29 March 2013

Some of our classes are very interesting.  Like last Wednesday.  Mom had a class ready to teach, the directing class.  It was the last day before a holiday, break for Easter.  Most of the classes earlier in the day were ill-attended.  But we were ready.  Here is what the board looked like:

You can see that we have an initial prayer, then a message, then the lesson, then the final prayer. (of course according to the left, mom is going to sing the prayer, and the final hymn is going to be entitled, "Hna Partridge".)    








Here is a picture of the classroom:


So many people came, we just didn't have seats for them all.  We were ready.

Here is mom posing for pictures before her class.

Here is the handsome pianist.  We have pianos programmed, and all I have to do is push the button, and it sounds like I am a virtuoso at the piano.  Boy that old man, that pianist is surely a white haired old man.






Then we were invited into another classroom to help the instructor teach D and C 41, when it teaches about Edward Partridge.  They had four in their class.  As I was in front telling them about Edward's call, his tar and feathering, and how he died in Nauvoo, out of the corner of my eye, mom jumped up, climbed up on a chair and almost started to scream.  I saw a moth flying around the room and almost asked her why the moth had scared her so.  Then, it was made apparent to me that it was a flying cock roach, heading straight for her, in the INSTITUTE.

 There was pandemonium everywhere.  At least in mom's mind.  And it was singing.  Or at least it was humming.  I heard it.  It was humming right at mom and heading for her.  One of the students rapidly crushed him.  I am sure he was singing the opening song in roach-ish.




And here is the poor dead crushed roach sitting next to the Hymn book.  He is big, and that is why mommy was so concerned.  It had everyone in the class forget about Edward for a few minutes.

Chester, our resident dog, is minding his own business.  He still is awake during the night, and often starts barking.  Bonnie gets out of bed, and says, PARE.  Which means STOP.  Within a few barks, he stops.  Amazing.  We even fasted for his stopping the first of March.  It has helped.

But I tell my companion, the reason why the dog stops when he hears mom tell him to stop is because we live on the third floor, and he hears this mysterious voice above him telling him to stop barking, and he does.  Maybe he is a god-fearing, obeying dog?  Either way, we  are sleeping better these nights, thanks, Chester.

25 March 2013

It has been a very emotional week for us.  Our daughter Emily had been placed on limited activity for the past 3 weeks because of complications with her pregnancy.  She was admitted to the hospital in Brigham City on Friday, March 15 and on Monday March 18^th she went into pre-term labor and gave birth at 19 weeks to a little stillborn angel they named Julie.  We have prayed mightily for Em and Kris to be strengthened in this most difficult trial.  We were in the Santo Domingo Temple on Friday and I saw angels dressed in white on both sides of the veil, ready to go to Emily’s aid.  For that I am eternally grateful. 

Being so very far away during this emotional time has certainly been hard for me.  The late night call from Missy saying, “Mama, don’t worry, I’m going to take care of Emily,” was music to my ears.  I knew she would.  I knew all of my children would rally round her, to buoy her up, call her, visit her, clean her house, help her laugh a little…all of which they did beautifully.  It was profound evidence of their love and support for each other, especially in time of need.  Nothing could make me happier. 

I learned once more that the circle of sisters called Relief Society is a viable and beautiful part of the kingdom...which of course I have known forever but now from a different perspective, as a mother far away from her daughters.  Emily’s good Visiting Teacher organized the troops and they came to her rescue.  They were ready and waiting at their posts with meals and daycare if needed, assistance, compassion, love and support.  Kris’s Elder’s Quorum President was equally prepared.  Again I give heartfelt thanks to my Heavenly Father for these tender mercies.

Watching Emily and Kris standing strong in faith and trust in the Lord’s will for them, not understanding it, but trusting that He knows what is best has given us great peace.  How grateful we all are for our testimonies of Father’s loving eternal plan for His children.  Though the hurt is real and very painful, especially for Em and Kris, they are comforted and sustained by their faith and knowledge that “All things have been done in the wisdom of Him who knoweth all things.”  II Ne. 2:24.  With that sure knowledge, we can go forward.

17 March 2013

Ears are miracles.  I mean they can tune out anything.  When we first got here, we heard anything and everything.  It was so loud, we couldn't sleep at night.  There were noises twenty four-seven.  Now after six months, it is different. 

(I said I would put pictures in my blog, and here is another beautiful foto of the land where Columbus landed, or near there.)

