September 26. 2013

Derek's District

Hey Family,

Things are going great here. I love the people here, they are so sweet and kind. The days are going a little bit faster but 1 day feels like a week and 1 week feels like a day. I love lunch here because it is so big and good but the other meals are so lame. I have to eat my cereal with unsweetened soy milk which is funky. Other then the fact that they dont cook their meat and some meat is from things I know dont know off, its pretty good food. The language is kicking my butt though. I have 600 words I have been trying to memorize so that I can Memorize the next 600. It is so much. The temple is so fantastic! It is a truly amazing temple. I love how it is kinda pink outside in the daylight. I have not been outside of the MTC/Temple grounds except for Tuesday when we went to the store for 30 minutes. We like to call this place a spiritual prison. People come visit the MTC all the time so we have opportunities to talk and bare testimony to them. They are wonderful people. Tomorrow I will get to finally leave again and go to the university to contact and proselyte. I am nervous but I am excited. Last Thursday after I wrote the email I got a hair cut from this Dominican man that comes to the MTC every other Thursday to cut hair for free and wow.... just wow...
We like to call him the Nazi barber. In one hand he has the electric razor and in the other a bug brush. Then he just starts wacking your head with them like he is in a boxing match or something. It is the most painful haircut ever!! The hair cut looks awful too. He left my bangs on one side long and then completely cut of the other side. My head felt Violated.
 Now I will write about my companion. His name is Elder Christensen. He is the one standing right next to me in the picture of my district. He is a really good guy. He is from California. I am so glad that he is my companion compared to most of the people I could have had. The Haitian Missionaries just left yesterday and it was pretty sad. I really loved those guys. They were so funny! Once I recieve that cord to send pictures, I will send you some of them. I miss them already. I was learing french from them and now I have no one to teach me! Then new missionaries that replaced them are the Spanish speaking missionaries going to Puerto Rico. I don't know them much though. There also is now the first missionaries I have seen speaking English going to Jamaica! There is only two and they are Sisters from South American. We also had a missionary go home because he was homesick already and a sister go home because she kept fainting and not waking up. It was so sad.
There is so much to tell you and I cant remember it all. It is always so hot here. I get to go outside about 4 everyday to play and stuff. I havent seen much rain but they say it rains just a little bit everyday but just for a little while and then it is super beautiful skies.
The Dominican people have such beautiful voices. They can sing soooooo well. I love hearing them sing. Sundays are my favorite day of the week by far. They are so nice and peaceful. It is the one day we get where we can study the scriptures for yourself. I love it. We have sacrament meeting, sunday school taught by ourselves in our districts, priesthood meeting, doctrine class, and then we get to watch a movie!! Last Sunday we watched Joseph Smith. I love that movie. I love Emma Smith the movie the best though. Sunday nights we always get pizza, ice cream, and walk around the Temple too so its just so great.
So about letters, always use an American stamp. Also send me some American stamps in a letter so It gets here faster. They don't sell American stamps here. The reason I use American stamps is because they are sent to Miami church office and put into US postal service. When I send a letter home it will leave here Friday and get there in a couple days but when you send me mail it is impossible to determine when it will arrive because it goes to Puerto Rico first and then comes to the DR. Send packages to the Miami address, it takes around 3 weeks to get here but no one knows for sure. I love hearing from you!!


Love,
Elder Southwick

PS please send me some black gorrila tape asap! also my watch band just randomly snapped so please send me a new watch. I really loved this watch though... So I am going to attempt to fix it with gorilla tape.

September 19, 2013

I forgot to mention I am about to go to the Temple. It is right nest to the MTC literally 100 feet away. We go every Thursday in the MTC.
Love Elder Southwick

September 19, 2013

First day in the MTC

 Hola Famillia,

How is it going? Sorry that it has taken me so long to email. Today is my first P-day. Thursdays are my P-days. I couldnt read your emails until today. If you want me to read emails right away then send them through Dearelder.com. If you email them here, I will get them on thursdays and if you send letters I will get them in 7-10 days. I love it here. The plane ride was long day. There were 6 of us that flew on the plane ride to dallas and 2 more going to Mexico. There was also an elder there that was going to the Dominican but flying 1 hour after us and going to LA. Then flew straight to Maimi. I do not know why. I did see Elder Murphy from rexburg in Dallas. He flew out of Idaho Falls to Dallas then to Miami with us. Very strange. When we got to Miami though it was cool to see all the missionaries meeting up with us. On our last flight there were 33 Missionaries going to Santo domingo. Half west and half east. Once we finally made it to the MTC it was very late. We were fed some food and sent up to the Lab to send you emails. There were so many missionaries and so few computers and that is why I could not email long.
The First day of the MTC was the LONGEST day of my entire life. I am not kidding when I tell you it felt like a week long day. Even the day after we were talking as if we lived here for ahwile. Though as days go on the days get shorter. Everyday still feels like 2 days. Its confusing to explain but in the morning we had a devotional and by night when we right in our journals we accidently say the devotional happen yesterday instead of thismorning because they really feel long. I feel like I have been gone for a month.
The MTC is small but not too small. I feel like I have been living out of one hall though. There is probably about 60 missionaries here right now. The new 33 missionaries and there is about 12 Haitian Missionaries and then a group of missionaries 14 days ahead of us. They are all going to either Santiago or Puerto Rico missions. They always switch groups off that way.
The MTC food is very good. I love rice and beans and want it all the time. Though sometimes they have some meat that is very questionable of what animal it is or wear it came from....
The building is very nice. We have airconditioning and hot water. No one speaks english though. All the teachers speak spanish so you have to learn fast. The spanish is very hard but im progressing quickly. Day 2 of the MTC my and my companion were teaching fake investigators in spanish. It is very difficult. Also something that is hard is when the Mission President askes you to pray in front of the entire MTC in spanish when you dont know spanish....
I survived though. On day 3 we went downstairs where some dominicans are because of the temple and shared our testimonies in spanish and TRIED to talk to them. It is very hard though. Next monday I will finally be able to get out of our little box and go to the university in Santo Domingo to really proslyte and teach. It will be so hard to be a real missionary after only 1 week and a half. I dont know why English speaking missionaries need 2 weeks when we teach after 1.
I have limited time to email and wish I had more time but its running down quickly. Im sorry for all the Typos. It doesnt have spell check or anything and I dont have time to fix it.

Love Elder Southwick

P.S. I love chocolate and miss it and I love frooties and will need more. I also need a laundry bag. The address for the packages is whatever you have. You know more then me. I ALSO NEED A CORD FOR THE CAMERA. If i am to send pics I need that cord because their is no SD slots.

Derek and President and Sister Freestone