May 25, 2015 – Lots of Birthday Greetings!!!

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, and Ian,

First, I want to wish Tita Jona and Tita Cris a wonderful Happy Birthday!!!  50 and 75…WOW! I saw all the pictures and it looked like everybody had a fantastic time! I promise I'll be there for the next big one! And I'll prepare something special for the “program.” ^_^ Also, I want to congratulate my cousin Randall for graduating from high school!! Sorry I couldn't be there but I'll be sure to be there when you graduate from college or when you're leave for your mission!  And a Happy 18^th Birthday also!

We're already in the last week of the transfer, which is pretty dang crazy. Didn't I just get here?? Well, possibly I'll stay. Since I have only a few months left, President will either let me finish my mission here, or move me one more time to finish my mission in another area. I could guess which it would be but I'm always surprised with transfers, so I won't bother…haha! Anyways…these past 2 weeks were pretty normal, no cool trips or adventures out of the area...just working with my companion in a good area. We are doing a lot of contacting member referrals but it's a little slow because we had contacted so many new people. We've spent last week and this week doing follow-up with these people, seeing who will progress and who will not. So far, we're finishing up the second round of follow-ups and the sift is working well!

Actually, there was a pretty cool surprise that I did with one of my Zone Leaders. After the District Meeting one day, they show up at our door and tell us we're doing a quick exchange. It turned out that they needed the original birth certificate of an investigator that was going to be married the next day and baptized the day after. But the record is in a place called Hato Mayor, an hour away from this area. But at the same time, one of the zone leaders had a dental appointment in the capital, two hours away. So I was taken to Hato Mayor to get the birth certificate and my companion went to the capital to accompany my zone leader to a dental appointment. We pretty much had to drop our day, but it was cool to go to an area I've never been too. Afterwards, we met up and went to our own areas, but it was already 8:30 pm by the time we got home and here contacting at night isn't too safe, so we just stopped by a member's house to visit and then went home.  An interesting day indeed!

Today, we had a zone activity and we played a bunch of games and a quick skit kind of thing. One of the games was a Church Trivia question game and the person who answered wrong got chocolate frosting smeared on their face. I was one of them, because of an open-ended question!!!  It was fun, though!

Btw, I got the package and the snacks and treats were delicious! But you know me, always sharing, it's almost gone. Haha! But thank you so much! I loved everything in it! Also, yes the dengue is completely gone, so I'm in the clear. ^_^

Next week, I'll tell you all about transfers! I'll see if I'm staying or going. We shall see. Thanks so much for all the pictures! It's great to see everyone and how they are doing. Can't wait to see you all again in 3 months! Love you guys! Miss you all!

-Elder Froude

May 11, 2015 – Happy Mother’s Day Call

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, and Ian,

Happy Mother's Day to Mom and Lauren!! It was so great to talk to you guys yesterday! That'll be my last one before I finish and come home. It's so crazy to think about. I definitely needed that call. This transfer hasn't been the easiest so far.

I feel less trunky after this call. Maybe because I won't have to wait another 6 months to see you guys again. I'm excited! But I still have a ways to go. I'll do all I can to finish strong! I can't stop now, just 2 and a half transfers to go! Haha! Now that I think about it, I don't write about how I feel about going home much. With it being so close, it comes to mind every now and again, I guess.

And like I said yesterday, don't worry about the Dengue Fever. I got it mild and the doctor said I will be fine. I'm taking antibiotics for it. I am back doing the Work.

Welp! I’m out of time! Next week I'll have more time to write! And hopefully, it’'ll be a better week too! Talk to you guys next week! Again, Happy Mother's Day!! Love you guys!

-Elder Froude

Google Hangout with Elder Froude!

May 4, 2015 – May the Fourth be with You!

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, and Ian,

Happy Cinco de Drinko! I mean Mayo! Haha, I dunno why I wrote that…they don't even celebrate it here. But in any case, they drink like it is every weekend, without fail.

But anyway, I'm glad to hear that mom and dad are moved in, only to get ready to move again! XD Now you know what I've gone through for the past 4 months! Taking everything down only to pick it back up a few weeks later! Only not nearly as much stuff as you guys! ^_^ But it's still super tedious! But, moving on (ba dum pst)… this week went pretty well. Elder Valdez and I are working on contacting a list of 43 referrals that our branch gave us. So far, none are progressing though :( But that's ok, we still have a handful of people to find. I like being comps with Elder Valdez! He's quite a responsible missionary! He's on top of the work here. I was impressed! It makes me feel bad for not doing more. XD

We also went to the temple!!! We went with two other Zones, La Romana and Santo Domingo, the recently popularly acclaimed ''best-looking zone” and I don't disagree! But I digress. That morning, I was actually pretty dang sick like something I got near the beginning of my mission. It came back and I thought I wouldn't be able to go to the temple. But I said a prayer, begging that I'd be able to bear it long enough to be able to enjoy the temple and not feel so miserable inside. After I finished praying, I felt even worse. Bleh. But I forced myself out of bed and got ready. It was at some point on the way to the temple that I noticed that my fever was gone, I wasn't thirsty, and that I didn't have a headache or any pain. For the 4 or so hours that we were there it was like I was never even sick. I talked happily with friends and felt a great Spirit there.

