Focus on what's most important

More Creative Missionaries

Two different zones re-enacting the nativity

Grandma Smith would have loved this chef!

From street to table

The day before Christmas we passed table after table of whole pigs with their vendor swatting flies while waiting for someone to come purchase their Christmas dinner,

Guess this is the DR's version of a Christmas goose

Sharing their talents

For our Christmas Zone Conference all the different zones are sharing a talent.  They are so fun to watch, and I imagine just as fun to perform!

Christmas Cheer

Parents are so great to send packages at Christmastime.  We had 89 packages delivered yesterday.  We barely had room to walk in the office!  The missionaries wear the sweaters they receive as long as they are in the air conditioned building.  But outside it's still short-sleeve weather

Acts 8:36

See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

The standard is, if the chapel has a baptismal font, the missionaries must use the font for baptisms.  But if not?  There are lots of rivers here in the DR.

Whatcha you wearing today?

As part of the skit our hermanas dressed in pink and acted out the part of truly interested investigators

Teaching is so much Fun!

Our zone leaders and hermana leaders prepare a skit to teach the zone about the importance of baptism.   Super creative and really motivating.

Talented Musicians

Talented pianist and excellent voices make a great combination

Reviewing Area Books

Our new assistant helps review area books every time we have interviews

Two really Good Men

We enjoyed a wonderful seminar with Elder Gavarret and the other members of the Area Presidency

Sunset in the Caribbean

The detail in the sky I couldn't quite get when focusing on the men.

A chocoholic's dream

The best part about learning how to make chocolate is tasting your creation!

Class of '17

Our dear friends, the Santos, Presidente of Mision Este and the Smarts, Presidente de Mision Santo Domingo West all started their missions with us in other missions in area.  We always enjoy getting together and comparing notes (comparing adventures!)

Making Friends

Addie finds a friend wherever she goes!

She knows me!

So fun Getting to know a new grand baby that was born while we were gone

New Hobby?

Learning to weave in case I need a hobby after the mission

Super fun Girls Trip

Our daughter and her baby and two of our daughters- in law came for a quick visit last weekend.  It was so wonderful to see what valiant women they are.  They all came to our trainings and shared mission experiences and their testimonies with our missionaries

Future Missionaries

One of the bishops invited us to speak in his ward during sacrament meeting and afterwards we had a question and answer with the youth about what they need to do to prepare to serve a mission.  It was lots of fun and lots of youth agreed to leave with the missionaries to learn how to teach!

Our Mission Leadership Council celebrating our Harvest of Converts

Our Angels celebrate the Harvest Fest

View from the Stand

Each zone presented a musical number during their day of zone conference last week.  We loved seeing the unity demonstrated by this zone while they were singing.

Now that's putting God first

We receive inspiration from this amazing couple.  The Rasbands were serving as temple missionaries, expecting to stay in the DR for two years.  The month before they were scheduled to return home they were asked to stay on and serve as counselor in the temple presidency!  They accepted and after 3 years 7 &1/2 months of service they are getting ready to return home.

How Blessed to have a Living Prophet!

When the prophet came to visit us here in the mission (the photo is from a different encounter) he invited President and me to bear our testimonies from the pulpit in front of all the missionaries.  While standing next to us with his arm around President Smith's shoulder, we had to decide what we would say.  I thought it an opportune time to bear my testimony of a living prophet.  I shared the witness I had recently received when we had the Solemn Assembly during the General Conference where President Nelson was sustained.  President and I were watching conference in our apartment and when it came time for the Relief Society sisters to stand and sustain the prophet it seemed kind of silly to me to stand when we were alone, just the two of us, in our apartment, but President Smith had done so with the brethren, so I followed his example.  As I stood and raised my hand I felt the strongest witness I could ever feel.  The Spirit not only touched my heart, but filled my body, I felt a flood of warmth from my head to my toes in every single cell confirm that it was the right thing to sustain this prophet.  I was super surprised to receive such a strong confirmation of his divine calling, but extremely grateful.  In my testimony in front of the missionaries with the prophet standing by my side I said I would have followed the prophet even without this powerful witness from the Holy Ghost, but I am sure grateful I was given this wonderful gift.

