Mision Este Zone Conference

We made health presentations at the Zone Conferences for the East Mission this week. It is always fun to see the Elders in the field.  We are quite sheltered living in our Temple housing, so it is hard to tell the Elders in the CCM what to expect.  Often no elctricity, no hot water, no pure water from the tap, no air conditioning and no fans if the "light" is off.  No one talks of the electricity here except me, it is always referred to as light: "we had no light",  " the light was off so we couldn't cook", etc.  Sometimes I forget where I am and suggest they use their vacuums for bed bugs, soak their feet in warm water twice a day and so on. We saw pictures of some of their apartments, as the Mission is trying to crack down on them to increase hygiene, they are not very good housekeepers.

Considering the conditions,  this conference I stuck to simple things, eat clean food and drink pure water. Keep you kitchens and hands clean.  Choose to be careful even though it takes some work.  I only hope they will listen a little bit. They laugh when someone else tells them about how they found bed bugs or how long a worm someone passed.  Too be young and immortal again, what a waste youth is on the young.

Two conferences were held near us in the capital, Wednesday and Thursday at the Gascue building, on Friday we drove two hours east to La Romana for the La Romana and San Pedro de Macoris zones.  Elder McDermid was not with us as he was accompanying an Elder home for treatment.  Driving and scenery were nice, though browner in the winter then last fall out that way.

Elders waiting for a gwa gwa after the conference.

Sr. Hernandez teaches 72 hour kit preparedness

LaRomana Stake Center, a fine building.



There was a wedding on the grounds as we arrived home,
it is always nice to be back safely.  The Temple is busy today,
I saw more weddings this morning, Saturday.



Cumpleanos-Cindy's Birthday

We didn't have too much time for celebrating the big event but in FHE and at the East Mission zone conferences recognition was given.  Cindy wasn't going to get in the line at zone conference until she saw they got to pick from a candy jar after we sang. 

FHE the "support " of your peers



Sr. Hernandez holds the magic jar, some will do anything for candy.




Hmas. Shaver, Lopez, and Madden. Estados Unidos, Guatemala and Fiji.



Working days

I have shown you the nice pictures of our fun side trips, and they are fun.  We have also been busy with missionary health.  There have been many cases of gastrointestinal parasites, I think some Elders are not following the rules on pure water and clean food.  These usually respond quickly but sometimes I end up with chronic belly achers.  The transition of Elders from Provo MTC or from our CCM to the field is also fraught with peril.  Every first transfer someone decompensates and cannot be supported, encouraged and prayed into shape to stay in the field.



Elder Chalas, standing next to me, had ingrown toenails on both feet, so I did them both.  Hopefully he is still smiling with the lidocaine worn off.  He is from the Dominican, his companion, Elder Velasquez is from Guatemala.  This picture is in the Santiago Mission home.



We have six Elders from the "islands" in the CCM, they have been delightful.  Elder Giddings is from Antigua, Elder Danvers and my cousin Elder Stewart are from Jamaica and three, Elders Stephen, Ramkissoon, and Andy Anderson are from Guyana.  Five are going to the West Indies Mission and Elder Danvers is heading back to Jamaica.  I have taken time to talk to them about their lives on the islands and their Church experiences. 



Elders Neuman, Giddings, Pemberton, Anderson and Stewart


We had a busy Saturday morning  yesterday and then a fairly lazy day. We had a conference at 9 with our East mission. Elder Gonzales one of the 7 presidents of 70 is here touring with Elder Bednar. He and his wife spoke with us. He allowed a lot of time for missionary questions, that was fun to hear his answers from the scriptures.
The misionaries all filed past us to shake hands with the authorities, so we were able to see everyone and get brief updates. Several afterwards talked with me and I had one set of worm pills to deliver, so I stayed busy for a few minutes. It is nice to see the 95% of healthy ones, so we don't get discouraged.

In the afternoon and evening we didn't do much, though Mom talked to Grandma Audrey and called Sharon. Grandma wasn't very reponsive and has been slipping physically. This week we have Elder Bednar in Santo Domingo, he will speak to us in the CCM on Tuesday morning.  Altogether our mission is going well and very quickly.  I do miss my family and some of our usual activities but I am content in knowing I am where I should be for now.

