4/10/17

Another great week this week! We found a ton of new people and including 11 (3 families) on Thursday! But...... I found out Saturday that I will not be here any longer.. I am being transferred to a new area called Valiente! I dont know much about it but I will be going there with Elder Prosman from the Netherlands.... He has about 4 months in the mission! I am super excited to be in another area! I know I dont understand the reason for so many changes but I know the lord has a plan for me! It has been a fast 6 weeks here in La Romana and I'm definitely goin to miss it! 

I love doing the lords work.. I know that when we are exactly obedient, the lord blesses us with our full potential. Hope you all have a great week this week!

 

--ELDER DURRANT--

CONFERENCE APRIL 2017

Well the highlight of this week was definitely conference!! And this time I got to watch it in English! What an amazing blessing it is to have a living prophet and apostles on the earth today! And this conference I just learned about the simplicity of the truth in the gospel! It’s so easy that even an 8 year old can understand it! I loved each talk and could write you a book about what else I learned but I will let you all ponder and pray about what you learned!

So we have been teaching a Mom and her 4 children and they are so amazing! They came to the chapel to watch conference on Saturday! And during the conference, the mom asked my comp. for a paper and his pen to write notes and she continued the whole session writing notes!!! They are such a smart, humble family that god has led us to!

Next week is transfers! So we will see what happens!

Hope all is well at home! I have now completed 1 year in this amazing country and that means I will only have 1 left.... I can’t explain the love I have for this country! But as Elder Bednar said, it doesn’t matter where you are called, all that matters is that you are called to SERVE....

--ELDER DURRANT—

3/27/2017 1 year!!!

We had a super great week this week! So this week we had our zone conference and it was awesome!  There was a recent convert that came and we were able to do a little question and answer with her! The purpose of it was to have the opinion from someone on the outside of the work and it was very productive and we learned a lot about what the people really think of us and different ways to catch the attention of the Dominicans!

My comp and I are doing great! He is super talented when it comes to drawing and has been drawing me a few things! Also this week we made some Haitian Weights! Which are these weights made from cement, a bar and metal cans! They are THE BEST haha! We have been getting some good workouts in the morning for the first time since I started the mission!!

I will literally never be able to explain to you guys how crazy and how much I love this country! It is INSANE haha! Hope you all have a great week!

Oh yeah and look at this awesome school haha it’s owned by a member and she is trying to make it into a huge private organization!

 On Wednesday I will have been in the Mission for one year! I can't believe how fast this year has flown!!!

--ELDER DURRANT—

 

3-20-2017

My week was good!! Super good actually! We found some amazing investigators this week!!! Finally we are getting some things going in our area! We had a devotional thing with Elder Neil L Anderson and it was AMAZING. He taught us so much haha and he even tried to do it in Spanish! He knows Portuguese and French perfectly and is trying to learn Spanish and he did really well but there was a translator there as well to help him out but it was super cool! The west mission was also there with us!

This week we received a visit from Elder Neil L. Anderson! What an amazing experience it was! We met up in a chapel in the capital with the entire West mission and then they did a broadcast to Santiago (north) so they could here also!

He talked about 2 main things!

1. Help the investigators come to love the Book of Mormon.

2. Help the investigators come to feel the love of the Savior when they repent!

It was amazing to hear from an apostle of the Lord! I learned so much about how important the Book of Mormon really is! In fact this week I have read half the Book of Mormon haha and I cannot get enough! And for those of you that really know me, you know that I do not like to read so that is new haha!

This week also we have found some really prepared families! And in fact 2 of the families are now preparing for baptism in April! I cannot express my gratitude for the atonement of Jesus Christ. It is real. And every day our job as ambassadors of him is to teach the people how to repent! I love it! Even though every lesson we have, isn’t the perfect lesson, we are helping our brothers and sisters know more about this amazing plan!

I love being a missionary! There are the ups and downs but every day is another day to learn and get better!

So my dad asked me how I like the cold showers and honestly I’m used to it now haha! But when it’s chilly in the morning, I do some exercise and then get in so I’m not freezing haha!

Well this letter is all over the place but hey that is life! Love you all so much! Talk to you next week!!!

--

--ELDER DURRANT--

3-13-2017

3-13-2017

So this week has been good!! I am in my new area and we are working to find new investigators! When I got here there wasn’t much to work from but now we are finding some really great people!! I am learning so much every day! This week we had 2 investigators at church and we are hoping to have about 8 next week!! This new area is full of rocky hills but it is awesome! We can barely see the ocean from parts of our area and there is a little island just off the coast and who knows what’s out there haha! I love the DR so much. Literally everyday I see something else that just makes me laugh my head off. They are amazing, crazy people who love the lord! I hope you have all had a great week! Forgive me for not writing much last week but I didn’t have much time! GOD BLESS!

