Happy New Year!

 Hi Family!

It was so nice to talk to everyone on Christmas! I'm sorry everyone was so sick. It was so great to have a real conversation. 

I love my companion.  She never got to go to an MTC, but she already seems to know how to do everything!  I am impressed.

This was a long week. We did not had very much success, but we still had fun. On Christmas Eve, I made an Oreo gingerbread house with Hermana Jepperson, an hermana in my house. We also ate a super nice dinner at the Succoro's house. Christmas morning, I watched my housemates open the packages their family sent them.

Then President Santos calls and says something about having things he needs to give us, and all four of us in the house need to come out to get them-- and they had a package from my family! I'm so grateful for you guys for all putting that together. I could tell a lot of time and effort was put into it. The girls in my house thought it was funny to see that my sisters draw things like me.
Also I chopped my hair off. I didn't really mean to, but the mom of Julio is a pro and I asked her how much would it cost to cut my hair, and how much should I cut off. $800 pesos, and she said I'd have to cut off a good amount. Then she got her cutting scissors out and told me to sit and... woop! it's now above my shoulders.

This week my comp and I had a lot of sickness and infirmities. Hermana Mercader coughed all day until she lost her voice, and I was sick in the bathroom. Also I did that stinkin' thing where I popped my neck or something and I couldn't turn my head and I was in pain all day. Luckily, we didn't have to go out that morning because we had weekly planning, but I was worried about the afternoon. I prayed that I could move my neck by the time we had to leave. Then when we were getting ready to go out, I could turn my neck! It still hurt really bad but at least I could move. Bendiciones (blessings).

Happy New Year!
Hermana Ludlam

There she is!  Hermana Jenna Ludlam!

I Stand All Amazed

Feliz Navidad Family!

We had a fun Christmas party this week! I didn't come with high expectations but people worked really hard to make it nice. It really isn't hard to impress me as long as you make take-home goodie bags with chocolate in them.

The trio is down to two. Hermana Gervais left this week :(   But Hna Mercader and I are pushing forward! We are working to find new people to teach and we're trying to be better at encouraging the members to be the finders.

Our flooded streets

Jen and her babes

Getting people excited for Christmas is a lot harder than I expected here. It's just another drinking holiday. Our mission president tries to give us animo by saying, "It's the Christmas season! People will be especially receptive and looking for Christ!" But I think the exact opposite is true. In my last area, Diesel didn't want to get baptized before January because she wanted to be able to party with her friends, and everyone is too busy to go to church or are leaving town so we dropped a couple until next year. Oh well. I still like hearing the message of Jesus' birth.

The first time I ever caught a glimpse of the miraculous condescension of Christ was in seminary (and Mom was teaching). I stand all amazed when I remember that Jesus left his glorious throne to come to this earth and be born in a box that farm animals eat out of. His visitors were mere shepherds. It is humbling to think that the greatest person to ever come to earth never had fame or riches or fans.

This week we went contacting with Julio, an investigator. He was really sad when he saw that people ignored us or hid from us. I guess I was used to it so I never noticed until he said something. But I don't feel bad because like Elder Holland says (click here):

“Remember that when you struggle on your mission, when you are rejected, when you are spit upon and cast out and made a hiss and a byword, you are standing with the best person this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect life ever lived. You have every reason to stand tall and be grateful that the living Son of the living God knows all about your sorrows and your afflictions, and that He came to turn every minus in your life into a plus.”    *flexes  ;-)

Have a merry Christmasss!
Hermana Dudelang (every Domican that tries to say my name)

Given in the Moment

Wesley and Jenna

Fam!

This week was pretty good. We have to work extra hard to find people who will let us teach them in this area, and after leaving some people, we're still looking for interested people to add to our teaching pool.

But I am excited about Julio. When we met him, he told us he was atheist, but now he says he prays at night and accepted an invitation to be baptized, and is working towards being baptized the 4th of January! He read up to 1 Nephi 16 in 4 days, and every pamphlet we give him. Woo!
We had zone conference this week (my first in the capital!) and we watched a Disney short video called Piper. I'm surprised how much I got out of it. It's about a baby bird 🐤who eats clams, but he's afraid of the waves on the beach and he finds his own way to confront his fears and finds a new, better way of finding clams. In my situation, I find it difficult to talk to strangers and think of things to say, but when I open my mouth, that's when I think of the things to say. I wish I could formulate the perfect response in my head first, but if I use faith and trust in the promise that I'll be given what I need to say in the hour I need to say it (without worrying about what I have to say beforehand) then that's when I know what to say-- in Spanish! I used to think the Gift of Tongues was supposed to help me master Spanish faster, but from my experience, it's always been something I've been given in the moment I need it.

