Second Week!

"I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The dye has been cast! I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I wont look back, let up, slow down, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. Im finished and done with low living, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tainted visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, positions, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I now live by faith, lean on his presence, walk with patience, am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power. My face is set, my gait is fast, and my goal is Heaven. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear! I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, divided, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I wont give up, shut up, or let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, and paid up to the cause of Christ. I must go till  He comes, give till I drop, preach till I know, and work till He stops me. And when He returns for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My banner is clear." -Henry B. Eyring

This is my goal for going out of my way to come all the way here to the Dominican Republic. To come spend 2 years of my life in service. I know what I have to do and because of what I know I have the fervor and zeal to go out and change lives. This is the right thing.

Now to the fun stuff! ;)

 

We have been so blessed to have our "Investigators." They totally are preparing us for the field because they are so so so so hard to teach! Well, that might be because I'm still learning Español. It is coming along a TON though! Every day I pray to God and thank him for the opportunity to be in this beautiful country to teach this people and to have the gift of tongues. I dont even know how to explain it but its just amazing. We got some new ones to teach and their names are Ramón and Silvio. Let me tell ya about them! Ramón thinks we are apart of the C.I.A. WHAT?? He thinks The Book of Mormon brainwashes people and whatnot. We had to convince him that we arent and we gave him a Book of Mormon to show him it wouldn't brainwash him. haha! Silvio is interesting too. He doesn't go to church because he thinks all churches are businesses. We had to explain to him as well. When he prays? Its crazy. He gets really into it and starts waving his hands around and putting them on our heads and saying stuff like HALLELUJAH and GLORIA and stuff like that. We're gonna have to teach him about reverence. Its all super fun though!

     

Sometimes we go to the Temple (across the parking lot) and read on the steps. It really is a blessing to have the scriptures and the temple to go to. Just lets me know that the work is being done and by who else than myself?! Its awesome :)

     

So there's been something going around the MTC and EVERYONE is getting sick, including myself but I'll get to the details in a sec. Ive had the great opportunity of giving a few blessings to people here that were sick and the signs of improvement are I swear almost  immediate. I gave one to a Sister in my district and another to an Elder. We are all getting better now! haha!

 

So when I got it I thought it was going to be like usual, I dont actually get sick I just get a few cold sores (thanks grandpa Mackley! get better!) but NOOOOOOOOOO. I got the worst cold I have ever had in my life. I was in bed for like 3 days!! I only ate like 2 ½ pieces of bread and my temperature was 102.5 or something close to that and it was absolutely miserable. I got a blessing though from Elder Tarr and I have been recovering. I still have a killer sore throat that makes it hurt to swallow still but its getting better!

We went to the store the other day and let me tell you, THIS COUNTRY IS B-E-A-UTIFUL. Its so vibrant and full of life. And okay, the parks here are like 1000x cooler than american parks. The actual store was crazy cause we were all running around trying to find stuff (snacks) and the people were like, where did all these white kids come from?!?! We saw some missionaries in the field and they told us if we were fun and chill with the people that it would be the funnest, best, spiritual 2 years of our lives and that made me really excited.

MOM thank you for the clippers!!!!! They have come in handy! Haha I'm basically the MTC barber now because I cut some hair! Everyones been asking me and I think I should start charging them!! I dont really know what I'm doing but ive pretty much got it from you cutting my hair all the time!

Well this is all I have for now!

SEND ME PICTURES AS WELL!  I WANNA SEE HOW YOU ALL ARE DOING!

--

Elder Bryson Larkin