Little Adventures

Back AGAIN again... again...

9/4/2018

Well hello there. I said I'd be back so, here I am... Yes, like a month late but oh well.

In my last post I talked about some things we did in Delaware with our fam. Our next stop was Nashville, Tennessee. My home town :)

We got home and Mamita had my favorite meal prepared for us. I was very very happy.

I saw my best friends the day after we got there and it was one of the most exciting moments I had had in a while :b
I hadn't seen them in over a year and right when we got back together it felt like I had never left. I spent a good 75% of our trip back in Nashville with them and I'm glad I did. I'm definitely gonna miss them :(

About half a month into our trip, we had a little extra trip we had to make. You might remember my lovely 'older sister', Hannah, from Samana. Well, she got MARRIED. So we took a quick trip to Oregon for a week to go to her wedding. (And meet the very lucky man ;)
Technically, Iv'e only really known Hannah for four months; that's how long we were together in DR. But watching her walking down the aisle was like watching my older sister who's been by my side for a million years get married.
Hannah, I love you so much and I'm so happy for you and Jaden. (I love you too, Jaden)

Not only did I get to see Hannah again, but I also made some incredible friends. The Ortiz's, the family we stayed with, were so awesome. Kira is one of my favorite people and we clicked the minute we met.
She introduced me to all her other friends and they made me feel super welcomed.
We all spent the first day playing board games and walking a mile to the nearest playground at 9 p.m. I had real ramen for the first time and we got to visit The Goonies house and the Oregon Film Museum, where they filmed dozens of other movies.
We had so much fun. I miss Kira and all my other new friends over there so much and I'm excited to see them again soon.

Once we got back to Nashville we had another really quick trip. We went to visit a Spanish group in Kentucky that just joined our circuit. We went out in service for the weekend then hung out with some brothers. My friend, Isaias, smashed some pink geodes for us, causing some sparks to fly in the grass which scared us a little. But i guess it made it a little more interesting :)
The group was very small, but the brothers we so loving and I made some awesome friends I still keep in contact with now. I hope the group can keep growing into a congregation soon. :)

We got BACK to Nashville just in time for our Regional Assembly and I was so excited to be able to see some other old friends again.
And not to mention the program was amazing. I felt like I could do anything after it. I can't wait to see what'll come next year. I had so much fun with my friends, shed many tears at the final video and went home feeling great.

I got to see my cousin Jael again! we went shopping and stayed up late watching Star Wars. :) Even though we only got to hang out for a day, I'm glad I got to see her and her family again.

I went on my first road trip with my best friends, Rosio and Jasmin, for a weekend! We drove eight hours from Nashville to Panama City Beach. We ate crab legs and chicken wings and they got to watch Signs for the first time as I watched them get creeped out by Signs for the first time :) I can't wait to do another road trip again one day.

The rest of our trip was just visiting old friends again before we left. I'm so happy we got to see everyone again, but now it was time to go.
We said all our goodbyes, cried a little again, and made our way to the airport...

But that's another story ;)

P.S. here's a little video I made of my time in the States this year. I love you all and can't wait to see you guys again. See you soon!

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Guess who's back... Back again

6/4/2018

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Well, hello there. How ya been? It's been a while. Actually, a year to be exact.
I know I said I would be more active and post more often but as you can see thats been a bust. But now, I definitely have a lot to write about.

Where do I start? Let's see...

Well, we were in DR for about eight months. Its been a real adventure.

I got really close to some of the brothers and sisters in the English as well as the Spanish. I have some new friends I'm never going to forget for anything. Having to say goodbye to some of them when we came back to the States was really hard. But I'm so excited to be able to see them again soon.

I was able to get a really good study back in DR. Her name is Yanellis and she has a very clear and real love for Jehovah. After only visiting her for a few weeks, she asked for me to come back multiple times a week to study more often. She had her first baby girl back in October and she has said multiple times that she wants her baby, Lara, to grow up loving Jehovah as well. I'm so proud of her and even while I'm gone she's been keeping up with her study and even went to her first meeting last month.

I'm really excited to be able to go back and continue her study.

I got very close to a lot of friends in the English and I'm so glad I did. They all helped me immensely when we first moved there and made me feel better about leaving home, since they've all done the same thing we are doing. We go to the beach every Monday together and it's one of the best days of my week.

