I did write on this blog last night but somehow erased it so will start again. The problem is I can't tell what the selections are in Spanish. Thinking that I m going to learn from the last time I push a button - and just like magic everything disappears never to be found again.
On Sunday we visited a stake conference. The spirit felt just like home. The little kids were fussing and restless so Scott found a little girl in front of us to draw his animal pictures for. He just needed some smarties and he could have had a dozen kids crowded around him. It is so good to see children. We have very rarely seen them when we have been shopping or around on the streets with their parents. They are beautiful and very well dressed here in the city. The Santo Domingo stake seems to be one of the wealthier stakes. I'm anxious to go out to the country and meet the people there. We had a Haitian member of the quorum of the seventy there but he spoke French so someone had to translate into Spanish and I only picked up a few words here and there. I think even Scott gave up trying to understand what he was saying.
Our water went off on Saturday and it has been mostly off since then. Every once in a 12 hour period they turn it on for half and hour so you can flush the toilets and mop the floors, take a quick shower if you don't care what color the water is! We managed to put some water in our little washer and let it sit until the water came on eight hours later. Then drained the water out and filled it up again to rinse - another eight hours later. Takes quite a while to wash that way. And you know those no wrinkle white shirts? Well when you put them in the spinner to get the water out of them they become permanently wrinkled. Did find an iron though. The prices here for most things are about the same as they are home.
We have been spending alot of time studying Spanish and the music program. We also spend quite a bit of time lost! On Monday night we went to family home evening at the Casa with the other senior missionary couples. Elder Snow from down in southern Utah did some cowboy poetry and Scott loved it. I was out in the hall coughing. Either this air is very heavy or there is something floating around here in the air. When you wipe off the table there is this black film on your towel. I thought it was just the pollution from the buses and taxis but everyone says they have it too. It is interesting to see their buildings going up with them making their own cement in the street with no machines - just by hand. Everything is done by hand here but there is much construction going on. They don't have room to build out so they build up. The big stores here are two, three, and four levels high.
On Tuesday we worked on music things then went to the temple before we went out to a ward where two senior missionaries are teaching music. This time I had the ear phones so I knew what was going on. It is such a special place. We are so blessed to be able to leave the hustle and noise behind and go into the Lord's quiet, peaceful house.
We had a gps so set it for the church we were going to. The problem is it doesn't tell you that the street is one way! The people here say you can never follow a gps in Santo Domingo because they change the directions of the one-way roads almost weekly and some are one way in the mornings and different at night. We found the church and a perfect example of what we want to help with here. Sister Anderson was teaching a new choir director how the notes go up and down so she could help her choir. One of the sisters here, Sister Mead, who looks and acts like Mother Teresa, says "these people are just like children waiting to be taught". It is so true! So we started home excited about the progress in their ward but soon found that we were completely lost. After learning that this is one of the main drug trafficking places it was scary to drive through some of the rougher areas where the road was ten feet wide and on each side of the road were these little outside tables that people were sitting at drinking and looking sinister. To make it worse we couldn't seem to find our way out and each area we went through looked a little scarier! So Scott finally found light at the end of the tunnel and got us to a bigger road. Trying to follow the gps directions we turned the wrong way onto a one-way street right into oncoming traffic. A car was coming right at us. Scott pulled to one side of the road and sure enough - the car that was coming directly at us turned on it's flashing police lights. We have heard nothing good about the police here so we were expecting all kinds of bad stuff. Two men got out of their police car and walked toward us. One went to Scott's window and one came to mine. Scott's was nicer! He actually laughed when he realized we were gringos and not just a couple of drunks. They stopped traffic and let us continue on the wrong way until we could get on a one way road going the other way. All in all, it took us about and hour to get home from a church that is about ten miles or less away.
One of the funnest things we get to do out here is to call home. This gmail calling is great even though the sound isn't too good. Some of our friends here are psychiatrists who work with the elders in the mission. They say they work with many of the senior couples that have a hard time adjusting to the difference between a young person mission and a senior mission. The seniors work much harder! Not... We are just here to do the work of the Lord in whatever way we can but it is much different than Scott's 10+ hours a day doing hard physical work on the ranch.
We talked to Kelly. He sent me Sherie's obituary and a letter from Tim that will be read at the funeral. I wish I could be there ; I know well what kind of a woman Sherie is and know there will be very special spirit there.
We have done our shopping today. We are actually getting used to National (the big Smith's here)
where teenage boys wait to take your cart to your car so they can earn some money through tips. It gets pretty competitive at times. Don't be jealous but I actually found a package of chicken gizzards
here! (And I don't have to share them with my kids)
We have noticed how many expensive SUV's there are here. Much nicer cars than we expected! Pres. Cornish says there are three types of people who drive those cars: the professional ball players, the government people and the drug lords. He says he prefers to think there are many, many professional ball players here. There is actually a Porshe dealership close to us.
