March 23, 2015 – Busy, Busy Missionaries!

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, and Ian,

Boy, it's been a long time since I've written one of these! Sorry about that! The past few weeks we've been short on everything. But let's see if I can remember what has happened these past few weeks into a letter.

So I arrive to my new area Amalia, and I'm loving it so far. It's very similar to what Punta Cana was like; We live in a pretty nice neighborhood and it is surrounded by poor area. Also my new companion is amazing! He's extremely funny and a super hard worker. My last comp was too but there's a different feel about Elder McCombs, I think because he's from California. More relaxed I guess? He's just too cool! Anyway, he and I are getting along super well and we both have high hopes for the zone. But that first week was pretty dang nuts because we haven't had time for ANYTHING! I think that first week we didn't have a single normal day. It was always a trip to the office one day, a meeting in another, etc. I think that first week we arrived home every day after 9:30 pm. Crazy little week! I don't even know how I had time to put lessons in the day.

The second week was a little better. We were finally able to organize ourselves and give us some breathing room. We sat down and talked about the zone and made goals to improve and all that good stuff. We actually still go to the office pretty often, at least once a week for whatever. Actually, this past week we had a meeting with the stake president and President Corbitt to talk about the stake. We told them the reports we made about some particular areas and branches, and also asked for more support in our group because even though it is completely capable of being a branch, it isn't yet. We have more than 50 people coming to church every week; that's more than some established branches here. Hopefully this week we'll hear some news on that.

Also it was Elder McCombs' 20th birthday this week. Elder McCombs will go home one transfer before I do. That was a fun day because we did an exchange with the AP's, Elder Bateman and Elder Southwick, two missionaries we're super close with. I went with Elder Bateman and during the exchange, Elder Bateman took me with him to get Elder McCombs some easy gifts. That same night we had a meeting with President, and afterwards, while Elder McCombs was distracted, Elder Bateman hid the gifts all around the house. It was a fun night! ^_^

But poor Elder McCombs got suuuuuper sick the very next day, and still is sick. He's a lot better today but is feeling super dizzy. We haven't left to work in a few days. But we're hoping that by tomorrow we'll be able to leave. That's how it has been these past few weeks. I'm loving it! Hopefully, by the end of the transfer we'll have a branch :P I hope this makes up for everything I missed! Love you guys! Until next week!

-Elder Froude

P.S.

There are cows and goats here EVERYWHERE!!! XD No lie, the other day, we woke up to see a whole herd of cows walking down our street outside the house! XD

Mooo!

March 16, 2015

The conference with Elder Clayton was AMAZING!! It was so Good!! Elder Cornish was there too. Elder Clayton didn't have a talk, he did more of a Q&A kind of thing. But it was still super good!

My new area is amazing!!! It's almost like Punta Cana. Rich areas but surrounded by super countryside! :D I feel right at home! And my new companion is amazing too! His name is Elder McCombs. He's from Newport Beach.  And this could be my last area. O: If not, I have one more.

Ok, I'll write you a super long letter next week. Bye guys! Safe flight back!! Love you!!

-Elder Froude

The AP's took us out to lunch. That's Elder McCombs drinking water.

March 9, 2015 – Transferring Again!

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, and Ian,

This email will be a little shorter than usual because not a whole lot happened this week. It was a rather peaceful week. Everybody in the zone was behaving, working like they should, and nobody did anything to stress us out. Thanks Zone! We did have 5 baptisms this past Saturday in the zone though! That's a record for the zone in a long time! :D One of them was ours, and 4 more from other areas. We were happy!  :D

Well, I just got here, but I'm going out again. I'm being transferred! I'm still a ZL, but I'm going to a Zone called Hainamosa. My area is called Amalia, and apparently President wants us to establish a branch there. He talked about it briefly during a meeting this week, but I didn't think I would be one of the missionaries going there. It should be a very interesting experience. I've never had such a task like this before! O: And all that while leading a zone of over THIRTY missionaries! DX Let's get crackin’!

