I love how the work is so much different here than it is in the states.

Hey guys, it looks like y’all got a couple of days without a/c and power. It looks like it was a pretty legit youth conference. But yeah, y’all can take some of the rain that is here, walking 10-15 miles in the rain isn’t the funnest thing in the world. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAKENZIE! It’s weird to think that you are already 15. Congratulations, it looks like dad has to teach someone else to drive, maybe you shouldn’t retire the dodge yet.

So when I talk with y’all in less than 2 weeks I should have my first 2 baptisms! Cesar is stronger than ever so we have to teach him the last little things and he will be good to go. Also Emerson is getting divorced and married this weekend so if everything goes has planned he will be baptized on the seventh as well. Also we have Enriquez that will be baptized soon as well. So one of the zone leaders was sick and they had to go to the hospital and their doctor was Enriquez and he was explaining everything in detail to the zone leaders and testifying to them which was awesome. So when we played volleyball this morning the ZLs asked us why isn’t this guy baptized. We had a sweet lesson with 4 of the strongest members in our ward and one is a doctor that is well known in the DR and helped him out a bunch. It was probably my favorite lesson I have taught on my mission.

I love how the work is so much different here than it is in the states. You would think that the Holy Week and Easter would be the best week to teach, and it was one of the worst. Everyone goes to the beach or if they stay home they are wasted out of their mind which meant there was no one to teach. But we have a guy named Flavio that will be baptized in a month or so that is a stud, when we pass by to return to our house at night you can see him inside of his house reading the book of Mormon, which is awesome.

So we are just pressing on even though we are walking out in the middle of the desert and I am getting fried. I can’t wait to Skype with y’all 11 days, that is crazy! Take care guys, and have a great week!

Elder Smith

Matthew and his BYU Sweet 16 shirt

Matthew, Elder James and Elder Kinney

Volleyball and graffiti

Matthew and Anthony, a guy from his Branch

The other companionship in his house

Elder Reyes, Matthew's companion

Scenery

We just spend the days wet either with sweat or rain so take your pick

Hey guys how is it going? And yes, I did get the package today! Thanks so much! I think I have more t shirts than I know what to do with now, but they are some sweet shirts. Brittney you got to do work at qb position and you can’t let me down. But it sounds like all is good and it is hot there to. And yeah this past week my trainer in the mission just got married and as he told me he is "sleeping comfortably" now.

This past week it has started to rain quite a bit, and it is not a good combination with the power going out. At night trying to get down the dirt roads in the dark is impossible. There are huge puddles of mud and you have to try to dodge them but I'm not really good at that.

So we just spend the days wet either with sweat or rain so take your pick. We continue to have our up and down days but for the most part they are up. Are 2 crucial investigators came to church this past week so we are going too try too have them baptized next Saturday. So we have Cesar and Emerson that are strong now, and we still are working hard with our other investigators but it is hard to have them in church. A lot of them are doctors and are on call and don’t really have a choice if they go to work on Sunday or not, and its not like we can tell them not to go because people's life are at stake. But during sacrament meeting, our apostate Elders quorum president gave the worst talk I have ever seen in sacrament. He spoke on tithing and read the bible dictionary exactly and read a scripture about the untithed being burned and how he didn’t want to be burned.

So my zone leader is Elder Van Leuven who is from our stake back home or at least used to be so it is weird having him as ZL. But yeah we are working hard and we got a legit American in the house now so the 4 man house is fun. Thanks again for the package, my other shoes just died out so they came just in time. Good luck with everything and youth conference, and have a good week!

Love, Elder Smith

They eat all of the chicken in the Dominican Republic...
fried chicken feet, with seasonings

The Work is Going Great Here

Hey how is it going? Dang, that is freakin sad that Collin was killed in a car accident. Wow that is crazy! But I am glad that y’all got the CD’s, they made it home a lot faster this time around. But it looks like dad has to start cleaning the guns again seeing as Brittney got asked to prom. Is the economy not doing very good or something that they have to lay off 500 teachers? But some good news, I didn't get transferred and neither did Elder Reyes, we are going round 3 together which never happens in this mission. I am glad that we get along well and we have an awesome transfer set up. He was in the final 2 to be the assistant to the President but just didn’t come up with it. We thought he was going to be gone for sure this transfer.

The work is going great here, we have a lot of people that are progressing and after laying out a bouchea (chewing them out) we have gotten some more support. If the branch decides to work this transfer they could get the priesthood they needed to be a ward if they do something. The list of people that could get baptized easily this transfer is: Robin and Cristina, their son Hyrum, Flabio, Emerson, Cesar, Jose Manuel, Luis Manuel and Enriquez. Emerson is getting married soon and he has all the other requirements to be baptized and we had a sweet Family Home Evening with him this past Monday night. Also Cesar is freaking awesome, and keeps telling off his super catholic wife. We had a funny lesson with them last week when she was practically condemning the Book of Mormon and telling us that we didn’t respect the Virgin Mary. So I was like hey wait a second, The Book of Mormon talks more about Mary than the Bible and showed her what was up and she shut up pretty fast which was funny. The funny part was that Cesar was just like hey honey you can't deny that. So we are trying our best to get her to read and pray without arguing but it almost seems impossible. Enrique is a stud, he is super, super smart and we started teaching him after some members gave him a triple combination and he has almost read the Book of Mormon, D and C, and the Pearl of Great Price. So he can analyze everything really fast so he has taught me things that I have never thought of before and his lessons are my favorite.

But yeah, tomorrow is another letter on the dollar bill... So I am hoping things go as planned this transfer. I think President left us here because we have revived the branch from almost nothing, although they finally changed the Elder Quorum’s President to someone who isn’t apostatizing. Hey thanks for everything guys and I hope y’all have a good week!

Also I will probably get to Skype for Mother's Day!

Love, Elder Smith

We have more citas in the night that we can handle!

Hey guys how is it going? Man was that a great General Conference we had this past week or what?  I thought for a minute that President Monson was about to announce a temple in Jerusalem, but he talked about the temple in Rome. It was awesome to see the look on the faces of our investigators that are catholic when he talked about it. But yeah it sounds like you had a hectic temple trip this past week, only another 15 months until I can go to the temple again, freak. Temples were one of the bigger themes during

General Conference. I watched conference in English for the most part, it is a lot better than a dubbed over Spanish voice.

 I have just got used to being drenched in sweat and there is nothing that I can do about it. Hinckley hall uh, it is right next to the cannon center, so you don’t have to walk too much. How could y’all go to a Final Four game with out me! Y'all have got to be kidding me. Well today we got to go look at some Indian ruins and the Santo Cerro, which is so much cooler, ay not one bit.

We had a good amount of people come to General Conference this past weekend so that was cool, and the sessions that each of them went to were perfect for them. We have some great potential next transfer and I am pretty sure I'm staying. But this week for the first time we have done some exchanges with some members with the permission of President Lee, we have more citas in a night that we can handle. We have a list of families that we are working with that are gold. We have some people that are smart and ask questions that I have never thought of and have made me think and study and sometimes I learn more from my investigators than I do on my own. It feels like we are working in a desert sometimes walking on dirt roads in the sun all day, but it is worth it!

It is good that everyone is having some fun, Dad with his flying and the kids with their sports and it is way sick that y’all got to go to the Final Four, I'm just a little jealous. Way to be sinners and skip the priesthood session :). Take care guys and Have a great week!

Elder Smith

Indian Ruins

Santo Cerro

Sharing the Gospel with the Priest

Matthew and Elder Reyes