We are feeling the pressure of limited time because of the many things we would like to do before we leave for home. We have firesides scheduled for every Sunday and a couple on Saturdays. We visited Higuey and Hainamosa at the end of April. Higuey is a long ways east and then north. It is the closest chapel to the big tourist towns on the east coast of the island. It was on a Saturday and we left early in order to stop in Bayahibe and Dominicus again. We had lunch at the restaurant we enjoyed with Beverly and Jessica and Daniel. I was able to take more photos because it was daylight. A very beautiful part of the island! We went out to dinner with the Bishop and his wife in Higuey after the fireside. It was fun to talk with them. He is learning English to advance in his job at a hotel and she is proud of her husband’s responsibilities and eager to support him. Higuey is in the La Romana Stake but so far away that they needed their own fireside. The next day we went to Hainamosa which is in the east part of Santo Domingo to hold another fireside.
Dan and Beverly and Jessica, do you recognize the table at the right above? This is the daylight view. The little yellow boat was just to the right and the 3 crabs (Can you find all three?) were just beyond the little sea wall.
The next weekend we went to Las Americas which is also in the eastern part of Santo Domingo to train a stake specialist to call all of the Perpetual Education Fund participants in her stake every month and record her contacts in the PEF computer system. Ester works for one of the major banks and is comfortable with computers so she understood how to do the work and we have high hopes that she will follow through. Church callings require a lot of time and devotion. In order to answer questions and find solutions to problems, sometimes a lot of effort is required. We are grateful that so many are willing to take responsibility and serve their fellow members.
On Sunday, May 3rd we started attending the Gonzalo Branch to support and strengthen this remote unit of the church. We had asked our Mission President months before if he needed us to attend a branch but he never made an assignment. I was enjoying being a relaxed spectator on Sundays (I only substituted in the nursery now and again and spoke once in Sacrament Meeting) and loved our English language Sunday School class. But the other Santo Domingo mission got permission to call us to assist one of their branches. Gonzalo is about 2/3 of the way up to Samana Peninsula on the toll road Susan and Randy will remember. It takes us an hour and 15 minutes to drive there. It is further than Monte Plata where Emily and Edgar went with us to a fireside on their visit. There is not much in the way of employment in the town. There are houses, a police station, a city hall (which is even a bit bigger than Melba’s) and a school for both elementary and secondary levels. The branch has been in existence for about a year. The branch president is in his 70’s and is the only Melchizedek priesthood holder. Actually the records show him as an Aaronic priesthood holder. We need to get that fixed. The Primary president is 16 years old and had been told that it was just fine to let the kids run around outside. I am now the Primary helper and we have kept the kids inside, sitting in chairs and fairly orderly and involved for the last two weeks. The young president is amazingly good at teaching and loving the children. I’m doing sharing time and thinking up quiet activities. The building we meet in is one big room with curtains to divide the room into three sections. Lewis was called to be his first counselor last week and the district suggested we cut back to two hours on the “basic” plan. We will have all of the adults and youth meet together and the Primary President and I will continue with the children for only one hour. The second hour we will have Sacrament Meeting. When there are more priesthood holders they can begin to divide things up more and add the third hour back in. Surprisingly there are more men than women on the branch list. We had to get the data from the Area Office. The branch president didn’t even have a list of his members. There are missionaries assigned to the branch. With their help, we can verify the accuracy of our list and begin to know who are members and who are in the various age groups. There have been 30-50 people coming every Sunday but many were curious children without parents. Hopefully we can retain their interest and teach them what the church is about. The church has a very fun homemade steeple and is situated at the top of a hill. If I sit in the back I can see out the side door during Sacrament Meeting. It is the very best view I have ever enjoyed in church. I have been impressed with the reverence of the people during Sacrament Meeting and talks by several youth have been excellent.
Gonzalo chapel on the hill
Grandpa is First Counselor to President Rodriguez
Erica is one of the Primary children. Yes, she does have attitude.
