November 8, 2011 CAGAUS

Hello Everybody,

Everything has been really good here. Today we had transfers, I'm
still here in Caguas with Elder Griffin. One elder left, but his
replacement and another companionship are moving in, so we'll have 10
elders in our house. It's pretty crazy. It's really exciting to hear
about Joseph's mission call! I'm glad to hear about everyone going
out, I don't know if you told me which mission Hunter was going to,
but Elder Geronimo, who lives in our house, is from a place called
Azua in the Dominican Republic. He was excited when I said that my
friend was going there. Where is Nick's new job? I was excited to hear
that he got one, I've been praying for them. And Kendall and Megan are
going to Taiwan!? That's crazy.

Things have been going well with our investigators. We took the stake
president to a lesson with Alex, and they got along well. Alex told
him about how his dad died when he was 13, and President Santos bore
his testimony about how we can be together with our families for
eternity. We told him that the first step to achieving those blessings
was baptism, and that he needed to read and pray to get a testimony of
the prophet Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel. Also, with
things changing around we started working with a 14 year old kid that
the sisters were teaching. His mom was inactive and his older brother
was just baptized a few weeks ago. So we are preparing him for his
baptism on the 16th. His name is Brailyn and he's really cool. It's
cool to see the whole family supporting each other and learning the
gospel together. We are also going to start teaching somebody the Zone
leaders were teaching. She's the wife of a recent convert who was
baptized on the same day Brailyn's brother was. He's really awesome
and has been studying really hard to understand the gospel too. We
haven't met with her yet, but we'll go over tomorrow. We taught Sister
Gonzalez's dad about the Plan of Salvation on Monday. It was really
good again to see the power there is in a family supporting each other
in learning the gospel. He's still got some doubts but I can tell that
seeing his son leave on a mission had an impact on him.

It's still been pretty hot here, the past few days have been really
rainy, but still hot. It's hard to believe it's November already.

anyway, I love you and I'm glad to hear everything is okay with the family.

Elder Brock Duclos

PS Cory, what is that smell?

November 2, 2011 Caguas

Hey!

I'm glad to hear things are starting to get back to normal at home. I'm so glad Elise is home now, and I hope everything is okay with Holly. I'm so thankful for the eternal perspective we have because of the gospel. So many people here don't want to hear what we have to say because they already believe in Jesus Christ, but it's such a blessing to have the fulness of the gospel, to know Heavenly Father's plan for us, and what we need to do to follow it. That's why missionary work is so important, and everything going on at home has really strengthened my testimony of that. It's awesome to hear about Joseph, Hunter and Evan getting ready to go out. I'm excited to find out where Joseph is going, so let me know asap as possible. Its really cool that Hunter is going to the Dominican Republic. We have met quite a few Dominicans here, and they're all good people. and good cooks.

Things have been going well here. I think I told you about Sister Gonzalez's dad the other week. We had family night at their house again on Monday, and he's been reading the Book of Mormon. We had a lesson on it and how it can be a blessing in our lives, and next week we're going to teach him about the Plan of Salvation. They keep saying I look like his son, who is leaving on his mission to Honduras in a few days. I don't know what it is about the way I look but it seems like everyone in Puerto Rico has a son on grandson that looks exactly like me. We've been working hard here, and everything is going really well. We have some goals to strengthen the ward in Caguas, so please pray for the church here. The stake president made the goal to split the Caguas ward into two wards by the end of year so we are working really hard to make that happen. We will need a miracle. Last week was the primary program, and it was really good to see that. It good to see how blessed those kids were to have the gospel in their lives, and to havng of growing up in the church.

Anyways, everthing is going really well, and the church is stilll true.

I love you, 

Elder Duclos

October 19, 2011 Grandma D's Birthday

Hey,

It's been a really good week! We have some really solid investigators that we've been teaching. Alex, the guy we found on the first day, is progressing really well. We had a lesson with a ward member the other night and we taught him the Plan of Salvation. It was really powerful to be able to teach him what his potential is as a son of Heavenly Father, that God set up this whole plan so that he could obtain that potential and that we were there for that reason, to invite him to take the necessary steps that lead toward the Celestial Kingdom. That was really rewarding to watch him learn that because we knew it was something new for him but he accepted it and knew it was true. We have also been teaching Nelson, who is a pretty young kid. We've taught him a few times and he is always really willing to learn and make appointments for us to come back. We had an appointment with him yesterday but he didn't answer the door, we were worried but he called later and said it was because he was sick and he asked if we could come Thursday, so that was a good sign. On Monday we had Family Home Evening with the Gonzales family. The parents were both born in Puerto Rico but they moved to New York and started their family there and just moved in here recently, so the kids all speak English and are learning Spanish. Anyway, we taught the lesson, we taught about missionary work and how they can share the Gospel with their friends and family. One thing we didn't expect was that Sister Gonzales's dad was there, who wasn't a member, but he seemed interested and even participated in some of the practices. At the end we had everyone choose a pass along card to give out during the week and then we gave the family a Book of Mormon to give out too. When we did that the dad said, "hey can I have that, my daughter has been wanting me to read it" so we gave it to him and marked 3 Nephi 11 for him to read. After that, Sister Gonzales said her dad had met a lot of missionaries before and had never even talked to them, but this time he was interested. That was really cool to see.

