8/21/2013 The final week of our mission

I have been so derelict in  finishing this blog.  Probably because that last week of saying goodbye was so painful and partly because we were so busy cleaning and giving things away.
On Wednesday we had our final interview with Pres. Anderson.  He is such a great and humble man.
  Ekbert and Louardis came to check on us.  He had been in the US for the past 6 or so months so we hadn't seen him but she had been by to visit.  We just loved them and would love to see them baptized. Our apartment owner was Louardis's sister, and a Mormon, but just a bit wacky.  Ekbert came to tell us where to leave the keys and came in to the bedroom to find me and gave me a big hug.  The Dominicans we knew were very warm and friendly.  I had no idea how hard it would be to leave them all.  We went to dinners with our senior missionary friends.  We took pizza out to the Sanchez family so we could spend some time with them.  Then on Sunday we took them to church for the last time.  Wilton went with us - I know he loved Scott like the father he did not have.  I wanted to just let them out and drive off like we always did because it would be much easier for us all, but no, Scott made me go to their house to say goodbye.  Eliana had given me a heart shaped rock which I will always treasure but when we got ready to leave she was sobbing and wouldn't even look at me.  I sat down by her and held her in my arms, sobbing with her. Wilton and William were crying in the doorway.  When I got up to leave Scott was saying goodbye to the kids and William put his arms around me while we both cried.  It is still so painful just remembering.  But I knew that was the most difficult thing we had to do - that the rest wouldn't hurt quite so much.

That night we went to the Dunfords for dinner.  They have been such good friends.  Then stopped to visit with Sister Mahon.  We are just praying that the rest of the mission for them will be a building one for their mission.  Sister Mahon has helped me deal with things that have always been very difficult for me with her energy healing  and in the process we became very good friends.  I love her and  am so thankful for her.

On Monday we worked to get everything done and had dinner with the Buttons.
We were supposed to be at the Casa at 8:00 pm to say goodbye to our returned missionary friends - Jose, Jose, Aldwin, and Cati but we didn't get there in time.  We had seen them earlier though but they had a musical number they were going to do for us.  I was so sad to miss that.  We had reserved a room at the Casa where the Buttons would pick us up on Tuesday morning.  By the time we said a tearful goodbye to the Yturraldes and given them all of the things we didn't know what to do with and said goodbye to the Despains and the Leavitts, it was almost midnight.  So we went to the Casa - to the same room with two single beds that we began our mission in.  We had to be up and ready to leave by 3:30 am so it was just a very short night.

I had such mixed feelings about leaving the Dominican Republic but in my heart I knew we needed to be home.  The Buttons dropped us off at the airport for our early flight home. It was wonderful
to get off the plane in SLC and see most of our children and grandchildren there.

I know that the past eighteen months have added so much to our lives.  The people we have met, taught, and loved will always be a part of us. We have been forced to grow in areas that we needed to grow in. Having to spend 18 months together serving a mission has enriched our marriage.  We will be forever grateful that we were able to serve a mission in the Dominican Republic!

8/12/2013 Another one of those goodbyes over

    Here we thought we would have a whole week to get things together to leave and after going through some of our stuff today I realized we should have started weeks ago. I worked on the history program for the last time - only need to add a few more pictures and send it to Sister Button.  I am so grateful to have the information collected and put together.  Scott kept coming in the bedroom/office asking me if I was staying on task.  I don't think he realized before how ADD I am but he certainly knows now!  Scott sorted through some of the music items and boxed them up.  I think most of the things we take home will be lesson books of Spanish and music.
 Tonight was the farewell for the Pichardos, the Cuenots, and us plus the welcome for the MacIntyres.   It was great because we all had just a few minutes to speak.  What wonderful people there are here serving.  How blessed we have been to get to know so many of them and have made such good friends.  Scott left the country uniform "the orange hat and apron" to the MacIntyres.  I have felt like a big of nerves all day and realize that's probably how it will be until we get home.  Scott thinks he is doing fine but got on the elevator today and couldn't get it to go down.  He came in to tell me it wasn't working and that he was walking down with the garbage.  When he got on it to come back up it was working.  Then he realized that when he left our apartment he had been pushing the fourth floor button instead of the first floor where he wanted to go.  So the elevator door would just keep opening  to the fourth floor where we live instead of going down.  I had to laugh - sounds like something I would do.

