I'm in the DR!!!!

After a very long day of travel and flight delays Elena arrived in the Dominican Republic.  She left the Provo MTC just after 3 a.m. and arrived at 11:15 p.m. local time.  It was wonderful to hear her voice on the phone when she called.  It was great to get an email from her this afternoon!

So we arrived late last night and it was pretty crazy going through customs and immigration and getting our bags and then driving to the MTC in the middle of the night. All of my bags arrived but my black duffel is broken. One of the handles ripped off and it has a split in it but I think everything made it so that was good. I´m guessing it must have broke on the last leg because everything seemed in its place.  My p-day will be on Thursday so I will email then.  The president greeted us at like 1 in the morning after we drove through the streets of Santo Domingo.  It was pretty crazy.  I was glad that we were travelling in a large group. 2 guys picked us and our stuff up at the airport and then it was like a 40 minute drive to the MTC Temple Complex. My comp and I have our own room that has 4 bunk beds in it and 2 bathrooms so we each have our own bathroom until the other 2 sisters from Provo get here. There are not any Latinos here right now, but there is a group of Haitians here. We went to the temple this morning, so that was good and we had English headsets and workers that helped us. It was good to go since I didn't get to go in Provo this week.  It is a beautiful complex that we live in.  The buildings are nice and the grounds are real pretty.  I met someone in the temple today who was from Calgary and actually knows Uncle Paul, so I have to talk to her some more when I have more time. Also, I didn't know Sylvia Allred's (from the General RS presidency) husband was the president of the MTC down here a few years ago.  Pretty cool.  I am adjusting to the humidity but the air conditioning is nice in the building and works well. :)  I am doing well here and am getting my appetite back and will adjust to the food over the next little while.  They have bread and bananas a lot and rice and beans and meat, but I'll keep you posted on the food.  It is nice being in such a small group and we have great elders. There are 10 of us total that arrived in my group.  The President lives on the same floor with all of us and our classrooms.  It will be nice to get to know the people here. The president took us over to the temple and is very nice.

I am doing good and it will be a great 6 weeks here.

Love you lots,

Elena