Well I should be e-mailing from Puerto right now. But I'm not. I'm
still here in the CCM. We're going on seven weeks right now, which is
the longest any missionary has stayed at this CCM (MTC in Spanish). I
was supposed to leave but that got changed to Friday cause
of Hurricane Irma. However, they just told us about an hour ago, our
flight's are now pushed to Monday, if that. The hurricane's
already hit Puerto Rico and it's hitting our island today but we
aren't in a direct hit where we are so we are just gonna get tropical
storms out here. They said the winds will probably get up to about
seventy miles an hour here, which is a lot less than the 180 mph winds
where the hurricane is directly hitting. We got a bunch of extra food
and water and a generator so we're completely fine though. We will be
able to do a lot of service when we get out to Puerto Rico. I don't
really know how much damage is done out there because we don't get the
news updates too fast, but we'll definitely be doing some service in
Puerto Rico. That's if we ever get there. I feel like I've become a
CCM Missionary. I'll just serve the rest of my mission in this
building. I wouldn't be too surprised if they told us that. Anyways,
I'll probably get out some day. Hopefully next week.
Besides being stuck here, I got to go on splits and go teach in the
park. Splits was super fun and I got an English speaking companion so
I actually knew what was going on. We stopped by his apartment though
and it didn't look to nice though. He was in what apparently used to
be the third dirtiest city in the world. He had no air conditioning,
the power was only on from 2 in the afternoon to 2 in the morning. The
water only worked every once in a while so he had to just leave it on
and it would fill up a bucket. That's what he used to take showers
with. After his apartment we went and taught some lessons at houses. I
swear all anyone does here is sleep. It was like three in the
afternoon and everyone was still sleeping from the morning. Everyone
is super nice though. They don't offer you food and water. They give
it to you and make you eat it. I probably got a giant cup of coke at
every house I went to. I was sick of coke after but they make you
drink it every time. The funniest thing I probably saw out there was
when we were walking down the streets. All the little kids play naked
in the streets. When we were walking though we saw this little boy
going crazy with some naked dance moves while some other little girls
were spraying water all over him. It was so funny. Also the buses out
here are pretty funny. They have some guy that stands in the door and
the bus just pulls over all the time while the guy will hop and force
people on the bus. Like literally force them on. They like grab people
and throw them on the bus. I guess at that point you just need to
accept the fact your taking the bus. It's pretty funny. And when we
taught at the park everyone was super nice. And I think my Spanish was
pretty good as well. I think. Anyways hopefully next time I email I'll
be in Puerto Rico. I hope.
Saturday, September 9, 2017
Thursday, August 31, 2017
Violin tunes for all to hear & heading out to Puerto Rico next Tuesday
So it wasn't that crazy of a week. I haven't really left the MTC much,
besides for a service project. I get to go on splits tomorrow though,
so that's going to be pretty cool. I do have a good story on the
service project. We were walking picking up trash at this one place, I
have no idea what it was. Anyways, somebody in my district stepped on
a manhole cover and it just fell through. Luckily he caught himself
with his arms, but he almost fell into the sewer. He got a little cut
up but it was still hilarious. Another cool thing was one of the new
missionaries brought a violin. We heard him through the door when we
were in our rooms getting ready for bed, and we reached our latter
over to knock on his door because we weren't supposed to leave our
rooms at the time. Anyways, he opened his door and started playing. I
have never heard anyone play the violin this good ever. He started
going ham and our entire floor opened their doors and started getting
super hype. Anyways that was super cool. I also learned mandals
probably aren't the best basketball shoes in the rain. We were playing
outside when it was pouring again and I was running to go get the
basketball and tried to stop but totally slipped and slammed my knee
into the wall. I probably should have brought some band aids also
because I had to get a little creative so I didn't get any blood on my
pants. I'll still probably wear my mandals out in the rain though
cause I don't want to get my shoes soaked.
Next time I write I'm going to be out in Puerto Rico. This is my last
week of the MTC. I'm gonna miss all the people and friends I've made
out here, but I don't think I'm gonna miss the classes all day too
much. They have definitely helped with my spanish though. I think it
was this morning that I read a chapter of my Spanish scriptures fairly
slowly, but I understood everything that I was reading. Now I just
need to figure out how to pick up what people are saying when they
talk. They cut a bunch of stuff out of their words and speak super
fast. I'm pretty sure they don't even use S's when they speak.