One family we met from England have basically turned into a second family to me. I was over their house and spending the night more and more often every few weeks. We stayed up till four in the morning with the girls, Lucy and Esther, watching new episodes of our favorite show, trying not to cry during The Impossible and me annoying Heather with my burping. (sorry not sorry)

I remember when we first met, I think I speak for both sides when I say we thought we didn't have a lot of common. But after getting to know each other, we realized we are more alike the we ever would of thought, bonding over Queen, The Greatest Showman and Marvel. (A whole lot of Marvel.)

Im so excited to see them again and spend all night talking about Avengers Infinity War. (If you guys are reading this you know what I'm talking about.)

Another family had a big dance party a few days before we left and it was the funnest last party in a while. I can't wait to get back and see all my friends and brothers again.

About a month before we left some friends from Nashville, Tania and Romary, payed us a surprise visit. (at least it was a surprise to me.)

It was so good to see them again and be able to spend the next two and a half weeks showing them my new life. We took them to the best beaches, up the cable car and on the hottest service days. I think they liked it, according to their plans to come back.

My uncle came to visit for a couple weeks too, except this surprise was a little different. After the first week of meetings, service and driving out to the best beaches, they surprised all the kids to a few days at a resort on the island.

Oh my GOD it was so nice. I did get a little stomach sick from eating my weight in free food but other than that it was one of the most relaxing weeks in a long time.

Also we got a DOGGO! I LOVE HER SO MUCH! HER NAME IS KONA AND I MISS HER SO MUCH! (excuse the caps doggies make me excited:)

We left her with a brother back in DR to take care of her while we're gone. Sadly, depending on where we end up living, we may not be able to keep her, so hopefully the brother can find her a good home. :(

Then it was time to come back home.

The flight back was uneventful, as usual. I slept and ate peanuts till we ended up in New York.

Our first stop was Delaware.

We made it into New York at around ten p.m. (I think, maybe, I don't remember much I was very tired)
Our old friend, Chris, picked us up and took us to my grandparents house. We were greeted by warm hugs and a very warm fireplace because it FREEZING outside. We didn't exactly think through buying the tickets back home in the middle of February.
I didn't hit me that it wasn't a great idea till I got a horrible cold and lost my voice. Oh well.

The next day I was going to surprise my cousins and some of my close friends at our book club. Besides one, no one knew I was coming. It was so good to see some of favorite faces again after so long. We all shouted and played and laughed even though I sounded like a frog. (Don't worry, I wasn't contagious. I think. Too late now.)

We spent the rest of those two months seeing family and seeing old friends again.

Aunt Devon and Uncle Jarrod sacrificed their house for our giant chicken and waffle party. I made white chocolate and bacon waffles and I must say I did a pretty good job. (they can't lie, they liked them too.) Luckily, neither Me, Dylan or Hayden burnt the house down, so I think dinner was a success.
We ate till we looked like the blueberry in Willy Wonka, watched the Princess Bride and played ultimate spoons the rest of the night.

I spent a lot of time out in service with my cousin, Jael, trying to keep my time up and spend as much time as I could with my family and old friends. She introduced me to a lot of her pioneer partners from there and other congregations, and now I can say I have even more new friends.

We had our big annual game night at my cousin Jalen's house. We played Apples to Apples, Secret Hitler (great board game, be ready for arguing) and played flashlight tag once it was dark outside. Can't wait to do it again next year.

Me and my dad went to Philadelphia with some friends and family to get my first real cheesesteak. We saw the Declaration of Independence, found clues from National Treasure and ended the day with Pats cheesesteaks VS. Genos cheesesteaks.

Final verdict: Genos won!

We took some pretty "gangster" pictures of Uncle Jarrod on a pink bike and of my dad doing his Nacho Libre poses and ended the day with ice cream.

It was a great 'goodbye' trip before we headed our way down to Nashville.

We spent a lot of time with my Tio Dan and Titi Jess and with my little cousins. We went to their congregation while we were there, it turning into another home. The brothers there are so loving and treated us like if we had always been there. I miss them a lot and it'll be great to see them again one day.

Soon enough it was time go to Nashville and see our old congregation after a year of being away. I'll post more fun things we've done since we got here next week. (Yes, I actually will, I promise) Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading!

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Two Months!!

7/27/2017

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Well then...
I guess its pretty much time to write again. its been two months? Oops.

Also, Its been two months! *audience scream in the background*

These past two months have gone by like a blur. Yes i know, say that a lot, but life really does go really fast sometimes, am i right or am i right?

