Saturday, August 22, 2009
Saturday is our “Preparation Day” (P-day) and we started with a walk in the “Mirador” park. We will try to walk every Saturday morning we can. Last week I was called in to look at on two prospe ctive apartments for elders so we couldn’t. But today was beautiful.
Mirador Park is about 5 miles long and sits over an ancient volcanic lava flow that overlooks the ocean. Tropical trees and flowers abound as well as cactus and agaves. You wouldn’t think there would be huge cactus in the middle of tropical rain forest. But the Santo Domingo only averages about 70 inches of rain a year so there is not as much jungle and more that resembles forest.
On e of the cactus we saw in the park looks like a member of the Euphorbia family. In the flower shop we sell a couple different ones. One is called Lucky Cactus and another is called “Christmas Cactus”. The Euphorbia plants we sell usually come in a 6” pot and only grow about 12” to 20” tall. The Euphorbia I saw in the park was over 20 feet tall. I will be interested to see what the blossoms look like in December.
And speaking of things in a desert, during our walk we came across a dead tarantula. Had it been alive and walking it would have measured about 7 inches across. It was huge. A little further down the path we came across a centipede. Had it been alive it would have been about 10 inches long. Everything seems to grown really large here in the jungle/forest.
One on the trees in the park is the “Limoncillo” tree. It blooms in January and its fruit is ripe in July and Aug ust. The fruit is green and a little smaller than a ping pong ball. They are easy to open and they are delicious. Street venders sell them on every corner while they are in season. They are very sweet. The taste reminds me of a peach with a twist of lemon.
After lunch Sister Johnson and I were “Hauling the Mail”. Well, let me explain. First we went to a very large department store called “Plaza Lama” to buy flat irons for some of the Elders out in “El Campo” (That’s “out in the country”). This afternoon we loaded up the pickup truck with the irons, i roning boards, 12 cases of books and pamphlets and all the mail for the missionaries out in El Campo. Since we will be going all the way to Neyba every Saturday afternoon, we will always be “hauling the mail” out to all of the missionaries out there.
Sister Johnson made an interesting observation. Tomorrow, Sunday, will be the 5th Sunday we’ve been in the Dominican Republic. Until now we’ve attended Sunday services in a different location every week. It will be very nice to get into a regular routine and always attend church with the same group of saints. Even though it will be a 5 hour drive each way, we look forward to getting to know the members in the town of Neyba. Last week we found them to be very warm and friendly, with big smiles and eager to greet and shake the hands of the missionaries. They are no different than the members of our ward back in Mesa or any place in the world.
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