January 5, 2015 – 2015 already?

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, and Ian,

Happy New Year! This will be my first letter of the year! Quite honestly, my New Year’s went by pretty boringly. :P There were parties here and there but in the country side all the sound isn't reflected between the buildings, thank goodness. There was still noise, but comparatively quiet for a holiday. We went outside hoping for some fireworks but all we got was a tiny little homemade roman candle down the street. It was almost as funny as it was disappointing, haha!

Well other than that, we had an awesome baptism this weekend! Her name is Carlita de la Cruz. She loved the baptism! Elder Guzman's last companion got permission from president to come on down and baptize her. It was one of the more spiritual baptisms I've been a part of. That was nice for a change. ^_^ The branch is doing a good job at making her feel welcome, especially since she doesn't have support at home. Her daughter is a 7th day Adventist and doesn't want her to be baptized. :P She's nice to us and lets us teach Carlita, of course. But it's just one of those things. Carlita took a leap of faith by getting baptized and is super happy that she had! :D

Man, it's 2015 already? It's crazy how the time flies out here. I remember Ian being gone on his mission and that felt like forever! Well, that's probably because I haven't seen him since almost 3 years ago. But it's crazy! Some elders I met at the beginning of my mission are going home already. A sister I met Day 1 on my mission has already gone home and the only sister from my group will be going home this next transfer. They're all leaving so soon, and our departure is getting even closer. My thought of two years now is the shortest long time! ^_^

Well this week will be full of contacting because we've had to drop a few people, and we need more people to teach. Should be an adventure! I'm used to countryside areas, so this will be a pleasure!

I also would like to thank everyone in the family who sent me stuff for Christmas! Thanks, Tita Jackie for the shoes and $, and Tita Jona for the treats! And thanks Anton, Anya, and Cameron for the money, it was really sweet of you guys!  Thank you Tita Lennet, Uncle Monjun, Randall, and Lara for the presents! Also, thanks to the ward members who sent me treats and ties and socks.  They were awesome!

We'll see how the first week of the year goes! Thank you guys so much for the support and love! It keeps me going! Love you all!

-Elder Froude

Here's some pictures of the treats I got for Christmas.  Thanks again!  I loved them all!

Being silly!

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December 29, 2014 – Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, and Ian,

It was so great to see all of you on our call! It was great to talk to you guys! It sounds like from your emails that you all had a great Christmas, and I hope you guys have an awesome New Year's as well! Mine was pretty good too! No parties of course, just a nice dinner with a pleasant member family. It was really yummy!

We had to stay in, of course. Thankfully, all the crazy stuff here happens after 10 well after we have gotten back in the house. But Christmas was nice. I'm in the campo again so things are much more relaxed than in the city. Lots of parties still, but calmer ones. And then the day after was back to work. XD We'll have to repeat the process for New Year's as well. Come home early the night before and don't leave until told so. XP But it's all good!

Well, as for what's going on in the area, we have a baptismal date for this Saturday! It’s an investigator from before me but she finally accepted a date! She passed her interview and now weare going to keep her excited for the baptism. Her name is Carlita. She's in her 50's, despite her name, haha. But she's really nice! She's really excited and us as well!

I'm really liking this area and the new investigators. I'm super excited to work here! The branch has a long way to go before it becomes a ward, but we'll do our best! The area has had a history of pretty dead beat missionaries before, but we're going to change that. ^_^

No news about the New Year yet or about anything special, but if anything we'll be called this week. And I'll be sure to send photos as well. The USB port here is blocked by wires so I can’t send pictures! XP Until next week! I love you guys! Thank everyone that sent stuff for me for Christmas!

-Elder Froude

December 22, 2014 – In Yamasa

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, and Ian,

I have moved! I've been transferred out of good ol' Ralma, after 6 and a half months, to a place called Yamasá. I sent some pictures, but I think that Yamasá is a close translation of the name Jumanji, you guys remember that movie? Anyway, it's a huge rainforest. And I'm loving it so far! I'm excited to work with the people here and my new comp, Elder Guzman, from Nicaragua. Not much to write about though, since we've just started, haha!  I'm learning the area and getting to know the branch and investigators. As far as I can see, everything seems ok. We need a lot of work to help the branch grow though.

I'll talk to you guys this Thursday on Google+! This will be my 3rd call home and my last Christmas here :( Time flies by way too fast! DX But I'll talk to you guys then! We have to leave a little early today :( But until Thursday! Love you guys! And Merry Christmas!

-Elder Froude

Thanks for the shirt, pants, and tie!  Merry Christmas to me!

