Sunday, February 7, 2010

We were on our way early to Neyba this morning because we had three stops along the way. We stopped in Azua Este, Vicente Noble, and Tamayo to drop off mail and supplies at three Elder’s apartments. It was really early so we caught some of them still in their pajamas! But they are always happy to see us and get their mail. Even more so now that Hna. Johnson has started giving treats to all the Elders we visit along the way.




At the beginning of Fast & Testimony meeting in Neyba we had the confirmation of Raul Medina (19). He was baptized yesterday. The Saturday before they had a baptismal service for another young man named Jose Mendez (17). Today I had the privilege of interviewing both young men for the Aaronic Priesthood. Next week they will both be ordained Priest. They are both very sharp young men and they already know the gospel very well. Elder Carrasco and Elder Bird have taught them well. When I asked them questions about worthiness and obedience to the basic commandments of the gospel they knew all of them. When I asked them what it meant to be a full tithe payer, or to obey the law of the fast, the law of chastity or the word of wisdom they were eager to explain to me what they were and their willingness to obey them. These young men will be great assets to the Neyba Branch.

This afternoon Hna. Luz (counselor in the R.S.), Hna. Johnson and I went to the home of Reyna Diaz (Primary President) and her husband Victoriano Diaz. Hno. Diaz has been bedridden for months and needs medical care badly. We filled out a “Needs Analysis” form for the family so Fast Offering Funds can help them pay the fare to go to the capital for much needed medical care, exams and test.

Before we left Hno Diaz asked us for a priesthood blessing. Eliu Lebron (the Branch Clerk) anointed and I gave him a blessing. These wonderful members are so strong and faithful, it is very easy to give a priesthood blessing when the influence of the Holy Ghost is so near and the faith of the members is so strong.



It was a privilege for me to give Hno. Diaz a blessing but even more so for Eliu. Three weeks ago he wouldn’t have been able to participate but now he is a worthy member in full fellowship and eager and willing to exercise his priesthood any time he is asked. It is wonderful what the power of the Saviors atonement can do in a young man’s life to set his feet of righteous paths.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

I thought the plans for the Duvergé Branch were settled last night but today the plan has been changed three times! Phone calls continue to fly between the Elders in Duvergé and the president of the mission. He has the last say on the itinerary because he is paying for the chartered bus. But it does look like it will take place and the member’s lives will be blessed as they continue to live worthy to hold a temple recommend.

Ever since last November when temple attendance was emphasized in our lessons and sacrament meeting talks the members have really stepped up and gained the vision of the temple. By the end of December the temple prep classes were over and almost every active member in the branch attended all of the classes. At tithing settlement we had more full tithe payers than the branch has ever had. As a whole the branch has increased in spirituality. They come to Sacrament meeting on time now and the priesthood holders are in white shirts and ties. More than ever they are helping the missionaries find investigators and they attending their discussions with them. It’s been a remarkable transformation in the branch. The Lord has already blessed the member’s lives and they will continue to reap His blessings as they continue to be faithful recommend holders.

This afternoon we were off to “The South” (also known as “El Campo”) as usual. But this time there is a change. Hna. Johnson and I are in the mission van instead of the office pickup we usually drive. I really like it. The van has an automatic transmission, it is so much quieter, and the seats are really comfortable. I like driving it a lot but this will probably be one of the few times I get to take it to “The South”. Normally it sits in a parking space beside the mission president’s home, undriven for weeks at a time. It gets used most at “Translodos” when it is used to haul new missionaries to their new areas. It is also used to haul departing missionaries to the airport.






The reason we are using the mission van is our special assignment next Monday. Instead of driving straight back to the capital on Monday morning from Azua, we will drive all the way back to Jimaní on the border with Haiti and pick up President Andersen of the Area Presidency as well as two other passengers. They will ride all the way back to the capital with us. Five people in the van will be much more comfortable than in the smaller pickup.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Wow, what a day of driving I was on the road from 9:00am until after 2:00pm. I made 8 stops along the way, getting my Friday “Diligencias” (Errands) done. I set a record for speed at the “Aduana” (Customs) office. Eventhough there were 6 packages to pick up and 25 letters to buy stamp for and mail, I was in and out in only 45 minutes. It really was a record fast time for me. For the rest of the “Diliegencias” Traffic wasn’t especially bad and it still took me 5 hours to do it all.

While I was out of the office Hna. Johnson and Elder Small were trying to tie down the loose ends of this month’s rent checks, get them printed so I can pick them up at the bank, etc. Even with all of their hard work for the past month, there are still 3 Dueños (Landlords) that can’t be paid. We’re not very sure what to do about it either; the new “Internet Mission Office System” called IMOS is going to create some very angry Duaños.

