Friday, October 9, 2009

I was off early this morning to get my “Diligencias” (errands) done. One of my stops was as “Centro Servicio” (Central Services) for the church. This is like the “Salt Lake City” for the Caribbean. It’s were the Caribbean Area offices are located. It is also the church’s distribution hub for the whole Caribbean. Just within this complex buildings and warehouses, I had 4 stops to make; dropping off forms, picking up supplies, etc.


In the list of things I was to pick up was a Book of Mormon in Braille. There isn’t much call for Braille Book of Mormons. However it seems there is a blind member that lives in Azua and now there is blind investigator there too. When the warehouse manager brought it out I was very surprised at the size of the box. It was huge! About twice the size of an ice chest. The box contained 7 volumes and each on was very large, all of this to produce just one Book of Mormon. I was even more surprised when I saw the price. The church supply catalog listed this Braille Book of Mormon at exactly the same price as a regular Book of Mormon. The church really takes care of its handicapped members.


One of my errands was a stop at Price Smart. This place is the “Costco” of the Dominican Republic. Yes, you’re right; it’s one of my favorite places to visit. Today I had to pick up some pictures I had printed for the office. About the only difference between Price Smart and Costco back home is the armed parking lot guard in the guard tower!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

This morning I drove to the Temple’s accommodation center to guide Elder and Sis. Roberts to the La Paz Chapel here in the capital. The president has set up another “Curso de Autosuficiente” (See Aug. 26, 2009) for the departing missionaries this transfer. The Roberts will be teaching them all about funding for school, applications, etc. It’s a wonderful program for these returning missionaries.

The mission office is very busy these days as we prepare for transfers this coming Tuesday. It’s going to be a big one. We will be getting in 21 new missionaries and we are only loosing 4. In six weeks it will happen again, we’ll get in over 20 and only loose a few. It means that the total numbers of Elders and Sisters in the mission will swell to around 190 more or less. The mission is supposed to have about 200 in it all the time, so we will be closed to full capacity by next transfer on November 24.


Being at full capacity is a very good thing. It means there will be more missionaries in the field, more contacts, more teaching opportunities, more reactivation and more baptisms. It also means more paper work, new apartments to open and more maintenance of apartments. The work load on the office staff will diffidently increase but that’s good too. Hna. Johnson and I are here to serve the Lord and serve we will. We love our calling here in the mission office and Love these missionaries.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

This afternoon Elder and Sister Roberts came by the mission office for their temple recommend interviews. They’ve only been here in the Dominican Republic for a week. So they are getting used to the crazy drivers here. They forgot to renew their recommends before they left. But this gave President Almonte and all of us in the office a chance to get to know them and learn what their mission call is all about.


The Robert’s are Perpetual Education Fund (PEF) missionaries. They will spend their mission helping Dominicans take advantage of the church’s perpetual education fund. Among other things they teach young people how to get an education, how to apply for and how to fund their education; even how to study for and take a test in school, etc. There is a very big need for this kind of training here. Like most third world countries, only the parents that have the money send their kids college. The church’s PEF program is a real blessing for the poor people of the Dominican Republic.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

The day dawned on a tragedy, a blessing and a miracle. I’ll explain. I was asked by President Almonte to participate in a disciplinary council at 7:00am this morning. Normally I would not be asked but both of President Almonte’s counselors were out of town and unavailable so the Mission Secretary and I (the Mission Executive Secretary) were asked to sit in on the council.

It is a real tragedy when missionaries disobey mission rules. Obedience to mission rules is very easy. Unfortunately some missionaries succumb to temptation and not only break the rules of the mission but transgress the laws of God, and break sacred vows made in the temple. Disobedience brings dishonor and shame to the missionary. It causes scandal and damages the reputation of the church. And it causes heart break to parents when their son or daughter must be sent home early and dishonorably.

