Dogs, Dawgs, and Dogs

 November 11, 2024

Another week has passed as a Missionary dad out here in Buena Vista, Curaçao. This week has been a week full of dogs, of all different kinds. Many good, and some strange. But if I had one word to describe the week... It would be Dog. Let's get started!

          Dogs

     Every. Single. Day. This week. We have had some of the wildest interactions with dogs. Picture this. You're riding your bikes down a perfect horror movie street, and you stop to talk to the only person on this side of the Mississippi, only to have them go inside and hide the second they see the Dutch boys (we are not Dutch). Now, you're alone (with your companion), and all you hear is a dog in the distance. Take a deep breath. That dog in the distance? Not in the distance. Not A dog, but several... In a full sprint, coming at you. 2 rocks (I don't like to hurt the dogs), 7 dogs. Elder Day is now a hater of dogs, bonbini na Kòrsou. Another moment, we are casually on a street with over 20 dogs around the houses, all barking simultaneously, every single one of them tone deaf. A horrible harmony, terribly off pitch.

          Dogs

     Chilean Hot Dogs. I did not know that this was a thing until two days ago. People in the Caribbean, Guyana, and apparently Chile absolutely LOVE their hot dogs. Us and the zone leaders did service or a less active family this week, and so as a thank you they had us over for dinner. There's a technical name for it, but we had Chilean hot dogs. Chilean hot dogs were pretty much a hot dog in a bun with tomato, avocado, sauerkraut, and fry sauce. Honestly probably some of the best hot dogs that I've ever had, and now I will never be able to eat a hot dog the same way.

          Dawgs

     This segment is for the people who are Dawgs. For clarification, a Dawg is a good thing. As a mission for the month of November, we are doing a gratitude ice bucket challenge. Our district was nominated, so on friday we did our ice bucket challenge. We decided to nominate Sister Van Gils, our sister mission president. Not even a full day later our mission group chat received a video. Sister Van Gils was such a great sport, another reminder that our mission president and his wife are epic. The other Dawg of the week is Elder Day. He's learning really fast and takes the busy days well. He may have told someone that everyone in the world is "hot sauce" but his papiamento has come along very well.

      Overall it's been a good week! Lots of weird moments and much laughter. Something that has been very cool this week is just how much I've felt guided by the spirit throughout the week. Lots of small promptings of people to go visit and turns to take. The spirit guides us in many different ways. But I've found most consistently spiritual promptings come in the form of little thoughts. I know that God loves and looks out for everyone. Just keep your eyes open, cause if you count your blessings, you won't be able to count them all!

I love you all! Have a great week! And send me an email if you get bored! 

-Elder Aldrich