On Sunday we visited a stake conference. The spirit felt just like home. The little kids were fussing and restless so Scott found a little girl in front of us to draw his animal pictures for. He just needed some smarties and he could have had a dozen kids crowded around him. It is so good to see children. We have very rarely seen them when we have been shopping or around on the streets with their parents. They are beautiful and very well dressed here in the city. The Santo Domingo stake seems to be one of the wealthier stakes. I'm anxious to go out to the country and meet the people there. We had a Haitian member of the quorum of the seventy there but he spoke French so someone had to translate into Spanish and I only picked up a few words here and there. I think even Scott gave up trying to understand what he was saying.
Our water went off on Saturday and it has been mostly off since then. Every once in a 12 hour period they turn it on for half and hour so you can flush the toilets and mop the floors, take a quick shower if you don't care what color the water is! We managed to put some water in our little washer and let it sit until the water came on eight hours later. Then drained the water out and filled it up again to rinse - another eight hours later. Takes quite a while to wash that way. And you know those no wrinkle white shirts? Well when you put them in the spinner to get the water out of them they become permanently wrinkled. Did find an iron though. The prices here for most things are about the same as they are home.
We have been spending alot of time studying Spanish and the music program. We also spend quite a bit of time lost! On Monday night we went to family home evening at the Casa with the other senior missionary couples. Elder Snow from down in southern Utah did some cowboy poetry and Scott loved it. I was out in the hall coughing. Either this air is very heavy or there is something floating around here in the air. When you wipe off the table there is this black film on your towel. I thought it was just the pollution from the buses and taxis but everyone says they have it too. It is interesting to see their buildings going up with them making their own cement in the street with no machines - just by hand. Everything is done by hand here but there is much construction going on. They don't have room to build out so they build up. The big stores here are two, three, and four levels high.
On Tuesday we worked on music things then went to the temple before we went out to a ward where two senior missionaries are teaching music. This time I had the ear phones so I knew what was going on. It is such a special place. We are so blessed to be able to leave the hustle and noise behind and go into the Lord's quiet, peaceful house.
We had a gps so set it for the church we were going to. The problem is it doesn't tell you that the street is one way! The people here say you can never follow a gps in Santo Domingo because they change the directions of the one-way roads almost weekly and some are one way in the mornings and different at night. We found the church and a perfect example of what we want to help with here. Sister Anderson was teaching a new choir director how the notes go up and down so she could help her choir. One of the sisters here, Sister Mead, who looks and acts like Mother Teresa, says "these people are just like children waiting to be taught". It is so true! So we started home excited about the progress in their ward but soon found that we were completely lost. After learning that this is one of the main drug trafficking places it was scary to drive through some of the rougher areas where the road was ten feet wide and on each side of the road were these little outside tables that people were sitting at drinking and looking sinister. To make it worse we couldn't seem to find our way out and each area we went through looked a little scarier! So Scott finally found light at the end of the tunnel and got us to a bigger road. Trying to follow the gps directions we turned the wrong way onto a one-way street right into oncoming traffic. A car was coming right at us. Scott pulled to one side of the road and sure enough - the car that was coming directly at us turned on it's flashing police lights. We have heard nothing good about the police here so we were expecting all kinds of bad stuff. Two men got out of their police car and walked toward us. One went to Scott's window and one came to mine. Scott's was nicer! He actually laughed when he realized we were gringos and not just a couple of drunks. They stopped traffic and let us continue on the wrong way until we could get on a one way road going the other way. All in all, it took us about and hour to get home from a church that is about ten miles or less away.
One of the funnest things we get to do out here is to call home. This gmail calling is great even though the sound isn't too good. Some of our friends here are psychiatrists who work with the elders in the mission. They say they work with many of the senior couples that have a hard time adjusting to the difference between a young person mission and a senior mission. The seniors work much harder! Not... We are just here to do the work of the Lord in whatever way we can but it is much different than Scott's 10+ hours a day doing hard physical work on the ranch.
We talked to Kelly. He sent me Sherie's obituary and a letter from Tim that will be read at the funeral. I wish I could be there ; I know well what kind of a woman Sherie is and know there will be very special spirit there.
We have done our shopping today. We are actually getting used to National (the big Smith's here)
where teenage boys wait to take your cart to your car so they can earn some money through tips. It gets pretty competitive at times. Don't be jealous but I actually found a package of chicken gizzards
here! (And I don't have to share them with my kids)
We have noticed how many expensive SUV's there are here. Much nicer cars than we expected! Pres. Cornish says there are three types of people who drive those cars: the professional ball players, the government people and the drug lords. He says he prefers to think there are many, many professional ball players here. There is actually a Porshe dealership close to us.
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