Saturday, November 13, 2010
May 17, 2010
well hello family.
ok so there are quite a few questions that need to be answered so ill start out with those. so first thing, umm i didnt get a new companion or anything, so sorry if what i said last week in my letter was a little confusing but everything is normal i still have the same companion as always. and mom ok, so i think when i talked to tenille on the phone she said that you were trying to give her my futon ? umm you cant do that.. i payed for half of that.... you can give it to her if you replace it with something better in my room , thats the deal. and yes a leatherman knife, let me explain to you how living in the DR is. its basically a two year camping trip, its nothing like living in america, and a leatherman would be very very helpful. and i dont need any mosquito cream, so dont worry about that. and also could you put a copy of my mission call in the box your sending to me and as for the treat well anything will do , sweedish fish are always good but anything will work. and your right i dont have a microwave, and i do all my cooking on a gas stove. umm drinking out of that water bottle , well the president told us not to use it because since the missionaries have been using them , more missionaries were getting sick, because if you look at the part where you suck the water from, its not coverd so alot of dirt and stuff gets in there. and i havnt used my rechargable batteries yet, because i havnt had to but im sure that soon in the future i will be using them. as for dallin and jantzen, well i havnt heard from dallin since the provo mtc and the only time i heard from jantzen was when i talked to him on the phone, so i dont know what going on with them or anything. tiff so as for my poop well this has been an interesting week and ill talk about it later in the email. but as for my sleeping , i sleep on a bed and its actually a really comfortable bed, and there are no bugs in my bed which i am extremely gratefull for. but speaking of bugs ill talk about that later in the email also. and that work out vibrator thing, that sounds soo cool and i reall really want to try it out........... in 20 months haha. jonny well as for my investigators , we dont really have any good ones right now. we basically had to get rid of the six best ones we had because they wouldnt come to church. so were basically starting from scratch. and my testimony is great. im really good at testifying because thats all i do all day long haha. but my testimony has also grown in everything so much too , its really cool. but ok so as for my week , it was pretty good and averageish week. so about my poop. so i had some problems last week with it being to runny right? well this week i have an entirely new problem. so for the past two days and if you include today, 3 days i havnt been able to poop!!! nothing i do, try, or how long i sit there for , nothing happens haha. it has definatly been really really really interesting. so i just got like two and half days of stuff chillin inside my body waiting to come out..... haha. and im not exactly quite sure what i should do about this haha. but and for the bugs. so my house officially has cockroaches. yes cockroaches. i open up my clothes drawer and i find cockroaches. i pick up my shoe and i find cockroaches in my shoe. now the worst bugs invented are mosquitos, ants, and cockroaches. as for the language , well i think all is going well. im studying really hard and learning alot so i think with just a little time everything is going to be alright. but sounds like all of you are doing pretty good, really really busy but overall things are going good. i love hearing from you all every week and all of you are in my prayers every day. so thats about it , love you all cant wait to hear from you next week. love elder finn
May 10, 2010
heyyyy family again ......
well i talked to all of you yesterday so i dont know how long or great this email will be. but mom to answer you questions, i dont need anystamps, i just give my letters to the post office and they send them off. the stuff i would like you to send to me are what i talked to tiffany about yesterday ( wiht the card reader!!!!!!!!!!) , a leatherman pocket knife, and i think that is about it. the transfer call came after i talked to you all yesterday and im staying here in azua with the same companion so pretty much nothing is changing, except there will be a new missionary that is moving in to my house. yup i got another baptism this week, it was really cool ill give you all the story later in this email. but as for contacting people, we do it all. contact door to door, work through references, and just all of it. and teaching people, i would say that i teach more individuals more than families. and my camera charger works great so you dont have to worry about that. and as for the mosquitos, well they still love me and i am constanly getting bit by them, but im learning really good how not to itch them because that only makes it worse. and yes im taking pictures so as soon as i get that card reader from you i will send some pics to you all. and HEY ryan congradulations on graduating from college, now the really fun schooling is going to start. and grandma and grandpa finn thanks so much for your letter that you send me, i love getting mail from you guys and hearing about your lives. but as for my baptism, well you all remeber that one house that i was teaching at that had like all of the chickens everywhere? well i baptized the person that lived there. so its kinda a funny story , so her husband was baptized like 2 weeks before i got there, but he is practically blind so the way that he had to read from the book of mormon was his wife would read to him. so time went on and he got baptized, but still wanted her to read to him. so with time she eventually developed a testimony in the book of mormon too. and a few weeks went by and she was ready to get baptized. its a pretty cool story, and its amazing how the will of one person can change more than one persons life. but remember also how there are crazy people here. well, so im sitting here typing this email and this guy comes in and sits down at a computer next to us. and he takes out his newspaper and starts having a conversation. with who? that is a very good question. so me and elder flake are trying not to laugh at him , hes just sitting there talking to noone seriously for like 20 min. and i just looked back at him and he gave me a hello wave but was still talking away haha. holy cow i love the crazys down here. but thats pretty much all that happened to me , that i didnt talk to you all about yesterday. i really really really really really really really liked talking to you all yesterday. like it was really hard for me to go to sleep that night because i was so excited that i got to talk to you all. i cant wait until the next time i get to talk to all of you. it helped me out so much out here because i was having kinda a hard time out here so i really really apreciated having the opportunity to talk to all of you but i love you all lots and lots and ill email you again in a week.
