Christmas Day

A wonderfully creative sister and her husband collect shells to make picture frames that they give away to new members. She made a nativity out of some of the shells and gave us one. It is so simple yet so beautiful.

Christmas has been a very relaxing and stress free one. We have had a wonderful time putting together a night of caroling to the missionaries in the missionary training center in our building. We also went caroling to the building close to us where two of the area presidency and their family live. We also arranged for the senior couples to provide gifts for the 65 missionaries as well which both the seniors and the missionary elders and sisters thoroughly enjoyed. We had 5 big bags of presents in our apartment and felt very much like Santa's workshop!

We also had the opportunity to go to the beach on Christmas morning with about 10 other couples. It was a beautiful sunny day and the morning was delightful. The water was warm and we had a lovely trip since there was little traffic out on Christmas day. While there, Sherrie fell in love with a palm leaf hat. She negotiated for a palm leaf grass hopper to go on top and I was able to get a video of the fellow teaching us how to make one. It was very clever.

Our activities at the institute are slow right now with school being out and the institute activities on hold until January 11th. We are excited about Wendy and two of her friends flying down on the 31st to spend 8 days with us. We plan to see some of the beautiful sights here. She is also bringing some books to donate to a private school here which is so wonderful since they have very little or nothing in the way of supplies. She is on the board of directors for "Books for a Better World" which distributes books all over the world to promote literacy.

Miracles and Activities

Christmas time is upon us and as you can see, we have been celebrating. Sherrie fell in love with the Charamicos. They are the Christmas Trees that are traditional here. They are simply dry tree branches assemled together to make a small tree. Sherrie loved decorating it.

We have had so many wonderful experiences and have seen miracles happen. One that recently occured was the remarkable blessing received by the senior missionary couple whom we replaced. Shortly after they returned home, the sister was diagnosed with a tumor behind her eye. Surgery was recommended with the anticipation of losing her eye and the nerves that control that side of her face. A very disfiguring and difficult surgery. We asked the institute youth and others who knew them here in the Dominican Republic to fast and pray for the sister. It was due to the amazing faith of the people here that we received notice that they did not have to remove her eye and that she would recover.

We have also received many blessings personally. Sherrie's leg had been giving her problems and that has healed. We have been blessed with protection in what could only be described as one continual "near death" experience each day we drive on the roads. We have also been blessed with the gift of the language. We have been able to learn all of the temple ordinaces in Spanish which is a miracle in that we are only in the temple for two mornings a week and it has only been 2 months. Sherrie had already learned most of it in Spanish so the real miracle is that I have been able to do so. The language is difficult for me and it will take time but I am so grateful for the help the Lord has given me. We have an additional challenge as well. A number of the islands that the Santo Domingo Temple serves as well as Haiti, speak French. We will need to learn a little French as well while we are here. There is a gift of tongues!

Sherrie and I have arranged for the senior missionary couples to go caroling to the young missionaries and others as a group on Monday. We have also organized an activity for the senior couples to provide presents for all of the 65-70 elders and sisters in the missionary training center here in the building where we live. It is so wonderful to have such close association with the missionaries. They are so excited to be here and to get out and share the gospel. Sherrie has also been busy baking Christmas goodies for everyone as well as the missionaries. (The sister missionaries are her favorites, however!) I have had the difficult duty of being the official taste tester.

We are missing the chance to be with family this year but hope to be able to talk with all on Skype. As a small consolation we plan to spend a relaxing morning on the beach on Christmas! We have never done that before! The senior couples are also getting together on Christmas eve with the young missionaries as well as have dinner together on Christmas day. It will be a wonderful day but we will miss our kids and grandchildren!

Diego Columbus's Palace(Son of Chris)

We had a wonderful visit to the restored palace of the son of Christopher Columbus. The furniture, armor and paintings are all allegedly 15th century. It was very interesting how small the people were given the size of the armor and beds. One art piece which is shown in one of the pictures was a wood carving which our guide stated was of the Virgin Mary and the Father and the Son on either side of her. An interesting doctrinal statement in the 15th century. I was also interested in the spiral staircase constructed out of coral rock. I thought I had accomplished something making one out of steel! You will also notice the guns which were only about 4 feet long but had about a 50 caliber bore for the musket ball. The last picture is of the kitchen. It is hard to believe that someone could exist in a room where the temperature was unbearable without a fire and having a fire in the room.

