I got to cross something off my bucket list that's been there for years this week! I got to wear a Yellow Helping Hands shirt! Technically a vest, but it was so fun! We got our vests and picked up trash off of the trash filled streets of Navarrete. It felt sooo good! Service is one of the most rewarding ways to spend your time!
As we were going, I heard someone say, "It's the missionaries from America! They're here to help!" You bet we are, although most of the time we focus on the way more important work of soul saving instead of street cleaning.
I had some fire studies this week. In Mosiah 18, I did some math and figured out that Alma's little group of members of the Church was growing at an exponential rate. Initially, 204 people got baptized. Two years later, they had 450 people in total. That means they were baptizing an average of more than ten people every month! 2-3 every single week! That blows my mind as a missionary. We had five baptisms this month and I was over here thinking, wow, we had a ton! But it wasn't even half of what Alma's people accomplished in any given month.
I want to see that kind of success, so I analyzed what it says Alma's people did. And in between the verse with 204 converts and the verse with 450 converts, it just talks about strengthening the ward. Unifying the ward members, serving and imparting one to another, everyone getting together for church on Sundays. It doesn't even talk about doing "missionary work", because when people are truly converted and strong in the gospel, they'll naturally bring others in.
I'm gonna get a chance to start fresh in another ward this week (that's right, I don't know how but six weeks have already passed and we got our transfer news) and I'm gonna really try to make a difference to the members in my new ward. Member work isn't one of my strong suits, but everything clearly shows that missionary work is WAY more effective when members are involved. I read it from Alma himself this week and that's motivation to repent and improve.
I'm headed back to Santiago, but a different zone than where I was born. I'll be in Moca and I'm gonna be comps with Hermana Torres! I'm really excited. I was actually kinda hoping for a comp who doesn't speak any English cuz I think I'm ready for that stretch. And I know Hermana Torres just a little cuz we went to Santo Domingo together one time. Should be an adventure. I'll miss Navarrete and all the people I met here. It's been an amazing three months here, but every end of something good is also the beginning of something else good, so I'm excited to see what God teaches me next.
I love you guys lots. Have an awesome week!!
Oh also, happy Halloween I guess. It's I love this holiday but was low on options so I "dressed up" as a can of orange soda (I happen to have a t shirt with that logo). But our phone stopped taking pictures randomly... so I have no proof.
Hermana Cazier
pics!
1. this fruit is called a granada and I think it's actually a pomegranate, Dominicans just haven't waited long enough to realize that it gets bigger, redder, and way better tasting
2-3. some pics from our last district council with this super fun district
4-5. Yellow Helping Hands!!
6. June sent this picture to me later, so I'm including her costume on here. :)
What's up amigos?? I hope you guys are all thriving and that you can see God's hand working in your life, cuz I can promise you with certainty that it is.
This week was fuego here in Navarrete. Actually one of the best things I could imagine happened. About a month ago, we baptized this kid named Jostin. Since then, we've been visiting him every week to reteach the lessons, and occasionally his dad is around. Well the other day we had a lesson that was completely focused on Jostin and what he remembered about Joseph Smith, but his dad was there! And at the end of the lesson I just had this prompting to ask Bery (his dad) what his thoughts were about getting baptized and he was like, I want to. Then two days later, out of the blue, we got a text from Melina, Jostin's mom. It said, "Bery and I talked and he wants to get baptized then we're gonna get married!" Then she called us and told us to read the texts. She and Bery are thinking about eternity here!! He wants to get baptized, then they want to go to the temple and get sealed so they can be together forever! We explained that they have to get married legally first, but then eternity is where they're headed!! I was over the moon. Still am, actually. I'm so so happy for this family. I have been working with this family since the first week that I showed up in Navarrete and I can see the love in their family and the Spirit that has entered their home.
The one thing that makes me sad is that transfers happen next Tuesday and I am probably headed out. I want to go to Melina and Bery's wedding so bad but I'll probably just have to settle for seeing pictures. And hopefully flying back to the DR in about a year to go to their temple sealing.
Other fun stuff that happened this week:
My comp got robbed by a little girl who walked up to her and just took her bracelet off her wrist and kept walking.
