Onward to Trinidad

On 25 Nov 2013 we finally made it to the West Indies Mission headquartered in Trinidad.  We left the Dominican Republic and flew to Panama (no direct flight on Caribbean Air).  It must be hard work at the airport in Panama City.

This is what we saw while in Panama.

 

The evening we arrived in Trinidad the Missionaries in Trinidad were all gathered at the home of President and Sister Mehr for their Thanksgiving dinner (it was held on Monday the missionaries preparation day).  I found out that I have 2 cousins serving missions in Trinidad they are Elder Hatch and Elder Hatch (brothers and companions).

 

Of course we had to work hard in Trinidad!!!

 

Sister Moore hard at work!!!

 

The road in front of our bed and breakfast.

The road in the other direction - notice the Christmas decorations.

Elder Moore on the stairs to the roof top.

The view from the roof.  Up on the hill is a monastery.  This is looking North, the mountains in Trinidad are on the North side of the Island.

The house across the street as seen from our roof top view.

 

Not all of Trinidad is this rich our bed and breakfast is in a very rich section of the island.

The senior missionaries working in the Mission Office.  Yes that included us while we were there.

Left to right Elder Ray, Sister Ray, Elder Smith, Sister Smith, Sister Sue Ray, Elder Bateman, Sister Bateman, and Sister Moore, missing is Elder Moore, he had the camera.  There is one more couple in the office, Elder and Sister Monson, they were out on assignment when we had this dinner.

This was our last supper in Trinidad before flying to Barbados.

 

On 29 Nov 2013 we left Trinidad to go to Barbados.  Of course the plane did not go straight there we stopped in Grenada where some got off the plane and more got on.  Elder and Sister Smith flew to Grenada on the same flight.

 

 



Leaving the MTC and going to the Dominican Republic

We finally left the MTC on 20 Nov 2013 after one week of Preach My Gospel training, 4 days of Humanitarian training and then 5 days of being at loose ends.  While we were at loose ends we went to the Museum of Art and saw the Bloch exhibit.  This is a very good exhibit showing some of the original paintings depicting scenes from the life of the Savior.  It puts into pictorial form many of the things the Savior did that are recorded in the Gospels in the New Testament.

Sister Moore got a bad chest cold, the 1st chest cold she has ever had, she usually gets colds that stuff her up but don't cause chest congestion.

One of the really nice parts of being at the MTC so long was that we got to go to more devotionals and hear really inspirational talks.  We attended 3 Tuesday night devotionals with Elder Zwick from the Quorum of the Seventies, Elder L. Tom Perry from the Quorum of the 12 Apostles, and Sister Mary Edmunds an author and very motivating speaker.  We also got to attend 2 Sunday devotionals.

Because of the amount of luggage we brought with us we called the Airport Express shuttle rather than fight getting luggage on and off of the Commuter train system.  We had to pay $40.00 for our extra bag (we had 3 between us to be able to take the clothing we will need for the next 2 years). We also each had our carry on luggage.

After we got checked in and settled to wait for our flight I saw this:

Who would have thought, the MTC is at the airport!!!

 

Getting to the Dominican Republic was and adventure in it's self.  1st we flew to New York City, (John F. Kennedy Airport).  We then changed planes to go to the Dominican Republic.  At the airport in Santo Domingo we had to pay $10.00 US to get temporary visas (these were good for 60 days).  Of course neither one of us speaks the language, but we found that smiling and being cheerful sure go a long way in smoothing out the process through immigration and customs so we had no problem in these areas.

 

Here we are in the Dominican Republic.

 

This is Sister and Elder Crismon our guides, hosts, and the couple who gave us some more training on our calling as Humanitarian Specialists.

 

This is the plaque commemorating the setting apart of the Dominican Republic for the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

Elder and Sister Moore in front of the door to the Temple in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.  They did let us in.

 

In front of the Temple.

 

The Temple, what a magnificent building.

 

OK, all was not work we got to see some of the sights also.

 

In the park across from the Temple.

