5/31/2012

Talk about tender mercies!  Over a week ago I lost my good camera.  We have looked everywhere, asked everyone we know and generally just been sick about loosing it.  Finally I thought this certainly was not an important thing to pray about but could 't help talking to Heavenly Father about it anyway. So yesterday I just decided to search thoroughly through everything in the house one more time.  I had moved everything by my dresser numerous times but thought I would try there one more time.  So I moved he computer box, the umbrella, the purse - took a broom and swept under the dresser, nightstand, and bed.  Heartsick I walked over and glanced down one last time in the area I had cleaned and there was this thing that looked like my camera.  You know how something is just too good to be true and you just know it isn't going to be there when you look again..  I just knew it was a mirage because I wanted so badly to find it.  But no, when I got closer and reached down to pick it up - it really was my camera.  How it got there I just figure was a miracle!
  We still have no air conditioner and it has been a hot, humid day.  It's sad to get out of the shower and feel the same as you did when you got in!  Spent the morning studying and preparing for our music lesson with the returned missionaries.  Trying to do a lesson plan with my spur of the moment husband was a challenge!  He really should have been a teacher.  We picked up five of the keyboards and some music training books from the distribution center here to use for the lessons and to check out to the sister missionaries who are teaching people here how to lead the singing and play the piano.  These are all engraved with numbers and the area information so hopefully we can keep better track of them.
   Louis called today to talk to Scott.  We miss him here and he still does not have a job.
Scott taught the Spanish class today.  At the temple there were so many in session there were barely enough seats.  In the time we have been here and attended the temple 30+ times there has never been so many people there.  A young American girl came in and sat by me.  She looked about 22 so I was surprised to find that she has five children and her husband works for the US Embassy here about 1 block from where we live. 

5/30/2012

Wow!  It is much quieter here since the big election campaigns have ended. However, just down the street is a big military training center and a government building that they exploded some kind of fireworks from that shook our cement building and was absolutely deafening!  We couldn't imagine what was happening as we watched people come out of their houses and try to what was going on.
After about 10 minutes it stopped and all was quiet.  The next day the guard told us that was just the government celebrating something so at least next time we won't think we're being bombed.
  We got to go to the temple last night with two other couples in our session.  It seems so strange because there were always more people in the Ogden temple sessions.  It is such a peaceful experience here because there never seems to be anyone scurrying and hurrying around. I'll bet these people have many less stress related illnesses because they just don't stress about anything. 
   On a poster in a stake building we visited they had a poster up announcing an "Especially for Youth" program.  I have never seen dress standards where a good part of the dress code was related to what kind of shoes they could wear.  So fitting for this country though! Guess they don't want to deal with broken ankles and the like from these 5" heeled shoes...
  Today we went to LaRamona that was about a two hour drive for a zone training meeting.  The McDermids, the psych doctors, went with us to do their presentation on how to live with and like your companion.  It was great information for Scott and I as well.  We told them they could ride with us if they gave us free counseling on the way home!
   The drive was beautiful when we got out of the city the roadside was covered with green trees, shrubs, vines, etc.  Of course the gate was locked so we had to wait for someone to unlock it.  I thought no one was coming because there were no cars then realized that all of the missionaries came by public transportation because they don't have cars. We had decided to use "I Am A Child of God " in our presentation.  I was all nervous because I was playing it and hadn't played on the organ/piano combo.  So I get up there to play and it has a screen that tells you how to set it up - in Spanish of course.  Since I didn't understand the instructions I found a piano button and pushed it.  So I start playing the introduction and some jazzy music comes on so it didn't even resemble "I Am a Child of God".  Scott is looking at me like I've gone crazy and I had no idea what to do.  Every button I pushed just made it worse.  Finally I recognized the elder that had played the prelude and motioned to him to come and help me. I was so frazzled that when he got up there I just moved off the seat and begged him to play because he obviously had figured it out before.  What a great way to start my music career here....  oh well...  I should have taken my keyboard! We stayed to help the mission president's wife with lunch  for the missionaries - it reminded me of Scott's singles ward parties. We love the East Mission President and his wife - they are awesome.  They have such love and concern for these missionaries.
  Got an email today from Sister Whitaker in Puerto Rico who wants to start teaching music there.  That will be such a help to us!  Also heard from my brother in Arizona that he knows the couple coming to replace them Snows here.  That will be fun for us to get to know them and here their report on the Hatch family there. 

5/28/2012

   Memorial day back home!  We miss not being there for the big Rees family party but with some luck we can skype.  We are feeling blessed to be here in the Dominican Republic after hearing that the Gaileys are going to the Congo.  No wonder when they called to tell us they had our call the man said "You will love this call !"  It gets more beautiful here every day.  There are these trees that branch out like an umbrella and are just getting leaves and reddish flowers all over them. In some of the streets they branch out over the road and meet in the middle so it's like driving down this beautiful flowered path. They are called Flamboyant Trees.  They have many varieties of flowering trees and tons of flowering bushes.
  I have been thinking how much I appreciate my parents and Scott's parents, how much we love and miss them.  Memorial Day as I grew up was a day that relatives from all over would come to visit the graves in Randolph then come down to our house to visit and eat.  Mom was an excellent cook and would always have food to feed them.

5/28/2012

   Memorial Day back home!  We miss not being there for the big Rees family party but with some luck we can skype.  We are feeling blessed to be here in the Dominican Republic after hearing that the Gaileys are going to the Congo.  No wonder when they called to tell us they had our call the man said "You will love this call !"  It gets more beautiful here every day.  There are these trees that branch out like an umbrella and are just getting leaves and reddish flowers all over them. In some of the streets they branch out over the road and meet in the middle so it's like driving down this beautiful flowered path.  They have many varieties of flowering trees and tons of flowering bushes.
  I have been thinking how much I appreciate my parents and Scott's parents, how much we love and miss them.  Memorial Day as I grew up was a day that relatives from all over would come to visit the graves in Randolph then come down to our house to visit and eat.  Mom was an excellent cook and would always have food to feed them.
   Went to the Piantini Ward on Sunday.  Left feeling blessed to have understood much of what was going on!  It was Mother's Day here yesterday so the spirit with all of the speakers was tender and strong.  What a priviledge it is to be a mother even though we may fall so far short of being the mothers we want to be.
  We had a meeting last night out of town and when we got there they had canceled it because of Mother's Day but had  forgotten to call.  It was a pretty drive anyway!  We stopped a the Yturaldies to pick up a list for Price Mart for the big picnic tonight with all of the senior couples.  We have 60 hamburger patties to do before we go.  The hambuger here is basically tasteless clumps of ground beef from starving cows - at least we hope it is from starving cows!
  Our air conditioner is not working so it could be miserable but there is a fairly cool breeze blowing through our apartment so hoping it gets fixed while the sun is still behind a cloud.
  We had a great Family Home Evening.  Sis. Yturralde had asked someone from every country represented in our group to sing their national anthem.  There were French, Dominican, Puerto Rican, Iranian, Canadian, and American anthems sung without accompaniment and they were very touching.  As we listened to the Star Spangled Banner I couldn't help but think how different America was during that time than it is today.  We have come so far in many technlogical advances but as a society we have  fallen along way from what the people at that time were and hoped we would be. 
 

