March 17, 2010

Well to start things off, happy St. Patrick's day! if your not wearing green pinch yourselves for me because as you know its physically impossible for me to do that to you guys right now! haha well i hope you guys are having a great time and a spring break!! right now it is really crazy in the streets right now! its what they call the Carnival! look it up on the Internet, everyone dresses up in masks and costumes and its a very huge Carnival! its so awesome i was not able to see it last year, but its so cool! all the kids have whips and just whip them loud. i had a member make me one as a reminder of the Carnival, its cool and I'm learning how to whip! they call them fuertes here in the DR.

This week was very good! we baptized Pamela, the sister of Jean Carlos who we baptized like a month ago. it was very special and i had the honors of doing it, well like i always do haha. We try to get a member to do the baptisms but they all want me to do it and no one else, its like i have a special glow around me and everyone wants me to do the baptism! but that's ok with me because i love doing them, the spirit is always strong.

This week is Zone Conference and President Viñez, President of the Carribe, will be there to talk to us! I'm super excited and cant wait to here what amazing things he has to say.

I had an intercambio with a fairly new missionary on Monday, and at night we ate pizza, and i tried to do the prayer in English and.........lets just say it was sad and i started to read the scrips in English only so i can get my English back, i don't want to look like a fool on my homecoming talk.

Today the whole zone went to go climb the mountain at the beach again but me and my comp decided not to so we could rest, clean, and rest some more haha. Were working super hard so we need a break. I cant believe next Wednesday is the last regular pday until transfers on the 30th, that means only 3 left to go. Weird haha. oh i was wanting to know, how is the planning on the trip here to pick me up.....thought about it yet.

Mom the title of your email said where a green tie, i will do that but it will be for like one hour haha after pday we have a meeting then play basketball, so maybe i will use one tomorrow to, a late celebration. How is Utah, is it cold, i hate the cold! its weird i always say that but something inside me wants to go to BYU, haha but that wont ever happen, i don't think i could get in with a 3.4 average. but who knows.

Wow sounds like your getting better Josh! i really hope that you start walking soon, watch tons of March Madness for me and remember, GO TAR HEELS!! and SUN DEVILS!! Dad how is the best Bishop ever doing?....need any more advice with things or any questions...just let me know and you know I'm always here. Have you played golf lately....man you don't know how bad i miss it. I want to play with you the day after i get home on my favorite course....can you guess what it is....yes you guessed it! LAS SENDAS! we got a deal......

Well i better end! i miss you guys and hope you have a great Spring Break. i know that Jesus lives and that he is the Christ, read and pray everyday and you will be happier and have success in all you do!

love Elder Westergard

Well this week was really fun! Elder Miranda and i taught many good lessons and we found tons of new investigators! actually we received 16 references this week!! and we had a good experience to.....walking on a dirt road just after it was raining, some old guy was trying to push with one hand through the road in a wheelchair, so we pushed him to his house and taught his family, it was really amazing and it made my testimony of service increase.

So mom i feel your pain with the rain. last week the rain started when i was emailing you guys and it didn't stop until 2 days ago, i didn't see the sun for 5 straight days and it was sooooo cold! i never have been that cold on a tropical island. so ya i was like, come back sun....then it came back and i was like, go away sun!! haha so ya it was good though because today we played softball with the zone, but the cool thing is that the missionaries in Villa Vasquez live next door to a guy that plays AAA for the Diamondbacks!!! it was awesome and he played with us, almost all his hits went way over the wall. I took pics with him in his Diamondback cloths and he let me put on his under armor Diamondbacks sweater to take a picture. He speaks English so we all talked to him for awhile, it was really fun and we ended up beating his team in the extra inning with a home run, 17-16! it was a really fun day, i got a little sun though, I'm kind of red haha.

Then we all went to go buy lunch, la bandera!!! which is rice, beans and chicken. then we took a little rest and now we are here using Internet.

Wow its already spring break there.....time goes so fast. that's sweet that mom and Jakelle are going to Utah, eat some haystacks for me OK!

Well i know that this church is true with all my heart. there is no doubt in my mind! the book of Mormon is true, and Joseph Smith was the prophet and still is of the restoration of the only true gospel in the world! Jesus lives, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen!

