So Much Happening!

Hermanas Castillo, Stewart, Lawrence, Jovel, and Jones

Hermana Lawrence's first four companions

Hello everyone! Can't believe it's already been another week!

Valentine's Day

Tuesday was Valentines day (and also my cumplemes!) So we celebrated with a super fancy dinner of tostadas, coke, ice cream, and heart suckers...It was super healthy too. haha 

So If you can remember weeks ago when I told you about Paulino! He has progressed SO much in the past two weeks. It is seriously so amazing! His story is a long one, but I don't have TONS of time...So here's my favorite parts: He was a man who liked his women, beer, smoking and coffee, but when we invited him to church and then he came, little did he know his life he liked was going to change for the better! He is giving up (or already has given up) all of these things so he can be baptized! He told us this week that when he wakes up at 2:00 in the morning and can't go back to sleep he reads his Book of Mormon (tear of happiness). Every time we pass him on the street he has a water in his hand (before it was always a beer). He has a really strong testimony! He is seriously a changed man and is continuing to change. He lives really close to the church and was telling us that for 30 years he has lived in this house and never vistited this church. He told us that the old bishop of this ward was one of his good friends but never talked to him about the gospel because he didn't seem like the kind of guy who would ever accept the gospel. This gave me a testimony to never judge someone by their cover and to never judge who will accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He had an interview with the bishop on friday night and then sunday he had his baptismal interview. There's a couple of things that still need to be worked out, so he has an interview with President Corbitt this week, but if all goes well he will be baptized on Saturday! :) 

We have been teaching a family, the Family Madrina, and they are the cutest ever! They are 5 little girls and ADORABLE. We found them and they told us that they had missionaries before, but one day they just stopped coming. They had a Book of Mormon and everything. They love the hymns (we sing everytime we go) so I gave them a hymn book and in the front, Suleikey, wrote "from hermana Lawrence" so cute! The only problem is they live really far from the church building and their parents won't go to church and no members live by them so It is going to be difficult to get them to church.

Raider is another investigator that had a baptismal interview yesterday. He is 21 years old. So he didn't really know that we were coming with the Elder's (oops) BUT he passed and said that he wants to get baptized! Yay! He is another that had missionaries a long time ago, but they stopped going. He

also has 5 brothers that can get baptized...and his mom and dad...so we have a lot of work to do :) They were showing us pictures that they had with the Hermanas before!

Today for P day we went to SWEET FROG! So when we went to visit Sierra's misison, we went to a Sweet Frog. So when I saw this here in the DR I freaked out! haha funny :)

I tried two new things this week: charamusca in form of a popsicle and chicharon. They are both really yummy! I realized today as I was eating my mangu how normal it is to just eat plantains and rice and beans. Like, I can't even remember what I ate before plantains and rice and beans. What else is there?

Love you all! -Hermana Lawrence