5/26/2012

   It's a breezy, beautiful night in Santo Domingo!   I can see why people come here to vacation. Our Saturdays are like the rest of the week days because I am always telling myself I can't waste the Lord's time and we all know how Scott feels about idleness.  We did have to shop this morning.  Tomorrow is Mother's Day here so the parking lot and the store were full!  It is good to finally know our way around the big National (grocery store) we go to.  Found some more chicken gizzards - was so excited because they told us last week they weren't going to carry them anymore!  We went out to pick up the printer we had left for an estimate to fix and sure enough - it was more to fix it than it was worth! 
  It takes so long to get anywhere.  People in the city used to say they couldn't live in Morgan because there were no stores and what we knew all along is that it takes less time to drive from Morgan to a store in Ogden than it does to deal with all of the traffic in the city.  It can take 1/2 an hour to drive two miles here.  AND you had better be riding in the front or you are absolutely positive you won't make it home alive.
  The Eickbushes called and said they having dinner at Costello's de Adan across the street from us.  We had just eaten but went to visit with them.  There are probably 8 people who work there and they all look like thugs.  Now I'm not judging, but the truth is there isn't one light countenance among the lot of them.  I still think it's a drug friendly place.  The food, however, is excellent! The Eickbushes ordered an appetizer that was fries topped with bacon, sour cream and cheese.  It was very good.
I met some of our neighbors today that Scott has met early in the mornings when he jogs.  One is a Japanese guy and his wife from Toronto, the other is a black woman who has two boys here visiting her.  The man and the black woman work for the United Nations and have been assigned here. The woman is a Baptist minister and her sons are going to school in Kentucky and are just here visiting.
The refreshing thing is they speak English - at least some..  The boys know no Spanish so they looked fairly bored by the whole experience ( as teenagers do). 

5/25/2012

  How grateful I am not to be just flying into the Dominican Republic!  Having three months behind us is really nice.  We spent the day studying and making phone calls and reading over our music teaching books.  They are getting so much easier for me to understand - what a blessing..
  Scott usually goes out around 6:00 am to jog but didn't go this morning so when we went out tonight for a walk William (a guard for the apartments) came over and in his animated way asked where Scott had  been - he hadn't seen him all day.  Scott usually stops by to talk to them a couple times a day.  He is such a nice guy.  He told Scott yesterday that he and Alta Gracia both send their kids to Mormon churches on Sunday even though they are not Mormons. These two work every Sunday and just barely make enough to take care of their families.  We think it is because the church has such nice buildings that they think their kids will be safe there. 
   Went for a walk tonight and crossed the street to see what the new furniture store is.  Couldn't get in there but the copy store door was open so we went in.  A young man was there that had spent 3 months in the US working at a KFC and knew quite a bit of English.  When I said his country was beautiful he asked if I was from England because that is how they said beautiful - don't know who he has been listening to!!  A very nice young man who knew about the Mormons and said he even knew some of their bible - Nephi, Moroni, Mormon, Alma.  Shocking!  Some of the members of our church don't really know the books in the Book of Mormon. We are constantly surprised at how much these people know about the Mormons.
  We walked down the street to look at  a beautiful park across from us and found it is a memorial to Bolivar who is one of their early heroes.  There are sections that are not in view until you get into the different areas and we soon found that a few young couples thought there was more privacy there than there really was.  The flowering shrubs were amazing. 

 We had passed a banana tree yesterday that I wanted to see so walked down to where it was.  It was fun to see how they grow and the  flowering bulb at the bottom of the clumps of bananas.

5/24/2012

   Just three months ago we were having our last dinner with our family before leaving very early the next morning for the airport.  It hardly seems real - now we're in that lost stage of in between where it seems strange not to be home and feels equally as strange to be living here.  Kind of like writing Spanish and English and not knowing how to spell because you get the two mixed up.
   Ottosons were here for breakfast before catching their ride to the airport to take them to Sweden.  A 20 hour trip with three little girls! I hope all goes well for them - they remind me so much of our families at home.  They are planning to come see us when they get to Utah - we may be dead by then!
Kathryn hadn't been able to get their sheets and towels washed so I went over to wash for her - they even have a normal washer and .... a dryer.  It took me a few minutes to figure out how to set a washer that actually works by itself and a real clothes dryer. The problem with letting your clothes air dry, as we do, is there is so much humidity in the air you can't tell if they are dry or not because they always feel a bit damp.  The funny thing is their landlord's daughter, named Elizabeth, was coming to get their key from me. Snows rent from her parents, the Lees, and for some reason I have always thought they were Caucasian.  Scott called me out when Elizabeth came - and she was Dominican.  It's funny how you get your mind set in one direction and have to reset things.  Anyway I won't make that mistake again. I'm sure we will have the chance to meet the Lees.
   We had an early meeting with another couple of zones today.  This time Scott decided he would translate for me. Talk about unnerving!  Trying to keep a thought going while he interprets is a stretch for me!  We have one more zone conference to go to next week for the East Mission.
  After our Spanish class today we stopped to talk to one of the teachers at the CCM who wants to take piano lessons.  There were two other guys working in the office that want to take lessons also.  So we'll have a chance to get some lesson plans ready and learn how to teach the church's program.
Working with these young men feels so familiar -
  Went to the temple after the meeting. A group of people had come to the temple in a rented bus and were outside having refreshments out of someone's car trunk.  I love seeing the culture here - how the people interact with each other. They certainly have no personal space issues.  I have never seen so many people crowd into seats, booths, taxis, buses, - everywhere!
  