I got to do some manual labor! That doesn't happen much. The bishop texted the Elders we ward share with and told them the García family needed help and to go there the next morning. They asked if we could come and bishop's response was, "I don't think it's work for sisters". So naturally we went. The service project was spreading out two humongous piles of dirt to raise the ground and prevent future flooding. It felt good to just shovel dirt for a few hours and I sweat through everything I was wearing.
We tried coconut water. I already knew it was gross but my comp is new to this country and had to have the experience for herself.
The bishop's daughter turned eight and got baptized on the same day and it was a HUGE fiesta. We're talking multiple epic balloon arches, tons of food, pounding We Don't Talk About Bruno in Spanish so loud that I couldn't even hear myself singing along in English.
The church is true guys! It is so cool to see the joy the gospel brings families. I was thinking about this yesterday in church as I made the list I always make of people who came to church. We had seven nonmember friends there and eleven recently baptized converts. And those people are part of the Navarrete 1 ward family. They have callings, they have friends. They are part of the church and it's changed their lives. It's so powerful to watch the gospel of Jesus Christ change people and to see their eyes brighten as they come to understand truth and the Savior's love for them. Jesus Christ suffered and died for every single one of us. He did it for you, specifically. Spend time praying, it changes your life.
Love you guys! Disfruten su semana tanto!!
pics!
1. painting service project
2. shoveling service project
3-4. pics from taco tuesday fiesta
5. mission tour!!!
6. made this for a member who asked for it after she saw my handwriting 😂
7. baptism fiesta
8. sometimes it's the little things that remind you of home...
I've got to wrap up all the rest of the cruise in this post since it is time to be blogging about Halloween. This is what happens when you take an October cruise, but it was so worth it. Every minute!
All our excursions and port days were done and we just had the two days to sail back home to Miami. I already knew what I wanted to do. Read and relax. That is one of the most important parts of a cruise. And we already knew the pods were magical for that. We slept in a bit on Friday morning, but Tyler was up earlier than I was, so I sent him to reserve a couple pods.
I wandered up there eventually too and we decided to try the drop slide while we waited for the Hulse's to get up and our table to be ready. (The table queue was never accurate. It would often say the wait was 50-60 minutes and our table would be ready in 5.) I went first on the slide. It was actually really scary. You crawl into the tube, it counts down and the floor drops out from underneath you. Then I can't really explain the rest because my eyes were shut tight. It was worth trying once at least.
By the time we both did the slide, our table was ready. :) We grabbed Beth and Jonny and went to eat. Look at the cute matching hats the boys bought in St. Maarten.
The rest of the day is not very exciting to write about. We spent most of it in the pods. I had finished one book already, Bullet Train, and I was on to my next one, Rocket Boys, that a friend loaned me. I'm totally digging the blue theme I had going on. Blue pod, blue book, blue eyes...
We definitely had calm seas for the trip. Look how glassy that water looks.
We played lots of games the whole cruise, but of note this day, we played Scotch Bridge, which I really love and I won. And we played Five Crowns and Jonny and I tied. That is not easy to do since the scores are usually all over the place. I also got my donut while we played in the Monarch room. I got one with cracked caramel on top that was filled with Coconut cream inside. It was actually really tasty. I'm sorry I didn't take a picture. :(
Towards late afternoon, we finally took a dip in the pool. I was a little chilly, but there were tiny bubbles that kept coming up from the bottom of the pool. It was like sitting in a glass of champagne. I really liked it.
In the evening, it was our second elegant night. We didn't take as many pictures but we still looked fabulous.
We caught the comedy show. It wasn’t so great. There was a very large man who did way too many fat related jokes and stories. He joked about having emergency surgery. Yikes. It seemed like we shouldn’t be laughing about some of this stuff. He joked about never paying off debts and using bankruptcy as a life strategy. It was kind of awful.
But dinner was great. It's always nice to end the evening on a high note. Speaking of...note to self...get the fillet mignon.
We also got internet this day. Tyler didn't take too much work with him, but sometimes he needed to be in contact with people. That's just how it goes with his job.
Do you like our towel animal. I am the most confident about identifying this one.
Then one more day at sea. You may notice a trend since we pretty much did the exact same thing. Breakfast was beautiful. We sat right at the back of the boat were you could see the wake behind us.
I mentioned that the decor was weird and there were classical nudes everywhere. We joked that sitting in the dining room, you only had to look around for a minute to spot a naked person. (On the wall, not dining.) While looking around one time, I noticed a mural above and the light just happened to be placed in such a way that it looked like the unicorn's eye. I thought it was so awesome. Don't tell me you wouldn't want your unicorn boat to fire lasers out of its eyes.