Puerto Rico has been pretty cool. It's still really hot here. There are some weird things, like restaurants only ever serve Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, 7 Up and Fanta. I don't know why but it seems like that's just what all the Puerto Ricans like. Also in my apartment there's a bidet, but I still have not used it. Also, some people will sell these things called limbers from their houses, they're like popsicles but they're just in a little plastic cup, and they're really good. They also have a sandwich here called a tripleta. It's a huge sandwich with chunks of ham and chicken and all kinds of stuff. I got one the other day when I was on splits with my district leader, and that was probably the best thing I've eaten here. Anyways, I hope everything is going well at home, I love you and I'll talk to you later. The Church is true

Elder Duclos

Pictures From September 7 to October 5, 2011

October 5, 2011

Hey,

 

Things have been awesome here this week. General Conference was really great. I got to watch all the sessions at the stake center and they had it in English for the missionaries and English speaking members, so that was nice. I loved the talk about the Book of Mormon, I can't remember who gave it, but I'm going to use the example of the dots and lines in lessons. I was also really excited that they said the choir from the preisthood session were from Pleasant Grove. I think I saw a few people from the ward, and President Gleason. Christian Hansen said he'd be in it so I was watching for him, but never saw him. It was really cool knowing that everyone back home was watching the same thing I was, just like Dad said. I thought of everyone there and mom making cinnamon rolls, and it made me really thankful that I have such an awesome family. Next conference I'll be sure to look for starburst jelly beans.

 

Elder Griffin is from Provo, he played baseball. He really is a hard worker, he's new to this area too and the other elders didn't leave any progressing investigators so we do a lot of contacting. It's pretty cool though. We focus on finding families so we can build the Church here in Puerto Rico, because it's still relatively new. We have picked up a few investigators now, and that has been really cool. The other elders are all from the US except one from the Dominican Republic. His name is Elder Geronimo and he's really funny. Whenever I see him I yell Geronimo! and think of War of the Buttons. Our typical day is to wake up at 6:30, exercise for 30 minutes, then get ready. At 8 we have personal study and at 9 we have companionship study. After companionship study we go to the plaza for language study, we pretty much just contact for language study because the best way to learn is to talk with the native speakers. Then we come back for the other hour of companionship study, the in field training for the first 12 weeks. After that we eat lunch and go out. Usually we pick a few neighborhoods to go knock doors and we just get to work. We live about a 10 minute bike ride from our area so we just ride over and go contact. We go to any appointments we've made and then come back home by 9.

 

We found one investigator, Alex contacting on our very first day in Caguas and we made an appointment to go back last Monday. We didn't have a long time to teach him but we taught him about baptism and how it is such an important step in following Jesus Christ. Part of the in field training is that the new missionary is in charge of extending baptismal invitations so we testified to him about the importance of baptism and the Spirit was really strong and I asked him if he'd follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized and he said yes! That was so exciting. I could hardly believe it when he agreed. I actually asked him again because I wanted to be sure. So we set a date for the first Saturday in November. I'm so excited for him, he is really cool. He lives with his sister and daughter so we really hope they'll come listen too. We are going back today to teach about the restoration. The Zone leaders were contacting in a store and they found a family that lives in our area so we are going to go by their house today too. They said they were really cool and very receptive so that's really exciting.

 

Anyways Puerto Rico is great. I am learning so much, we are having a lot of fun and working hard and we've had some great success too. Pray for us and our investigators and everyone here in Puerto Rico. I love you, the church is true.

 

Elder Duclos

Letter From Mission President

Dear Brother and Sister Duclos,



Sister Alvarado and I were happy to personally greet Elder Duclos when he arrived in

Puerto Rico.  Attached you will find a picture of him with us.


I'm pleased to report he and his companion, who was prayerfully selected

especially for him, have already begun to work together. As two missionaries labor

together in this great work they bless one another's lives. They both grow as a result of

their individual strengths and differences. I trust they will develop a friendship that will last

a lifetime.


