Hello From La Cienaga!

Hello family and friends!

Just FYI, we actually live and mostly work in a place called Las Guandules. It's north of La Cienaga, but the branch here is called La Cienaga so we use that name a lot.

First to answer a few of your questions:

1. Yes! The debit card is working! Thank you so much for checking into that for me.

2. The shoes have flattened out some and are doing much better. Elder Jackson says that for the most part, if I just make sure to take my shoes off while I'm in the house, I'll be fine.

3. We are cooking for ourselves here and I didn't bring any food from the last area so cereal would be the best thing to send. I can always, always, always use cereal. We can pick up some milk, but it would be awesome to have cereal again! Oh ya, and we've already made ourselves sick, ha ha! We had to come in early a couple of night ago. I think we have to make our oil hotter when we cook. But it's all good!

4. The inflamed nerves did go away, but unfortunately, the dizziness didn't. It's getting better, or at least Heavenly Father has made me strong enough to get through it. I know that everything is part of His Plan, but it would be great if this part could end pretty soon! The Lord knows what's going on and He will help me out.

I figured out what was up with the camera. The batteries are not rechargeable. It's not that kind of camera, ha ha, wow! So it would be awesome if you could send me some rechargeable AA batteries with a recharger. Thanks!

We are doing good here in La Cienaga. I had to get an investigator to get one of his friends to take me from my old area to my new area. It cost way too much but it's all good! This is my first transfer. I'm sure every area is a little different so I am still getting used to the place. We are working with a lot of families and I love that! That is the best way to build the Lord's Kingdom. We are going to have a great week this week!

We have a house that I bet Mom would be interested in. There's almost no running water, so we have to use bucket water for everything and we have electricity some of the time, but those two things are common all over the country!

Well, this week I took another look at that picture that I have of Christ smiling. I love that picture. I thought of something this week. I thought that Jesus Christ conquered the world, and He did it with a smile on His face. He has climbed every mountain, walked every valley, felt every pain, felt every doubt and fear that we will ever face and more, and I testify that He has conquered every single one. He is our Savior. He has the power to conquer anything in our lives, and I testify that He knows you by your name, knows your struggles and knows how to heal you and make you happy. He is always with us, always with you, right by your side, and He will always be there with a smile and outstretched hand. What a privilege it is to be able to help Him in this great work! I testify that each one of us have things to help Him with!

Love,
Elder DeSpain