They may have been fast but they have definitely been fun.

First meeting day feels like a hundred years ago. But, I also feel like I just got here because I still don't know a lot of the brothers names, mostly because their as or more complicated than mine.
But either way, the brothers here are very nice.

I've made some friends pretty quickly.
Although, I do have to get used to the fact that all the girls in the congregation are younger than me. I'm only 15 and now the oldest of about nine girls.

I went from being the baby back home and having to literally look up to my friends to look at them in eyes, to being the oldest out of all of the girls.
Reading it over, it doesn't seem like a big deal, but when you've been the baby for fourteen years then you immediately have to switch to being everyone's older sister is a little scary.

But all of the girls here are very sweet and they've "taken me in" as one of their own. And, like everything, i'll get used to it, even though i still wanna be the youngest sometimes. :)

We visited the English a couple times and it was awesome to be able to see some friends we met last year again. They had a couple pool parties and we played lots of volleyball that gave me lots of sore muscles and bruises but still ended up being a fun night.

Last month we did the monthly 'Haiti Run.' Before you ask no its not a marathon. No we were not running from Haitians and no we weren't running from police.

Every month, a group of brothers go cross the border to get their visas renewed. (cause if not they'd be illegal) And last month we had to renew ours too. (cause if not we would be illegal) (You get it?) (You get it.)

But not only do they just cross the border, get their papers and leave. They always make the Haiti Run a service day too. So once we get out of the car from the three hour drive, we start placing tracks as we walk down the busy streets.
Most of the Haitians really love getting literature, especially in their own language.
So once they see us pass by, we don't even have to ask if they want one. They ask us for literature.

As we walk, most of time we don't even speak with the people. (also we don't speak Haitian so that would be hard)
But by the end of the day, all the literature we had for that day is all gone.

It was a pretty cool experience. And even though both Haiti and DR are on the same island, you can definitely tell both are very different.

Although it was a little scary at first, it turned out to be such a cool and fun day and i'm excited to do it again next month.

A couple weeks ago we went to the assembly! *more crowds cheering*
This was our first regional assembly for this year. We didnt get to go to the one back home so it was exciting getting to go here.

Since we went to the English, i saw a lot of my friends that i met there last year too. And it was really cool cause, to my surprise, all of them remembered me and my family. (I mean who could forget me? HA) (yes that was a joke)
We all hugged and kissed like if we were having a family reunion. (I mean, technically its true but that's beside the point.) It was so nice seeing my friends again and i'm really happy i'm gonna be able to see them more often now that we're here.

We also got to see Nikki and Debbie again!
Them and their mom were back in Samana for a whole month! Then their dad joined them and we all met up at the assembly.
It was awesome to see them again cause I missed them a whole lot. Especially from our Samana day together. I'm very glad we spent the weekend together and i can't wait to see them again. (And yes, the convention was AMAZING)

Overall, it feels like we haven't done much but we've done a lot at the same time, (This blog is jammed packed with oxymorons, forgive me)

We've been keeping busy with service. Raquel and Dad have two studies already, mami has one, and I have one study and a couple solid return visits

We've having a good time and i'm excited to see what these next few months will bring!

Thanks for reading! (maybe i'll actually post more regularly now)
(HA yea right) :)

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The busiest 2 months i have ever had...

5/31/2017

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Heelloo!! Its me Raquel, I haven't written in a while sorry about that... But now you finally get to hear from me again!! yay! so I just want to talk about what we have done these past 2 months, to be honest we've done A LOT. Let me tell you... We have been to 3 states in just 2 months, just 2! first, my parents surprised me and Keilani to go to Disney World! We thought that we were going to do a project with a box, but when we opened the box it had our magic bands inside! With our names on it! Right when I saw that mickey mouse I knew that we were going to Disney World. Second, we went to New York with my family to go to Bethel, we went to Patterson and Warwick! it was pretty awesome! The cool thing was that we met a bunch of brothers that were in some of the videos on JW.ORG, we saw the brother that was in the Prodigal Son movie, we met the young sister from one of the great tribulation videos, and so much more! and after that we hung out a little bit at another brothers house for a little while. Third, we went to Massachusetts to visit some of my family there, we had a lot of fun and we met so many new brothers and made so many new friends! and then we went back to Delaware but we were still pretty busy we were having party's and picnics and sleepovers. one time me and my family slept over my aunts house for a whole week! it was awesome!.... Well I guess this is it for today I promise I will write again I wont be like all the other times i will right again, well anyways i have to go so bye!