Hopefully Puerto Rican's speak a little bit slower. We also got to go
to the temple today. It's gonna be my last time to be able to go their
for two years cause they don't have any out in Puerto Rico. That was
probably my spiritual highlight for the week.
besides for a service project. I get to go on splits tomorrow though,
so that's going to be pretty cool. I do have a good story on the
service project. We were walking picking up trash at this one place, I
have no idea what it was. Anyways, somebody in my district stepped on
a manhole cover and it just fell through. Luckily he caught himself
with his arms, but he almost fell into the sewer. He got a little cut
up but it was still hilarious. Another cool thing was one of the new
missionaries brought a violin. We heard him through the door when we
were in our rooms getting ready for bed, and we reached our latter
over to knock on his door because we weren't supposed to leave our
rooms at the time. Anyways, he opened his door and started playing. I
have never heard anyone play the violin this good ever. He started
going ham and our entire floor opened their doors and started getting
super hype. Anyways that was super cool. I also learned mandals
probably aren't the best basketball shoes in the rain. We were playing
outside when it was pouring again and I was running to go get the
basketball and tried to stop but totally slipped and slammed my knee
into the wall. I probably should have brought some band aids also
because I had to get a little creative so I didn't get any blood on my
pants. I'll still probably wear my mandals out in the rain though
cause I don't want to get my shoes soaked.
 |
| Brian & MTC district at DR Temple |
Next time I write I'm going to be out in Puerto Rico. This is my last
week of the MTC. I'm gonna miss all the people and friends I've made
out here, but I don't think I'm gonna miss the classes all day too
much. They have definitely helped with my spanish though. I think it
was this morning that I read a chapter of my Spanish scriptures fairly
slowly, but I understood everything that I was reading. Now I just
need to figure out how to pick up what people are saying when they
talk. They cut a bunch of stuff out of their words and speak super
fast. I'm pretty sure they don't even use S's when they speak.
Hopefully Puerto Rican's speak a little bit slower. We also got to go
to the temple today. It's gonna be my last time to be able to go their
for two years cause they don't have any out in Puerto Rico. That was
probably my spiritual highlight for the week.
Sunday, August 27, 2017
Near death experience driving in cabs in Dominican Republic
Well it was definitely a crazy week. I don't even remember everything
that went on but I'll try to hit the major things. We went to a
different place to teach last Friday. It didn't go quite so well. We
were talking to some people we found sitting down and apparently all
of them knew English perfectly well. We were just stumbling through
the first lesson in terrible Spanish. It got all the way to the end,
and then one of them asked if we spoke English. I don't know why they
didn't say anything sooner. Anyways that lesson didn't go so well
because then they proceeded to buy some prescription marijuana while
we were teaching them. We figured we should move on to some different
people when they started smoking it in front of us. My companion and i
figured we would head somewhere less crowded so we headed down the
streets. We found this guy sitting on a fence with his back to the
street that was way interested. We started teaching him and while we
are teaching a completely tinted out car slowly rolls up to us and
honks twice. They started to roll down the window but the guy on the
fence turned around and whistled at the car and they rolled it back up
and drove off. That was pretty scary though cause I had no idea what
was going to go down.
The next awesome thing was going on splits. We just went out
yesterday, and it was insane. They have a total culture difference
here. My companion was from Guatemala and spoke barely any English at
all. Anyways we took the metro downtown into the city. Then we just
started walking across the streets. I almost got hit like twenty
times. Then we got into a taxi. There was six of us in this little
tiny car with no seat belts, and the drivers don't care about
anything. I'm not even quite sure if there are lanes on the road.
Anyways though, you just pay them twenty five pesos and get out
whenever. Then we just started teaching. You don't knock on doors
here. You just yell "Saludos" or something and they'll come open it.