About noon I received a phone call from Elder Jimenez in Duvergé. He informed the members of the branch who have qualified for temple recommends want to make their trip to the temple and take out their endowments next week. They also want to do baptisms for the dead while they are there. His initial phone call was followed by a flurry of phone calls to the temple, to the temple President, to the temple scheduler, the Casa de Huespedes, and the mission president. The final details weren’t hammered out until the final phone call at 9:30pm.



Plans are in the works for them to charter a bus and make the 5 hour drive on Wednesday morning starting at 4:00am. Their session will begin at 10:30 followed by the sealing of Hno. Tuco & Hna. Yazmin & their 4 sons. They will have a break of 4 hours and then be back in the temple at 5:30 to do baptisms for the dead with the rest of the branch that has current recommends. They plan to be back on their bus by 8:00pm and back at home by 1:00am.

Wow… what a long day they have planned. But they are very excited and can’t wait. It has been a long struggle for them all to become temple worthy and now their prayers, hard work and dedication have paid off. They will finally realize their goal of going through the temple for the first time. Duvergé has been open to missionary work for at least 15 years. This group will be the very first of any of the Duvergé converts to step foot in the House of the Lord. The members are very, very excited!



Hna. Mecho, the sister in a wheel chair, has her temple recommend too but she will have to wait a little longer before she can take out her endowments. She has to wait until special garments, temple cloths and ordinance robes are custom made for her. Hna. Johnson has ordered them for her from SLC and hopefully they will arrive in a few weeks. But Hna. Mecho isn’t going to miss out on this trip. She will be among the members that will be doing baptisms for the dead on this trip.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Today was one of those slow days in the office that rarely happen. Hna. Johnson still wasn’t feeling good so she didn’t return to the office after lunch. I got caught up on my “To Do” list, it’s two pages long and always growing. I went to Price Smart with Elder Huey in the afternoon. I got two new tires on our Blue Corolla. One of the old tires had 2 bulges in the sidewall. I think the potholes of the Dominican roads finally got to it. Elder Huey came with me and took advantage of the opportunity to buy bulk at a discount. While we were inside he remarked, “This is just like the Costco in Provo”. Elder Huey will be a great asset to the mission office.



When I got back from Price Smart at 4:00pm things were no longer “slow” in the office. The President was in the office doing special interviews, and emergency transfers. The South AP’s (AP’s from “El Campo”) were there. They drove all the way in from Jimani. They had with them Elder Saint-Cyr as well as two of the members from Duvergé; brothers, Alexis & Hector, they are both in the Sunday School Prescy in the Duvergé Branch. They were all being interviewed by President Almonte one at a time. For an hour and a half the office was buzzing.

The South AP’s were in the office to trade pick-up trucks with the office Elders. Two weeks ago the South AP’s were in an accident and their truck is finally repaired and ready to return to service. However the South AP’s will be using the office pick-up and the repaired pick-up will be turned into Centro de Servicio for a brand new pick-up. Yah, a new pick-up for the office Elders and I to drive.



While I was at Price Smart I noticed the plants for sale and couldn’t resist the temptation. I bought a real pretty pink Bromeliad for Hna. Johnson. She loved it.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

The Mission president’s FAX machine cartridge is out of ink. So afternoon I went to President Almonte’s house (The Mission Home) to write down the ink cartridge number so I could buy a new one. After ringing the bell, I was let in by the maid. The President’s office door was open and the President was just standing there, motionless, staring at the wall. He stood there staring at the wall for several seconds; he didn’t even know I had come in. In his hand he held several “Placas”. They are plastic plates with a picture and name of a missionary. He held them like a card player holding a “hand” in poker. In front of him on the wall was the mission “Fichero”. It is the picture roster of the whole mission showing all of the zones, areas and companionships. Since “Translados” (Transfers) are only 2 weeks away he was contemplating who to transfer and new assignments. It is a huge job that must be done every 6 weeks and it can only be done by the Mission President. He told me that we works for hours, sometimes days, arranging a possible scenario of changes. Then he prays about them. He leaves the changes on the board over night, sometimes for days. When he feels good about a change or two and the prompting of the spirit confirms it, he leaves the change and starts to work on the rest. Eventually all of the changes are made and he feels good about the whole new transfer board. He works tirelessly at his calling. He truly is an inspired, great mission president.

