October 22, 2009

Hello all!
I miss everyone, but I am in the DR. It is nuts here. We live on LDS property and live and learn in the 4th floor of the hotel thing for those people to stay in who come to visit the temple. This place is thousands more intense than Provo. It makes Provo looks like a joke. I have learned so much more Spanish here...and do much better. Although I feel like its total crap. I'm realizing that I am doing okay, and I am learning faster and better. Yesterday my comp and I (Elder Castro from Utah) taught the first discussion completely in Spanish. I did my best to not look at notes and only did a few times for vocabulary. Its super broken and a really sorry excuse for a lesson, but it is a lesson none the less!

2 nights ago, Tuesday, we had our first rainstorm! It was so cool to hear the loud thunder. The power goes out here all the time and we just wait for a min or two before the backup generator kicks back on for more power. That happens numerous times throughout the day. Tuesday we also walked over to the university, which is basically a city within SD. It has 8 times more people in it than BYU. We just contacted and practiced Spanish and gave out pamphlets and bore testimony. It was incredible to have them be silly or make fun of us or argue and then when we testified the spirit was like POW! They were silent and were completely fixed on what we had to say. One girl who has a BOM said that she could feel what we are saying was true, in her heart. and the other guy who was kinda being rude at first was like "Yeah, its like it hit you like a fist, huh!" It was so cool. One point a guy passes me and was in a hurry but wanted to say hi and we had a small conversation and said bye and I said to my comp "Wow, that guy knows English!" Castro:"He was speaking Spanish, elder!" I PROMISE he was speaking English because I understood him perfectly and I spoke right back without even thinking. I don't really know what to say about that experience.

Everyone here likes "El Mormones". Everyone yells hi or honks or waves or says "Hey, the little mormons are here!" They are so fun. The food is sorry and we have the same gross juice here every day. the same rolls. the same bananas. the same beans. the same rice. Esta Bien!

I love my comp and the other two elders in my room. We all have our own reasons and testimony for why we are here. We are strong and get a long really well. Its so hard because I've never had so much of a hard time getting up in the morning than here in the DR. The whole room is like that. Then we work so hard all day and when we get home we are silly and cant stop having giggle fits for wayyy too long. Remember how there's NO time in the PROVO MTC for anything? We had all the time in the world compared to here. We are worked so hard, with no time for a THING. Letters are literally written piece by piece whenever I get even 2 minutes while comp is in El Baño or something. Nuts.

Rachel and Leisha and Steve, so glad to have spoken to you, I use the button thing and people love it here. thank you so much for your words, you honestly don't know how important to me and i hold on to them all the time.

I hope the temple is good mom and dad, I miss my home temple so much! but SDOE is my 13th! Nuts!

Volleyball is nuts here at gym, amidst the ancient excuse for highrise apartments. EVERYTHING here is totally nostalgiec of movies and whatnot. I miss music. I miss snowboarding movies. I miss a phone! ha ha

I love you all. I love you so much! Ha, i love being here and doing what im doing!

I just have to take that next step into darkness and know the lord will provide a way, cuz I dont even know what the next step is, or where it will take me!

-McLean.