January 18, 2012

It's been another great week.

Juncos has been really good, it's been different from what I've been used to, but things have been happening like crazy here. In Juncos there aren't as many areas where the houses are all close together, like the neighborhoods in Utah (they're called urbanizations here) so we've been working a lot in the areas that are more spread out. We were contacting in one of those areas the other day and we noticed that to the side there was a big section of a wall missing on the lot of an abandoned house. We went through the lot to see what was on the other side and it was a gated urbanization that we wouldn't have been able to get into if the wall hadn't been missing. We contacted there for awhile and found one family that invited us to come back. We went back yesterday and they were awesome. They fed us and were really attentive and receptive and they had even invited another family to come over and listen. It was the most people I'd ever taught at once, it was kind of scary but they were great.

We also found a family while we were contacting in a parking lot. They were eating Wendy's by a Burger King. We contacted them and got a return appointment, and didn't think much of it. He didn't have an address to give us but just gave a description of where to go to find his house so we weren't even sure if we'd be able to find it. We went by on the day we scheduled and found the house. When we got there they were really excited to have us there and they had a lot of interest and a lot of questions. They were really impressed when we shared the message of the restoration and they asked if they could come to church. We told them they could. They came on Sunday and loved it. We went by their house before so we could show them how to get there and their 3 year old daughter was really excited to go. They had to leave after Sacrament meeting but they said they didn't want to go, and they'd definitely be back. They said they'd been looking for something that would "fill them" and that they felt something when we talked to them and when they were at church. We have an appointment with them tonight.

The other day while we were in a lesson with a less active family, a member kept calling us. We finished the lesson and called back and the member couple asked if we could go with them to somebody's house. They were friends with a family that has been going through some hard times recently and they saw the opportunity to bless their life with the gospel. We went with them and had a really good lesson, and they're really interested to hear more. It was really great to see how important the members are in missionary work. Because they had that relationship, they were able to introduce the family to the gospel when they were the most likely to be receptive. It made things so much more sincere and personal to have them there, testifying of how the gospel had blessed their lives and how it can help them with their trials. It was a really great experience. The work has been going really well in Juncos. I've never picked up so many solid investigators in such a short time, and especially not this many families. We really have been noticing the power of the ward's fasting and prayers. It has been amazing. Little things have been happening that we know aren't coincidences. We ran into a less active family in a parking lot that Elder Visker had been trying to contact for awhile before he left. We talked to them a little bit, got their number so we could set up an appointment, and they came to church Sunday too. It's really exciting, and there's a lot of work to do now! I can't wait to see what's going to happen on February 3.

Anyway, that's what I've been up to. It's still hot here. We saw a sign the other day up in the mountains that said "for sale, rabbits and rabbit tacos." I wonder how they decide which ones to sell and which ones to cook.

Well, I hope everything's going well at home. I love you all.

Elder Ducloshunterallenrobinson.blogspot.com

Pictures January 11, 2012

Some of my late Christmas

All apartments have machetes for the Elders to help cut downed greenery

Nick & Kadee sent this one to me. I is engraved with "Matranas" (Frog Killer)

I am the Puerto Rican Santa!

A street in our area

I'm gonna miss this guy

Caguas Christmas

It's still in the 90's at Christmas

January 11, 2012

Hey,

 

I've been transferred. I found out Wednesday night that I would be leaving Caguas. I wasn't sure why because the transfer had just started, but all they told me Wednesday night was that the next day I'd be going to Juncos, a smaller town in the same stake and zone as Caguas, and that I'd find out who my companion was at the mission conference we'd have on Thursday. At the conference two elders who had gone home for medical reasons had come back so Elder Griffin and I were paired up with one each. My new companion's name is Elder Visker, he's from Lehi and he was home getting surgery because he cut a tendon in his thumb. He's a good elder and it's been fun. Elder Griffin's new companion was his companion before me who had to go home because he had a badly broken arm. It was sad to leave all the elders in the Caguas apartment but Juncos has been really good. It's been really different because we are the only elders there so the house is a lot more quiet, but it's exciting to be in a new area, and we've been working hard. Elder Visker was here before he left about two months ago and since then there hasn't been anyone serving here so we're working on getting in contact with all his old investigators and finding new people. It's been a little different working with someone else but it has been great so far. The ward isn't as big but it seems really good from what I saw on Sunday.

 

Three kings day was pretty uneventful. They celebrate it pretty much the same way they celebrate Christmas and the new year. Really it's just a continuation of the holidays, Schools just started today. It was our first day in Juncos so we didn't have much going on, just getting settled in and a little bit of shopping to get what we needed to make it to P day, then we passed by some member's houses but we didn't find anyone at home.

 

anyway, not a lot to report other than the transfer. I'll be sending some pictures though

 

I love you

Elder Duclos

January 4, 2012

Only 20 months left!!

Hey,

Puerto Rico has been great. The weather is still hot, and it doesn't rain much, it's been pretty dry lately. They don't use tortillas here, I've only had them when we buy them at home but I have had flan a few times. They make a really good dessert called tembleque, I don't know how to describe it, but maybe you can look it up. That and arroz con dulce, (a dessert made out of rice with sweet stuff) but the food is really good, we're always well fed. Man, Wyatt's just driving everyone in the ward out of town, what's he teaching them? That's too bad that I won't see Mikelson when I get home. New Year's is crazy here. In Puerto Rico they celebrate Three kings day sometime early in January so from Christmas to Three kings is just one big party, and on new year's eve they go crazy with the fireworks. They told us we had to be inside by 6 that night, either at home or at an appointment, so the Rosario family invited us over to their house. We ate dinner there and after we played Monopoly with their son that just got home from the Salt Lake City mission. That was a lot of fun, it reminded me of playing Monopoly at home on new years eve. So things have been fun, we're going to have a big mission activity for three kings sometime this week. Dad's talk sounded great, I wish I could have been there to hear it.

