4/30/2013

   So I am starting early today  - maybe I will actually get it done.  We went to the temple early this morning and the workers were still in a meeting so we waited for ten minutes or so for them to come get clothing for us.  We thought we would be the only ones in the session but Sister Walker and the Leavitts were there along with some local people.  It has been fun to see who works in the mornings since we can't go at night now.  Never thought this mission would be a night job!  We do teach during the day also though.
   And now here it is the end of the day.  I am so grateful to have had time to study today.  We made some hamburger soup when we got home.  Have we ever been spoiled with our beef on the ranch!
    I got an email today from Tana Hopkinson who lives next door and is best friends with the Johnsons who are here from Park City.  Tana and I used to be cheerleaders together but I haven't seen her for well over 30 years.  It is amazing how small the world really is when you can be over here and meet many people who have connections to people you know from home.  It was great to hear from her.
   Sister Walker has been looking for things to do since her husband was called to be the doctor for the area and she wasn't given any assignment.  So we took her to our lesson tonight to help teach.

She was amazed that we try to teach the classes by ourselves so next week she is coming with her husband.  She is a so funny!  If you expect these lessons to be normal it really throws you for a loop.
It would be wonderful if we had a teacher for every student but we don't have that luxury.
  And now we are home - the best time of the day - bedtime!   

4/29/2013

  So I'm trying to figure out when I wrote last.   On Friday we had the Yturraldes down to play Crown with us.  Elder Yturralde is finally feeling a bit better and since he has been house bound all week we thought he might enjoy getting out.  He still looks peaked and drawn but says he is feeling better.
They are great friends.  I hope we get to see them sometime after we leave here.  They leave in September and go back to California but are planning on coming to Utah to conference.
    Saturday was our usual drive from one end of the city to the other doing lessons.  What a privilege it has been to get to know so many people here that we get to continue seeing each week. The boxes we carry the keyboards in are getting worn and tattered from such frequent use.  They are in a bag but the boxes keep them much safer with all of the traveling and hauling in and out of buildings twelve times a week.  The kids are a bit rough on them.  We have approximately 17 weeks left so hopefully they will hold up.  The sad thing is Pres. Anderson doesn't think he can convince them to let him have another couple to teach music.  Do you know of anyone who would like to come to the Dominican Republic and teach basic music??  Tell Eric and Nancy Wilde that would be a good mission for them.  Pres. Anderson said you would be surprised at how many times references are used in a mission.
      Every week in La Caleta they move this huge platform thing down off the stand to use for the students to set on do they are at a better level with the keyboards on the tables.  It is a monster!

 



The best part of the day for me was at Las Melinos.  Here is why:

I actually got to baby sit for an hour!!  This is the mom and grandmother who were both busy with the lesson.  This way I could walk around and help where needed and still hold the baby!!!
   Scott almost killed us on the way to Hainamosa - he's becoming a worse driver than the Dominicans.  Sometimes so reckless I just know we are going to be killed!  But if we die here at least it will be while we were serving the Lord.
  As we were seting up a man walked in and shook our hands and asked how we were doing.  He introduced himself as Elder Martinez, one of the area seventies here.  He wanted to know if he could help us in any way and it just so happened that we needed many tore tables to set up the twenty keyboards.  "I can help with that - you'll have them soon."  He was such a nice man.  He said he remembered us from early in our mission where we presented the area plan that Pres. Anderson had asked us to come up with and present to the seventies and mission presidents at a big meeting.  He liked the plan - thank heavens!
   Some of our graduated students agreed to come back and help us with this new class because it is so big.  They seem to be there every Sunday doing something- we just have no idea what. Scott asked the four girls who are always sitting on a small couch in the foyer if they lived there because they are there when we arrive and there when we leave and that is generally two hours.
   The Hainamosa lessons went well but Scott was trying to teach a little (not young) handicapped physically but also ADHD.  I could hear him getting louder and louder as he tried to get this kid to focus - I thought it was funny but when we left Scott was so discouraged.  He always has to work with the ones who need the most help because he can communicate much better than me.  Pretty nice for me huh..  There are a very few good things about not speaking fluently, that is one!
    On Sunday we got to take the kids to church.  There were only four of them. William's three and the 5year old boy.  Just love those kids.  We haven't taken them for two or three weeks because they were out of town and we had other things going on and they were so excited to see us. About as happy as we were to see them!  Eliana wanted us to teach  her how to play so I told her we would be leaving in four months and didn't have the time plus she wouldn't have access to a keyboard to practice.  She was appalled that we were leaving and asked when we would be back. Scott found his niche in Sunday School with two crying babies:

 First this little one was crying and had been for some time.  So he walked up and put out his arms and the mother a bit hesitantly gave him the baby.  Within a few minutes he had quit crying and actually went to sleep.  Then another little boy started to fuss and Scott took him from his mother and settled him down and within minutes he was also asleep.  Because these women really don't know us I wondered if they would be offended but they were quite amazed.  He told them he had lots of practice at home!
    As we traveled to San Cristobal we say a man with his little boy, horse and wagon picking up garbage looking for anything that could be sold or used:

 It is just amazing to see how some of these people make a living.  How they survive is a question we constantly ask ourselves.
     The class has about 10 students now and they are all at different levels of ability - which makes it tricky to help all of them.  Then there is Lucianni who has so much ability and just refuses to focus and work on the music.  Some day she will probably be mad at herself but she is a young teenager and it just isn't that important.
   Today has been Labor Day here so of course they are celebrating and the schools, etc are closed.  These kids are out of school more than they are in and when they are in they only go for half a day.
The  cross the street tienda (little store) was open and people were celebrating all day.  Playing dominoes and drinking and singing!
   We had a morning meeting with the Choir Committee then Spanish lessons.  I just have not had the time I used to have to study so this night is going to be study night!

