Day #3 Ocean Blue Resort

What a BEAUTIFUL day!!! It was sunny the whole day and we took full advantage. After a much needed nights sleep we made our way to breakfast then off to the beach. We played some volleyball, drank pina coladas, and even did some water aerobics with the most hilarious guy at the resort. Apparently all of the DR thinks Americans are still in the early 90's so we were treated to more amazing music like "Boom boom boom. Let me hear you say way-o way-o."

Day #2 Still Flying

Half way there. We can make it. Hopefully. The morning started off bright and early when we could no longer take the annoying music blasting so we went to check in for our flight. We headed of to Puerto Rico and finally got some sleep on that flight. Too bad it was only a 2 hour flight. Our layover in Puerto Rico was supposed to be a short one so we rushed to our gate. But as they brought our tiny little plane up near the terminal they let us know there was a problem. Something about a broken bathroom door? I'm not really sure what that means or why that would delay us, but they had to find a new plane for us. So 2 hours later we walked out on the runway, up the stairs of our tiny plane, and safely landed in La Romana, DR an hour later. After a fiasco with all the taxi drivers fighting to take us up to Punta Cana we were finally on the road. Our driver was funny. He spoke English pretty well and wanted to practice it. He also LOVED American music. So we had an hour and a half drive jamming out to "Pump, pump the jam, pump it up" and the Back Street Boys. I didn't have the heart to tell him that music's not that cool any more. We made it to our all-inclusive resort and went straight to the dinner buffet since we hadn't eaten since Tampa. Then it was straight to bed.

Day #1 Let the Journey Begin

One of the deciding factors of coming on this trip is that I found an AMAZING deal on plane tickets. The reason they were so cheap was probably because of length of time it would take to get to the DR. At noon we left happy valley ready to get this adventure started. Salt Lake to Dallas, then to Tampa with an 8 hour layover there. Don't worry, the airport made sure to make sleeping there as impossible as they could. The chairs all had armrests that didn't budge, the ground was hard, and the air conditioning was so cold I thought I might freeze to death. So what did we do to make it through the night? Let "The Office" season 1 begin.

Bye Bye Technology

As you can tell I never made it to the internet while I was in the DR. I did email my parents for 10 seconds half way through to let them know I had made it there and was alive, but that was it. No emailing, no phone calls, no texting. IT WAS WONDERFUL!!!!! I didn't think I would love being so cut off from my life, but I really loved it. Don't worry though. I kept track of the whole adventure, so I'll be posting each day on here. Enjoy!

Dominican Republic Here I Come

I leave today for the DR. I'm not sure how much access to the Internet I will have (if any at all), but I try to keep my blog updated if I can.

So Prophetic

"Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life..'

"This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. . . . Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions.

"Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened....

"Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel.

"There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself.

"Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh.' Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat."

From "A More Determined Discipleship" by Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy. An address delivered at Brigham Young University, 10 October 1978.

Confession

I have a confession......................I don't love hot chocolate. GASP!!!!!!!!! I know. Am I crazy? Probably. I don't hate it, it's just not my favorite. I'll drink it when social occasions call for it, but you probably won't catch me drinking it at home. I guess you could say I'm a social drinker ;).

Here's my beef with hot chocolate. I always burn my tongue on it so I can't taste anything for the next three days. It's super sugary so my mouth feels gross, then my stomach feels gross. It makes me get too warm on the inside so my cheeks get flushed. But for some reason I always accept a cup of hot cocoa. I know I'm not going to be happy with it and I'm going to feel weird when I'm done drinking.

I ♥ my roommies!

Alex, me, Ashley, Rita

I have amazing roommates! We have a fun time together and I couldn't ask for better girls. I love you guys!

Missionaries are funny

I love my job. Usually when I talk about how much I love my job it's because of all the amazing experiences that happen in the MTC. But this time I say I love it because sometimes missionaries say the dumbest things. Here's a conversation that took place last week. (I've included my internal dialog so you can get the full effect).

Elder: (with a grin on his face) So, Hna. Vogeler, are you our teacher's boss?
Me: Ya I am
Internal Dialog: Oh boy. I bet you anything he's about to make some female boss remark.
Elder: (big smirk on his face) Oh really.
Internal Dialog: Do I probe so he can start digging himself into a hole? Ya, that will be fun.
Me: Why are you smiling Elder?
Internal Dialog: This should be good!
Elder: No........I just...............well............some of my friends have had female bosses before and they just...........well.........they had a hard time with it.
Internal Dialog: Look at him squirm
Me: Oh really?
Elder: I mean..........I would be fine with it. I think it's just hard for some people.
Other Elder in the room: Ya. I had a female manager once and I hated it.
Another Elder: Did you even serve a mission?
Internal Dialog: Really? Really. Are these missionaries serious?
Me: Yes Elder. I did.
Silence
Internal Dialog: They are in so deep now that there's no way to get out. I guess I'll let them off easy
Me: Well, keep working hard Elders. Nos vemos.

Some of my quirks

While driving today I was thinking about some of the little quirky things I do, the way I prefer certain things to be done, things that bother me, things about me that probably aren't normal, but hopefully are endearing, not annoying. So I thought I'd share some of them with you. You may or may not know these things about me. Please feel free to add to the list if you've noticed any other quirks.

I hate hot air blowing on my face

It doesn't matter how cold I am, I can't stand it in my face. In the car I always have the heater on the feet function. I can't sleep at night if the heater is blowing on my face. The blow dryer, hand dryers, heaters of any kind. I love them, just not above the shoulders. To tell the truth, hot air in my face makes me ornery.

I like my drinking water room-temperature

I don't like drinking cold water. It freezes my throat. I like to drink water water fast, and it's easier when it's not too cold for my insides. Besides, cold water will give you a sore throat :) (If you've ever been to Argentina, you'll understand why that last statement is funny)

My sneezes

They're quirky. I don't really understand why. But every time I sneeze, my brothers make fun of me.

I don't really mind what temperature my food is

It's true. I just don't like it super hot or super cold. But I'll eat food straight from the fridge that should be warmed up. Sometimes I like it better that way. Like pizza.........and french toast. Well, maybe not better, just different.

I can't sleep on my back..........or with socks on

No matter how hard I try, I just can't do it.

I'm allergic to the cold

No joke. I don't just hate being cold, but I actually break out in hives if my skin is cold and gets rubbed by my clothes. Let's just say that winters are long for me.