5/23/2012

   It's only 9:00pm but feels much later!  To catch up on yesterday - Elder Hammons (our regular Spanish teacher) cancelled class because he was going to be gone and everyone was fearful of violence following the elections.  The Keith McCord look-a-like won.  I didn't realize that the two men running had some years ago ran against each other and the other man won.  So the man who was once president was running for president again - some years later.  Didn't know you could do that.  I was worried yesterday when one of Danilo's trucks with supporters pulled into the tienda next door and came out with bottles of beer. Perfect scenario for violence is a bunch of rowdy drunk men!
   Scott, being bored, decided we should have the class because obviously there was no violence occurring around the temple and the casa.  So we went ahead and had class anyway and there were a lot of people there. Our friends, the Snows, are going to Jamaica to do some auditing this week and are going to be leaving for home earlier than they had planned.  Not good news for us because we have really enjoyed them. He actually is a cowboy at heart - has horses, cows, etc. Brother Leavitt publishes a cattleman magazine so the three of them are referred to as the "cowboy section" in our Spanish class by Elder Hammon.
  Family Home Evening was done by a couple from here on Temples.  They are counselors to Pres. Bair.  They had put together a video of all of the temples they have visited - I wonder what Elder Casanova does for a living because they had visited the Washington DC temple, the Salt Lake Temple, the Nauvoo, a temple in Canada, the New York temple, the Palmyra temple, Orlando temple, the Chicago temple and I can't remember the rest but it was amazing to think they have made that many trips to the US.  They have such sweet spirits and love the temples - I would bet they are the ones who take over Bairs place when they leave.   Bair's goal is to have a local couple ready to take over their responsibilities.  That really is the goal of most of us - to train these people to be the leaders instead of relying on the missionaries.
   Tuesday was temple day.  It was so quite - there were only six people in the session.  It was easier to concentrate on what was going on.  I am trying to understand enough Spanish that I can go without the headphones in English.  Have a ways to go but  am doing much better!!!! Walking out of the temple at night is like opening the door to a steam room at the spa ( or I guess it would be like that).  If it isn't raining it is still very humid and hot.
     We had a meeting with a zone from the East Mission today and will have another tomorrow. There were around 80 elders and 4 sisters there - many more than I expected.  You look at all of those young elders and think someone has to make sure they are doing what they are supposed to.  What a job!  Pres. and Sister Hernandez are amazing - so warm and caring.  She had made some kind of jelly roll, that is made here, for all of them and so gave us a piece.  Different but good!
     We did get five keyboards and ten teaching kits ordered.  They are being engraved with the area info on so there will be less chance of them disappearing.  At least this will give the senior missionaries who can and want to teach a keyboard and kit to use while they are here.  You can get them through the Harman Grant Foundation but there are so many strings attached to that and the turnover in teachers here is so frequent that it is difficult to keep track of who has them and who they have lent them to for practicing.  The Area Presidency did give us a budget to work with so that will help.
     I was remembering today the young boy who was on the street with his mother, who was blind, begging for money. They stopped at our car and Scott gave them some money.  They turned to leave and the boy came back and said "I'm thirsty" and before we even knew what was going on, he reached in the car and took our water bottle!  There are many deformed people here and many of them spend their days going between the cars at traffic stops begging for money.  It really is sad.
   The geatest thing happened yesterday.  Alysha called  on Skype and took her computer outside to show us Joe and Hannah's house.  Joe and Hannah were in the window waving.  Melia drove up in her car with Ethan, Lance, and Sadie; Isaac and Kimber came by, Alysha's kids were there, Megan came down.  It was just like being home!!  How blesssed we are to have so much family so close and how blessed they are to have each other. Then Megan called us on Skype while she bathed Jace in the sink so we got to see him smile, and laugh, and say "dada".  What a cutie!!  Nothing feels as good as holding them  but this was a great second......
 
  
    
  
   

5/21/2012

   So discouraged after losing two blogs and not being able to find them that I just didn't even try yesterday.  Maybe today will be better!    Because of the elections we were not supposed to leave the apartment on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday so they cancelled all but an hour of church yesterday.  They closed all of the bars and were not supposed to sell alcoholic beverages much of the time.  Alcohol here is like pop in the US so I doubt that happened.
  On Saturday the Ottosons dropped by with Krispy Kreme doughnuts.  What a treat!  We had seen a store a week or so ago and of course didn't stop but have thought of our favorite doughnuts ever since.  It reminded me of my son-in-law, Chris. and the years ago at volleyball tournaments in Provo where Kripsy Kreme was one of our favorite stops.  The Ottosons are leaving for Sweden this Thursday so we will be babysitting while they go to the temple here together one last time and get their apartment cleaned up. 
   During the middle of the week Scott invited the guards over for lunch and so I baked some brownies.  These guys love chocolate!  The outside cooked while the center was like pudding.  I thought it had something to do with me but Saturday night I tried to bake something else and it turned out just the same.  The outside edges burn and the center doesn't cook at all so guess we will have to call the owner and see if he knows what  is going on.  You have to put what your cooking on the top shelf on top of another pan so it doesn't burn on the bottom anyway.
  Sunday morning we took the Ottosons to church and went to the same ward we have been to three times now.  We really miss our ward - or having any permanent ward at all!  We really want to be assigned to one of the struggling wards but so far haven't convinced Pres. Anderson that we could do that and still be available to do our music job.  So Sunday was the big election day and most of the Dominicans in the ward must have been voting because they were not at church!  The Ottosons came over for dinner with their three little girls.  How fun! The Yturraldes came down to work on a computer program.  They are almost finished with the history work they were assigned to do here and think they will be going to Mexico fairly soon.  We will really miss them when they go.
   The elections are almost over but the party that is losing is accusing the other party of voter fraud and won't concede.  So the worry about violence may be valid!  This whole process and what we see on the news about the politics in the States makes the elections there more real and scary.  We have got to figure out how to vote from here!  As the scriptures say when the majority of the people choose iniquity over good we are ripening for destruction so we will see if we reelect a president that stands for everything we do not or someone who actually has values.  We'll see but it is scary!
Don't know what we will see here today - hopefully not violence.  They need so many things changed here but neither party seems to have the best interest of the people at heart.  Both parties have ruled in the last eight years and no one has done anything about the 30% of people who live well below the poverty line - I think it is actually much higher than that!  Even the professional people here do not make much money because no one can afford to pay for their services.