I have been reading Saints --today with a donut I bought myself.  (Photo on the left.  I'm actually really healthy Mom, you'd be proud of my whole wheat bread)

I am so sad one of my comps is going home this week-- Hermana Gervais! I learn so much from her. I can tell she understands her purpose as a missionary, and I aspire to be as fearless as her. She's a prime example of someone who knows how to open her mouth. But Hermana Mercader and I are going to keep working hard here in Independencia.

I took this photo of some "inspirational graffiti" that I might've gotten a tattoo of --had I not been a member of the church!  It makes no sense and has grammatical issues.

Love,
Hermana Lo-jam (how I was presented in my new ward)

A child peacefully eating her rice in a little plastic chair amid all the chaos!

I love these people so much!

Welcome to Independencia!

Hi Fam!

I had a great week. Some good things happened.

1. I'm in Independencia! I'm in the western part of the capital and right on the beach! Beautiful views. I was pretty stressed when I heard I was going to the capital, but so far, everything has been going good.

2. I'm in another trio! I'm with Hermana Gervais and Hna Mercader. Gervais is from Washington and she's going home halfway through the transfer. Hermana Mercader is Dominicana! And she is still in training!

3. I'm in my first house of more than one companionship! There's five of us until Gervais has to go.

4. I did my first successful load of laundry for the first time in a few weeks. In my other house, we usually didn't have power long enough to finish a load, so I just had to keep starting the load over and over again.

5. My part of Independencia is called El Cafe. It's slightly hilly and I've never seen such a dense cement jungle gym! The capital is full of callejones, which are narrow alleys that branch off the main street and it's pretty easy to get lost in them. They're fun to explore and good for contacting because you don't have to walk very far before you find the next house.

6. The members here are great and super friendly. We had a person we're teaching come to church for his first time and everyone flocked to him to introduce themselves! It made my heart happy to see that.

Also, last night I started having a really bad cold and I was feeling super hot, so I chose not to drink any of the hot chocolate the ward was serving at a Christmas devotional. The Relief Society president misunderstood why I didn't want hot chocolate and made me a special cup without milk because she thought I was on a diet. <3

Isbelka got some stickers!

I have been studying more of Saints this week. Holy smokes, that is a dense book. I like reading about the first missionaries of this dispensation. I feel like I'm helping to finish what they started. I have nothing but gratitude and admiration for the first Saints who heard the gospel message, shared it, and endured to the end. I didn't realize how many of Joseph's closest friends apostatized, and not only fell away from the church, but also joined the critics of the church. So sad. But luckily, there were more people with faith than people without, and today we can enjoy the blessings of the church all over the world-- and I get to be part of bringing the gospel to the Dominicans. I love these people so much.

Love,
Hermana Ludlam

In Limbo

My Thanksgiving

Hi Family!

I had kind of a wild week. I am being transferred, again. I do not know to where, or who will be my next companion. All I know is that I will miss my companions so much! They're so amazing and so fun. This Thanksgiving, I am grateful for Hermana Lopez and Hermana Reyes.

My Thanksgiving consisted of a lovely feast of bread with smashed avacado on it, and a special "morir soñando" concoction. (morir soñando is sour oranges mixed with carnation milk and ice and then at the end you dump in 2 pounds of sugar.)

I hit 11 months on the mission yesterday! And I have a hole in my shoes :) I keep forgetting to take pictures of the hole. The rest of my shoe is entirely in tact, so its not worth throwing them out and looking for more. I get by with making patches.

This week I got a copy of Saints! And I am chipping away at it. Mom sent me a talk called "The

measure of our hearts" that I reread this week. I like how God doesn't look on our outer appearances or abilities. He measures us by our hearts, and whether we have soft hearts, or willing hearts, or honest hearts.

I love you family! Thanks for all your letters.
Love,

Hermana Ludlam