Masiel and Maria

Que lo que familia!

First off, congrats to Bailey and Niki! Woohoo! I wish I could have been there, but it sounds like this weekend was a good one for all of the family. This week was an exciting one for several reasons. First off, and most importantly, Masiel was baptized! We had to ask permission from Presidente Castillo before she was baptized because she is twelve, but he gave the thumbs up and we had her interview and baptism on Saturday. It was beautiful to see and we are so very excited for her. Her mom was able to come to the baptism and really liked it, unfortunately her dad works late everyday except Sundays so he couldn´t come. We are also determined to keep working with her parents to get married. Luckily we have the help of some fabulous members who are working with us on that goal. 

Another exciting adventure of this week was Hurricane Maria. It passed by us on Thursday so we stayed inside all day. I had a little bit of "la gripe", or a cold on Thursday so it worked out well that way. I got to sleep and relax and get better while the storm passed. Since we are way inland the storm didn´t do very much, but on the coasts there has been some flooding and I´ve heard other countries were hit very hard. For us, it was a day of sleeping, making crepes, and studying. 

On Tuesday we visited the familia P to invite them to a baptism of the elders and talked to them about their wedding (which is the first Saturday in October!) and getting all of their documents in order. Hermana Lynch and I could tell they felt a little overwhelmed and I felt prompted to share 1 Nephi 3:7 with them and to tell them that it is a promise from our Heavenly Father. Later that day at the baptism a member offered to help them find and pay for all their papers so that they can get married. I knew that it was an answer to the promise we have in 1 Nefi 3:7 and that when we try to keep the commandments we recieve blessings. This family really is amazing, they have both stopped drinking coffee and alcohol and are getting ready to get married and as of right now, two of their three daughters are getting baptized with them. They also feed us SO MUCH food every time we visit and we say they are our Dominican parents. 

On Friday we went searching to find all of the people whose citas (or appointments) we had missed, which means we were running all over our area like crazy. This also means we we were sweating like crazy, but it was definitely worth it. This Saturday right after Masiel´s baptism we got to watch the General Women´s Conference which was really amazing. It was interesting to hear it in Spanish, but with prayer (and looking at my companion´s notes), I was able to understand most of the Conference. I´m really excited this week for General Conference and for all of our investigators to see it too! It has been really cool to explain to people we meet and teach that they can actually listen to a prophet´s voice because most people here don´t believe in prophets and are amazed when they hear we believe in a living prophet. 

Today we went to go tour an old, historical Catholic church here in La Vega but it was closed when we came. We wandered around La Vega and found a cool museum instead; I found out that La Vega was actually the first settlement in the Dominican Republic and that the first Catholic church was built here. Both Hermana Lynch and I decided that we´re glad the Catholic chruch was closed so that we had the chance to find the museum because it was way cool. Unfortunately we couldn´t take any picktures inside. 

I hope that you all have a great week and know how much I love you! I am doing well and am loving it here. It is still crazy hot and humid here, but I think I should just get used to that. Enjoy the fall, school, and this week. I love you all so much! 

Hermana Schriever