(6/29/15) Wise as Serpents and Harmless as Doves‏

So this week while starting a lesson, during the opening prayer, the door the fridge in the kitchen fell flat on the ground. I just have to remind myself sometimes that that is not normal at home.

Ok, this week was very very great! We put a few fechas with some progressing investigators, but only one of the 3 was able to come to church, so we'll see how their progress comes along in the next two weeks. We have about 15 who come regularly with us to church, but about 8 of them are all under the age of 16 and its a real battle to try and get their parents to come and support so that we can baptize families and not soley youth with no parental support. Blah.

I went on an exchange this week to a little town of cows and military buffs. It's called San Isidro. It was one of the only areas that I never passed by when I was here last year. It's real odd, everyone in the place has some position in the air force or is a sargeant in something. Which also means they are all required to be married, to pay taxes, and they all recieve a pention after 30 years of active duty. I felt like I was teaching people from back at home, they were all very well to do people with garages and fridges full of food, and one house even had air conditioning! Everything I saw while out there (except the cows) was very foreign my idea of the DR. It was almost comforting to me to go back and sit in the white lawn chairs everyone uses and just talk about your everyday dominican chercha.

I've been having a lot of pivotal moments recently that I wish I could some how record and play over and over again. My companion is the most a dominicanaso I have ever met, or in other words he's out of this world funny; sometimes I just take a minute to process what he says, and I can't not laugh. For example the other day I said referring to another Elder in the house, Elder Blount, who is also a very dark moreno. I'm gonna translate this and just picture like you were there with me. I say, hey obama! (referring to elder blount who is in the other room), and his companion, Elder Zamora, yelled back and called me racist. Then my companion comes in and says, '' Its not racist to call him names like Will Smith or Barrack Obama, because they are men of money, but if he were to have called out Nelson Mandela or Mandigo it would be something different!! Hahaha! He's the best!

I've been plowing through the book of mormon this week, in my afternoon hammock study sessions have put a big dent into Alma, I'm already talking about the big wars and I think I'll be able to finish before the end of July! Read along with me, I dare you.

Shout out to Weston and Zane who finish their missions this and next week. Its crazy to think that 2 years have gone so fast, but not for Elder Tate! We're still sweating and dropping baptismal dates and taking 3 showers a day til the buzzer rings!!

Love yall

Elder Tate

cow pasture

grub

3 lb mangoe

(6/22/15) Building up Zion While Babies are Cryin'

T'was a fantastic week in the blazing oven I call home. We had a baptism, and a greeeeat stake conference. Gave me a lot of good insight on how to be a missionary long after the mission. but I'll get to that later!

So I bought a hammock the week before I came to this area, which was a very delayed decision to make. If it could turn back the hands of time, I would have bought one my first week of the mission. There is nothing better than after the morning proselyting than a fresh shower and reading church magazines in a hammock. We've got a nice side room that catching the afternoon breeze and puts me in my xen. Ahh.. It's a beautiful life.

We have been bustin our buns with the family I wrote about last time, Diomedes and Mariela. They have all the desire to be baptized, but cringe at the idea of having to get married to do it. It is very frustrating and hard for me to understand how someone can have 3 kids and 13 years living with a person who you will not accept as your wife. It's a real road-block for their progression right now. We passed by last night with our bishop and thursday with the relief society president, but to no avail. It seems like we just need to keep praying and trust in the Lord's timing. 

Yanediz Montero was baptized by Elder Peña on saturday right before the adult session of stake conference. It was a beautiful service and very very reverent : )

Ha! And then Elder Martinez (the visiting area seventy) picked Elder Peña and I up while we were walking to church on sunday. Who can say they've ever sat in the car of a a general athourity?? Now you can say, Elder Tate has! They called a new stake presidency and gave most of the time for the old leaders to say good bye and allowed the new president and his counsellors including their wives to share as well. The now former stake president and his wife were called to be the first pair of non-proslyting missionaries in Cuba! They are not allowed to even wear plaques, but if they are letting mormons in the country the next step will be to open it for the missionary work. How cool is that gonna be!

