4/10/2012

  Wish I could have gotten some pictures today of the parade that went down one of the main streets here with kids in bright red and yellow costumes, men on stilts, men in full body paint, people in yellow shirts, flags waving , music blaring, and drums pounding.  The sight and sound were incredible!  There must have been 200 or more people and they just kept coming.  This in anticipation of their elections next month.  Some of the couples that leave town for church said they had a difficult time getting home on Sunday because the streets were filled with people rallying for their candidate.  I wonder how much worse it will get. It's a good thing they have security people everywhere; it's a bad thing that no one pays any attention to them.  One of the candidates looks just like Keith McCord on the Channel 5 news.  I'm going to include a picture of him because the similarities are amazing to me. 

 It is Alysha's birthday today and the girls are gathering at Melia's for lunch.  That is just one of the special things I miss about not being with my family.  The fun thing though was we got to skype with them so it was kind of like being there. 

4/9/2012

Another day, another bucket shower!  We had the couple downstairs for breakfast.  They have two little kids age one and two so it was great for us.  The husband has lived in Chili for the past three years so they just get together once in awhile on vacations.  Seems like a strange way to live.  He is from Rome, Italy.  When he saw our name tags he seemed to get defensive immediately telling us that their little one year old was baptized into the Catholic Church yesterday.  We talked about how important having a religion that taught values was.  When he realized that we weren't going to bash his religion he wanted to know more about ours.  He couldn't believe we were here working and were not getting paid.  And the thought of having ten kids was unimaginable!  He thought all Mormons had big families but not that big.  The little two year old girl is enrolled in a school where she is learning both Spanish and English. Of course her Dad speaks English - that really helps me.  Anyway when he came and when he left he kissed me on both cheeks and grabbed Scott like he was going to kiss him too - but darn, he didn't. That would have been fun to witness! 
   I have been trying to be brave enough to get my hair cut here.  Everyone goes to someone different
and no one really likes who they go to.  So we decided on the one across from the Temple.  Since Scott has never been in a beauty salon in his life, he wasn't anxious to go but was tired of hearing me complain.  So he was the interpreter - cut more here, not so much there, can you cut it dry, etc, etc.
We waited for 1/2 and hour while some black girls were getting their hair straightened.  They pay lots of money to have that done once a week.  Scott found a girl waiting for her mom to talk to so he did ok.  It's not much fun having to rely on him for things that have to be taken care of by someone who speaks good Spanish.  Who really knows what he tells them??  Anyway it ended up well.  My hair is much shorter and much cooler.
    Had our Spanish class today with Elder Hammon.  Their daughter had a baby tonight so that was exciting for all of us as he was keeping us updated all during the class and family home evening.  The Yturraldes, our neighbors, had Family Home Evening tonight.  It was a BYU broadcast on a leper colony and how the members of three different churches lived and worked together in love and harmony. 
   We stopped at Wendy's on our way home.  Dad said the junior bacon cheeseburger was better here than it is in the US.  Just amazed again at the toenails here!  There is alot of money spent on feet.
They won't have polished fingernails but those toenails are done with amazing detail. 

4/8/2012

   Easter Sunday!  What a special day here.  Our American neighbors, the Ottersons, have three children here while he is going to school and they do not have a car.  He came last night to see if we could give them a ride to church today so we changed our plans and went to the same ward we went to last Sunday.It is a good ward for me because they have an English Sunday School class.  This ward also has an English and a Spanish speaking Primary.  It is fun to see how the kids all interact.  The woman who gave the RS lesson talked on  honoring the church leaders and went into how her brother is the stake president here.  Their mother died when she was 12 and she raised her little brother.  She knew he was special.  It was just a sweet story that I actually understood by heart if not by language!  The Bishop decided he wanted the women to make the sacrament bread so they were signing up for 1  that.
   Brother and Sister Bair had an Easter Dinner and program at their home later today.  Brother Bair told of how he had wondered if Christ had ever been in the Santa Domingo temple and how he received the answer that He had indeed been in  the temple here.  It was a very spiritual meeting with about 20 couples,
  As we walked out of our apartment door with the salad we have made for the dinner, I locked the door from the inside and asked Scott if he had the keys.  Well he thought he did have until we got to the car and he looked in his pocket to find the phone instead of the keys.  So here we are in our parking lot with this great big bowl of salad and can't get in our apartment or the car.  All of the phone numbers we needed were in the apartment. We did have one couples number on our "pretty much worthless" phone so they came from the dinner to get us.  We came home with the Yturaldes who live in our building and he found our landlords number on the Internet.  Eckbert, the landlord, said his mother had a key and he would be here in 35 minutes.  About two hours later he finally showed up - but we were so grateful to be able to get into our apartment.  We hadn't even thought of making another key!

