Monday, July 19, 2010

Hna. Johnson and I had to go into work this morning for several hours. I had a few odds and ends in the office to finish but Hna. Johnson had the petty cash to reconcile as well as the weekly “reembolsos” for the missionaries. All of which had to be done today before we could leave for our trip to Puerta Plata on the north side of the island with Jared & Tere.

When we finished in the mission office we went back to our apartment, ate lunch, packed and were on the road by 1:00pm. Our first stop was at the grocery store “Jumbo” for snacks and supplies. Next we went to “The Pastry” shop to buy snacks and conference bread for our trip to Puerta Plata.




It rained on us as soon as we left the capital and continued to rain all the way to Puerta Plata. It was a shame that there were so many clouds and visibility was so bad, we really wanted to show Jared and Tere how beautiful the country side is in the central and northern parts of the Dominican Republic.




It did stop raining while we were in the town of La Vega. La Vega is about two hours north of Santo Domingo and is the home of our mission President, Pres. Almonte. It is also the home of one of our missionaries, Elder David Almonte who is not related to Pres. Almonte. When Elder Almonte heard that we would be driving through La Vega he asked us if he would deliver his mail to his parents for him. Of course we were delighted to say yes. He gave us their address, cell & Home phone numbers. He also gave us directions and even e-mailed me a map to his house. I even used “Google Earth” to see exactly where I was going.



In spite of all the maps and directions we were lost in the maze of small streets in La Vega looking for Elder Almonte’s home. As a last resort I was considering phoning him for more directions when we experienced another one of those “Tender Mercies”. Right then we spotted two young men in white shirts and ties with black name tags walking down the street. It was a miracle that they should show up just at that moment. We were saved, they knew the Almonte’s and took us to their house without any difficulty.



We delivered Elder Almonte’s mail to his parents and his mother gave us a large bag full of goodies for him. We visited for about 15 minutes. We enjoyed talking to the Almonte’s about their son, (our adopted son). Elder Almonte is such a dedicated missionary and hard worker. His parents are rightfully very proud of their son.

We finally arrived in Puerta Plata after being on the road for about 5 hours, almost all in the rain. It didn’t stop raining unto after 8:00 in the evening. But we made it safe and sound to the “Barcelo” hotel in Puerta Plata. After checking in we were off to the dinner buffet. It was really good. There were 6 different serving areas, each with its own different entrées. There was so much food prepared it was hard to choose between the different selections. We all liked it a lot, we were all stuffed.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

I had a rough night. Something I eat yesterday didn’t agree with me. But I was the only one in our group that got sick so that was good. Jared, Tere and Hna. Johnson all eat breakfast at the hotel’s breakfast buffet. It was all free with the price of the hotel room. The hotel really puts on a great spread for their patrons.




Our first stop was at the Barahona District chapel. The Zone leaders were there for Sunday services. We had mail to deliver to them for the Barahona Zone.



On the road to Duvergé we were very pleasantly surprised that most of the highway has been asphalted! Last year when we made the trip it would take hours because the road was so bad. Well not anymore. The whole trip only took us 40 minutes. I was traveling 70 miles an hour in places I used to drive 10 miles per hour. It was wonderful.

We had a wonderful reunion with our friends in Duvergé. They had about 30 members out to Sacrament meeting. Attendance was a little low because two of the branch’s mainstay families were all sick and couldn’t come to church. In spite of that we were happy to meet and greet the branch members as well as introduce Jared & Tere to everyone.




We left Duvergé as soon as the sacrament was over. We had to make a beeline to Neyba to get there before their Sacrament service was over. On the road we discovered that one of the bridges between the two towns was completely destroyed. It appears to have collapsed under its own weight; it doesn’t look like flooding caused the failure.

The story the Duvergé Elders told us about the bridge collapse was another example of the Lord taking care of his missionaries. Elder Carrasco and Elder Mower are the Zone leaders in Duvergé. They are supposed to travel to each of the other towns to work and train all of the other companionships in the Zone. A few weeks ago they had planned to go to Neyba to work with the Elders there. For some reason Pres. Almonte called them late Sunday evening the night before they planned to go. The President was very agitated and told them not to go to Neyba. He didn’t give a reason why but he was emphatic. Elder Mower described Pres. Almonte almost sounded mad and at time even sounded like he was yelling at him. Of course the Elders changed their plans for the next morning. It wasn’t until a couple of days later that they heard that the bridge failed that Monday morning. The Elders didn’t know if they would have been injured or even close to the collapse when it happened but they did describe the circumstances around President Almonte’s phone call as being a small miracle. I like to call it another one of the Lord’s “Tender Mercies”.

