This is going to be a short week of work in the office. We have to have all of our work done by Thursday because we will be leaving for Neyba and Duvergé early Friday morning. In addition to our usual work load we are preparing for Christmas programs at both branches. Duvergé’s program and dinner will be on Friday night and Neyba’s will be on Saturday night. We have a long list of items we are to buy here in the capital and take with us for the dinners. Neither branch has table so we will be hauling every table we can get our hands on. We are going to be very busy shopping and stockpiling everything we will be taking with us. I hope it will all fit in the pickup.
We have had some huge obstacles to overcome in preparation for the Christmas programs and dinners in Neyba and Duvergé. The first is a problem that I’ve been working on for months. It is the lack of available funds for the branch to use. I spent most of the morning working on the problem. I made another trip to the bank to see if they would cash a branch check. Again the answer was no. But…. An hour later after dozens of phone calls, all of the issues were finally resolved! The Relief Society Hna’s have the money they need to put on the dinner. In the words of Arias, in the movie Ben Hurr: “The fleet?” Ship’s captain: “Three galleons lost.” Arias: “And the battle?” Captain: “The battle was won! You have a victory!”
The next big huddle are the lights in the Duvergé chapel after dark. Nine months ago when the Duvergé residence was rented by the mission to be used for a chapel there has been no backup system for lights when the power goes out. And the power in Duvergé, like all towns in “El Campo” in the Dominican Republic, are only on for about 40% of the time day or night. The Elders there have week night activities on Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday and Friday nights every week. Last Wednesday for “Noche de Amistad” (Night of Friendship) they had 30 members out and 10 investigators out and there was no light! They made do with candles. Well….
“The Fleet?”… “Three galleons lost”… “and the battle?” … “The battle was won! You have a victory!” Today we finally found someone that could fix the generator. We will be taking it with us to Duvergé where it will stay and be used with the three portable lights I bought at the hardware store today. “Diligent Duvergé” will have lights after dark now.
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