Monday 28 April 2014

April 28th 2014 letter and pictures






Hey everyone!
Wow everyone is really busy at home, probably busier than me! Have a nice trip in Germany Tasha! Eat lots of Saurkraut and Bratwurst but try not to get too fat! I am not really getting fatter anymore, thanks to all the exercise. We say in our house that everyone is looking for exaltation in it since everyone is always working out in the morning super hard haha. I hope everyone is still doing really well and that someday that kitchen looks like a kitchen again. Sounds like everyone is having fun, and doing good stuff at church. Say hi to Uncle Marty and Aunt Sheila and Holly and Scott and the baby. Sounds like everyone is really excited, how unfortunate however to be consigned to such a Sullivan fate. We have also been having super great food like you guys! Like this super spicy picante sauce someone made for us that is almost as bad as kimthcy spiceness and death! I hope the trip to Utah goes well (here, they call it ¨the factory¨or in spanish, ¨la fabrica¨. haha)
Our house is sprayed with permithirin, so we havent used the mosquito nets, and the area is kind of like a humid desert, so there isnt that many bugs other than large hornets. The malaria medication would kill me out in the sun here, so I havent been taking it. Dont worry, I´ve barely been bitten at all here.
So, in big news, President Rodriguez and his family are leaving this week! They received a visa to move to Toronto in Canada, and so they are finishing their term a couple of weeks early. So off they go to other adventures! We had a big conference with them before they left, and they shared some really interesting things. Its super sad they are leaving, I havent met such wonderfully loving people like them. President Rodriguez is just such a big man full of bigger love. He really cares about his missionaries so much, and really exemplified for me what is charity, christlike love. I am going to miss him and his family. Hermana Rodriguez was such a caring mother to us all. Didnt replace mom, but did her best. Like a dominican told me once ¨El amor de la madre nunca falla¨ Mother´s love never fails. I told them that I hope they got a good impression of Canadians from me and that they are welcomed warmly to the cold lands of canada, and that they bring lots of coats. I pray that my country welcomes them well. President was so grateful for my service, even if it wasnt that much. I remember interviews with him and speaking with him, he liked to always say nice things. He would always talk about his day and how the people I was teaching I better love them and he liked to hear about their lives. He liked to talk about his family, he is probably an awesome father. Anyway, I am going to really miss him he did such great work and did it always with love. My favourite thing he ever shared was when my companion had chosen to leave the mission, he shared in Alma 26 about how Ammon said that when their hearts were discouraged the Lord comforted and consoled them, but told them to return and suffer with patience their afflictions. But then later, those missionaries grew to love their people and their people grew to love them, and they suffered long and hard, but were granted great success. Not higher position, or numbers or something, but the deepest love of the people they served. Maybe Ammon had even suffered by the hands of the people who after held him up, but it was all worth it for him.
That has always stayed with me in the mission. The Lord hasnt asked me to suffer, luckily. Just to love His children and realize how wonderful they are. There is this wonderful family we are teaching, who are absolutely flying through marriage papers and craziness and the only thing lacking is teaching the husband and son a little more. Although the old lady from the banana orchard was not baptized this week, she will be in two. Her daughter had a baby and they came and picked her up to go and help, so it was not God´s will this week. But in two. Our baptism goal for next month is pretty ridicolously high. 7. But its going to happen with faith and effort. And even if we suffer, well thats what the Lord asks and these people need and every last scrap of effort is worth their love. The church is going to have to help the family with the money for the marriage, but we are hopefully soon going to be attending a Dominican marriage! Yeah! Those investigators just keep on trucking! They have a lot of faith. Some guy who thought he was a prophet scared one of our youth investigators when she was reading the book of mormon in front of our house and tried to tell her she had never felt the Holy Ghost because she wasnt having strange seizures and crying and dancing. We clarified that, but she will probably read the book indoors now. The zone leaders invited that guy to church hahahaha. So the other religions really do attack us pretty bad, but the church is strong enough in Azua, although the shame of friends and other people is an obstacle for lots of investigators. I guess too much trust in man and not enough in God.
Anyway, everything is going good. I saw some really awesome movies today, like 17 Miracles. Really cool, all the stories and stuff. The sun is still super hot, but I kind of like it better than the humidity in the night. Baptisms went a little funny... well we are a branch. Everyone had to be baptized in 3 tries haha. And a little kid bit me really hard! Great kid though. He has mental problems he was dropped out of a window once... but hes great and happy and it was really cool, after his dad got baptized the dad came and held him and talked with him (the kid cant talk) and he had him up to his face and the kid was sort of biting his face but way more affectionately than usual and his dad was so happy to be with him. YEAH MIRACLES. Anyway it was super cool.
So I hope everyone is doing super well! Keep the faith! I ate ceviche kind of thing yesterday and it was really good! We will have to eat it in Mexico!
Have a great week everyone!
Siempre con amor,
Elder Sullivan

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