Week 40 San Juan de Maguana: Rain and Hail

Hey,

I’m sorry, but I don’t have much to write. This week was kind of a rough week, but that’s okay. We worked really hard because right now in this area we only have two people who are progressing, which is a little tough. But this week we decided that something need to change, so we started contacting a ton. Just knocking on people’s doors and asking them if they would like to visit.  Thus far we haven’t seen many results, but that’s alright. We will search high and low until we find the people who are looking for the church.

Wednesday was especially tough because we planned a day that looked super good. But just as we finished our first appointment, it started to pour. It really came down hard so we started to run and as soon as we stepped out, we were soaking wet. So we ran and ran, only to get to our next appointment, and guess what... they weren’t there. We were out in the middle of nowhere, soaking wet, and it was raining so hard, it felt like the world was ending. It was kind of awesome. As we walked back to our house to go change, because we were freezing, it started to let up. On the way, we saw these two kids walking through the middle of this flooded street barefoot carrying this plastic bag filled with their school stuff. We went to go help them and we carried this plastic bag. I swear it weighed like 50 pounds. These two little kids could barely carry it, but they were so cute carrying it together. We helped them get back to their house and then went home. I don’t think anything will come of it, but it felt good to serve, even when we felt miserable. We got home, took a shower, got ready again and left again, but this time with umbrellas! We didn’t even need them though because the rain had stopped. We had a few more appointments, but none of them were there. It was a bit of a rough day so we went to the store and bought a pack of bacon to cheer us up!  Bacon is good, but it’s expensive.

The next day it rained again!!! The weather really isn’t a fan of missionary work right now in San Juan, but that day it even hailed!!! I didn’t even know that was possible here in the DR, but it happened. I am an eye-witness!

Friday we had interviews with the President and that was super cool! I really miss President Rodriguez, but President Nuckels is also a very amazing president. They are just different. I had a really good time talking with him. We talked a lot about getting references.

  Then Saturday we went to a tailor because I’m getting my shirts altered so that they fit better. I’ve lost a bit of weight and my shirts are kind of baggy. I’m getting them fitted for a dollar each!  I’ve also had to pop holes in my belt.  I’m on the fifth one that I’ve made myself. It’s ridiculous!

 Oh this Sunday I also gave a talk in church and I felt like it went really well. There were a bunch of babies crying the whole time, but whatever. Anyway, yeah, that was my week. 

Hope you all had a great week and I’ll see you next week. 

Elder Bailey Stark 

Week 39 San Juan de Maguana: What a great week!

Dear Family,

Wow, so what a week! I’m very sorry about my lack of a real letter last week, but I will explain. Last week, at around ten in the morning, we met up at the church with the sister missionaries in our district. Then, a ward member picked us up and took us to go on a hike to go see some waterfalls. So all of the sisters were in the truck, and Elder J, Elder M, and I were in the bed of the truck, taking pictures the whole time. We drove on the freeway until we got to the turn off.  We were driving on this crazy, dirt trail that was nuts. We went through a couple small towns and had to stop and wait for a herd of goats and stuff like that. It was pretty interesting, but my butt was getting numb from all the bouncing. The guy who drove us also brought lunch. So in the bed of the truck, there was a big pot, filled with boiled, green bananas. With all the bouncing going on, the boiling water kept spilling out of the pot. Yeah, all part of the adventure!

Then we started going up these huge hills and I thought we were going to die, but it was all fine. At one point, we got off the road and hopped over a fence and were wandering around in this pasture with cows. Until our guide realized it was the wrong spot! There was this cow in the pasture that tried to lick my face, so that was funny! Anyway, we got back in and headed even further up the road. We got off and walked through another pasture filled with cow pies till we got to this cool dried-up riverbed. All of the rocks in this riverbed were a cool, white color, and along the edges were these huge trees. So we kept hiking until we got to the river. It wasn’t too big, more of a cool mountain stream. I was hiking in my crocs with long socks. After a while, I just took off my socks and went all crocs. Now I was able to walk in the river. Wow, the scenery was absolutely incredible!   Then we got to this cool canyon where we were at the bottom. There was a place where everybody writes his or her name on the wall with charcoal, so we did that. Then we made the food. Pork chops and bread with Kraft singles. Lunch of champions!

Then we went to see the waterfalls and I took a bunch of pictures. It was super cool and I wanted to go swimming so badly! Anyway, while we were eating lunch, the elders in the Mesopotamia district showed up and we were freaking out because these were two totally differently planned p-day activities! It was pretty funny. Then the guide told us that there were some caves further on, so we decided to go. But to get any further, you had climb up the side of the waterfall! Everybody did it, sisters included. I even did it in my crocs. We were hiking and we had to get pretty wet. At one point we had to go through a pond and the water was up to our bellies! Thank goodness I have a waterproof camera! We finally got to these caves and, wow, they were worth the effort. They were bright blue and super cool, like a mix between vines and caves. It was super awesome!

