2 Marriages, 3 Baptisms

WOW! What an amazing jam-packed, fulfilling week. I try not to just give a day to day report when I write this blog but that is what I might have to do this week. Every day was filled. We started our week by having Zone Conference which included Elder Alanzo who is a member of the quorum of the seventy and a member of the Area Presidency. During the previous week, I had been thinking about our experience here as missionaries. I was wondering how effective we've been not knowing the language very well and just wondering about why we were called here in the first place. Don't get me wrong I wasn't down or depressed or anything just pondering. I have been reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish and on the morning of the Zone conference I just got through reading Chapter 11 of  3rd Nephi, the visit of Christ to the people of the Book of Mormon. When I picked up the zone leaders for the conference I was telling them how amazing the doctrine is in Chapter 11 and how much the Savior taught right away. In the conference Elder Alonzo seemed to change the direction of his teaching and had us turn to the 11th Chapter of 3rd Nephi. I knew that it wasn't part of his plan going into the conference. The Lord used him as an instrument to tell me that He knows who we are and that he put us here in Azua in the Dominican Republic for a reason. By the way, Elder Alanzo taught in 2 other Zone Conferences but did not use that scripture in either one.

The next day was filled with marriages. In Sabana Yegua there is a man Rafael who has been attending church for several months but his wife of 30 years, did not want to get married. They have 3 kids and 5 grandkids. They love each other. They have had some financial troubles due to some health problems. When Hermana Borup and I showed up and told them about some anonymous friends that were willing to pay for their wedding that said "sure we love each other. Why not?"  So Tuesday morning in Sabana Yegua was marriage number 1 for the day (uneventful). Wedding number 2, on the other hand, was not uneventful.

Monday night the Elders got a call from Ramon who said he didn't want to get married. He didn't feel he could support his wife. The Elders told him that we would come to his home in Padre Las Casas and talk to him more. Elder Harmer had an impression to bring up a scripture from the Book of Mormon and we felt it was important to remind him that we represent the Lord and our purpose is to invite  Heavenly Father's Children to come to Christ. The way to come to Christ is to follow Him and keep His commandments. We're not here to convince them to get married but we are here to invite them to come to Christ by keeping His commandments and getting baptized. Elder Harmer's scripture and our testimony of our purpose as missionaries convinced them to follow through with their commitment to getting married. Another miracle of this Wedding was that it took us so long to talk to them about getting married as part of their journey to Baptism, we were 45 minutes late to our appointment with the judge. As we pulled up the judge was pulling up in his car. He brought us into his office and performed the wedding in 2 minutes and then went out to his car and left. The only thing I can think of was that he decided we weren't going to be there so he left for another commitment. He forgot something or felt some other need to come back. I feel like if we would have come at any other time we would have missed him. So marriage number 2.


This week we also said goodbye to the Buhlers. They have been dear friends for over a year now. They stayed working in the mission office when we bailed out to come to Azua. They are going to be missed by the mission. They will be missed by us the most. They have been key to keeping things moving forward in the mission. The Buhlers have been a wonderful example to us of how to serve to the end. They had many experiences that many other missionaries would have used as an excuse to go home but they endured to the end. We are proud to call them our friends. 

The week finished with 3 Baptisms and 3 Baptismal interviews. Rafael who was married earlier in the week was baptized at the beach with two great young men from the Branch. I get nervous when it comes to Beach Baptisms. So many things can go wrong, like load bachata music or the kids wanting to swim instead of waiting for the baptismal service. This time everything went perfectly. They were at the beach early enough to miss the party crowd. At the kids were warned ahead of time. There was a great spirit there. Rafael's wife (of just 3 days) was there and said she wanted to learn more so he might be next. After the Baptisms, we drove to Padre Las Casas where the district leader (Elder Aybar) interviewed Ramon and Ernestina. It couldn't have been better they are ready for their Baptism this next Saturday. There was also a young man that the previous Elders had been teaching that was interviewed for his baptism next Saturday. We stayed the night in Padre Las Casas and went to Church there today. The branch is small. The District President was visiting. IN his talk he said he had a dream where he saw Padre Las Casas as a Stake Center. He Said since it is now only a branch in a district that there is a lot of work to be done. I have the feeling that Ramon is going to be the first Stake President of this future Stake.

The work of the Lord moves on. We feel blessed to be a small part of it. We can't wait to see what happens this next week. It's going to fun to find out.

Your friends
Hermana Y Elder Borup

She really didn't like me much until she found out that I am the Matatan (Street Boss)

Rafael waiting for his turn

Elder Coles, Rafael and 2 witnesses in the waters of Baptism

Rafael, His Wife and granddaughter. 

Elder Falls really thinks he's funny.

Zone Conference in Azua. It was good to see Hermana Wright again. She's not very camera shy.

We had two weddings on the same day which meant 2 very large cakes.

Elder Buhler on his last night handing over the phone to his replacement (no one can really replace him) Elder Avila

This week we celebrated the day The DR became independent from Spain. A traditional way to celebrate is to ride a donkey. 

Hermana Borup Made some cupcakes for this little girls mother. She enjoyed them the most. 

Dani with one of her daughters on her birthday. For her birthday she wanted the missionaries to sing her a hymn, Away in a Manger.

More cupcake fun

Elder Falls and Dani's 2 daughters

Whenever we visit Dani and Santiago The kids love to ride in the back of the truck to the bottom of the hill. 

Wedding day for Rafael and his (now) wife. We were witnesses

Just a reminder of what we get to come home to in a few months. We miss them so much and you can see why.

More Wedding day fun.

The Witnesses the Judge and the married couple.

Proof that it happened

It didn't take much to make this part happen.

It looks like we are waiting for our turn to get married.

Ramon and Ernestina. on their wedding day.

One of the Witnesses making it official.

The other witness

Elder Falls takes a good picture.

We love this couple they are going to be leaders in the church.

The Buhlers last few minutes before going through security on their way home. I took a selfie of them taking a selfie.

A great day for the couple and the missionaries

THe waited 30+ years for this day.

They waited 2 years.

More of Ramon and Ernestina

The only thing cuter than the newlyweds is the newlyweds with a fat old missionary.

He thought he could do more pushups than me. He couldn't! The reason I'm up and he's down is because he couldn't keep up with me.

The newlyweds

More Elder Falls fun. This time with Elder Coles

The acutal bathtub I memtioned last week, out in the campo.

2 cute little girls

She never really got used to me. I asked her mom if I could keep her I won't do that again I almost ended up with a baby to take home.