5/19/2012

It has been such a rainy day - wish we could send some to Utah! I can see how living where it rains like this everyday would get old fast.  We do have sunny days now and then.The neighbors in the little store across the street from us have been playing dominoes all day.  That clap. clap, clap of the dominoes hitting the table is a sound I am not likely to forget.  It's night time now and they are still playing.  Guess they have nothing to do since they can't sell alcoholic beverages today - because of the election tomorrow  and they think it will curb the violence.  That's the best thing they have come up with here since we have been here.  We were supposed to stay in today and just go to an hour of church  tomorrow.  Scott and I have really missed both our family and our ward family.  Our assignment doesn't allow us to have a permanent ward.  It has pointedly helped us to see how important a ward family is .  Just like everything else in life, when you have it you don't realize how much it means, then it is taken away and you realize how much support and love there is in a ward that you now don't have. 
   The Ottosons came over this evening with - guess what?? Krispy Kreme doughnuts!  We had passed a store once while traveling and thought it would be fun to stop but that was as far as it went.  They are coming for dinner tomorrow.  Their three girls are the ages of many of our grandchildren so it is much fun to have them here.  They are leaving however this next Thursday to go to Sweden to look for a job.  That's where Hans, the dad, is from.  They have been such fun neighbors we hate to see them go.  We were laughing about living in this apartment complex and experiencing much of the Dominican way of life - no water, no electricity, no traffic laws that anyone obeys, etc.  What an education it has been to be here.
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5/18/2012

  If I could record noise on this blog it would be great!  For four hours tonight we have been bombarded with sirens, screaming, honking, speakers blasting some kind of music promoting PaPa ( the other candidate for president).  It is impossible to believe that the government would let such loud noise go on - you get the feeling that the government really doesn't have that much control or they just don't care about noise and people riding on top of buses and cars and trucks, crammed into anything that moves, hanging out of the doors, running through the traffic.. I tried to get a picture of the bus with twenty people sitting on the top waving flags as they drove through the streets .We'll see if everyone survived when the paper comes tomorrow.   The most interesting though was the blimp flying around in the sky.

Wish this was a better picture  because it was interesting with PaPa written on it.

The city is full of businesses that are modern and up to date but all over on the streets and mixed in with the traffic you have the peddlers who are trying to make a living by selling fruits and vegetables, candy, cold water, sun glasses, suckers, hats, prepared beans and rice, phone chargers,

phone cards, umbrellas, newspapers; just to name a few of the items. I am going to get more pictures and put them on.  You have to wonder about some of these guys selling things on the street because they do not want their picture taken because it might get them in trouble.

We did our shopping this morning for the weekend because we have been warned not to go out for the next four days.  They even closed down all of the bars hoping to curtail the violence.  William and Alta Gracia came today to have lunch with us and watch "Together Forever".  William is a such a nice guy - it would be great to see him find a purpose in this life.

The neighbors across the street in front of the little store and next to it are always entertainment, or noise - depending on what mood your in.  They are playing music and dancing tonight instead of playing dominoes.

5/17/2012

  This was supposed to be a busy day - and it was a bit.  We decided  to go to Price Mart and get another printer and some things we needed.  So we studied until 10:00 am and left to shop. We thought Tati was coming for a lesson this afternoon but she wasn't here and when we got hold of her she said she had thought it was next week.  So finally found the missionaries to tell them not to come today. 
   Today was the big march/parade for Danillo - one of the candidates for president.  It must have been fairly calm because when we came home tonight there were drums, cars, etc but not worse than usual. The church here has warned everyone to stay off the streets as much as possible for the next five days. To avoid violence they have one candidate's march today and the other on Saturday.  We'll see what happens.
  After Spanish class we went to the temple.  There were ten or more new young elders that were going through for the first time.  They were from South America and were coming here to serve their missions.  They do not look like most of the people here - they were of Indian descent.  Some were from Peru so Scott had the privilege of helping them.  It was such an endearing experience. 

5/16/2012

  Too tired last night to blog after the temple but an experience there was a perfect end to the night.  Scott was assigned to help an English speaking group of men through the session so I was sitting in the foyer waiting for him.  A group of young and older teens were coming up from doing baptisms  when I looked up this young man caught my eye.  He was smiling from ear to ear.  He rushed over to where I was sitting, grabbed my hand and sat down by me.  "Hermana, the temple is so beautiful, so beautiful" he just kept repeating with such excitement it was catching!  A supervisor came over and got him but the feeling he emanated remained with me for the rest of the night.
   We received a music plan from Pres. Ompero last night for his Institute program.  Absolutely perfect for helping with the music.  Here the Perpetual Education Fund of the church that helps adults further their education stipulates that you also enroll in an Institute class.  As one of their classes they are offering keyboard training for students who promise to go back into their wards and play for their sacrament meetings.  We attended a meeting of all of the Institute Directors in the entire Caribe area to present to them ideas on including music in their agendas. Apparently some of the Islands have English speaking people because five or so of them needed things translated into English.  What a refreshing change!!
   Some dough head left a pen on the tray of the printer and it slid down into the gears of the printer so when I turned it on one of the gears broke. ( And yes, it was me)  So we had to leave early to go to the Area Office and get copies made of papers to hand out.  I am including a picture of one of the secretaries there who is amazing.  He spent over an hour this morning helping us figure out how to get the emails off our phone.  How sad is that??  What I wouldn't give for my old phone.. He informed me that cookies were the payment for his services.  He has this smile that is amazing - lights up the whole room.

We took the printer to this place to be fixed but think it will cost us more to fix it than to buy another one at Price Mart.  Plus we need the printer before the next month or so - Dominican time.
   They called a day or so ago to tell us that the car we had was one of the fleet assigned to the welfare department and they wanted to keep it in their fleet so we were to go exchange it for another one.  And here is it:

Do you think they thought this gray car was more our color??  Not quite as flashy as the blue one but runs and has a great air conditioner.  Elder Yturraldie was there loading scrap wood that he gathered to build a new house for the Relief Society president in the branch they help with. Elder Eickbush got there before we left with my second mother's day package.  What happiness letters, drawings, etc from home bring!!  I am so grateful our family hasn't forgotten us yet.  By next year we'll have to remind them they have parents!

