Come with us on Saturday

Most week days we are in our office at the Institute/Employment building above on the the left. The colorful orange building on the right is a cafeteria where we sometimes buy our lunch. I love it but Grandpa is very tired of rice. Many weekends we take a drive. I want to share with you our day yesterday so you can have a taste of our current Saturday activities. We had appointments to train two Stake Employment Specialists in Santiago, the second largest city in the DR. One of the responsibilities of the Perpetual Education Fund is to contact each participant every month. We want PEF participants to have the support and help everyone needs to reach their goals. And to remind them to make payments, if necessary. In the past this has been done by a call center staffed by volunteer students. They have done a good job but it is difficult for them to know in advance how often they can come so it has been hard to organize the workload and get everything done. We are also challenged by an intermittent internet connection. When we need it, it is down or at least as slow as molasses in January (that is an Idaho January when it is cold, not here). We have about 475 participants who speak three different languages and it takes a lot of time to contact them all! We had requested of our Area President, Daniel Johnson (he said the closing prayer at Conference Sunday morning!), a person, or a couple, with a formal church calling to head up our call center. He said that it would be better to teach the stakes and districts to become self-sufficient (an important principle we are teaching the students) in contacting their own members. It certainly would be better because they have the stewardship, they know the students and are in a better position to be of real help when there are needs. So that is our current focus. We have appointments with all of the Specialists that are called and are gently encouraging the stake and district presidents to call a Specialist if they don't already have one. We still need the Call Center because nothing ever works perfectly but the work load should be much less.

We left at 8:00 for an 11:00 appointment. We found the Santiago North Stake Center with plenty of time to spare and looked in the appointment book to see that we were at the stake center of the 1:00 appointment not the 11:00 appointment. We knew that the Santiago East Stake Center was being remodeled and were unsure where we were to meet the Specialist. Grandpa had had one of the volunteers confirm his appointments for him so he hadn't talked to the lady since he made the appointment. And it turned out that we didn't have her correct phone number and couldn't use her work number because it was closed on Saturday! Grandpa talked with the Stake President and the CES coordinator who was a bishop in that stake but they couldn't help us. We went to the ward building where the fireside was held for that stake last month but no one was there. Grandpa did have the phone number of the volunteer who had confirmed the appointment and he got in touch with her. She remembered that the Specialist had said we should meet her at the closed building and she would direct us to another building. We got there 1/2 hour late but fortunately she had waited for us. Grandpa can't hear well and I can't understand well and we make mistakes. Maria Gonzalez was very kind and assumed we were lost. True enough. She directed us to another ward building that is hosting the Family History library during the reconstruction. She had all of the keys necessary to get into the building and the library but the electricity was not functioning! We need the internet to get an account for the Specialist to record all of her stake's contacts and demonstrate how it all works with her stakes' information. Oh well. We do have a 48 page handout with screen shots so we could explain all of the processes and she will have a reminder when she can get into the system. This was a very bright lady who asked good questions and is concerned about how she can help the young adults in her stake. She will need follow up but I'm sure she will be capable and willing to get the job done.

We called and delayed the second appointment so we didn't keep her waiting. She had a fistfull of keys but was unable to get into the Family History library. So we drove to an internet center where you pay to use a computer. We had the use of a computer for an hour for about 75 cents and it worked out great. We will definitely try that again if there are problems with a Family History computer. Our problem with Miguelina Peña was that she didn't remember her confirmation date. We spent about a half an hour trying various dates until we gave up. But we were able to show her the information on the participants in her stake and explain about how to make the contacts, how to change information when needed and update the computer when new information is called for. Miguelina is a bubbly lady who likes to talk and is proud of her stake members who are opening new businesses when they can't find a good job.

The drive to and from Santiago has some very beautiful stretches through rolling hills with mountains behind them. There are lots of trees. People put up little stalls to sell gorgeous tropical flowers, coconuts, hunks of raw or cooked meat, produce, colorful fluffy rugs, wooden platters and spoons, chairs, freshly caught fish. It is amazing what you can buy from your car here. Only the US fast food places have the drive-thrus we are familiar with, but people are willing to bring most anything to you if you will buy.

The city of Santiago has a monument that is very prominent. Someday I want to have enough time to go and take a good photo of it. I always try to grab a quick shot in case I never get my chance. I think it is a representation of the Savior on top with upstretched hands. Someday I'll get closer. We usually have a story on the Ipod that Dan gave us. We are still listening to Orson Scott Card. We always get very involved in his stories and hate to turn them off when we arrive. The people and the stories are interesting but the best part is that there is always an idea he is exploring that invites good conversations afterwards. Our latest is a story about how the constitution is overthrown in the United States in our day.

We are enjoying our mission and accomplishing some good things. It is a privilege to be here but we are happy to note that we are almost half way to coming home again.
Love, Jeri