I'm not sure where to start but the result is that I may have accelerated how fast we are asked to leave the office. Tuesday morning I received a call from Elder Buhler (housing secretary) telling me that the Landlord is threatening to lock the Elders in Neyba into their home because he has not been paid (my job). But wait it's not that simple! The missionaries have lived in this home for several years. The landlord died about 6 months ago and we did not know it so we continued to try to pay her. We were notified a few months ago and tried to find who the new owner is. There was some dispute between the husband and the son of the deceased landlord. We finally learned that the husband was the rightful owner and he was already mad that he was not getting paid. We pay through wire transfers so we got his bank info and tried to pay. ( sorry I just realized this is way to much detail). To make a long story short Elder Buhler and I drove to Neyba (https://www.google.com.do/maps/place/Neyba/@18.4889484,-71.4331915,14z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x8eba70f875da17bb:0xdb16562c22881842!8m2!3d18.4862841!4d-71.415081?hl=en&authuser=0) and moved the Elders (4) to Barahona. The man did get paid but now he needs to find new renters. Now how is this my fault you ask? It's not really but I still feel bad because I keep feeling there was more that I could have done. From a quick look at this, the missionaries were kicked out because the landlord wasn't paid. I'm the guy that pays the Landlords.
We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Mission President and the missionaries who are in the office right now. We had all the food that you are supposed to have on Thanksgiving including funeral potatoes and Bacon Pie! We celebrated on Monday instead of Thursday because we had a visiting General Authority this week who was here Wednesday - Friday. It was fun to share our Thanksgiving tradition with missionaries from countries where it is not the tradition. It was also a reminder of how much our family and friends mean to us. We miss them especially at this time of year.
We did return to La Caleta this week. Saturday is our preparation day so after a bike ride we drove out to La Caleta. It feels like coming home. Many of the same people are there each week. The kids always remember us and are quick to ask to use our swim goggles. There usually is someone we need to remind that they need to share. I talked to a man for a while that comes often with his nieces and nephews and thing he had about 8 there this time. He talked to me like I understood everything he was saying and I acted like I did. That can get you in trouble sometimes but this time it didn't (at least that I know of)
Elder Zivick from the Caribbean Area Presidency toured the MIssion. He and his wife spent the first day with the President and office staff. We were able to meet with him for about an hour. He wanted to thank us for the work we are doing. (apparently, he did not hear about the missionaries getting kicked out of their home the day before) It was very nice to be able to spend some time with him and his wife and feel their love for the Savior and for His work. He is almost 70 years old and is spending his life building the kingdom. It is very inspiring.
AS you can see from the pictures there are many children that come to church in our Branch. Many come who are not members and their parents are not members. They come I think because they know they are welcome. Maybe it just feels good to be there. Maybe they feel something familiar when they are at church. Maybe they like to hear about and sing songs about Jesus. Maybe it's all of these and more but there are a lot of kids and we love that they come. We admire the Branch members for how patient and kind they are with the kids because sometimes they aren't quite, they are just kids. But everyone watches out for them and helps them feel good. They even stay the whole 3 hours. And they really are pretty good during Sacrament meeting (which is last). They are even good considering Hermana Borup is always distracting them. "suffer the little children to come unto me"
We hope you all have another great week. We will do our best too!
Your friends
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