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Busy Busy Busy

5/31/2017

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Hello!
It's been a really long while since I last wrote something, oops. We've been super busy lately from getting to Nashville, to coming to Delaware and literally everything in between.
We've been here for almost two months already and I don't think I've ever done so much in such a short span of time.

When we arrived in April, we saw the family and friends and we all spent time together over that weekend. By the next week, we were packing the car once more to go to Disney World in Florida. We drove thirteen hours from Nashville to Delaware, then we drove another sixteen hours from Delaware to Florida.

At the time it was all very exciting. "Road Trip Month" is what I called it.

After driving for over half a day, we finally arrived at the resort. We were surprised once again by our aunt and uncle from Massachusetts. That day we all relaxed at the hotel, and got ready for the week of food and rides and lots of walking ahead if us.

And for the rest of the week, that's exactly what we did.

After that week of fun, we drove back up to Delaware. The next few weeks were eventful as well. My aunt Wanda and my uncle Henry had their 30th anniversary party. We played lots of games and I made lots of new friends.

After that, we had a few days hanging out with friends, we packed the car again to go Bethel with my dad's side of the family. We had lunch at Patterson and then we visited Warwick. It was such a nice experience and I hope we can go again one day.

When we got back, we only had about a week to relax, because we got in the car once again to go visit my uncle Ben and aunt Beth in Massachusetts for the weekend.

We had chicken and waffles, pernil and an amazing breakfast at Johnson Farm.
We went to Sugarloaf Mountain and got attacked by the wonderful smells at Yankee Candle.

We said our goodbyes then came back to Delaware for the fourth time. Now, we didn't have to travel anywhere, the next weeks were also very busy.

We stayed with my aunt and uncle, Dan and Jess, for a few days and had pernil empanadas with rice and beans, which were delicious.

I've been busy out in service with my cousin Jael, although I don't think I'll be able to get all my time in this month. But I'll make it up in DR. :)

All of the kids in the family had a big sleepover all together one night. We stayed up till four in the morning watching Doctor Who and Spongebob.

I know what you're thinking. We're pretty cool kids. ;)

Last week we had a "Feast" at our friends Dave and Jennifer's house. Dinner consisted of
more pernil (yes, more pernil), mac and cheese, greens, fried chicken, potato salad, waffles, paella, and rice and beans. Me and my aunt passed out on their couch after dinner.

On Monday, we had a barbecue at my aunt Mimi's house and we caught up with some old friends. We played video games in Jalen's room, and Leila and I watched as the boys played football in the back yard.

This week, we're going hiking with my cousins, Jael and Caleb, we are having a picnic with all the home-schoolers on Saturday, and on Sunday we're having a party at Jalen's house.

Right now, I'm pretty exhausted. But I'm having the time of my life.

I'm excited to go back to DR in two weeks. It's unbelievable that we're already getting ready to leave again. It all went by too fast. But nonetheless, I'm very excited to be able to start a new life in Puerto Plata.

Although I'm pretty sure once we get there, I'm just gonna sleep for two whole weeks. :)

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Writing Challenge - Day 4

2/14/2017

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Day 4 - Write about someone who inspires you

Well I guess it's my turn to write about something...

'Write about someone who inspires you'. I was actually surprised about the person who came to my head when I read the question. But after I thought about why in the world this person came to my mind first, I actually realized this person really does inspire me.

The person that came to my mind was Cornelius Hackl, (Michael Crawford, Hello, Dolly!, 1969).

For those who have never seen this film, here's a small summary: Matchmaker Dolly Levi, (Barbra Streisand) travels to Yonkers to find a partner for "half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder, (Walter Matthau) convincing his niece, his niece's intended, and his two clerks to travel to New York City along the way.

Cornelius Hackl is the first clerk to Horrace Vandergelder in the film Hello, Dolly! He is a big dreamer in the small town of Yonkers, New York. He and his best friend Barnaby Tucker (Danny Lockin) set out to the big city to find one thing, and one thing only: love.

"Out there, there's a world outside of Yonkers, way out there beyond this hick town Barnaby, there's a slick town Barnaby!"

Cornelius, after many years, realized there was no point in being cooped up in the little store for the rest of his life. He wanted freedom, adventure, and most of all love. One day, when he met Irene Malloy, (Marianne McAndrew) he quickly fell in love. When he realized what he felt for Irene, he decided he wasn't gonna' let her slip through his fingers.

