Week 89

So this week has been one of the most amazing of my entire mission! i got a new comp tuesday night, his name is Elder Diego from Peru, he only has 2 weeks left before he goes home! two oldies working it out on the final stretch and let me just say it has been amazing, we are working harder than ever, and more efficiently than ever!

 

this week the Lord blessed us to find about 5 new families, that are super prepared to recieve the gospel, some of which are already married, which is very uncommon here in the DR! The Hernandez family is one of them, they have 5 kids, from 4 to 14 and are super awesome, we contacted the dad, jose thomas, in the park one afternoon and he said we could pass by and teach his family, they are already married and he said he is interested in our message! him and his son went to church this week, his wife, maria had to stay home with the kids that were sick. in our first lesson we talked about baptism and invited them as a family to work toward a goal of the 29 of April, which may seem a little fast, but Elder Diego and i feel that they are super prepared, they said they would strive to recieve an answer and act on it!

 

i think i have finally found the key to missionary work, and its to find, teach and baptize continually. if someone is not progressing, and its not their time, we must strive to find those that are prepared by the Lord. we have found so many prepared people this week, 23 new investigators to be exact, that means that we taught 23 new people and have a time to go back and teach, i am seriously just astonished! 

 

i was worried that my mind would kinda just kinda burn out these last 2 months, but just like a christian rock and roll song that my dad and i sang all the time says, IM ALIVE; IM ALIVE; AND MY SPIRIT BURNS WITH DESIRE! hahaha i feel like the Lord can finally use me as the instrument that he needs in the mission field, and let me just say, I am sooooooooo happy :) i am looking forward to coming home, but i have really enjoyed this week, probably becuase of how focused we are right now, and i  praise my comp E Diego, he endures til the end!

 

anyways, pray for those that we are teaching, families Hernandez, Ramirez, mendez, valenzuela, and Flores! 

 

thanks for the Love and support! the church is true and the book is blue!

 

ELDER AUGER

This is one of our new investigators, his name is Ever, and he is a local chef, we were contacting someone outside his business and as soon as we finished talking he asked us to look up his name in our cell phone, we found it saved there, he told us that elders in the past had talked to him, so i was wondering what is challenge was, so we put another day to come back, and he told us to bring an empty stomach and hunger! so we pass by thursday night and he prepares us this big plate of BBQ ribs (which is the first time i have eaten ribs here) and we talked a little about our message. my comp and him talked about the bible and at the end of the lesson, we basically find out that he is athiest. he says that christianism is great because it makes the world a better place, and he is a very christlike person, but he needs to know that there is a God and a Savior, so instead of talking about the errrors in the bible, i said we were going to discuss the Book of Mormon, we have a lesson this wednesday, im excited to share some new things with him! :) ps. when we come back to visit, we have to eat at his business! ;)

so, our iron broke, so we use the toaster to heat it up and then iron our shirts, pretty funny...

 

then my comp elder diego is collecting the dragon ball z discs that come in the chip bags, its big here, there are 100 and he has about 80 of them, so he is constantly trading the ones he gets twice for those he is missing! hahaha

Week 88

This was a great week, first off on tuesday we got to hear from an Apostle of the Lord, Elder Anderson!!! he came and we got to hear from him live! i got lucky enough to sit in the 3rd row from the front, so i was super close up to him! The coolest thing i think i heard while he spoke was that he has a perfect knowledge that the savior lives!!! the spirit was sooooo strong as he spoke! super amazing!

 

then we had our own zone conference, i gave a topic about the love of and for the Savior, did the demonstration where everyone eats some cookies and treats, and then i picked one missionary to do pushups for all those that ate, Elder Syrie (whom i live with) did 70 pushups straight, and it was powerful to see the response of the missionaries as we watched him shake and struggle, he is a stud and busted them out, but it was a battle, we then discussed the similarities to the atonement, and i expressed the love i felt for Elder Syrie as he paid for our actions, and how the savior has paid for ALL our actions and pains, and sorrows, and sicknesses. it was a good conference.

 

also, we had our first Maquiteria ward choir performance, we sang "cuan grande tu gozo serà" or how great shall be your joy, i played the piano, and my comp and 6 other members sang, but now i imagine we will be having more wanting to join the choir, it turned out really well! made me trunky! hahaha

 

then we had our baptismal service for marlenny and luckson, and let me tell you, they are amazing! they both are reading tons in the Book of Mormon, they are in mosiah right now, and have about 2 weeks with the book! incredible! the service went well, i sang "I know when i am baptized" in spanish and english and played the guitar at the same time, good stuff, its always a great experience when someone decides to get baptized!