And everybody talks to you. Even if they don't want to, they'll talk
to you for like ten minutes. We talked to so many people that were way
interested. I wish I had time to write more but we taught a bunch
more people. Then when we were heading back I picked up a street
churro which tasted super good and was only like 30 pesos. We got in
another taxi again, and remember what I said about my last taxi being
scary. That was nothing. The second one was crazy. We had seven people
in this one which I guess is the max cause if you have any more the
police will get you. Which is surprising cause you can pretty much do
whatever else you want on the roads and the cops don't care. Anyways
though, I had my elbow like an inch out of the window cause I was
totally squished, and my companion immediately pulled it in. I'm
pretty sure we bumped a couple other cars on our way back. We were
driving in oncoming traffic for a bit. I was legitimately surprised we
didn't get in a major accident. That was a fun day though.
I don't really have time to talk about the rest so I'll just summarize
in a couple sentences. Our top bunk bed broke and fell onto the bottom
bunk. We had a member of the 70 come and speak to us. We balled up in
our mandals while it was pouring rain. My companion had to sleep on
the floor for a different reason then the bunk bed breaking. That's
some of the major parts of my week but it is way fun out here.
that went on but I'll try to hit the major things. We went to a
different place to teach last Friday. It didn't go quite so well. We
were talking to some people we found sitting down and apparently all
of them knew English perfectly well. We were just stumbling through
the first lesson in terrible Spanish. It got all the way to the end,
and then one of them asked if we spoke English. I don't know why they
didn't say anything sooner. Anyways that lesson didn't go so well
because then they proceeded to buy some prescription marijuana while
we were teaching them. We figured we should move on to some different
people when they started smoking it in front of us. My companion and i
figured we would head somewhere less crowded so we headed down the
streets. We found this guy sitting on a fence with his back to the
street that was way interested. We started teaching him and while we
are teaching a completely tinted out car slowly rolls up to us and
honks twice. They started to roll down the window but the guy on the
fence turned around and whistled at the car and they rolled it back up
and drove off. That was pretty scary though cause I had no idea what
was going to go down.
The next awesome thing was going on splits. We just went out
yesterday, and it was insane. They have a total culture difference
here. My companion was from Guatemala and spoke barely any English at
all. Anyways we took the metro downtown into the city. Then we just
started walking across the streets. I almost got hit like twenty
times. Then we got into a taxi. There was six of us in this little
tiny car with no seat belts, and the drivers don't care about
anything. I'm not even quite sure if there are lanes on the road.
Anyways though, you just pay them twenty five pesos and get out
whenever. Then we just started teaching. You don't knock on doors
here. You just yell "Saludos" or something and they'll come open it.
And everybody talks to you. Even if they don't want to, they'll talk
to you for like ten minutes. We talked to so many people that were way
interested. I wish I had time to write more but we taught a bunch
more people. Then when we were heading back I picked up a street
churro which tasted super good and was only like 30 pesos. We got in
another taxi again, and remember what I said about my last taxi being
scary. That was nothing. The second one was crazy. We had seven people
in this one which I guess is the max cause if you have any more the
police will get you. Which is surprising cause you can pretty much do
whatever else you want on the roads and the cops don't care. Anyways
though, I had my elbow like an inch out of the window cause I was
totally squished, and my companion immediately pulled it in. I'm
pretty sure we bumped a couple other cars on our way back. We were
driving in oncoming traffic for a bit. I was legitimately surprised we
didn't get in a major accident. That was a fun day though.
I don't really have time to talk about the rest so I'll just summarize
in a couple sentences. Our top bunk bed broke and fell onto the bottom
bunk. We had a member of the 70 come and speak to us. We balled up in
our mandals while it was pouring rain. My companion had to sleep on
the floor for a different reason then the bunk bed breaking. That's
some of the major parts of my week but it is way fun out here.
 |
| Cramming as many people in taxi |
Thursday, August 17, 2017
Poisonous Centipedes?
So this week wasn't all that crazy. It's honestly flying by already.
The classes feel super long but looking back it feels like
everything's going way fast. Funny story, during one of our classes it
started to smell like something was burning. Before long there was a
bunch of smoke in the building and it was getting hard to breathe. So
they had everyone evacuate, and we all thought the building was on
fire or something, but it turns out it was just something they were
doing on the roof that got through all our vents. It was a nice break
from class though.