"Isn't the world full of wonderful things? There I sat cooped up in Yonkers for years and years and all the time wonderful people, like Mrs. Molloy, were walking in New York and I didn't know them at all!"

He convinced his best friend, Barnaby, who also caught feelings for a girl, Minnie Fay (E.J. Peaker), to go to the big city to get their girls.

"Put on your Sunday clothes There's lots of world out there... Put on your Sunday clothes we're gonna ride through town in one of those new horse drawn open cars..."

They were more than ready to get their girls back and take on the big city in the meantime.

"We'll see the shows at Delmonicos and we'll close the town in a whirl! And we won't come home until we've kissed a girl!"

Not only did Cornelius end up with the love of his life, he got the freedom and adventure he wanted for years. And he never went home until he had kissed a girl.

Cornelius was determined to do something great in his life, and he never gave up or backed down from doing it, even when his friends told him he shouldn't.

At first, this may seem like a weird person to choose for this topic. And of course, I don't have the same wishes and intentions as he does.

But nonetheless, Cornelius inspires me with his big dreams and determination, and I very much wish to be as driven and dedicated as he was.

You could say i'm a pretty big dreamer like Cornelius was, and some things I might want to do may seem strange or maybe even unrealistic to some people. But when anyone tried to make Cornelius give up on his dream, he simply didn't listen. He never backed down on what he set out on doing and he did it.

He taught me that I should never give up on my dreams and aspirations, because one day they might even come true. Even if other people try discourage or pull me down, even with little things, I should always be determined to do what I set out on doing.

For a really long time I've wanted to be a writer. And I still do. Either write a adventurous and thrilling book, or travel the world and be a journalist. People have told me the idea of being a writer was very unrealistic, especially as a witness. And, to a certain extent, it is. It does take a lot of time and energy to be a writer. But I'm not going to just forget about writing just because it's "unrealistic". Of course, I'm 100% positive I won't become a "world renowned writer, with millions of copies sold worldwide". But thanks to what Cornelius Hackl taught me, I will definitely never give up on my love for writing for as long as I live.

Cornelius Hackl was a pretty big inspiration to me when I first saw this film, and he still is now to this day. I definitely won't forget about Mr. Cornelius Hackl, and I will definitely never forget about this movie. (The soundtrack is too catchy)

"We'll see the shows at Delmonicos and we'll close the town in a whirl! And we won't come home until we've kissed a girl!"

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It's not like their ever gonna forget about you...

12/23/2016

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Colorful leaves, crisp air, hot showers, old friends, sweaters, scarves, and no more mosquitos...

It was already very different from the day we got back home.

The plane rides were rather uneventfull, slept through most of them. Although Raquel did get to go into the cockpit with the pilot and speak into the microphone. (Of course SHE does all the cool stuff)
I didnt notice she was the one on the speaker after she talked into it about FOUR times. But once I did, me and Dad were already in our seats, and Raquel was speedwalking towards us with her new "Flight Crew" badge, and a look of accomlishment on her face. But besides that, the flight was pretty dull.

Sleeping, some snacks, more sleeping, me almost panicking when we hit some turbulence. It wasn't that bad though. Let's just say, there were A LOT of clouds.

We finally arrive to Nashville at around 5:30. We haven't even landed and we're already getting cold. Luckily we had some sweaters for the flight back home. Although they didn't really help, it was something.

We start walking out of the terminal and get take big escalators to our next destination: Baggage claim.

We walk and walk till we reach the end of the airport, where baggage claim is just around the corner. We're cold, hungry and we smell of airport and airplane food. Then as were walking to baggage claim, all of a sudden we see our friends waiting for us with balloons and flowers and a big sign that says "Welcome home Mazarelli's!"

That was a surprise...

For about three whole seconds I didn't recognize who they were. Till I heard my friend, Joaquin, yelling my name. Then I finally realized what was happening. Suddenly, I wasn't cold or tired, and surprisingly I forgot about my hunger. A giant bolt of energy hit me straight in the face and I ran towards them till I almost crashed into my friend, Kayla.

I was extremly happy that they were there, because I missed them dearly.

We hugged and greeted for a whole five minuets before actually getting our bags. After a few minuets of searching we finally found all four of our bags, including all four of our carry ons.