love elder finn
well i talked to all of you yesterday so i dont know how long or great this email will be. but mom to answer you questions, i dont need anystamps, i just give my letters to the post office and they send them off. the stuff i would like you to send to me are what i talked to tiffany about yesterday ( wiht the card reader!!!!!!!!!!) , a leatherman pocket knife, and i think that is about it. the transfer call came after i talked to you all yesterday and im staying here in azua with the same companion so pretty much nothing is changing, except there will be a new missionary that is moving in to my house. yup i got another baptism this week, it was really cool ill give you all the story later in this email. but as for contacting people, we do it all. contact door to door, work through references, and just all of it. and teaching people, i would say that i teach more individuals more than families. and my camera charger works great so you dont have to worry about that. and as for the mosquitos, well they still love me and i am constanly getting bit by them, but im learning really good how not to itch them because that only makes it worse. and yes im taking pictures so as soon as i get that card reader from you i will send some pics to you all. and HEY ryan congradulations on graduating from college, now the really fun schooling is going to start. and grandma and grandpa finn thanks so much for your letter that you send me, i love getting mail from you guys and hearing about your lives. but as for my baptism, well you all remeber that one house that i was teaching at that had like all of the chickens everywhere? well i baptized the person that lived there. so its kinda a funny story , so her husband was baptized like 2 weeks before i got there, but he is practically blind so the way that he had to read from the book of mormon was his wife would read to him. so time went on and he got baptized, but still wanted her to read to him. so with time she eventually developed a testimony in the book of mormon too. and a few weeks went by and she was ready to get baptized. its a pretty cool story, and its amazing how the will of one person can change more than one persons life. but remember also how there are crazy people here. well, so im sitting here typing this email and this guy comes in and sits down at a computer next to us. and he takes out his newspaper and starts having a conversation. with who? that is a very good question. so me and elder flake are trying not to laugh at him , hes just sitting there talking to noone seriously for like 20 min. and i just looked back at him and he gave me a hello wave but was still talking away haha. holy cow i love the crazys down here. but thats pretty much all that happened to me , that i didnt talk to you all about yesterday. i really really really really really really really liked talking to you all yesterday. like it was really hard for me to go to sleep that night because i was so excited that i got to talk to you all. i cant wait until the next time i get to talk to all of you. it helped me out so much out here because i was having kinda a hard time out here so i really really apreciated having the opportunity to talk to all of you but i love you all lots and lots and ill email you again in a week.
love elder finn
May 3, 2010
hey everyone,
ok well im really really excited to talk to all of you too on sunday, and the 6 o clock your time works out for me too. so you all went through the temple with tenille for the first time, i bet that was a pretty good experience. dad im not really sure if i will be able to go through the temple, i know alot of missionaries that havent been in like 6 months or more. so jord # 1 in tennis singles, that is way cool. it will probably be hard because thats where all of the really good people usually are, but it will help you so much and you will improve alot too, and dude dont worry i probably did worse in calc than you are doing so just keep at it. jonathon that was a good story, i wish i could have been there so me and you could make it worse haha. tiff sounds like everything is going good, especailly now that you know you get to stay in pocatello. and mom to answer some of your questions, the heat... well you know how i said that may was the hottest month, no that when it starts getting really hot. and no im definatly not used to the heat nor do i think that i will ever be used to the heat. ITS ALWAYS SO HOTTT!!!! and especially on sunday, it was fast sunday so i couldnt drink any water or eat any food, one of the worst experiences i have witnessed yet on my mission. that night we didnt have power for most of the night so i didnt even have my fan to cool me down, so throughout the night when i couldnt sleep and was soooooooooo thirsty i would just go and take a cold shower. and i got your suprise today, but its at the zone leaders house so i havnt opended it yet. and elder flake is from mesa arizona. and i figured that brady would go to the provo mtc, and not to the one in brazil because thats what happend to a lot of missionaries. there were even some missionaries that were stuck in the mtc for 14 weeks trying to go to brazil but couldnt cuz they couldnt get their visa. but as for my week, it was pretty alright, nothing special. but you all remember how i said i went to that spring of water last week that cleans you out. well i went back today. and ....... let me just say that i am totally clean!! we went there with a member who knew where to get the water from and how to drink it. so what you do is , you get a bottle of water and chug it. ( this is probably the worst tasting water i have ever tasted in my life, its like salty ocean water but worst, nasty nasty nasty). and then once your done with that one you get another one and chug it. and you keep doing this until you have to do your business out in the woods. so its different for every person, like some have direah and others puke alot. so we start chuggin this water and after about three bottles of water my comp takes of for the woods. and after three for me it did like nothing, i just felt really full of water. so my comp comes back and part of the cleansing process is you have to keep chugging water so it keeps cleaning you out.soi finish my fourth bottle of water and i felt a little sick so i took a little walk and after about 30 steps, i probably had the biggest throw up of my life. it was amazing, serioulsy i was projecting this water like a fire hose. so after like 2 minutes of puking i had to go back and drink some more water. so i would go back, and chug more water and then throw up like crazy!!! so i did this three times, and it was crazy amazing. i recorded me doing it one time so i can show you all later. but my stomach is definatly clean!!! but that is basically it, i cant wait to talk to you all on sunday, and mom i think what will happen is i call you guys really fast and then you call that same number. so at 6 o clock you all be ready to talk to me!! but i love you all . talk to you soon. love elder finn
