Thursday, October 24, 2013

Power Lines

Neighborhood where we visited a family .  There were
pigs next to their home, not to mention the roosters and
dogs that roam freely. The roosters forgot that they are
only supposed to crow at 6:30 a.m. :-)
Today Elder Fagersten and I went to visit a couple of families.  After we came home we parked our car and were walking up to our apartment.  Our landlord, Manuel, stopped us and told us the whole city was out of power. You may wonder why we didn't notice that when we were visiting these families. This photo to the right is very typical of the homes we visit.  Many of the people have limited power to their homes.  As we have visited them in the evening, they would have to light candles so we would could see because the power was out.








Typical view of power lines.  When people don't pay their
power bill, the company comes out and cuts their lines.

Notice the wires below the trees.  This is in front of our home.

There are streets where the wires aren't too bad.


In the middle of many of the roads, you will find stores like this one.
Notice the 5 gallon water jugs.  No one drinks the water from the
taps.  It is not safe to drink.  You can get 5 gallons of water
for about 75 cents.

Fusebox in our apartment





This is very typical of the power lines
you see in the Dominican Republic




This page is dedicated to our
son-in-law, Norm, who is an electrical engineer.



























Tuesday, October 22, 2013

What's on your moto?

I decided to ask some of the seasoned missionaries if they had seen anything unique that people would carry on their motos.  Now a moto is a small scooter that most of the people use to get around.  Since those who drive them typically don't have cars, it is their main mode of transportation.  So when they need to pick up something and bring it home, they are very creative as to how they transport it on their moto.

Typical Mormon family
Just picking up a gas tank
We've got to get it to the shop somehow. . .


Two men carrying their tools, wires and equipment to work.

Moto with box, notice the package between his legs
We know there are at least two people on this moto.
Often they have their children in between them as well.
No helmets required. . .








Although I don't have pictures for everything, some other items seen on the motos are:

1.  Egg cartons piled about two feet high in between the driver's legs to keep them safe
2.  12 foot poles
3.  Kitchen door carried on top of their heads
4.  Ladders
5.  Two people carrying a table
6.  Lawn mower
7.  Washing machine

Look for updates on this list. . .we've only been here for three weeks.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Why We Love Our Mission

Now, you may think that we only like being on a mission because we don't have to mow our lawn or shovel the snow.  Perhaps you may think that we like being on a mission because we don't have to repair our cars or fix up our home.  Although not having to do those things do add to the charm of a mission, the photos below show the real reason we love it here.
High School students in the country town of Baranca.

President Diaz (our district president), school principle,
Elder y Hermana Haws, the Humanitarian Missionaries who arranged to
 have book shelves made for this high school so the students had a place
 to put their books.  The students were so excited because their books were
no longer in piles on the floor.  They were so grateful.


Meeting a former missionary, "Elder" Bezzantine at the grocery store in La Vega.  He brought his son to his mission.  What a delight to meet them.  They were so kind and generous to us.  They even bought our groceries!
President Diaz and Arletty with their beautiful
 family, Larimar, Nefi, Arlery
Elder Villanueva, Jorge (YM Pres.), Elder y Hermana Fagersten
Visits with the members, what testimonies they have!
Elder Fagersten, Luis (new member), Elder Villanueve, Elder Mendez
What a great spirit he has!  He was baptized Oct. 19, 2013
The joy of Yaneli Garcia's baptism

Budding Pianist in the Conani Branch












The District

Elder Buchmiller is the District Leader in our district of eight missionaries.  I told him he was my favorite district leader ever.  He looked at me in disbelief and said, "Hermana Fagersten, I am the only district leader you ever had."  "Yes, but you are still my favorite," I replied.  He smiled and was happy.  He doesn't know what to think of me yet :-)  We love the missionaries and are blessed to be around this great group of dedicated young men and women who love serving the Lord.


District Meeting and lunch (potato bar) at our home
makes a group of missionaries very happy.  Elder Buchmiller,
my favorite district leader, has not had a potato for 21 months.

Hermanas Kelshaw y Weller
Elders Fernandez y Rodas
Elders Farnsworth y Buchmiller
Elder Farnsworth wins by a 1/2 inch
Zone leaders Elder Escobar y Taylor

Hermana Weller, Hermana Kelshaw,
Hermana Fagersten, Elder Fagersten,
Elder Farnsworth, Elder Buchmiller,
Elder Rodas, Elder Fernandez





Monday, October 14, 2013

How to Reach Us

Today is Monday, October 14, 2013.

We have been in La Vega for two weeks now and I have not seen one postal worker.  Nor have we seen a post office.  Rumor has it that you really can get mail in the Dominican Republic.  However, when we asked our landlord downstairs how he handles his mail  he said, "Oh, you know, emails, the computer.  I really don't mail anything.  But if you want to know where the post office is, I will drive you downtown so you will know where it is."