On our drive to Neyba was uneventful even at the sight of the collapsed bridge. There was a long detour down through the bottom of the ravine to get around the bridge. It is interesting to note that the 20 mile stretch of road between Duvergé and Neyba has been notorious as being a terrible stretch of road. But with the exception of the collapsed bridge, all of the problem areas on this road have been repaired. Hna. Johnson and I couldn’t believe our eyes as we saw all of the repair work that has been done in the past 5 months.




We arrived in Neyba in time to catch the last 5 minutes of their Sacrament meeting. And again it was a grand reunion as we got to see all of our old friends there. I took the opportunity to fill out a Fast Offering donation slip and give it to Hno. Norberto Tejera, the new Branch Pres. Ever since Hna. Johnson and I were reassigned and no longer attended with Neyba, I have always continued to make all of my Fast Offering donations there anyway.



My son Jared told me that he was wondering earlier if there was a way to help these poor people that have so very little. When he saw me filling out the F.O. slip he realized that was the way he could help. He made a donation to the Branch F.O. fund too. The Lords church is a “House of Order” and the right way to financially help members in the church is through the F.O. fund. The fund is administered by the Branch President so you know it will go to those that need it most.

On our way back to the capital we took the road through Galvin, Tamayo and Vicente Noble. This road is also known as one of the worst stretches of road in the whole Dominican Republic. But wouldn’t you know it, since the first of the year all of the bad stretches of road have been repaired or freshly paved over. Wow, the road is now beautiful! It was a real pleasure to drive on it.

On our way back to the capital we made mail stops in Tamayo and Vicente Noble. Of course the Elders got a gift of “Conference Bread” from Hna. Johnson. The South AP’s are in Vicente Noble and we had a nice visit with them. Hna. Johnson also had to give them petty cash as well as collect all of their reimbursement slips for input tomorrow morning in the mission office IMOS computer.




Today was a very big day of travel for the 4 of us. We accomplished all of the things we had planned to do. The most important was showing Jared and Tere where we served and what we did for 7 months last year. We got to introduce them to all of our friends in both towns as well as a lot of the missionaries along the way. We had a very good day.




This evening Jared and Tere phoned their sons in Texas. They are being cared for by Grandma & Grandpa Hunt, Tere’s parents. All of their boys got to talk to Jared and Tere. It was great. The only thing better would have been the “Webcam” but Debbie and Murphy don’t have a webcam so the phone had to do.

Next we called Grandma and Grandpa Burk, they do have a webcam. We all had a very nice conversation with them.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Our second full day with our son Jared & his wife Tere started with an hour drive to Juan Dolio Beach. On the way there we couldn’t resist the beautiful “Caribbean Blue” of the ocean as we drove along the Avenida Las Americas. The ocean, waves, coastline and cliffs were picturesque and the resulting photographs were stunning.




We had a great time at the beach this morning. However we didn’t find many pretty sea shells like we have in the past, in fact we found almost none. Hna. Johnson stayed on the beach while Jared, Tere and I went snorkeling.



I was anxious to try out my new water proof camera bag for taking underwater pictures. After I drowned and ruined my good camera 2 months ago I decided to order this special underwater camera case and have Jared and Tere bring it down to the DR with them. I am delighted with the results. It works like a charm and it allows my camera to takes wonderful pictures under water.




Jared and I decided to check out the coral reef that was about 200 yards from the shore. At high tide the reef would be submerged and the ocean floor would be 12 to 15 feet from the surface. But this morning the tide was very low. Much of the reef was exposed and the ocean floor was very easy for us to reach.





The low tide made exploring the reef perfect. Jared and I stayed out for about an hour and found all sorts of fun marine life. We found and photographed a star fish, spiny anemone, fan coral and lots of beautiful tropical fish.




We left the beach at noon and headed over to “El Masón Restaurant” which is right across the street from the beach. We ate our lunch there and thoroughly enjoyed the food. This is one of Hna. Johnson and my favorite restaurants and we really wanted Jared & Tere to have a chance to eat here before their vacation was over.



We headed back to the capital in a constant rain. In fact it rained the rest of the day. After cleaning up and packing we were off to the Mission Office to collect the missionary’s mail for our trip this evening to Barahona.