Officials at Stake Conference

We spoke at a stake conference today where these government officials came.  They were effusive with their praise.  Wanda (the wife) said she had never felt something so spiritual.  Miguel (the husband) said he saw an "aura" around everyone who spoke.   He said when the stake president spoke he moved around a lot, and the aura just followed him as he moved,.  Afterwards we had a small reception and we were able to share a little about the restored gospel, give them a Book of Mormon and get their contact information so the missionaries could pass by.

In Rain or Shine

Actually... the missionaries prefer the rain.  The sun can be brutal here.  We're definitely getting our share of rain with the tropical storms in the Caribbean.  At least they are not hurricanes.

New blood

A group of new missionaries can really animate a mission.  It's like having a new baby in the family.  They are all so cute and we're all excited to watch them grow and progress!

Never too old to start anew

Who could imagine that after trying for years to get his dad to join the church, it would be three humble missionaries who preached with the power and authority of their calling that helped this brother (left of the bride) decide to be baptized.  A year later the couple invited "their" missionaries to  attend their sealing in the temple.

The Gift of Tongues

The "gift of tongues" works even with those who can't speak.  These hermanas baptized a couple who is deaf (their daughter is hearing) and their friend also by reading together, writing, and the hermanas have actually learned enough sign language to communicate with them.

Laundry never was so fun!

Our missionaries are super happy to finally have real washing machines.  They had been using tiny machines that kept breaking and weren't even big enough to wash one set of baptismal clothing.  Now they can wash and wash and wash!  Bring on the baptisms!  And thanks Elder Fajen for making their p-days a little easier!

Welcome Zander!

Our 10th grand baby was born this morning, a little boy.  We will meet him when he is nine months old, crawling up stairs and falling down them, and if he's like the others, standing without help, not knowing that standing's even harder than walking.  He'll have a couple teeth on the bottom and two more on the top.  He'll know how to clap and how to laugh, and I hope he's past the object-permanence stage because we'll be strangers to him.

Happy Missionaries

I don't know how many years it has been since the mission got new mattresses, but the old ones were really sad.  The beds were too short and the mattresses hung over the ends.  One of our senior couples made new bed frames the right size and our housing missionary, Elder Fajen, ordered new mattresses for everybody. 

I Hope they Call me On a Mission!

Last week we were invited to give a fireside to a large group of pre-missionaries and in order to help them get excited about their missions we showed a slide show of our missionaries just having lots of fun.  At the end we showed photos of the last transfer's baptisms.  They realized missionaries can have fun being spiritual!  The sound didn't come out but you can see the photos.

https://youtu.be/_-tQW89MizA

Wisdom of the Wise

This seasoned member had a really sage comment in church Sunday.  She belongs to a tiny branch and in Sunday School we were talking about people who don't come to church because they have been offended.  She says, "I didn't make covenants with any of those people in the church.  I made covenants with my Heavenly Father."  That's why she's been faithful for over twenty years in spite of many offenses.  She knows why she's there!

Missionary for life

One of our outstanding missionaries returned 8 months after his mission. He brought a framed photo of their baptism for all his converts along with a Sunday dress or shirt and tie. It took an entire week to deliver all the gifts. Truly there is a lasting bond between a convert and “their missionary

Ministering

Seven members of a branch with average attendance of 50 visited this less active. He returned to church no longer remembering why he ever stopped coming

Waiting for our people

The zone leaders prepared all the baptismal clothes for their zones baptisms so the missionaries would get excited about the months baptisms

Obedience in ALL things

A couple of missionaries shared their experiences with obedience recently.  President had told Elder Sousa he needed to smile when he was in the streets.  He obeyed President’s counsel and one day a woman saw him smiling and said, “tell me what is so funny?”  That led to a contact and later to her baptism.