 

 

Yes, those are Christmas decoration already going up in the park.  The Dominicans really like the Christmas Season, the decorations in this park had been being put up for quite some time.  The people even put a new coat of paint on their houses and perimeter fences at this time.  The houses are decorated for Christmas very early.  There was even a Christmas tree in the lobby of the area office where we had our training.

 

Building commemorating Christopher Columbus.  It is in the shape of a cross.  You can see the Pope Mobile used by Pope John Paul.

 

Behind us is the sepulcher containing the bones of Christopher Columbus.  This is one of 2 places that claim that they have the bones.  The other one is in Europe.

 

 

The inside of the building.  There are a lot of rooms on each side of this immense hallway.

Many countries sponsored rooms here.  Some of the countries went all out to show case their cultural heritage and others just put in a flag and little else.  The largest display is from China.

 

 

 

Paintings in the Monument.

 

Eating out with the Crismons.

 

Chicken Cordon Blue.

 

Avocado Salad.

 

What's going on?

 

Oh, I get it.  Raising chickens!!!

 

Nice waves.

And palm trees.

 

And the beach cabanas.  Sister Moore looks pretty good  too.

 

 

 

Oldest church in the Americas.  Located in the Colonial district of Santo Domingo.

Statue of Christopher Columbus.

Another view of the Church.

All I know for sure is Christopher Columbus.

 

Former church where Heros of the Dominican Republic are entombed.

 

Ceiling in the Hall of Heros in the Colonial District.

 

 

Some of these date back to the 1500's.  The buildings that is.

 

 

Home of Diego, Christopher Columbus' son.

Humanitarian Training at the MTC.

This blog is a bit late in getting posted.  We have had a very busy time and the time has flown.  Where did it all go?  We went on a tour of Welfare Square in Salt Lake City, Utah.  This is where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints produces some of the welfare items that are distributed and also stores many items.

After our tour we got to taste the bread, butter, jam, peanut butter, and milk that are produced for distribution in the welfare operations of the Church.

We next went to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for lunch and training.  Here Sister Moore and I are sitting in the window that over looks the Salt Lake City Temple.

What a magnificent view of the Salt Lake Temple.

This is our group of Humanitarian Missionaries in front of the famous World Map.

In training.  Don't we look like a studious group?

 

An Elder's work is never done!!!!!

Why am I doing this and where is Carol?

 

Yes I really am doing this and no it was not staged for a photo op.

This is in our room at the Missionary Training Center, Provo, Utah.



Training is done - Well sort of.

We have finished our training at the Provo, Utah Missionary Training Center.  The 1st week we had the same training as the young Elder and Sister Missionaries.  This training is from the book Preach My Gospel.  For the 2nd week we had training specific to our assignment working in the Humanitarian program of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints.  Of course our training will continue but it will be of a less formal nature.  The training we will receive now will come from the Lord as he schools us in doing his work.

This is our District for our Preach My Gospel training.

Seated left to right Elder and Sister Moore, Sister and Elder Jessen

Standing Elder and Sister Glover, Sister and Elder Poulson

 

Here we are with Brother Barney our trainer for the morning sessions of training.

 

This is our District with our afternoon trainer Brother Carver.

 

 

This is our District for our Humanitarian specific training.  This picture was taken in the lobby of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Front row: Elder Moore, Sister Moore, Elder Ford, Sister Ford, Sister Davison, Sister Layne.

Back row: Elder Roper, Sister Roper, Elder Shakespeare, Sister Shakespeare, Elder Davison, Elder Layne.

 

Elder and Sister Davison are from Australia and are going to the Adriatic North/Croatia Mission.

Elder and Sister Ford are from Arizona and are going to the Argentina Buenos Aires North Mission.

Elder and Sister Layne are from Florida and are going to the Samoa - Apia Mission.

Elder and Sister Moore are from Idaho and are going to the West Indies Mission.

Elder and Sister Roper are from Utah and are going to the Russia Moscow Mission.

Elder and Sister Shakespeare are from Utah and are going to the Kenya Nairobi Mission.

 

Between the six couples we will be covering the world to help Heavenly Father care for his Children.