I can see this view out the side door of the building during Sacrament Meeting
We went back to Azua to train Flor as a new stake specialist and held a fireside in San Pedro.
On the 13th Grandpa and I had a ½ hour appointment with the Area Presidency to report on our stewardship. Brother Aybar and Brother Lilly, our bosses were there also. We went over the things we have done, the problems we see and had a couple of recommendations. President Johnson was impressed with how many stake specialists we have trained and the amount of contacts they are providing. We are not doing so well with our Service Center volunteers but overall progress is being made. They kept us for more than an hour so I guess we had good enough answers for their questions.
Last Saturday we enjoyed a very fun day. I had wanted to go to Altos de Chavon but the entrance fee is $20.00 in US dollars for each person. I didn’t want to go that badly. One of the Senior couples had called and asked if a group of us could go for a lower price because we are not tourists but living here in the country. The person on the phone gave instructions about which gate to enter and gave the price as $5.00 per person. So 5 couples went in two cars. Fortunately, the bold couples were in the front car. We just followed. It took a very, very long time and we passed through four guarded gates but we got in after a lot of talking and for no money?! The Altos of Chavon has a beautiful golf course set on a high bluff overlooking a river and the centerpiece is a reproduction of a 17th century Italian village that has been turned into a wedding chapel and various shops and restaurants. It is beautiful! I read that it was built many years ago by a very wealthy father for his daughter who wanted to travel to Italy to learn to paint. He wanted to persuade her to stay at home and learn to paint. There is a museum and several art schools located here now. They even had couples in period costume and some dancers and musicians along the cobbled street. The prices were outrageous and the hamburger Lewis ordered was inedible but we had a lovely time. There was a man with a donkey and a singing group that sang “Celito Lindo”, a Mexican folksong, to these former Mexican missionaries. There is also a beautiful outdoor theater built of stone that is used for international level performances. This is a very lovely place for those who can pay for the lifestyle of the rich and the famous. But it did seem like they needed a lot more tourists to support the restaurants and purchase the wares in the shops. I’m glad we were able to go and enjoy this beautiful setting. I certainly have not seen architecture like this in the United States.
This is the reproduction chapel
People in period costume stroll by. The dancers and musicians are further ahead.
How about that cool "river" in the darker stones at the top of the building?
This is the view down to the river.
I like the dragons on this building
The Fraziers were brave enough to each take a ride on this cute donkey.
This is a closeup of the stage of the outdoor theater
This is the seating in the theater as seen from the stage. Grandpa is the tiny person on the left.
On Sunday we went to Gonzalo and then drove a very long ways to Azua in the western part of the country to hold a fireside. We were surprised at the attendance. This is only a district but the attendance was more than 75 people! Good job, Azua. Our reservation at the Hotel San Ramon got lost somehow. Not hard to imagine. We were worried. It was a long ways home over unsafe roads in the dark and we were very tired because we had been up since 5:00AM. Fortunately we did find a room at the Don Juan Hotel. Go ahead and snicker. There was no running water but the bed was clean (I think), the air conditioning almost worked and we did sleep and left first thing in the morning.
Last night was our last Family Home Evening at the Johnson home. President and Sister Johnson will be moving to Mexico (where he grew up in the Colonies) to serve as the Area President in Mexico City. President Viñas will become the Area President here. It is always a treat to get together with the Senior couples and extra nice to have a dinner and a lesson by a general authority. He asked each couple to write a description of the atonement suitable for a young child using no more than six sentences. That was a good exercise. After reviewing a number of scriptures he asked several individuals to bear a testimony of the atonement suitable for an audience of small children. He made the point (and we could see for ourselves) that no matter how well we describe the doctrine we need to bear testimony to allow the Holy Ghost to add his witness to the truthfulness of what we say. That is a very important principle for parents and teachers to remember.
Please also remember that we love you and are so pleased with all that you are doing and becoming.
Love, Grandma and Grandpa P.
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