Sunday, August 16, 2009
Today’s travels went off without a hitch. We left the house/office at 6:45am and returned at 9:45pm. We spent a total of about 6 hours on driving and attended the 3 hour block in Neyba and the 2 hour block in Duverge. We also found time to visit 6 homes of members as well as did pickup runs to shuttle members to church. It was a very long day.
Yesterday and today’s drive was remarkable in another way. We started in Santo Domingo where it is hot and humid. The vegetation is very tropical. As we got closer and closer to Neyba, we saw less and less forests and more and more mesquite trees and cactus. Yes, we drove from one tropical extreme to another desert extreme on the same island. The Dominican Republic truly is a wonderland, with emphasis on “Wonder”.
In spite of the hours we spent it was a very good day. We really enjoyed the members in both congregations. The Branch in Neyba was attended by about 50 members and investigators. The branch president they have now is Francisco Vasquez. He’s been president for 4 years but his health is failing. That is part of the reason he is being released. He is a wonderful man and works very hard for his branch. I hope I can fill in his shoes and do as good a job as he has done. I pray that I can. I know the members there will help me a lot and they will be praying for me too.
Our two hour block (no Sunday School) of meetings in Duverge was attended by about 30 members and investigators. The congregation in Duverge isn’t even a Branch yet. There was a small branch there many years ago but the Elders were pulled from the town and the branch closed because all of the leadership moved to the big city looking for work. Four months ago 4 Elders were assigned to work there. They found a few of the members that hadn’t moved away and they’ve had tremendous success finding, teaching and baptizing new members. It takes at least 5 melchizedek priesthood holders to form a branch. They already had 2 and 2 more were sustained and ordained today. Maybe soon a branch in Duverge can be reorganized. It’s not a question of if; it’s a question of when.
No comments:
Post a Comment