Elder Jesse Westergard

Wow i cant believe that's it is already March! and that its March Madness again, GO NORTH CAROLINA and ASU! well the bummer of my week was just reading that Mesa High lost in the quarter finals to St. Mary's. I'm really bummed, but ill be home next year to see that good black kid again and win state.

This last week we continued to break the zone goals of lessons taught and stuff, were working super hard. Sunday was a great day, we had 5 investigators at church and my two baptisms, two 16 year olds, got the priesthood, so it was awesome to see the fruits of my labors progressing you know!

On Monday we had our district conference and it was pretty good, i was feeling kind of sick and stuff and that night i didn't sleep, so it was hard for me to pay attention, but I'm good now. yesterday we had to travel down to Navarrete for our interviews with President Lee. My interview was great simple and short haha so thats always a good sign, i think. but the bus ride always stinks, 2 hours on a bus so 4 hours all together and today is Santiago pday so we came even farther, 2 and a half hours haha so 5 hours all together, but its worth it, i saw lots of friends in the mission today and ate pizza and hung out, now were at Internet and its in Santiago so its fast haha that's what i love, i don't think i ever be in the city, i want to so bad!!!!

So me and my comp are having a great time, and last week we played basketball on Wednesday night and it was like....wow! they made a new rule that i cant be on the same team as my comp because we will always win haha. so its cool, were playing tonight after the long bus ride back.

Well it sounds like all of you are doing good! wow that's so awesome that there is a Tia Rosas now where Fazzolies was, good trade off i think. that's good that the Suns are winning now, even though they are like way behind right....

So Dad you are going to talk about the Apostasy and the Restoration tonight....my favorite things to teach haha. so ya i love teaching those 2 things. I use an example in Apostasy, i tell the people that Jesus formed his church, which i compare to a mirror, which has 4 nails in it to hold it up, prophets and apostles, authority, revelation, and scriptures. when Jesus and his apostles died there was only 1 nail left, scriptures, and the people ended up changing them so they weren't the exact truth, so that nail got taken out. and without nails the mirror will fall and shatter in many pieces. but the people wanted to know the truth but couldn't find it, Amos 8 7-11 i think, so they each took a little piece of the mirror and formed there own church without authority and the whole truth, or the whole mirror, that's why there are so many churches in this world, then in 1820 Joseph had his vision and ya you know the rest.... but people tend to understand the example really good haha. I have many others to for all topics.

Well i better go, i need to get back to Dajabon and ball it up. I love you all very much! have a great week and remember, if you want to talk to your Father in Heaven, pray! and if you want to hear his voice, read the scriptures!!

love Elder Westergard

Hey sorry family that this letter is really late getting to you and really short. We went in to the city, Santiago, today because my comp had to go see the mission doctor, so we traveled along way and just got back! this week was such a great week, and what made it better was you guys telling me that Clayton is going on his mission! you don't know how happy i was when i heard that, I'm so proud of him and what he is doing.

This last week we did alot of finding because we pretty much baptized everyone else, and these new people are going to get baptized too. We had 3 more baptisms this week! it was so awesome, and about 6 more planned this transfer. Elder Miranda is such a great elder! he has been out for 6 months today, so were working hard, yes i said I'm working hard even though i only got 5 months left......wow.

I cant even describe all the blessings I'm receiving here in the mission, working hard and being obedient has changed my life. honestly i asked a new missionary today to trade me time so i could have 2 more years here, I'm not lying haha. this place is my home.

Well it sounds like all there is trying to get better with Josh and his knee, Dads hurt calf, and Mom on the couch, sorry about all that stuff, it really stinks. Josh get better and your in my prayers, hopefully you can play ball or golf when i get home.

wow so Tiger came out in public today huh?? that's a start, i hope he comes back soon, i don't know what i would do without that man on tv to watch all the time!

Well its really late and i got to get over to the church activity and dominate basketball with my companion. I know that the church is true and Thomas s. Monson is the living prophet on the earth today. The Book of Mormon has changed my life and the way i act, let it do the same for you too! i know your receiving blessings for my service here and also family friends, the Eslers. Ilove you guys so much, remember what a smart man told me...when your on your knees, you can not fall (DAD, i love you)

Love, Elder Westergard