But of course, on the way home, I felt like a train hit me. My fever came back and I was dying for a drink and had a pretty bad headache. But even though I felt really sick I was still super happy that the Lord had answered a prayer so fast and so specifically. Yet, I think that had I asked for it any other way or for anything more, it wouldn't have happened.

Being a missionary is just so cool! I can't even begin to describe it with words. I wish that everyone one day can become one. Even you, mom and dad! When I'm out of the house, go serve a mission! Lauren and Richard have a big job right now, but as soon as that's done, go serve a mission!

Well, I will see you all this Sunday!! Happy Mother's day next week!  I'll make sure all the tech stuff works fine so that we can chat without problems. Love you guys! See you all super soon! Bye now!

-Elder Froude

April 27, 2015 – San Pedro de Macoris

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, and Ian,

So you all remember how I was in Amalia? Well, after being there a transfer I was called to another area, again. This time, as a normal missionary doing normal missionary things! Elder McCombs will still be ZL but he too was called to another area. As for our house with all of its problems? Well, we fixed it all. It has running water now, is super clean and all organized, only for 4 sister missionaries to move in! We have gone through a whole transfer with a house with problems, fix them all ourselves, and as soon as it's perfect, we have to move out! Oh the irony!! Haha, but that's ok, at least the sisters will have a nicer house and an amazing area. But that P-Day, we spent almost all of it helping the sisters move in to the house, with the help of the AP's, of course, and then we showed them around their new area a bit before we headed out. Elder McCombs would take their old area, and I've been sent out to San Pedro, another zone quite far away.

So far, it's pretty ok here. But I'm having a bit of trouble getting used to the area. I think it's because I may not like it as much. But I do very much enjoy that I'm no longer a Zone Leader X) And it sure made me feel better to know we have an amazing beach in our area! So it is a big city, but a little different from Santo Domingo. And so far it's pretty safe. At least some parts O: And the house is tiny and has no water XD But it's comfortable, actually. The beach is a bus ride away, but it's part of our area because it’s by a pretty countryside part called La Guinea. I'm sure in a few days I'll adjust.

My companion is a Dominican named Elder Valdez. He's hilarious and suuuuuuuuper black XD But he knows his stuff too, so that's good ^_^ We get along pretty well ^_^ Everyone in my district are so relaxed, even the sisters! XD I love it! I also live with an Elder from my first district, Elder Vasquez from Peru! Not my comp Elder Vasquez, a different one. We're working right now on finding 46 referrals that our branch gave us :DD As soon as we find them all, we can focus on the ones who progress ^_^

 Well, I hope that San Pedro will have plenty of adventures and new experiences for me. Let's see what this week has in store for me. It's also pretty nuts that I have only a few months left. Which is weird because I feel like I just got here and at the same time I feel like I've been here forever! It's weird to think about, so I just choose not to until I'm done, haha! But I'm up for the adventure!

I sure hope, Mom and Dad, that you get the house, though it will be sad to come home into a different house than what I grew up in. But I'll come home being the new kid in the ward!

Talk to you all next week! Love you guys so much! I'm always praying for you and dad and Lauren and Ian ^_^ Also, we'll see each other on Mother's Day!

-Elder Froude

With my companion Elder Vasquez

April 21, 2015 – Transferring again!

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, and Ian,

Boy, it's been a while since I wrote one of these! So sorry I didn’t get to write a long letter last week. Didn’t have enough time since I came on late.  Lots have happened since I last week. I'll start with a little miracle that happened this past week.

Our house was given to us in very bad shape (everything has been fixed now), and one of those things is that it was given to us with a huge water bill. We paid it a long time ago but just recently they came to take this cap off of our pipes and we could now have running water. But until then, we have been borrowing water from neighbors and using drinking water to clean and shower. We've been praying for a while for the water to come back. Well, this week the Lord answered our prayers many times over by sending us a STORM. It was raining very hard for like 4 hours, which is super unusual, and our house actually almost flooded! We took advantage and used all the water falling from our roof to finally do laundry and take a good shower. I love the Lord's sense of humor! XD

That was definitely a big highlight of the week ^_^ Oh, by the way, President is transferring me again. The third time that I have only stayed in an area for a transfer O: I'm going to a place called San Pedro de Macorís, or just San Pedro for short. I'm not a Zone Leader anymore!! I was feeling bad that I haven't been able to work as much but the Lord, in His humor, told my mission President to put me to help out another missionary as a Senior Companion. I don't mind though, I'm excited for the adventure!! Maybe I'll stay there for more than a transfer O:

Usually moving stuff is on Transfer Day which is today. But there was a change where 4 sister missionaries would move into where Elder McCombs and I lived just a few days ago. So the AP's decided to help them move in yesterday so that they had time to worry about taking missionaries home and bringing in noobs today. And because it was our house, we decided to help out as well, especially since the sisters are going to whitewash our area. But it took a lot longer than we thought. The whole 2 Bags and 1 Carry On thing doesn't seem to apply to sister missionaries. I'm just kidding!! We also had to bring beds and drawers from their house to ours. It took a bit of time, but they are settled in now.

Boy, I wonder what San Pedro will be like? A new zone and area and maybe some familiar faces! I'm always excited for the adventure! Coming in on my last three transfers though, I feel like I'm running out of ammo and I have to make every shot count XD I'll write you all about the transfer next week. Love you all! Thank you so much for all your support!

-Elder Froude