Random October thoughts from Grandma

My hair is not quite that gray really. But it might be by the time we get home. We were in PriceSmart today. It is the closest experience to shopping at Costco available here.There was not a single person in a Halloween costume even though it is October 31st. Hope all of you are enjoying your Halloween experience this evening. Don't forget to brush your teeth.

I wanted to share some random experiences we’ve had recently. During the rainy season we have had some rip roaring thunder showers. The lightening is impressive and the thunder very loud. The thing that always happens during thunder storms is that it sets off car alarms. The crashing sounds of nature are impressive and kind of fun but the car alarms are annoying. It pours for a little while and then it stops. Usually the streets fill up and the trash floats around but then all of the water drains down to the ocean and everything is just fine. Except for the trash. When I first got here I couldn’t believe all of the trash on the sidewalks. Most of it was tied up in plastic grocery sacks but just sitting on the sidewalk. After a couple of weeks I realized that the custom here is to put your trash out for the trash trucks without trash cans! Most people bag it neatly but there are lots of individuals who come along and rip open the bags to see if there is anything they want to take with them. The poor trash collectors wear gloves but pick up the trash with their hands! They need a horse manure shovel, a backhoe or something serious to work with! There are some 50 gallon drums filled with trash set out by homeowners. I don’t know how the guys lift them in order to empty them into the truck. Whatever they pay them, it is not enough. There are people paid to sweep the sidewalks and gutters. Since there are almost no trash cans anywhere it is a constant battle. Also, a little known fact for those of you who live in the deserts of California or Idaho: Humidity makes it so that when you take a container out of the refrigerator it immediately becomes wet. After you squeeze the mustard you have to dry your hand so you don’t get your sandwich soggy.

The new Humanitarian Service couple are from the country outside of Preston, Idaho. He taught science and math in a high school in Salt Lake and then they moved to a farm 10 years ago. Here in Santo Domingo, they moved into an apartment in another section of our building about a week ago and are having a hard time adjusting to all of the noise. We are on a busy corner in a big city where cars honk their horns much more than cars do in the USA. Most of the taxis and busses have specialty horns in addition to their regular horns to attract passengers to their vehicles. We think it is much quieter than the non air conditioned apartment we had in Los Cristianos with a bar across the street that blasted music until 11:00 PM most nights. Here we close the windows and turn on the air conditioner and the ceiling fan. We are still doing that every night and it is the end of October. But the poor Francoms are used to chickens being the only noisemakers. They do have six sons and one daughter but I guess they have forgotten what it was like to live in the middle of chaos.

Their one big concern when they moved in was getting stuck in the elevator when the electricity goes off. They are on the 10^th floor. We assured them that there is a generator and the elevators always function just fine. Two days after they moved in there was an announcement that the generators would be shut down from 10:30 to noon and from 2:30 to 6:00 PM every day. They did promise to check each of the elevators for occupants before they turn off the generator. If I lived on the 10^th floor I’m not sure I could get home. I huff and puff to get up the six flights of stairs to our apartment. This is only a problem when the electricity is out. It used to be once a week or so. But it has happened almost every day since they moved in!!! They are walking up to their apartment just to practice. I always hope that the electricity is on so I can ride up in the elevator.

I learned a very interesting fact. Brother Call, who serves with his wife as Public Relations missionaries, was born into a polygamous family. He told us a bit about his childhood in a Family Home Evening. He explained that there were two manifestos. The first one is in the D & C and was for the United States. There was a second one a couple of years later for the rest of the world. He was the youngest child of the younger wife of his father and grew up in the colonies of Mexico. His first wife chose the second wife for her husband because they were told by the prophet that they should move to Mexico so they could live the principle. It is amazing to me to realize that he lived the experiences of my great grandparents!

This last photo is one of Rosario with the Evans girls taken about two months ago. Cute girls, all of them! Morgan, Hannah, Kate and Rosario with Mallory in front.

Love to all of you!
Mom/Grandma/Jeri

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

Letter from Elder Pettingill/Dad/Grandpa

I would like to take a moment with all my children and grandchildren to share my feelings about why we are on these missions. I would first like each of you to know that I know that God lives and is concerned about each of us. I know that we are here on earth to gain a body and be tested. The purpose is to help us learn who we are and what we want. With that understanding we can see why he doesn’t interfere more with our decisions. How can we learn if we always are getting help from the sidelines? Our choices here on earth cause us to make many mistakes but by suffering the consequences we learn what works and what doesn’t. God knew we would make mistakes and that is why he prepared someone (Jesus Christ) to atone or pay for our mistakes if we wanted to repent or change. Repentance is just changing our attitudes and behavior. We will become who we will become by the things we do and the things we think about. By our fruits, we will be able to recognize who we really are.