Man it's weird to have so many friends finishing their missions! It scares me to think that I'll be right after them. But until then, we're still bustin out buns and coming home tired sweaty and thats the beeeeest way to go.

Have a super week

love

Elder Tate

1) baptism

2) da campo

3) teaco bell

(6/15/15) It's Real Hot and I've Got a Red Nose

We have a great week, a baptismal interview on saturday, and she passed! On Friday it's our turn for interviews with the President, we'll have stake conference this week with a bunch of other additional meetings friday and saturday night. Big baptism on saturday with about 10 others from our stake that are going to baptize. And we just bought a bunch of groceries to start eating real food again! Woo hoo, it's going to be a killer week.

Today we had a zone activity! We played kick-ball and even the hermanas all participated. It¨s funny because they banned zone activities for a time and the last actual ´´get the zone together and have an activity´´ activity was when I was in hainamosa a year ago haha. It was fun because I had a little secret: I knew there would be a time when activities would be permitted again so I stashed away some 200 waterballons in my suitcase, and today me and a chum elder, elder Zamora, after we were done with kickball brought out a gatorage cooler filled to the top with waterballoons we had prepared before everyone got there. HA! And so we brought it out as though it was punch for everyone to drink, set up the table, lined up the cups and everything! Then when everyone was close and gathered together, threw the lid off to the side and it was war. because they were really old balloons, they kinda all just exploded when you threw them, but it was a fun little ending thats for sure. haha we're such niños.

We're working hard with a couple we are teaching to get married, they're named Diomedes and Marilaney and even though they have 12 years of being married, they are still hesitant about ''tying the knot''. A dominican tradition that I will never understand. I still feel it in me that they will still get married, but we'll see how these next few visits play out. They have 3 small children or 11, 8 and 6. and yesterday was their 3rd time at church. So it's make it or break it right now. I hope they find answers in stake conference and saturday at the other baptisms. Pray for em!

We got like 4 solid references last week so we'll see how they do, and if they are in this.

Wish us luck!

Go to the temple this week.

See yall

Elder Tate

(6/8//15) A Great Day in the Neighborhood

I´m almost at a week in the new area, and in all honestly it's felt like 3 days! I'm in Villa Liberacion in my favorite zone I've served in: Hainamosa! It's an area I've done a pair of exchanges in when I was the zone leader about a year ago, and it hasn't changed a bit! It's was more green than my last area, and I love just breathing in that clean campo freshness. It really is easy to forget that this is a really beautiful place. It's just something about walking in dirt roads, sitting in the little houses made of cast off material. And the pure simplicity of it all is really kind of enchanting.

My new companion's name is Elder Peña. He's from Barahona where the best plantaines in the DR are from. He's such a hoot! I've never actually had a dominican companion before but I'm loving it. He is about a 250 lb moreno who, when i'm with him, never seem to find a moment where theres silence. He's real talkative and very animated for the work. We're gonna get a long just fine.

It is kind of weird going in to a ward where I've met already the bigger portion of it's leaders and know a few converts (because I was the one that interviewed them), it's like I already served here or something! We meet in the stake center that is about a 35 minute walk from where we live. It really is about time this ward gets a chapel built a little more closer to home. It's a thriving ward with the biggest amount of references given per month in the mission, so that's gotta count for something. We even had a baptism on my first week being here! I just hope the time doesn't go as fast as I think it's going to.. It's hard to know that this is where is where it's all gonna finish.

BUT, we do have some real heat that been following us around, I'm starting to look like a 8 on the tan scale, and I'm looking foward to getting even darker. It was sweet though, even though it was a sprinklin rain on the way to church we had like 14 investigators show up. I don't even know all of them yet, so I just smile and tell them thanks for coming.

It was sweet, so this last sunday was fast and testimony meeting so I thought I should go and share something to introduce myself. Right before I was about to get up, a huge downpour just unleashed its wrath upon the church and I though we were gonna die. But like all storms here they come and go in like a minute and by the time church was over you could barely even tell that it had been raining. I'll see if I can't get some pictures to introduce you to my new companion and the other two I'm living with.

I love you all and really appreciate the letters!

