ANOTHER TRANSER AND I'M STAYING IN BONAO!!!!!!!!!

Hello:)

 

This last week was a great week, we had lots of work and lots of laughs!!
 

Thursday we were in the medical center for 4 hours... I about died! It was one of the boringest things I have done in a long time.

 

 Sadly, one of our menos activos (less active) sisters died this week.  We visited her and her family a lot recently. Death here is really interesting.  People will sit outside of the house of the person that died  just mourning over the death. .

 

 I am so thankful that we have the knowledge of the plan of salvation and know that our families can live together forever after our time on the earth!
 

Friday was just a normal but a really good day we had a lot of cita's. (appointments)
 

Saturday we went to go visit a menos activo named Wendy Loreano. She has a four year old daughter and I always have candy in my bag and she will just go and grab it. Well when we were done with our lesson  and just drinking our juice,  her daughter threw some of the candy up in the air.... she couldn't find one of the pieces so she went over to Hermana Porter and pulled her shirt down to see if it had gone there. It was the funniest thing ever, we were dying laughing for a long time! :)
 

Sunday was a great day. We had a great turn out for church. Each week our branch has been growing so much. We are trying so hard to make it into a ward! Julissa the one I gave a skirt to last week came to church and looked so cute and happy in the skirt I gave her. Watching her transform over the last couple of weeks have been awesome! I love seeing peoples lives change and seeing them happier! :)

 

Andrea I thought of you as we were walking home from church because One Direction started playing! Oh how I miss music that I understand and know!

 

 In one of our cita's with an investigator July (single mother of 3 girls) we are almost done with all the lessons, so we asked her and her 2 older girls to be baptized September 14th. She was so excited! Her girls and her love coming to church and have already seen the blessings of the Gospel in her life. It was really exciting and a cool experience to see her face light up when we asked her! :)
 

Monday (Happy Birthday Gia) was a fantastic day! I finally finished studying the Book of Mormon  again here on my mission . That was one of the best feelings ever! I learned so much when reading it and it has helped me a lot in my life!

 I know that this church is true I am thankful for everything that I have in my life and I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet called from God to restore His Gospel on the earth for us today.

 

 My testimony has been strengthened so much on my mission and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be serving the people here!

 For (Nocho De Hogar) FHE we went over to Julissa's house and Hermana Porter gave the lesson from the September Liahonna... one perk of being a missionary is that you get the Liahonna before everyone and you can share stories from them!  Afterwards she  made us her spaghetti. It is the best stuff ever. I love it so much!!! :)
 

Tuesday not much happened but in the evening we have a Preach My Gospel class. I taught it this week! It was a lot of fun! I love teaching!!! :)
 

I am doing great I love serving the Lord and I love and miss you all!!!! I hope you have a great week!

 Until next week!!!
 

Love,
 

Hermana Heather Peugnet <3

                                                    Want to hear a funny story....????
 

So last night after our meeting,  I had to use the bathroom really bad when I got home...(we didn't have electricity, again).  I just ran in and normally the toilet seat is up.... well not last night it was down and I started peeing..  and we didn't have anymore toilet paper, we just had 1 napkin that I used.. So after planning I went back in and had to deep clean the bathroom. I told Hna Porter what had happened and we just started cracking up!!! I have to say it was one of the most embarrassing things ever.... But NOW I always check to make sure the toilet seat is up before I go to the bathroom!!!! LOL :)
 

Have a great week everyone!!!!!!!!!!!

ANOTHER WEEK IN PARADISE:)

Hello Everyone:)

 

Another great week!
 

Friday- Brother and Sister Partridge, a couple that are called as institute teachers came and took Hna Porter and I out to ice cream. That was a lot of fun . They are an awesome couple. When they came into the mission they decided to be the "Sunshine" couple where they take the Hermana's out to either lunch or ice cream. They also brought us baked goodies. They just brighten our day!!
 

Saturday and Sunday were great days just full of cita's and feeling the Love of God! Sunday we had 10 investigators at church,  where as the week before we had none. That night we went to a less actives house and shared a message. I also gave her one of my skirts that I had because she always feels bad about going to church in jeans.... I knew there was a reason I packed more clothes than they told us too!!! LOL :)
 

Monday was an awesome day. We went to La Vega for a huge zone conference.  The Area President of the Caribbean Elder Andersen was here. He spoke to us along with President and Hermana Douglas (my mission Pres. and his wife) on how we can always become better missionaries.

 After the conference a friend Yulissa (she is a member that I met when I was in La Vega)  came and surprised me. It was so awesome seeing her.  We then had FHE at Margarita's house with a lot of her neighbors.  There were 20 of us in her little house... I think we might have to start doing it at the church.
 

Tuesday we went to the Dr in the morning because Hermana Porter has an infection on her leg from a mosquito bite. We then went and taught a couple of other people. We ended up at someone's house for 2 hrs and 30 mins just talking and also helping her out. She hasn't been to church in a while and so we are working on helping her  come back. Also she wouldn't let us leave because it was pouring outside. The Spirit was so strong in her lesson.  After is stopped raining we then went to the church for a meeting.
 

Hope all is going well I love you and miss you all!!!!
 

Until next week!

Love Hermana Heather Peugnet

PS.. I love getting mail, so feel free to write to me!

