Letter From Rhys - Week #2 - Nothing's Better Than Workouts and Shopping

Que lo que from the tropical island of the Rupublica Dominicana!

Week 2 is now down, though according to the CCM we’re at the end of week 3.  Makes perfect sense right?  

Some interesting events have come to pass this past week.  Starting on Sunday, my district got together after sacrament  meeting to discuss our weekly goals. These are the goals we set: 

1.         Memorize Moroni 10:4-5 in Spanish by Tuesday.  {Accomplished a day late}

2.         Work on the Christ-like attribute of diligence.  {It's difficult but it’s coming along. My habit of laziness has taken its toll on me on a couple occasions.}

This next one is kind of ridiculous, but requires some explaining before we continue… 

At the beginning of week one the CCM President gave us a short lesson on our titles as missionaries and representatives of Christ.  One of the many things he went over was the title of Elder in which we are assigned. He stated that "Elder" is a title given to us by the Savior and as such should be respected. This meant that calling each other by just our last names is considered offensive to the Savior and should not be used. This past Sunday, President Gulbrandsen, our CCM President, gave my district the BRILLIANT idea of every time we slip up, we have to do push-ups... this brings us to our next goal.

3.         Always say Elder! {1st offense of not using Elder is a 5 push up penalty. Every consecutive offense is double the previous amount added. Ex. 1st is 5, 2nd is 10 then 20 then 40 etc.}

This means that if you slip up 4 times that day you have to do 75 pushups to pay for your mistake.  At the end of each day, the penalty resets so if you slipped up tomorrow it would only be 5 instead of 80. I thought this was fairly extreme, but they didn’t heed my words and so it was set.  I also thought "it isn’t hard to say Elder so I shouldn’t have a problem... I couldn’t have been more wrong.  Within the last 18 years I’ve developed a really bad habit of calling missionaries by just their last names...😓  It wasn’t too hateful to start; I slipped maybe once or twice a day and then...yesterday happened.... So to start off my day I already had 15 pushups to do. Then within 2 hours before and after dinner I screwed up. 6 TIMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This meant that I had added 300 push ups to my count.  There was another moment just after where I almost slipped, adding an additional 320, but I saved myself the trouble. This debt also must be repaid by the time I leave the CCM.  On the other hand, I get to get rid of some of the fat on my arms and chest, but I’m sore every single day now.  

Yesterday we were also able to go perform service at our local university.  It was nice to get a little bit of fresh air that wasn’t from the CCM A/C.  Mostly, we were picking up trash throughout the campus.  It wasn't bad, standard humidity and shade made it bearable to work.  I found a nice hidden treasure during this adventure. A broken broom stick zip-tied to a pointed piece of 1/2" PVC pipe.  It made a good walking stick and trash stabber.  I threw it away when we were done, but it was fun to have it while it lasted.

Another instance when we got some fresh urban air was this past Monday when they took us shopping. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was strange to see $ signs on things and the prices being 100, 200, or 300 pesos a piece. While we were there, my companion Elder Welch (Juice) was looking for a cheap watch in the accessories section of the store which just happened to be by the electronics. 

As I was pushing the cart down the aisle while following my companion, a pair of 4' speakers jumped in front of my cart. This caused me to bump one of them, and it dominoed the other! I tried to save them from falling to their doom and ... Success!!!! (caught Pokémon sounds) You caught a speaker! but then... Failure!!!!!!! I was able to catch the one I bumped over my cart but his buddy decided not to let me save him too.  I suppose we could call him a son of Perdition because he refused to be saved. 😂😉  

Then the best thing happened! As luck would have it, right down the aisle watching the whole thing go down was... AN EMPLOYEE!!!!!!!!  The speaker that fell had broken with the top of it just dangling.  It looked like Nearly Headless Nick! As the employee approached the scene, the first stupid thing came out of my mouth! "In my defense it was already broken!"

I don’t think it was already broken and it didn’t matter because this is the D.R. THEY DONT SPEAK ENGLISH!  I proceeded to help the employee pick the broken speaker up and put it back on its mount. When I looked at the price... 5100 pesos aka 125 U.S. Dollars!  Mercy showed her face that day since they didn’t make me pay for it.  Thank You! 😇

On a better note, I was able to buy some very delicious snacks. Milkyways, Snickers, Twix, Sprite, Coke, and the almighty chocolate OREOS!!!!!! And thus my adventures make their end!

Adios Amigos!!!!

Going forth with the Vision of Christ,

Elder Rhys Wheeler.

Momma! Typos Por Favor!