Talk to yall soon

Elder Tate

1) baptism

2) google translate it for a laugh

(6/1/15) I eat some leaves, I eat some bugs, I use my hand.. to wipe my tears‏

Super great week. Just packed with moments that should have been better recorded in my journal.

Had a birthday on wednesday, got to share it with some good friends and a good Dominican supper: mashed plantaines (mangú), fried egg over yuca, and fried salami. It´s enough to make a strong man out of anyone. Then we had a cake that Francis and Jordana had bought us. It was just about the most perfect birthday you could have on a mission.

We also had an area seventy, Elder Zivic from Argentina, come and visit us this week. It was kind of wierd, but I got a call from one of the assistants on thursday (the day before he was to address us), and said he need my help to go pick up lunch for the office as they were having a meeting and could not leave. So another Elder who was the last AP arranged a quick comp exchange and with the keys to president´s car in hand we went and picked up their lunch. Could easily me the most random errand I´ve ever done, but I got to shake his hand and sit in while they ate their food.

The conference was just awesome. I have a whole bunch of notes in my agenda, but he spoke mostly of the 7 common mistakes we make as missionaries. And it was funny to see how easy it is occaisionaly to fall into the habit of making them. He spoke for a solid hour and a half which felt to me more like a 30 minute talk because of how interesting it was. Seeing that Elder Perry has passed, I could really see a lot of the current and past Carribbean area seventy taking his spot. We´ll have to see how it plays out.

With our eternal investigator Jordana, we hit another possible baptism. That was the topic in the gospel principles class and I talked with her after and she seemed more than pleased with the idea of her being baptized. We´ll go by her tonight for one last time.

Cause - Me voy!

I got the call, I´ll be heading out tomorrow morning. I´m going back to one of my old zones, to an area called Villa Liberación. I was the zone leader the last time I was there, now I´m gonna stay my last two transfers and a jr companion haha. I´m very content with the area and my new companion. he´s a 2 buck 50 lb smiley Dominican. He´ll be my first Dominican companion and I´ll be with two other Elders who were both trained from the same group as my kid, Elder Graff.

It´s absolutely nuts to think this is my last area. I´m sad to go, but after this, I´m not even sure what to think! I can´t even imagine the idea of coming home. The sound of it is absolutely absurd. I´m putting the machine into overdrive. These last 2 transfers are gonna be my finest. It´s a full on sprint to the finish. Here goes

Vayan con Dios!

Elder Tate

1) da cake

2) elder jeffers climbed our church´s mangoe tree and got me like 20 mangoes!

3) mmmm

(5/25/15) TODAY I AM WRITING IN ALL CAPS

DUE TO THE LACK OF OPERATING AND FAST COMPUTERS IN MY AREA< I GOT STUCK WITH THE ONE THAT WRITES WiTh THE LETTERS ALMOST ALL CAPITALIZED> BEAR wITH ME>

We SPENT THE DaY CLEANING< REaDING> THEN WE ThOUGHT WE"D GO OUT AND Do SoMETHiNG> so wE asked peRmissIon tO gO eAT AT WENDYS> IT WAS A LOW END WENDY"S AND THE ORANGE JUICE I GOT WAS ALMOST AS CLEAR AS WATER>> A WASTE OF MONEY< BUT WE DID RUN INTO SOME MISSIONARIES FROM THE WEST MISSION AND FOUND OUT WE"D ALL BE SEEING EACHOTHER REAL SOON BECAUSE EVERYONE THAT GOES ON A MISSION ENDS UP STUDYING IN UTAH HAHA> ITS LIKE WE WERE TALKING TO PEOPLE FROM A DIFFERENT PLANET < WE WERE BOTH SO INTERESTED IN WHAT EACH OTHERS MISSIONS WERE LIKE> ITS CRAZY SOMETIMES TO THINK OF ALL THE THINGS WE"VE GOTTA DO AS MISSIONARIES> I"M JUST SO USED TO THINKING AS ONE SOMETIMES I FORGET I USED TO BE ABLE WATCH DISNEY MOVIES AND GO PLACES WITH OUT ASKING FOR PERMISSION> HAHA I"M GONNA PROBABLY BE CALLING MY MOM ASKING FOR PERMISISON TO GO PLACES WHEN I FINISH THE MISSION> THAT"D BE FUNNY