For instance, last night.  I was dropping off to sleep, and B was trying to talk to me.  I grunted, and she keep at it.  "Did you hear that, I wonder where it is coming from."  I grunted and tried to return to sleep.  "I wonder where the guys are, it sounds like a big party."  I didn't respond that time.  "I wonder how long they will be yelling..."  I grunted another, "Yeah," and turned over.  Finally she got the message and said, "Oh, I am sorry, I didn't know you were asleep."  Well I was, and had to drop to sleep again, but that is OK.  My  ears had gotten  adjusted to that noise and I did not hear what she was hearing.

Te other morning, walking I tuned my ears to the sounds of this country.  There are always dogs barking, a car alarm going off, a rooster crowing, and other indistinguishing sounds.  You think I exaggerate.  Well, not so, if you listen, you can hear car alarms going off, sometimes far away, sometimes right next door.  But your ear tunes them out.  But in reality, if they are next door, they are so loud, that you can't tune them out.  The rooster crowing is interesting all day long.  I have already blogged about the roosters crowing during sacrament meeting.  The first week, I almost started laughing, .... during the sacrament, wasn't wise to do so, so I laughed inside.  Now it happens every week, but it is getting tuned out.  I don't think it strange, it is just the way of this country.

And here is me trying to rest up and prepare a lesson. 

Mom blogged about a dog barking during the night.  Either the dog, Chester (we named him Chester) is no longer barking all night long, or someone else got upset, killed him, or he is barking and we just tune him out.  Don't really know about that one.

Course there is another explanation.  (The body  falls apart one side at a time, more to come...)  Bonnie has a bad ear.  So do I.  She puts her good ear in the pillow and often can't hear things with her bad ear.  I do the same, and often I can't hear things.  I guess it is a blessing (??) that my  good ear is my left ear, so that when we drive around the city, I can't hear my companion screaming, or gasping.  Her left ear is bad, which is good for her, that way she can't hear me in the car either.  And as we sleep, the two bad ears are toward each other.  The body dies one side at a time.

It is my left knee that is bad, has to be favored, and my left foot that has to be sanded each day or I can't walk on it.  (I am not kidding.)  My right eye can see so much better than my left eye, at distances.  So often I find myself squinting, or closing my right eye to read, but closing my left eye to see outside.  Oh... perhaps that is because I put a contact on the right eye, and nothing on the left eye.  I guess they are both deteriorating at the same speed.  Bonnies left side psyatic nerve is giving her fits, while her right side is quite OK.  The bugs seem to bite her on the right leg, not the left.  Guess they are in on it, helping her right side die faster than the left side.  The body dies one side at a time.

"Eh, what did you say?"

Just to make you feel better, we are paying $6.12 per gallon of gas.  Is it that bad back there?

14 March 2013

 

A few weeks ago, we took a trip up to the North Coast of our island with our friends the Eickbushes (from Lindon) and visited the ruins of La Isabela, Columbus's first settlement in the New World.

Excuse my hat hair!

Then last week we had a wonderful FHE fireside in Santo Domingo with Kent Rappleye. Brother Rappleye, the Caribbean Area Director, gave a presentation to all the senior couples there about Columbus and the discovery of the New World. He’s been here in the DR for 4 years working for the church in Seminaries and Institutes and has studied in depth the history of this special land. He shared quotes from Columbus’s writings where he talks about being inspired by the Holy Ghost in his quest for discovery. I don't have his exact quotes but here are some quotes I found in my own research from books on the internet. 

"It was the Lord who put it into my mind,
(I could feel His hand upon me), the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies. All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me. There is no question that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit, because He comforted me with rays of marvelous inspiration from the Holy Scriptures...

For the execution of the voyage to the Indies, I did not make use of intelligence, mathematics or maps.  It is simply the fulfillment of what Isaiah had prophesied...
I am the most noteworthy sinner, but I have cried out to the Lord for  grace and mercy, and they have covered me completely.  I have found the sweetest consolation since I made it my whole purpose to enjoy His marvelous Presence.  No one should fear to undertake any task in the name of our Savior, if it is just and and if the intention is purely for His holy service.  The working out of all things has been assigned to each person by our Lord, but it all happens according to His sovereign will even though He gives advice.  Oh, what a gracious Lord, who desires that people should perform for Him those things for which He holds Himself responsible.  Day and night, moment by moment, everyone should express their most devoted gratitude to Him."  
from "Columbus's Book of Prophecies".
It has never been published in the English speaking world. Some excerpts have been privately translated into English by August J. Kling. He quoted the passage above from Columbus's diary in an article which appeared in the October 1971 issue of "The Presbyterian Layman".