 

today we did something i have been itching to do my whole mission! we played tennis!!! the four of us in our house played, doubles, the others learned pretty well, and although my serve was a little rusty, i was able to bust out a couple aces ;) hahaha

 

tomorrow Elder Marte is going to the MTC in Provo, he has been waiting for his visa to go to Italy and he finally got it, so i will be working in a trio with Elder Syrie and Garcia, whom we live with, we will cover maquiteria, and Villa Duarte, same building, areas next to eachother, should work out until transfers, or when they can get me a new companion.

 

the mission is great, i realize now how fast it has gone by, i hope i can take advantage of these last 12 weeks, im hoping to help more come unto Christ, and prepare more people for the future! i love this work :)

 

quick shout out to my cousin Conner Sabin, called to serve in the jamaica Mission!!! funny story, i dont know if you know Gavin Slack, he was the kicker at riverton, i went on an exchange and he said he knew you! i will send a pic of us ;)

 

LOVE YOU ALL!

 

ELDER AUGER

To the Pioneer Ward Young Men:

thanks for the email Chris! if you could read this to the boys, i would appreciate it!

If you have any question about serving a mission, whether you are qualified, or whether its worth your time,i give you my promise that YES YOU ARE and YES IT IS!

a mission is one of the hardest things i have ever done. 

however, it is the thing i am most grateful to have done. 

Some words from the apostle Elder Anderson... "a mission is such a unique experience, and an easy one in some sense. you dont have to work, you dont have to go to school, you dont have to worry about girls or dating, you just get to feel the spirit 24/7 and share the gospel with everyone!" 

i have loved not having to worry about anything but preaching the gospel, in fact i am more nervous for coming home and having to live in the real world! 

i have learned so much more about the Savior and his love for us, the Eternal plan of hapiness, the whys of life, the way to recieve blessings straight the heaven, and how importance it is to have faith and repent.

if you do decide to go, make sure you are as worthy as possible, if you have even a slight feeling of doubt, whether or not you should talk with the bishop about something from the past, do it. he will listen to you and respond with love! Bishop Cook is one of the most loving and kind people I know! be honest and open with him about anything you feel might keep you from being completely clean. if it takes a little more time, don´t worry, you will be filled with happiness as you feel the Savior`s atonement work within you, and as you feel forgiveness becoming a part of your life.

high school is fun,

a mission is Funner (i know funner is not a real word, i just want to prove a point)

its a brother hood. being a missionary makes you part of a new family, you meet people that will be your friends forever! you have experiences that you will be able to tell your wife and kids down the road. and when you have a son or daughter that is wondering whether or not to serve a mission, you can give them your own personal testimony that they should and that they can!

i hope you all know how much I love you, i feel like you are all little brothers of mine, and as a big brother of yours, i invite you to pray to Heavenly Father and ask him for help as you prepare to serve a mission. read the Book of Mormon. leave with the missionaries. you will feel the Spirit of the missionary work and will know that it is the right thing to do!

I love you all! 

con mucho amor desde la Republica Dominicana,

ELDER AUGER!

thanks for the email Chris! 

 

if you could read this to the boys, i would appreciate it!

 

If you have any question about serving a mission, whether you are qualified, or whether its worth your time,i give you my promise that YES YOU ARE and YES IT IS!

 

a mission is one of the hardest things i have ever done. 

however, it is the thing i am most grateful to have done. 

 

Some words from the apostle Elder Anderson... "a mission is such a unique experience, and an easy one in some sense. you dont have to work, you dont have to go to school, you dont have to worry about girls or dating, you just get to feel the spirit 24/7 and share the gospel with everyone!" 

 

i have loved not having to worry about anything but preaching the gospel, in fact i am more nervous for coming home and having to live in the real world! 

 

i have learned so much more about the Savior and his love for us, the Eternal plan of hapiness, the whys of life, the way to recieve blessings straight the heaven, and how importance it is to have faith and repent.

 

if you do decide to go, make sure you are as worthy as possible, if you have even a slight feeling of doubt, whether or not you should talk with the bishop about something from the past, do it. he will listen to you and respond with love! Bishop Cook is one of the most loving and kind people I know! be honest and open with him about anything you feel might keep you from being completely clean. if it takes a little more time, don´t worry, you will be filled with happiness as you feel the Savior`s atonement work within you, and as you feel forgiveness becoming a part of your life.