Well family, I'm out of time and I have to log out :( But I'll write you all and send you pics next week! Love you guys! Miss you lots!

-Elder Froude

This is Maikey with me and Elder Barlow on his baptism day!

March 2, 2015 – A Very Long Letter!

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, and Ian,

Sorry I didn't write a long letter last week! We have to write these weekly reports and that burns up a bunch of time I used to have to write. But before I start about this week, lemme copy and paste what I sent you guys last week outlining my week. Like Mormon did with the gold plates, I now insert my small plates into this large set of plates X) Sorry I'm silly:

''So lately all the interesting stuff happens the very day AFTER P-day. XP But I need to outline it, lol! Tuesday, we had interviews with President at 2, but because things got started late, he had to postpone it later that night after a meeting he had with the stake president, which we ALSO had to go to. We only had time that day to visit one person and then speed back all the way to the offices for the meeting and then interviews. We didn't get home until about 10’ish that night.

Wednesday was a good ol' normal day. Thursday was our district meeting, but President asked us to prepare something for the zone and train them in this model that President is starting to introduce throughout the mission. It's a report/follow-up thing that leaders should be doing. So we did that and continued working. That night, President calls us asking us and a few other obedient missionaries to go on an exchange with some missionaries still in the MTC, which all new missionaries do before they go out into the field.

Friday was that exchange, which went great! It was a lot of fun to teach some newbies the ropes. Saturday, Elder Barlow and I did another exchange with another companionship in the zone, and it poured rain that day and we got soaking wet. It was a successful day, but also a long one because I was wet all day.

Sunday was church and another pretty successful day but then drama happened in the zone and Elder Barlow and I were quite annoyed by it. XD One companionship lied to us about what they were going to do for P-day and another is upset that they can't play soccer in a group more than 6 (new mission rule). So we dealt with all of them and slept a good long sleep and here we are now. Whew!''

And now I, Elder Froude, make an end of this record. Lol jk! I ain't no ancient prophet! XD Anyways, this week was actually pretty eventful. We have a new companion now, we're a trio again. Elder Jimenez flew in here from the Pueblo Norte Mexico Mission to finish his mission here. His visa expired so he has to finish it here or he'll be an illegal alien in Mexico. Haha, illegal alien! XD But yeah! He's a super awesome missionary and hard worker and very spiritual.

So funny story of the week, the three of us were attacked by cockroaches at 2 in the morning a few nights ago. There I was peacefully sleeping in my bed. I wake up and sit up because I wanted some water. As I was getting out of bed I felt something lightly go ever my hand. I look down and see a big ol' cockroach on my pillow! Instinctively, I swipe the pillow, but I hit the pillow too hard and it flies across the room onto Elder Barlow. I'm still worried about the cockroaches at this point but I want my pillow back! So I creep on over to get it, and when I grab it, I find that he's cuddling with my pillow! I pull it away from him which wakes him up. He looks at me confused, thinking I just took his pillow. I just told him that I would explain in the morning, haha! Anyway, I go back to bed and cover myself in the sheets thinking it would protect me from the roaches. Not two minutes later I feel one crawling on top of my sheets! I have had it at this point, so I grab the broom ready to kill something. My comps are now awake but just ignoring me not knowing that I was fighting for my life against these roaches. When one fell on Elder Jimenez's back, he and Elder Barlow joined the battle, and oh, was it a fearsome battle!

This week we will be having a leaders’ meeting with President to talk about the progress of the mission and reporting on other things. Should be fun! We also have a baptism this week! Our first one this transfer.  We busted our guts for this one too. We actually have more people that have dates, but all of them had to be postponed a week. His name is Maikey, he’s 22 years old. He's super ready! He was also a 7th Day Adventist O:

And well, lo and behold, I'm low on time :( But it was great to be able to write about all these things. Next week I'm sure that more crazy stuff will happen especially with transfers coming up! Peace family! Love you guys! Take care!

