Elder David y Hna. Pam Johnson

Friday, September 17, 2010



Today we had the arrival of another Sister missionary. Her name is Hna. Bravo. She was supposed to arrive next transfer but she is “Language Advanced” so she came straight to us from the Provo MTC today. Her companion and the other 2 Hnas that share the same apartment came all the way in from San Cristobal to welcome her. These Hermanas are going to work great together.




Today while I was at Centro de Servicio I ran into Elder and Hna. Jones in their office, Executive Secretary to the Area Presidency. Hna. Jones said that they’ve been hosting some people from Cuba. She said that the church has a branch in Havana and the Branch President and his wife are here to attend the Temple and receive their endowments. She said that this is very special because the Cuban Government finally gave them permission to come here to the Temple. They are very happy to be here.

I asked Hna. Jones when the church might be able to send missionaries into Cuba. She made a couple of interesting gestures with her hands in answer to my question. She stroked her chin as if she had a beard and then drew her index finger across her throat as in the “cut your throat” gesture. Then she explained, the Cuban government is paranoid about dissidents and the homes of members of the church are bugged as well as most everyone else. They never speak about their dictator Fidel Castro. They only use their special sign language when referring to him. So the answer to my question was answered with the sign for Castro (stroking your beard) and then cutting your throat (indicating when he’s dead). The small branch of members in Cuba are looking forward to the day the church will be able to send in missionaries again but it won’t happen until Fidel Castro and his brother are dead.



One of my afternoon stops was at the CCM (MTC). I had mail to deliver and a package to pick up from Hna. Lund that was destined for Elder Bryan Groll in our mission. It is his birthday present from his family. With the help of the director of the CCM, Hno. Cuevas I found her and received the package. Her companion was Hna. Ward. She asked me which mission I was from and she was delighted that I was from the West Mission. She is the sister of Elder Rulan Ward currently serving in Azua. She gave me a package for him as well as several bundles of clothing. She didn’t know how she was going to get them to her brother but again, nothing happens by accident in the Lord’s Kingdom. This was just another one of those “Tender Mercies” we get to experience every day in the mission field.



AP Elder Keys told us today to prepare for a lot of changes in the assignments of missionaries. It’s only been three days since “Traslados” and we are already experiencing lots of reassignments by Pres. Almonte. Several groups of Elders were in and out of the office today on their way to new areas.

One of our new Elders that arrived last Tuesday is Elder Holt. He was in the office with his new companion Elder Yeip on their way to Madre Vieja. Elder Holt pointed out that in the three days he’s been in the mission, Elder Yeip is his third trainer! He’s been moved every day he’s been in the mission. Hopefully he will be able to stay with Elder Yeip for 2 transfers like he should.



This evening I was at the President’s home delivering financial material and I asked Pres. Almonte why all of the changes in assignments. I asked, “Have there been a lot of Elders breaking rules?” He looked at me with a big grin and said, “No, not one”. He explained that the changes were all brought on by his decision to completely eliminate two proselyting areas, one in the capital and one in the “South”. In addition he is rearranging Area, District and Zone assignments to help minimize travel and optimize training at Zone meetings. All of the changes will affect a lot of missionaries but when it’s all done things should settle down again and the missionaries can get back to teaching the gospel.