The MacIntryes, the Cuenots, and the Pichardos

      Instead of being sad tonight, I was filled with gratitude for the opportunity we have had to serve with so many wonderful people.  I know that we will see many of them again - if not in this lifetime, in another. It's nice to have another goodbye over; all the while realizing our lives will never be the same for having known these people.                                           

8/10/2013 Canastica Recital

 Well this recital and goodbye was as painful as I thought it would be!  This Dominican time thing will always be a mystery to us.  At 7:15 - the  program -

should have started at 7:00 - three of our students were not even there.  The Bishop called them and they said they were on their way, except for Carolina whose mother said she was still making her "pretty".  It was raining very hard and that always keeps people away.  They say they get sick from the rain.  Don't know how that happens because you would think the rain would clear away some of this polluted air. Finally at 7:50 everyone was there and we started the recital.  It is always amazing to hear them play and see how much they have learned in the short time they have had lessons.  I know they have been very blessed for their efforts.  They presented us with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.  I was doing just fine until the Bishop started crying.  To say that I was a sad, sorry cry baby is not an exaggeration.   I am going to have to do better but I'm not sure how to do that.  The kids were so sweet.  This was the hardest group to leave because we have been teaching them for so long and they have been just like family to us.  Bishop Polanco is awesome!

Pre-recital practice with Cesar and Katherina

This is the Bishop and his family.  I hope some time in the eternities we see them again!
    SATURDAY  Got to get busy on the recital for Sunday with Santo Domingo stake.  We put the program together and take it across the street to a printer to get copied off but you never know until the last minute - and sometimes not even then - what they are actually going to play.  They have their last practice tonight.
       We actually have some time today now that we have two fewer classes.  I need to start going through paperwork and getting the music resources together plus I haven't really studied Spanish for a long time.
    So this afternoon we went out to Hainamosa for our final lesson.  Felix, Anderson, and the twins came and spent the whole time taking photos.  I think they are going to try to continue a class there.  That would be wonderful for the stake and for them personally.  We appreciated them coming to tell us goodbye.  I know the love Scott has for these four is reciprocated.  One of the women had made me some jewelry she had made - was really pretty.  They gave us a bag of avocados. I won't miss that steaming hot room we taught in there or waiting at the gate for someone to let us in for forever but I will miss the little non-member girl with a big smile and sparkly eyes.  The woman who was baptized during our lessons is in the same ward as Felix so he will watch out for her.  We were so blessed to form so many relationships here with our students.  They have been wonderful.  I am still sad that I haven't been able to communicate better with them.
     The Ruckers had invited us to stop by after our lesson.  So on our way home around 7:00 we stopped and shopped for a few things we needed then stopped at KFC for the last time in the DR.  We would occasionally stop on our way home so decided we should do that one last time.  The Dunfords were at the Ruckers when we got there so we had a chance to visit with them too.   No one ever mentioned how difficult it is leaving the mission field! We will surely miss our senior missionary friends.  They have been such a blessing in our lives.

8/10/2013 A wonderful Sunday!

     How many kids were standing by the wall??  This was the morning the senior primary was singing in Sacrament meeting so we wondered if that would mean more or fewer kids for church.  When we got there to pick them up this is what we saw:

Is this a bunch of cute little girls or what??  There were three extras.  Scott thought the little one had gone with us before but I didn't recognize her.  She is a neighbor to the girls.   Altagracia's twins were there and we hadn't seen them for a long time so that was fun.  We were happy to make two trips to the the church.  All of the girls went in with me and when Scott came back he had William, Oglaidia(still don't know how to spell her name, Gregory and Carlos.  We were so happy to see William and have him and Oglaidia  come and support their kids. The song "I AM A CHILD OF GOD" was amazing in a totally different way.  Scott was playing for them.  They didn't stay with the music at all and the director(the ex-bishop) couldn't figure out whether to keep trying to get them to sing with the piano or just let them go.  I'm sure most of the people had no idea what was going on because it is so typical of here. We just hope and pray that someone will help get these kids to church after we leave.  After church Scott drove the kids home first and we took the neighbor lady and her kids and William and Olgaidia back home.