December 15, 2014 – Getting transferred to a new area - Yamasa

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, and Ian,

I'm getting transferred! 6 months and a half in Ralma, the longest time I've spent in an area, and now I'm leaving. I worked really hard in this area, hoping that by the time I’d leave it would be in better shape than I found it. And I think it is. We have a whole new pool of investigators, a lot more are progressing than when I started, and we've been able to baptize two people. It might not seem like much but if this is what my best can bring forth, and if the Lord is satisfied, then I am too. Sure, I feel like I can do so much more, especially with where we are now, but I suppose I'm needed elsewhere now. I can't wait to see what this new adventure has in store for me!

A lot has happened this past week; let's see if I can sum it up well. To start, we had our District meeting where afterwards we practiced and arranged a song for the Mission Tour meeting the next day, where Elder Cornish, our area president, would be present. Hna Goff and I were the only ones that knew the parts to the song we would sing, which was Silent Night. We didn't have much time to arrange either and Hna Goff and I didn't even end up singing. XD She had to play the piano and I had to conduct the music for the meeting. In the end, it turned out well. It wasn’t the Mormon Tabernacle Choir but President Corbitt and Elder Cornish looked like they liked it! Speaking of that, Elder Cornish spoke in that meeting about mission tour and it was awesome! He also did a Q and A session during lunch, and I learned a ton from that as well. I asked him a question about the priesthood and there's just something about learning from a 70 that just changes your life. XD He told me that to unlock your full potential of your priesthood duties, a man must understand 3 things: the nature of the Lord, the man's relationship with the Lord, and the will of the Lord in that particular moment. It was a really good meeting! ^_^

Pedro was baptized on Saturday!! It was awesome! He was so happy to be part of the church now. He asked me to baptize him and for Elder Tillmond to confirm him. I would have rather that Elder TIllmond baptize him because it would’ve been his first time but at least he got to give him the Holy Spirit, which when learning Spanish, is a little harder! But everything went great! ^_^

I'm going to be spending the rest of the day today saying bye to my baptisms and the members I'm closest to. It'll be a little sad; nobody likes saying goodbyes. :P But I go where the Lord needs me, and I won't forget this area. It was hard but I think I have grown from it. We'll see what else the Lord has in store for me. Thank you so much for everything, guys! The package I got from you was so awesome! I can't wait to call you guys for Christmas! Love you!

-Elder Froude

Got your package!  Yay!

Buses are cramped over here.

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December 8, 2014 – Getting close to Christmas!

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, and Ian,

We're finally going to have a baptism this week! Pedro's baptismal interview will be tomorrow, and he's so ready! He's really excited too. He hasn't missed going to church since we started about a month and a half ago. The ward needs to get on getting him another friend or two, but he's cool with the Bishop, so that should help out.

This past weekend, the Priesthood had a Christmas activity. An open house. Simple right? Well... miren lo que pasó. Look at what happened. During the open house, the people coming in will go into a room to listen to a message and then rotate to another one until we all meet up together in the chapel. We had four rooms and two of the teachers didn't show up. So, me and another elder had to fill in and only had 5 minutes to prepare. When we started, only our investigators showed up (one of ours, and one of the other companionship's), some of the people in charge, and maybe 4 members. Not to say it was a disaster, because our investigator, an older woman named Daisy, said she liked it! But I feel like it would have run better if the people in charge would have planned it more than two days in advance before the activity.

Speaking of things being sprung upon me in the latest minute possible, I taught Gospel Principles yesterday at church! I had a whole minute to prepare too! Actually, it went really well. I taught about the Sacrament. And I used up the whole 45 minute lesson very well. Thank you Holy Spirit! Lol, I can't say this is the first time this has happened to me, nor can I say it will be the last time.

Now about the sisters in my district, it was really up and down for a bit this week with me. Hna. Santos will be returning to Puerto Rico this coming Tuesday for health, but with honors. It wasn't completely unexpected, but I was hoping that they would be able to end on good terms before then. They had talked with each other and had arrived on some sort of compromise, but I saw that things were still a little shaky with them. I got frustrated because the Sister Leaders and I were hoping that one of them would start showing even a little charity by now. I thought a lot about what it is that we could do to make them part as friends. After talking with my companion and prayer, I came to the conclusion that we've already done all that we could. Now, it's time to see if they learned what we've taught them. If you teach a kid to ride a bike, you teach them by holding on so they don't fall. But you have to let go at one point, don't you? How else are you going to see if they really did learn? I brought this up with the Sister Leaders, luckily before they called them, and they agreed.

It's amazing how much a person learns when all they do is offer service to others. Such a simple little act brings forth a fortune of lessons and knowledge, it's incredible! I still have got so much to learn, of course, but I can't imagine how different my life would be like if I hadn't come out here to learn these things. Yay, I'm growing up, haha!

I'm gonna take a TON of pictures this week because we'll have a special District meeting and a Zone conference the day after, and a baptism! I'll take a lot and send them all! I'll write you all next week ok? Love you all! Thank you for all your support and gifts! They mean so much!

-Elder Froude

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