This morning we slept in, yahoo! At 9:00am Hna. Johnson was treated to a back massage, paid for by Jared and Tere. Thank you Jared & Tere. She really liked the massage and how good it made her stiff muscles feel.
Next we all headed to the beach for one last time. Mom went to look for shells but found only tiny ones. Jared, Tere and I went snorkeling. What a difference a day makes. Yesterday the ocean was turbulent and murky we couldn’t see our hand in front of our face and today the ocean was calm and clear.
We had a wonderful time snorkeling. By chance this morning was low tide so the coral reefs were exposed off shore. They were easy to get to and right on the surface. The discovery of the day was a Gold Spotted Snake Eel. He was beautiful. I kept my distance but took a lot of pictures. The underwater camera case worked great. I wish we could have stayed out in the ocean all day but we only had a couple of hours to enjoy the water.
After lunch we checked out and said goodbye to a great hotel. We stopped at a souvenir shop so Tere and Jared could do some shopping and buy gifts for their three sons.
We had a perfect morning to end our trip in Puerta Plata. Then it rained almost the entire 4 hour drive back to the capital. But this is the rainy season in the Caribbean. This morning we got word that at 6:30 a huge storm dumped several inches of rain on Santo Domingo. The storm was localized and only lasted one and a half hours but the Mission Home sustained some damage. There was over 3 feet of standing water in the street in front of Pres. & Hna. Almonte’s home. Their home is a little higher than the street so only a little water made it through the carport door and flooded their basement.
The worst damage to the Mission Home was the wall of water tore down their iron gate to the carport. When the flood water subsided the gate was a twisted mass of decorative wrought iron. The church’s maintenance department had a crew there by mid morning to begin repairs. By this evening the wrought iron gate was back in place. The crew didn’t finish the job, they will return tomorrow morning to finish the electrical repairs to the system that opens and closes the gate.
This evening when we returned to the capital we dropped Hna. Johnson off at the mission office so she could do the Wednesday “Reembolsos”. They have to be done every Monday and Wednesday. It is very important that she get them imputed into IMOS because the missionaries are counting on the money they spend on their apartment electric, water, gas and trash being refunded to them.
This evening we were invited to the home of the Almonte’s for dinner. Hna. Almonte prepared a wonderful meal for us and we really enjoyed the warm hospitality of the Mission Pres. and his wife. They are very gracious and giving. Jared and Tere both commented afterward how enjoyable the evening with the Almonte’s was.
Jared pointed out that there are only about 350 mission presidents worldwide. What a rare and unique privilege we had to be hosted by one. Here is an extremely busy man and he and his wife have taken a couple of hours of their time to entertain us.
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