I would like to tell each of you that I know that it was necessary for someone to bring mercy to the table of justice to allow us to overcome our mistakes. Justice requires a consequence or penalty for broken law. We cannot understand clearly, perhaps, in this life all of the ramifications of justice but I am confident that God forsaw the difficulties we would confront in this mortal existence and prepared his first born son to provide the way for mercy to pay the price of sin IF we would follow Jesus Christ. It only works if we follow Christ because he only promised to pay for the sins of those who would come and follow his example in the best way they could. Following him requires obedience to certain requirements. (Read Articles of Faith 2, 3 and 4.)

So what does all this have to do with us being on a mission? We are trying to help God prepare the people for the return of His Son, Jesus Christ. We have much to do to get ready for him. One of the things we need to do is become more loving, charitable, and patient with each other. We need to try to build up instead of tear down. We need to have concern as much for others as ourselves. My favorite scripture is in Mosiah 3:19. It explains clearly how our bodies fight with our spirits for dominance. Mosiah taught that the natural man is an enemy of God. Our bodies want to satisfy the physical needs and desires and our spirits do not have much control unless we submit to the influence of the Holy Ghost. Submitting to the influence of the Holy Ghost is the battle because we don’t hear those promptings very easily. We have to be humble, prayerful and quiet. I know that God answers prayers if we will humble ourselves and pray for guidance and then be still and listen to the feelings we get. God speaks to our feelings as much as or more than to our intellect. This comes with practice and experience. But you have to learn to pay attention to your feelings.

I love each of you and pray for your success in this life (and the next) and I know that God will give each of us what we REALLY want. Because our choices show us what we really want.

Love,
Dad and Grandpa

Photos from Guyana

I made these photos to share with the Area PEF Committee and Brother Aybar. I thought you might like to see them also. The people in Guyana are ready for the blessing of the PEF program. It will make it possible for young people who have dreams to prepare themselves for good employment. A stable job and a reasonable income will allow them to raise strong families and become leaders in the Church and their communities. How blessed we are to be able to work with this wonderful program and such fine people who are anxiously engaged in doing good.
Love, Jeri

Adventure in Guyana

One of my strongest memories of Guyana is that the ocean and the rivers are brown. Apparently the soil is clay and the rivers carry the very fine particles to the ocean. They do not settle to the bottom but remain suspended and color the water brown. I am told that some rivers in the interior look like they are filled with Pepsi instead of water. This is the ocean at high tide as seen from the seawall in Georgetown. The city of Georgetown is at a lower elevation than the sea and everywhere we went the land is laced with trenches filled with dirty water, but in some places also beautiful water lilies. The trenches connect with canals and exchange water with the rivers. When the tide goes out, the water level drops in the river and they open the gates that let the water drain out of the land. When they need irrigation water they let the water in at high tide.

This is an unusually large and beautiful house. See the water lilies blooming in the trench in front of the house? The trenches are often basically open sewage but there are beautiful flowers as well. Here is a better view of the flowers:

Here is a lily pad just waiting for a frog. I didn't see any frogs but I heard them every evening. The frog songs in Guyana are wonderful. I wish I could have brought the sound with me. It is very high pitched but musical and pleasant to listen to. The people who live there are so used to the background noise they don't pay attention but I enjoyed it.

There are two districts in Guyana. One in Georgetown and the second is called Canje. Guyana is part of the West Indies Mission and the missionaries are baptising many new members. They are experiencing the challenges of rapid growth. They do have the blessing of many senior couples because the mission president has actively recruited them. The church needs so many more couples to shepherd new members and help them learn how to become the needed leaders in the struggling new branches. President Barrow is the Georgetown District President and the district has received approval to become the first stake in the next few months. President Barrow is wonderful and a very capable leader. I was very impressed with his willingness to shoulder additional responsibilities and do all he can to bring greater opportunities to his people. He is the chairman of the PEF Country Committee and that is the first group we met with. Here is President Barrow with two women on the committee. There are also several others who are not in this photo.

This is Grandpa teaching the leaders of the Georgetown District about the Perpetual Education Fund and their responsibilities to find, teach and support the youth. Everyone was very grateful to have this program available and look forward to the process of helping the youth dream, plan and achieve their goals. We held this training and also a fireside in both districts. Here are some of the youth participating in the firesides:

There is a large river between Georgetown and New Amsterdam where our friends the Bullocks live. Their area is in the Canje District. One must take a ferry to cross the river. Can you see how brown the water is? It turned out that we had entertainment on our trip. There is a man who is very creative in finding a way to be self reliant. During our trip he "ate fire" (very shocking and not something I would like to try) and then he also did a tightrope demonstration. This man was very skilled! He removed his cap, his shirt and then his pants while standing on the wire! He then put each item back on and never fell from the wire.

