Buenas de La Vega

Hey guys how it is going? I am doing well after my hardest working week in the mission. Opening an area without a cell phone and starting from scratch is not the easiest thing to do. But my companion is a stud and might be the next assistant next transfer so we will see how that turns out. Our area is huge and we have to be walking around ten miles a day. The members here are awesome and we are getting a lot of help from them. The first night we started contacting just because we had nothing else to do, and we ran into some members that helped us out a bunch and we have gotten quite a few references. The members have a lot of trust in us which is really helpful and we usually always have members with us when we are out teaching.

We have had some really interesting lessons in the past week. Yesterday Elder Reyes and I had a 3 hour battle with some Testigos - Jehovah Witnesses- that were references from some of the members. My companion is a stud and he knows the scriptures way good, and knows how to use them without bible bashing, but part of the lesson was a little bashing, but we won and we have another cita with them. Also we are teaching some Haitians right now, and we have a 15 year old boy who is form Haiti and he can teach the parts that they don’t understand in Spanish in Creole, and also my companion knows a bit of Creole. So they are some of my favorite people to teach. Also we are trying to find some of the investigators of the last missionaries that they had, but we haven’t had too much luck with that.

But yeah, here in La Vega they have the second biggest carnival in the world, and it is going to be crazy here for the next month. We are going to have to stay in the house every weekend in February other than to go to church because of all of the stuff that goes on. I am looking forward to buy a legit mask from it though. So I have heard numerous stories from other missionaries from their experiences in La Vega. It is hot here again which sucks, and cant even imagine what the summer is going to be like, I remember when I was first here it was so freakin hot.

I am learning a lot both about the gospel and Spanish from my companion and it helps being in a two man house so my mind works in Spanish now. He is a great cook which is nice, and at least he knows how to make rice with different types of meat.

Hey guys take care this week and I hope all is going well and continues to go well.

Take care, Elder Smith


Some interesting facts about La Vega, Dominican Republic from Wikapedia:

Christopher Columbus built a small fort near present-day La Vega, in 1494. It was intended to guard the route to the interior gold deposits of the Cibao valley. A Spanish settlement known as Concepción de la Vega gradually grew up around the fort, and after 1508, when gold was found in quantity there, Concepción became the first gold boomtown in the continent. By 1510 it was one of the largest and most important European cities in the hemisphere. The town was destroyed and buried by an earthquake on December 2, 1562, and the survivors relocated to the present site on the banks of the Camú River. The site of the ruined town remained largely in farmland until a small portion of the original city was purchased by the Dominican government in the mid-1970s and renamed as National Park of Concepción de La Vega.


February is known as Carnaval month in La Vega, this being the most famous carnival in the entire country. The patron saint is the Virgen de las Mercedes, celebrated on September 24.

El Carnaval Vegano is celebrated each Sunday in February. This event brings to this city thousands of tourists each year. This carnival is considered to be the best in the country and the Caribbean.

Many activities take place before and during the celebration of the carnival:

• Miss Carnaval Vegano pageant: in this pageant the queen of the carnival is chosen.

• Crowning of the King: the king of the carnival is crowned.

• Opening parade: this event opens the carnival. It's usually celebrated days before the carnival (with no one in disguise).

• Concert: every Sunday after the carnival a concert with popular singers is celebrated.

• February 27: This is Independence Day in the Dominican Republic. In the morning there is a parade in which the schools march and dance, etc.

• March 1: the closing parade.

Matthew keeps having parties follow him in his mission!!

Pictures he sent that he took in Cotui, his last area.