The recommended way to get a letter is through dear elder whose website is:  www.dearelder.com

When you log onto that website, it will step you through the process of sending a letter.  The only thing you have to know is that when they ask you to select a mission, the name of our mission is:

Dominican Republic Santiago

All letters sent to the Dominican Republic Santiago mission through www.dearelder.com are free.  They print off the letter and give it to our District Leaders, and the District Leaders distribute the letters to the missionaries weekly. Letters sent to the Miami address typically arrive in two weeks.

If you want to send an actual letter you can send LETTERS only through pouch mail to this address:

Elder y Hermana Fagersten
SDQ 8013
PO Box 025725
Miami, FL 33102-5725

After many discussions with the missionaries, this is the information they gave us about getting packages or letters.  First of all, don't bother to send packages, because if you spend $25 to send a package, the post office in La Vega would charge us $25 to pick up the package.  There are plenty of stores we can shop at to get whatever we need. . .but thanks for thinking of us!

Little flat PACKAGES can be sent to the following address:

Elder y Hermana Fagersten
SDQ 8013
2250 NW 114th Avenue Unit 1A
Miami, FL 33172-3652

THANKS FOR YOUR LETTERS!




Monday, October 7, 2013

It's Raining Cats and Dogs, Mostly Dogs

Yes, that is water pouring down from our roof.  I think it has rained at least once a day since we came to the Dominican Republic.

We get so much water that the gutters in streets flood.  But don't let a little water stop you from riding your moto scooter.  The Dominicans put on shower caps to keep their hair dry.  Some take plastic garbage bags and make rain coats out of them as well as hats to cover their hair.  Some drive holding an umbrella.




The elders, Gary and I were on our way to a discussion.  The clouds gathered and the winds blew and the sky opened and poured the rain down on us. The rain is a warm rain, so it is a nice relief from the heat.  We saw a young man, probably about 12 years old, lather up with his soap and then rinse off with the rain water that was pouring from the roof of his house.  That is how some of the people bathe.

Did I mention that there are lots of dogs here. . .they wander around the streets without any leashes. No one really seems to own them.  They don't go into the houses (at least I haven's seen any go inside).  The odd thing is that they will lie down and just go to sleep in the middle of the road.  One night we were on our way home from bringing the sister missionaries home.  We looked down a street and saw six lumps on the road.  What could that be?  Our eyes continued to strain to see what it was.  Pretty soon, we noticed a dog walk down the road, then lay down near the other dogs in the road.  Mystery solved, the lumps were dogs. We wondered if it really did rain cats and dogs in the Dominican Republic.



Our First Week in La Vega, DR

We arrived here by plane from Miami.  We flew directly to Santiago de los Cabelleros which is where our Mission Office is as well as the Mission President and his wife.  (John and Rebecca Douglas).  They are from the Atlanta Georgia area but also lived in the lower NY State suburbs outside of NYC.  He was and will probably return to be a International Finance Lawyer for a very large firm.  They are doing a great job serving the missionaries and the people of the DR Santiago Mission.

It was good to see them outside the airport when we walked out of the airport with our luggage push carts and three pieces of luggage each for a total of 280 lbs of stuff.  They greeted us with a nice air conditioned and a "learn and explain as you go ride" to the mission home.  We learned a lot about some of their culture in that 20 minute ride.  The most obvious was their driving habits.  We'll be talking about those for years to come.  We enjoyed a nice dinner with the Douglas's and rested up for our first full day which was Sunday.

A couple of the young Elder missionaries drove Katherine, myself and Sister Douglas down to La Vega to attend church there.  We attended the Conani Branch (congregation) which is a small branch of the church in a crowded part of town.  Sunday is respected by everyone and the church has a nice piece of property there.  We were very cordially received and the meetings went well.  After the meeting we went to where the
Pres. Diaz and family
Local District President (that would be the person who oversees the church congregations in the area) lives. He had his mother prepare a lunch for us.  He and his wife and three children live upstairs from his mom in a small apartment.  This part of town was even more crowded than where the church was.  She prepared the "Bandera" or national meal of the DR. That would be rice, beans and some meat.  It was very nicely prepared and presented.  We loved it.  We struggled to understand their dialect of Spanish but we survived.  We were attended meetings visited some of the people there.  It was a busy afternoon.  We returned to Santiago and the Mission Home.

Monday the Elders brought our new 2014 ISUZU 4wd pick up truck.  Katherine & I loaded our stuff and we followed the elders down to La Vega and to our apartment.  We got settled in, connected up to the internet and were issued cell phonesl

We then went shopping at La Sirena which is the Dominican Republic's (DR) equivalent to Wal-Mart. We must have been there for two hours or more.  We wound up running a cuenta (bill) of $9,000 + pesos.  So Mom pulls out out Veridian Credit Union Debit Card and the cashier says "Seguro" (sure).  So we paid the billed with the credit card along with a 1% transaction fee.  Later, we met the Dueno (owner) of the apartment who lives below us.  He is retired and is the same age as I am. . .62.  In fact we are only 11 days apart.  I'm older.

Later that evening, the district President came over and he and I went to the local Conani Branch president's house where I met him and the Elder missionaries serving in that area.  Katherine was glad to be able to settle into the house and had some alone time to study Spanish.

