Family History Beach and Apple pie

I'm not sure where the week went. As I start to look back on the week it just seems like a blur and I can't remember what we did. Hermana Borup tells me we were really busy and now that she reminds I guess I agree. We have been working with a family in the branch trying to help them become more active in the Branch again. They are a great little family but getting to church with a family of 4 on a very used motorcycle can be a challenge. We shared a family home evening with them and meet with them during the week to talk about faith. He is one of my teachers on how to make chicharrones. I tried to make some this week a failed miserably. But don't worry, I'm not going to give up.

We were asked to do house inspections at the missionary houses. There are 16 missionaries in the zone. There are 2 houses with 4 missionaries and 4 houses with 2 missionaries. This is the second time we have done house inspections in the zone and the missionaries do a pretty good job of keeping things clean. We have to say the worst house was the Zone leaders. They said they would repent though. Four of the houses are here in the city of Azua. One is about 20 minutes away in a town called Sabana Yegua, and the farthest house is in Padre Las Casas. It takes about 1 hour to get there. It is a cute little town in the mountains. It is amazing how different the climate is there. The temperature is about 10 degrees cooler. We planned our inspections to end in Padre Las Casas because we have had a feeling the missionaries are struggling a bit there. Not due to poor effort or not getting along but just the work has been hard. We felt like we could go out with them and meet some of the branch members and go with them on some of their appointments. It turned out to be the highlight of the week.

The missionaries in Padre Las Casas took us around to meet some of the branch members which was really great. It's hard to be a faithful member of the church in an isolated area. But we met faithful Temple attending members that really lifted us as we visited. We ended our day with the missionaries going to the house of a young couple who the Elders met by "accident". The first time they taught the couple they told them about the Book of Mormon and they asked them to read the introduction. They then invited them to read the testimonies of the witnesses. When we got there they told the missionaries that they had not read it yet. The missionaries were going to read the witness testimonies with them but Hermana Borup and I felt strong about asking the missionaries to teach the restoration discussion. As they taught about Christ establishing His church and how it was lost from the earth and then telling the Joseph Smith Story there was an amazing spirit that filled the room. There is something really special about the missionaries teaching the restoration. We feel really blessed to be there whenever it happens. On our way to take the missionaries home, we all felt uplifted by our testimonies of this great event of the restoration. Hermana Borup and I went to Padre Las Casas with the goal of cheering up or lifting the missionaries in some way but they lifted us up and I think felt blessed themselves as they did.

We took our bicycles to Padre Pas Casas and got up early before we came back to Azua and a beautiful hilly ride up the mountains behind the town. We rode through a couple of small towns and saw some great out of the way countryside. There were many steep little hills about 1/4 mile or so long and then we'd go down the other side. It felt like the going up was about the same as the going down. When we got about 1 hour away from town we decided we should head back because it would take about another hour to return. As it turned out it took us about 30 minutes to return. I guess we were going up a lot more than going down on the way out of town.

A couple other highlights from the week were: Hermana Borup made an Apple pie for one of the missionaries birthday. A task that I felt was above and beyond the call of duty, but the Elders really enjoyed it. We also went to the government records building and helped a newer member do some family history work. We found one lady in the office to be very helpful. She even printed out some information without a charge. As we walked out of the building she came and told us that she is a less active member and that if we need help in the future she would be happy to help. In the same trip to that building the judge that performed the marriage a few weeks ago came up to me and told me she is also a less active member and said she loves to help the missionaries. Also, as you can see from the pictures below we took a midweek trip to the beach with Escarlin and her cousin Evelin. tough work but it needed to be done.

So it really was a busy week. And now we are looking forward to another week full of adventures and new experiences. stay tuned!

Your friends

Hermana Y Elder Borup

Just catching a ride on the banana truck.

Laundry day

Hermana Borup helping Manuela ( a new member) at the government office to get some names for her family history.

This a beach near Azua. About 15 minutes by car and then a 10-minute walk. It's called Playa Blanca

This shell is about the size of a fist and a half.

Escarlin found this shell at Playa Blanca

We found these shells in about 30 minutes.

Fellowshipping new members can be really hard.

Just lean the ladder against the wire.

Visiting the Branch President in Padre Las Casas

walking the streets of Padre Las Casas

Walking the streets of Padre Las Casas, still.

Elders in Padre Las Casas getting ready to teach.

Hermana Borup made an apple pie for Elder Nelson's Birthday.

Sone shells from Playa Blanca

Hermano Geronimo from our branch (he has been home from his mission for about 10 months and is a member of the District High Council) and Hermana Calderon Who is the wife of our Branch President and of course Hermana Borup.