Scott finally agreed to look for a store that would have a hair dryer and a watch.  We found the Plaza Llama that was five floors of everything you can imagine.  One entire half a floor was shoes - now that wasn't too much of a surprise.  We found the hair dryer and a watch.  Trying to find something cheap that wouldn't be stolen off my wrist was interesting, but we did it..

Across the street from us is a restaurant called "Adam's Rib" (in English).  We went there to eat a while back and there was a table of four men  that looked like seedy characters.  Last night there were cars parked all along the street and the place was packed and noisy.  From the looks of the cars it was definitely a party for the wealthier people in town.  So that made it either the drug lords or the professional sports people and since the sports people are playing baseball in the US that only leaves the other group. We are hearing much about drugs here with the elections.  There are huge new buildings being built everywhere here but no one has the money to rent them so they just set empty.  Apparently only the drug people can afford to build to and let it set.  Running drugs is probably attractive to these people who earn almost nothing if they are not educated.   

While in the Casa this morning I found this quote that clarified some things for me; I want to keep it so will include it:

"Whatever weakens your reason; whatever increases the authority of your body over your mind; whatever impairs the tenderness of your conscience; whatever takes away your relish from spiritual things, whatever obscures your sense of God; that is sin to you , no matter how innocent it may seem in itself"

                             

                                          





5/15/2012

  West Mission Office

  

Sister Brown & Sister Ford

 Brother Ford & me esposo

Wow  - three days have passed.  Not quickly I might add!  Each of those nights I knew I needed to record what was going on but I was one sorry sac of a mom - moping around telling myself it really wasn't that bad not being with my kids on Mother's Day.  The problem was it just didn't work.  So finally I decided to have company over and cook one of my family's favorite meals. ( Poppy seed chicken, carrots, and pistachio torte) Spent all afternoon preparing food in my hot little kitchen!    On Saturday night we had a training meeting so since it was a priesthood meeting Scott went himself.  An hour later he called and asked if I would call the stake president because no one was at the building.  Turned out that they had met at 6:00 am instead of 6:00 pm.  Was he ever sad and frustrated. I told him I wasn't going to call my daughters to wish them happy mother's day because  I didn't want to ruin their day by being sad. (Big of me, huh?) He said I should call a friend and talk to her - very astute of him I thought.  He must have been praying hard for me because Sunday was actually a good day.  However it is not Mother's Day here for two more weeks.  The Snows came to dinner and we had a good time visiting.  Scott left for another meeting and I got to talk to many of our kids.  That was fun - it seems they are all doing well. 
       Monday morning we had a meeting at nine at the West Mission office with the West Mission President Rodrigus and his assistants and office people. Also working there are Elder and Sister Ford from Bountiful area and the Browns from West Jordon.  Included are pictures of the West Mission Office.  It must have previously been a nice home.    From there we took two sisters to a medical building for a doctor appointment so it was after noon when we got back  Studied and went to Spanish class but were pooped when we got home.  The Yturraldes locked themselves out of their apartment again so stopped and visited and we decided to give each other our extra set of keys so we would have some way to get in next time we both locked ourselves out. Is it because we are senior missionaries or what ?    We have a great time teasing each other so at least something good comes out of a miserable experience. 
           So here we are on Tuesday having had the missionaries here to teach Tati.  We don't know if she is really interested or not but she did want to hear more about the church so that is good.  Scott said it was really hard for him to feel the spirit not understanding everything that was said.  That made me laugh because that's how I feel most of the time.   We are getting ready to go to our Tuesday night temple session.  It is always refreshing to be in the temple with these people because they show so much love and concern for each other.  We love having the opportunity to go to the temple so  often.                                                                                      

5/11/2012

  It has been a cloudy kind of a day - which is great because it keeps the heat down.  However, the humidity is worse but I prefer the humidity to that scorching sun!
  I decided to cook a favorite meal for mothers day so we had to go shopping.  When we came back out there was a man with a cart full of sugar cane by our car.  He was stripping off the outer covering and cutting it in pieces to sell.  We stopped and bought some from him.  They bite it off and chew it until the juice is gone then spit out the pulp. We saw several of the guards for the store chewing on it as we left.  In fact there is one in the background in the picture. We cut off some pieces and tried it when we got home.  The juice tastes like sugar water - which it is.  The guards downstairs were thrilled to eat the rest of it.

   William, one of the new guards was supposed to come today to watch "Our Heavenly Father's
 Plan" but got held up with some project so hopefully he will come tomorrow.  Scott thinks he is the nicest guy.  He was very excited to get a Book of Mormon.  The Book of Mormon is an amazing book.  Every time I read from it I can't believe anyone would think some kid was capable of making up that history.  I just hope to learn many things from the experiences the Nephites and Lamanites had so I won't have to learn from making so many mistakes myself!

5/10/2012

   Study, arrange lessons for Sister Romero, study, practice, study, Spanish class, Temple -
and still not enough time in the day to do everything we need to do. 
  However today in class there were two new women who have no experience with the Spanish language.  Both of them looked shell-shocked!  One is a young mother of an 8 month old baby girl - what a wonderful addition because she brings the baby with her!  The baby reminds me so much of Jake and Cami's little Brinley - but not as cute of course.    The other is Sister Mahon.  The class isn't taught as a beginners class so there are many times I am completely lost.  But, thankfully, there are beginning to be more times I understand. Just watching the expression on Sister Mahon's face was hard because I know how lost she feels.  One of the managers called today to tell us to turn on the water and run it because they are running chlorine through the system.  Scott was gone so I answered the phone.  This man speaking Spanish tries to tell me something - I have no idea what he was saying.  He tried to say each word slowly but I still couldn't get it.  I know he was frustrated so it's a good thing Scott ran into him on his was back.  Many times I wonder if I will ever be able to communicate here even though I am learning so much.
    They have campaigning all wrong in the US.  It's much more creative here. 

This glider was flying over the city with the name "PaPa" on it.  Can't find the one of the girl dancing in a leotard like outfit dancing on top of the truck decorated with flags and painted yellow and purple to represent Danillo, or the plane pulling the huge "Vote PaPa" sign.  The candidates have vowed to keep this election free from personal attacks and violence.  Unfortunately, the supporters don't have the same mentality!

