Hermana Y Elder Borup

Hello again from La Republica Dominicana. I just got through looking at the weather forecast for this week. Today it was 88* with 80% humidity. Typical for this time of year. On Wednesday it will be 92* and 100% humidity. This explains why when we travel into the Barrios and Campo everyone is outside of their homes sitting, talking, dancing, playing (dominoes, the national board game) and just visiting. Homes are usually not air conditioned, so outside is way more pleasant. It's really fun to drive or walk around a community and see everyone interacting with each other.  This week was a week of airport visits and goodbyes. Hermana Pajares who's group left in June got to fly home to Peru. She had to stay due to an eye infection. Her treatment included 3 surgeries that last one was an emergency cornea transplant. Her infection was so bad that she would have lost her eye without the transplant. They didn't even take the time to find a match. They will do the surgery in P...

Hello everyone. Our lives here seem to be filled with the routine, except when it's not, and that is most of the time. But routine does fill in the blanks. This week we sent an unwilling missionary home, spent some time with some sick missionaries in the hospital, taught our first English class, and became a young missionary for awhile. We did manage to find the local zoo on p-day also. One of our missionaries from Jamaica was scheduled to go home with the last missionary group in June. Since his residency card was valid until the 17th of July he convinced President Nuckols to let him stay a few more weeks. Neither of his Parents are members and none of his 25 siblings are members. None of them cared if he came home or not. He really was going home to nothing. He's a bright young man who wants to be a doctor but has zero support. His plane left at 10:00 Monday morning. The plan was for the Assistants to pick him up at his apartment Sunday night at 9:30 (the time missionaries ...

Here we are again I guess this means another week has passed. And yes just like all the other weeks we have been busy. The work in the office seems to be getting a little more routine. (except when it's not)   When it's not routine it's because of some mistake we have made. We're not sure if the Lord is testing our patience or we are testing His? I'm glad His is infinite. Hermana Borup's is not by the way. President and Hermana Santos are at break neck speed by the way. It has been really fun to watch the Assistants try to keep  up with him. They are totally exhausted. Every time we see them. The Santos' have been having zone conferences and interviews with the missionaries. In order to get a better feel for the missionaries and the mission in general he has been doing the interviews in their homes. I'm sure this has some missionaries very worried as well. Missionaries are not famous for keeping clean houses.  We have a rash of sick missionaries ...

It's hard to believe that another week has gone by. We are just as busy as ever in the office. We hoped that we would be making less mistakes by now but no such luck. We are wondering how long it will take for President Santos to figure out how bad we are with office stuff. President and Hermana Santos have now been here one week and they have not stopped moving. They have now met all of the missionaries in the mission. They held 3 short multi zone meetings so they could meet everyone. They also held an all day meeting with the Zone leaders and the Hermana training leaders. They are loving and warm and are going to do a great job. One of the highlights of the week was seeing President Santos call one of the missionaries that taught and Baptized him and tell him that he is now a mission President. President Santos has been unable to find the missionaries that taught his family 30  years ago. He asked one of the assistance if he knew any way to find them. The Assistant Elder Batema...

This was the week of the big change. We had a round of farewell zone conferences for the past two weeks which concluded in one president leaving and another coming in. It is an amazing process to observe and to be a little part of. This week there were two more Multi-Zone conferences. President and Hermana Nuckols were focused on the work with just the right amount of attention to the obvious. They were saying goodbye also. The length of time between missionary transfers has been extended to 9 weeks instead of the usual 6 weeks due to the timing of the Mission President change. President Nuckols is using this increased time to create momentum during this change. He asked the missionaries to make this a transfer of miracles. The missionaries are excited about the challenge. The conference had a big focus on faith. I think this will be a wonderful transfer period. At one of the zone conferences the Assistants to the President (APs) recorded a testimony from a man who was baptized an...