 

high school is fun,

 

a mission is Funner (i know funner is not a real word, i just want to prove a point)

 

its a brother hood. being a missionary makes you part of a new family, you meet people that will be your friends forever! you have experiences that you will be able to tell your wife and kids down the road. and when you have a son or daughter that is wondering whether or not to serve a mission, you can give them your own personal testimony that they should and that they can!

 

i hope you all know how much I love you, i feel like you are all little brothers of mine, and as a big brother of yours, i invite you to pray to Heavenly Father and ask him for help as you prepare to serve a mission. read the Book of Mormon. leave with the missionaries. you will feel the Spirit of the missionary work and will know that it is the right thing to do!

 

I love you all! 

 

con mucho amor desde la Republica Dominicana,

 

ELDER AUGER!

Here is the pick of those that were baptized, Marlennys next to me, and Luckson next to her, then our ward mission leader, then my comp elder marte. Luckson is from Haiti, and Elder Marte basically taught him all in french, i pitched in using english because he understands a little as well, really cool to see them progress. 

Elder slack and I finishing an intercambio, he is my district leader and a huge stud, we have plans to spend a p day kicking the football around, making ourselves a little trunky for high school football!!! ;)

Week 87

here was my letter to president this week, has some funny things in it...

 

Great week President,

the project is going well, filmed 3 families, and the edition is going well,(we are filming a video of testimonies of families that have been married and baptized, and it has been a blast!)

also have some baptisms planned for this coming week, and we are searching for new investigators as we go.

i feel like the key to finding is on the way to lessons, sometimes we get there a little late, but its worth it, we have found some of the most prepared people while in the street walking along side them.

to break the paradigm, i think that we should talk with someone new between every lesson, even if it is just handing out a pass along card.

my metafore is leftovers. when we eat lunch, sometimes we have leftovers, those are like the people getting prepared for baptism. we aren´t going to let them go to waste, but we are also not going to eat rice beans and meat for breakfast, we are always cooking new food and finishing off what we have started ;) kinda funny, but more than true!


ELDER AUGER

 

dont have tons of time, but i will try to send some photos!!!

 

love you all, sorry for the short letter!

 

QUICK SHOUT OUT TO MY AWESOME SISTER PLAYING COLLEGE SOCCER!!! I LOVE YOU JADEN!!! :)

 

ELDER AUGER

this is the couple merceds and victor, a miracle family that we helped get married so they could get baptized in sabana grande de boya, in the project that we are doing, we included them. so we got to travel there and film them, super sweet couple!

Week 86

Well, its been a big week as the first that I have been out in my new area, Maquiteria, with my new comp Elder Marte!

 

so tuesday was my first day in the area, and the doctor and his wife in the mission came to teach a family they had contacted with us, and let me say, I dont know why, but it was such a powerful lesson, maybe that sister olsen doesnt speak a lot of spanish, but her spirit was so powerful, lets just say it had been a while since i had cried...

 

we also are teaching some haitian families, because my comp speaks english, spanish, and french!!! so its been kinda funny, in the lessons with them, i feel just like i did when i got here to the country, i just listen and try to bear my testimony at the end, elder marte is teaching me how to speak french!

 

Luckson is one of the people from Haiti that we are teaching, he is AWESOME! the first time we visit, we leave him the book of mormon, and we come back and he has read the first pamphlet and first 5 chapters! then came to church with us this sunday, elder marte translated the whole time, and i played the piano, super fun!

 

we also have a bunch of return missionaries in a program called Funval, which helps them get jobs after they get home from the mission, so they have left with us on divisions multiple times, super awesome! i left with one who is name Manuel Casado, that served with elder Taylor, so you will have to make sure he sees this post!

 

cool to be in Ozama zone again, especially because Elder Palma is my zone leader! so proud of that guy! ;)

 

im super glad to be working 24-7 in my area, now i can really focus on the ward and teach more people! the only bad part is that because i am walking tons again, i sweat more, and this week i really broke out... but i will adjust again ;)

 

love you all tons, hope you have a great week, i will send a couple pictures of my house and area, we have the parque del este and faro colon in our area, so its pretty cool!

Be safe and CTR!

 

ELDER AUGER

 the lookout from my window

 the patriarch's wife who made us dinner one night! she is the same lady that made the carrot cake about 8 months ago!!!

this is elder marte from the DR, super awesome comp, glad to be with him!!!