5/9/2012

    Yesterday we studied and washed.  Also  missed our usual 6:00 temple session because my hair wouldn't dry and I didn't bring a dryer.  Guess I'll have to buy one.  Turned out to be a blessing because we got to go to the 7:00 session with our friends, the Snows.  Each time we go to this beautiful temple I realize that it won't be long before we won't have the opportunity to live a mile from the temple.  It has been a great experience to live so close and be able to go two or three times a week.  The feeling of peace and love there is amazing.  I used to loose my right foot slipper and someone would bring it to me or I would see it back on the stairs -solved the problem by getting two different sizes!  After the session we visited with Pres. Bair for an hour in his office.  Scott enjoys discussing doctrine with him and we both learn some interesting things.
     First thing this morning when Scott got back from his early morning jog he had arranged for Tati (Raisa's mom) to come have breakfast with us and then take us to the apartment they have to rent down by the ocean.  We were looking to see if it was something the Mahons would rent because they are still homeless.  It is in the Colonial Section of the city - that is the original section. Scott says it looks just like where he was in Peru but it looked scary to me.  It is in the area of the Yellow Steps that I put pictures in of before.  The roads are one car width wide and they park on both sides and expect traffic to get through the remaining space.  Driving a small car down here is really an advantage!  It gives you such a closed in feeling.  Every apartment and business building share a wall with the next one.  There are no spaces between buildings, just an entire block of shared wall cement buildings.  And like everywhere else there are men setting in the door ways or standing around doing nothing.  The apartment was bigger than ours but the view was of old building roofs - nothing like ours.  It would never do for someone who was looking for an exercise room and a swimming pool.
Tati had taken home two church videos and showed them to her friends.  She loved them.  One was the Purpose of Life which is my favorite.  She said she would like to have the missionaries come.  I feel bad that Scott can't teach her because they have a great relationship  but our job is to refer them to the missionaries.
      Elder Snow, after hearing Scott had taught himself how to play the keyboard, decided he would do the same.  So now he is practicing every spare minute too. Keeps these men out of trouble!

These are pictures of the Adrian Tropical Restaurant where we ate.

 

      The temple missionaries do not have cars or much spare time.  We took the Leavitts, out to  Adrian Tropical by the ocean.  We had never been there but many of the senior missionaries have been and said it was very good.  I'll put some pictures in because it was beautiful there. There was a big round table on the patio that looked like a great place  We were surprised no one had sat there until something started squawking and we found there were two parrots right by us that were so obnoxious.  Then the campaign noise began with the sound trucks with six speakers on, the hand glider, and the little two seater airplane started going back and forth.  It even scared the parrots into being quiet!  There is no beach there.  Big volcanic rock forms the shore.  It is different but beautiful in it's own way.  Of course there are the armed guards - this one doesn't look to scary and loved posing for the picture.  We stopped at the Bon ice cream place on the way home - like our Baskin Robbins at home.  They were bagging potatoes by hand in the alley next door to deliver to stores in the area.  Labor is so cheap here they do most things by hand that in the States they do with machines.

5/7/2012

It is amazing how fast the days pass.  Probably because no matter how much you do you feel you should have gotten more done.  We studied today most of the morning.  Then went out to the Blue Mall to pay our Internet bill and see why our skype is not working very well.  This mall was financed by the Marriot hotel family and it is filled with high end stores from many European countries.  I wonder who can afford to shop there with the money they make here.  We stopped at the grocery store on the way home and didn't know what time it was since clocks are not a common thing here so missed half of our Spanish class.  Scott felt badly, I was a bit relieved! 
   Family Home Evening tonight was the Lows.  They had people choose their favorite hymns and explain in one minute why it was meaningful to them.  It was a wonderful testimony meeting of how the hymns have helped many people in both happy and difficult times.  There are some couples who are getting ready to leave.  We are grateful there are four couples here that live in Utah that we will be able to see when we get home.  It is sad to see people leave and know there isn't a chance you will ever see them again when they have become your family away from home.
  The bad thing about the FHE was I was one of those who had to present a favorite hymn.  Of course I was nervous.  I got up and started to the front of the room only to have Scott grabbing me and pulling on my skirt.  I couldn't figure out what he was doing then realized it was tucked up in the back in my pantyhose.  Someone else was trying to pull it out. Scott was pulling my skirt down in an effort to straighten it out and I was trying to keep my skirt from being pulled off - what a circus.  I'm sure we did nothing for the spirituality of the meeting!  I'm just trying not to think about it.
    Got to skype with Eli tonight.  She was putting Sophie to bed - or trying to!  What beautiful girls - Eli and Sophie.  One with big beautiful blue eyes, and the other with big beautiful very dark brown eyes.  Skyped with Jamie and Keira earlier today too but could barely see them  - how grateful we are for our wonderful family. 











Still have some practicing to do so better get busy.

5/6/2012

Today we went to the Quisqueya Branch in the San Pedro District.  Both the Snows and the Yturraldes are assigned to help build up the branch.  The drive was beautiful along the ocean for much of the way then just forestry looking country.  There were many sugar cane fields and the above sugarcane factory adding to the pollution!
    The church building is actually a home but has more room for the organization meetings.  The area isn't quite as primitive and poor as the Los Llanos Branch we went to before.  They are both in the same district but quite a ways apart.  The meetings (all in Spanish of course) give me plenty of opportunity to people watch.  They always have me read from the book in Spanish - probably because they feel sorry for me and know that is the only thing I'm very good at! But then many of them cannot read.   Sitting among these people I feel so strongly that they are brothers and sisters of mine and I have a great desire to get to know them better - to know their strengths and their sorrows, to be able to help them in some way. Funny thing is they are the ones that would most likely be helping me!  The music was unbelievable - they have never been taught how to sing with music so they just sing anyway they can.  The first song threw my completely off.  I couldn't even tell what the melody was.  The next song Sister Yturralde turned up the sound on the keyboard so it was a little easier to hear the music and try to sing with it.  It would really help these areas to have a song practice sometime during their meetings so they could get a feel for what the notes sound like.  They sing with more heart and conviction than anyone I have ever heard.
  Sister Snow and I went to visit Sister Miller who had been hit by a car and had a broken leg as a result.  Her house is the one with the tin fence in front.  The cement house was actually much nicer inside than I expected from the outside.  She was a cute, warm and friendly woman with two children.  The doctor cast her leg and told her to stay off it for a month then come back.

