Hey everybody!

The first week at the CCM went pretty well! I'm not even sure where to start with everything that I have to tell you! You'll also have to forgive my spelling...as I get better at Spanish I get way worse at English.

 

Remember how I was so worried about being able to get through customs when I was flying here? When I got to the gate at the airport I met up with 4 other sisters and a couple of elders. In LA we picked up a few more and then even more in MIA. I think there were 14 of us total once we were on the plane to the DR. About half of our group was bilingual so we were able to get through customs with no problems. The Lord knows what He's doing and certainly takes care of us! Our plane in MIA got delayed so we ended up arriving around midnight, eating a quick snack in the cafeteria and then getting to bed a little late.

 

I had a cool experience on the plane from LA to Miami with the man that was sitting next to me. I was reading one of the church books I had brought with me and had a strong impression to pull out my scriptures. So I pulled them out and read for about 30 minutes before I decided to take a little nap. A little later in the flight the man next to me said that he noticed something different about the bible I was reading. I was able to explain to him that it was the Book of Mormon and the references at the bottom (this was the difference he had noted). I went on to explain who I was and what I was doing as a missionary for the church. The man introduced himself as Soesanto and began talking to me about his belief in God as a Christian and how he had converted to Christianity. Throughout the next hour and a half he proceeded to tell me basically his whole life story and all the struggles he has encountered in very broken English. I just sat and listened and he later told me that he just needed someone to listen to him and understand his story. He told me that I had a light about me and that's why he worked up the courage to talk to me after seeing me read the scriptures. He said that he respects the mormons becasue they go out and share their message even if people reject them. He admires people that can share God with others and said that it is not enough to just know that God is there and that He loves us, we MUST help others to have that same knowledge. Soesanto was just a very humble Christian man wanting to share his love for God with someone else and I was very grateful for the chance I had to talk to him and to hear his positive view about the missionary work that we do. He gave me his address so that I can write and share some of my experiences while I'm here...and I'll see if I can get the missionaries in Sydney Australia to go visit him.

 

The CCM (centro de capatacion misioneros) is really small. It is right next to the temple. We live and have classes on the fourth floor of the building and the cafeteria is down on the first floor. The other floors have church offices and places for families to stay when they come to the temple. Because this is the only temple in the Caribbean, coming to visit is a long trip and many people will stay for a week at a time. It is fun to have all the members here. We practice Spanish with them during classes and if they are outside during gym time they will come play with us. We were able to teach some kids how to play rock, paper, scissors and it was so funny to see them get so excited over that. The Dominican people are so kind and friendly. They are very loving and so patient with us as we try to learn their language. I am so excited to be able to serve them. There are 67 missionaries here right now but after the next transfer it is rumored that we will be down to 17. I love how small and personal it is here.

 

My companion Hermana Stuber is Hawaiian and from Bountiful Utah. She is really funny and has a really strong testimony. We've been able to have a few opportunities to talk to one another about our love for the gospel and each conversation has been very powerful. We always say it's good that we're companions because we balance each other out. I am very focused and concentrated on learning the language and studying and she is very good at relaxing and having fun. Sometimes it can get a little frustrating because we both have different ideas of how to do the work but I know that God wanted us to be companions for a reason so I try to be patient. We get along very well most of the time though and I am grateful to have a companion that I can learn from.

 

The food in the CCM is really good so far! We eat a lot of Dominican food for example everyday we have rice, beans, and meat for lunch. Every once in awhile they switch it up though and will make some "American" food. It's always a little off when they do that though. Like one day they made "pizza" from tortillas, pepperoni, and melted cheese. It just tasted really off. Every once in awhile they'll get it right though, like this morning we had banana pancakes and a few days ago we had the most delicious taco soup I think I've ever had in my life. Their avocados here are absolutely divine and their juice is really good as well. A couple days ago we had something weird for dinner and half the CCM was up all night with digestion problems. It was pretty comical after the fact. Luckily I didn't get too sick and I've been doing well with everything else.

 

Almost everyone speaks Spanish so I'm learning very fast! All of the devotionals, church, etc are all given in Spanish with the occassional option to be able to have it translated to English. Sometimes it's a little hard to understand what is going on but I'm also grateful that I'm completely immersed because I know I'm learning faster that way. The gift of tongues is completely real! A couple weeks ago I couldn't speak a sentence in Spanish and now I can pray and bear my testimony as well as hold a conversation (if the people speak slowly). Unfortunately Dominicans tend to speak extremely fast and slur their words together...but I know that the understanding will come with time. If I was meant to learn everything in a week, God would have made sure that I did. :)

 

One cool experience I had with the language happened last night. I went up to talk to one of the elders that we had flown with to the DR. I approached him and said "como fue su dia elder?" and he told me that he had to take a double take because I sounded like a native speaker. He told me that he got chills hearing how good my Spanish has gotten in just a week and remembering how little I knew at the airport. We talked a little more about how the spirit definitely blesses you to learn the language.

 

 

The days go by so fast here! Each day is packed full of scheduled things to do and learn but the time moves so quickly. I can't believe it has already been a week. Each day we have study in the morning, then classes, lunch, gym, more classes, teach an investigator, more classes, and then sleep. All of our teachers are Dominican but speak pretty good English and can help us when we have questions. They are all so funny! Did I mention how much I love the people here? Something else that I have absolutely loved is that even though all of the meetings are in Spanish and most of the missionaries here speak Spanish already, we all have a common love for the Lord and a desire to serve His people. Despite language barriers we have been able to make friends with some of the sisters from different parts of the world and feel of their spirit. It truly just goes to show that the gospel is the same anywhere that you go.

 

There are 7 of us in my district and we're all American. I absolutely love them! We have so much fun together but are also good at challenging each other as we try to learn the language. We've all become quick friends which is good since we are together for pretty much every activity of every day.

 

I'm sorry this letter is so jumbled. I have very limited time to write and I'm trying to fit it all in. I was able to sing in church on Sunday with another sister. She asked me to sing harmony with her Saturday night so we didn't really practice but it still sounded really good. We sang Divina Luz which is the Spanish equivalent of lead kindly light. It is such a pretty song and I was grateful that I'm already able to start sharing my talents here.

 

We get to go to the temple today and I am so excited! I want you to know that this church is true. We have a loving Heavenly Father and Savior who are aware of our needs and will help us whenever we ask them. I am so grateful to be able to serve this mission and am absolutely loving the Dominican Republic. I send my love!

 

Hermana Ewell

 

With God all things are possible