Then another wonderful morning in the pods. It was sometimes a little noisy since we were near the huge Carnival tail, but it didn't bother me. It was white noise to sleep to.
It was our last night in the dining room. We'd been looking at the same creepy guy each evening sitting between Beth and Jonny, so Tyler went and filled the face in. That guy is much creepier with eyes.
Beth does not like lobsters or anything like unto them. Tyler ordered an appetizer that came with a little prawn. He wasn't sure how to eat it, so he left it on his plate, but it was really bothering Beth. We finally told her to close her eyes and we would get rid of it. We just hid him behind the menu placard until we could get the server to come over. Later Beth said, "It's still at the table, isn't it?" (She really doesn't like this guys.)
We made sure to get a picture with our awesome waitstaff that night. Ani and Joseph were really great. They made our dinner experience wonderful each evening.
For our last night, we decided to just chat up on the deck. The pod wasn't as good for four people, so we tried a table, but the view wasn't great.
We finally opted to sit in some lounge chairs and it was actually a wonderful night picking topics from the Monologue Jar and laughing about whatever. Four cruises in and we still all like each other.
Our room steward was 'K' and he was so great. He left us a heart on the last day. Of all the designs, I think I could make this one again.
The next morning, we were back in Miami. We were already packed and we simply had to wait for them to call our floor to depart.
There was a bit of a line, but we somehow got in a fast one. And when the line split and you could use your license or passport, the passport line was super short. We took that way and were through in a minute. It was funny because Tyler asked me to take his suitcase so he could get out his passport. Then we didn't even need them because they used facial recognition. He got a little excited and left me dragging all our luggage. It was quite comical. I guess it is turn about for my ditching him in the DR.
Lynn was amazing and picked us up again. She really is the best host and I'm so thankful for her sharing her home and food. In fact, we got home and immediately took naps. Who knew cruise's could be so exhausting? :) But we woke up in time to go to church. Matt and Lynn currently serve as President and Relief Society President in a young single adult branch. It was fun to go to their ward although I freely admit that I didn't pay attention as well as I should have since I had service again and I was texting the kids. We even stayed for their 'Linger Longer' afterward and shared their cereal bar. That made me so happy since I hadn't had cold cereal in over a week. I was greatly missing it.
After church, we went on an expedition to get Jonny a new phone. There was an apple store not too far away and by now we knew there was no salvaging Jonny's device. Lynn let us borrow a car (see what I mean...she is awesome) and we eventually found the right place. It was packed! There were so many people in that store. Jonny and Beth were stuck waiting, but Tyler and I explored the shopping center. We found some really cool things, including a hairy looking fruit that the man let me try for free. I had to look it up, but it's a Rambutan. It looks like a sea urchin and you pull the skin apart to find a pearly fruit inside. There is a large pit but you eat around it easily enough. This was a new experience for me.
Jonny got his new phone and then we headed back to Lynn's, where they made us an amazing dinner. We didn't stay up too late chatting since we had to leave at 4:30 am for the airport. I didn't sleep well and literally woke up from a nightmare around 3 am. I didn't think I was scared of Mountain Lions, but I am now.
We got to the airport, where there was a huge reminder to read your scriptures!
JK, that was for June. It actually said TOGETHER NOW, but I like the Ether version more. Tyler and I managed to score seats by each other on the way home, although he slept the whole time and I watched a movie, but it is still more comforting to be beside him.
And then we were back in good old Utah! Another successful cruise in the books.
Just a couple more pictures. We saw a fun towel animal on another cart one evening. I really liked it and told Tyler that I was very impressed by the dragon. You could even see his little wings on top.
Later Jonny saw it and said, "What a cool hippo." "No, it's a dragon," I said. "See the wings?"
"I see a hippo with one of those little birds on top. You know, the symbiotic kind."
Oh. Well...maybe. But I still argue that hippos don't have tongues like that. I still think it's a dragon.
Also, one of the main decorations on the ship was vases. There were on all the stair landings. I took a few pictures of my favorites.
Kind of fun huh? And just like that, I can start blogging about the kids again. Bout time, I hear you cry. I know. But remember, these are my memories and I'll only be able to hang onto them if they appear on the blog. Peace out everyone.
