Elder David y Hna. Pam Johnson

Sunday, January 31, 2010

It was another Whirlwind day for Hna. Johnson and I. This morning we were off to Duvergé by 7:15am. We took the quicker route though Barahona (See the map I made for Jan. 27th) instead of driving through Neyba. The route isn’t shorter but it is much faster. Over the past couple of weeks Hna. Johnson has been comparing the two routes to see which we should use. We’ve discovered that the Neyba route travels through 5 small towns that have lots of speed bumps and roads loaded with potholes. The road between Vicente Noble and Neyba has 42 speed bumps and 15 bad dips to negotiate. They really slow us down. The new route through Barahona has only 18 speed bumps and 6 dips. We save about 15 minutes in driving time using it. We really like this new road better.



Our first stop in Duvergé was at the Elders apartment. We had boxes of food and supplies to unload One of the boxes was a case of Books of Mormon translated into Creole, the official language of Haiti. Many people in Haiti also speak French. Elders Saint-Cyr and Elder Rosario have been assigned to work in the border town of Jimani. Many of the residents there are from Haiti. Elder Saint-Cyr is a native Haitian and is fluent in Creole, French, Spanish and is learning English. Elder Saint-Cyr will be a great asset to the Lords work in Jimani.



Elders Saint-Cyr and Rosario are staying with the Duvergé Elders until an apartment can be found for them in Jimani. They have only been to Jimani a few times because of the distance. But when they’ve been there they have helped at the emergency/shelter/hospital in Jimani. The facility was a hastily set up shelter to accommodate the injured from Haiti after the 7.0 Earth Quake near Port-au-Price on January 13th. It is a joint effort by 5 nations, Dominican Republic, USA, Germany, Puerto Rico and Germany.




After today’s meetings in Duvergé my first councilor, Bro. Tomas Moquete and I set apart six of the members in various callings in the branch from the Sunday school to the activities committee. Then they all stayed after and attended PEC. Normally the auxiliary organizations are not invited so this time PEC turned out to be more like Branch Council. It was a very good meeting. Everyone is so wiling to do their callings and help the branch grow. They are wonderful members and it is a pleasure to work with them.





After PEC meeting Elder Rosario stayed with Elders Espinola and Larson to teach discussions. Elder Saint-Cyr rode with Hna. Johnson and I to Jimani. He took us to the emergency/shelter/hospital. Originally there were over a dozen members of the church sheltered there receiving emergency treatment for their injuries. Most have recovered sufficiently to return to Haiti. Now there are only two still there. We found the first patient (Francesca Figaro) and her mother (Magalyn) very easily.




We searched the facility for the second member of the church but couldn’t find her. She had been moved since the last time Elder Saint-Cyr was here. We had given up looking for her and were heading to our car when one of the staff came running up to Elder Saint-Cyr. He had recognized him and new the Sister he was looking for. It was a miracle this man found us and lead us to her.







We had very nice visits with both patients. They only spoke Creole, so Elder Saint-Cyr translated for Hna. Johnson and I. As we finished our visit with each one, we offered to give them a priesthood blessing. They were both very happy and accepted. As I gave my part of the blessing Elder Saint-Cyr translated what I said so the patients could understand the words. It was a beautiful and spiritual exp erience to be with and to bless these two patients.





These to families will never be the same. They have lost everything as a result of the earthquake. But the church is providing food and clothing as well as medical supplies for all of the members, not only here but also in Port-au-Prince and other affected areas in Haiti.