The kids are so used to having no space that two of them will set on a folding chair during Sacrament Meeting.  They pile in the back seat of the car and think it is just great.  Got to love them!  It was a great opportunity to take a picture of William and Oglaidia
We will always love these two and are so grateful for their letting us be a part of their family for the time we have been here.  He's not tall - she is well under five feet.  The gospel would be such a help to them.
    Then we headed home for lunch then out to Oriental for a lesson before the recital that had been changed to 5:00 instead of 7:00 because the Stake President had scheduled something else in the chapel at 7:00.
We drove through the pouring rain and wondered if anyone would show up.  We planned on leaving the keyboards there for them to practice with and go back after the recital and pick them up.  Well we waited and waited.  No one came to unlock the gate.  Finally and older woman in our class came and she got in the car with us.  She bought her own teclado but doesn't have electricity to practice so we took her some batteries.  I hope she understood what to do with them and where to put them.  Then we couldn't stay any longer and she decided she would come with us to the recital so off we went.  We tried to get a hold of Maria but could never find her number.  We did learn when we brought the sister back to the church that Maria was sick and no one showed up so that was good - since we weren't there.  Usually if it is raining hard they don't come anyway.
   Got back to Santo Domingo for the pre-recital practice.  All of the kids but Jose, the first one on the program, were there in good time.  Sister Santos and her son Liomi had made bracelets for all of our grandchildren.  It looks like there are enough for the whole town of Morgan!  She is such a sweetie.  She told me she had promised herself that she was not going to cry but that didn't happen.  I was just grateful to get through the night without making a fool of myself.

 This is Sister Santos - am I a little pasty white or what?  Maybe I should go tan before we come home. Victor wanted a picture of him and me.  When I looked at it I said, "I look so white" and he said, "I look so black" so then we had a good laugh because he is as dark as I am white.
 We received many gifts from our students that will be special reminders of our time here.  Sister Andersen, Pres. Andersen's wife, Sister Johnson and the Ruckers all came.  Sister Andersen spoke to the kids before the recital and talked during the meeting encouraging them to continue on with their music and to use the skills they had developed. Pres. Oliverio, the Santo Domingo stake president spoke and presented us with a plaque.  When he spoke it was with such a soft voice.  Many words I didn't understand but the spirit was so strong in the room it was amazing. We spent an hour after the recital taking pictures and visiting with our students.  Two who think they are coming to Utah to see us - sometime in the next ten years!  How we love them all.  What a privilege it has been to work with so many of these people and get to know them as well as we have;.working with them week after week.

 We drove back out to Oriental with the sister who came with us.  All in all, it was a wonderful experience.
    Pres. Diaz, Oriental Stake President, was at the door of the church.  He was trying to find a time that we could come out and tell them goodbye but I don't think we have time to do that.  Which is fine with me because goodbyes are not something I am good at. 

8-8-2013

What a night!  The day started calmly with a trip to the temple.  Lots of new missionaries today.  Sister Freestone came back to talk to me in the chapel and when I said the elders looked so young she said that she had looked at their papers and some had put their papers in when they were just 17.  She feels that their youth has not inhibited their performance here at all. There are not too many more times for us to attend the temple here but we will have more time this next week when all of the recitals are over.
   Tonight was a practice for Santo Domingo.  There are 16  students who are planning on playing so it may be fairly long.  Especially since Pres. Olivera will be there and speak.  It was almost impossible to keep the younger kids from running around and disrupting everyone.  One of the adult women who has taken the class has two boys in the class and a young daughter who really wanted to take it but didn't.  Well she, the young girl, has come to the last four classes and has decided she is going to play in the recital.  She is such an ADHD kid that you'd just like to tie her hands and feet together so she would be still for two minutes at a time!  We'll see how that goes on Sunday.
   I spent the afternoon making Joe's favorite cupcakes for the recital participants tomorrow night at Canastica.  For some reason the filling does not go to the bottom like it does at home but at least this time they are edible.  You can't leave them uncovered because they get all damp and mushy. It will be odd to have things dry out when you leave them out.  Even though Scott would like to stay and work longer with some of these students he agrees that it is time to go home.  Tomorrow night will be tough because San Cristobal is like family to us.  I am at the point of just wanting to get the painful goodbyes over.