WE HAD A GREAT ACTIVITY ON SATURDAY WHERE WE PLAYED ""MINUTE TO WIN IT"" AND NEARLY ALL THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT FRIENDS TO THE ACTIVITY MADE IT TO CHURCH THE NEXT DAY AS WELL> THATS A PLUS> WE PLAYED FUN GAMES LIKE CHANGE INTO MISISONARY CLOTHES (sorry I got too sick of it I just went and changed computers), a bunch of team centered games, and eating contests, malta morena chugs, and it was an okay turn out. We were about to divide into 5 teams of 8 or 9 so all in all it was a success!

We brought a group of rough looking 18, 19, 19 , 20, and 22 year olds with us to church. It was awsome, they filled up their own row! We were turning heads on the way to church:Just two guys in ties and a bunch of really tall real ganster looking young guys walking the streets is not seen here i'll tell you that. But they all came, most of them were sleeping through the doctorine classes, but they said they wanted to come again next week!

With our group of boys and with all that came because of the activity the day prior, we had a total of 21new young people that were in our priesthood block, and all of them were there for the first time! Wild, huh?

We're still trying hard with two or three investigators that are ready ready for a baptismal date. We're trying to be patient but it's hard when they themselves know they want to do it and don't because of family members or because of what other people say about the church. Satan is real keen i'll say that much.

Well, we'll see how this weeks goes, It's the last week for this transfer and I feel split on staying or going, so I won't guess this time. Oh, and wednesday I'll be 20. You don't do that everyday. I wish I could go out and do something daring and cool while I-m still a teeneager, but I feel I did enough stupid things before the mission to cover these two years as well hahaha.

Wish me luck! I'm gonna try and make a birthday cake. I'll send a picture.

Oh, and shout out to GRANDMA. She's gonna turn 60 on wednesday too. Love you grandma.

Elder Tate

foto 1) activity

foto 2) activity

foto 3) this fruit tastes like bread. no lie

(5/18/15) HOT

We're writing in a different internet cafe and lucky us it was the one with the rugrat 13 year olds that are bouncing around over an out-dated xbox game. My focus span is like a 2 out of 10 right now, so bear with me. 

Good week. We've gotta go to the doctor for Elder Jeffers here in a little bit, so we're gonna take off from here and take the bus to be there by 4.30. Today in the morning we went and watched a baseball game in the dique oldest baseball stadium in the DR. I'd believe it too, it was.. definitely old haha. But with our coconut waters and bag full of mangoes, all us white guys sitting up high in an empty stadium we kinda looked like a couple young baseball scouts. So that was cool.

Yesterday we left with an old geezer named  Martin. He took us to lot of less active members and a bunch of his friends to go share the gospel with them. I really wanna share some of the conversation starters he used to get us in some of the places we visited yesterday.

he said> Hey! We're here to talk about the word of Nephi, let's get some chairs and visit for a minute.

another> The adventistas talke about parables? All lies! The only true parable are these missionaries!

and the last> (this one we were already sitting down with two older women) This old grandma is far past crazy, you tell her platano (plantiane) and she's tell ya yuca! 

Those we a couple i jotted down, but it was the most interesting couple hours i've ever spent sharing the gospel. 

Before we split, I gotta tell you about this very interesting contact we did this last week. We we trying to contact a reference from one of our recent converts, but he wasn't there. So we got talking with his neighbor and I noticed his big old gallo in the back and made some small talk. After seeing that we weren't out to kill him or his family he inffvited us in and to sit down. We met his wife, Maria, and thier two small daughters. And this was just a normal contact, but lately we've starting off with more listening, and just a few ''inviter questions'' I want to call them . But the wife after a minute or two told us that she knew we were sent by God to teach them something. And her husband spoke up too and said it's been quite a while since they've made time for God in their family. We're gonna pass by tomorrow with one of the bishop's counsellors. I'll let you know how it goes. 

Love ya a real lot, just not enought to put my memory in these sketchy computers we're on right now. 

Talk to you next week!

I'm looking foward to what these last few transfers have in store for me. I've still got a lot of work to do

Elder Tate