It's also starting to feel way different in here. All the older
missionaries left on Tuesday morning, so there was only about thirty
people here that day. The new ones then came in the next day and now
we have like 75 people here which is apparently the most people they
have ever had in this MTC. I don't really know any of the new guys yet
because we haven't really been together much, but they ate one meal
with us and we didn't even have enough seats. It is way crowded in
here. Most people got new roommates when the new guys came also, but
my room didn't. I'm pretty happy about that because we pretty much
have the best room. Everybody gets along great in my room. We have no
problems and we probably keep our room the cleanest also.
So we didn't get to leave the MTC too much this week. However, we did
leave it on Wednesday to go pick up trash and leaves in the park. It
was pretty fun. They also have some giant centipedes under a bunch of
the leaves. Like 8 inches long. Apparently everybody's been saying
they are poisonous if they bite you. I picked one up from the back
with a plastic glove on though so it couldn't get me. It did prick me
with two random things sticking out in the back of it. I had no idea
what they were. It didn't draw any blood so I think I'm good.
We also got to go to the roof one night and check out the temple from there.
It looked super cool and we could see the ocean behind it when was
still fairly light out.
I realized I haven't been leaving a spiritual experience on my past
emails, but I'll start this week. Probably the best one I had this
week was when my companion and I were teaching an "investigator"
because when we were teaching we knew exactly what to say. This is in
Spanish by the way. We were full on telling stories, and saying
whatever we needed to say in great Spanish. Oh yeah I forgot, but we
did leave one other time. We got to go teach at the University here.
The people here are way nice. We talked to about five people and they
were all interested in what we were saying. There was one person we
were talking to for about twenty minutes. We picked up on a lot of
what he was saying, but the people here speak insanely fast. After we
finished talking he was asking us where the church was because he
wanted to go on Sunday. That was super cool. It was so hot when we
were out there though. We got back to our rooms just drenched. Anyways
I'm about out of time but that's hopefully everything I wanted to say
this week.
The classes feel super long but looking back it feels like
everything's going way fast. Funny story, during one of our classes it
started to smell like something was burning. Before long there was a
bunch of smoke in the building and it was getting hard to breathe. So
they had everyone evacuate, and we all thought the building was on
fire or something, but it turns out it was just something they were
doing on the roof that got through all our vents. It was a nice break
from class though.
It's also starting to feel way different in here. All the older
missionaries left on Tuesday morning, so there was only about thirty
people here that day. The new ones then came in the next day and now
we have like 75 people here which is apparently the most people they
have ever had in this MTC. I don't really know any of the new guys yet
because we haven't really been together much, but they ate one meal
with us and we didn't even have enough seats. It is way crowded in
here. Most people got new roommates when the new guys came also, but
my room didn't. I'm pretty happy about that because we pretty much
have the best room. Everybody gets along great in my room. We have no
problems and we probably keep our room the cleanest also.
So we didn't get to leave the MTC too much this week. However, we did
leave it on Wednesday to go pick up trash and leaves in the park. It
was pretty fun. They also have some giant centipedes under a bunch of
the leaves. Like 8 inches long. Apparently everybody's been saying
they are poisonous if they bite you. I picked one up from the back
with a plastic glove on though so it couldn't get me. It did prick me
with two random things sticking out in the back of it. I had no idea
what they were. It didn't draw any blood so I think I'm good.
 |
| Brian holding poisonous centipede |
We also got to go to the roof one night and check out the temple from there.
It looked super cool and we could see the ocean behind it when was
still fairly light out.
 |
| Brian with district on roof with temple in background |
I realized I haven't been leaving a spiritual experience on my past
emails, but I'll start this week. Probably the best one I had this
week was when my companion and I were teaching an "investigator"
because when we were teaching we knew exactly what to say. This is in
Spanish by the way. We were full on telling stories, and saying
whatever we needed to say in great Spanish. Oh yeah I forgot, but we
did leave one other time. We got to go teach at the University here.