ok well im really really excited to talk to all of you too on sunday, and the 6 o clock your time works out for me too. so you all went through the temple with tenille for the first time, i bet that was a pretty good experience. dad im not really sure if i will be able to go through the temple, i know alot of missionaries that havent been in like 6 months or more. so jord # 1 in tennis singles, that is way cool. it will probably be hard because thats where all of the really good people usually are, but it will help you so much and you will improve alot too, and dude dont worry i probably did worse in calc than you are doing so just keep at it. jonathon that was a good story, i wish i could have been there so me and you could make it worse haha. tiff sounds like everything is going good, especailly now that you know you get to stay in pocatello. and mom to answer some of your questions, the heat... well you know how i said that may was the hottest month, no that when it starts getting really hot. and no im definatly not used to the heat nor do i think that i will ever be used to the heat. ITS ALWAYS SO HOTTT!!!! and especially on sunday, it was fast sunday so i couldnt drink any water or eat any food, one of the worst experiences i have witnessed yet on my mission. that night we didnt have power for most of the night so i didnt even have my fan to cool me down, so throughout the night when i couldnt sleep and was soooooooooo thirsty i would just go and take a cold shower. and i got your suprise today, but its at the zone leaders house so i havnt opended it yet. and elder flake is from mesa arizona. and i figured that brady would go to the provo mtc, and not to the one in brazil because thats what happend to a lot of missionaries. there were even some missionaries that were stuck in the mtc for 14 weeks trying to go to brazil but couldnt cuz they couldnt get their visa. but as for my week, it was pretty alright, nothing special. but you all remember how i said i went to that spring of water last week that cleans you out. well i went back today. and ....... let me just say that i am totally clean!! we went there with a member who knew where to get the water from and how to drink it. so what you do is , you get a bottle of water and chug it. ( this is probably the worst tasting water i have ever tasted in my life, its like salty ocean water but worst, nasty nasty nasty). and then once your done with that one you get another one and chug it. and you keep doing this until you have to do your business out in the woods. so its different for every person, like some have direah and others puke alot. so we start chuggin this water and after about three bottles of water my comp takes of for the woods. and after three for me it did like nothing, i just felt really full of water. so my comp comes back and part of the cleansing process is you have to keep chugging water so it keeps cleaning you out.soi finish my fourth bottle of water and i felt a little sick so i took a little walk and after about 30 steps, i probably had the biggest throw up of my life. it was amazing, serioulsy i was projecting this water like a fire hose. so after like 2 minutes of puking i had to go back and drink some more water. so i would go back, and chug more water and then throw up like crazy!!! so i did this three times, and it was crazy amazing. i recorded me doing it one time so i can show you all later. but my stomach is definatly clean!!! but that is basically it, i cant wait to talk to you all on sunday, and mom i think what will happen is i call you guys really fast and then you call that same number. so at 6 o clock you all be ready to talk to me!! but i love you all . talk to you soon. love elder finn
April 26, 2010
hey everyone,
well holy cow can you all believe that i have been out here for three whole months!!........ haha well dont worry its going just as slow for me as it is for all of you at home. but first thing, tenille i even called you out last week about writing me and you still didnt so i came to the conclusion that you really dont read what i write, sooo. . . you smell like poo. haha. but anyway, i got my package!! thanks for the suprise , and im sure you were laughing when you put those ¨ mints¨ in there. so the wedding is this week, crazy ! well just send me all of the good pics that you would think i would like to see. the more the merrier. mom the seasons down here are a little different, like the rain season is from septemberish to january, and the rest is the hott season :) . and as for people listening to us, this is how it goes. almost every person we talk to will accept another visit, but usually they are never there, but sometimes we find some really cool people that will listen to us. and dad dont worry about the immuplex and stuff for now i have plenty still. haha so ryan i looked a little chunky ? well i did gain about 6 to 7 pounds while i was in the mtc and ccm. but im probably back to normal now cuz all i do is walk all day, all day, all day. and for p-days well for the first like three weeks i was here, we didnt do anything. just chilled around all day, because like our zone leaders never plan anything . but today me and elder flake were sick of doing nothing so we made a plan. we live like right by a bunch of mountains, and in these mountains there is this spring. me and elder flake named it poop spring, because it is famous for if you drink it , within like five minutes you have major dirreah and vomit a ton. and its really popular here cuz it totally cleans you out and what not. so me and elder flake went exploring for it today, and think we found it but didnt drink any of it. ahah. but we went exploring all over the mountains and i took some cool pics that hopefully one day i can send to all of you if i figure out a way to do it.but no baseball, my