We thought he certainly earned a donation and gave him $100 in Guyanan dollars (which are worth much less than American dollars). In fact, since they don't use checks or credit cards, people must carry a lot of cash. It is as if, in our country, we had to pay for everything in cash and we didn't have any paper money worth more than $5.00. Grandpa's wallet looked very full. Elder Langford says people walk around with plastic grocery sacks full of money in order to go shopping or to go to the bank. Yes, robberies are common.

It was Carifest 2008 while we were in Guyana and we had a chance to see part of the displays. It is a big festival of all things Caribbean held every other year in a different country.

We had umbrellas both for the sun (it was very, very hot and humid) and for the rain (it poured buckets). We especially enjoyed the Amerindian exhibit of traditional and modern homes and crafts.

This is Chris trying on a feather headress and posing with a blowpipe.

I wanted to buy all of the little animals. They also had armadillos and other animals made from tiny seeds sewn tightly together together to form the shapes. Another area had lots of things for sale. We talked with a man who makes steel pan instruments. He really does start with a steel drum and heats and stretches the bottom inward. He tunes them with an electronic instrument that measures the wave lengths of the sound and identifies the notes. He makes and tunes it all with a short hammer that has a big head! He sells sets to schools and individuals and was happy to play for us. Very fun!
It was a great experience to be able to visit another country and become acquainted with such wonderful people. We are very blessed and grateful to be involved in sharing the miracle of the Perpetual Education Fund. This program helps young people in places where they need a hand to be able to build a future that will allow them to build strong families and serve as leaders in the church and their communities.

Love, Mom/Grandma/Friend

Visit from the Arellanos

Emily and Edgar and Evan came to enjoy a Caribbean vacation with us.

Isn't this a face that would charm a grandmother's heart? Evan is learning new words every day and can repeat the words you say. I wish I could learn new language as well as he does. He will be speaking both English and Spanish in record time. He was an amazingly patient traveler and enjoyed almost all of our activities. We all enjoyed him!

This is Catalina Island. It is more beautiful than the one that's "...26 miles across the sea, Santa Catalina is the island for me..." That song was popular when I was a kid. They obviously hadn't seen this Catalina Island. We went to La Romana on the southeast of our island and took a 1/2 hour boat trip to Catalina island where we played all day. The crew fixed a buffet lunch for us and later took us back to La Romana at 4:00 in the afternoon.

It doesn't get much better than this - incredible Caribbean scenery and an adorable grandchild. Emily and Edgar were a bonus. Here they are approaching Catalina Island after snorkeling during our boat trip.

We did go to museums, restaurants, small towns, the Colonial District in Santo Domingo with many historical buildings and souvenir shops. The Arellanos went with us to a fireside. But the beach was the favorite destination. The Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean were both wonderful. Grandpa loved the oportunity to spend lots of time in the water. Grandma enjoyed taking photos and relaxing in the shade.

I did make the mistake of asking a man if I could take a photo of him on his horse. The next thing we knew we were taking a romantic ride through the waves. The man said, "Don't worry about the price. We are friends." It was great. How often does one get to go horseback riding on the beach?

Two other guys came along and asked if we wanted sea food. Grandpa was a clear "No" and Emily and Grandma were not interested but Edgar likes sea food. He enjoyed lots of oysters and octopus and I'm not sure what else. They even had hot sauce for him. He said it was excellent. But he was a bit surprised when the price they quoted turned out to be for EACH oyster. Oh well, we all had a great time.


We went to a fresh produce market at the "fair grounds" and Edgar bought the ingredients for Chili Rellenos which he made for us. We even had corn tortillas they brought from California. We miss corn tortillas! We saw this beautiful plumeria and there were goats and horses and poultry. Most of the horses I've seen here are very small but we saw one extremely tall horse. One man who owned several goats came up and introduced himself when he saw our missionary badges. Evan loved seeing all of the animals.

I learned a new word from Evan. "BA-poes" is Mexican baby-talk for shoes. It is short for zapatos and is very cute when he says it. He likes to wear ba-poes and had fun trying on all of my shoes. He loved the high heels best because they made the most noise. Here he is in his Daddy's shoes:

We played dominoes together while Emily and Edgar were at the temple. Playing dominoes is a Dominican tradition. But I don't think they play them the same way Evan does.

We went to McDonald's one afternoon and they were getting ready for a birthday party. We were not on the guest list but "Ronald McDonald" invited Evan to get his face painted.

The Pettingills certainly had a wonderful time. We'll go back to working hard so we can vacation again if anyone else is able to come for a visit.

Love, Grandma P