I moved to the mountains! The city of Ocoa is super pretty and small so everyone knows each other. That's a good thing because whenever I get lost I just have to tell anyone on the street where I'm trying to go or who I'm trying to find and they're quick to help the clueless American dweeb out. ("oh yeah they live straight past the yellow house, down the bad road and left at the sick dog...")
We had a fun activity on Saturday for all the men in the little church out here. Our mission president brought his grill and cooked hamburgers for us, which everyone absolutely loved. Afterwards, he gave an awesome devotional about using the priesthood to bless others and rising up to be the men God needs us to be. He invited everyone to come to church so they could serve their families and friends and learn how to use the priesthood. It was very powerful. We played pool, dominoes and chess, classics from the dominican republic. I taught a little kid a few chords on my ukelele and he took it home to practice. The next day, on Sunday, every single person who was at that activity showed up to church and a few of them even brought their friends!
I'm pretty sure our house out here is the only one in the mission with a water heater so that's way nice. Although the water wasn't actually working when I first showed up so it was kind of a useless perk but then we all prayed as a house for the water to work and the next morning we all took hot showers. Crazy how prayer works like that!
I have a new companion who's cool AND he's cousins with Dwaine the rock Johnson. At least that's what he tells everyone.
On Wednesdays and Saturdays we take an hour hike way up into the jungle mountains to a village called "Parra" to teach English classes and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. I've made a lot of cool friends up there!
I met a Menenite family from the states out here, we started speaking in English to each other and I found out they were missionaries too! They were a younger family with two little kids and were out here serving 3 year missions for their church, building homes, digging wells and ministering to people in need. They were so awesome. It is so inspiring for me to see people like them serve God with all their heart, might, mind and strength. Seeing their faith fortified my own.
The locals are all so loving in general, they almost always invite us in to make us a fruit drink or something even if we were only stopping to ask for directions or offer a blessing. There's a fruit here they call the "Gwanavana" or however you spell it, it's green on the outside and white on the inside and the juice it makes is SO Good!
I believe a big part of what makes these people so kind is that the majority of them believe in Jesus Christ. They are happy and positive. The locals of Ocoa are awesome examples of Christlike love and service.
Love you all! Hasta la próxima,
Elder Johnson