Missionary work is intense, as you may know. It can be both physically and emotionally

demanding. Your son will be a part of miracles in the lives of those he finds and

teaches. He will come to love the work and the people. He will grow in unimaginable

ways. I love watching that development process as it occurs over the entire length of the

mission.


Please write your son regularly. Missionaries love to receive mail! Your letters can be

a source of great motivation and encouragement. We have asked him to write home

faithfully every week. His correspondence with you and other members of your immediate

family can be via e-mail, if that is your desire. However, he has been asked to limit

correspondence with friends and extended family and to do so only via regular mail.


I recognize it may be a sacrifice to support your son on this mission, but I want you to

know how grateful I am to be serving with him . If you have questions or concerns, you

may call the Puerto Rico San Juan Mission Office.



Sincerely,



Jorge M. Alvarado

President, Puerto Rico San Juan Mission



PS... President Alvarado served his first mission in the Florida Tampa Mission where Brock's dad served.

28 September 2011

So I'm here in Puerto Rico! Elder Mancía and I landed at about 7:00 Monday night. The mission executive secretary, Elder Button and his wife picked us up. They didn't feed us on the flight, so they took us to Burger King. My first authentic Puerto Rican meal. After that the Zone leaders of the San Juan zone met us there and took us to an appointment they had with an investigator. She has been meeting with the missionaries for two years but never committed to a baptismal date, her daughter has been baptized now for a few months. So we went there, there were three sisters there teaching too, I'm not exactly sure why but that made seven missionaries there. They had food but we had just eaten so we weren't hungry, but everyone thought we were just too nervous to eat. We had some anyway, it was just something the sisters had cooked. They taught the lesson really fast because it was getting close to 9:30. But after they talked a little about baptism, they asked Elder Mancía and me to bear our testimonies. He bore his about baptism being the only way, and I testified that with the Lord on our side we can do anything, and He will support us. The Spirit was really strong and right after that Elder Adams, the zone leader invited her  to be baptized on Oct 22 and she said she would be. It was so awesome to see that, and a great way to start my mission.  We stayed the night at the zone leaders house then the next day we went to the mission office for a meeting for all the new trainers. We went because we arrived earlier than the other missionaries coming from the Dominican Republic. So we sat in on that meeting for awhile, and met our trainers. My companion's name is Elder Griffin from Provo. It sounds like he has trained a lot of elders, and I have heard he's a really hard worker, so I'm really excited. Anyway, at lunch time we went and got some pizza from Costco. Right after we were done with that they took us over to President Alvarado's house for lunch with all the new missionaries, they had make your own pizza, but I was too full to eat again. But I just ate salad and talked with everyone, President served in the Tampa Florida mission so we talked a little about that, he knows the Boyds, so I told him dad baptized her, he thought that was really cool. The missionaries from the DR were so excited to have pizza, they said all they ate there was rice and beans. So we took pictures with the President and his wife, then went back to the mission office for our interviews. My interview was awesome. I really like President Alvarado. He told me all the good things that people have said about my trainer and made me some really cool promises. We had about ten minutes after the meeting to go contacting and I started a contact, it was a family sitting out in front of the house and they were really interested in General Conference so we told them where they could go to watch it. I hope they go. That made me really excited. Missionary work is everything I hoped it would be. We stayed at the Assistant to Presidents' house last night and today was transfer meeting. So we just barely got everything to our house and came over to the library. I'm in a city called Caguas, it's pretty close to San Juan. They gave me a bike already, they said it would cost 500 dollars so I need to know how much is in my account. I have 100 cash right now. So we'll be on bikes the whole time. We are sharing the apartment with two other companionships and one has a car so that will be pretty good.  Anyway, my P day is Wednesday, I'm not sure what we have here. My companion is new to the area too so we'll just have to figure stuff out, but I'm excited for that. I am safe and happy and having a lot of fun, and I'm so excited to be out here. I'm glad I got to come out so soon, and I know this is where I should be. The language has been coming really well and I'm excited. The MTC program I went through was new, I think we were one of the first groups to go through it, and part of that is a 12 week new missionary training program out here in the field. We take an extra hour each day to study and the trainer teaches the new missionary to lead out in a lot of things that the trainer would normally just do themselves. The goal of it is for missionaries to be ready to train new missionaries after only 12 weeks in the field, so that's exciting too.  I think that's pretty much it. I can answer any questions next week I guess. I'll try to send another email with pictures.    Elder Brock Duclos