Tuesday started with a nice visit to a member of the church who returned to the La Vega from Chicago to care for her ex husband of 40 years ago.  He has cancer and no one else had the time to take care of him.  She felt the need for a visit and a priesthood blessing so the District President, Katherine and I went over and had a very nice visit and ministered to her needs.  She is a woman of faith and depended on the Lord for strength to help her through this.

Later in the day Katherine and I went visiting members of the church with the Branch President.  We visited a few families both those who are active and serving in the church and those who are less active.  Everyone was very warm and kind to us.  The people are wonderful.

The last stop we made was near the Conani Chapel.  We pulled the truck into the gated compound of the church grounds which is surrounded by a 10' block wall topped with barbed wire rolls to discourage others from entering.  The gate is manual and locks up with a hefty chain.  We walked from there to our last stop. It is 9 o'clock at night and plenty dark.  There is street lighting in most of the neighborhoods but they also have rotating blackouts.  So as we go walking to this family's home, the streets get narrower and narrower.  Now I see why we did not bring our truck.  There are still lots of people around and in the streets because it was 90+ degrees that day and no breeze.  So until the insides of the houses cool off everyone puts their patio furniture or whatever they have out on the sidewalks, or in the street, where there are no sidewalks.  So we are meandering by saying hello everyone.  The road dead-ends but we keep walking into alley ways where there are no lights.  The President turns on his "cell phone light."   As he did that another person with a cell phone light comes walking out of an alley.  It was Juana who we were going to visit.  Her husband Juan comes over and we go into their dwelling which is built off of the side of an existing building.  Kind of a "leen-to."  There was no power, so we visited by candle light with them and their two children.  We invited him to the general priesthood broadcast meeting coming up on Saturday night.  We said that we could meet him and his son at the chapel at 7:30 pm and provide a ride to where the meeting would be.  He agreed.  We had a nice visit and prayer with the family.  On Saturday night, that brother and his son met us at the church to get a ride to the meeting.  We provided rides for several men and we ended up with a total ten of us in the truck. Four young men and six adults all needing a ride to great meeting.  Four of the adults rode in the truck bed. Of course, the young men wanted to.  That's why I have the crew cab.

Our other days were filled with similar experiences. We have seen gecko's, you know the Geico Insurance guy.  Well many of his cousins live here. They are fast and show up in unexpected locations, like in the chapel.  

We honestly feel like we have been here a month. We heard a speaker during the churches general conference explain that when he was working in the fields with his mother as a little boy in Africa he was so impressed with all of the work they had accomplished, he wanted to to tell her and show her. So he tried two or three times to get her attention and have her stop and look at the work they have accomplished.  She eventually stopped, looked at her son, and said, "Never look back, never look back, always look ahead and focus on the work that is before you."  He went on to explain how we do not want to cloud our vision with things that we may feel that we have accomplished when there is still so much more that we need to do and can do with our lives.  That is truly the way we feel.  There is so much work to be done that we are trying to stay focused on what is before us.

We love it here and we love you and miss you.

Adelante!


Saturday, October 5, 2013

"YOU LIVE IN A SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD"


Yes, that is a direct quote from the elders that found our apartment in La Vega.  Yet, something seemed a little fishy.
As we walked into our home, we noticed the bars on all the windows and doors.  Even the closet doors have locks on them.  Our bedroom door has two deadbolts and a lock on it.  But if you look carefully at our kitchen door, you will notice that it has six locks on it!  The great part about all of this is that I really feel very peaceful here and feel the Lord's blessing and protection over us.  Although all of the homes in La Vega have bars on their windows, our neighborhood is quite nice and our downstairs landlord, Manuel is great.  He is exactly the same age as Gary.







There are lots of adjustments in a new country.  One of the things
we have had to think about is the water.  You can't drink the water out of the tap or cook with it.  You have to use bottled water.
  
This is a picture of our 5 gallon water container.  We can buy this for about 75 cents.The elders brought this over to us and you simply remove the lid and tip the water jug forward.  It is on a rotating stand.  I couldn't help but think of what fun all of our grandchildren would have with this.  It's as much fun as a refrigerator water dispenser!
FAMILIES



Gary and I are very grateful to our brother-in-law,
Pat Jackson, for letting us stay in his home for two
weeks while we were in the Spanish Immersion
program in Provo.  

Although we didn't get a picture with him.  We did 
get a picture with John, Hellen and their beautiful
family.

We were able to visit with many of the Jackson family.  That was a great treat for us.  

It was also great to see many of our nieces and nephews from my brother Jeff's side of the family.

Can I just say that we have a great family and we love them very much!



This photo is of my wonderful Aunt Elizabeth, my Mom, Luella Mathusek and me  Mom is living with her sister while we are on our mission.  I am thrilled that she is able to be in this loving environment.  She has a wonderful living arrangement and is able to also be with Aunt Elizabeth's daughter, Gaylianne.  I love my cousin and am grateful they are taking such great care of Mom.