Happy Halloween from the Dominican Republic:)

Hello Everyone!

 

I past my 6 month mark- I can't believe how fast time is going.:).

 

Saturday the elders had a baptism and then that night we had a get together with a member named Zuleika  before she left for her mission. She will be serving in Mexico. That was a great night. I am sad to see her leave but I know that she will be a great missionary!!

 

Sunday my companion and I both spoke in church. It is so much different talking in church when you are in a different place and  a different language. It is so much harder, and a bit more nerve racking too. I know that the Holy Ghost helped me out a lot in my talk, and was able to help the people understand what I was saying is true.

 

Since not much happened this week I thought this week I would tell you guys more about the people that we are teaching:

 

Jessica and Ramon: Jessica is the sister of Alfa. They have 3 kids Adriana (5) , Adrian ( 4), and Adriani (2). When we started teaching we were only teaching Jessica.  I felt like it was best to ask if Ramon would like to sit in the cita too. It has been great. They are awesome  are progressing quite well. They  always have so many amazing questions when we teach them. When we gave them the Book of Mormon we asked them to read Moroni 10. The next cita they had so many questions and wanted to continue reading in the book but didn't know what to do because they were at the end. The kids, especially Adriana always asks us  when they can come to church with us.  I am hoping to baptize them before I leave Bonao.

 

Francia: Is between 20-30 ears old. She is a relative of Bienvenido and Margarita. She has been attending  church for awhile,  even before we started teaching her back  when Hna Porter was here with me . The other day Hna Mojica and I were in a lesson with her and we were talking about baptism. I asked her what she thought about being baptized and if she had a desire. She then told me that she wanted to be baptized on the 14th of December. It was so nice not to have to pick a day for her and it was cool to see that she had the desire and had already picked the day out for herself. We are almost done with all of the lessons with her.  I think that it might be possible that when we finish the lessons that we will be able to change her baptism date for sooner.

     

Bautista: He is an older guy. Teaching him is a little hard at times because I don't know how much he actually understands,  he cant read. That is one of the  hard things here,  a lot of people don't know how to read. We have another baptism date for the month of November, hopefully we will be able to achieve this goal with him. We have finished all of the lessons  and went over the baptismal questions and realized that there are a couple more things that he needs before his baptism.

 

Cecilia and Pablo: Man this family is awesome!!!!!!!! When we go to teach them they always have amazing questions for us. They love hearing about the gospel and learning new things. The last couple of times we have taught them Pablo hasn't been there in time and so before we leave Cecilia teaches him what we taught her with our help.  It is really cool to see that she is learning and that they love hearing what we have to say. The other night when we were over  there some people were in front of her house talking really loudly. They asked them to quiet down because she wanted to hear what we had to say and the spirit was so strong in that lesson. We are hoping that they come to church this Sunday and I am hoping that they get baptized before I leave Bonao too.

 

Alfa: we still visit her everyday and we read with her in the Book of Mormon to help her strengthen her reading everyday.

 

We focus a lot on the menos activos here in Bonao and don't tract much.  We try to get references (referrals) from the members when we can. We have 350 members in our ward but only about 50-100 show... so we are trying to strengthen the ward, because it is hard having investigators come to church and there not be members in the ward to befriend them and to help them strengthen their testimonies.

 

It is so crazy to think of where the time has gone; I have been out in the mission for a little over 6 months man the time sure has gone fast. A year ago I became best friends with an amazing person and role model in my life (McKenna) and now we are both in different parts of the world doing the Lords work (she's in Spain) and in another year we will both be back with tons of stories to share with one another and everyone else about our mission experiences. It is so interesting what the Lord has in store for everyone.  He really does have a plan for everyone in their lives. I am constantly learning new things everyday and Hna Mojica is helping me improve my Spanish each day.

 

I love it here in Bonao~ the people are awesome!

 

Whats new with everyone?

 

Until next week! I love you all!!!!!!

Love,

Hermana Heather Peugnet

 

A week of Service:) 10-24-13

Hola!

 

Wow .... a lot has happened this week. where is the time going? I sometimes for get that I am living in the Dominican Republic. -I know its not the same as it is at home and there are crazy things that happen here... but I have gotten used to it and every once in a while I think only in the DR will that happen.

Well since Hna Porter has left it has been different here in Bonao. Some of the people are different and some people that we had taught Hna Mojica and I are starting to teach them again. it has been great. the Lord really does prepare people and it is always important to have patience with others and with the Lord.

Wednesday night we helped Alfa and her family move that was fun it is crazy how fast people move here. they pack up, move, and are all settled in their new house all in one day or just a couple of hours.

