Today started with more shopping. Everything we couldn’t find at Price Smart yesterday we had to buy at Jumbo today. Again most everything we bought was for the Elders. Most of them live in very small towns where there are no grocery stores. They really appreciate being able to order food and supplies trough us and having it delivered to them.
Some other things Hna. Johnson needed at Jumbo were some silk flowers for an arrangement she is making for the mission office. She found some nice silk Hydrangias and other flowers but then her eye caught sight of something she has been looking for, for a long time. There they were on the top shelf of the display, rows of them. Since she got to the Dominican Republic Hna. Johnson has been looking for blocks of “Oasis” floral foam to design her fresh arrangements in. She has needed it so badly that she even had Nathan and Valerie ship her some from the flower shop in Mesa. Oh the joy, now she has her own supply.
This afternoon we did our usual delivery run of mail and supplies to Madre Vieja, San Cristobal, Bani and East & West Azua on our way to our rented house in Azua where we spend the night. This time Hna. Johnson brought a treat for all of the Elders we visited. You know those boxes of assorted candy bars like Snickers, Kit Kat, Twix, etc. you can buy at Costco, well they sell the same boxes here at Price Smart. Every Elder got to choose his favorite candy bar, they were a big hit.
On our drive to “El Campo” we rendezvoused with the AP’s from “El Sur”. (El Sur or The South is the other name for El Campo in our mission.) There are Zones we can’t hit on our way so the AP’s deliver their mail and supplies during the week as they make their usual rounds of “El Sur”.
While we talked to the AP’s we found out what happened to the refugee center in Jimani and why it was put on hold. They told us that the Dominican Army went to the land were the shelter was being prepared and inquired if all of the refugees to be sheltered there would have current visas to be in the country. Well, since they all are badly injured and have lost their homes and everything they own as well as their personal documents, passports, etc. none of them would be able to provide documentation to obtain visas. At that moment the Area Presidency decided to move the whole operation across the border into Haiti where the camp could accommodate any and all injured or homeless refugees. Now all of the funding for the camp will be handled through the Haiti Mission not ours. Workers and volunteers crossing the border to help will be able to show documents and enter the country legally.
Our mission will still be involved but not as much since the center will be on the other side of the border. The AP’s told us that just yesterday they helped deliver 30 bed, mattresses, food, clothing and medicine to the boarder where it was picked up by church workers helping the suffering people there.
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