comp. said that i will probably only play that like tow times my whole time hear, which is wierd cuz like everyone plays it. but as for my week, i got my first baptism!!!!!!! so i was really pumped about that. it was a really wierd story. so there was this kid that has been going to church for years, and everyone thought he was a member. so the president of the district asked him if he had been baptized, and the kid said yes. but the missionaries that baptized him like ten years ago didnt keep or lost his records, so technically he wasnt baptized. so over two weeks me and elder flake taught him everything and then on saturday we baptized him. it was a cool experience. but as for our investigators, we have like six really good ones right now, and two of them would be baptized right now but their ¨husbands¨ wont get married to them, so that really stinks. that is a really big problem down here, like noone is married. so i also decided the two worst creations that are on this planet. 1. mosquitos, as of right now , i have like 30 ish bites all over my arms and feet. and i honestly do not know why God created this stupid bug. and 2. ants, there is probably like never a worst site than looking inside of my cereal and seeing hundreds of ants in it. really though worst bugs on the planet!!! but one of the coolest things about this place is that if we are in our house and dont want to go and get something from the store, we just have to yell at a little kid, and give him money and he will go get it for us. and they dont even steal your money, so tanner i expect you to do the same when i come back. but not really anything really crazy has happened to me this week, so this is kind of a lame letter but hopefully next week will be a lil better. that about it, and somebody tell tenille happy b day to her for me cuz i know shes not gonna read this, haha. oh and and what is the best time for me to call on mothers day? when everyone will be there? this is very important information that i need you to get back to me!!!!! but thats it i love you all lots and lots. love elder finn
well holy cow can you all believe that i have been out here for three whole months!!........ haha well dont worry its going just as slow for me as it is for all of you at home. but first thing, tenille i even called you out last week about writing me and you still didnt so i came to the conclusion that you really dont read what i write, sooo. . . you smell like poo. haha. but anyway, i got my package!! thanks for the suprise , and im sure you were laughing when you put those ¨ mints¨ in there. so the wedding is this week, crazy ! well just send me all of the good pics that you would think i would like to see. the more the merrier. mom the seasons down here are a little different, like the rain season is from septemberish to january, and the rest is the hott season :) . and as for people listening to us, this is how it goes. almost every person we talk to will accept another visit, but usually they are never there, but sometimes we find some really cool people that will listen to us. and dad dont worry about the immuplex and stuff for now i have plenty still. haha so ryan i looked a little chunky ? well i did gain about 6 to 7 pounds while i was in the mtc and ccm. but im probably back to normal now cuz all i do is walk all day, all day, all day. and for p-days well for the first like three weeks i was here, we didnt do anything. just chilled around all day, because like our zone leaders never plan anything . but today me and elder flake were sick of doing nothing so we made a plan. we live like right by a bunch of mountains, and in these mountains there is this spring. me and elder flake named it poop spring, because it is famous for if you drink it , within like five minutes you have major dirreah and vomit a ton. and its really popular here cuz it totally cleans you out and what not. so me and elder flake went exploring for it today, and think we found it but didnt drink any of it. ahah. but we went exploring all over the mountains and i took some cool pics that hopefully one day i can send to all of you if i figure out a way to do it.but no baseball, my comp. said that i will probably only play that like tow times my whole time hear, which is wierd cuz like everyone plays it. but as for my week, i got my first baptism!!!!!!! so i was really pumped about that. it was a really wierd story. so there was this kid that has been going to church for years, and everyone thought he was a member. so the president of the district asked him if he had been baptized, and the kid said yes. but the missionaries that baptized him like ten years ago didnt keep or lost his records, so technically he wasnt baptized. so over two weeks me and elder flake taught him everything and then on saturday we baptized him. it was a cool experience. but as for our investigators, we have like six really good ones right now, and two of them would be baptized right now but their ¨husbands¨ wont get married to them, so that really stinks. that is a really big problem down here, like noone is married. so i also decided the two worst creations that are on this planet. 1. mosquitos, as of right now , i have like 30 ish bites all over my arms and feet. and i honestly do not know why God created this stupid bug. and 2. ants, there is probably like never a worst site than looking inside of my cereal and seeing hundreds of ants in it. really though worst bugs on the planet!!! but one of the coolest things about this place is that if we are in our house and dont want to go and get something from the store, we just have to yell at a little kid, and give him money and he will go get it for us. and they dont even steal your money, so tanner i expect you to do the same when i come back. but not really anything really crazy has happened to me this week, so this is kind of a lame letter but hopefully next week will be a lil better. that about it, and somebody tell tenille happy b day to her for me cuz i know shes not gonna read this, haha. oh and and what is the best time for me to call on mothers day? when everyone will be there? this is very important information that i need you to get back to me!!!!! but thats it i love you all lots and lots. love elder finn
April 19, 2010
heyyyyy everyone,