The following was taken from a website describing what was a beautiful structure which was remarkably large given the resources and time in history

Alcázar de Colón/ Columbus Palace A 22 room stone home built by Columbus son, Don Diego and his wife. (Colon is the Spanish word for Columbus). They resided here during his term as viceroy. This fortress was built during the early 1500s to be the seat of the viceroy court. Diego and his wife Maria de Toledo lived here until 1523, when he was recalled to Spain. Other relatives lived here for decades afterwards. This building was abandoned in 1770 and turned into a garbage dump. Cave-ins in 1809 and 1835 left the building in ruins.

It was restored by highly skilled stone cutters, with added refinements made during several later restorations. All rebuilding was done to remain as faithful as possible to the original construction and decor. Not one single nail was used in it's construction. It opened to the public on Columbus Day in 1957.

The palace sits in a large open square, Plaza de Armas or Plaza de Espana, Always some activity happening here. A nice place to be. Looks beautiful at night with the lights on. It now houses a collection of furniture and household items from this period

Oldest Cathedral in the New World

We visited the oldest cathedral in the new world yesterday. I thought you might enjoy a little history and some photos. Below is a bit of history taken from a local web site.

The full name of this marvelous cathedral is the Cathedral Metropolitana Santa María de la Encarnación. Originally when this church was built in 1514 it was a hut made of royal palms. It now takes up an entire block.

Diego Columbus set the first stone and since then many additions and changes have been made to the original structure. Spanish workmen began building the cathedral but left to search for gold in Mexico. This second church was much better, it was made of wood and the roof was palm branches. If there was rain there was no service. At the end of 1537 the roof was rebuilt the way we see it today. The front is dated 1540 and was completed in 1544. In 1547 the construction of the tower was stopped because it brought attention to the Fortress from marauders and people wanting to attack.

The church was worked on and designed by so many different people. This is why so many architectural styles can be seen in one building. There are Roman style arches and Gothic style vaults with some Baroque ornaments thrown in for good measure. All this only adds to the buildings originality and powerfully dominating look. It is built with the coralline blocks, as with many of the Colonial era structures, this building has been able to withstand the ravishings of time and humans both.

These are some of the pictures that I took of this amazing structure. It is amazing that they were able to construct the arches out of the coral stone. The exterior is rather plain but the interior is remarkable, especially for being over 450 years old! This huge church was air-conditioned so was a great attraction for everyone on a hot sultry day. Touring the sites here is a wonderful experience in not only the history but also the respect and reverence that the people have for their history. Those visiting the various sites are expected to be dressed modestly and appropriately. Shorts, tank tops, and revealing clothing is not appropriate. We have been impressed generally about how modest the people are here.

Botanical Gardens in Santo Domingo

On Saturday we went with Elder and Sister Kilgore (they live across the hall from us) to the botanical gardens here in the city. As you can see from the pictures, the place was beautiful. We rode a train around the gardens while a guide gave descriptions of the plants. They had one section that was a Japanese garden. There were so many different varieties of palm tree as well as other plants. It was a warm day and we happened to be there when the tour buses from a cruise ship arrived. The good thing was that all of those old people made us look young!

La Fiesta de Navidad 2009

The youth at institute have been planning one of their big events of the year and that is the Annual Christmas Dance. The youth love to dance and none of the dances are slow dances. They love Merengue, Bachata, Salsa, and Reggaeton music. They are all latin dances and are very fun to watch and to do as you can see. We have also included some clips of them as well. Dancing is a way of life here. It represents the joy for life that the people have here. One survey of the countries of the world has rated the Dominican Republic as the second happiest country in the world. We certainly believe it! Even in poverty, the people are kind and find joy in the little things like dancing and singing. We had about 300 youth at the institute on Friday night. Many were non members that the youth invited. Many were members from stakes in the Santo Domingo area. It was high energy all night with skits, songs and dancing. Sherrie has impressed the young women (and young men) with her treats. Some of the young women want her to do a class on how to make deserts. They do not know how to bake the sweet treats here that we have in the US. They love them. She spent all day on Friday cooking. We did go home for her to get off of her feet for a while. We bought a lot of fruit and the youth made a delicious drink with the fruit cut up floating in the drink. The dance lasted until about 11:30 when they finally had to pull the plug on the amplifier to get them to stop. With 300 kids jumping up and down for 6 hours, it was very warm. What a hard job we have! We had a ball! We tried our hand at it but it does not look at all like the dances that the youth were doing! Sherrie did much better with one of the young men that asked her to dance.