We walk towards the exit to wait for my grandpa and another sister who ws suppossed to pick us up and help tke our bags home.

I step out the large auomatic doors to the bleak air that awaited us outside. Only about five seconds out the door, and I already feel the bitter wind latching on to my skin and clothes. The cold wrapping itself around my nose where it slowly began to feel numb and hard.

It only made me wish grandpa, Papito, was here already with our coats and a heated car.

Luckily we didn't have to wait that long. In a matter of minuets he was there to greet us with the sister, Christina, and we were throwing our bags in the back seat.

We were so excited, we completely forgot to put our coats on. So we just got in the car rode back to the house where a delicious meal was supposedly waiting for us.

We pull up in the driveway, to see my grandmas head already sticking out the door waving at us to come in. We jump out of the car and run to Mamita. Hugs and kisses were spread all around, not only from grandma, but from our cousins who were also there waiting.

I hug, I kiss, I greet and I walk in to the house. Just as I step inside, a delicious smell of turkey and biscuits slaps me right in the face.
Definitely a smell I have not encountered in a while.

It. Was. AMAZING.

There was baked turkey, stuffing, rice and beans, biscuits, salad, homemade soup and gravy... Oh the gravy.

I ate till my stomach ached and body was too drained to move. And what an amazing feeling it was. Of course, it was no Dominican homecooked meal, but it was GOOD.

The rest of the night we just watched movies with our friends with happy stomachs, and chilly toes till it was time for bed.

It was already very different from the day we got back home.

Everything changed so much yet it was all exactly how it was when we left.

After seeing my friends and family again those next few days, I didn't know how much I actually missed them, but how Ok I was with it. (Like that isn't hard to explain)

Of course, it wasn't like I didn't miss them, because I always did. It was more of "I miss you, but im ok without you." (That's even harder to explain)

Everyday away from them was always hard. But it was easier than I thought it was going to be.

You would think being away from your friends and family, whom you've been around your enitre life, would make your life miserable. The end of the world.

But it wasn't. I was ok.

Yes, there were days harder than others, but overall it was fine.
And once you see each other again, it's like you saw them just last week.

It's not like their ever gonna forget about you.

Yes, everything was very different, but it all stayed the same.

I'm extremely happy to be home with my friends and family again, and I'm having so much fun with everyone.

Also hot showers... Did I mention those? They are amazing!

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See You Soon...

12/2/2016

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Suntans and beaches and mountains and rain. Palm trees, mud, and lots and lots of sweat. This was my life the past six months...

I was preaching and giving studies and meeting hundreds of other brothers from all around the world. I learned customs and cultures and so much more about people and Jehovah.
I met new friends, made new memories.
I was getting thrown off horses!
This was my life the past six months...

I was four wheeling and motorcycling and getting crammed into and small van with 18 other people for an hour at a time.
This was my life the past six months...

"Four months left!", felt like an eternity and yet it feels like I said that last week. It went by too fast but I feel like I've lived here my whole life.

In these six months I did so much more than I thought I could ever do at the age of fourteen. I met so many people from around the world than I thought possible. I have so many more friends than I've ever had before and so many new experiences to remember for the rest of my life.

I've learned so much on our trip here...
From how to be better out in service, to how to cook a simple Dominican meal.

This trip taught me alot more than I could have imagined.
I know now that moving to a completly different country, let alone a new congregation, is scary. But everything will be okay. You will make so many new friends and you will have just as much fun as you did back home, maybe more.

I know now that it's okay to be nervous to go out to an entirely new type of territory. But everything will be fine. Because later on, you will be more succesfull out in service than before. Now I know it's okay to be sweaty! It's pretty normal!

I knew saying goodbye to this place, wasn't going to be easy. But I didn't know it was going to be so hard.

It's like saying goodbye to all our brothers in the congregation, was like saying goodbye to a second family.

I've only known these brothers for a very short amount of time, but it feels like I've known them just as long as the brothers back home.

I will miss them dearly, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for everything they've done for me and for my family.

Whoever is reading this, no matter how young or old you are... no matter if you have a family, or if you are single. If you are thinking of doing what my family and I have done, I beg of you, do it!
Yes, you will absolutely have bad days. Things like these always have their ups and downs, but I am promising you, you will not regret it.

It will probably be one of the best decisions of your life.
Whether you choose to serve somewhere for a month, six months or a whole year, please do it.

I assure you, you will not regret it!

I definitely do not regret it.