Tres Ojos

Tres Ojos is a day trip from Santo Domingo, it is three sink holes conected by caverns, the sinkholes contain ponds. It was a fun walk.

Cindy and Pres. Glazier head down the stairs.

Atkinsons and Sr. Glazier in a sink hole cavern.

Hand pulled ferry from one side to the other. This was a fun day with friends.

Puerta Plata, La Isabella and San Felipe Fortress



We walked a beach near La Isabella.
It was nice to get a break, though I
did get a phone call about a sick missionary
while on the beach.



This tree, not the Sisters, is supposed to date to Columbus' time.  Sr. Glazier, Shaver and McDermid

THis dude does date to Columbus, he was excavated in a dig in the 90's.

There was a fairly protected harbor at La Isabella,
17 ships returned with Columbus on his second voyage.

Along the roads, even in the large cities many
sales people have a fairly wide selection of
 fruit, candy, cell phone cards, charger cords, kites,
and this month Dominican flags.
It will be independence day on 27 Febrero.



Sr McDermid and Cindy look over the garden
at La Isabella



Puerta Plata has a gondola that lifts to a great view.



The port here was much better than La Isabella,
this became the most important port on the
north side of Hispaniola. Spain could not control
the tax collection so abandoned the area and moved south.
Pirates filled the void, as there was fesh water, cows and fruit.



This mule was available for pictures at
Puert Plata's forteleza, San Felipe.

Cannon overlooked the harbor entrance. This was restored to be a jail in more recent times.

The view of the harbor from the fort.

Pico Duarte trip-fun, yes, climb a success - no

It can be hard to see the happy face on a mountain climbing trip that doesn't culminate in climbing a mountain.  But I'll give it a try.

The climb was too difficult for my level of conditioning, I imagine I could have done it at one time but since I am more of a flat-lander I don't know for sure.  The trail started out with some flatter sections at first and short ascents, but after about 4 km it changed to long, steep sections with minimal flat stretches.  Did I mention the mud?  It had been raining for several days, though not on Friday for out climb.  The trail is also used by pack mules and is deeply rutted. We were forced to try and keep to the sides where it was more solid, but the slanted sides made it slippery.  As a result I quickly dehydrated and fatigued, only about a third of the way, probably about 7 km I needed to turn back. 

We still had a good trip overall, we talked with some interesting people and saw parts of the country we wouldn't have otherwise.  The living conditions are better understood when you dip your toe in them. We slept the first night in a motel, we had water in our sink and a toilet but electricity only for a few hours in the evening.  The next two nights we slept in a room at the visitors center on mattresses,  we had a toilet but no electricity.  We had flashlights but no lanterns, early to bed and early to rise for us. It was also noisey there because many people were camping around the visitor center balconys and hallways, and they kept arriving during the night.  The locals have intermittent electricity, I am not sure about their water source and I know lots don't have indoor plumbing.  So camping every day with no money for fancy gear.





Elder McDermid in our Rancho Wendy room.




Banana tree at Rancho Wendy



View near La Cienaga

Proposed route, I almost made it to La Cotorra.



On way up we had 7 people in the cab, this same truck had 7 in cab and 8 in the box on way back home.




This hummingbird had the bright green back, but wouldn't hold still.




Mulo jam on main road to La Cienaga and park entrance.




Some looked more like horses, though small (POA?)




Yaque river near visitors center.




Trail head sign




Sorry, out of order, but so handsome.



Rancho Wendy, winter flowers.



Winter rose Ranco Wendy




Victor and Tony loading our mulo at base.



I survived to rest on the porch at Visitors center

Dominican driving is to be constantly on alert for potholes, animals and the other drivers and motos.

The poor Dominicans will share whatever they have.

Street market in La Vega



Planting rice near Bonao.



 So we saw many sights, had some good interactions, and I nearly croaked.  All and all not a bad break.

Routine with the Temple closed

The Santo Domingo Temple is closed for cleaning, so we have two extra half days for two weeks. We were just  getting into the rythm of our Temple shifts and will have to reset our clocks again.

Anna will translate the characters for us, from the entrance to China town again.

Pricemart storage shed.

I have had the usual calls from Elders, colds, parasites, things hurting and injured. We had a trip to a fabric store for zippers to refresh some of the temple clothes.  And we went to PriceMart, a Costco subsidiary that has some good prices.  Look at the price on that shed for a little sticker shock.