August 24, 2011

Elena’s address update & Greetings from the DR!

So...I have a new address for letters. The other one is just for packages.   (see Elena’s address page)  They open the packages I think, since you don´t put a customs slip in
them, so please don´t send anything of real value, not that I need anything expensive.

Hi! It feels like it´s been forever since I emailed but that´s because it has. Almost 2 weeks! Crazy! Well, things are good here. I am in Mendoza. It is about 30 minutes from the temple and the mission office by taxi. We went to the temple today and that´s why my p-day was today. Usually it will be Monday. The Lord works in mysterious ways...for instance with Lexxy talking to the sister here. She came and gave me a big hug and told me Lexxy said not to worry about the little things. I gave a note to the sister before I left on Tuesday and took a picture with her. Our zone conference was changed from a week earlier to last week so I saw the sister again to tell her to tell Lexxy I wouldn´t be emailing until later this week which was good since then you would know, especially with the storm this week. We had some rain and wind but nothing really out of the ordinary too much. The Lord knows us and our individual situations. I know this more than ever since these calls with the sister here and Lexxy. That was super nice of her to call Lexxy since she didn´t talk to her on Friday. I will have to thank her next time I see her. I saw her husband in the temple today.

So what to tell you...we left early last Tuesday and drove 5 minutes to the mission office. We had a little orientation and met our trainers and stuff. My comp is from Guatemala and this is her last transfer. It is weird that we are on totally opposite ends of the spectrum but it is good. She is nice and speaks some English so between the 2 of us we can usually figure out what each other is saying. The president and his wife are super cool and super sweet. By Tuesday afternoon we were out on the streets working. We had Pizza Hut at the orientation and we also went to Pizza Hut for lunch today. We printed our emails and then ate lunch and then came back so we have more time to write. We´ve been visiting the members and also looking for new people and we´ve found a few great families. I think this is my comp´s third transfer in the area so she knows what´s going on. I usually have no idea where we are, but I´ll learn. You know I have direction challenges and it´s worse when everything is so foreign :) Our area has some richer areas and then very poor areas. Our apartment is good and we have water and stuff. The power goes out during the day usually but usually we have it at night and some of the morning and sometimes the afternoon. We have a tank of water, which I didn´t know my comp shut off one day, so I thought we didn´t have water coming in but then we turned it back on, so now I know to turn it on when we get back to the house. We cook for ourselves and do our own laundry unlike Lexxy. I might try to learn how to cook some Dominican stuff but for now I just stick to grilled cheese, Campbells soup, ramen, mac and cheese, etc. Even if I wanted to cook something more elaborate, I don´t like to make stuff with a lot of left overs since the power goes out. Our toilet was leaking this week but the office sent someone right out and fixed it, so that was good. I am becoming a professional at taking showers with a bucket since the shower faucet doesn´t work. We have water, but the shower thing doesn´t work, but no biggie. I might ask about that but my comp doesn´t seem concerned and it´s no big deal. I have decided to grow my hair out since it is super hot and like 46,000 times cooler when it´s up. It´s just about long enough to and I wore it up yesterday. But I promise to have Marni cut it right away when I get home. Speaking of which,  what I’ve heard is that the American sisters usually come home a transfer early which means I would get home the week of thanksgiving Nov. 20 and if not it will be January 1. So that would be sweet if that´s how it works out and if not oh well. 
Some of the stuff Lexxy says is so funny. She mentioned seeing Hyundai accents and I´ve seen them too and they are super nice and I thought about mentioning that... and for soap here I have the sweet gold kind Gramps always buys. Don´t worry about me because I´m doing good and the elders called us about the storm and told us to go shopping for food and stuff on Monday, so they keep us posted. I have to write my mission president. It was great going to the temple today and I always think of you all and feel closer to home when I´m there. I also saw my favorite lady that hugs and kisses me there too. :) The people are great here and so nice. The ward is great and the building has air conditioning which is a treat on Sundays. :) I am more sure than ever that I needed to go BYU-Hawaii to help prepare me for this experience. I am doing real good and I will email again next Monday. I love you tons.    Elena

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