Christmas in the DR begins in October

The traditions of the Dominican Republic are especially rich this time of year. The celebration of Christmas begins in October and does not end until the middle of January. We have had wonderful firework displays a number of times at night. We can watch them while laying in bed out our window. I have included a web site that is maintained by a woman who does a wonderful job of promoting what is wonderful in this country. The site has a number of Christmas traditions and recipes that you might find interesting. It is also a great site for general information about the country.

http://www.colonialzone-dr.com/important_stuff-traditions-christmas2.html#food

Trip to beach near La Romana DR

WE WENT TO THE BEACH! It is about 2 hours from Santo Domingo. We had a beautiful drive with some rain and sunshine. Due to the storm we did not go swimming but did have a nice stroll along the beach. There was a lighthouse near by and a young boy came up to us and asked for money. We said if he would help us find shells we would pay him. He enthusiastically dove into the surf and started looking. I think he enjoyed swimming in the water more than looking for the shells. He did not find much but he was enthusiastic so we paid him. There was an excursion boat that left from the beach we were on that takes tourists out to an island about a mile from shore and caters lunch to them and then brings them back after about 3 hours on the island. All of that costs about 1500 pesos or about $45 per person. We may try that in the future. We also stopped at a cavern that was underground that had been developed into a beautiful display using lights and very nice lighted walkways. Our tour guide spoke English and is a student at the university. He advised us to hold on to the railing as we walked through the cavern due to the slippery walkway and stairs. We talked to him about the Book of Mormon and the story of holding to the rod that is about staying safe and on course. We gave him a pass along card and hopefully he may seek more information in the future. The trip to the beach was beautiful with palms along the highway. We stopped at Burger King on the way home for lunch. It is quite expensive here. A burger combo meal is about 270 pesos or about $8. We made it home through all of the traffic and immediately took a 2 1/2 hour nap. Playing is such hard work! It was a very nice day!

Walk at the DR Temple

This is a video of a walk around the Dominican Republic Temple. We enjoy our walks in the morning. They are a bit warm. It often does not cool much at night so when we walk out of the door expecting a nice cool morning, we get hit with a warm, humid but sunny environment in which to exercise. So far it has only rained when I have washed the car!

We attended a baptism of Jose Amado Cordero Sisa Saturday evening. He is a young man that befriended us at the institute. He has been attending the institute and taking classes there for some time. Elder and Sister Roberts are a missionary couple who are over the Perpetual Education Fund and work in the institute building became acquainted with him when they first arrived a couple of months ago. As they got to asking about why he was not a member he said that the missionaries were going to stop and see him but never did and no one has asked him since! Sister Roberts jumped right on it and within a few weeks he was baptized. He is a wonderful young man who is sooooo excited about the gospel. We attended his ward today when he was confirmed a member of the church and given the gift of the Holy Ghost. He was also sustained and was ordained a priest after the meetings and we were able to participate in that as well. He lives in a strong ward with good supports at the church. His mother is a member but inactive. He is an excellent example of why we should always ask!

Institute

Here we are in front of the institute building. It is a beautiful building with many large class rooms with parking underneath. The building is set up to not only be the institute but also to be the center for employment for the church as well as the Perpetual Education Fund. It also has a full kitchen and recreation area for the youth which they love to use to just hang out together. There are sofas around the wall that also serve well for a short nap between classes as well as a ping pong table and foosball game. They love Foosball and are really quite good at it. Sherrie and I have been taking pictures of all of the youth over the past week in an attempt to learn their names. Last week we had the opportunity to introduce ourselves to the youth at their devotional. The speaker could not come and the secretary, Ingrid, could not get the computer to connect to the projector for a video, so Sherrie and I were asked on the spot to share a bit about ourselves. Sherrie did a wonderful job of also talking about personal revelation and invited the students to take time then to experience it. I gave a very brief explanation of who we were and then bore my testimony in Spanish. It is coming slow but coming.

The institute is directly across the street from the City University which is the largest in the country. We pull up to the gate and honk and the security guard opens the large metal gate. Everything is locked and large iron doors secure the outside of the glass doors. Last week we had to drive an alternate way home because the students decided

to dump garbage in the street that we usually take as a protest to the government's decision to move Constitution Day from the actual day to a Monday like is done in the US. It was a blessing because we were able to see another part of town and actually drive on the coastal highway that is only about 2 blocks from the institute. The ocean is so beautiful. We spend a good deal of time waiting for traffic and Sherrie saw this palm tree by the side of the street with the beautiful red and yellow bunches of seeds growing on it and took the picture.