ok well first before i tell you all what went on with me this week, let me answer all of your questions. about an earthquake....... well let me just say that there is a giant crack in my ceieling now because of it, and we have been living in the church for the past week cuz our house is not safe......... not im just kidding! haha i didnt even feel it or know that there was an earthquake. mom when i was in the mtc i got to go to the temple everyweek on thursday, but now because im out here in the field probably will hardley be able to go. unless one of these days i get transfered to the capital, but that wont happen anytime soon. what is this i hear about jan getting marrie?!! crazyyyy!! everyone is getting married. and mr. ryan grant finn....... freakin what the heck man!! a girl friend?? ok i want some pictures. seriously the whole family decides to change and do all the exciting stuff right when i leave. and i had normal living, water all week, so overall pretty good. mom you dont need to send me one of those water bottles, im good. and my health is doing really good no sickness......... yet, and yes dad in case you were wondering i am taking the immuplex. and mom if you are curious about pants, dont worry about them because i maike pants here for super cheap and they are super cool. i made me a pair this last week, ill take some pictures for you. as far as food, like i said we have a lady cook us lunch but for breakfast i usually eat yogurt and cereal, and for dinner we usually stop a like a street stand and pick something up or i just eat little snacks all night. and money i have a little over 7000 pesos a month to buy food and what not. AND for all you up there complaining about the cold, .. i would give up everything i own to have some cold right now, especially during the night when there is no power and i just lay in my bed sweating and sweating and sweating, soooo enjoy the cold for me !! Jordy well congradualtions on your braces, im really jealous and i want to see some pics of your teeth, and about the friends just give me all the b days of like my good friends. about the haitians, well i dont really know much about them. it hasnt really seemed like there was a problem between them and the domincans to me, maybe closer to the border but here its pretty chill. and i was talking to my companion, about my mission. and when he got into the mission, the west was like the worst in the carribean, and there was just alot of problems. and then president almonte came in and he got to see like the whole change. he said right now that the west is most successful mission in the carribean and one of the best missions in the world. pretty cool how a change in presidents can change so much. and the churches here are kinda the same. they arent as nice as the ones in the states and they are really open and have aton of fans in every room. no carpet or drinking fountains or gym, just a church. and as for the members. president almonte made it a rule that we have to a member present in every lesson or else it doesnt count, but all the young men are usually willing to come with us so there really isnt a problem with that. the problem is with the older members. they just dont really do anything, like dont go to meetings, or during church teach false doctrines haha, and so its just stuff like that. and so mom said that you all fasted for me, well thank you soooo much. all week is was great i didnt feel worried about the language at all so thanks thanks thanks. and i can understand my compainon perfectly and have a conversation with him soo thanks sooo much. and im also convinced that dominicans do not speak spanish, because i can understand my comp. but when they say the same thing , i swear they are not speaking spanish. i even have a mexican in my house and i can understand him. jonathon i cant wait for next week haha. and tiff dont you worry, everything will work out ok and i will be praying for you, and that is so funny about tanner. hows the wedding stuff going? ok so this week, i had the opportunity to go on a intercombio , i dont know what its called in english, with a dominican. i can say that like that whole day i probably didnt say more than 5 sentences haha. but during one of our lessons, i was just chilling there trying to figure out what they were saying and then i look over and say something that looked a little different. so you know how people have dogs for pets and stuff, well apperantly here some people have goats for pets. i looked over and saw a goat just chillin there in the dining room. and later the elder that i left with said that it is even trained. like it knows how to sit and come. haha who knew? and i also had the opportunity to do some service. while me and my comp. were contacting this guy was cleaning his yard, so we asked if we could help. and he said yes and gave us each a broom. and i was a little confused of what to do because i looked around and all i saw was a dirt yard. and yup you guessed it, i swept the dirt. i know it is really good to do service for people and stuff, but sometimes i just dont understand what the point of sweeping the dirt. but whatever. and you all remember the house with like 100 chickens at it. well he trains them for cock fight here and to prepare the chicken for the fight they do some pretty interesting stuff. and during our lesson there i had the wonderful opportunity to witness it :)!! so first the shave all the feathers off the roosters legs. next they take some water in their mouth and hold up the back end of the chickens , and.... spit. as you can imagine this gets feathers and poop all over haha. and then next after all the water is dry they take a lemon or lime slice it in half and rub it all over the chicken. all over , ano y todo :) haha. and that is pretty much all i saw while i was there. pretty interesting. but that is about it haha. i caint wait to hear from you all next week, and im not sure about the calling on mothers day yet so i will try and get details about that. and i still want a list of all the birthdays of our family, and i think tenille b day is either this week or last week , soo HAPPY B DAY soon. and speaking of tenille , ..... Tenille im calling you out! im almost 99 percent sure that i havnt gotten an email from you or anyting since i was in provo, so next week i want to hear about your life, cuz i know you have alot going on in it right now. but thats all love you all and your all in my prayers . love eler finn
