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