3 weeks left here at the MTC in the DR!

Hola Familia! Things are good here. We went to the gardines botanicos and the zona colonial today. The gardens were kind of like the Dole plantation where you ride this tram thing around. And we took a tour of Christopher Colombus’ house. It was a good time.  We went shopping yesterday, too.  (Also, the president and his wife's names are Stuart and Sandra Glazier in case that rings a bell from Westwood.) So the DR is treating me real good. We had a good Pioneer Day on Sunday. We watched Legacy instead of having a fireside and had ice cream afterwards like we usually do on Sunday nights. We also watched a DVD MTC devotional from Provo in the afternoon and I saw Chessy again. It was a talk by Elder Scott and it was real good and I got quite a few Chessy sightings too. :) The Haitians left on Tuesday morning so it has just been the North Americans here yesterday and then part of today. The Latinos are arriving throughout the afternoon and night tonight. We went shopping at basically the DR equivalent of a super Walmart. It was called La Sirena. It was 2 stories and they had tons of good stuff and quite a bit of American stuff. I guess they have a few of these stores in the DR.  I got a Coca Cola Light - so you can let Mike know about that. They didn't have Diet Coke and had the light stuff or coke zero. But I enjoyed it. We saw an Outback and Chilis and fast-food chains. Today we even saw an Ikea.  Pretty sweet. They have lots of nice cars here, but the driving is a little out of control. Yesterday, the guys that picked us up from the airport took us to the store and today we took 2 Honda Odysseys on our field trip. It was fun to see the city and even the beach. We saw the equivalent of the DR White House. It is quite a palace. The gardens were beautiful and it was fun being in the historic area, although we got poured on. :) I've been thinking of Grandpa Mullen this week since we've been getting a lot of rain and how you always say that Grandpa called it “liquid gold”. I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot more of that.  Since it was just the 12 North Americans here yesterday, we had Papa Johns for dinner.  Pretty sweet.  I think of you, Dad, in the mornings since you are getting up about the same time.  I am pretty used to this schedule now.  Muchas gracias for the package and the one on its way.  I haven't got the dear elders from this week - probably tomorrow.  (I poked a little hole in one of my dresses the other day and wasn't sure if I should do anything about it. It's not very big but I don't want it to get bigger, so if you have any ideas or could maybe send a little iron on patch. :) but at least I didn't burn it with an iron. :) Bummer that Lexxy's been sick, but she still sounds as good as ever. :) I'm glad to hear that she's doing better.  She always sounds so good.  Can I just tell you how much I love the three of you. You are the coolest people on the planet and I love you more than ever!!!! I miss you, but I am doing real good and am grateful for this time to serve a mission. Thanks again for all of the lovely mail! You are the bestest! I think of you often and hope that you are all doing as fantastico as I am. :) Love you lots and lots, Elena