Look before you drink the water!!

Hey!!!
 

How's everyone doing?
 

I'm doing great! :)  I had a wonderful week!
 

Thursday right before we left to go to our first cita, a member named Hermana Rosa called us and asked if we could stop by because she had a surprise for us... Well when we were walking to her house our first cita (appointment) called and cancelled.  When we got to Hermana Rosa's house, it was her daughter Hermana Laureano (a CCM teacher I had) that was our "surprise". It was so awesome to see and  talk to her. She said that she can tell I am improving and  to keep up the good work and I will be a great missionary. That was awesome to hear! It totally made both of our days and it was just what my companion and I both needed!
 

Friday was a really good day we had some awesome cita's. Before one of our cita's we stopped at home to get some more water and to use the bathroom. While I was filling up my water bottle I saw something white in the water,  come to find out it was gum in our water jug!!!. So we called the water place and they replaced it. The thing that stinks is that the water jug was already half empty, we had already drank most of it!!! How disgusting is that??? Anyway we went to our cita with Alfa. I love teaching her! The spirit is always so strong and she loves learning about the gospel and reading her Book of Mormon. We were going over the Plan of Salvation with her and she was loving it. We were about done with the lesson and I bore my testimony. I love the plan of Salvation.  I am so thankful for it in my life and to know  it's God's plan and that the plan helps our families to live together FOREVER!!! After I bore my testimony I then invited her to be baptized (my 1st invitation)!!! It was so exciting but so nerve racking at the same time. I asked her to be baptized on the 17th of August! I hope that she decides to get baptized. The cool thing about it is,  her boyfriend who is a member of the church will be here visiting her too so if she wanted, he could baptize her!!! :)
 

Saturday was just a normal  blazing hot day. We  worked and walked a lot.
 

Sunday was Father's Day here!!! There were more drunk people out than usual  that day as we were walking to teach our investigators. We  went to a members house and had lunch. We at rice, lemon chicken, and had salad.  A lot of our investigators didn't come to church that day either, which stunk.

Monday was just another normal day.

Tuesday was a really hard day... we had to tell the niños that we are teaching that we can't come visit them as much anymore because they aren't progressing and doing the commitment that we ask them
to do.

We  had FHE with a member and she invited her neighbors to come . I gave the lesson. We talked about the Atonement -Alma 7:11-12. I did that scripture because our investigator that was there- Bienvenido, who is schedule to be baptized August 10th has been having a hard time with his health,  especially his leg. (I want to say that he had a stroke and is now paralyzed on the left side of is body.) He is such a great example to me. His faith in God and Jesus Christ is just so strong. Every time he sees me he always asks about my family and he says that he prays for them all the time too... He seriously does  pray for my family in the lessons each time when it's his turn to say the prayer. The funny thing is, that he has forgotten my companions name and he doesn't pray for her family. We joke about it all the time!

Today has just been a normal P-day cleaning, writing, and relaxing!!!

The Spanish is still coming a long. Each day is different. I have learned not to think about what I am going to say,  but to listen to the person speaking and let the spirit  guide me and help me say what
the person needs to hear!

I can't believe that it is almost August... July went by so fast!!!

I love you all and miss you tons!!!

Have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Heather Peugnet <3

ONLY IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC!!!

Recently Heather sent a list of "Only in the Dominican Republic" in her mailed letter to home that we thought would be fun to share on her blog:

*People hooking up their electricity illegally. (its apparently cheaper to tap into your neighbors:)

*People drinking on the job (alcohol is so common-place, no one even notices)

*You would be more likely to be pulled over for talking on your cell phone than you would be for drinking and driving!

*Only here,  would you NOT care if a random pet ie.. dog, cat or chicken just came walking  into your house.

*When walking down the street you can hear 5 or 6 different songs blaring from houses in one area or street.

*You will see 5-7 year old girls dancing in the street like they are in a "club/bar", with very adult "moves".

*Little girls playing "tea party" with alcoholic drinks.(sad)

*Not only the young boys, but the old guys call out to us and tell us we're beautiful and want us to come in their houses (don't worry, they don't stand a chance with me!!) We are told to always be on guard and extremely careful.

*When it rains all the girls/ladies will wear shower caps on their heads. Their hair is very important to them.

*They will also wear HUGE curlers with nets over them every where they go.

*No one wears a helmet, although there is usually one strapped to the back of their motorcycle. (I haven't figured out what the point of that is??)

*Many Dominicans have up to 3 different cell phones (haven't figured that one out either)

*I'm still working on figuring out the driving rules here....It seems like the red light doesn't mean anything and motorcycles have the right away. No one drives in between the lines and they make 4 lanes out of 3. But it's okay, I don't have to worry about driving. Even riding a bike is off limits for us because of the danger. Riding in a taxi is scary enough!

* People here think they are allergic to rain.