4/28/2013

    

4/25/2013

        Party Thursday!  We started this morning at the temple.  When we got there all of the sister missionaries were standing in front of the temple door.  There used to be about eight sisters in the mission.  Now there are over twenty at the MTC in the Casa.  The temple had not been notified that they were coming so weren't ready for them.  Here if they know there are going to be extra people at the temple doing initiatory or baptisms they have more helpers come in.  Anyway, it was fun to be with them.
       Got home in time to have lunch and get ready to go to the Institute. The University is still closed because they had a riot and had someone killed on Monday so we didn't know if we would have any students.  However, they had planned a party because this is the last class before the semester ends so most of them showed up. I thought we were going to have a break because school is out for two weeks before summer semester begins but no, Scott told them we would be there if any of them wanted to come and continue lessons while school is out.  If there is anyone tireless in serving, it is my husband.
         We were late getting back because of the fiesta and a new young man that came and wants to start lessons.  But we did have time to pick up some cheerio treats and leave for Santo Domingo for lessons.  They all wanted the recipe for the treats so we know they were something they liked. While we were setting up tables Scott called me over to look out the window.  A few feet from the building was a guy sitting in a tree trying to chop it down with an axe.  He had most of it cut down but the hardest part was still standing.  What he would have given for a chainsaw for ten minutes - if he even knew they existed!

One of my favorite women in this class wanted to take us to the National Museum on Monday.  We have a meeting in the morning for the "Choir Event" and Spanish classes in the afternoon.   Plus she works all day, goes to school at night and does all of her homework at night because that is the only time of day they have electricity.  She is just finishing law school so she will be a lawyer.  She is just awesome.    When  I said she should stay home on Monday and rest, she said she would have to spend the day cleaning and taking care of the kids. No time to rest! 

 

So here we are at home and it's almost eleven so I'd  better finish and get to bed.                                                                                                                                        

 

4/24/2013

     Here it is Wednesday evening - didn't blog yesterday so will try to catch up.  Won't be hard!
We went to the temple Tuesday morning.  We had planned on doing the 10:00 session but ended up waiting until 10:45 for a couple that were doing their own endowments and getting married today.
I did have the afternoon to get some things done and to study before our lesson at Santo Domingo.  You never know just who will show up but this week most of the class came and we didn't have enough tecladas.  We are going to have to gather up all of the keyboards we can find for some of these new classes that have so many students.  In our other classes people drop out when they find that it really is work to learn how to play the keyboard.  I am sure that will happen but it still leaves more people than we have keyboards for.  Guess we will have to use some paper tecladas.
   We did get an email from the US Embassy saying not to go around the college that there had been demonstrations at because a policeman had been killed there.  That is the college right across from the Institute where we teach.  The demonstrations were on the street that we take around the college to get home.  They closed the college for yesterday and today so we thought we would not have any students show up but went down anyway.  The Institute director told us that there were some students there and he thought we would be safe.  So we got there and set everything up and one student came to class.  Scott spend 1 1/2 hours just working with him so that was a great opportunity to really work with someone.
    We picked up the Leavitts and headed out to Los Llanos.  There was a good rainstorm going on that stopped when we got there and started up again once we began class.  It is uncanny how often if has rained all the way to the building and as soon as we get there and start to unload it quits raining.  Then we start the lessons and it rains off and on the whole time until we are ready to leave and it quits.  What tender mercies!
   I have never seen much of Scott's silly side - but you should see him teach music!  He could be the entertainer instead of the teacher.  He keeps everyone engaged in what he is teaching and really does a great job.  We got to our class at Las Caobas a few minutes late but the room soon filled with people.  One thing they have taught their kids here is respect for their elders.  We never go anywhere that someone doesn't offer to help us carry things in or out or do anything else you ask them to do - an it is often the kids.  We pull up to the church and the kids surround the car and want to introduce themselves to you and know all about you.  As I sat in the car waiting for Scott to leave there were a group of people sitting in plastic chairs (of course) by the church.  Just visiting and laughing.  I thought of how guilty I have felt about wasting time when I have taken time to do that - no more.
It is ridiculous that we feel we have to fill every second with something that needs to be done.  We put so much pressure on ourselves.  When you see how happy these people are you realize that their way of life isn't all that bad. 
   We got home around 9:00pm and left this morning at 9:30 am so it has been a long day.  Seems to be lots of those these days.