This area was different in that it had some really nice houses next to some very poor houses.

The Snows had driven us to their branch and asked us to come back and have dinner with them.  Elder Snow has decided since Scott has learned to play the keyboard he is also going to learn so they were enthralled  setting up a new keyboard and seeing how it played.  Snows are great friends and just great people in general. 

It is Jared's birthday today so we are waiting to call him. 

 

5/5/2012

  I have got to figure out how to put the pictures in the blog with the information they cover.  The problem is Scott is always waiting for me to get off the computer so he can check the news - or maybe I could figure it out.  But then again, probably not!
   Usually throughout the entire week we study scriptures, Spanish, keyboard then study more and take care of the business end of tracking the stakes and wards and who has musical talent to teach others in their wards, then study more. The break we have is actually going out and visiting the different areas meetings to do the basic training.
   We did go to visit the Ottosons today and while there rode the elevator up to the ninth floor where the murder took place.  The Taiwanese forensics team has been carrying evidence out of the apartment for the last couple of days.  The hallway is about 5 ft by 8 ft and none of it is roped off.  There are blood smears all over the floor, on the wall, on the door; and a tiny yellow ribbon tied around the door handle.  I'm not sure how long it has been but surely they could clean up the hallway.  There must not be anyone living in the apartment next door or surely they would have complained!
   Today though we have had a lot of company, which has been good because it has been one of those homesick days for me.  Sister Yterralde's daughter had been here for six days and just left last night so she was depressed and came to visit this morning and stayed to have lunch with us.  The Eickbushes called to see if we wanted to go to the book fair.  We had already been so they came and parked their car in our parking area while they went.  Then they came in to visit on their way back and stayed for an hour or so.  They told us that the restaurant across the street was a good place to eat- that one where all of the noise is on weekends- so we decided to go check it out tonight.  It actually was good!  We had plantains (green bananas)  that they must have soaked in vinegar.  They tasted like salt and vinegar chips but better.  My Rollo Pollo was the best of the food we had.  It was chicken rolled with bacon and mushrooms and some kind of a sauce.  The nice thing is if you go before 6:30 at night you are the only ones there because they all start coming out about 8:00. 

  This is the scene of the crime!

  The Ottosons

 The Eickbushes

5/4/2012

  It is beautiful here today!  With all of the rain we have had the trees and shubs are all brillant greens and the flowering plants are vivid colors.
   Spent the morning studying and gathering clothes to wash.  Unfortunately when the clothes were ready to be rinsed the water went off.  The last time that happened I had wet clothes for two days and they really stunk!  I finally just draped  them over the chairs in our "clothes drying room" and will have to wash them when we have water again.
     On Friday nights the senior couples  meet at the Casa to go out to dinner together.  They try to go somewhere new each time but after while find favorites that they return to.  We haven't gone with them yet. We had a meeting out in the San Cristobal Stake so the Snow's called and proposed that we all go to Johnny Rocket's for supper then they would go with us out to San Cristobal.  Johnny Rockets is a high end hamburger place they just opened.  It is supposed to be the biggest in their chain of restaurants.
      When we met them at the Casa the Mahons were visiting with them.  They had been looking for an apartment and hadn't found one.  Sister Mahon asked if we had a swimming pool where we lived- we laughed - and said we were lucky to have water period.  She said they had told them not to look at apartments in our building.  Can you believe that??? 
     There is little parking around Johnny Rockets but when we got into the parking lot they took the car and parked in underground parking.  The atmosphere was fun  - a jukebox with old Frank Sinatra songs and other old and new songs; balloons tied everywhere, and an entirely different clientele than you see at McDonalds.  These were obviously more privileged young adults.  Yuppies Scott says...
Most of the young men we have seen have very short haircuts but many of these kids were not black and had full heads of hair.  It was actually rather strange to see so many young men with hair!  This was a group of people here we have never seen - more Puerto Rican. Most of the people we have met here could not afford to come here to eat.
   While we were eating our delicious hamburgers it started to rain again - it was almost like a mini-hurricane.  The rain was coming down so hard, the wind was blowing the rain every which way.
Before we left the McDermits and the Glaziers came in for dinner and gave us a bad time for going earlier without them. 
   Driving here is scary at best, but riding is even worse.  The rain was leaving water on the roads making them slippery and hard to see but that did not inhibit these drivers at all.  What I can feel all of the time is the protection we are blessed with!

5/4/2012

  It is beautiful here today!  With all of the rain we have had the trees and shrubs are all brilliant greens and the flowering plants are vivid colors.
   Spent the morning studying and gathering clothes to wash.  Unfortunately when the clothes were ready be rinsed the water went off.  The last time that happened I had wet clothes for two days and they really stunk!  I finally just draped  them over the chairs in our "clothes dryer"  room and will have to wash them when we have water again.

