Week 7 - Life in the D.R.

Okay in this letter I want to talk a little more about my area and the DR because I had absolutely no idea what I was in for while I was in the CCM. First off, mom, you would love it here (sarcasm) because in an average day, I see about 50 or 60 stray dogs and even more chickens just walking around the streets. You can not walk more than 20 feet without seeing a dog or a chicken. Unfortunately I can not pet a lot of them because they are nasty and probably carrying deseases. The people here are truly amazing but they do a few things that are different. One of my favorites is the use of the word "Okay." They use it as almost a "me too" kind of word. As in a lot of times I'll say like "nice to meet you" or "thank you so much for something" and they just respond in a very sarcastic monotone type voice "okay." In the states the way they use it would sound very rude or disrespectful so it's funny to hear.

Also I didn't really believe when I heard 2 hours of electricity a day, but sure enough we are lucky to get two hours of power each day and it's just at random times. We do have a tiny little inverter thing that charges while the power is out but it really is only big enough to power our two fans when we go to bed and a light when we need it. But I'm very thankful for the fans because sleeping would be miserable without them.

The showers here are awesome. There is not enough pressure to have a head on them so they take them all off and it's just a small stream of really really cold water, which I actually don't mind a ton because it is always hot here. It rains at least once a day and the drainage system in my area doesn't really work so if it rains hard enough so many streets flood. The Danskos I wear are amazing because they are water proof. Also when it rains the front room in our apartment floods. All in all it's really not bad and we have a pretty nice apartment that can fit like 4 to 6 Elders and it's just Elder R*** and me.

Oh, a fun little fact about the churches here. There really are a ton of them. I watched a video about the DR and the progression of the Church here and in 2014 there were 234 church buildings! Wow!

A few other funny things about the people here, none of them can sing. Haha. Our sacrament meeting songs are so terrible but at the same time so amazing. They also sing hymns realllllllllly fast. Like 3 or 4 times faster than you should be singing them. Anything English here is super popular especially on clothes. The problem with that is sometimes you'll get someone that has a shirt that is super crude and they have absolutely no idea. The area I'm in, the people aren't super educated for the most part so it can be really hard to commit people to read the Book of Mormon or other commitments. But the people are so incredible and I really do love being here.

It has been super hard because we have so many people who are so prepared to hear the gospel and get baptised but there is always something holding them back. One of the biggest issues here is getting people married. It costs quite a bit of money to get married here especially if you are a foreigner, and even more money to get divorced so people just don't get married and it can raise a lot of problems. It is raising a lot of problems with a couple of our investigators.

This week has been so amazing and I can see the Lord blessing me so much!

I love all of you and miss you guys so much!! I hope everyone has an amazing week!!!

Elder Robertson