Doctrine and Covenants 88:118: “And as all have not faith, seek ye
diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea seek ye out of the best
books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.”
This week was the Opening of the annual Book Fair, “Manos a Los Libros - 16th Feria
International del Libro 2013”. Once a
year book vendors come out in mass to display and sell their products. There are also other booths for
entertainment, food and fun. The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chose to emphasize values in the home in
their booth. A building was constructed
just for the purpose of displaying Mormon Ad posters representing these values. A big ceremony consisted of speeches and
performances by three youth groups.
After which there was a sign unveiling performed by the area Presidency
and a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony. It was an
honor to be invited and meet with community groups that we have completed
humanitarian service for in the past.
Proverbs 29:18 Where
there is no vision, the people perish
We were privileged to have a personal interview with Elder
Cornish of the Area Presidency. He has
expressed sincere interest in what we are doing to make the Food Project happen
in the Dominican Republic. He gave us
new vision and purpose. Things are starting
to happen quickly. We feel the Lord has
inspired us several times in the last week and that we are finally going in a
positive direction. We will tell more as
things happen. The Branch President selected 5 families to start with on the food project. We visited each one of the homes and were deeply moved by the poverty and daily struggle for survival. Some families have tried to created meager make-shift coops that really don’t accomplish much purpose. We have received much inspiration in the last few days that we will apply and report on in the future. Here are a few pictures of the homes we visited.
This is a home under construction
Moises Fani, Edith and Pres. Diogenes
This member of the church survives by begging in the street. He desperately needs a new wheelchair that we are going to try to obtain for him. We are trying to teach correct Welfare Principals along the way. Why should we let a faithful member of the church eke out a living by begging on the street? There is much to be taught (to the branch president and us) as we seek for the right answers.
Ecclesiastes 3:4 A Time to Laugh
We have arrived! The first few months of our mission we spent driving with white knuckles on the steering wheel and came home from road trips exhausted beyond belief. This week we actually got in our car and went for an afternoon drive just for the entertainment. The things you see on the streets of Santo Domingo are unbelievable though we have become harden to it. We will pass on the refreshing driving experience, but here are just a few of the things we see on our daily neighborhood walks and drives.
This is how they support the next story during building construction
This is a real leg breaker
Fresh meat
1 Cor 15:58 ---be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labour is
not in vain in the Lord
We feel we
were very efficient this week and accomplished much good. We are working harder than probably any time
in our lives. We are happy.
Here are a
few pictures of Wallace’s garden. We are
hopeful it will produce!
You two are wonderful assets in the DR! We appreciate your example and what you are doing. And, yes, we are looking forward to actually seeing real "fruta" from the plantas.....
ReplyDeleteGreat work! We sure love and appreciate your missionary service!
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