Happy Birthday Dad!

Here is what happens when you let the Elders touch your camera! My Twin - Sister Matteson After a long day of Spanish! Hola todos, Mom, my package is in the country, but I should actually get it sometime this week. It's been crazy. My comp used DHL and got it in 3 days. Global Mission Shipping takes like 7 days. It's been crazy. But whatever!! I need to learn patience. Sorry, I haven't had time to read much of your letter, they changed our email time. But we'll see how it is next week in the field. My next p-day won't be until NEXT monday. Not this one. And I don't know what the rules will be. Speaking of the field, we went out for the first time on splits into the East mission on Friday. I was partnered with a Hna who had one week and a half left. She was veteran. To get there, we drove past the ocean, and it was incredible. I've never seen so much blue in my life, and my brain kept trying to imagine mountains in the distance because otherwise, what would hold all the water in?? My area was a fairly poor, dirty part of Santo Domingo, away from the big city part. The houses are all brightly painted, and the trees all boast gorgeous flowers in all colors. Mangy nasty dogs just run free, roaming the streets, and threatening rabies if you step wrong. But the puppies are adorable. There's lots of trash all over. The houses there were very very small. And the front room is usually just open to the outside. Lots are built on top of each other, and you take some unstable cinderblock stairs up a narrow windy crack to get to the ones above. We taught 3 lessons. The first was to the tiniest little lady I have ever seen. (Me and my companion were 5'10 and 5'11). We took a member, but he mostly just fell asleep in all the lessons. I could understand my companions Spanish, but I had to fill in a lot of blanks when the investigator talked. I got to teach part of the lesson, which was super fun. And I'm pretty sure it at least made a little sense. I also jumped in several times to bear testimony of what my companion was saying. Next we had an appointment with a man who apparently is having a hard time with the whole Joseph Smith/Book of Mormon thing. We were going to teach more about the Book of Mormon, but then his brother was there. This brother had slicked over hair and a smirky smile. He just oozed insincerity. Well, his agenda for the lesson was to fight with us about the Book of Mormon, and my companion decided to run with that plan. It was AWFUL! Me and the real investigator just exchanged grimaces the entire time. I did elbow my way in to share a scripture, and with only a blink in my direction, the brother just went right back at it. I knew that we just needed to leave, but my companion was so worked up and had completely lost any serenity or peace. I prayed desperately for a little bit of spirit to be there, and finally when I could see my companion was getting ready to give up, I jumped in. In my gringo accent, and not-near-perfect Spanish, I told them "I'm learning Spanish right now, and I can't say a lot, or understand all of this, but I do know that this book, the Book of Mormon is true. I know because I have read it and prayed about it and received answers from God. This book and its teachings are the words of God. Nothing this good could have come from anything bad. The things in this book bring us close to Christ. I know Joseph Smith was a true prophet. I know this church is true. I know that you don't need to believe what we say, because I know that you can receive your own answer when you read and pray with faith." That was my shining moment, but it only lasted for 2 blinks before smarmy brother was telling us how great it is that we love God, but how sad it is that we are serving Him the wrong way. My companion was ready to deck him, so she asked if we could close with a prayer and leave. I about died when he said he would pray. Ah, so not a good teaching appointment. Our last was a young mother whose son died four months ago, she's interested in the church because they want to be with him again. My companion started the lesson and then elbowed me to signal that I should teach. Not being able to read through the elbow signal WHAT she wanted me to teach, I just went for the next section in the pamphlet we were talking about. I taught about how the gospel blesses families. I shared with her that the other day, I was missing my family, but I knew that through the gospel, I could be with them forever, and that I needed to be here helping other families know the way that they can be together forever. It was an incredible experience. I learned that I can do it. I need to get better at understanding the Dominicans, but I can at least help teach. Other adventure of the week: So, Hna Walker told us that she can speak fluent Spanish when she sleep-talks. Would you believe her? No. So I didn't either. Until it happened. One night, not very long after lights out, we hear some little noises. Then, "Mmm, Alex? Quien es Jose Smith?" We think that it's a prank at first, but after a few more muttered phrases, we ask her, "Hna Walker, Quien es Jose Smith?" She then launches into this flawless Spanish explanation of the restoration. The thing is, she can't speak Spanish that perfect, quickly, and grammatically correct in real life. Her accent was flawless (and it's far from flawless in real life). We kept asking her questions for about 20 minutes. It was incredible. She thought we were in Ogden, Utah, and she was still in the process of deciding to serve a mission. We told her she should go to the Dominican Republic, and she was like, “No! I don't think they even send sisters there. I want to go to the Western United States!” (Which is what she had told me previously that that was where she was hoping to go). It was hysterical. And then we woke her up and her perfect Spanish is gone. She couldn't remember any of it. We got to watch a devotional from the Provo MTC from January by Elder Holland. I saw Jake Whitney in the crowd, and I also saw my old roommate singing in the choir. But the devotional was AMAZING! I wish you guys could see it. It was incredible. I have never felt so excited to be a missionary. Some of my favorite quotes: "Go out there and astonish somebody" (now this is pasted on my door) "This is real life. This is one of the closest things to real life you will ever experience." "Just work every day until someone tells you to go home." Ah, but none of these are adequately conveying the power of his talk. I want to be so much better and work so much harder. I have learned so much. But now, with less than a week left here, I'm desperate to learn more. There's too much to know and be. Sometimes I'm overwhelmed because Heavenly Father is trying to have me learn so many lessons every day. The other day, I was like, "Um, did you not see humility on my goals for the day? Did you really need to throw charity, patience, service, hope, and faith at me too today? Can we do one at a time?" But no. No we can't. I'm learning a lot about the necessity of the atonement every single day. There's a girl in my district who has been really mean to me this week. I've had a lot of feelings of frustration and hurt, and the only way to get rid of them to make room for love is through the atonement, because I can't get rid of them myself. I love you all lots and lots. I'm so grateful for your support. Love, Hna Sarah Peck

