Life Is About Attitude

Pascale Pierre with Vickie

Hola to family and friends . . .                                  May 24, 2013

We had a fun "Mother's Day" talking to or getting messages from kids and grandkids.  The Florida gang decorated a plastic tablecloth for us - we are enjoying it!  The day wasn't so great for our office partners/friends Joy and Jim Crismon.  They arrived two months ago as the Welfare couple for the area.  She fell that Sunday morning and broke her hip.  She was flown out that night to Miami and had surgery the next day.  She swiftly made recovery in a rehab facility and went home to Utah yesterday for more rehab and healing.  We are anxious to learn what will happen with their mission assignment . . . we miss having neighbors next door here at the office.   

Some time ago while serving in the temple they needed someone to be the escort for a young woman that was there all alone preparing to serve her mission.  It was a wonderful blessing for me to be asked to be with her.  Her name is Pascale Pierre.  She is 24 and from Haiti but has lived here for 3 years supporting herself.  She speaks 4 languages lucky for me one is English.  Her mother couldn't come to be with her as she was having issues with her papers to leave Haiti.  Pascale was leaving the next day for two weeks to go to Haiti and visit her family - she hadn't seen her mother in a year.   When she returned she was entering the MTC and then going to the Santiago Mission here in the DR which is the north/central part of the country.   I really wanted a picture of her and so tracked her down at the MTC.  It was so fun to see her again.  What a different life she has had from anything in my experience and she is thriving!

Reid Cornish - Everyone's buddy!

Reid Cornish is a friend extraordinaire to all the senior missionaries here.  He is the son of Elder and Sister Cornish serving in the Area Presidency.   He always has a happy greeting and big hug when you see him and treats you like his best friend.  When we drive into the Casa/temple complex he is often playing basketball, roller blading and doing cartwheels or on his "board"  blasting about.  I took a picture of him the other day in his shirt he had decorated himself - you can see the scotch tape and different letters he made work to create the message "Life is About Attitude!" Well Reid, you are a terrific example of that!  We are grateful to have you for our friend.   

The tornado season seems to be especially hard - seeing all the devastation in Oklahoma truly looks like a bomb.  The Haws serving here as Humanitarian Service have a daughter that lives in Moore, Oklahoma - she had just picked her son up early from that Plaza Towers school that was demolished - to take him to a funeral for which she was playing the piano.  Their home is on the edge of all the destruction and was not harmed.  They are feeling very blessed.

As we drove to the office this morning the ocean looked really brown but you could see the beautiful blue further out . . . we are told there has been a lot of rain in the mountains and it is the river dumping water into the ocean that caused it to be so "ugly!"  We hadn't seen the brown water that far from the river before - amazing what "Mother Nature" can clean up!  The outlandish gorgeous red Flamboyant Trees are almost in full bloom - will have to send pictures next time - they are really head turners!

We are looking forward to a short visit from Dick and Nancy arriving tomorrow night - we hope they make it - the planes coming here always seem to be pretty full.  LOVE TO ALL  . . . . please know we "talk about you" and pray for mucho mucho blessings on your behalf!!!

Mom and Dad, Chuck and Vickie, Grandma and Grandpa     XOXOXOXOXO

Cement truck workers catching a ride on the truck - totally permitted!

Chuck's "corrected" Spanish translation. 

He thought there would just be a mark or two - hilarious!