We had one of those “Tender Mercy” moments as we drove through Bani. We had hoped to stop at the Zone Leaders in Bani but unfortunately their phone was out of order and we had no way of contacting them. The Zone leader is our good friend Elder Mesidor. We haven’t seen him since he had to return home to Haiti to have his Visa renewed. He had to stay there for a couple of months waiting for all of the red tape to be sorted out. When he finally did return to the mission we didn’t get to see him before he went out to Bani to be the Zone Leader. Of all the mail stops on our way to Barahona Hna. Johnson wanted to make the most, this was the one.

The “Tender Mercy” happened as we drove through Bani. Hna. Johnson was really disappointed that we were not going to visit Elder Mesidor. But as we drove through the town Jared was getting a little low on his blood sugar and asked if we could stop at a store for a 7-up. We stopped and made the purchase and who should come around the corner. It was Elder Mesidor and his companion on their way to an appointment. It was a wonderful reunion for Hna. Johnson, she considers Elder Mesidor to be one of her sons. The Lord truly blessed us today. If Jared hadn’t been sick and if we hadn’t stopped at that one store we wouldn’t have met up with Elder Mesidor. It wasn’t a real big miracle, but it was a miracle none the less.



In Azua we stopped at “La Esquinita” restaurant for dinner. This is the little hamburger shop that has the best hamburgers in the world! This was another of the restaurants that we wanted to take Jared & Tere to during their stay in the Dominican Republic. Once again we were not disappointed with the food. Time after time they prepare the best hamburger in the world!



We arrived in Bararhona after dark and checked into our hotel “La Costa Larimar”. We had a big and busy day today and we were very happy to get a good night’s sleep.

Friday, July 16, 2010

This morning we went to the Temple to do an endowment session first thing in the morning. The sky was gray but it was a beautiful session. Tere brought her own proxy cards from home. We went through the session as proxies for her grandparents and great grandparents. It was a very special session. After the session we did the sealings for her ancestors. It was another very special experience. The sealer’s name is Hno. Fabio Melendez. As he said the words to the sealing ceremony he spoke very distinctly and clearly. His rich voice and animated delivery was wonderful. The spirit was very strong as we knelt around the alter of the temple.





Next we were off to the “Tienda del Templo” (Temple Store) to fill orders for the missionaries. We bought scriptures, hymn books, garments, etc. for the Elders and Hermanas of our mission. We enjoyed showing Jared & Tere all around the facilities.

We want Jared and Tere to experience real Dominican food that the Elders eat. Elder Thorup told us about a very small “Comedor” (Eatery or Small Cafeteria) a few blocks from the mission office. So for lunch we ordered carry out that was all Dominican. We had rice with beans, baked Yucca root, pork in a wonderful tomato sauce & roasted drum sticks covered in a sautéed mushroom sauce. Jared & Tere loved it, so did Hna. Johnson and I. It was Mmmm Goood!




Today we had a little work to do for the office. After lunch Jared and I were off to Citi Bank to pick up checks and the mission office petty cash. Hna. Johnson had a few things to do in the office but when we finished we were off to “Tres Ojos” (Three Eyes) here in the capital. It was the second time for Hna. Johnson and I to visit the caves.






The “Tres Ojos” are a very interesting attraction. An ancient underground river has carved caves out of solid limestone. Three very large caverns had their roofs cave in some time in the ancient past. This left three crystal clear lakes at the bottoms of three very large opening to the outside. The tree large lakes are connected by passageways/caves full of stalactites and stalagmites. It is really quite interesting.





We got to the caves just as it started to rain. However since most of the trails inside the caves are deep underground we stayed dry. We did have our umbrellas with us when we had to walk along the paths that were exposed to the outside.





Our next stop was for dinner at the Dominican Fiesta Hotel’s buffet. And talk about great Dominican food! The salads, fruit and sides were toooo good. We had our choice of steak, sea food, ham and chicken or all of the above. There is so much great food we found it hard to stop eating. I personally had 5 desserts!



Our last stop of the day was at President Almonte’s home. We delivered the new laptop computer I ordered from Costco for Pres. Almonte. Jared and Tere brought it with them from the states. Computers are much more expense to purchase here than in the states and Pres. Almonte really needed a new one. He was really delighted with it. We had a nice visit with him and Hna. Almonte.