The people here are way nice. We talked to about five people and they
were all interested in what we were saying. There was one person we
were talking to for about twenty minutes. We picked up on a lot of
what he was saying, but the people here speak insanely fast. After we
finished talking he was asking us where the church was because he
wanted to go on Sunday. That was super cool. It was so hot when we
were out there though. We got back to our rooms just drenched. Anyways
I'm about out of time but that's hopefully everything I wanted to say
this week.
 |
| Brian with Mission President & Wife |
Thursday, August 10, 2017
Food Caught Up With Him (not in a good way)
It was another awesome week out here. We finally got to leave the MTC
for a couple different things. However, I said the food was amazing
last week. Nobody's stomach seemed to agree. We all had to cut back on
all of the fruit we were eating. I was having like a plate of fruit
each meal and like three or four bananas a day. We've all learned our
lesson though. Anyways, last week we got to walk over to the store. It
was cool to check out all the country. On our way over I probably saw
at least a hundred police with huge assault rifles. It was a pretty
cool walk. When we got to the store I just got a bunch of snacks. They
have these wafers that cost like a dollar for a box of fifteen so I
bought a bunch of those. Anyways when we got back it started pouring,
and the next group of missionaries couldn't walk over to the store
because there was a riot that broke out right after we left. So they had to
take a bus to a different store.
We also got to leave the MTC grounds for two other things. We were
supposed to go do service at the park across the street, but I guess
we didn't have any tools so we just ended up checking out the caves.
They have some awesome caves out there cause I guess the park used to
be a zoo. There were spider webs all over with massive spiders in
them. Probably about as big as my hand. That was super cool to see but
I didn't get any pictures cause I didn't bring my camera. The one
other time we got to leave was today cause we went and checked out
some castle and church. That was pretty sick and I got a bunch of
photos out there. Walking around though gets so hot. Everyone is just
drenched cause it's so humid. It's also crazy watching all the drivers
out here. Nobody cares about anything. Everyone's cars are just beat
up and they just hold the horn down and cut everyone off. I didn't get
to see it but apparently while the older missionaries were doing
splits, some bus crashed into another car. In the middle of the road
the guy gets out of his car and pulls out a machete and everyone
started chanting fight fight in Spanish. They had to leave right after
that though so they didn't find out what happened after that. There
were also some used shotgun shells on the floor on our walk over to
the store. I'm safe though, so no need to worry.
I think my Spanish is getting way better. I can hold a pretty good
conversation with someone in Spanish now if they speak slowly. The
classes are long though. We have an awesome district though so that
helps a lot. My roommates are also super chill. That's one of my
favorite parts of the day, when we go back to the rooms before bed and
we just hang out. My companion lived on a ranch. One of my other
roommates was the QB for Bingham football, and the other one used to
play basketball. Speaking of basketball, It's actually super fun to
play that out here. We get an hour each day on the outdoor courts so
we get way sweaty. It's super fun though. It's also fun to play with
the Dominicans. They play basketball a little differently. They never
check the ball back up so no matter what they go back up with the shot
without clearing it.
Anyways if anyone wants to email me, you guys need to send the first
email cause I don't have anybody's email address.
for a couple different things. However, I said the food was amazing
last week. Nobody's stomach seemed to agree. We all had to cut back on
all of the fruit we were eating. I was having like a plate of fruit
each meal and like three or four bananas a day. We've all learned our
lesson though. Anyways, last week we got to walk over to the store. It
was cool to check out all the country. On our way over I probably saw
at least a hundred police with huge assault rifles. It was a pretty
cool walk. When we got to the store I just got a bunch of snacks. They
have these wafers that cost like a dollar for a box of fifteen so I
bought a bunch of those. Anyways when we got back it started pouring,
and the next group of missionaries couldn't walk over to the store
because there was a riot that broke out right after we left. So they had to
take a bus to a different store.
We also got to leave the MTC grounds for two other things. We were
supposed to go do service at the park across the street, but I guess
we didn't have any tools so we just ended up checking out the caves.
They have some awesome caves out there cause I guess the park used to
be a zoo. There were spider webs all over with massive spiders in
them. Probably about as big as my hand. That was super cool to see but
I didn't get any pictures cause I didn't bring my camera. The one
other time we got to leave was today cause we went and checked out
some castle and church. That was pretty sick and I got a bunch of
photos out there. Walking around though gets so hot. Everyone is just
drenched cause it's so humid. It's also crazy watching all the drivers
out here. Nobody cares about anything. Everyone's cars are just beat
up and they just hold the horn down and cut everyone off. I didn't get
to see it but apparently while the older missionaries were doing
splits, some bus crashed into another car. In the middle of the road
the guy gets out of his car and pulls out a machete and everyone
started chanting fight fight in Spanish. They had to leave right after
that though so they didn't find out what happened after that. There
were also some used shotgun shells on the floor on our walk over to
the store. I'm safe though, so no need to worry.
