Our daughter Wendy and friends' visit for New Year's

We have had a wonderful 8 days with Wendy, Ester and Alina here. They were delightful and we hope they had a good time. They seemed to and from the very start were taking advantage of every opportunity. (note: Calle Las Damas means road of the dames or ladies) Sherrie worked hard to find a dance for them to go to on New Years Eve. One of the young men at instituted said he would set something up. They wound up going to his house and and dancing for a while and then to his past bishops house where they danced until 5 in the morning. They took a taxi home. We pooped out just after midnight and came home. I was nursing a cold. The next day we went to the beach. We went to church at one of the wards were we are trying to recruit youth for institute and then off to another ward to visit. On Monday we went to a resort on the north side of the island called Barcelo, Puerta Plata. It was about 3.5 hours by car. We traded our car for a van at the area office for the time they were here which made it very convenient to pick them up at the airport and carry all of them and their things. I included a few pictures of their activities.

You see Wendy demonstrating the currect use of a Dominican umbrella! We have enjoyed the fact that we can kiss our companion!

We stayed at a beautiful resort which was all inclusive for $60 per person per day. That included all of the food which was plentiful! Unfortunately it rained most of the time but we still got in some beach time. The water is so pleasant when you are in it that the weather does not seem to matter. At night they provided a stage show and were successful in getting Wendy up in front to dance the first night and then she and Ester were on stage with others learning a new Latin dance on Tues night. We stayed two nights.

On the way back we stopped at a place called the 27 Charcos (27 water falls) which were a series of falls that people can slide down or jump into the pools at the bottom. They had to wear helmets and life jackets. They had a wonderful time but were a bit cold. They had guides (20 year old young men) take them which made it fun for them. Sherrie and I stayed in the car this time. We made it home late on Wednesday night and on Thursday went to the temple. Sherrie was able to be the ordinance worker when Wendy and her friends were there. It was a sweet experience for all of them. The girls loved to dance and were able to get together with the fellow from institute and go to visit one of the sites in the area and go out dancing again. They got back to the temple gates at 11:30PM and the guard did not want to let them in! Wendy was able to deliver some books that she brought down to donate to a school so we were able to go and visit with the directors of that school. It was sad to take them back to the airport. They were so fun. Sherrie made lots of food so that made it fun as well. We still have some left over cinnamon rolls for which I am excited.

Institute starts tomorrow and our first class is Wednesday at 5:00pm. We have about 15 students signed up that we know of so I guess we have to go! Sherrie will do a great job and I have been practicing nodding my head in agreement! (Actually, I have been doing that for the past 35 years!) We visited 3 wards yesterday trying to encourage kids to enroll in institute so we are hopeful we are having an impact.

It is so wonderful to watch Sherrie melt the hearts of the youth as she stands up and starts talking to them sharing her love for them and her testimony. They love her!