Wonderful Videos

The following are some wonderful short videos with some messages that will touch you. Just copy and paste the web address on our browser.

Lifting Burdens http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coef8G5ax6E

What Matters Most http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYhDhiojBPA

You Are Never Alone http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIrGKB5nRKE

Driving the Hinkley's

28 October 2009

At about 6:00PM we went downstairs and met Elder and Sister Hinkley and drove them over to the institute to meet with the youth there. I had asked him on Monday and he was so kind to make time tonight. He and his wife both were very tired yet they were willing to do that for the youth. There were no classes at the school today so we were concerned that there might not be many youth present tonight. There were about 70 or 80 youth that came which was wonderful. Many had come in their Sunday best. Elder and Sister Hinkley were given a tour by Bro. Amparo, the institute director and then he spoke for a few minutes and answered questions. One question touched us. One student asked what it was like growing up the son of a prophet. Elder Hinkley’s response was so insightful. He said that he believes his life was no different than any other young man who grew up in a home where the parents loved each other and lived the gospel. What hope that gave to the youth. He spoke to them about using institute to find eternal companions and shared a story of their oldest son who graduated from the University of Utah unmarried and then went to Arizona to school. He was in the institute there and was seated across from a young woman who he said is now Sister Hinkley. He also encouraged them to stay faithful and strong attending their Sacrament meetings and having strong families. He commented on the need of the church for sister missionaries and said all are welcome. They are not expected to serve but if they feel a need to serve, they should talk to their bishop. He asked how many had served missions and there was about a quarter of the group who had. He then asked how many planned to go and another large number of hands went up. He then asked how many planned to serve with their spouses later in life and most raised their hands. He asked Sherrie and I to stand and encouraged them to serve as senior couples like us. Elder Amparo was the translator and did a wonderful job. It was hard getting back to the car. The youth wanted to have pictures with them and shake his hand. The traffic was heavy on the way home so we had a chance to visit. I asked about the missionary committee that Elder Hinkley is part of which oversees all of the missionary work. He said Elder Perry is the member of the quorum of the 12 to whom he reports and has a hard time responding to all of his emails. He had one come to him while he was on the car on his Blackberry that he had to respond to. With divine intervention, we returned home without incident. It was such a special experience to have that time with them.

Family home evening-Elder Hinkley

27 October 2009

Last night we had a special opportunity to have Elder and Sister Hinkley speak to us at our family home evening group. There are about 18 -20 couples here serving in various capacities from the area presidency office to missionaries like ourselves. He and his wife are here on a mission tour with the East mission and with the MTC in our building. They are staying in our building in Eld and Sister Roberts apartment who were gracious enough to move out for a week. Elder Hinkley spoke of his father and other things. I asked a question when given the opportunity, about the inspiration that was part of building the temple here and making it so large. He did not make any specific mention of anything unique but did ask Pres. Harris to comment as well as Elder Coleman who was also in attendance along with their wives. Pres. Harris indicated that the temple was built here because of the fact that the Dominican Republic has more membership and is more central to the saints coming from other countries. He stated that the Saints from Haiti can get into and out of the DR with ease but if the temple had been built in Puerto Rico, they could not have gained entrance. He said that when Elder Eyring was here for the dedication he called it the “Jewel of the Caribbean”. It is truly that! Elder Coleman commented that within the last few months, Cuba had been added to this area. He stated there is currently a branch of the church in Havana and one military branch. He said that they are currently applying for licenses through the state department to allow the church as a foreign corporation to be in Cuba. He did not know how long that may take but things are in motion in that direction. When Cuba opens up, I believe the people there will be very hungry for the gospel and may very well keep this temple busy all of the time!

Elder Hinkley also commented on the growth of the missionary effort in the church. He said this year we will see an increase in baptisms in the US of about 18%. This is the first time in a long time that the missionary efforts in the US have had a positive growth. He was asked why and stated he thought it might be due to a number of reasons. One was that the missionary committee felt that the membership in the US was finally putting into practice the direction of having the bishop take charge of the missionary effort and involve the members effectively. The other reason is his thought that the economic downturn may have humbled more people and has turned more toward thinking of spiritual things. I believe that to be true since his father said that would happen as we progress through these last days.

