The Chicken Store and the Egg Store

These guys will soon be upside down waiting for a buyer.

The egg store

Great Training

During interviews this week, one of our assistants gave the best training. He compared the story of Peter fishing to our mission. When Peter was obedient to the savior and threw his net on the other side of the boat, he caught so many fish he couldn't haul them in alone. He then called on another boat to help him 

Elder Palma compared that to our mission because our promise is that every companionship will baptize this month. When one companionship needs help, they realize they can call on other companionships nearby to help.

Sister Golbranson - CCM President's Wife

My friend Sister Golbranson's husband is the president of the CCM here in Santo Domingo.

My 90-Year-Old Friend

My friend is 90-years-old and he plays like a teenager.

A Yoga Class I Longed to Join

The Smarts

We caught up with the smarts during the conference. What a trial to have a hurricane wipe out your mission!

Presidenté between Meetings

A Replica of an Italian Village

The river and the mountains are Dominican originals.

Blessings in Disguise

Each time I speak to a group in Spanish I ask Presidente afterwards what I said wrong.  He always replies, "I didn't hear any mistakes."  And then I ask one of the assistants who is from Mexico what were my mistakes and he says he doesn't know.

Obviously, I make all kinds of mistakes when I speak Spanish, but I have learned something from these responses that I think is good for all relationships.  When I speak the listeners are concentrating so hard on what I'm trying to say, and they are trying so hard to understand me, they don't even pay attention to my mistakes.  They are not listening to identify my mistakes, they are listening for understanding.

I think that is a beautiful lesson.  In our relationships if we could listen for understanding instead of criticizing others, imagine how much more content we would be with our relationships.  We wouldn't even notice the mistakes, and we would have far greater understanding!

All Tuckered Out...

This is a reminder that these young men are really big boys. Seeing them in play clothes playing together made me marvel that they do a man's work and do it so well!

Cool Caves with Bats and Everything

Finally, a p-day!

Our office elders have been waiting for weeks for us to be available to go explore the caves in Haitises National Park. Today, their patience and their persistence was rewarded!

Habla con todos (talk with all)

Our missionaries contacting our guides and setting up an appointment to teach.

Another cave photo. It began to rain just as we entered the cave and fell in this hole.

Too Rushed

Every time we pass one of these lovely vegetable markets, I want to stop and buy. But we're always late for something and we have yet to stop :(

B-days

Our sweet hermanas made a birthday cake for this elder. The zone had a lot of fun teasing the hermanas about how it looked but of course they ate every bite.

Fabric Quest

While Presidente was preparing three different discourses for this weekend -- I only had to give one --  I went hunting for a fabric store so we could make a surprise for the elders. But I surprised myself with some fun prints to use for skirts.

Zone Conference

One of the elders took this photo during one of three zone conferences. The missionaries were all repeating the theme in unison. 

Question: Who are you?  

Answer: I am a consecrated missionary.  

Question: Why are you here?  

Answer: To bring converts unto Jesus Christ!

It's All About the Book!

We just finished three days of wonderful zone conferences. We introduced our theme:  "I am a consecrated missionary who brings converts unto Jesus Christ."  We talked about how to be consecrated and how to teach with the Book of Mormon. The missionaries are going to start carrying a Book of Mormon in their hands instead of in their bags so people will recognize who they are.

Out of the Frying Pan

Boy, did I get us stuck today!  We were on the way to Villa Mella and the road was closed so we were in traffic at a dead stop. I looked on the GPS and found a "short cut." Turns out, I took us right through the middle of the vegetable market where vendors were loading up their carts to sell in the streets. There were plantains piled to the sky as far as the eye could see, and zillions of people in the street. We basically had to wait a until every vendor got his cart and got out of the way. Lesson learned: there are no shortcuts or GPS doesn't know everything!

Christmas Already?

I think they win here for starting the season first. They sing Christmas songs all year long, so technically they started celebrating in January!

Cool Baptism

This man saw a Book of Mormon at a friends house and borrowed it. He read half the book before the missionaries even began to teach him.