And speaking of “Translados”, Pres. Almonte did something this week that was out of character. Monday and again today he told some of the Elders where and with whom their new assignment would be in two weeks after “Translados”. On Monday he told Elder Almonte we will be leaving the office and he told his companion, Elder Small, who his new companion would be. Elder Small goes home the end of March so he told Elder Small he only had six weeks to teach his new companion everything he needs to know about the office, IMOS, renting apartments, negotiating contracts, etc. That will be a huge job but Elder Small is up to it.




Today President Almonte also told us who the new office Elder was going to be that will take Elder Staff’s place. In fact he was brought into the office today to start his training by Elder Staff. His name is Elder Huey from Iowa. He and his companion he will be coming into the office 3 to 5 times a week to enter baptismal records into the office computer system. It is pretty routine data entry but very time consuming. The mission has a lot of baptisms every weeks and everyone must be entered by hand before the end of the week.



President and Hna. Almonte were in the office today. The Pres. was doing interviews with all of the office elders. Hna. Almonte was doing her physicals of all the office missionaries. Hna. Johnson and I had our blood pressure taken and we were weighed just like all the rest of the Elders. I’ve lost weight since the last time and so did Hna. Johnson. Yah! However, Hna. Johnson’s blood pressure was a little high, she thinks that is why she hasn’t been sleeping well and has had headaches lately.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

I was on the road almost all day today, all over the capital. In the morning I picked up the pickup at Delta Commercial (it took me an hour), I paid 8 of our phone bills at Codetel, I waited in line for an hour at “Orange” our cell phone provider just to pick up 5 new phones we ordered last week and I worked on solving the DSL problem in Azua. I was on the road for almost 4 hours.




In the afternoon I spent more time on the road but got less done because of the traffic. I was very happy because I found a couple new office supply stores and I was able to find FAX imaging film for our two FAX machines. One FAX machine in the mission office and the other is in the mission home. Finding a store that carried them was a great discovery. I’ve been looking high and low for two months. The computer expert, Carlos Rubio, at Centro de Servicio told me to quit looking and just buy a new FAX machine! That’s easy for him to say, the purchase doesn’t come out of Centro de Servicio’s budget, it comes out of our mission office budget. His statement only strengthened my resolve to find them.




Normally Hna. Johnson and I leave the office at 6:00pm each evening but tonight Hna. Johnson had a bad headache and went home early. I didn’t even finish my errands until 6:30 so I was late getting home. After a migraine pill Hna. Johnson was feeling better this evening. This morning she put a roast in the crock pot and we had a wonderful dinner. Hna. Johnson can really cook, even with a bad headache.

Monday, February 1, 2010




On our way back from Azua we had to take a side trip to rendezvous with the “South” AP’s (also known as the AP’s for “El Campo”) near the town of Ocoa. Hna. Johnson and I have never driven this road before and we enjoyed it a lot. We got to see new sights and places along the way. Elder Morillo told us that Ocoa is the prettiest town in the mission. That’s hard to believe because we’ve seen some very pretty places. Unfortunately we didn’t get to drive all the way into town; our rendezvous with them was about 5 kilometers outside of town. But we really enjoyed the side trip especially after seeing the same road between Azua & Bani week after week and month after month. A change of scenery is as good as a vacation.






We were back in the mission office by 11:00am and hard at it as usual. I spent my time preparing documents for the next “Translado” (transfer) in only two weeks. There are a ton of things I need to prepare in advance before Translados. However getting computer time is sometime hard. Mondays are tough in the office because all of the Elders, including the AP’s all need to use the computers to send their weekly letters and reports to the mission president. And, since it is P-day they also need to be on their G-mail accounts to write letters home. I was really lucky to get so much work done today. I wasn’t bumped off of my computer very much.

Hna. Johnson was right back at the mission financial books as soon as she walked in the door of the office. She always has a ton of things to do on Monday when we get back from “El Campo.” (Also known as “The South”.) Hna. Johnson never has a problem with access to her computer. Everyone knows when Hna. Johnson is in the office, NO ONE touches her computer!



This afternoon I took one of the office vehicles in to Delta Commercial for its regular service of lube, oil & filter. I didn’t wait for it, it wasn’t going to get done until late in the day. So instead of walking the mile back to the office I took a taxi (only about $2.00USD). It was an interesting experience for me. Since I’ve been the DR I’ve never taken a taxi and wouldn’t have this time if I hadn’t been in a hurry to get back to work. And besides, when I’m driving around, Taxi’s and Motors (Motorcycles) are the enemy! I get cut off, run down and run over by them every day. They are unpredictable, rude and obnoxious. They run red lights, drive on the sidewalks and drive on the wrong side of the road! But this fellow I rode with was a nice guy and he got me back to the office safe and sound.