     On Friday nights the senior couples  meet at the Casa to go out to dinner together.  They try to go somewhere new each time but after while find favorites that they return to.  We haven't gone with them yet. We had a meeting out in the San Cristobal Stake so the Snow's called and proposed that we all go to Johnny Rocket's for supper then they would go with us out to San Cristobal.  Johnny Rockets is a high end hamburger place they just opened.  It is supposed to be the biggest in their chain of restaurants.
      When we met them at the Casa the Mahons were visiting with them.  They had been looking for an apartment and hadn't found one.  Sister Mahon asked if we had a swimming pool where we lived- we laughed - and said we were lucky to have water period.  She said they had told them not to look at apartments in our building.  Can you believe that??? 
     There is little parking around Johhny Rockets but when we got into the parking lot they took the car and parked in underground parking.  The atmosphere was fun  - a jukebox with old Frank Sinatra songs and other old and new songs; balloons tied everywhere, and an entirely different clientele than you see at McDonalds.  These were obviously more privileged young adults.  Yuppies Scott says...
Most of the young men we have seen have very short haircuts but many of these kids were not black and had full heads of hair.  It was actually rather strange to see so many young men with hair!  This was a group of people here we have never seen - more Puerto Rican.
   While we were eating our delicious hamburgers it started to rain again - it was almost like a mini-hurricane.  The rain was coming down so hard, the wind was blowing the rain every which way.
Before we left the McDermits and the Glaziers came in for dinner and gave us a bad time for going earlier without them. 
   Driving here is scary at best but riding is even worse.  The rain was leaving water on the roads making them slippery and hard to see but that did not inhibit these drives at all.    I did discover it is worse sitting in the back seat!!  We drove along the ocean out into the outskirts of the city which would have been beautiful if we could have seen it.  There was standing water at least four inches deep on many,many sections of the road. Our biggest fear was the water stalling the car but the we were protected!  It made me think of driving the missionaries to the temple back home because we never had bad weather conditions when they were with us.  We finally got there and the town was so picturesque.  I would love to go back there in the daylight sometime.  The church grounds were the prettiest we have seen here.  Sister Snow and I visited and sent the men in to the priesthood meeting.  She reminds me of Evelyn Stevens - maybe because she was a kindergarten teacher and has that loving, teaching, serving spirit!   As we passed through town every bar and dance place had music blasting.  Of course they didn't have doors that kept the noise in because they all have metal doors they pull down when they close up.  We took a different route home and saw the hotels and casinos lit up along the way.  We have never seen those so that was interesting to see.  The resort areas here aren't places we usually frequent.  Gas is four to five US dollars a gallon so we don't sight see unless we are driving to a meeting. 
  We got home to find the guard waiting at the gate with his shotgun to look in the car and make sure we belonged here.  I know we are supposed to feel more secure with these armed guards but it makes me more nervous! 
   The water is off again.  This time they say they are cleaning the system - which makes you wonder why that wasn't done in the beginning. Oh well....
 The pictures are of Johnny Rockets, the church landscaping, and the water fountain system in churches here.  The stake president told us they used to have cups by the water container but the kids would just use them and throw them around and it was getting too expensive to keep buying cups so now if you water from their "fountain"  you have to take your own cup. 

5/3/2012

Yesterday when we were in the area office Sister Button had a bad cold, so decided to make her some chicken soup today - that is the cure-all for colds, isn't it?  Then decided to bake some cookies to take so I spent a good part of the day cooking.  Heating the kitchen (small as it is) up with the oven made for a very sweaty experience!  Great thing was I finally figured out how this oven works.
    I have been so discouraged with this language stuff.  You study and study and then realize that what you have learned isn't even a drop in the bucket.  The only people you can communicate with are Americans - except for a phrase here and there with patient Dominicans. 
  We received an email from Elder Hammon this morning that gave percentages of people being robbed here.  62% of the crime is men on motor bikes or bikes that come through places where people are walking and grab whatever is visible and of any worth on your body.  He actually had someone take his phone last night as he got out of the car - his phone was in a holder on his belt.  Many of them carry guns.  That's why they tell you never to carry a purse with anything in you would miss if it was stolen.
   Between that and our apartment building being on total lock down, I'm getting a little nervous.  You can't even take the garbage out here without having a key to open the big gate the cars go through because the small gate you used to be able to walk through is now locked all of the time. Then the door to our building that used to be open is locked.  They never have determined who killed the lady here in our apartments - don't think they even have a clue.  But we have more guards so I guess that is good.  Some of the guards look a little scary themselves though.
   We got to our Spanish class and there were a few things I understood so that was better than last time.  Then went to the temple.  I listen so carefully to the Spanish along with the English headsets that I am pretty confused by the time the session is over.  When Jake used to write home and his spelling got worse and worse I didn't really understand what was going on.  Now I do!
   It has rained here again today.  I'm surprised there isn't mildew all over. 
  Scott was waiting for me to finish so he could pull up Fox news but he gave up and went to bed.  That's probably good because the  news isn't usually very uplifting... 

5/2/2012

Rain, rain and more rain - that's been this day.  Water has been running everywhere.  This is just the beginning of the rainy season here and I would say it is getting off to a great start.  Even the ocean is no longer blue because the dirty river water from the Osama River runs into it right here where we are.
  Below us lives Raisa and her two children and her maid.  We have become friends.  Her mother was here again today and asked Scott if she could come up and watch the video on Heavenly Father's plan.  It was neat to have her here because she is such a sweet woman.  She decided she wanted the video to take home and show her friends so that was great.
    We braved the rain and went to the Casa to the Distribution Center there to get another keyboard.  We decided if we kept one in the car we could take it with us out to some of these wards that have no "live" music in their wards.  Ran into President Anderson coming back to his office.  He is always so positive that it is helpful when we get frustrated that things move so slowly here.

Scott's favorite place to nap!

The ocean begins at the base of the trees you can see.  It is kind of a gray-brown for a couple of miles out because of the dirty river water running into it.

  Pres. Fernandez invited us to his Stake training at the Independensia Stake at 7:45 tonight. It is a bit unnerving to go out because you never know if you will be caught in the middle of the campaigning in the streets.  I still wonder how they rounded up so many big trucks for that humongous horn honking, siren blaring parade last night.

5/1/2012

Louis Ernesto Valdez



Scott had invited Louis to lunch today so we had taco soup all ready to heat and just before he came the power went off.  I still think is something a bit political in their firing him the day after he found the Twainese woman dead here.  Anyway seems to be a good wholesome young man and we have really enjoyed him.  He is reading the Book of Mormon and said it was alright if we sent the missionaries to his house.  He lives with his brother somewhere here in the city.   Instead of dinner he got brownies, fruit, and banana bread - great dinner, huh?   We miss seeing him around but maybe he will come back and visit us.  Scott had to go down and talk to the guards because they weren't going to let him come in to visit us.                                        

                                                         

I must be the worst computer user in country - Can't get the center alignment to change to the left.

At the temple tonight there were only four of us.  Made for a quick session! I thought  tonight about all of the times Lucy and I took the sister missionaries to the temple, of the times Barb went with us, about the times Sheri came - all such special memories for me.  Hope the Ogden Temple is coming along so we can go there when we get home.  The temple is such a place of peace and serenity for me. I realize each time I go how much better I need to be.  We were late getting there tonight because "PaPa",  a candidate for president here, had  a hundred dump trucks, long haul truck, every big truck there is in the city going through the city with their horns blaring and his flags waving.  It was truly amazing and horribly loud!