ok well first before i tell you all what went on with me this week, let me answer all of your questions. about an earthquake....... well let me just say that there is a giant crack in my ceieling now because of it, and we have been living in the church for the past week cuz our house is not safe......... not im just kidding! haha i didnt even feel it or know that there was an earthquake. mom when i was in the mtc i got to go to the temple everyweek on thursday, but now because im out here in the field probably will hardley be able to go. unless one of these days i get transfered to the capital, but that wont happen anytime soon. what is this i hear about jan getting marrie?!! crazyyyy!! everyone is getting married. and mr. ryan grant finn....... freakin what the heck man!! a girl friend?? ok i want some pictures. seriously the whole family decides to change and do all the exciting stuff right when i leave. and i had normal living, water all week, so overall pretty good. mom you dont need to send me one of those water bottles, im good. and my health is doing really good no sickness......... yet, and yes dad in case you were wondering i am taking the immuplex. and mom if you are curious about pants, dont worry about them because i maike pants here for super cheap and they are super cool. i made me a pair this last week, ill take some pictures for you. as far as food, like i said we have a lady cook us lunch but for breakfast i usually eat yogurt and cereal, and for dinner we usually stop a like a street stand and pick something up or i just eat little snacks all night. and money i have a little over 7000 pesos a month to buy food and what not. AND for all you up there complaining about the cold, .. i would give up everything i own to have some cold right now, especially during the night when there is no power and i just lay in my bed sweating and sweating and sweating, soooo enjoy the cold for me !! Jordy well congradualtions on your braces, im really jealous and i want to see some pics of your teeth, and about the friends just give me all the b days of like my good friends. about the haitians, well i dont really know much about them. it hasnt really seemed like there was a problem between them and the domincans to me, maybe closer to the border but here its pretty chill. and i was talking to my companion, about my mission. and when he got into the mission, the west was like the worst in the carribean, and there was just alot of problems. and then president almonte came in and he got to see like the whole change. he said right now that the west is most successful mission in the carribean and one of the best missions in the world. pretty cool how a change in presidents can change so much. and the churches here are kinda the same. they arent as nice as the ones in the states and they are really open and have aton of fans in every room. no carpet or drinking fountains or gym, just a church. and as for the members. president almonte made it a rule that we have to a member present in every lesson or else it doesnt count, but all the young men are usually willing to come with us so there really isnt a problem with that. the problem is with the older members. they just dont really do anything, like dont go to meetings, or during church teach false doctrines haha, and so its just stuff like that. and so mom said that you all fasted for me, well thank you soooo much. all week is was great i didnt feel worried about the language at all so thanks thanks thanks. and i can understand my compainon perfectly and have a conversation with him soo thanks sooo much. and im also convinced that dominicans do not speak spanish, because i can understand my comp. but when they say the same thing , i swear they are not speaking spanish. i even have a mexican in my house and i can understand him. jonathon i cant wait for next week haha. and tiff dont you worry, everything will work out ok and i will be praying for you, and that is so funny about tanner. hows the wedding stuff going? ok so this week, i had the opportunity to go on a intercombio , i dont know what its called in english, with a dominican. i can say that like that whole day i probably didnt say more than 5 sentences haha. but during one of our lessons, i was just chilling there trying to figure out what they were saying and then i look over and say something that looked a little different. so you know how people have dogs for pets and stuff, well apperantly here some people have goats for pets. i looked over and saw a goat just chillin there in the dining room. and later the elder that i left with said that it is even trained. like it knows how to sit and come. haha who knew? and i also had the opportunity to do some service. while me and my comp. were contacting this guy was cleaning his yard, so we asked if we could help. and he said yes and gave us each a broom. and i was a little confused of what to do because i looked around and all i saw was a dirt yard. and yup you guessed it, i swept the dirt. i know it is really good to do service for people and stuff, but sometimes i just dont understand what the point of sweeping the dirt. but whatever. and you all remember the house with like 100 chickens at it. well he trains them for cock fight here and to prepare the chicken for the fight they do some pretty interesting stuff. and during our lesson there i had the wonderful opportunity to witness it :)!! so first the shave all the feathers off the roosters legs. next they take some water in their mouth and hold up the back end of the chickens , and.... spit. as you can imagine this gets feathers and poop all over haha. and then next after all the water is dry they take a lemon or lime slice it in half and rub it all over the chicken. all over , ano y todo :) haha. and that is pretty much all i saw while i was there. pretty interesting. but that is about it haha. i caint wait to hear from you all next week, and im not sure about the calling on mothers day yet so i will try and get details about that. and i still want a list of all the birthdays of our family, and i think tenille b day is either this week or last week , soo HAPPY B DAY soon. and speaking of tenille , ..... Tenille im calling you out! im almost 99 percent sure that i havnt gotten an email from you or anyting since i was in provo, so next week i want to hear about your life, cuz i know you have alot going on in it right now. but thats all love you all and your all in my prayers . love eler finn
March 25, 2010
my familia , that half of them arent home right now to read this.
