Parties, Books and Baby Showers

Last weekend was another party and dance at the institute. There was a group of institute youth here visiting the temple from Puerto Rico so they had a dance to welcome them. There were only 16 of them but there were about 300 youth at the dance. They love to dance and everyone seemed to have a good time. Hermana Finlayson has a following of young women that just love her!

We had a wonderful time on Monday traveling to the northern part of the city and visiting a school for the handicapped. Wendy had sent some books with Matt and Vanessa when they came to see us from Books for a Better World to donate  and we took them to the school to deliver them. We were fortunate that another missionary couple was going to visit the school the same day and knew where it was so we followed them.

The kids were so well behaved and so cute. They loved the books and were so happy to have their pictures taken. They were of varying degrees and types of handicaps. It was impressive how they took care of each other and seemed to be so happy.

We had an interesting surprise on our way to the school. As we were driving down one of the streets we came across a swimming pool in the street with just enough room for a car to go around. If you think about it, why not! All of the street isn't used at the same time so why not use part of it to place a swimming pool.

The kids loved having their picture taken. There was not a lot of water in the pool but on a hot day, 18 inches of water can make for great fun!

Sherrie loves to give showers for sisters who are getting married or having babies. She is planning a baby shower for one of the sisters that works at the temple and at the missionary training center. She enlisted some of the girls at the institute to help make little baby buggies and spent the afternoon on Saturday making a diaper motorcycle for the baby shower. It was very clever and turned out cute.

Good Things to Come

This is a wonderful video and speaks to the testimony we have as well. Please click on the following:

Good Things to Come

Matt and Vanessa's Visit

This past week has been a wonderful time with Matt and his wife Vanessa visiting us. They arrived last Saturday and spent almost 7 days with us. On Sunday we took them to see the dedication site where Elder Ballard dedicated the Dominican Republic to the preaching of the gospel almost 32 years ago.  On Monday we headed for a beautiful home belonging to our mission president in the mountains and spend a night there. On the way back, Sherrie had to stop at one of the flower stands along the way. The flowers here are so beautiful. Wednesday, Matt and Vanessa hung out at the institute with us for a while and then gave our lesson to the institute class. They did a wonderful job and all of the kids were very attentive. On Thursday we spent the morning and part of the afternoon in the temple and had a great experience being there with Matt and Vanessa. It was raining most of the time they were here so when we had to stay inside, we played games and visited. We were able to go see some of the sights here with them and took them souvenir shopping. They finally had to leave at 4 in the morning on Saturday. We were soooo sad to see them leave.

100% Dinner

As a way of encouraging the students to complete their institute classes, Hermana Finlayson offered to cook a dinner for all of the students that attended 100% of their classes. They could make up work, so many of them worked hard to make up assignments at the end of the term. It was amazing how motivated they were to do the work in order to attend a dinner. We anticipated 80 including the teachers and their wives. We had about 40 students attend. The institute director, Oscar Amparo, gave a wonderful talk and encouraged the students to bring their non-member friends to institute.  Even though we had food for 80, it was amazing that it was all gone at the end of the evening. As you can see, she had some wonderful help as well. They seemed to enjoy it!

Mirabal Sisters

In the history of the Dominican Republic, there are three sisters who are heroines in the independence of this county. They were martyred in their effort to rid the country of a murderous dictator who reigned in the 1940's, 50's and 60's. We traveled to visit their childhood home which is currently a national visitors center and even have a province named after them. The sole remaining sister still lives in the home and is a wonderful example of dedication to her sister's legacy of sacrifice. She raised all of the children that were orphaned as a result of the deaths of their parents. We have a picture of her with us as well as the beautiful orchids that she has all over her yard. The home is on a working cocoa plantation which produces cocoa beans that are dried and shipped to Europe. You will notice the cocoa pod grows on the trunk and limb of the tree. The beans are on the inside of the pod and are surrounded by a delicious covering which is thrown away in the harvesting of the bean. They are then dried on large flats with movable roofs that can protect them from the rain.

Alfredo-A Humble Family

When we go shopping, we always like to take an opportunity to share the gospel. At the grocery store, there are "bag boys" or "impacadores" who take the groceries to the car for a tip. It is the only income they have so they compete for the chance to take out your bags. On the way to the car, we talk with them and get to know them a bit and then share a pass along card or Book of Mormon. One young man, Alfredo, has a family and lives off of the tips he makes taking out groceries and other odd jobs at the grocery store. We tried for 3 months to get him connected to the missionaries and finally met the missionaries and went with them to his house. It was such a humble home and his little boy and wife were so cute. We understand that he is continuing to take the discussions and we are hopeful that he will feel the Spirit and be baptized.

Presidente Almonte's Cabin

Our mission president and his wife have a beautiful "cabin" as they call it in the mountains of the central part of the Dominican Republic. It is about 3 hours by car from the temple. When we first arrived, they invited us to use it any time we wished. A group of senior missionaries went to spend a few days there and see some of the beautiful scenery in the other parts of the country. It was a wonderful blend of pine trees and banana and orange and grapefruit groves. The flowers were amazing with many of the plants we try so hard to grow indoors at home growing in the wild to amazing heights. Yes, that is a swimming pool on the left.