Hola to all . . .
We have had a good time being the "investigators" for the missionaries here at the MTC to practice their teaching in Spanish. I am so amazed at how well they do just being here a few days when they teach for the first time. Of course very limited language skills but they try so hard and are so much better than I am that I marvel at their young brains! They taught us every Monday for 4 weeks. I have included a picture of Sisters Howell and Stirland - our first set - they left for Puerto Rico Tuesday. They were thrilled with the box of brownies I had just given them . . . "yeah chocolate" they said!
MTC girls that went to Puerto Rico
The school next door to us has a guard shack where two maintenance men live - we assume they guard and maintain the school. It is in plain view of our window so I often watch them cooking over a small fire and other tasks. The other day one of them was squatted on the dirt washing several pans he had around him. He was scrubbing them for a long time with dirt he kept picking up and then splashed water from a pan on them to rinse them off. There were only about 6 pans/lids all together but he stayed in that position for more than 20 minutes working on those pans and then dumped what little water there was and smoothed out the dirt and left it to dry and he was finished! Think of the water and dish soap I have wasted . . .
There was a two and a half hour meeting last week that we thought two leaders were in trouble with the way they spent welfare funds. It was a pleasant surprise when they had explanations as to what was really happening and things didn't look so bad. That hasn't occurred often and we were happy for the clarifications! The work goes on and is pretty much the same. We have many "sets" of papers scattered in our apartment that Chuck is working on. Wednesday night we didn't get home until 11:30. We really don't like to be even be out after dark in some parts of the city but it is sometimes unavoidable in order to meet with these men.
I received notice of a 50th high school class reunion being planned for 2014 . . . there must be some mistake - how can that possibly be intended for me??? That time machine has gone into overdrive it seems.
It is a sign of the times we live in when at the end of Tuesday's Devotional we saw a video made by USA Homeland Security on what to do if a gunman or "otherwise" shows up at your workplace. It was interesting . . . first RUN, second HIDE and third FIGHT were the options. We received a pamphlet put out by the church. I guess it is a needed precaution.
We are having trouble with our credit card here from the office - one expense in particular we couldn't find a receipt or remember what it was. Turns out we remember the guy at the gas station once told us we would have to come back for the receipt - not too crazy for the DR as receipts are not a routine thing. Now we know he took our number and went out to dinner the next day - was suspicious also as we don't usually go out on Sunday. Gringo alert!
The church is participating in a huge book fair here in the city. Each sponsor builds their own little house in this park area to put on their display. The theme for the church this year is "Family Values" - we visited this morning and were very impressed with what they have done. We didn't get to look around too much but they are certainly having large crowds.
The "Family Values" display
All is well with us . . . KEEP THE FAITH and enjoy your loved ones! Love to all Mom and Dad, Chuck and Vickie, Grandma and Grandpa XOXOXOXOXO
Local vendor that we pass every day.
Creative cardboard hat for shade at the book fair!
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