Baptisms and Activities

I get a little farther behind as we go here in the Caribbean. We had an opportunity to go to an activity at one of the wards over by Duarte and Avenido Mexico, one of the Elders serving in this ward is Elder Michael Farnsworth invited us. As a small boy he and his family were our neighbors in the Greenwood Village ward. We watched a Shell project as they have been called. The Whitakers from Kanosh, Utah, work in the Santo Domingo East mission. They Laminate pictures and build frames for pictures. They also go out and harvest hundreds of pounds of sea shell and then the members of the wards and friends come and make pictures to hang in their homes. The activities are well attended and anticipated. About 50 were there the night we came.

A week latter we went back with our friends the McDermids to a baptism for three new members of the ward there. One was a 16 year old young man, one was a 14 year old young man, and then about 35-40 year old mother of 2-3 children. It was sweet and nicely prepared by the local members and the young missionaries. (The shell project had nothing to do with the baptisms, they both just happened to be occurring in the same week.)

We are loving it here. Sometimes it is frustrating but most of the time it is good and there is a feeling of purpose and humility that combines to make something very sweet. The learning and being outside of your comfort zone brings not only excitement but confidence in ones ability to cope with anything that comes your way. It is hard to explain. Being with people who have so little when it comes to worldly wealth and yet their eyes are filled with love and happiness. It is all very humbling. Knowing the Lord is aware of all it is hard to forget when you are out on his errand.

Dominica's Orphanage

In February we have had some interesting times. George and Kathy Berkley have been in contact and providing some supplies for an orphanage over the last year. A couple, who were here from the states, the Chatterleys, had both served missions here and wanted to deliver goods to needy so we were able to travel with them and a few other missionaries to Dominica's Orphanage. Dominica is great. She too had been raised in an orphanage. Over the years, she has built a beautiful, clean place where children learn and grow to be good students and good friends. She has developed a choir of talented, confident children. She has also built a school across the street from the orphanage where they are educated. All of this sets in an area that is surrounded by poverty and hopelessness. They are amazing children, very loving, not only to us as strangers but to each other. The teenage boys and girls were so sweet to the younger children. The work being done at the orphanage is impressive. She has had groups come in from the states to paint and provide for many of the needs. It was a sweet experience to be a small part of it.

Family News !!!!

Greg and Darlene had a baby boy on the 26th of January. He is 22 inches long and weighed 8 lbs 5 oz. He is beautiful. All went well and Greg and Darlene are very happy. I think they are pretty sweet parents as well. They live in San Francisco and so we are only able to give digital hugs and kisses thanks to Skype.

January 20th

Haiteses Nat'l Park

Wow! I am getting behind, like a month behind. I'll see what I can do about it. We went to Samana over the four day holiday with the idea to see the whales. They are seen from January to March on the north east side of the island. We went with Daniel and Rebecca Mehr who are the Public Affairs Missionaries here. They do a wonderful job. They are here through April but will return for a 6 month new mission (technically) to Puerto Rico in the middle of the summer. Anyway, we stayed at the Bannister Hotel, which had only been open one month. Ihave never seen anything like it here on this island. It is an exclusive marina/ resort. The down side is, no beach but the up side is beautiful, cleanrooms, good food and an infinity pool.

We rented a boat one day to take us across the bay to Hiateses Nat'l Park. You can really only see some parts of it by boat. Many little islands with dense vegetation and unique birds. The bad news is that one of the twin engines went out on us half way across and it slowed us down immensely. The good news is that going so slow we saw many flying fish, stingrays and dolphins. It was pretty amazing even though we thought the other engine might go at any time. The boat was a beautiful clean boat which goes to show you that you can't tell a book by its cover or is it beauty is only skin deep but in this case, paint deep. We did have a wonderful day and I will post a few pictures of our adventure we saw some interesting birds and even a cave.

Because our boat ride got cut short we decided to take a trip up to Salta de Limon ( a beautiful waterfall in the mountains. We rode horses not because it was so far but it is so muddy and all of the mud is not mud. It was interesting. The water did not look all that clean to me but Ed and Daniel had a good swim. We also road over to Las Terrenas a beach resort town along the Atlantic. The next morning, Sunday, we left early to get to church in Gonzalo where the Joneses served in a small branch. It was the best part of the trip. About ten people in this little ply-board church, but such faithful, faithful members. The Lord loves these very remarkable people, I know he does. Elder Swapp and Elder Mehr spoke at the meeting but only after a 16 year old gave a talk, quoting memorized scripture as if he were a returned missionary. Sister Mehr and I each bore our testimonies. The people in the small towns have very little but they do have families and for the most part they are a very happy people. It was a memory not soon to be forgotten.

Gonzalo Branch!

January 18th

I need to tell you a little bit about the office. I believe I had said that the original assistant to the presidency was in the hospital with complications in her pregnancy. The young man who took her place started the same day we did. She was not their to train Alex so he pretty much had to teach himself and we would help all we could with our vast experience in office work. Anyway we moved to a new office on top of it all and we have all learned together. The young man is Alexis and about 10 days after we started together, a group of men from his stake came and preformed a wonderful FHE Christmas Program for us. His brother also has a great voice. They both speak very good English. Alex has set a personal goal that I am going to learn Spanish. I actually have homework that he gave me for tonight so I better get busy.

I also believe I have stated that there is an MTC, called the CCM, on the fourth floor. We became particularly close to four of the missionaries. They are Elder Wright going to Santiago, from LaGrand OR., Elder Turner going to the Santo Domingo East, from SLC (Sugarhouse), Elder Sawyer going to the West Mission, from Sacramento/Yuba City, and Elder Richins going to Santiago, from Shelly ID. We loved those young men, we will miss them now they are headed for the field.