Another Elder, Elder Cruz followed President’s counsel to wear his missionary attire whenever he is outside the casa, even if it is to cross the Street just to buy something at the colmado (corner convenience store).  One day he went to the store dressed appropriately and the Clerk asked him why he dressed up just to cross the Street and buy a bottle of wáter.  He told her it was because it was a rule in the misión and he wanted to be obedient to the rules.  The woman was so impressed she asked to take the discussions and was later baptized.

Teaching is so rewarding

I was teaching about repentance the other day and wanted the missionaries to understand how unhappy will be the soul who faces his maker without repentance.  I shared the scripture in Alma 36:15 when Alma wants to cease to exist.  I felt impressed right then to ask the missionaries, “What would happen if the story ended here?”  We paused and let them ponder.  The Spirit manifested to us in a powerful way what a enormous blessing is the atonement.

Another great experience occurred when I was teaching the missionaries how to invite someone to be baptized.  They have been using 2 Ne 31:5 and inviting the people to be baptized to follow Christ’s example.  But they weren’t teaching what Christ was being an example of?  He wasn’t exemplifying being forgiven of your sins, as some thought, because he was sinless!  Of course when you read verses 7 and 8 you recognize he was exemplifying covenants.  He, himself, was making a covenant with God by promising to testify and obey (v.7) and he then received the Holy Ghost demonstrated by a dove (v.8).  The missionaries learned they need to teach that we follow Jesus Christ by making the covenant of baptism not just being baptized.

Then I spoke about the tremendous blessing of the Holy Ghost and I realized there is a huge connection I between our part of the covenant and God’s part.  We covenant to be obedient so we can have the Holy Ghost with us.  And when we have the Holy Ghost with us, it helps us be obedient.  Obedience leads to the Holy Ghost and the Holy ghost leads to obedience.

Christ-like love

Wow, did I learn something new from this activity!  A very conscientious district leader organized an activity where companions in his district would wash one another's feet.  The take-away was supposed to be because Christ did "yeuchy" things, we should be willing to do so too.  But I learned something entirely different.

One of the hermanas didn't have a companion because her companion was in an interview so I washed her feet and she washed mine.  At first I thought I would feel "yech" because I'm a bit of a germ freak.  But my response was just the opposite.

As I washed her feet I thought of how hard she had been working, walking all day long in the dusty, muddy streets of Santo Domingo, over rocky roads, filled with holes and pitfalls.  I was filled with tremendous love for her and I desired to show her how much I loved her.  I wanted to wash her feet, tenderly, slowly; I wanted her to feel better, to feel relief, to feel cared for.  I felt it was a privilege, and I didn't once think "yech."  

I realized that our Savior likely felt this way when he washed his disciples feet.  I don't think he felt "yech".  I think he felt love.  I think he felt compassion for what they had been through, being his disciples, and compassion for what they would yet endure, being his disciples.  I think he wanted to fortify them, to show them he cared, to help them feel supported.  I think this should be our goal when we serve one another, not to do so holding our nose, but doing so while reaching out our hearts.

Who needs to speak?

This wonderful couple teaches primary each week and the husband doesn't speak a word of Spanish.  Note the cute beads of the little girls in front!

Our Couples Class

Last night we were invited to teach a class on temple marriage to several couples from one of the branches here.  We taught them the difference between "love" and "charity".  Usually when we think of things we love: ice cream, a day at the beach, a new dress, even our spouse, we think of how much pleasure these things bring us.  That's why we "love" them.  We looked at charity, and discovered the true love of Christ is pretty much the opposite.  Charity is all about the joy we can bring to the other person, instead of the pleasure they will bring to us.  When both partners in a couple have charity, they can bring one another a whole lot of joy.

Even after the mission our great missionaries carry the Book of Mormon wherever they go!

Conversos All Star

I don't know if you can see the button, but it says "Convert All Star"  It's our zone leaders being super creative in motivating their zone.  The photo of the four missionaries dressed like familiar story book characters was another creative day of teaching.