4/7/2012

We are so grateful today is over with! Scott did a great job with our music presentation to the area presidency, seventies, and mission presidents. He talked so slow I was afraid something was wrong with him - only to find out that they had asked him to speak slowly so the interpreters could have time to translate into French and Spanish.  The meeting was held in the Institute building which we hadn't been to.  It is amazing how long it takes to get a couple of miles away on one way roads!
    We shopped at Price Mart then went to the Hammons for a dinner with the new couple for humanitarian in the area.  They are the Haws from Mesa, Arizona.  The Dunfords, Snows, Fergusons, and the Lillies were also there so it was alot of fun.  Elder Snow does cowboy poetry and is amazingly good.  He had some new ones for Scott about the banker and the rancher.
  Brother Ottosson dropped by to see if we were going to the Pianti Ward because he is here with his wife and three children and has no car so wanted a ride to church.  Guess we will go there tomorrow so we can give them a ride.  The fun thing about that ward is it has so any Americans in it - actual lessons in English.  (Actually only Sunday School but at least there is one I can understand)
   

4/6/2012

    It seems weird to have so much time to focus on what we are doing here.  At home our church work was always pleasantly interspersed with family and friends, etc.  Maybe that's why they take senior couples away from home!  What I have realized is I could have prepared myself much better to serve out here.  Senior couples are asked to do so many different things.  For a year before we even talked about going on a mission I  kept feeling like I needed to practice the piano because I would need that skill sometime in the future.  I actually did start practicing a little but not nearly enough.  We have four new couples coming here this month and the two that I have heard about both have had their calls for some time and have been in contact with who they are replacing here so have been able to prepare at home many of the specific things they will be doing.  That is such a great help. 
    Scott is working hard trying to teach me Spanish!  Just when you think you are actually learning something you here a native talk and you can't understand a thing they say.  It is much easier to understand the non-Dominican's Spanish.
   It has been a quiet day here in the apartment.  It is Holy Week here so the kids are all our of school and the stores have all been closed today. I don't know where everyone went but there have been no taxis out side our window and very few buses.  Even the horn-honking traffic has been minimal.
   When we get home Scott needs to open his own cafe.  He always has someone he is feeding.  Tonight it was the two guards - one came up and ate with us (Pedro)  He's 44, non married, has two teenagers.  Louis is my favorite.  He is 21 or so and every time he smiles his whole face lights up.  He and Pedro are around 6 feet tall and neither would weigh much over 100 pounds.  They both look like the pictures we have seen of starving Africans!  I'll have to see if they would let me take a picture of them. 
    Scott has spent the day planning, praying, and worrying about his presentation tomorrow for the area presidency, the seventies and the seven  mission presidents in this area on the music goals for the area.   I've spent much of that time helping him plan, pray, and worry but being very grateful that he is the one giving the presentation!! Thought I'd add another water bottle picture just for fun.
   