Everything has been going well with the investigators, Angel is coming along. He's learning a lot and understands really well, but we're just praying to know what to say that will help him feel that need to pray to know the Book of Mormon is true. We asked Alex to come over with us so he can share his experience with prayer. We hope that will be good for him. It's good to hear everything is going well. I love you

Elder Duclos

December 28, 2011

Hey,

It was great talking to everyone on Christmas. I'm glad everyone is doing well, but I still haven't gotten my machete. I've been anticipating that. We've been eating candy for pretty much every meal, so that's been pretty typical of the days after Christmas. Everyone liked the Canadian chocolate. The weirdest thing I have eaten in Puerto Rico was blood sausage. They make it a lot at Christmastime, and I only ate it once, but it was nasty. I ate it at the Rosario's house right before we called. We went from one food appointment over to their house where they had food for us, so I was already really full but I just had to get it down so I could call. It was pretty bad. The rest of the food is really good though. It's mostly just beans and rice but there's a lot of bananas too. I like it.

We've been finding a lot of people recently. I told you about Elizabeth's baptism, that was really cool. We sat with them at church the next day. The 11 year old son, Kevin already has a really strong testimony. He was reading along with all the scriptures in sacrament meeting and everything. I gave them both CTR rings that I got from Karie and they loved them,  thanks! Angel went to their baptism and their confirmation on Sunday, so we're hoping that will get him excited about taking the same step in his life. Last night we were over at Alex and Eugenia's house and Alex was talking about how he's been preparing to share the gospel with his children that live in Puerto Rico, he said one of his daughters was really curious about everything and he said he knows that now that he knows this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ that he has a responsibility to share it with his family. It's so exciting to see someone so converted to the gospel. So we will be following up on them. We also found a new young family, Jose Villagran. We've taught them twice now and they have a lot of interest in the Book of Mormon. So everything has been really exciting with the work here. We're hoping to get a baptismal date for Angel for the 11th of January (because there's nothing else going on that day). So pray for him, please.

I love you all, I hope everything is good, and I'll talk to you next week

Elder Duclos

December 21, 2011

Hey!

I'm still not quite sure how the call will work out on Christmas. We still haven't found anywhere that we'll be able to skype so the most likely situation is that we'll all go over to a member's house to use the phone there. I've been excited to hear from everyone. The Christmas program in Caguas was this past Sunday, it was really cool, and there were a lot of people there. There was a part with a bunch of little kids on the stage and they had a few of us go stand in front to make sure none of them fell, so I even got to be a part of it. We did great. Transfers are today, we don't have many changes though. One elder finished his mission and his companion was transferred, so there are only four of us in the apartment now. The other companionship works in Aguas Buenas so we're the only two elders in Caguas. We have a lot more area to cover now, so that's pretty exciting. Everything has been going well here. The sisters in our district have a baptism tomorrow for a lady named Elizabeth and her kids. Elder Griffin and I were the ones that found her so it's exciting to see that. I'll cut this a little short because we'll talk on Sunday, and I'm going to write the letter to the ward. I love you and I'm excited for the phone call

Elder Duclos

December 7, 2011

Hey,

Today has been pretty great. President Viñas, the Caribbean area
president came and talked to the whole mission. They told us that
visits like this don't happen very often but we've been praying and
fasting a lot for help in reaching some goals we've made as a mission.
President Víñas was in his office the other day and he just got the
impression that he needed to come here to help us increase our faith,
so he emailed president and set up the appointment. It was definitely
an answer to our prayers. We woke up at 5 to make it to the meeting on
time, and his talk was really good, but not what I expected. He talked
about how faith is accepting the Lord's will and timing, and if we
make goals and work our hardest at them, then it's up to the Lord to
give us success, according to the agency of the people. It was a
really cool talk and really motivating.

Things have been pretty good in Caguas too. We've been finding some
people to teach. We started teaching Angel, who was a reference from
the sisters. He understands that it would mean a big change in his
life if he was baptized, so he's been a little hesitant. We also met
Robert, who believes really firmly in the Bible, and said that he was
looking for a church whose teachings were in harmony with the Bible so
we taught him about the restoration and how the doctrine we teach is
the pure doctrine of Jesus Christ, the same that he and the prophets
throughout history have taught and he seemed really excited. We
brought Alex Burgos, the recent convert, with us to a lesson and they
got along well with each other.

I'm glad to hear about Evan's call. I hope he gets it today, you'll
have to let me know asap as possible where he's going. The
missionaries in Utah probably don't appreciate the dinner appointments
like they should. One of the members here has a son on a mission in
Utah, Elder Rosario, but they didn't know what city he was in. He's on
his last transfer anyway, so he'll be leaving within the next two
weeks or so. Anyway, things are going well here, and I'm still happy.

I love you,

Elder Duclos



Thanks for the Costco membership, I'll go pick up my card. It may not
be today, usually we only go to Costco at the beginning of the month.
I don't think I need anything else though. Thanks for everything

Elder Duclo

November 30, 2011

Hey,

I have heard that on Christmas we can choose either to skype or to call home, but I don't know anything more than that, so I'll let you know when I know more. Also, I had a question about Costco cards. We have been using one Elder's costco card to do our shopping every month, but he's moving out, so I was just wondering what it would take to get added to your account, or if it would be better to just get one myself, or if it wasn't worth the trouble at all.

I haven't been getting too homesick, even during thanksgiving. I do miss everyone a lot, and all of the traditions and the cold weather but I've still been able to keep my focus and use all those good memories to motivate me to share that with everyone.

I love you, thanks for everything you do

Elder Duclos