Even though I'm sad that we are leaving our new family here in Samana, I'm definitely very excited to go back home and see my friends and family again, and be able to tell them in person about all the amazing things we did here in DR.

Now, with our trip coming to a bittersweet end, I have to say goodbye to Samana, and all the amazing brothers and sisters here.
Even if I don't see them again for a long time, they will always be part of my life, everyday no matter what.

But, we will be back one day, I can promise you that.

So, I'm not going to say goodbye.

Only, 'see you soon'...

5 Comments

SISTERS

11/15/2016

3 Comments

We all have sisters; blood related or not. We have fleshly sisters, and then we have girls who you get so close with, that you just “click” with and you consider them your sisters. I have the privilege to be “blessed” with a fleshly sister. (momma forced me to say that) But I also have many other sisters.

I have lots of sisters back home that I’ve known for so long. I’m so very close to them and I’m so thankful to have in my life.

I also have sisters who I’ve only know for a very short amount of time, and yet we are still undeniably close. That’s who I want to talk about.

Nikki and Debbie came here to DR with us for about a month. Although I’ve known them since I was born, we got so much closer when we were here together. You can read their experiences here.

Right before Nikki and Debbie left, we met Hannah, Jasmine and Cezanne. When Hannah and Cezanne left, we cried… Yea.

We’ve only known them for about three months and I feel like I’ve known them way longer. We all immediately became good friends, even though they are all a lot older than me. It was like having three new big sisters for the next three months. They have gone through so many other experiences in other countries too. They have gone to serve in Croatia, Ecuador, Ireland, and here in DR. Having that extra support from the girls and encouragement from their experiences, helped me stay positive with our move here to DR. We’ve definitely had many experiences together. Some awesome, some weird, and some just flat out crazy. But they were unforgettable, just like my new big sisters.

Last week we went to Puerto Plata to visit some friends. That’s when I met Mili. Ah, Mili. Oh, how I love that human. Mili is 15 years old, she is an AMAZING photographer and she is a pioneer.

Let me just say I’ve only met her once, and we are already planning when we can spend a week together in Texas (where she lives). She is one of the nicest, smartest and funniest people I know. When we met each other, something just clicked. Now it’s like we’ve known each other for years. We have SO much in common. We both play the same instrument, have the same favorite movies, and books, and a lot more. It was like meeting another me in a lot of ways. I’ve only met her once, but I miss her dearly. She is surely a new sister in my life and I won’t forget about her. (Can’t wait to see you next year Mili!!)

Also, while we were in Puerto Plata, I made a new baby sister, Julia. She’s only 2 years old, so we obviously couldn’t “get to know each other” very well. But I still consider her a new baby sister, and I love her very much. Not to mention she is adorable!

I’ve also made such close friends here in Samana. We hang out with Dora and Yordania a lot because they live across the street. LITERALLY. We always have fun when we are together.

We all have sisters; blood related or not.

I know I have many. From the day I was practically born, to just last week, I always make new ones. Not only sisters but brothers as well. I will continue to make new ones for the rest of my life. I love them all with all my heart.

(P.S. Just kidding about Raquel. Of course, I love my sister.)

3 Comments

A Month Left!

10/27/2016

1 Comment

A quick post...
We got to DR four months ago. Honestly, it feels like we've been here longer, but it also feels like we got here last week.

We only have the month of November left before we leave the first week of December.
The whole thing has gone by so fast and yet I feel like we've been here forever.

Up until now, I've really liked my experience here. Of course, we have our bad days, but you will see that anywhere you go. But overall, I've been having a lot of fun. I've definitely gotten many, many different experiences that I won't forget about.

From going to new places and more bible studies, to meeting brothers from all over the world. And some more "intense", I guess you could say, experiences like jellyfish stings to combusting shoes, and getting thrown off horses, I think my trip will be pretty unforgettable.

And I can just imagine what fun and "intense" experiences we'll have when we come back. Whether it's back here in Samana, in another part of the country, or even another country in general, I know I will have a lot of fun.

And without a doubt I'm a little sad that it's already so close to coming to an end, but I'm also very excited to go back home and tell my friends about all the cool things Ive learned and experienced from being here... And hopefully I can help encourage some of my older friends to do the same, and move to the where the need is great too.

But, we've still got a whole month left. And we've still got things to do that we haven't even done yet! Even though a month really isn't that long, we are definitely going to make the most of it.

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