as of September 11, 2013

Monday, December 1, 2014

December 1, 2014 – Christmas already?

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, and Ian,

Tis the season! People here have already started decorating their houses and put up their Christmas trees. I'd be more excited for the holidays here but people here celebrate Christmas like they do any other holiday, with a ton of alcohol and large speakers attached to their cars blasting Dimbo and Bachata music. Also, as far I know, we aren't allowed to go teaching on Christmas or New Year’s for safety reasons. I think we can visit with a member close by, but for now, it's that way, like last year. At least I'll be with other missionaries! If I get transferred to an area with 2 other missionaries that is, lol!

So this week was pretty good! We found a ton of new people to teach, finally, and more people are starting to progress! We had to postpone Pedro's date to the next week so that we can prepare him better for his interview. But we had a pretty cool lesson just yesterday! We're teaching a woman named Idalia and her neighbor, Julio. Idalia had a lesson with missionaries before but she says she likes us a lot more. Yesterday, we introduced to her the Book of Mormon and during the lesson she had to tell us that she liked our form of teaching. When we asked what she meant, she said that she could feel that we really believe what we were teaching her, which makes her want to learn more. She said the last missionaries a long time ago that gave her a book of Mormon didn't explain it well and didn't make her want to read it. That was the first time anyone has ever told us that they like the way we teach. It made me feel all fuzzy inside! Thankfully, it didn't puff me u, because I know who's the real one teaching during the lessons. Haha!

So here, the mission has started the initiative He is the Gift, in Spanish, El es la Dadiva. I'm sure you guys already know about it. They asked that we really apply this to our work and report certain numbers along with this initiative. We just started so we don't know much for now, but as the month goes on we'll see how well this works, and I'm sure that it will!

Btw, I got a little fever last night, but I woke up fine this morning. I don't know where it came from. At church I was fine, but the rest of the day I just started getting really tired. When I got home at like 9 pm, I laid down and I felt warmer under the sheets than usual, then I told myself, Yep, I got a fever. Haha! I took some Tylenol and went to sleep.

Man, Christmas is coming on way too fast! This will be my last one here... I have so much to do here and so little time! I'll take advantage of every minute I have here. I'll write you all next week! More progress on the investigators and Operation: He is the Gift! Thank you so much for all your love and support!  Love you guys!


-Elder Froude

November 24, 2014 – Belated Happy Thanksgiving and Anniverary

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, and Ian,

As a request from Dad, I'll make the majority of this email about how I'm doing personally. Now that I look back, I do notice that I'm writing a lot about how others are doing and less about how I'm doing. I've been doing that a lot out here, worrying about the needs of others over my own :P I'll think about myself for a tiny bit, I guess! ^_^

My district is keeping me nice and stressed out.  XD  I've been praying a lot and working with them for a while now. They don't anger me or anything like that; I really do want the best for them. It's just that they know what they have to do; they just aren't doing it. I won't give up on them though!

I am, however, enjoying the rain here. The past few days it has been pouring! Well, pouring for about 20 or 30 minutes at most, and then the rest of the day, sunshine. Actually, there were a few days of overcast, so that was a nice break from the sun! Daylight savings also doesn't exist here. So, it's the same everything until I go home. XP Oh my goodness, I go home in almost 9 months!  Man, the time flies way too fast. Elders and sisters I met when I started are already going home. Well, sisters more than elders. O:  But the sister from my group, Hermana Hilburn, is already going home next transfer! Sometimes to a missionary 2 years seems so long, yet the next day, 2 years doesn't seem like enough time. I'm freaking out that I have so little time left!  Others will say, ''Psh, 9 months? That's forever!''  I'm almost positive that kids in high school will say that. I know I did, lol! But it seemed like Ian was gone forever! Maybe more so for me because I won't see him till I come home. O:  That’s 3 years and 8 months!

We still can’t have any zone activities per Pres. Corbitt.  We can do one as a district, but I won't be able to because my district are all sisters.  XD And about eating, we are not allowed to eat at member’s homes anymore (but at first we just couldn't eat with investigators (I only ever ate with members).  But for lots of missionaries, it's really hard to kindly refuse the food without offending them. We actually lose investigators when we do that.  It’s the new rule because of safety (missionaries are getting sick from eating some food.  I, personally, never got sick.) and time constraints. Dominicans have the habit of cooking something after the lesson for the missionaries to be nice, and it wastes time because they cook for so long. I never had that problem because the food was already ready by the time we got there. So President is meeting up with the Stake Presidents to set something in stone for us.  P-days are basically spent doing laundry, cleaning the house, and shopping for food for the week.

So, those are my feelings for now. As I look back on what I did, it seems so short. It only seems like a few weeks ago since I was in Bavarro, and even shorter since I was in Los Tres Brazos. It's crazy! I'm loving the experience though. I'm learning so much as I go on! I just feel bad that I can become the best missionary I can ever be the day I fly home. I'm trying to soak in as much as I can. All your letters of help and love and support helps me get through it all. Thank you so much for everything! I miss you! I love you guys!


-Elder Froude