4/5/2012

 We've been waiting for the water to come on for long enough to shower so we could go to the temple.You just hate it when you are in the middle of shampoing your hair and the water goes off!  Our friends from upstairs came down around noon to tell us that the owners of this building are planning on digging a well in two weeks so we could have water all of the time.  Just don't know where they will find the space to to that since everything they own is either apartment or cement parking.  And we all know that
their two weeks could mean two months or more!  We heard the water come on and our friends were out of here in a flash so they could shower before it went off again.
  The Area Presidency has been in Salt Lake for Conference and was to come home yesterday but didn't make it until today.  They meet with the area Seventies, Stake Presidents, and Bishops here this weekend and want Scott to take ten minutes to go over our area music plan - so glad not to be him!!  That will be a tremendous help in encouraging the leaders to get their music programs going.  I'm learning alot through this experience that has reinforced to me just how important music is in bringing the spirit to meetings. Here they could certainly use much practice time - like they cut out of Relief Society.  You can be playing along and all of a suddent realize they are four measures ahead of you or two behind.  They haven't had accompaniment to learn the notes or the timing so even when they do have it they don't know how to follow it.  Certainly is a work in progress!  D&C 25:11,12
  We went to the temple last night and when we came out it looked like the heavens had opened and just dumped water.  If it rained like that at home we would have a flood.  More interesting is that 20 minutes after a rain like that you would not even know it rained  The streets are dry and the water runs down the trenches on both sides of the roads (to I don't know where) but it just disappears. 
  Scott ended up teaching the Spanish class today because Elder Hammon  was stuck out of town somewhere - we found out later that he was at a beach!  Some excuse that was....We got to the 6:00 temple session tonight.

4/3/2012

    Conference was uplifting as always. It is such a restful way to have church - I always did think that if the Lord wanted Sunday to be a peaceful day we would have church on TV rather than trying to get kids, lessons, etc ready for church.  We "outside of towners" have sped into Morgan many times to be at church on time.  My family fondly remembers the time we had the truck to come to church in, Scott wasn't with us, and there were eight kids and me in the front of the truck.  They were stacked two deep with the last two laying over the top and on the dashboard.  And people worry about car seats today?! It took us five minutes to unload when we got there, laughing all the way!  It is amazing that so many kids grew up safely under the circumstances they were put in by their parents.  I wouldn't trade those memories for anything  - I have loved having a big family of wonderful kids!
   So many words or wisdom and guidance were shared with us during conference.  To choose just a few of the areas talked about to improve in would make us all better people.  We are so blessed to be able to listen to a loving Father in Heaven's words through his prophets.  No one knows our needs better.
   On Monday we worked on some things we had to have ready for the Area Presidency when they return from conference.  I was so excited to get my Richard Simmons DVD's from home to exercise with.  The music is fun and my family has always just loved Richard Simmons. (not)
   Our Family Home Evening was presented by Pres. Hernandez of the East Mission and his wife.  They did a course on CPR that they have traveled around and presented for the past 8 years.  They are from Puerto Rico and speak an interesting blend of Spanish and English. Wish my EMT kids could have been here because we learned some interesting things when we weren't laughing.   They had a dummy that they took with them that consisted of part of a plastic head and the sternum part of a chest.  It seems almost everything is done a bit differently here!
    Today was shopping day and Scott escaped driving to the outskirts of town by hitching a ride with a friend from the East Mission office.  We finally were able to get some office supplies I need to keep track of our job here.  I thought it was scary riding with Scott - well Brother Eickbush is scarier.  We got there and back without any new dents but I don't know how!  Brother Eickbush told about his amazing conversion to the gospel. 
    We haven't had water again today so decided we would go to McDonalds for supper - thus no dishes.  Wish I could record what it sounds like in there.  If we took our family - all 50 of us - and turned them loose to make all the noise they wanted to - it still would not be as loud as it was in McDonalds.  These people are just very noisy and happy.You would never hear something like this in the US unless a championship team and all of its supporters came in for supper.
      Every time we leave the house Scott finds someone to practice his Spanish with.  I'm learning but get lost pretty easily. It's a beautiful night - breezy and cool.  I think of the pictures Evelyn Stevens sent me of them with two or three feet of snow dressed in winter clothes that allowed you to see six inches of their faces and realize we are blessed to be here!  Come summer we will probably wish we were in Russia.