ok this section is for jordy so when he gets home make sure he reads this. jord tell aly and madeline that i got their letter they sent to me in february and tell darren that i got his letter too. and mom all those pics that i sent to you from provo ... print some off and have jordy give them to my friends ( brady , taylor, send one to dallin, aly , madeline ) ok? and can you send me some of the pics that dallin sent to me from when he was in the provo mtc. alright but to start off the email really good, i just wanted all of you to know that i accomplished one of my goals in my life!! I DUNKED IT!!!!!! i dunked a volleyball first , then the next day during gym i tried a real ball and .... i totally did it!! and yes the hoop is real size. so ryan you better hope that your p 90x thing is helping your vert cuz you dont want your little bro to show you up... do you ? ok and last week in my email i was thinking about it and it kinda sounded like i chewed out dad and ryan for not teaching me spanish.. so i just wanted to clarrify that i was just joking so dont take what i said seriously. i heard something awsome about my mission president though, pres. almonte doesnt speak hardly any english ...... isnt that so cool......... ☺? and iam so ready to go out into the field! i am so sick of being in this box here! i dont even care how much spanish i know , i am ready to go out there and start doing stuff. and my spanish is doing really well, i can pretty much understand almost everything they say and can basically respond. im sure its sounds really green-go but its still spanish. i heard that its 50 degrees up there ... wow ! thats cool. today is about 75 with a little overcast and a breeze so.... yea its pretty much perfect ! haha. i still havnt gotten my package yet but it could be at the mission home and they are just waiting for me to get there so i can pick it up. yesterday i talked to some elders from my mission. they said 1.) they havnt had like any water for the past two weeks cuz their filter broke, so no shower or anything for a few days and 2.) be ready for a culture shock. so i am ready ! ryan a couple weeks ago you said you went skiing. i am proud of you haha. there is probably no more snow up there so you cant go anymore , but i am so happy that you tried going. TRIED going haha. mom to answer some of your questions, no i havent heard from dallin yet but mail here is terrible so he could have sent me something and i just havnt gotten it yet. and nope , there is no day light savings here so that is pretty nice. and there are definatly different holidays here. on st patricks day we all wore green and the teachers thought we were all wierd. it was pretty funny. tanner i miss you and i totally know how you feel man. im sick of being inside all day too, but just hang in there for a couple more week and then you can play outside all the time. i do get all your dearelders , sometimes they are a couple of weeks old but they get here.haha i think that when i get out into the field i get an hour to email so then everyone can just email me and it will be alot better. im thinking of a way that i can send you pics. i think i will have to buy an SD card reader that goes into the computer and then i can just emaill them to you all. and be more than happy to send me pics through email. especially of peru. and familia stuff. that is so crazy that like half of our family is outside the country. i definatly think that i chose the best place to go though ☺. i cant wait to hear how everyones life is going next week and peru and their experiences! oh and round two of wierd stuff they do here. so some girls dont shave their legs or armpits. and the guys do shave their armpits. and the guys wear fingernail polish. only the clear coat , no colors. but i dont know about you but i think that its kinda crazy! definatly a different culture. but i dont know if you guys will get an email from me next week cuz im going out to the field and i dont know when their p day is so you will just have to wait and see. love you all keeping all of you sick folk in my prayers , 19 a day ! love elder finn
part 2
and im pretty sure all of your prayer, fasting has helped a ton!! i can understand them and kinda speak it and i can read out of the book of mormon and know everything that is going on. and i can read like the entire liahona ( which is entirely in spanish) so thanks so much for all that you guys have done for me .. it has helped so so so much!!!!!
ok this section is for jordy so when he gets home make sure he reads this. jord tell aly and madeline that i got their letter they sent to me in february and tell darren that i got his letter too. and mom all those pics that i sent to you from provo ... print some off and have jordy give them to my friends ( brady , taylor, send one to dallin, aly , madeline ) ok? and can you send me some of the pics that dallin sent to me from when he was in the provo mtc. alright but to start off the email really good, i just wanted all of you to know that i accomplished one of my goals in my life!! I DUNKED IT!!!!!! i dunked a volleyball first , then the next day during gym i tried a real ball and .... i totally did it!! and yes the hoop is real size. so ryan you better hope that your p 90x thing is helping your vert cuz you dont want your little bro to show you up... do you ? ok and last week in my email i was thinking about it and it kinda sounded like i chewed out dad and ryan for not teaching me spanish.. so i just wanted to clarrify that i was just joking so dont take what i said seriously. i heard something awsome about my mission president though, pres. almonte doesnt speak hardly any english ...... isnt that so cool......... ☺? and iam so ready to go out into the field! i am so sick of being in this box here! i dont even care how much spanish i know , i am ready to go out there and start doing stuff. and my spanish is doing really well, i can pretty much understand almost everything they say and can basically respond. im sure its sounds really green-go but its still spanish. i heard that its 50 degrees up there ... wow ! thats cool. today is about 75 with a little overcast and a breeze so.... yea its pretty much perfect ! haha. i still havnt gotten my package yet but it could be at the mission home and they are just waiting for me to get there so i can pick it up. yesterday i talked to some elders from my mission. they said 1.) they havnt had like any water