I think my Spanish is getting way better. I can hold a pretty good
conversation with someone in Spanish now if they speak slowly. The
classes are long though. We have an awesome district though so that
helps a lot. My roommates are also super chill. That's one of my
favorite parts of the day, when we go back to the rooms before bed and
we just hang out. My companion lived on a ranch. One of my other
roommates was the QB for Bingham football, and the other one used to
play basketball. Speaking of basketball, It's actually super fun to
play that out here. We get an hour each day on the outdoor courts so
we get way sweaty. It's super fun though. It's also fun to play with
the Dominicans. They play basketball a little differently. They never
check the ball back up so no matter what they go back up with the shot
without clearing it.
Anyways if anyone wants to email me, you guys need to send the first
email cause I don't have anybody's email address.
 |
| Castle Touring |
Thursday, August 3, 2017
First Week in the Dominican Republic (DR) MTC
Hey everyone,
So ya a lot's happened out here in the DR. It's pretty sick. I have kind of a lot to say so I might not get all of it in until next week, but I'll probably just separate this into sections to make it easier.
Food
The food out here is soo good. At least I think it is. A lot of people don't like it but I think it's amazing. They have some mush stuff in the morning that tastes really good with the bananas. For lunch they have the biggest meal of the day. During lunch they always serve rice and beans with some sort of meat. It's my favorite meal of the day. For dinner they have a bunch of stuff that I have no idea what it is, but it tastes real good. The fruit here is absolutely amazing. Their pineapple and mangoes are the best I have ever had in my life. Papaya isn't all that great though. I have a whole plate of fruit with every one of my meals. Their bananas are also the best ever. I probably have like three or four a day. They have this juice also that is super good, but I have no idea what it is. A lot of the people make PB and J's cause they don't like the food but I love it.
People
The people here are great. My companion is from Wyoming and lived on a ranch. He's super chill to hang out with. The two others in my room are from Utah. One of them was QB for Bingham (I have no idea how to spell it) and the other one played basketball. There's probably about seventy people here. This is the most they have like ever had apparently. Most people are from the US. There's one from Canada, one from Ecuador, a couple from Mexico, one from Trinidad, and like seven from Haiti. We try to talk to the Haitians all the time but they only speak French or Haitian. Funny story actually. The first day me and my companion were talking to some other Haitians just staying at the MTC for like a night. We thought they were speaking Spanish, so we were trying to talk to them in Spanish and thought we were learning a bunch of new words. We got down to the cafeteria though and tried to use our new words but then we learned that we just learned a bunch of french words. My district is also pretty cool. We have ten people. We have one redneck dude who is totally hilarious, and he is companions with like the most serious dude here; the one from Canada. Anyways, ya we have a bunch of fun in class.
Language
I'm practically fluent in Spanish.... Just messing I know like nothing. I thought they were planning on teaching us Spanish here. Nope, they just teach us the gospel in Spanish and I guess we just kind of pick up on it. We are supposed to memorize some words on our own. We like jump right in though. I already had to write a talk in Spanish, and I've taught three lessons in Spanish. And when I say memorize words on our own, I'm not really sure when we're supposed to be doing it because we have like no time. Anyways, ya I guess I'll just pick up on it. I feel bad for the people who never took Spanish in high school because they have literally taught us like nothing. At least I know some of the conjugations and stuff.
 |
| Brian with companion Elder Barker from Wyoming |
 |
| Brian's DR District |
 |
| Brian & his Companion at DR Temple |
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Arrival in Dominican Republic
Brian's first message on his mission:
Hey everyone,
Hey everyone,
I just made it out to the MTC in the Dominican Republic. It's very humid and warm here. We almost crashed like twenty times just driving the bus over. The drivers here are terrible. I'm still figuring out what is actually going on right now, so I'm going to keep this pretty brief. I made it safely though, and you won't hear from me until next Thursday.
- Elder Busco
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