However the Lord is merciful, so there was also a blessing and a miracle in the early morning. The missionary for whom we assembled was given a marvelous gift by the Savior of the world. The missionary was given the gift of repentance and the miracle of forgiveness. This gift and Miracle are so valuable that they can not be purchased with money, only with the blood of the Savior.

The disciplinary council that was held this morning sometimes is called a “Church Court” but what it really should be called is a “Council of Love.” The Savior loves this missionary so much that this morning’s “Council of Love” set his feet on the path of full repentance and complete forgiveness for his transgressions.

Many tears were shed this morning but I had the privilege of participating and being witness to a miracle, the complete and unconditional love of the Savior in action. I am truly thankful for the Savior and his atonement for the sins of this missionary as well as for all of us. Now the tragedy of the sin is in the past and the blessing of the redemption for all of mankind is available to this young missionary. I love the Lord and his plan of salvation. That he forgives us is a miracle!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

At 10:00am the whole San Juan Zone came into the capital from “El Campo” to attend a session in the Temple with the AP’s and President Almonte. Afterward they all came to the mission office for regularly scheduled interviews and physicals. It was another one of those days in the mission office that we love so much and look forward to. The office was abuzz with young enthusiastic Elders and we enjoyed talking with and being closes to them, the missionaries of this great mission.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Today there was a flurry of activity in the office. There were elders in and out for interviews, some being transferred others will be staying here in the downstairs apartment with the office elders. The President was on the phone a lot, he even got a call from Salt Lake City. It was obvious to Hna. Johnson and I that he was weighed down with the responsibility of his calling. We always pray for him and the missionaries of this mission. Tonight might be a good time to pray extra hard for him.

Tonight after a busy day in the office, Hna. Johnson and I got to go to FHE with the other senior couples here in the Capital. The Lesson was given by Elder & Sis. Svenson, temple workers, on the subject of “The Church in Canada”. It was very good and we enjoyed the slide show presentation. The best part was at the end when they showed pictures of hiking trips they’ve taken in the mountains near their home. The pictures were beautiful. It made me want to go hiking again.

Sunday, October 4, 2009 - GENERAL CONFERENCE

This morni ng we were out of our apartment early to make sure we would be on time for Music and the Spoken Word before the first session of conference at the home of the temple president. We were driving down the coast road toward the temple and realized we would be very early so we stopped and enjoyed the breeze & surf of the coast line. I got to take some pictures. This is close to the same place that I stopped at last night to take pictures of the Santo Domingo Harbor under a full moon.

Next we got to enjoy another fine day of General Conference sessions, and this time all of the Elders and Sisters of the mission attended with their investigators. It seems that all missionaries love to attend conference even if it is only by satellite.

Between sessions we were invited to eat lunch with Elder and Sister (Jim & Judy) Bowcut. They are temple workers here in the Dominican Republic temple. This is their second mission; their first was as Church Education System (CES) Missionaries in Peru. They’ve been on this mission for about 8 months now. They were very gracious and opened up their home to us.

Like all of the temple missionaries, the Bowcuts live here at the “Casa de Huespedes” (Accommodation Center) next to the temple. The church provides them a nice, 1bedroom, 1bath apartment at about half the price we are paying for our 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment here in the city. The best part of their apartment is the full air conditioning. Plus the church provides a complete water purification system for the temple, MTC and accommodation center which means the water is safe to drink. Wow, that is a real blessing.

After the final session of conference Hna. Johnson and I went back to the mission office were we logged onto the internet where we saw and talked to our family on the webcam. As usual it was great to visit with them and especially our grandchildren.

Hna Johnson and I really enjoyed our conference weekend. We were spiritually fed and uplifted. The talks of the brethren give us the spiritual strength to carry on with the work, to achieve our goals and endure to the end. Sometimes we are faced with huge obstacles in our callings but the words of the Apostles and the Prophet give us renewed energy and we know we can do our calling and our offering to the Lord, no matter how small, will be accepted by Him.