8/7/2013 La Caleta Recital

   Well just when you think you know what to expect - the LaCaleta recital tonight was awesome!  They weren't as prepared as Los Melinos ( in the same stake) and we didn't expect much.  Were we ever in for a surprise!  Scott had loaned them three teclados to practice on last week until the recital tonight.  We left at 5:00 for the La Caleta.  It started to rain a little and before long you couldn't even see where you were going.

They have very little drainage from the freeways so some spots fill with water and it's a wonder there aren't more accidents.  We saw two or three coming home.  But back to the recital.. Usually when we tell the kids we will be there an hour early they come late so when we pulled up in front of the church and couldn't get out without getting soaked we just assumed that no one was there yet.  The gate was unlocked though.  Soon we started seeing our students walking from one part of the building to the other and realized that they were all there in the chapel with the teclados set up and practicing.  You could have blown us away  - totally unexpected.  AND there were even people there an hour early for the recital.  So just as we are getting ready to begin a big school bus pulls up and lets out a whole bus load of people that are coming to the recital.  The kids did a great job then they announced they had some special things for us.  First, Siminos played this fantastic piece of music that Weldy had actually put together for him using three different hymns.  Then they all sang "How Great Thou Art".  Then Weldy, who is amazing, tells us that after our lessons on Saturday he has been teaching a friend of his on Sundays.  So his friend played.  Just exactly what we have hoped for in this country!  Then Pres. Gonzalez talked about how we were an answer to their prayers.  That's probably the first time we have ever been an answer to someone's prayers!  Then they presented us with some cool gifts from here to remind us of the time we spent here.  What a rewarding experience the whole night was.

Anyway it was an evening full of surprises!

One recital down and two to go.  The hard part of them is saying goodbye to the students.

We went to the temple this morning.  There was a young couple visiting from Utah.  He served his mission here and she served a mission in Spain so they were excited to come back.  Took Sister Cuenot shopping.  She is an amazing little woman - so full of Christ like love for everyone.

8/5/2013

  I'm starting early today!  Didn't want to forget about the cop driving a motorcyle on the freeway with a man sitting behind him in handcuffs.  His hands were cuffed behind his back so he must have realized if he tried to get off he would be in big trouble.  That was the first cuffed man on a moto we have seen.  Just in front of them was another moto with two guys and a cop on it.  We figured both of the bikes must have been stolen and they were taking them in.  The moto bikes are the means of many robberies here so they have been checking their registrations and ownership because so many of them are stolen.  Just when I didn't have my camera!  The sights you see here are just so interesting....
  We were in charge of a FHE group for tonight  and were doing salsa and chips and cookies for refreshments.  We decided to have everyone choose their favorite hymn then come prepared to tell why it was their favorite and either sing it themselves or have us as a group sing the song.  I have never been at a meeting where this was done that it wasn't very touching.  It ends up being a testimony meeting through the hymns. And tonight was no exception.. Scott chose our song as I chose last time.  He decided to play "Be Still My Soul" and "More Holiness Give Me".on the teclado.  It was so neat to hear him play and know that he has taught himself to do that while we have been here.  Knowing it has kept him sane at times, I am very grateful he chose to learn to play. The couples in our group were:

The Johnsons from Park City, Utah

The Schmidts from Layton

The Ewells from San Bernidino, CA

The Despains from Smithfield

Couple from one of the islands

The  Haws from Mesa, Arizona
The black couple came from one of the islands to stay for three weeks during their vacation time to do temple work.  They speak French, English, and Spanish.

All in all it was a great evening.  The Wegeners were here from Santiago so it was great to see them again before we leave.  The Crismons are back after she fell and broke her hip here in May. It was so good to see everyone again.
  Elder Ytrralde, who is always running into something with his car, now has some kind of a line under his car tied up with one of his white temple socks.  He must find every bad hole in the road - which isn't hard to do.  Scott is always teasing him about his driving because he just gets his car out of the car hospital then runs into something else out there in Quisquea where they help with a branch.