January 16th

January seems to be holiday month. We haven't thought so until we got here but, last Monday we got Monday off for 3 Kings Day and now. My family has Monday, the 16th, off for Equal Rights or Martin Luther King's Day (We do not have that off.) But this coming week we have Friday and Monday off I just haven't figured out what the holidays really are. Friday is "Dia de Alto Gracias" and Monday is "Duarte Day". I'm not sure their significance and even when I ask some of the natives they are pretty vague as well.

We are finally feeling like we have a handle on our work here. We were given a Honda Odessy to drive this week. It is suppose to be an upgrade from the Corolla we have been driving and it is in most ways. If you remember some of the driving rules here. The bigger the vehicle, the more weight you carry in bullying your way through the traffic. Not that we are ever bullies it is just that it is part of the way it works here. So bigger is good most of the time unless you are trying to get down some very skinny streets or fit into a very small parking spot which happens quite often. We have parked in spaces were the Corolla had about 5 inches on each side counting poles and that just would not work for the Honda. Two new missionary couples came in yesterday. We are trying to get them oriented a little. We are officially no longer the rookies.

The temple is closed for two weeks right now. They are doing some of the major upgrades. They are planting new hedges and doing a great deal of trimming. They do it all by hand with no electric or gas powered trimmers, hedgers, or chain saws which is exactly what you would use in the states. They have scaffolding up on the spire but all will be finished when they open in a week. They have amazing organization.

We had stake conference today and used the new media equipment in the office to watch it in English. It was very nice. We watched it with the temple president and his wife, Larry and Jo Ann Bair, Sister Lilly, and Elder and Sister Coleman.

If you have Skyped with us you would know that we drop of line OFTEN many here have generators because the power goes off daily, sometimes for a minute or two and sometimes for hours. The church here has a large generator so when it goes off it is back on in 10 seconds so we really do not feel the stress of it. Some who do not live in the casa have gone hours without electricity. Note the wiring in my pictures. Need I say more.

We had a discouraging day or two this week. It seemed as if we were working hard and not getting much support but in the end, the support kicked in and things got better. Enough said.

The New Year

Where do I start? So much happens so fast around here and most seems like it is of value to others and the strengthening of the members. We did take a short trip last week because it was a holiday and most of the area employees and leaders were on vacation. Santo Domingo is on the south end of the island so we decided to go to the north end and see something besides the city. It was fun. We went with the Atkinsons who are the humanitarian missionaries and the Kilgores who are the medical support. Dr. Kilgore is the area Doctor who takes care of the sick missionaries and clears potential ones to serve. It is a busy job and he does have some stories to tell about it all. The Atkinsons works with the local leaders of the church, government organizations, and other churches and charitable organizations on projects to benefit the quality of life for others. The church does so much more than I had ever known. They build clean water facilities, provide equipment for hospitals and wheelchairs for the needy (there are many needs because with nationalized medicine, if you severely break a leg and it needs an operation and pins it will cost the individual personally, but they will cut it off for free, which is the only option for most), agricultural development, literacy, and housing to name just a few. Many projects are huge. On our trip we met some of the local leaders as the Atkinsons had scheduled two appointments along our way. Getting away from the office and meeting the people also gives us an understanding of the work we do.
Back to the trip we went through Santiago and then up to Puerto Plata. We stayed near the beach and enjoyed the sun, friends, and a trip up into the mountains for a view. We came home New Years Eve and did not leave to hear the celebrations anywhere, although the noise in the city did wake us at midnight.

We went to Juan Dolio beach for a few hours on New Years Day with 1o other missionaries. The best part of the day was that the temple opened for a special session. I will remember 1-1-11 for this very reason. It was the first time Ed and I participated as workers in the temple. It was a learning experience but very spiritual. There was a family from Guyana that had sacrificed much and traveled far to get here and be sealed. They had planned to attend many times for the week they were here and the temple was closed Friday, Saturday for the holiday and of course the regular closure on Sunday and Monday. They were sealed on Thursday and were able to do work on Saturday, when the Temple presidency asked for volunteers for a special session, and Tuesday before their departure Wednesday morning. We also had 5 here from Haiti. We had 25 in the session counting a few other visitors and workers. It was nice to have an English session. This language thing is trickier than you think. Most sessions are Spanish with headsets for English and French but at times with Haiti people here it is French or if it is Jamaica or Guyana then it is English. Very interesting dynamics.

On Sunday we had a beautiful day. (Weatherwise every day is beautiful here.) I had the courage to share my testimony in Spanish. It was a good experience for me, not sure if I was understood but most are kind. We had the family from Guyana join us for dinner. They were so full of faith and love. There story is inspiring. I taped their story on Monday to archive for the Church History Department. He is a branch president in Georgetown. She is of Indian (that is from India) descent, and has a Cinderella story that is more Cinderella than the original. Their daughter is thirteen. She is loved greatly and in return she loves her parents and appreciates their goodness.

Monday night for FHE we had a farewell open house for two couples leaving. The Hendricks are the President and wife of the CCE (MTC) upstairs and the Johnsons are the office couple in the Santo Domingo West Mission. They each had the opportunity to share their testimonies and experiences from their mission and it was a tender parting.

This week President Vinas returned from vacation and we have all been working long and hard. On Wednesday we worked in the temple after putting in a day at the office and on Thursday I had a meeting until 7:30 p.m. and we put in a twelve hour day. It is busy here but where we live is comfortable and we are working hard. Ed's Spanish has come back well and converses most of the day in Spanish in the office and on the phone. I, on the other hand, am still working on it and struggling.