November 11, 2013 – Happy Birthday, Mommy!

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, and Elder Froude 1,

First, Happy Birthday Mommy!! Sorry I can´t be around to wish you happy birthday in real but the best I can do right now is to make this long email a gift for you because I had some really powerful spiritual experiences this week!  I did hear about the disaster in the Philippines and was freaked out for a few days about Elder Froude 1. But after praying fervently, I felt that he was ok. And after reading the emails, it was spot on! I´m really glad he´s ok, but I´m still praying for the other people that live there...

Let´s start from last week. For the first few days after last Thursday, things were starting to get a little frustrating because lots of our citas or appointments kept falling through. Also, the people we invited to church didn´t show up…again. Urrrgh. It happens a lot, though, to missionaries so my companion and I kept our heads up and kept going. One day, we were on the way to a cita we had, which was a referral from a member. She wasn´t there and we had about an hour and a half of downtime, so we decided to tract a bit in the apartments we were in that were new to us. The first person we found let us in and we talked for 45 minutes, essentially giving the first discussion! Her name was Yahaida, she was so nice to us and is interested in the church! She also fed us lunch, lol! People here are so great. During the lesson, I bore one of the most powerful testimonies I had ever given so far. Being on a mission and knowing how true the church is has taught me how to bear a testimony. If I am to invite others to Come Unto Christ, it would help if they knew that we are men of God with powerful testimonies in what we are doing. People listen to men and women like that. Confidence and sincerity sparks curiosity in people and it also makes room for the Spirit to testify unto them.

Anyway, along with Yahaida, we have two more new investigators. One in progress, Sanmi, and one that we just had our first lesson with, Christian. Both are really interested now especially after Elder Rocha and I bore our testimonies to them. Christian´s entire family are members so the church isn´t unfamiliar to him. I feel good about these investigators. I kinda feel like Lehi at the Tree of Life, wanting everyone to come and partake of the fruit because of how happy it made me. I want to share this with everyone! More on their progress next week! We have more lessons with them this week. Wish us luck!

Oh, I almost forgot! The phrase of the week! This week is ´´¡Ay Mi Madre!``  This is used in the same context as Oh My Gosh.  EVERYONE here says it, lol!

Again, Happy Birthday Mommy! :)  Elder Froude 1 will be home just in time for Christmas. I miss you all. I´ll write again next Monday with more stories. Bye bye!  Thanks for all your pictures!  It´s great seeing all of you :)  Laney is growing up so fast!  I have to go now :( Have fun in Apple Hill! :D  Enjoy your birthday!  I love you!

- Elder Froude 2

My companion, Elder Rocha, and I

Batmanning!

Missionaries in my district.  They're all funny!

My first Pica Pollo.  Everywhere else in Latin America, it's called Pollo Frito.  

Our casa

So many mosquitos!

That pool is right outside our apartment!  Talk about tentaciones! Temptation!  LOL!

November 4, 2013 – The Hardest Fast Sunday Ever!!!

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, and Elder Froude 1,

Don´t let the title make you think my week was bad, it´s actually a funny story!  But first, I must say that my apartment building has been without water for about eight days now. :( We´ve had to use our drinking water for showers. I’m sure any day now the water will be back on.

My companion and I are gonna make awesome husbands because we´ve both been cooking this week! Mom, be proud of me because we made Adobo and Fried Beef with the fried chicken batter you made me bring this week. It was yummy! Also, as companionship, we found our first investigator!! Her name is Sanmi, pronounced Sammy. She´s super nice and seems pretty interested in the church! So excited! Including her, we have a total of 5 investigators; two with a baptismal date. The 4 investigators we had before Sanmi are both couples; Ana y Fran, and Jose y Mercedes. They both need to get married before they can get baptized. Ana y Fran are close to it; Jose y Mercedes need a bit of work. Don´t worry, we will find a way!! After they´re all taken care of, we´ll move on to the next pueblo over. Right now we´re covering three; Pueblo Bavaro, Veron, and Casita Bonita.

The branch is very small, maybe a little more than 20 people.  The branch president is cool!  He is feeding us tonight. :) The members and investigators are starting to warm up to me, mostly because I´m starting to talk more and more! My Spanish is good enough to understand conversations and make a funny comment here and there. (Btw, I bore a simple testimony at church yesterday.) They also really like that I can sing and play music. Let me tell you, Dominicans love the movie Shrek and any music that has to do with it, mainly Hallelujah by Rufus Wainwright, which to my luck I know in both piano and guitar! Every time a member sees a piano, they say ``Froude, ¡toca Hallelujah de Shrek!`` They´re so funny! It makes me feel at home how nice they are. They say they´re going to make me Dominican and have since been trying to teach me songs in Spanish, mostly Enrique Iglesias. Lol!! I love the people here!  :)  Oh btw, I´m also starting to dream in Spanish! Elder Rocha said I´m talking in Spanish in my sleep now!  :P

A quick little bit I just want to say really fast…the motorcycle taxis here, called motores, are the best thing in the world. It´s just a plain motorcycle that fit three or four people on. It´s pretty cheap and it´s fast. Sometimes, you get show off-y drivers and that´s when things get a little sketchy. Other than that, they´re super fun!!

This Sunday was fast Sunday, so we decided to fast dinner on Saturday and breakfast Sunday so we could have lunch that day. Well, that night, a member invited us to pick up some PIZZA for our Sunday lunch. We had to meet them at a local pizza joint, surrounded by people eating pizza. The member was eating too. As we grabbed our pizza, the waitress brought out this 2-liter bottle of Coke to the member. Elder Rocha and I (jokingly) almost cried when we saw all of this in front of our eyes. The hunger wasn´t a problem for me but thirst was, and that Coke was super tempting! But we did not break our fast! We grabbed our pizza and got out as fast as we could. Lol!

I´m doing ok here. The missionary life is starting to grow on me. The adventure is just beginning and much more will happen in the coming week…I know it. Before I end this letter, you know how Elder Froude 1 has his signature thing he does in his letters? I found mine! Phrases of the Week! Funny little snippets from the week I learned or heard. This week, it´s ´´Que Fastidio.´´ It means “How bothersome,”more or less. A member, Maria Teresa, says it all the time. I said it jokingly once in conversation and everyone thought it was hilarious because they knew where I got it from!

Well, that´s all I have for this week. I´ll try and send pictures next week because these computers are ancient and can´t upload them. Thanks, Mom and Dad :) I miss and love you both and Lauren and Elder Froude 1 too! Until next week!

-Elder Froude 2

P.S.

Elder Froude 1 was right about the happy things trumping the bad things. They really do! :D  We will work hard on our investigators; I want them to be blessed with the Gospel in their lives just as it has blessed mine :)