--ELDER DURRANT--

3/6

HIIIII my week was good! There is not much here and even though my comp has like 3 months here he doesn’t know hardly anyone... I’m not sure why... but we are getting better every day!! Lots of walking this week haha. My comp is super cool though. He is from Peru and has about 8 months in the mission! My new area is kind of different.. There are just a ton of hills and dirt roads! It’s also HUGE! It’s kind of hard to know where to start working but we are figuring it out! I tried the Massager and it worked good... It has actually been hurting worse this week but I’m fighting through with Tylenol and ibuprofen! This week we will be going to the temple! I’m super excited!!

--ELDER DURRANT--

February 27 11 months BABY!!

This week was super great! Sorry I don’t have much time today but I received a call and I will be going to a new area tomorrow! I will have a companion from Peru! And the best thing of all is that I will have POWER! haha after about 2 months without power it will be super nice to have it again..!

 Love you all so much!!! This is Araceli’s and her amazing family!

 

--ELDER DURRANT--

P.S.

 Elder Neil L. Andersen from the 12 will be here on the 14 of March!!! Also, next week we will be going to the temple!!

P.P.S. The 28th is my 11th month mark... I can't believe it... one year mark is right around the corner... can't believe it!!!!

 

 

 

2/20/2017

HEYY

 

So this was another great week! We met even more amazing people this week! The work in our area is going a little slower now but it should be picking up this week again! So it rained on Friday and in our area, it’s all dirt roads, so you already know... MUD MUD MUD.... and to go with that, we still don’t have power so we have to wash our clothes by hand haha...SO FUN!!! Not...  Oh and Thursday we had a meeting at the church when we walked out, there was this PIG out in the road eating the garbage! and from the pic, you can’t tell but it is huge! and yes, I almost tried to ride it but it ran away squealing!

This week I received some amazing emails from people and I want to just thank you all so much! Your love and support means more than you will ever know! I know the Atonement is real, I know that God sent his son so we can CHANGE every day!  I know, when we think we have almost made it, we are wrong! We will never be perfect. But that is the goal! I love you all so much!!

LOVE

--ELDER DURRANT—

 

Feb. 13th

Howdy ya'll!! Well today is the day! MY BDAY!  I just wanna start out by telling each one of you thank you.... Thank you for making me into the man I am today... I know the Lord has a plan for us and I know each of you have had a part in my life for a reason.

So today we went and played basketball in the morning and then came back to the house and ordered us some pizza! It was super good and we all were stuffed by the time it was gone! I couldn’t have picked a better thing to do for my 19th birthday!

 

Well I am sending a bunch of pictures today! I hope you are all doing great! LOVE YOU

PS: I have forgotten to tell you for a while now but we haven’t had power in our house for going on 5 weeks now haha! GOTTA LOVE THE DR!

--ELDER DURRANT--

2/6/2017

What an amazing month January was!!

The lord has been working in his mysterious and marvelous ways here in the Dominican Republic Santo Domingo East Mission..... We have been seeing miracle after miracle and this last month we were able to help 255 of our brothers and sisters, make the sacred covenant of baptism...   More than this mission has seen since created in 1990. And the zone that led the way was our zone, San Pedro with 35! It was truly amazing to see it take place and I could tell you stories of miracles after miracles!! I cannot express how blessed I am to be able to serve here and to have met the people I am meeting! Maileni, Isabel, Arecelis, Misiel, and Fredeli, were the 5 people from our area that got baptized! It was so cool to see each one of them take that amazing step! Also this week, we have met and started to teach the family of Maileni and Arecelis and the families of Isabel, Misiel and Fredeli are all members! That will make 5 complete families that really soon, will be able to go to the temple and be sealed!!

I love this work. I can’t get enough of it. It doesn’t matter if my leg, arm or jaw, falls off, I will continue forward... I guess you could say I caught the missionary fever...

I’ll send pics next week!!!

 

Love

 

--ELDER DURRANT—

January 30, 2017

WOW. A week full of MIRACLES.....

So I don’t have a ton of time but to sum it up, we had 4 baptisms this week and a marriage!! We also have 1 baptism tomorrow! These 5 people are AMAZINGLY prepared! They will make perfect members of the Lord’s church and be able to strengthen this branch so much!!!

I will send pictures and more info next week!!

I love you all so much. I know this church is true. Well..... gotta go back to work!!!

10 short months down

14 even shorter to go.....

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT TO THE BEST MOM IN THE WORLD!!

--ELDER DURRANT--

Jan 23, 2017

So this week has been super crazy! So last Tuesday we had our Transfers and I am staying here in Miramar and I received a new companion named Elder Beecher from Mesa, Arizona! And so we had a day of craziness in transfers and I ended up going to another area for a few hours and then back to mine and yeah lots of craziness!

Then Wednesday we had to go to the capitol for a couple meetings and didn’t get back to our area until 7 and so then we had to do the ward Correlation meeting!