*An entire family travels on one motorcycle. I have seen up to 6 people on one! Even little babies!

*Mangos grow on trees everywhere and are delicious!


I'm sure there are a lot more things I could tell you but those are the things that come to mind!
Hope it made you smile! This is my life and I am loving it! It's hard, but I can do hard things!!

Love, Hermana Heather Peugnet

Easter Eggs in July

I can't believe I have been out 3 months! The time has gone by so fast! This last week was a great week! Me and my companion are doing great. We are getting along and laugh at each other especially at night when we are super tired!!

Thursday was a really good day. We had some really good citas (appointments). On our way to the church for an activity it started pouring. So of course because of the rain no one was going to be coming. So we decided to go home. The roads were so flooded the water was up to my knees in some parts of the road when we were walking. Everyone was yelling at us not to get wet and to be careful with the rain even though we were already soaking wet. The people here are very interesting when it rains...it's funny!

Friday and Saturday were not very good days because a lot of our citas fell through.

Sunday we had 5 investigators and 3 menos activos at church. It was a really good day. We had a lot of citas which was awesome compared to the days before.

Monday was a really good day! We had a district meeting that morning and on our way I accidently hit a motorcycle with my arm. For a second I thought it was going to fall because it moved a little bit but luckily it didn´t. For Noche De Hogar (Family Home Evening) we went over to the Familia Jimenez´s house and learned about prophets and the important roles they play are in our lives. After our refreshments one of the daughters asked if I liked plátanos and I said yes. Well little did I know that saying yes meant that they were giving me a plate of plátanos, salami, and avocado. I then realized why Hermana Porter was just laughing. She wouldn't answer me of why they asked because she really knew what I had said yes to... However, the food was so good!!! :)

Tuesday was a really good day for the most part. It was super hot and we did a lot of walking and teaching.

Today!!!! Well it´s pday! I washed my clothes, cleaned the apartment, we went grocery shopping, wrote letters, and for fun we colored eggs because it's my 3 month anniversary! We were bored and my companion had supplies to color eggs. We also did it because it's pioneer day!

I hope everyone is doing great! I love you and miss you all!!!

Love,

Hermana Heather Peugnet

 

July 17th, 2013

Hey Everyone how's it going?

 

I'm doing great.

 

Well my week has been good!

 

Last week....

 

Thursdays are my least favorite days out in the field. We have weekly planning and companion inventory on those days. I would rather be outside. Well after 36 days of NO electricity we FINALLY have it!!! yay! :) Thursday nights we have activities at the church with our investigators and members. Last week all of the kids that we are teaching came and played games with Hermana Porter while I sat and talked with one of the Elders in my area Elder Panta ( he  speaks mostly Spanish and a little English).  He helped me practice my Spanish~ it was really cool! :) I was actually able to understand a lot of what he was saying to me. A funny thing  happened that day while we were walking to a cita (appointment) A chicken crossed the road in front of us when it got to the other side it started pooping!!! LOL :) It made us laugh and totally made my day because we weren´t having such a great day.

 

Friday was a really good day we had quite a bit of citas. One cita was with a lady named Juana, She seems very interested. However, I play a game with her because she speaks very fast so I´m lucky if I'm able to understand some of what she says. Other than that she is very nice. Another cita was with an investigator named Venessa she is a very special lady to me.  After leaving her house that night she told me that my Spanish is really improving and that I am learning really fast. Hearing that from her was a huge compliment especially since she is a really quiet person.

 

Saturday and Sunday were quieter days. Sunday we had 12 investigators at church which was awesome!! Last week we also had 5 new investigators, and 6 investigators with baptism dates for August 10th!!! :)

 

Monday morning was a really hard time for me. I felt like I was alone and was very home sick. I really needed some comfort so I got down on my knees and prayed to Heavenly Father for His help, comfort, love, peace, and anything else that I might need. I then turned my scriptures to Alma 31:31 and it says "... my heart is exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ... wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength..." I then felt the comfort of God in my life. It really helped me a lot. Prayer is a very special thing that we have in our lives and we are lucky that we can always talk to our Heavenly Father when we need help with whatever it may be. I know that Heavenly Father answers prayers and that it is not always in the timing that we want it to be but He does always hear us and we are His children.

 

I love you all and miss you tons. Hope you're all doing great and that you have a great rest of the week! Until next week!!!

 

Love,

 

Hermana Heather Peugnet

How do you put a horse in a fridge in 3 steps?!?

Hey everyone! What's going on? I'm doing great! I love my area and I am so grateful that right now I am not in the city working as a missionary!

Well from last week to this week a lot has happened.

Our investigators are progressing very well. This last week we had 16 new investigators, 9 progressing, and 10 of our investigators and 7 menos activos (less actives) were at church on Sunday which was so awesome!!!

