Hey I’m in the D.R. now

 Welcome to Santo Domingo.

I ate an empanada from a street vendor the second day here and didn't poop for the rest of the week which just means that my stomach has already acclimated to the new country because it took all that extra time to study and analyze the new bacteria I consumed here.

We have a sandwich griller in the kitchen that I use every day. There were a ton of spices in the cupboards and since everything's in Spanish I don't worry too much about what I'm actually putting on my food (since I couldn't tell ya what it is anyway), I just dump it on everything – and have had some of the most amazing grilled cheese and egg sandwiches let me tell ya.

My companion is awesome. His name is elder Reynoso and he's from the DR so he knows all the slang and has been super helpful teaching me gradually how to talk like a Dominican. The climate is hot and humid, random warm rainstorm bursts come and go throughout the day – but miraculously I feel like I've already adjusted pretty well to the heat and the Spanish! We will see what happens when June and July come around though.

The people here are awesome. Everyone is super humble and friendly. Pretty much everyone believes in God and wants to follow the example of Jesus Christ. I was just getting my hair cut by a 16 year old dude and we were talking about regular stuff we liked to do and then he was teaching me all these slang words and phrases I needed to know "por la calle". When I asked him what he wanted to do with his life when he's older he replied simply and without hesitation, "I want to serve Christ."

That kind of response was just really cool to hear. He had his whole life ahead of him and he could've talked about a lot of other desires and aspirations but the first thing he wanted to do was serve Christ. Way to get your priorities straight my man.

Let's follow the example the people set for us here and go out of our way to be kind and inclusive towards others, especially if they look a little out of place. You will make others feel so good and you'll feel better about yourself! 😄

Have a great week everybody. Stay tuned for more shenanigans and inspiration to come from this incredible country. I love and miss y'all like crazy!

Love,

Elder Johnson

You'd think living in a foreign country would make me take more pictures but uh, unfortunately I forgot to take any so here's two that I had to scrounge around for from other people. I will try to remember to take more pictures this week.