-Elder Froude

February 16, 2015 – Espaillat by Ourselves

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, and Ian,

This past week went by quite swimmingly well! Well, maybe a little less, but it was still a good week. This past Thursday was my first Zone Meeting as a zone leader. I talked to the zone about reverence, which at first was one of our biggest concerns. I just reminded them more than anything about our sacred calling. I also made a cool comparison. In the movies, everyone is dead quiet, trying to pay attention to the movie. Why wouldn't you give that kind of reverence to God when we have meetings or other important things? And even if you don't want to, fine, but remember that there are other people that are trying to pay attention. I hope they got the point.

In other news, Elder Barlow and I went to a meeting with the Stake President and all the bishops about the missionary work in the stake. We invited President Corbitt to come along as well, and he gave a really good training about ward councils and follow-up reporting. We're hoping this has an affect with the wards and that they can put it into practice.

Things are going to get even crazier here in Espaillat. Elder Barlow and I will be working 2 areas by ourselves for the rest of the transfer! Surprise! Before, there were 4 missionaries in my area Espaillat; A and B. But one of the missionaries that lived with us went home early for school. And because of that, they are taking out Elder Johnson (an awesome missionary and friend) and putting him in another zone. That leaves Elder Barlow and I to work BOTH areas by ourselves until the transfer ends, maybe even longer. On the bright side, our numbers will be much higher. Lol! jk jk, it's going to be very hard, haha! But I'm up for it. We just inherited the more dangerous area. At night, a lot of people get shot and stabbed here. But as long as we're careful, the Lord will protect us. And as for that movie Saratov Approach? It was just one time! It had the same affect the movie Jaws had on people. Now people tend to think that missionaries get kidnapped all the time. But we won't, we'll be ok. ¨_¨ We are on the Lord's errand.

I hope you all enjoy your president's day! For us, it's more work, just the way we like it. Thanks so much for all your prayers and support! It's what keeps me going. Actually, I'm glad that we have so much to do now. With only 6 months left, I'll feel like I have a year's worth of work to do! It's genius! I love you guys! Talk to you next week!

-Elder Froude

Got to go to Sambil Mall!

Elder Barlow and I

Love me some donuts!

Yummy!

Elder Johnson caught sleeping!

February 9, 2015 – Zone Santo Domingo

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, and Ian,

Boy, where to begin? Well, I suppose to apologize for not writing the long letter last week. Everything was happening really fast and I didn't have much time to write either. But here I am now with lots of stories!

Well, being a Zone Leader is everything that everyone has told me before; incredible and incredibly stressful! It's pretty similar to what Ian's zone was like when he became a zone leader. This zone has quite the reputation for being a lazy zone and a TON of disobedience. Luckily, I am companions with one of my best friends in the mission. We have been putting a lot of effort to reanimate the zone right off the bat. Hopefully we'll start to see some fruits of that. There are also some companionships that could use a little work too. So we will be going out on quite a few companion exchanges this transfer.

As for the area, I'm liking it a little more! We're getting tons of new investigators and a lot are starting to progress actually. We're working our butts off to meet a goal we made of 5 baptisms this month. The most I would ever get in a transfer! But yesterday was tough because only one of those dates came to church. They had all come to church before too. I love this country, and the people in it, but they sure do like to make up really lame excuses for not coming to church. Elder Barlow and I decided to not sugar coat our invitations to church this time around. They need to understand how important coming to church is! Of course we'll love them at the same time. ^_^

If we do meet that goal, hopefully, that will show our zone that good work in a hard area is possible! But it's a little tough when they don't come to church and have to possibly postpone their baptism if they don't come :P We aren't going to give up though. We fasted for it, and we will do all we can to get it! Wish us luck, aside from taking care of the zone, this is our biggest task!

We have got quite a bit to accomplish this week, and we will see where we are by the end of it. ^_^ Wish us luck guys! I'll write next week! Love you and miss you everyone!

-Elder Froude

P.S. 

I went back to Yamasa just two days ago to see Jose and Angelo's baptism! Pres gave me permission. ^_^