Subject: The Perfect Monday

Aug. 26, 2010


Familia y Amigos,

Hello hello! Another exciting week in the Dominican Republic to report! First of all, I finally got mail! Oh happy day…thank you Kimber and Sara…return letters will arrive shortly. J So, on Monday we had to bid a fond farewell to our seven Haitian missionaries as they returned to there homeland. Because of this, we were finally able to take pictures…so I now have some legit tropical pictures. But who knows when I´ll be able to develop them. One thing at a time I guess. Later that day we got to visit the university again where Hna Peterson and I had amazing experiences. We prayed for the Lord’s help in guiding us to people He had prepared to hear our message, and we were so blessed! In a little less than two hours we were able to talk to about seven people, three of which were really excited to hear what we had to say, and two that we gave book of mormons. It was incredible! A young man named Juande was my favorite. I told Hna Peterson it was her turn to lead us and start a contact, so she started walking over to this student that was sitting under a tree with his knees up and his head hiding. I thought to myself “Oh no, he’s not going to want to talk to us. As soon as he looks up and sees us he’s going to get up and walk away.” But I was dead wrong. The moment we approached and his head come up, I could see in his face that he was ready. Such a bright countenance! We were able to share the first vision in Spanish and our testimonies, and then gave him a book of mormon and asked him to pray about it. He was so open and positive. Ah I just loved it. After that we were both so happy. Then when we got back to the CCM Hna Peterson had a package waiting for her from dearelder.com…which apparently delivers here just fine. (Hint Hint haha j/k). Inside the package was a huge stash of candy, albeit it was pretty melted. But in her infinite kindness, Hna Peterson shared with me and I savored a snickers bar like it was the last piece of chocolate on earth. I will never take that candy bar for granted again, because most of their chocolate down here isn’t that tasty. Basically, between the snickers and contacting on Monday, it was the best day ever lol.

Tuesday was another exciting day as we finally got to visit the store and leave the CCM. But, saddest story of my life. I have been waiting weeks to buy new shampoo because the stuff I brought from home hasn’t been so great on the hair. So I spent a good five minutes carefully choosing which scent of herbal essences I would buy. Made it to the register with it because it was on my receipt, but by the time we got back to the CCM my precious raspberry shampoo had disappeared. I almost shed tears…pathetic I know. But my love for shampoo and clean hair is pretty high up there. And to top it off they were fresh out of snickers at the store. Sad day. But I will not be discouraged!

Now for the funny stories of the week! Yesterday in the computer lab Hna Peterson and I were practicing our Spanish on the TALL program until we got kicked out because another class needed them. Elder Lisle from district 3 likes to make jokes and said something smart, so I jokingly made an angry face and walked up to him pretending like I was going to give him a good punch in the nose. Apparently my face was more serious than I thought because I have never seen a boy so fear struck in his life. Hahaha. He claimed he was only afraid I was going to encroach on the ‘elder bubble’ that’s enforced between us, but I suspect otherwise lol. The other thing of this week that brought joy to my heart was this morning when I shared with Hna Peterson my strange dream of being stuck in a train station. She proceeded to interpret it as being stuck here in the CCM, between places, not going anywhere. Suddenly I felt like I should’ve watched that movie the Terminal so I would be better prepped for coping. But only 3 more weeks more inside these gates!

Anywho, life is good and this gospel is amazing. I continue to learn more each day about our Heavenly Father’s love for each and every one of His children. He teaches us through our weaknesses and trials, which ultimately make us stronger and bring us closer to Him. I know this gospel is true and I love being able to share it in broken Spanish with the amazing people of the Dominican Republic. Never be afraid to share your testimony with those you meet! The Lord is working through all of us in different ways. Be prepared to seize the moment! Love you guys!
Love,
Hermana Bradley