1-19-11

Thanks for the quick update. I am now not reading the dear elders when I get them in my email so i have something new to read when I get mail during the week.

Well.. ´It´s been by far the craziest week of my mission so far. As you may know, transfers were this wednesday, and elder walker.. sadly.. and unexpectedly.. left me. He went to San Francisco de Macoris as a zone leader, he´s such a stud.

So, I have a new comp. Elder Carpenter, another american from bakersfield, california. He´s 24 years old and really mature and ready to work, which is awesome. He came at a great time here in Fantino, we have 2 baptisms this saturday, which will be so great because he will immediately see the prosperity here. I am so ready to work with him and play the leader for a bit as I show him the members and investigators. He seems to be pretty good at spanish, so once i´ve done my bit in showing him the area i´ll let him take over the area..

here´s why it´s been so crazy this week... The branch pres, the leader and glue of this branch, is moving for the capital soon. To make things worse, so is his first counselor. Plus, one of the strongest members is wanting to get a divorce from his wife and move to the states to provide for his family here in the DR. It´s sad but i can almost see the justification in it.. the economy is in such a sad state here. Plus, as you know, we are trying to help another married couple in the branch stay together, which is not even our job, it´s the branch pres that´s supposed to handle that. But, it already feels like he has one foot out the door. So, all this responsability falls on us, as well as trying to juggle tons of investigators and get them baptized....

I have that nervous pit in my stomach that i got before golf tournaments all the time. I worry about this area. I care about this area. I love this area. I can´t bear to see it fall apart. So I feel like I need to step up, be a man, a leader, and fluent in spanish with just one transfer of spanish. SO, here goes the most stressful transfer of my whole mission.

i love you both, mom and dad. I love the whole family (matt slightly less than the rest since I havent heard a thing from him since i´ve been out)

I got that card from mike! awesome. I can´t wait for that package. haha I like the valentines day justification. Elder walker asked me about that the other day.. he asked me why i was getting another package.. i just said because I am working hard and it´s sort of like a ¨Hey, you´re no longer a disappointment of a son anymore, here´s proof I really think that.

Anyway, I love you all.. a ton. Pray for me, i need it. I need it for my energy.. i´m so tired. just worn out from working.. walking.. finding.. teaching.. but i love it. I love this work.

Alright, that´s it i think. Not too much time this week but this letter should suffice.

till next week in the DR, not a second wasted

elder c rufus sweeney