Don't let the grass grow under your feet

I learned this past week that Heavenly Father answers our prayers exactly. When I got to La Vega with all of this rain I prayed that my shoes would last until I could buy some new ones to work in the rain. Last week as we went with Elder and Sister Fagerston to go buy new shoes the ones I was wearing finally formed a giant hole in the bottom. The next day, the expensive shoes I bought at the sister missionary mall also broke. I laughed a little bit at the irony and decided next time I will pray that they last until the end of the mission. haha. But I bought some new shoes and found a place that is fixing the more sturdy ones for like $4. The DR is good with stuff like that. At least I know that we are working hard!
 

Hermana Ruiz and I are seeing so many miracles here in Conani. We have so many people to teach that we are having a hard time finding time to do all that we need to. We make the time by cutting our lunch hour a bit shorter, leaving a little earlier, walking a little faster, multi-tasking a little more. Each week we receive more references from members, less actives, investigators that we add to the list. I could not be more content. I love that we are working so hard in the work of the Lord and seeing some wonderful things!
 

We had a great lesson with a Sara and Alberto, a partial family last week. The husband is a less active and the wife an investigator. We invited a lot of members and other investigators over to their house as kind of a big group lesson for everyone to get to know each other. We asked the branch president to talk about the family but at the last minute he changed it to be about trials and how the Lord supports us. Turns out that Alberto had lost his job that day and it turned out to be the message they needed. Afterward they asked us what they need to do so that Sara can get baptized. We were really excited to see such a great progress in them.
 

We went a few days later to explain a little more about baptism. They were super stoked until we told them that they also need to get married. It is part of the culture here to not get married. A member told us this week that parents counsel their kids to NOT marry because it will save money and time when the divorce comes. When people are so poor it does make more sense to live together for free instead of spend 4000 pesos to be legally married. For some people that is almost 2 months of work. When they are living day to day, that is a lot of money. Then if you get past the money, they have been taught their whole lives that marriage doesnt matter. That is one of our greatest battles here. We teach so many families but no one understands the importance of marriage and when they do many cant afford to be married or dont have their birth certificate or you name it. In the case of Sara and Alberto...he is trying to fill out papers to migrate to the US and started filing single. So if he gets married now he will have to start the whole process over again. We promised them that as they choose to obey the commandments of the Lord they will receive the blessings that He has waiting for them and all things will work together for their good. In the mean time we will help strengthen their faith so that they can be strong enough to put the Lord first.
 

Last week we started teaching a guy named Felix. He lives in a part of our area and would always come up to us and say, "Good afternoon. I know the Book of Mormon is true and I want to be a missionary. Have a good day" and then just walk away. We never knew who he was or anything more and when we tried to talk he just kept walking. Last week he showed up at the church and told the elders (who just happened to be there) that he needed to learn about our beliefs. They taught him and then called us to see if we knew him. We laughed a little and explained the situation. A few days later we taught him for the first time and extended a baptismal date. He accepted and had already read various parts of the Book of Mormon. When he came to church on Sunday one of the members imformed us that he is a little insane (One day he dressed up as the president of the country and told everyone he was going to take over the government). We were excited to teach him either way, but yesterday he informed us he had just found a job that is from 9 in the morning until 9 at night...7 days a week. Marriage and work are 2 things that kill us here.
 

Sunday was Mothers day here and it is quite the day. I think the celebrations might have been bigger than Christmas. We were woken up at 3:30 in the morning by music blasting outside our house. Someone had brought giant speakers in the back of a truck (pretty common here) and was blaring songs about mothers. I am still not quite sure how being sleep deprived is a gift but the Dominicans sure do think its a fun idea.

Carmen is still progressing well toward her baptism next week. We have been making little drawings to help her learn more simply. I always feel so sad for her because she just cant communicate very well. Yesterday she cried as she tried to pray and we explained to her that God understands. It doesnt matter if we dont catch every word from her mouth because He will understand it all. I cant imagine though how difficult it must be to want to talk with others so badly and just not have the capability to do so. It also makes me so grateful once again to have been blessed enough to be born in the United States where we have access to so much help and therapy. There are so many problems here that could be so easily solved there and it breaks my heart. There are many people with only one leg here because they dont have the medicine, or the money, to do some surgeries. There are many people with eye problems at a young age because they cant afford eye glasses to fix a simple problem. There are people with all sorts of parasites and diseases I learned about in microbiology simply because they dont have shoes to wear. We taught a man about fasting last week and he told us that would be no problem as he tends to "fast" 2 or 3 times a week out of necessity because there simply is not food. These are some things that I still am not used to. They still make me sad and so humbled that I have never had to pass through any of that.

I love my mission. We are working hard, we are seeing great things, and we are getting to know some wonderful people. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be here and learn from and love the wonderful people around me. I know that we are doing a marvelous work. Every day I invite people to put the Lord first in their lives and I promise them that as they do so He will send them the blessings that He has reserved. When we put Him first, He does the same with us. I invite you all to do the same. If He is not your first priority, what is? Figure out which Gods you are putting before Him and do whatever it takes to change that. I know with all my heart that He will bless you in ways you cant even imagine right now.

I love the mission, love this gospel, and love you all! Have a wonderful week!

Hermana Ewell