No se moje

The two things we hear the most in La Vega are "No se moje" (Don't get wet) and "Americana!" It rains every single day here and when it rains it pours. The streets are not really designed to deal with all the rain and they turn to rivers very quickly. I am hoping that my crocs will stay together for a little while longer until I can find some more rubber shoes that work with all of this rain and flooding. I have also been leaving with long sleeves or a sweater every day to try and stay warm. We have a senior couple serving in our ward and the sister laughed at me on Sunday and told me it was 78 degrees. I am pretty sure I will freeze to death when I get back to Utah.

Away from touristy Puerto Plata the people are also fascinated with an American walking through the street and freak out when the blonde girl opens her mouth and Spanish comes out. It definitely keeps us laughing. One guy this week went up to my companion and said in Spanish, "Because you speak English, will you tell me where that girl is from?" She looked at him confused and I told him, "She doesn't know English but I'm from the United States." We walked passed another person who told me he loved me and his friend quickly told him that I don't speak Spanish. I turned and told him that I do speak Spanish and asked if they would like to learn more about the gospel. I also get several marriage proposals every day. My favorite was one guy who told me to marry him in front of the elders who quickly jumped on his case. Never a dull moment.
 

I love my area here. The branch we are in is pretty small and the entire church building could probably fit in a chapel in the states. A lot of our area is poorer people that live up in the mountains. It is kind of fun as we get to hike to our appointments over dirt and rock roads. Add some pouring down rain and it makes for a wonderful adventure. The branch used to be a stake but there were a lot of problems with the leaders and now the majority of the members are less active. The leaders now though are wonderful. Yesterday we were able to have a mission coordination meeting and a representative from every organization was there! That is the first time that has ever happened in my mission. That is what should happen every week and finally I am in a place that understands and is excited to work together. As of yesterday we had already received 12 references in 2 days! That is unheard of. I am so stoked to start working with this branch and the members really motivate me to just work my hardest.
 

My companion Hermana Ruiz is wonderful. She only has a couple months here in the mission but she is an incredible missionary. She has such a wonderful drive and teaches so clearly. I feel like we are going to see some great things together.  We are teaching some great people. We started teaching one of a recent convert's brother. His name is Juan Jose and is 13 years old. He has a date for May 31 and is a great kid. When we asked him if there is anything else he wanted to put as a goal for his baptismal plan he just said he wanted to have a better understanding of the doctrine. Perfect.

We were also able to have an entire less active family in church on Sunday. When we went to their house last week the brother told me that he wasn't a member of the church. Hermana Ruiz told him to tell me the truth and he admitted that he was a member but that he would never go back. I invited him to sit down and listen to the message. He did not want to but I don't take no for an answer. I told him that he is the head of the family and the spiritual leader and so we would not teach anyone without him. He agreed to give us 10 minutes. We sat down and shared a little about the blessings of prayer and then finished with a hymn. After we finished he invited us to go back the next day. I guess the spirit touched him because when we invited him to go to church the next day he said yes. Then on Sunday the entire family (Erika and Chico and their 5 little kids) all showed up at the chapel and stayed all 3 hours. Everyone told me it was a miracle that he came. I don't doubt that it was and I know that it won't be the first miracle we see here. We are teaching a lot of families here and I am so excited about that. It is going to be wonderful to watch them come back to church or enter for the first time. I feel so incredibly blessed to be here and I can't wait to see what great things are going to happen in Conani!

My invitation today is to have faith in other people. Something I have learned on my mission is that our faith in others changes everything. If you say that nothing is going to change or invite someone to come to church but in your head you are doubting they will come...your outcome will reflect your faith in them. But when you invite and follow up and love and have complete faith in them, that is when you see miracles. If you doubt there is no room for faith and without faith there is nothing. Show a little faith in those around you. Look at everyone as who they can become and not who they are right at this very moment. Love them and believe in them and you will see miracles happen.

Love you all!

Sister Ewell

Hermana Ruiz and me