Another Week in Paradise!

I'm so glad when I hear from my brothers and sisters, I miss them so much. Thank you for your notes! Lindy, learn lots of spanish and we can chat! Maddy, be glad you don't have to drive on the crazy roads down here! And Aaron is still cute even throwing a fit. But oh my goodness he's so big! Charlie looks like he's having tons of fun! Landon, they NEVER have snow here. In fact, it's never even rained here yet, but it should soon. It's always super warm. We have palm trees and flowers. But I'm sure you're doing everything in your power to get the tramp up there! I wish I could send you a bit of our sunshine! :) Except mom, never again send a picture of a homemade oreo. Or any homemade goodie for that matter. I almost died. It was the most depressing thing I've ever seen. I drooled on the keyboard for sure. I'm in the CCM until the 26th-ish. I know all the senior misssionaries here and they're all great. In fact, the Despains are from Smithfield and know the Smiths. Speaking of, mom, tell them thanks so so much for the stamps, stickies, and chocolate! I'm still hoarding a few last kisses. And a few oreos from the plane. I only eat them when I'm really sad. They're worth gold here. So, I've officially given up on real mail. And no, my package hasn't come. Other people's have which were sent later than yours, but not mine. I'm getting super super worried about it. And none of your letters have come either. But dearelder works more of the time,(but make sure that before I leave you start sending them out to the mission instead of the MTC) but basically, everybody can email me, so shoot off a note to sarah.peck@myldsmail.net That would be awesome. I hope that you're all getting my letters. So, the mission update. There are currently 10 sisters in my mission, and six new ones (including me) will be headed out this next transfer. So even the relatively new ones will be training us. Most of them are North American. And then lucky us, we'll be training possibly after our very first transfer, but for sure after the first couple. Definitely before we're even fluent. So that's scary. And kind of frustrating because I feel like I should be better at Spanish by now. We went contacting at the university here on Friday, and it went pretty well, but was super frustrating, because I can't understand them very well. And I almost screamed I was so frustrated when the only thing I can understand is all the innuendo being called out by the guys as I walk past. I guess it's more of an international language. It's discouraging when I can't answer what people are asking me about the pamphlet I just gave them, but I definitely know way more than I wanted to about what the guys across the sidewalk are saying about me. But for the most part everyone is super nice and will talk to you and take a pamphlet. Yes, I run around the temple grounds or parking lot with some other girls to try to work off the mountains of rice and beans that we eat. It's nice to get out after sitting in classes all day. We've run more than a mile each day that we go, so it's something I can feel proud about even when my Spanish is super awful. But we'll get there I hope. I'm learning lots about the gospel and my Savior every day, so that's something! Thanks for all the prayers from everyone! I can always definitely use them! I love you all so very very much. Love, Hna Sarah Peck

This Could Be Para-Para-Paradise!