 

Thursday was our weekly planning. I wasn't feeling good I was getting my normal cold that I get around this time of year. well when we got to Alfas house to finish cleaning and hanging stuff up they looked at me and told me that I was sick. her and her family wouldn´t let me do anything. alfa kept telling me to go and sleep in her room I kept refusing but after a while she told me ¨I don't need your help what I need is for you to go sleep you don't feel good and this is an order go sleep.¨ I went and laid on her bed and was out.... I woke up a couple of hours later and she had hung stuff up in her room and I didn´t hear any of it. We then left for a couple of citas and to the church for our weekly activity . We didn't stay for very long because I was still not feeling good and was tired.

 

Friday I felt a little bit better. we had a lot of citas they went really great. not much really happened this day.

 

Saturday we had some great citas. my favorite cita was with Alfas sister because we were sitting up on the roof and it was so cool because there was a breeze to cool us off.

 

Sunday was a great day. church was great, and after church we went to Alfa´s house to eat with her family. we then had some great lessons and visited some people that we had taught before, it was awesome.

 

Monday we went running,we had our zone meeting. afterwards we had some amazing citas we have some amazing people that we are teaching we just need to get them to the church. we also started teaching 2 families this week too which is awesome.

Tuesday we didn´t do much because there was a huge huelga here in bonao well there was suppose to be I don't think anything really happened but we were told that we needed to be safe so we were at Alfa´s house all day and also visited her sister because they live really close. We started reading   the Book of Mormon with Alfa's sister. that has been good to help her read.

Wednesday we had to be careful again because there was suppose to be a huelga again . We went to the river and to some art exhibit too it was really cool.   

  

How is everything going with you all?

 

I hope you have a great week. Until next week!!!

 

Love,

Hermana Heather Peugnet  

1 week with my new companion:) 10-16-13

Hello~Hola!

 

Thursday was a great day. We had some great lessons and started teaching Alfa's sister too. She is so much like Alfa and I think that she will get baptized as well and then we will just have to start teaching her mom! Her mom already loves me because of Alfa and likes that we haven't forced the gospel but have served her and have become her friends too. Patients........ The Lord has a time for everyone!!!!!

For the activity at the church this week we had a lesson and afterwards everyone  started playing games.... well I'm not much of a games person and either is my companion so we headed home early, did our planning and went to bed!

 

Friday we went to Alfa's house to learn how to cook some Dominican food.

We had some really good cita's. Friday we finished the last lesson with one of our investigators. She wants to get baptized.  We just need to wait until she marries "her husband" (live in boyfriend) so that she can actually be baptized!!! Most everyone here lives together without getting married.

 

Saturday we had some great cita's,  we visited a lot of people.

 

Sunday church was great. It was really different because normally Hna Porter is playing the piano and since she's not here there is no piano and the person just leads the song and no one is even ready to sing. Afterwards we had lunch at Margarita's house.  My new companion and I were  even able to have  some cita's with people that were hard for Hna Porter and I before to have cita's with.

 

Monday we were able to do some service. We went over to Alfa's moms house and helped them clean the whole house because they are painting and getting ready for Alfa to move in and her mom to move upstairs.

 Man people do things here so fast here. They can destroy a house in days by hand, they can build a house in a couple of days,  and move within a couple of days too.

 I love the way people clean here... they  just throw a bucket of water on the floor take  broom and brush it out the door- it is so easy and fast.  

It  rained a lot on Monday . It is hard sometimes doing the Lord's work when it is raining, especially if we are in certain peoples houses and they don't like us in the rain because they think it is so bad for us and insist that we stay til it stops. LOL.

 

Tuesday we returned to Alfa's moms house after study to help finish cleaning.

 We then had some great lessons and it started pouring right before out last lesson.We had to head to the church for a class. Of course no one showed up to the class because of the rain, so we headed home soaking wet, what else is new? We are always wet either from rain or sweat. :)

 

We  finally received a directory of all the people in the branch and there are almost 350 members and only about 100 show up to church. We have a lot of work to do to find these members and try and bring them back to church and remind them  of the importance and the blessings that we receive from the gospel in our lives.

 

More about my companion..... Hna Mojica she is 19yrs old. She has 6 months in the field and Bonao is her 4th area. She has 2 brothers , 1 older and 1 younger. She is from Nicaragua. She doesn't know English but at times she understands a word & if I don't know it in Spanish I can ask her.... I have  started carrying a dictionary around to help me. She is teaching me a lot of Spanish. I have had people tell me that my Spanish is really improving. We get a long quite well, our only problem is that she doesn't know how to cook and I don't really like cooking:).... other than that,  things have been great.!! I think it has helped a lot that I know some Spanish so that I am able to understand what she says. I have had  a couple of times where I start  talking to her in English and then I remember that she doesn't  understand.  It's kind of funny. She can read in English really good,  she just doesn't understand what she is reading.:( I love her and we are learning so much together!

 

Well I think that is it for this week!!! Until next week!

 

I Love You!!!

 

Love,

Hermana Heather Peugnet <3 

Transfers and a new Companion! 10-10- 13

Hola!

 

This last week a lot has happened:)!
 

Thursday we  visited a lot of people and continue to walk a lot and  work hard.
 