My First Baptism!

Hello!   

 

Another great week:)

 

-Thursday we had intercambio's (exchanges) with Hna's Mendez and Reyes. It was a really good day.

 

 We had an activity at the church in the evening. A lot of people came and it was really fun.

 

A member that had been out with Hna Porter was so excited to see me... I didn´t know why,  but I found out that Hna Porter told her that I was transfered and she was sad that I never said goodbye to her.

 

 She was glad to see I was still there.  I'm not ready to leave Bonao anytime soon,  I love the people here too much!
 

-Friday Bienvenido had his baptism interview and he passed! YAY!!! :)

 

 We also taught a couple that the husband is a member and the wife's not. That lesson was so cool because normally the wife just leaves the room  when we are over but this time she didn't.

 

 We talked about The Restoration of the Gospel.  The spirit was so Strong in that lesson, and she was participating and asking us questions which was so cool!
 

-Saturday  morning we cleaned the baptism font and set up the room for the baptism that night at 7.

 

We didn't plan many cita's because of Bienvenido's baptism,  so that we could go back to the house and get ready for it.

 

 The baptism was such an awesome experience. There were so many people who came out and supported him; we also had a couple of other investigators that came to watch too.

 

 I am so glad he was my first baptism. I've learned so much from him over the time that I've been here teaching him. His faith in God and Jesus Christ is so STRONG! I don't know if I've ever seen him smile as big as I did after he was baptized. It was awesome! He also bore his testimony for us and that was really cool too hear!
 

-Sunday Bienvenido was confirmed a member of the church.

 

 We walked a lot on Sunday. Our first cita it took us about an hour to walk to. I didn't mind it,  I love the exercise and I get to see more when I'm walking.

 

-Monday we had  Noche De Hogar ( Family Home Evening) at Jarom and Zuleika's house. I taught the lesson about prayer and the importance of it. We then played a couple of games.

 

The Elders in our area stopped by towards the end and when we were leaving they walked us to our apartment.
 

-Tuesday (yesterday) I had a drunk guy get really mad at me because I wouldn't give him any money.

 

 After he was done yelling and telling me I was going to hell because I wouldn't give him anything he started walking away.

 

 When he had walked past me he  pushed me into Hna Porter. Hna Porter didn't like that, so she said "Excuse Me??"... He then turned around with his hand raised with and empty beer bottle in it like he was going to throw it at us.

 

 I don't know what happened,  but he then turned around and started walking away.

 

One example that GOD does PROTECT His Missionaries!

 

 We then went and taught an investigator named July. Before we left she told me that my Spanish is improving so much each day. I love hearing that,  especially from other people.

 

 I know that it's not me talking because I can never remember  the things I say in the lessons.

 

  I know for a fact that God is Always with me and that He is Always helping me out and won't let me fail. I know that the Lord is using me as an instrument to teach His children here in the Dominican Republic!!!

I hope you guys are all doing great and that you have a great week! Until next week!!!

I love you!!!

Love,

Hermana Heather Peugnet <3
I remembered the pictures this week!

 Hermana Porter & I

 Disgusting cow intestines

 Look at the size of this avocado!

                                                                              

FINALLY ABLE TO SLEEP!

Hey Everyone!

 

I am doing great!  I hope you all are doing good as well:)
 

This last week was a really good week.
 

Thursday evening we finally had a lot of people come to  the activity at church. It was a lot of fun. It ended up being  a question and answer session for the  investigators and menos activos (less actives) that came.
 

Friday and Saturday were good days. We have been working really hard!

 

 Friday night was a terrible night though. Our electricity was out most of the night (so we couldn't use a fan to circulate the air). I was  up about 3 hours that night and didn't get much sleep. It was so hot that I finally jumped in the shower in my clothes and then went back to bed wet!. It felt so good!
 

Sunday was fast and testimony meeting. I love testimony meeting here.  One of our menos activos came to church so we sat with her. She bore her testimony with me and Hermana Porter.

 

 

 I can't believe it is already August!... July went by so fast. We went over to a members house for lunch after church. We ate salad, rice, plátano fritos (my favorite), and mondongo (cow intestines). I will never eat that stuff ever again!  It was the nastiest thing that I have ever eaten. It was in a soup but I  could still taste the "game" part of the animal. At least I can say that I've eaten it and have had that experience. Not only did it taste bad,  but I could still tell what it was in the soup,  so that didn't make it any better. The rest of our day was really good.
 

Monday was a wonderful day! We had a meeting with our zone and talked about how we could be better missionaries. At first it was a little slow but then it got really good!

 

 We visited Hermana Rosa and after our message she gave us some yummy food! We ate small mashed bananas, eggs and avocado.

 

After we visited her we had a Noche De Hogar (FHE) with Julissa and she gave us the lesson. She did really good. After the lesson she had also made us food and so we ate spaghetti, and plátano fritos!!! :) I was so happy that we were going running Tuesday morning after all the food we had eaten that day!
 

Tuesday was a good day. We had some awesome cita's and we are preparing one of our investigators,  Bienvenido for his baptism this Saturday (August 10th) !!!
 

I hope you guys have a great week. I love you!!!
 

Love,

Hermana Heather Peugnet <3

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