Letter From Rhys - Week # 40 – More meat, More Shenanigans!!

Feliz Lunes from the tropical Land of the Republica Domincana!

This past week was a lot of fun and full of Shenanigans! On Wednesday we went to Zone Conference and were wiffled [blown away] with inspiration! However, on our way home we got stuck on the metrobus that takes us in and out of the Capital to our area of Las Americas! It was our normal 4 missionaries Elder Esserine, Elder Martinez, Elder Rich and myself! Also with us were the Zone leaders, Elder Magleby and Elder Lopez, and The Hermanas!

Hermana Black and Hermana Haz! If in the future you happen to meet anyone on this list, this is a fun story to ask about. We got on the bus that has a maximum legal capacity of 87 people. When we got on and as we continued our travel to our area, the bus I’m almost certain reached a capacity of 115 people!!!!!! We were tight like unto a dish, packed like a can of sardines!

Hermana Black almost fell on me too at one point because the OMSA [transit authority] has a habit of making standard procedure break checks! I should also mention that during this time, I was using a skill I had developed from my mother, it’s called Pack muleing! I was carrying a box of Book of Mormons for the Hermanas and a whole bunch of stuff from the office to our apartment! As the bus got slightly less crowded, we were able to make our way to the back.

I, with the box in my hand, and a 30 lb messenger bag on my shoulders, had a lot of counter weight to keep me from flying from one side of the OMSA to the other. However, as we were approaching the stop for the Hermanas, the bus made a slightly more powerful break check than protocol has mentioned. This caused me to fall to one knee to keep myself steady.

Elder Martinez was watching all of this happen, and when he saw me fall, he looked a little closer. In front of me, as I was down on one knee, you can probably guess were the Hermanas! His next comment was priceless! ¨Elder Wheeler proposed to the Hermanas!!!!!!¨ and they didn’t say no but not yes either. Probably because they understood more and were more consecrated than that! But to Elder Martinez, I’m pretty sure, I am engaged to two of the Hermanas in my zone! (I’m not, but it was an entertaining development.)

On Friday, we were able to have a baptism of a kid named Marcos. He’s super cool and we had only been waiting on permission from his father to get him baptized. The Baptism was simple and small but was very enjoyable.

On Saturday, we had an activity in the church to help us find more references from the ward. There were over 100 people that showed up and more than 50 percent were friends or families of members! It was super cool and I’m glad we had it. That night all the power for our area had been knocked out by a couple of exploding transformers that got fried from some heavy rain. Elder Esserine had put new batteries in his flashlight and we went to the roof to enjoy the abundance of stars we could see due to the lack of light in the area! Elder Esserine’s flashlight was super bright and could light up the entire neighborhood from the roof. The Colmado [grocery store] next to our house was playing lots of music and I got a little bored so I danced a little. The light from his head lamp was right behind me and so I cast a huge shadow over the neighborhood! From our perspective, it was the funniest thing of all time. All you saw was the shadow of what looked like a giant dancing baby spanning the entire neighborhood! We tried to take photos but the camera wasn’t able to pick it up. It was so much fun!

Today for our P-day Elder Blackham and his son Elder Roberts joined us for lunch. [On the mission, a new Elder fresh out of the CCM is called the trainer’s “son”] We had BBQ Ribs!!!! They were soooooooo goooooooooood!!!!!!!! Also, we are having a zone activity next week and the mission is helping me get the supplies that I need to make my the famous 7 pepper Chili! I should mention that I found Dr. Pepper!!!!!!!!!!!! America!!!! Frick Yeah!!!!! Here are some pictures to enjoy of the baptism and the amazing BBQ that we enjoyed!

Rhys is standing next to President Smith, the Mission President

Any way I do hope that you all have enjoyed this week’s letter! I know I did! And please don’t be alarmed, I did eat a lot of meat. Enough for a week I’d think. It’s pretty normal! Well, peace be with you all until I write again! Bye!!!!!! 

Going forth with the vision of Christ and an eye of Faith,

Elder Rhys Wheeler!

P.S. Mom Typos Please! And don’t worry about the package, it will come when it comes. I love you!