Then we hiked back and drove home soaking wet. Probably the most fun p-day activity I have ever had, but that is also why I didn’t have time to email much last week! 

 Tuesday, all of the elders in the zone of San Juan came to our house because on Wednesday we went to the temple. So Tuesday, looking for a bit of space while a bunch of the elders went to the super market, I went on the top of our roof and sat there. Elder J came up and while we were talking, there was a huge lightning storm off in the distance. We sat there watching and it was amazing! This week we have had tons of storms here. Like every other day it’s raining super hard. Then I stayed up for a bit talking to elder T (from New Zealand) and so I went to bed just long enough to take a small nap. We woke up at 1:30 to get showered and ready so that we could leave San Juan at 4:00 to get to Santo Domingo by 8:00. It was a long drive and I kept falling asleep, but we finally got to the temple. WOW! I forgot how much I love the temple! It is just so amazing; I love every bit about that place! It was so peaceful and spiritual. I did a special fast to prepare for it and I feel like I learned a lot. After the temple came something almost as good. We went to Wendy’s!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh, it has been nearly 6 months since I had fast food. It was so amazing. I got 2 Frosties and some cool bacon fries and chicken nuggets. I was feeling very happy after all that food. Then we walked back to the temple, got on our bus, and drove for another 4 hours to get home around 7:30. On the bus ride I had a good, funny talk with Hermana B (she is in my district and is about to go home) and Hermana F (also in my district). We were laughing and joking the whole way home. After the long bus ride home, we all got ice cream and the Hermanas went to their house and the elders went to our house. 

The next day all the elders left, and it was back down to the normal 8 of us that live together. Thursday night we had a lesson with our investigator M and her boyfriend, who is a less-active member from Mexico. He is just visiting, but we had a cool lesson with him and he brought my comp a bunch of Mexican candies. I tried a couple of them and they were really good, but kind of spicy also. He gave Elder J this super good hot sauce that I tried and it is really tasty. The only problem is this investigator is kind of racist against me. She was calls me gringo and make rude comments about how I’m American. But whatever, it’s kind of funny. Elder J and I always joke about it afterwards.

Then Saturday it rained super hard. I was completely wet from head to toe! The streets were all flooded and I loved every minute of it. We went to a baptism of the sisters in our district, and that was cool. We were the witnesses of the baptism and that was fun. So yeah, those are the highlights of the week. I hope you all had a good week and I’ll see you guys soon. 

Elder Bailey Stark

Week 38 San Juan de Maguana: What type of personality does Yogi Bear have?

Hey Mom and Dad,

I loved your emails! Thank you so much. So dad had several questions that I will try to answer. Climate wise this area is very green, but it doesn’t usually rain a ton. However, this week we have had a bit of a storm every other day. It rains really hard. Yesterday, we had to hide out in this half-built house to get out of the rain because we were freezing! Yeah, I know you guys would have thought it was warm, but I felt cold. I live in a really rich area right now and we spend a lot of time contacting, but there are also very, very poor parts of my area, so it’s pretty interesting. Everybody here is super relaxed and it’s sometimes hard to get them to do things, but that’s alright. This place has a wonderful atmosphere. Members here are good, but the ones that actually do their callings are few and far between. That can be a little tough, but there are some fantastic members!

My Spanish is good and I can understand everything and express myself well enough.  I still have joint pain (from the Chikungunya), but just in the morning. I do think I have a cavity, so I am going to get the checked out soon.  But I have been eating well. I have completely cut out soda and most candy!

Today for p-day, our district and another went on a jungle hike. We were able to go see waterfalls and caves! We just got back and went straight to the internet center and I am still soaking wet. I forgot the cord to my camera, so I will have to send the pictures next week.

I don’t have much time, but I will go through a summary of what happened and how San Juan is.

So this week we worked really hard. We have been working a lot with less active members and have been asking them for referrals of new people to teach. Thus far it’s been going fairly well. We found a girl named C. She had previously investigated the church, and she has been progressing really well. She read everything we left for her. I’m pretty exited about her because she has also been to church the last 2 weeks.

My comp and I are getting along really well. Elder J is a cool guy and we work hard. We have a lot in common and yesterday he told me I have the personality of Yogi Bear. (I think that was a compliment) He’s really cool, not dorky at all, and he reminds me of an older, laid-back version of Shan.

I love you guys and miss you,

Elder Bailey Stark