Friday was a great day; it rained all day but we continued to visit everyone so that Hna Porter could say goodbye and get pictures with everyone. 
 

Saturday and Sunday was General Conference!!!!! It was so interesting watching it here because I actually stayed awake. For us we watched it at 12-2pm and 4-6pm.  I liked it a lot better at those times:) The conference was so spiritual. I learned a lot and felt the spirit so strong! Sunday we went over to President Jimenez's house after conference and had a really good dinner..
 

Monday I went to La Vega because Hna Porter had a reunion in Santiago so I went on entercambios. It was a lot of fun I had a great time and learned a lot from Hna Reyes. I also got to see a lot of people that I had met my first 5days out in the field. It was even cooler because when they saw me they all were so happy that I was there and wondered how long I was going to be there. .... Right before I left we had a old homeless guy  start following us for about 30mins- that was a little scary. We split up and found out that he was actually following me.We asked someone (a member) to help us and found out that he wanted food from me but I didn't have any. She got him to leave us alone. Then I got  back with Hna porter again and we went back to Bonao. The rest of the night was great we went and visited some families and so Hna could say goodbye.  
 

Tuesday we had our reunion and found out who our companions will be and where everyone was going. I am still in Bonao and my companions name is Hna Mojica. The rest of the day we went over to different families houses and continued to say goodbye and took tons of pictures! It  rained ALL day! It made for an interesting day.

Today I met my new comp she is really nice. She only speaks spanish and doesn't know English.... I don't know how to spell where she is from,  but it starts with a N and they speak spanish!!! LOL :)

This transfer I will be learning patients and lots of Spanish!!!!!! So far things are going great. It hasn't been as bad as I it was going to be to communicate. We are doing pretty well. I am excited to see what this next transfer brings . However, I am really sad to be losing Hna  Porter. I have learned a lot from her but I know that sometime in life we need to move forward and face the hard things in life. I know it's not going to be easy,  but I KNOW I will be blessed and that when I am having a hard time I can ALWAYS pray to my Father in Heaven.
 

I hope you all have a great week!!
 

Until next week!!!!
 

I love you!
 

Love,

Hermana Heather Peugnet <3

Time is Flying By! 10-2-13

 this week has been great, it has gone by so fast!!!!

Thursday -Alfa had her interview!!!! it was a great day.  We had a lot of wonderful cita's. The people in our area are kind of slowing down in helping us out which kind of stinks.... Thursday for  our activity at the church we watched 17 Miracles. It is a really good movie and I would  recommend it to everyone! 

 

Friday- we got the opportunity to go to the temple with the Partridges!!!! I love going to the temple it is such a wonderful place. I  got to see all of my teachers in the CCM as well.  They were all impressed with how my spanish is coming a long.  It was really cool to see them! For lunch we went to TACO BELL!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, my word!  That was awesome!! It was so nice to have American food!! We then came back and were still able to have quite a bit of cita's which was really cool!

 

Saturday!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIC! ! I hope you had a great day!!! Also saturday was Alfa's baptism.  It was a great day:)  Afterwards we went and ran errands. Then we went to Alfa's and helped picked out her outfit and got her daughter Almayha ready! We then walked home.... it started raining really hard,  we were pretty scared we wouldn't make it back to the church! We got home changed and then walked back to the church to do our make-up and hair because we didn't have electricity in our apartment. It was soooo hot in there too! It is so hard putting make-up on when you are dripping with sweat!!!!! Alfa's baptism was so good.  The spirit was so strong and it was a lot of fun! After the baptism we stayed at the church and watched the Relief Society broadcast. It was really good, I enjoyed watching that!

 

Sunday Alfa was confirmed a member of the church!  After church we went to Alfa's for lunch and had  taco's. We finished the day with some awesome cita's. 

 

Monday- we had exchanges for the day.  That was a lot of fun! We got a lot done and got to visit a lot of people in our area. We realized how much people actually watch us,  because Hna Porter said a lot of people kept asking where I was- even people we never talked too. It's interesting.... It is important to always remember to be an example of Jesus Christ!!!! 

 

Tuesday we went to the dentist!! I got my TOP 2 wisdom teeth pulled!!!!! The dentist was really nice and  is a member of the church and he  made sure that i was totally  numbed on the side he was working on before he started!!! It actually wasn't too bad. I didn't swell at all which is AWESOME! He wasn't able to do all four because he had used a lot of pain meds already and wanted to be safe. But said I can go back in a month to get the other 2 taken out. I don't know what I'll do, I haven't decided. After the dentisit we went to Alfa's and she made me some soft food that I was able to eat. It was really good but I don't really know what it was. The rest of the day we didn"t do much.

 

Today we came to Santiago. It has been a fun day. I haven't been in much pain,  but have been careful with what I have eaten. 

 

Hope you have a great week! Until next week!

 

I love you all!!!

 

Love,

Hermana Heather Peugnet <3