Paradise! Why I love Kristen! The MTC Cafeteria (1st Floor) and Gym (AKA the Parking Lot)and our Classroom My Desk and Bedroom and Hallway (All on the 4th floor) Sooo, last Friday we were supposed to go contacting at the university, but of course the students were still striking. (pretty normal apparently. Burning tires, picketing, etc etc.) So we couldn't go there. Instead we went to a park about 20 min. walking away. They gave us a stack of pamphlets and turned us loose. It was incredible. So much fun. We have the worst spanish, but people here are soooo nice. They are all Christian and totally willing to take a few minutes to listen to a couple of gringo girls in broken Spanish try to bear a testimony about Him and His gospel and then refer them to the number on the back where they can get ahold of missionaries who actually speak Spanish. Everyone was so nice and would compliment our Spanish and always took a pamphlet and talked with us. I love these people!! There are a few things I'll have to get used to though. Like the fact that they are so super touchy here. Everyone just touches your hair, your face, grabs your arm, rubs your back. (The women, I mean, of course) It is wild. I have to be careful not to freak out and jump away. They're also super blunt. They say anything they think. They will refer to you as skinny (or fat or short or tall) if they don't know your name. Literally, "Venga flaca!" (Come here skinny!) It's kinda bad because I've found that I'm more blunt when I'm speaking in Spanish. If I want to tell my comps that they need to do something, or that they shouldn't do something, or anything that would require some tact in english, I just say it in spanish instead. Because that's what the natives are like! Also, they've all begun to refer to me as "la modelo". All my teachers (who are all natives) refer to me as that to everyone. The missionaries out right now see our teachers pretty frequently, and ask about who's coming out. My teachers told them about me, and so now all the sisters are waiting for "the model" missionary Hna Peck, to come out. My district all thinks that's hilariously funny, and jumped on board that wagon. I am going to get such a big head! But don't worry, because whenever the Lord needs me to be humble, He just sends a native to come chat with me in Spanish. Fun fact: DR is the 3rd poorest country in the western hemisphere apparently. Another fun fact: It's my half birthday on Saturday!! Peanut butter. The cupboards here are stocked, but I don't know if it's just here to accomodate the Norte Americanos. Dinner is super tiny here, because lunch is their big meal, so all of us North Americans file into the kitchen afterward, break out the peanut butter, and make PBJ's. It's my favorite thing to do. I love it. My second favorite food here is the banana bread, and after that is my staple breakfast, which is super runny cinnamon-y oatmeal mixed with raisin bran or fruit loops. I really honestly love it so much. I wake up every morning craving my oatmeal. I don't know what I'm going to do without it when I leave on the 26th. The elders here are gettting much better. The other day they went on splits with "real" missionaries out into my mission (they're eventually going to Puerto Rico). They talked with me about it afterward. Apparently where they were is extremely, extremely impoverished. They saw all sorts of things we wouldn't believe in the United States. It's going to be super hard, but I'm excited to get out there. And there's going to be no more of this keeping the sisters in the nicest areas, because there are just too many sisters coming out. We'll probably be training after our 1st or second transfer. After we leave, there are 20 more coming to the MTC to our mission. And after that, the MTC is getting a group of 43 sisters at once. They'll start using more floors then. It's crazy. We really are the very very beginning of this wave. We were here when there were only 30 of us! Funny story for the week: Some in my district were teaching a lesson to a pretend investigator, pretending to be a single mother of 4. They were teaching about the atonement and gave her this scripture to read out loud, telling her that this would help her to recognize her sins. The scripture they meant to give was 2 cor 7:9-10, but they opened up to 1 Cor 7:9-10. Please look them up. One talks about having godly sorrow, the other says that men and women need to be married or else they will burn, and the same for if a woman leaves her husband. The investigator started dying laughing, and the missionaries didn't know what was wrong because they didn't understand what it was saying in spanish, they had their scriptures open to the right English scripture. We all died laughing. We teach lessons every day. We have 3 pretend investigators. They're people that work here, and they all play as converts from their own missions. Most of them are converts themselves, and they are all so amazing. I love all of my teachers here. And I love President and Hermana Freestone. They really are like our prertend mom and dad out here. Hermana Freestone always gives us a good-night hug, and sometimes makes cookies for us. She also sews our clothes if they rip. They are wonderful people. Love you all, Hna Peck