4/22/2013

           Our Monday morning was taken up with a meeting with Sister Anderson and Sister Johnson about the letter to the Stake Presidents for the Choir Festival the Pres. wants to have.  Sister Johnson is amazingly talented and experienced and Sister Anderson has held every music job in the stake and ward during her years in the church.  So you can just see Scott and I setting there feeling like idiots!
The great thing is they would really like to just do the whole thing - I hope Pres. Anderson is ok with that because we certainly are!!  It is amazing to see the strength and talent of women in the church.
Of course Scott's perspective from a man's viewpoint was a bit different coming from the intellectual thinking of a man vs. the emotional thinking of women.  Life is so interesting......
           When we got back after noon Elder Yturralde talked to Scott about going out to Quisquea.
Of course Scott thought his "little buddie" was too sick to drive out there by himself so he offered to drive him.  So that gave me four or five hours to wash, make some chicken noodle soup and study Spanish.  It took much longer than he thought so he missed most of the Spanish class he is supposed to teach at 5:00.  Elder Haws teaches before him though so he just agreed to go on teaching until Scott got there.  Well I was just picking the meat off the chicken bones when he called for me to come pick him up.  At the Casa waiting for me were the Walkers, who Scott had invited to have soup with us, unbeknownest to me and Scott.  Good thing the soup was done is all I can say.  We really appreciate the Walkers  - they are such good company.  As a doctor, Elder Walker is on the warpath about ObamaCare and doesn't want to go home until Obama is gone.  We hurried and ate and went back to the Casa for Family Home Evening.
       Sister Hyde, from Kaysville, gave a presentation on an African service project that her son was involved in.  The foundation had built a school there in a very poor area.  It just made you want to help in some way.  There are some amazing people in this world who give and give and give.
    My favorite time of the day - bedtime!

4/21/2013 Whole weekend in one blog!

         Here it is Sunday evening and I haven't blogged for a few days.  On Friday we went to Spanish classes, washed clothes, cooked food and went out to dinner with the Ruckers, the Marinos, and the Ewells.  They are all great company and fun to be with.  It is just amazing here because there is an instant connection with the other senior missionaries - it seems like you have been friends forever!
And maybe we have...
      On Saturday we had our normal busy day driving from on side of this huge city to the other teaching lessons.  This must be the rainy season here because it has rained every day for a week.
At least it keeps it from getting soooooo hot!  Some of our classes have been small because the kids that have to walk miles to get to the lessons do not come out in the torrential rain storms we have had.
The rain hitting the roofs of the churches is so loud you can't even here someone talking.  The amazing thing is every time we have had to carry keyboards in and out of churches, it has quit raining for a few minutes then starts up again.  More like a tender mercy than a coincidence I would say.  Especially since the tecladas are all in cardboard boxes.
     Now here it is Sunday.  We didn't go take the kids to church because we wanted to go listen to Stephanie play in  her ward.  Her Bishop actually called and asked us to come because she was playing.  I just love her.  She doesn't have much support, if any, at home.  When she first started our music class she looked so sad but as she started to pick up playing and feeling good about what she was doing, her countenance changed and she began interacting with the other girls in the class.  She is a much happier looking young woman now.  We are so glad the Bishop took the time to call and let us know.  Even better because the keyboard they had in the church would not work so Scott went out to the "traveling music van" and got a keyboard for her to play on! We got to meet her mother.
    We left there and got to come home for a good hour before leaving for San Cristobal. We had talked about having a recital there but wanted to give them a few more months.  The Bishop wanted to do it in connection with their ward conference in May.  When Scott told him that we usually ended our class with the recital his mouth just fell open.  Well he ended up telling the Bishop that we would still come out and help them.   With the Bishop's reaction all of a sudden it just hit me that we would be saying goodbye to this group of students sooner than I had expected.  It was all I could do for the entire hour and a half not to cry.  We love these people.  They have been so welcoming and friendly, and excited about learning.  I am such a wuss ( Scott and I were discussing just how to spell that word on the way home).
    So I fought back tears all the way to Oriental! Grateful that I am not so attached to this new group of students.  Sad thing is by the time we are ready to leave I will feel the same way about them.   I am just very grateful to have a wonderful family to come home to!
   There are 24 students in this Oriental class.  We wanted to split them up because they would get so little individual help plus with their ten tecladas and our twelve we need many tables to set them up on and they have one 8' table.  We will have to see what happens.  There is a 16 year old boy in the class that reminds me so much of Scott when he was young.  Handsome, confident, and a personality like Scott's.  Helps me remember that we were once young!! Sooo many years ago.
     When we pulled into the parking lot for our building Tati's car was there.  And sure enough, when we got out of the car she was waiting for us with open arms!  She went to Columbia with her daughter but said she has been back for a month but we have never been home when she has come.
It was so good to see her.  She wants to know why we can't go home and visit our kids and come back here to live.  She is such a good woman.
   Elder Yturralde has been very sick with diverticulitis. He is finally starting to look like he is going to live. 
   The trees and shrubs and flowers here are beautiful.  These are two of the trees we passed going out of town:

                                               There is so much  beauty in this country!