Didn't blog yesterday. The temple opened so we went to our usual 6:00 session. It was wonderful to be there again. The Bairs, temple president and wife, were in our session. They are good friends and mentors! The only problem was I had to go to the bathroom so bad I was completely miserable!! I kept thinking I was going to have to get up and leave but knew they would have to stop the whole session and I am such a coward. So I just sat there and prayed I would be able to make it through the session. (In agony and pain) Never was so happy for a session to end and just prayed I would make it to the bathroom in time. Bet they have never seen anyone basically run from the celestial room, down the stairs and into the dressing room restroom before. I so wanted to learn some more Spanish - oh well. Maybe next time...
Today looked to be such a positive day. John Paul was to meet with the missionaries here to have a lesson. It was Wilton's birthday so I had made a brownie cake for him and some cheerios treats for the missionaries. Three o'clock came and neither the missionaries or John Paul were here - which certainly is not unusual for these people. The missionaries called and said they could not make it because they were in some judges office with someone getting a divorce. So we planned what we could teach John Paul so it would not be a waste of his time. Well and hour went by and still no John Paul. By 4:30 Scott decided to call him. He had said earlier that he was going at 2:30 to pick up his paycheck. I think he picked up his paycheck and bought some liquor because when Scott called him he said he would be here by 3:30 - that was at 5:00. He never did show up so we'll see what he has to say when Scott sees him in the morning.
Then we had invited Wilton to bring his wife and we would take them out to dinner tonight. He seemed quite enthusiastic about it and kept calling her to see if she was on her way. And of course she was late. It was Wilton's birthday today so we had baked a cake and took some ice cream and cake down to the workers and sang happy birthday (in Spanish even) to him. Anyway we walked down to the guagua stop to meet her then walked over to McDonalds. It was weird from the beginning as walked off and she lagged behind. When we got there they didn't seem to know that we were eating there or something. Scott thinks they just didn't know how to order. We got the food and came back to our apartment to eat. Well during the conversation Josie, his wife, told us that she actually was baptized into the church three years ago. Wilton had no idea she was a Mormon.
Then she said they were just living together and had stayed together because she had gotten pregnant. Obviously she is no longer active. The saddest part of the night, and there were quite a few sad parts, was when she showed me a picture of the baby she had last month that had died a day after he was born because he couldn't breathe. All I could think of was the poor care she probably got because they had no money and that their beautiful little boy could have lived if he had been in the states where there are specialists to deal with respiratory problems. They have medical care here for poor people but it is far inferior to the care more wealthy patients get. Anyway we had planned to show them the "Families Can Be Together Forever" video about the couple who also lost a little girl. Have to say the video is very touching to anyone who has ever been a mother but Josie was texting on her phone most of the time. When it was over we brought out the birthday cake and ice cream and Josie proceeds to tell us that Wilton does not like her. We thought she was kidding but when Scott looked questioningly at Wilton, he put his hands out in a "Yes that's right but what can I do about it" gesture. By that time I was about to burst into laughter . She admitted they were fighting and all was far from well with them. And here we thought we could help them find some peace about losing their baby and they were hardly speaking to each other! Don't think the video helped either...
Much of this conversation started when I asked if I could take a picture of them. She said he wouldn't because he didn't like her but we finally got them to let us take a picture for us.
I think Wilton would like to adopt Scott as his dad. His dad fathered 29 kids and probably doesn't even know them. He is a nice kid - and so is she.
So we come to the end of a day that looked so special when we got up this morning and all I can do is laugh because this is just the Dominican Way of life.
Today looked to be such a positive day. John Paul was to meet with the missionaries here to have a lesson. It was Wilton's birthday so I had made a brownie cake for him and some cheerios treats for the missionaries. Three o'clock came and neither the missionaries or John Paul were here - which certainly is not unusual for these people. The missionaries called and said they could not make it because they were in some judges office with someone getting a divorce. So we planned what we could teach John Paul so it would not be a waste of his time. Well and hour went by and still no John Paul. By 4:30 Scott decided to call him. He had said earlier that he was going at 2:30 to pick up his paycheck. I think he picked up his paycheck and bought some liquor because when Scott called him he said he would be here by 3:30 - that was at 5:00. He never did show up so we'll see what he has to say when Scott sees him in the morning.
Then we had invited Wilton to bring his wife and we would take them out to dinner tonight. He seemed quite enthusiastic about it and kept calling her to see if she was on her way. And of course she was late. It was Wilton's birthday today so we had baked a cake and took some ice cream and cake down to the workers and sang happy birthday (in Spanish even) to him. Anyway we walked down to the guagua stop to meet her then walked over to McDonalds. It was weird from the beginning as walked off and she lagged behind. When we got there they didn't seem to know that we were eating there or something. Scott thinks they just didn't know how to order. We got the food and came back to our apartment to eat. Well during the conversation Josie, his wife, told us that she actually was baptized into the church three years ago. Wilton had no idea she was a Mormon.
Then she said they were just living together and had stayed together because she had gotten pregnant. Obviously she is no longer active. The saddest part of the night, and there were quite a few sad parts, was when she showed me a picture of the baby she had last month that had died a day after he was born because he couldn't breathe. All I could think of was the poor care she probably got because they had no money and that their beautiful little boy could have lived if he had been in the states where there are specialists to deal with respiratory problems. They have medical care here for poor people but it is far inferior to the care more wealthy patients get. Anyway we had planned to show them the "Families Can Be Together Forever" video about the couple who also lost a little girl. Have to say the video is very touching to anyone who has ever been a mother but Josie was texting on her phone most of the time. When it was over we brought out the birthday cake and ice cream and Josie proceeds to tell us that Wilton does not like her. We thought she was kidding but when Scott looked questioningly at Wilton, he put his hands out in a "Yes that's right but what can I do about it" gesture. By that time I was about to burst into laughter . She admitted they were fighting and all was far from well with them. And here we thought we could help them find some peace about losing their baby and they were hardly speaking to each other! Don't think the video helped either...
Much of this conversation started when I asked if I could take a picture of them. She said he wouldn't because he didn't like her but we finally got them to let us take a picture for us.
So we come to the end of a day that looked so special when we got up this morning and all I can do is laugh because this is just the Dominican Way of life.
My goodness. What do you do for excitement? Who would ever believe your days.
ReplyDeleteJust keep on keeping on!
Best wishes always.
GLH