After a long day of waiting around in the Mission Office for transfers, a very long bus ride, and unpacking, we receive a knock on the door of our apartment. Hermana Schmidt opens it up to find the Zone Leaders and our Bishop standing there, with visual annoyance. Apparently, the Zone Leaders had called us 36 times, the District Leader about 7 times, and the Bishop about 4, to find out if we had arrived home safely or not. Well. We arrived safely. Just turns out our phone was on silent and we were so absorbed in our conversation that we didn´t check it for quite some time. Life lesson learned. The phone will not be left on silent anymore.
Despite the bumpy welcoming to La Romana, I am loving my new area and I am especially loving being here with Hermana Schmidt! She´s the coolest. She has one more transfer left, and she´s my first American companion. We get along really well and just talk all the time. Benjamin, the name of my area, is really big and has a lot of variety in the different sectors. We have a super nice, rich area, then a more middle class one, then parts that are definitely struggling more. The ocean borders us and is beautiful. There aren´t a lot of places to see it, but it´s pretty when you do. I´m in a ward with a lot of great members that are willing to help us out. I have a lot of good feelings about this place. This week we had an awesome Zone Conference that lasted nearly all day on Friday. It was amazing. President Corbitt, Hermana Corbitt, and the Assistants all gave talks which were great. After that, we met this lady on the street and offered to help her with her bags. We walked her home and got talking and everything flowed amazingly. Long story short, we ended up teaching her in her house and putting a baptismal date right then and there. She accepted. We were so happy. On Saturday, we called her to remind her about church, and she informed us that she will no longer be listening to us because her mom told her not to. When Hermana Schmidt got off the phone we kind of just hugged each other and were in shock. We´re planning to go back and visit her to see exactly what happened. That situation got me thinking though about how church should never be just a social thing, because your salvation is not just a social matter. Her true opinions that she expressed to us were all in agreeance with ours. She really felt like she had found many answers in the lesson. Yet she took back all her impressions, all her excitement, just because her mom told her to. Do we really have Christ and our testimony written in our hearts? Or are we willing to take back what we have felt to be true just because of one comment? Every day is another day to write His name deeper, to put forth the effort to base ourselves more firmly in His gospel, and to decide for ourselves to follow Him, despite whatever comment or opinion that comes. I love you all! Keep firm in the faith. Hermana Shaw
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Letters: Sophia Shaw Santo Domingo East MIssion SDQ 4102, 2250 NW 114th Ave. Miami, FL 33172-3652 Packages: Sophia Shaw AP-000914 8540 NW 66th St. Miami, FL 33195 - 2698 lds.org mormon.org Dominican Republic Santo Domingo East MissionArchives
February 2017
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