He shared a story of his father and commented on all of the things his father had accomplished and for which he is known. He has been passionate about building temples all over the world and started the Perpetual Education Fund. He has influenced the development of the missionary program to place emphasis on both baptisms and convert retention. He has accomplished so very much but when he was asked to perform the sealing of his last grandchild in the Salt Lake Temple, he paused in his comments during the sealing and stated that of all that he had done, sealing all of his children and grandchildren in the temple was perhaps his greatest achievement. I felt that was a tender and choice perspective placed on what is important.

This is one of the most beautiful temples of the church. It is also one of the largest. It has two sets of endowment rooms so it can accommodate a large number of people. It is used only a fraction of what it is capable of holding. I believe that with the opening up of Cuba and the increased missionary efforts in the Caribbean area, it will be in great demand in the not too distant future. The crowning jewel of the temple is the people that attend. The Dominican people are such warm and genuine and humble people. They are so kind and forgiving and generous. The light in their eyes shines brighter than the Caribbean sun. We love them all already.

This is a view of the outside of our apartment building. It is a beautiful building and is on the temple grounds as you can see the temple in the back ground. It has security 24 hours a day so walking in the morning is very safe. The apartment building is a multi purpose building with the Missionary Training Center on the fourth floor. The first floor has space for the temple president's apartment and the office for the Family History Center and the Distribution Center as well as a cafeteria for the MTC. The other floors are apartments for patrons who travel long distances to attend the temple and need an inexpensive place to stay. Most are like hotel rooms while some are like ours for temple missionaries and others like us.

We have been blessed with a car but at this point, it is a mixed blessing. To drive in the Dominican Republic is an act of extreme courage or a death wish. We have need of the car since the institute building is about 3 miles away and we have to attend a branch on Sunday about an hour away to the west. The roads are paved and fairly good except for the missing man hole covers which people have stolen to sell for scrap. One has to be attentive. Night driving gets to be even more of a challenge!

We have a very nice kitchen which came almost fully appointed. We have been so spoiled by the wonderful senior missionaries here. One couple had food waiting for us in our apartment when we arrived late at night and the temple president and his wife took us to the grocery store on a Saturday night so we would have enough for the week end.

We have been very fortunate to have a very nice living quarters. Our apartment is very nice and is air-conditioned. That means a lot when you walk outside at 7 in the morning and the air temperature is about 85 degrees and is about 90% humidity. We have been told that if we die on our mission that we are to put other missionary couples in our will to inherit our bed. We purchased it from the previous missionary couple and it is king size. All others are queen or double size and not nearly as comfortable.

We were invited to the area presidency's office and had a wonderful visit with Elder Anderson (left) and Elder Vinas (center) and Elder Coleman (right). Elder Vinas is the area president. Elders Coleman and Anderson are from the quorum of the seventy. They are so kind and loving. Elder Coleman was sharing stories of the growth and strength of the church in the Caribbean area. The Dominican Republic supplies the vast majority of the missionaries that serve in the Caribbean area. There are 11 stakes in Santo Domingo alone and many more throughout the Dominican Republic. Haiti has to supply it's own missionaries due to the government's ban on any Americans. We asked about Cuba and he stated we have one branch of Cubans there and another military branch in Cuba. The government has not opened up to recognize the church there yet but I am confident that it will come soon.

We were invited along with another missionary couple, the Roberts, to share family home evening with the mission president and his wife in their beautiful home. Pres. and Sister Almonte shared a wonderful conversion story.

President Almonte was having his car repaired and some missionaries approached him. He felt something positive with them. That same day, Sister Almonte had been praying for help in finding the truth. She and her husband were having financial trouble and she was upset with him. That day a neighbor invited them to have the missionaries come and visit them. She told the neighbor to have them come over and since she was mad at Pres. Almonte, it did not matter to her what he thought. He was pleased that they came. They took the discussions and had completed everything necessary to get baptized except attend church. They kept promising and promising to go but their extended families were so involved with family get togethers on Sundays that they never remembered to go to church. Finally, one Sunday morning at about 7:00AM, the two elders who had been teaching them parked their car next to the wall and got on top of the car to climb over the wall and knocked on the Almonte’s door. They told them that they were there to take them to church. The Almonte’s told the elders that they would come but the elders were insistent that they could wait. So they did for 2 hours and the Almonte’s have not missed a meeting since.