We do a lot of teaching, walking and we're always learning. I love all of my investigators. They all have something different and special about them in their lives that makes them special.

One experience I'd like to share was from Sunday. So it was fast and testimony meeting. Well on our way to church we went and picked up some kids (ages 10-17) that we are teaching. It was kind of funny because we felt like chaperons because we had 7 kids we were taking to church. Of course we had people looking at us like always. A couple (2) of the kids that came with us we had never taught before. Anyways church was so awesome! I felt the spirit so strong. So here during fast and testimony meeting if one person in your family stands up to bare their testimony then everyone else in the family stands up too. They all stand around the podium and take turns; normally the youngest first to the father being last. The first time it happened I was like what the heck is going on here... but it is kind of cool because then everyone gets to share their testimony and also there is no awkward silence. Well one of the kids that came with us that we had not yet taught wanted to go up... so I decided I would go up with him. It was so cool! I felt the spirit so strong and when I was talking I could tell everyone was listening to me and it felt like they were cheering me on as well. We then went and had dinner with some people in our branch. The food was so good (chicken, rice, veggies, and a donut)!

This last week the scripture that has helped me the most is Ether 12:27. It talks about if you have faith in Christ then He will make your weak things become strong.

Monday we had FHE with a family. The father is menos activo and the son (presidente jeminez) is a member  but the rest aren't. I gave the message to the family and then after that they told jokes and we all played games. It was great; we were all laughing so much!

Yesterday we had other sisters ( Hermana Leaders) come out with us and do splits so my companion and i visited a lot of the menos activos in our ward to see how they are doing and if there was anything that we could do for them. We also shared a lesson. It was a little hard but it was good because it helped me practice and I know that my Spanish is improving each day by but I sometimes wish that it could come a little faster. Then last night Hermana Porter told me that Presidente Jeminez said that his sister really likes me and that my Spanish is really improving. She said that when I was giving the message on Monday she could understand everything that I was saying! That was awesome to hear!! I love the people in Bonao. They are awesome! I have met some awesome people and I have some awesome investigators that are really progressing. I can't wait to see them get baptized! :)

 

I love you!!!!

 

Love,

 

Hermana Heather Peugnet

PS: I'll send the answer to the joke next week!!!! :)

 

Eating my first mango in the Dominican Republic!

My apartment

My companion Hermana Porter and I

 

A very productive week!

Hi everyone!

Sunday we had 2 investigators and 6 less actives come to church!!! That was awesome! One of our investigators didn't come because she couldn't find something that would be appropriate to wear but her husband came instead and she'll be coming this Sunday! Sunday was our first time we went to a member's house and had lunch. It was so good! We had salad, rice, and some sort of meat that tasted like bacon to me! Lol! Margarita is the name of the member we ate with; she is so nice and sweet!

After that we just went out contacted and visited less active families and went to appointments.

 

Monday we were walking to our next appointment after we had gone to one appointment that fell through. We were walking past a less actives house when I suggested to stop at her house and see how she is doing. She seemed excited to see us because it had been awhile since we had contacted her. After we got into her house we sang and prayed. My companion Hermana Porter asked the member if she felt Jesus was here with us right now and if  she could ask Him one question what would she ask. Yudi the less active replied and asked what happens to the people that don't hear about the gospel or accept it before they die. My companion turned to me and asked if I understood. I didn't when Yudi asked the question but when my companion restated it to make sure she was right with what she asked I understood it better. She then asked me if I knew how to explain the answer to her. I said yes but I didn't know a scripture. Hermana Porter said "That's ok you can do it".... So I started talking to her and explaining that after we die we go to the Spirit world and that that is where we will get a chance to accept the gospel. I said that the people that haven't heard the gospel will get the chance to have it be taught to them by Jesus Christ and by someone that has passed away before us. It was so awesome and such a spiritual experience for me. Hermana Porter asked her if she had any questions about what I had said and she said no that she had understood me completely. Hermana Porter then shared a scripture to help and we ended the lesson because she didn't have anymore questions. I felt the Spirit so strong and know that I was being guided by the Spirit in what I was teaching.

 

We then went and taught other menos activos (less active members). I enjoy teaching them because just helping them come back to church is awesome and letting them know they are loved is wonderful! 

 

Right now we also have 3 kids (14, 13, 11 yrs old) that we are teaching. They tell us to come back every day which we can't, but it is so cool to see how excited they are about learning the gospel! Their Grandma always makes me think of Andrea and all the other girls that like 1Direction because she wears 1D bracelets!

 

My week has been pretty good! Each day I stay here I am loving it and always loving the people. The people here inspire me so much! I don't know if I could have done anything to prepare myself for being out here besides studying the scripture and always trusting and praying to Heavenly Father. He is always there for us and Loves us so much!!!!

 

Te Amo!

 

Love, 

Hermana Heather Peugnet