The author goes on to say "Columbus's reference to Isaiah's prophecy was probably Isaiah 40:22. In this scripture passage the prophet Isaiah made reference to "the circle of the earth".

"It is He who sits above the circle of the earth".

(Isaiah 40:22)

Read 1 Nephi 13:12. It's profound, huh!

For all you history buffs...a little refresher history 101 here. If you’re not buff or in the buff…hmm...well, just skip to the photos.

“During the economic competition between European kingdoms seeking wealth through the establishment of trade routes and colonies, Columbus's speculative proposal, to reach the East Indies by sailing westward, eventually received the support of the Spanish crown, which saw in it a promise, however remote, of gaining the upper hand over rival powers in the contest for the lucrative spice trade with Asia.” 

During his first voyage in 1492, instead of reaching Japan as he had intended, Columbus first sited land in the Bahamas at an island he name San Salvador in honor of“The Holy Savior.” He brushed by another small Caribbean island and then landed on the North coast of the island they named “Hispañola.” (Now the Dominican Republic and Haiti.) During 4 total voyages, Hispañola was the only island he visited all 4 times. Here he established a settlement he named “La Isabella” in honor of the Queen of Spain. Columbus’s voyages and his efforts to establish permanent settlements on the island of Hispañola started the Spanish colonization of the New World. “They led to the first lasting European contact with the Americas, inaugurating a period of European exploration, conquest, and colonization that lasted for several centuries.”

Although the "conquest" of the Americas was certainly bloody; there was widespread carnage and death for both the conquerors and the conquered, but given the culture and period of history in which he lived (still the dark ages) Brother Rappleye reminded us not to be too critical or lay blame on either side but to remember that Columbus was indeed a tool for the future of the New World. He added as an aside that many of the early explorers, Ponce de Leon, Magellan, Balboa had “condos” in the DR :) mostly down in Santo Domingo which became the Capital because the north coast (Atlantic ocean) was a more difficult landing than in the south with the more calm Caribbean Sea. Very interesting.

And of course we know "the rest of the story"...all the events leading up to the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Brother Rappleye reminded us that we're all "Americans" here in the Caribbean, with many different colored skins but all blessed to be part of the growth of the church in this promised and historic land. We feel much gratitude for that!

Here's a few more photos from the museum and ruins at La Isabella.  

Some artifacts.  The little museum has no labels on anything so you just walk through and try to figure out what things are.

"In this plot of the Americas, the Admiral Christopher Columbus set up in the year of grace  1493 La Isabela
First city of the New World."

It's a quiet, beautiful, very peaceful setting.  A great spirit there.  We felt that we were on sacred ground, in light of all the above history.

We're in a wonderful place, a chosen land.  When we sing "Venid a Cristo"...Come Unto Jesus, I can hardly get the words out when we sing about the isles of the sea.  I just cry and feel gratitude to be here in "la islas del mar."  

7 March 2013

Titles.  Titles don't mean anything.  But since my companion has not been here for a time, I am writing about my titles.

Dr Google.  Bonnie has been tied to the computer asking Mr. Google/translation, how do you say this, how do you say that.  So she has started asking me, and of course I tell her.  So she has renamed me Dr. Google, for I am her translator now.  Guess that is a compliment?

Bug Man.  This is a title, as you guessed it, that means I come running anything, unseen, unwanted, or anytime scaring Bonnie.  The other day, she got me out of bed, for she was again up early, to kill a Large, Scary thing.  I grabbed my shoe and scurried in to meet this big, black, large thing, the cause of the terror in her voice. Well, I got in there, our laundry room, approached the "thing" and wondered how I was going to kill it.  She, or course, was hiding in another room.  I looked at the thing, and tried to figure out how to turn this into my benefit.  As I killed it, I could tell her stories how I fought it to death, it was it or me.  Then she said, 'Did you get it?"  Then I figured I better tell her the truth.  "Dear companion, the black thing that was causing you terror was a SHADOW, nothing more."  It seems the light was casting a shadow on the floor, and I heroically saved her life by  killing that large, black thing, that didn't move, but it was sure scaring my wife.

Sock Man.  When she is hanging the clothes in our apartment, I have been assigned the challenge of hanging the socks.  I so carefully hang the socks over the line.   You see, she doesn't trust me with those clothes pins.  You never know what kind of trouble I could get into with those weapons.  So I am also the sock man.

I guess you could also call me the STICK KILLER, cock roach killer, the lizard pursuer, the pop corn man, and so many others.  New identities come when you go on a mission.

