Week 36/37

Hey, how are you all! Things are going pretty good here. This week was kinda crazy so I have a few fun things to write about

On Monday we went to elis piña which is a small town on the hatian border, there's a huge Hatian market there that has a ton of cool stuff. It's mostly stuff that has been donated to Haiti from America and then taken here to be sold. It was fun walking around the market and seeing all the the American stuff. 

On the way back though, there are 5 or 6 military border checkpoints that you have to stop at because they are looking for illegal hatians, but we normally bring our papers with us because they sometimes will check us too. Anyways this time we forgot and we made it through the first 5 checkpoints without getting checked but on the last one he asked us for papers and we said,  they're in the house" and then he started asking us a ton of questions and we finally just said, "we're the Mormons" and showed him our name tags and he let us go.  

I went on exchanges with Elder Pack on Tuesday and this was cool. He actually speaks Creole as well and so for all of our lessons with hatians he talked and i just sat there. 

It was cool. We also bought sugar cane and that was really good. 

Another day we went to visit some of our Hatian friends and they made us hatian corn which was really interesting. They just put it on coals and it just drys out. It doesn't taste bad but it kinda just tastes like popcorn kernels

Week 34

We had transfers this week! Transfers were crazy because we found out that my area and the other area in las matas is getting combined and so now me and my comp have 2 areas to cover. My new comp is Elder Bowden and I've already lived with him for a week and he is awesome. He's from arizona and literally lives like 10 mins from my house 

This week was mostly just trying to figure out how to combine the 2 areas, and it's going to be tough. Although we dont have a ton of people that we are teaching, we have a ton of geographical area that we cover and so we have to walk a lot. Some of our lessons are 40 mins from the house. 

Our friend Rubens really wanted to do something for us but he wasn't sure what to do and didn't have any money. He decided that he wanted to make us eggs and although these were the worst eggs I have ever had the meaning behind them made them the best

Our English class has been really successful recently and it's one of the things I love doing the most. 

I hit one year since I received my mission call

I got a buzz cut because the barber messed up my hair. 

We have been playing an insane amount of chess and I've rekindled my love for chess

Questions!

What is conference like? Do the members get excited? Do you listen in Spanish or English?

         - we watched conference in the church with about 4 other members. Because none of our friends came we put head phones in and listened in English. On Sunday tho we listened in spanish so that Rubens could listen in French. The members weren't too excited

How is your new companion? 

       - He's great! I think he'll be my favorite comp yet

What are three things that you think are amazing about the DR?

      - the people are so loving and everyone wants to talk about God

      - the fact that they don't get into more car accidents in pretty impressive 

      - How different it is from the United States 

Spiritual Thought

This week was conference and so like every other missionary that's what I'm going to talk about. This conference I noticed a recurring theme that I really loved. Peace comes through Jesus Christ. I really loved this topic and a scripture that was quoted many times. In John 14:27 it says 

27. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

I loved this scripture because Jesus Christ will always bring us peace. Now in days many people look at the world to over come the stress of life. Alcohol, drugs, porography and other addictive substances. However these items Do not bring peace, they may trick your body into feeling peaceful but this is false. When we turn to Jesus Christ we will find the true feeling of peace. We will feel comforted and loved. He knows our struggles and knows how to overcome them. I know that through Jesus Christ we can find real peace and love. 

Have a great week!

Elder Greer