a wonderful week!

Con amor,

Hermana Twiner

p.s. I passed my 11 month mark the other day... Can someone tell me how to slow down time?

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

Marriage, pioneers, baptisms, and WHAT???? Goodbyes???

So the marriage was a success!!!!!!! We ran out of the internet center to go to Jose and Pola`s marriage. Hermana Gonzalez my trainer came as well, and it was awesome to see her! 

That night we had the pioneer activity.... super successful! Everyone loved it! We had a dance, 3 legged race, tug of war, and of course the legendary stick pull... The bishop and another brother broke the stick. At the end of an activity we found a mouse in the chapel and Elder Ramirez killed it by stepping on it. THEN someone put it in the trashcan without us knowing, so you can imagine how wonderful the chapel smelled two days later.

Saturday we had the baptisms. ´Jose was so funny... He said, ¨Hermana Twiner, I am excited today because I won´t be a dry mormon anymore!¨ Mariela had done Pola´s hair in a cute fishtale braid. We had lots of people come support them.

Monday we had a service with the Mao 1 elders to take down an old fence at a members house. There were ants. Everywhere. That bite. I still have bumps all over my arms and legs.

Tuesday we went to the rest home as a zone and helped out for an hour before sitting down together to find out tranfers. They said that I was going to Jarabacoa!!!! I knew I was going because I already had so much time there, but I couldn´t believe it!

So now I am here in Jarabacoa... In the mountains with Hermana Kellogg! I only have 2 hours or so here, so I´ll tell you more about it next week!

Love yáll!!

Hermana Twiner