Thursday, we had our district meetings in the morning! Then in the afternoon we were able to go work in our area normally!

Friday we got notice that we would be taking a temple trip with our investigators, but we only had 1 bus and so we had to pick the investigators who really needed the spiritual experience of visiting the temple! And so we knew exactly who it would be! An amazing woman named Arecelis and her neighbor named Marlenis! So then Saturday we took that trip to the temple and WOW what an amazing experience it was for them and us also... On the bus ride there, I was talking with Marlenis, and she is super shy and hardly talks at all, but anyways, I was asking her questions, trying to get to know her better, when all of a sudden I remembered that in our last lesson with her, we had asked her to pray about if she should get baptized this week, because before she knew the church was true but was really iffy on if she should get baptized... Well she began to bear her testimony to me... She opened up her giant heart and told me she had received her answer... and I asked how her experience went and she told me that when she finished praying, the Holy Ghost told her she should be baptized this week... I sat there with the biggest smile on my face and the spirit was unexplainable strong... She is amazing.

This is the true church. I know he answers prayers. I know this is his work that we are all doing...

I hope you all have an amazing week this week!

Marlenis- yellow

--ELDER DURRANT--

Jan 16 2017

Such a great week this week! The lord is blessing us with even more miracles here in Miramar, San Pedro! We have many investigators who are really progressing right now and they have dates to get baptized this month! Sorry guys I don’t have a lot of time this week, but I just want you all to know that I am so grateful for each one of you and the example you were to me before the mission... I am the person I am today because of each of you and especially because of my Heavenly Father... Love you all so much!

 

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

 

Love

--ELDER DURRANT—

1 -10-2017

So this week has probably been the best week of my mission. We are seeing the Lord’s hand in his work... We have found about 10 families these last couple weeks, who are either, totally non-members or less active families that have kids that have been baptized and each one of them are progressing SO fast!! Coming to church, reading the book of Mormon and Praying... The lord is blessing us and them because he loves ALL of his children. If there is anything I have learned thus far, it is that he loves us ALL  and that Christ knows each one of us personally.... So today we had the opportunity to go fishing with one of our investigators! It was sooo fun! He took us to this secluded beach and we ended up catching a few but the hour hike was worth it!

Sorry that my letter is all over the place but I just want you all to know that:  I LOVE WHAT I DO..... This is HIS work... and he needs us to be his tools here on earth. Hope you all had a great holiday season and that you all have a wonderful year this year! Make it the best because I know this will be the best year of my life....

LOVE

--ELDER DURRANT—

 

 

Happy New Year!

HAPPY 2017 yall!!

So this week has been pretty awesome! While walking to a lesson in a new part of our area, we ran into this big hole in the ground and found out that there were caves and they are man-made! A guy has been working on them for the last 8 years building them! Super cool! and then the same day we ended up making it to the ocean shore and had about 3 lessons right on the shore! Such a cool week! Then the weekend hit and all the Dominicans were partying and drinking so it was a little difficult to have lessons haha but very entertaining to watch!

So this morning in my study i was reading 2 Nefi 9.... What an amazing chapter talking about the Atonement! I want to challenge you all to read it this week and apply it to your lives!!! I love you all so much and I hope you have a great week!

GOD SPEED

--ELDER DURRANT--

Dec 26, 2016

Had a great week this week! We were able to eat in a bunch of members’ homes this week because this is the week that the Dominicans all eat like Kings! Then yesterday if got to talk with the fam! So fun to get to talk with them on skype and get caught up a little! Today we got to go play some basketball and it was so much fun! It’s been a long time since I have been able to play that hard! I hope you all have had a great Christmas and Have a great week this week!! HABLAMOS

ELDER DURRANT

FELIZ NAVIDAD

This week was amazing! So we now have a new investigator and his name is Cesar.... This guy is not an ordinary Dominican... He has been SO prepared by the lord... So last week there were a couple elders that stayed in our house for the night and they got there early so they decided to go contact and they came back to us with his info and everything and so Monday we finally got around to visit him. So we were looking for his house, when we walked by this giant mansion (which never happens in the DR) and I said to my comp, hey look how big that is and we kept walking when all of a sudden I hear.. "Hey it’s me!" and we turned around and it was a guy standing in the doorway of the Mansion... I couldn’t believe it! So we entered in his house and began to get to know him and let’s just say he is very well off, but is extremely humble about it. He came to church this week and is progressing unbelievably fast!

Also this week we had a few activities with the ward! Friday we went to the park to sing carols and give out hot chocolate and then on Saturday, we had the Branch Christmas party and it was a huge success!! This week we are planning even more activities and things for our investigators and the members!! I hope you all have an amazing Christmas! Please send pictures of snow cuz I miss it!!! I KNOW HE LIVES AND GUIDES THIS CHURCH AND HE LOVEs YOU AND I....

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

ELDER DURRANT