for the past two weeks cuz their filter broke, so no shower or anything for a few days and 2.) be ready for a culture shock. so i am ready ! ryan a couple weeks ago you said you went skiing. i am proud of you haha. there is probably no more snow up there so you cant go anymore , but i am so happy that you tried going. TRIED going haha. mom to answer some of your questions, no i havent heard from dallin yet but mail here is terrible so he could have sent me something and i just havnt gotten it yet. and nope , there is no day light savings here so that is pretty nice. and there are definatly different holidays here. on st patricks day we all wore green and the teachers thought we were all wierd. it was pretty funny. tanner i miss you and i totally know how you feel man. im sick of being inside all day too, but just hang in there for a couple more week and then you can play outside all the time. i do get all your dearelders , sometimes they are a couple of weeks old but they get here.haha i think that when i get out into the field i get an hour to email so then everyone can just email me and it will be alot better. im thinking of a way that i can send you pics. i think i will have to buy an SD card reader that goes into the computer and then i can just emaill them to you all. and be more than happy to send me pics through email. especially of peru. and familia stuff. that is so crazy that like half of our family is outside the country. i definatly think that i chose the best place to go though ☺. i cant wait to hear how everyones life is going next week and peru and their experiences! oh and round two of wierd stuff they do here. so some girls dont shave their legs or armpits. and the guys do shave their armpits. and the guys wear fingernail polish. only the clear coat , no colors. but i dont know about you but i think that its kinda crazy! definatly a different culture. but i dont know if you guys will get an email from me next week cuz im going out to the field and i dont know when their p day is so you will just have to wait and see. love you all keeping all of you sick folk in my prayers , 19 a day ! love elder finn
part 2
and im pretty sure all of your prayer, fasting has helped a ton!! i can understand them and kinda speak it and i can read out of the book of mormon and know everything that is going on. and i can read like the entire liahona ( which is entirely in spanish) so thanks so much for all that you guys have done for me .. it has helped so so so much!!!!!
March 18, 2010
alright alright i know that all of you have been dieing to hear from me, so listen up cuz im only going to write this email once. like i said last week i went to a new district and got a new companion. my campanion is cool and we get along and my district is pretty good too. but one of the new teachers i got .. well lets just say we arent like two peas in a pod. yea he says just stuff that bugs the crap out me and its just frustrating cuz he is like our main teacher so learning is hard , but oh well i can deal with it. so all the latinos came in and, two of my roomates are latinos. its a genius idea to put the americans with them cuz i think it is helping us learn spanish in a different way. my roomates are really cool and fun but coming from a different country they tend to some things a little bit different than americans. Like the first couple of days they pooped and showered with the door open so that was a little interesting. but they are learing and now its better. they have never seen a reatainer either, so i thought that was a little interesting. but remember that story greg told us about him pooping his pants, well i didnt actually poop my pants but i know that exact same feeling he felt. it is like hitting a brick wall! i was just sitting there planning and then BAM it hit me !! all im sayin is im really glad that there was a bathroom five feet away cuz if i was in the streets i promise you that i would not have made it. elder anderson of the 70 came and spoke to us so that was really cool, it was all in spanish so i had no idea what he said but it was still cool. when i talk about driving , no elders drive. we have drivers and its just crazy here! thanks for getting me a camera charger and trying to get it to me as fast as possible. ryan ok its about time you wear those contacts, now MAYBE ( probably not) keep up with me in b ball. and you also said that the way im learning spanish will help in the long run....... ill believe it when i see it haha. all of the latinos are from around the world. like central america and south america, and they are all learning the spanish language.......... . jord it sounds like your eagle thing is going pretty good, you should be excited to go to peru. it will be a shock and you will basically have to depend on ryan translating for you but it will be alot of fun. so mom you wanted to know what i do on p-days, i go to the temple then read letters then write my email then eat lunch then go and do service somewhere then rest until dinner then after dinner class. so i heard you all did a fast for me on sunday? thank you all so much for doing that every lit bit helps and i needed it so much cuz this week we learned subjunctive from my not so favorite teacher, so it was a rough class but i feel like i understand it. just keep up the prayers because i need them. im prayin for all of you everyday too. so time to get down to business. DAD and RYAN i 100 percent blame you two for me not knowing spanish haha. you both should have only been speaking spanish to me for the past 3 years, so by the time i left on my mission i would be fluent and not have to stressed out about learning all of it now. and i decided spanish is like a giant riddle. cuz when your speaking you have to congigate all of it in your head and think of the words you want to say too. but yea GIANT riddle. ok and ryan to give you a lil taste of what im going through. in domincan spanish they DO NOT say their letter S. so i challenge you and dad to talk to eachother in spanish and not say the letter S while you speak and see how well you can understand eachother AND slur all of your words together. i poromise you im not exaggerating on this , this is exactly how they speak. but that is it for now. and only 13 more days until i go to the field so im gettin a lil anxious!! but i cant wait to hear from all of you next week. love elder finn
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