On Tuesday night, we were privileged to witness one of our students as he gave another one of our students a ring.  There were tears, yelling, screaming, clapping, etc.  It was quite a sweet experience.  The girl is the one that mom is having cut her hair instead of me.  I should be hurt, being replaced like that, I mean I am a great barber, a great hair cutter, but she is a doll, and so in love.  He is going back to Guatemala for about  ten months to get ready to marry, and she is worried about it.  We will be helping her make it though the months.

I have to teach the investigator class tonight, and I have no idea what  am going to teach.  After I teach the Book of Mormon, it will come to me, as it has in the past.   That is such a special blessing, to be teaching, and be inspired what to say and how to say it,  what we need to teach, etc.

Well, it is time to sign off, and I don't have any pictures, but my companion will fill in here, for she takes them  all, and stuff.

27 February 2013

At the institute, we are often called upon to make cookies, brownies, and use the  kitchen.  Many times I am asked to make popcorn.  We are continually there, wishing we had hot water, for as most of you know, hot water helps cleaning greasy and dirty dishes.  Often while there, we bring the dirty dishes home to wash them.  The other day, we asked our director if there was any way we could get hot water, it would help us out immensely.  He said he would put it on the list to speak with the "officials" and see if it was a possibility.

The institute opened two weeks before we arrived in this country.  We have always been wondering why anyone would build a building without hot water.  It is sort of difficult to get hot water in this country, but in the apartments with hot water there is a small unit in the closet to heat the water.  You must turn on the switch twenty minutes before you need it.  So every day, one must climb out of bed early and wait until the water is heated.  Then we have a limited amount of hot water.  Just another challenge of living in this "third world" country.  (Ever heard of a second world country?)  (I have not.)

In our institute building, we have cabinets in the kitchen where we have put cooking tools, supplies and they are all behind lock and key.  It is interesting how often "things" walk away.  So, we have been shown where the key is, behind lock and key.  So, when we need something, we go and get the key to get the key to get the key, to get the key, to..... (oops I got carried away.) whatever we need.  It is also interesting.

Try to have a kitchen without hot water.  (this is our Institute hot water-less, kitchen)

This morning, Bonnie came in to me and started laughing.  "You will never believe this..."   I replied, "I really don't believe that anything can happen that would surprise me."  I was wrong.  We got the key, went in and checked behind one of the locked cabinets, shelves, and guess what, we found a water heater.  WE DO HAVE HOT WATER!  Even the director didn't know.  We showed him the water heater and he was totally surprised.  He laughed and said he better take that request off his list to talk to those responsible about getting a water heater.

We turned it on, and just laughed when we found hot water coming out of the tap, first time.  It was refreshing and wonderful.  Now we need to go back and make cookies, pop corn, and many other things and clean the dishes there at the institute.  I cleaned one greasy item, and it actually came clean with hot water, first time.  WOW.

Here is the play room.  The kids sure enjoy being there between classes at the University.  I have put together some tournaments, chess, ping pong, pool, and foosball.  We, at times, also play with them, even mom has played a few games of pool, and even won more than she has lost.

Well, gotto go and enjoy the hot water, just washing my hands, if nothing else, and smiling, or should I say laughing.... but enjoying HOT WATER.

21 February 2013

Greetings from the purple girl.  Lots to share.  From the sublime to the ridiculous.  The sublime was sitting at the feet of an Apostle and being fed spiritually.  What a grand experience!  The sweetest part for me was listening to Elder Andersen speak in Spanish.  He was not fluent but he did a great job and I followed most of it.  When does an Apostle have time to hone his language skills, pray tell?  It was a great confidence booster for me to hear him struggle with words and get help from others and still carry on with a smile and the spirit.  Amazing!  As he called the niños to come up to shake his hand after the conference (interesting how old the "little children" became as the line got longer and longer), I thought how like the Savior that was.  And he shook hundreds of hands, of all ages, with that same smile and genuine love.  It was a treat to be with him Saturday and Sunday.  A memorable weekend.

Here's Elder Andersen with a soon-to-be missionary and sweet Elder Dominguez (an area authority) and his wife.  We love them.  Their daughter Lisha, one of our students, just left on her mission to Mexico.

Here's my new personal hair stylist, Rocio Santana.  She cut my hair last week.  Her first try.  She was scared to death but did every bit as good as Elder Partridge!

Last week I was the cookie queen again.  Since it was "The week of love" of course the students needed cookies.  I baked about 100 sugar cookies, 140 chocolate chip cookies and 96 brownies.  Thankfully, our director located a nice heavy duty mixer that was sitting upstairs in the employment center not being used, so we "borrowed" it.  (I have no idea why they had it...there's no kitchen facilities there...who knows?  It's the DR!)  What a difference from the last time I did big batches by hand.  This time I only half-died.  They weren't kidding when they said, "You'll be baking a lot of cookies on a CES mission."  No duh!

Next we helped serve 120 plates of "pollo y pan" (chicken and bread) - which was the council's menu of choice for the Valentine's Party.  We received cute little valentines of love from lots of students.  What sweethearts they are!  The best part of our mission is getting to know and love these wonderful students.

Elder Partridge serving pollo y pan. 

He's the popcorn man again!

Now, for the ridiculous.  Concerning cucarachas, rats, butterflies, dogs, and car alarms.  Oh, and out of control fires.  We're in a new apartment, on the 3rd floor and I'm safe, right?  Crawlies don't do heights... right?  Wrong!  I was greeted on our first Sunday morning in the new apartment by a large-black-fast-moving-many-legged something in my kitchen!  It ran fast across the floor into the laundry room under the washing machine.  ERG!  I ran fast out of the kitchen calling white knight who came sleepy-eyed to my rescue again.  He used the last of the RAID all around the washer.  We raised up the washer to look under it (I was grimacing, holding my breath, ready to scream!) but no sign of the critter.  Double ERG!  If there's one thing I hate, it's a crawlie on the loose!  Thankfully, he hasn't shown his face again (of course it's a he...) and the fumigator has since come and worked his poisonous hazmat magic.  Now my hero will only have to kill the dead ones!  So far, so good.  

Except for the rat.  Well, I think it was a rat.  I saw it's tail end scurrying around the garbage on the street  near our casa.  Piles of garbage are everywhere so now I know rats are everywhere, too.  Eww...

A couple of days ago, there was a big brownish black triangular shaped object on the wall in the hallway leading outside our bldg.  I cautiously got a little closer to see what it was...and it started to fly.  Scared me to death.  It was a very, very large moth...we're talking a wing span of at least 6 inches!  Think Gandalph in Lord of the Rings on top of the Tower being carried off by the moth-turned-eagle.   It was on the wall again yesterday when I came in from my walk.  I motioned for Antonio, our maintenance man, to come over from his little guard shack and see it and he smiled sweetly and said, "Oh, a mariposa," and walked away.  Now butterflies are supposed to be colorful and sweet but this mariposa was more like a small bat and someone needs to take a bat to it!  Where is my grandson Sammy and his hand-made butterfly net when I need him?  It could have carried me away!

And let's not forget the fire yesterday...next to our ball park, across the street from our apartment, roaring out of control.  It burned half of a big tree and a big area just outside the fence around the park.  People were just walking by unconcerned.  We asked our neighbor if we should call the fire department (I'm not sure they even have such a thing) and she said, "No, it's just somebody burning garbage."  Oh, well...OK, then.  So we watched it burn for a while from our window and then left for the Institute hoping we'd have a place to come home to.  All the buildings are cement so I guess they don't worry about fires so much.  There's usually something burning somewhere every day.  It's the DR!

Here's our cute little ball park last week.  Don't you just love baseball in February!  Notice the tree on the right rear of the park.

             Here it is today.  After the fire.  I wonder if anyone said, "Whoops, sorry about that."  

Then, there's the happy new sounds we hear at night.  We left the busy street noises and now we have roosters even closer, but that sound has now been drowned out by barking dogs (sometimes hours at a time).  You know how I feel about dogs in general (with the exception of my friend Dawn's sweet Marley) so it's all I can do to not to try find a stun gun or a very large sling shot with something to knock it silly.  How do people let their dogs bark all night?  Are they deaf?  Sister Douglas said she sleeps with ear plugs because of the dogs near her home.  And then, there's the car alarms...2 nights ago for 2 hours!  So that sound drowns out the dogs.  And the drinking and singing baseball players drown out the car alarms.  Oh, and of course dominoes.  We couldn't escape that national pastime.  But really, do these people ever sleep?  Maybe the roar of cars and motorcycles wasn't so bad after all. 

       All in all, we do love our new digs. 

Our apartment is roomy, airy, sunny and 

hopefully bug free for another 5 weeks!

Plenty of room for company...come on down!

And now we have places to sit so we can invite missionaries over and share our dinner!  These are some of our favorite sisters...Cordova, Schillamat, Dahlia and Porter.

Eating salad...my favorite thing.  Yes, that's an avocado.  And check out this fruit.  That's a very small papaya in the middle.  And the funny looking green thing on the left is called a guanabana.  Never tasted one before but I hear they're good!  

                                                                                 

Elder P's favorite place...power nap time. :)