Behind this wall and hidden by the trees is our mission office. Everything is very secure--the gate to my right is locked at the sidewalk as is an iron door into the building, up the winding tile stairs to another iron door with a padlock over the wooden door into our outer office with another locked door into the office proper. Of course, the safe is behind another door and is properly locked with a complicated combination that I hope to learn! It is a similar procedure to get into our apartment--my purse is loaded with keys!

We visited the Santo Domingo Temple this morning on our P-Day. It is certainly the most lovely thing we've seen to date in this country! We met the counselor to the Temple President outside the temple who told us they hold only 2 sessions in the morning and 3 in the late afternoon. This is different than in Madrid, of course, but we are hoping we can attend considering our current office schedule. The traffic was "extreme", but Elder Ford is getting very good at maneuvering in, out, and around all the other vehicles. My blood pressure was up, but the end site was worth it! We also passed by the chapel we will be attending tomorrow with temple missionaries as we have not yet been assigned to a specific ward or branch by our mission president.





These beautiful grounds were filled with beautiful people on a beautiful day!

To make sure we could find the chapel for church tomorrow, we also were able to locate it successfully. You would think with a map it wouldn't be all that hard, but these roads and the traffic are something else! A GPS would be awesome here!

Happy Birthday to our March Elders furnished by Hermana AlMonte, the wife of our President.
It's a pineapple cake--nothing like our cakes that seem light and fluffy in comparison. She arranged everything right in the mission office while the President interviewed some of our Elders.The frosting was more like marshmallow.

Hermana Almonte weighs each Elder, checks their eyes and blood pressure each transfer. Elder Barquero, back left, is my trainer. The two Elders in front are AP's, Elder Rodriguez leaves to go home next week.
The main part of the office is behind these Elders. The building is very secure with several sets of locks between the street and our office safe.

We're home for lunch--this may look like a siesta- (it isn't) but it is much earned. Elder Ford says he's never driven in such terrible traffic as he's having to navigate here. It's exhausting! Congestion is a way of life here in this city, the oldest in this hemisphere. Today he went to the post office, customs, and to get the air conditioner fixed in our car. He picked up all the letters (post office) and packages (customs) for all the missionaries in our mission. It took several hours. The missionaries pay a fee for all incoming mail except FedEx and UPS Express mail. We also handle all the outgoing mail for all missionaries--keeping track of all these costs for each missionary is part of my job.

then to our new home for 18 months in this apartment building just a block away. We were treated to a delicious welcome lunch with President and Hermana Almonte in the lovely mission home--neither speak English, but we managed a small conversation at times with the help of the Elders.

First to the grocery store to buy in pesos. . .with the Elders helping with figuring the money. Notice the avocado. . . huge and creamy smooth.

And this is what we saw when we arrived! Warm blue skies, crystal water, and friendly smiles!

This winter scene we left behind of the Bountiful Temple from our home. . .

We're off and running to catch our red eye flight to Santo Domingo Dominican Republic West Mission!

On our last day before departure we see our temple in a snow covered scene! It will be a long time before we experience this kind of weather again, so we're trying to enjoy it. We're leaving tomorrow for a hot, humid climate.

What an awesome party we enjoyed last night with most of our family--food, fun, lots of talk and hugs! This is the hard part--leaving such dear ones for so long--but we know we're leaving them in the most capable hands of the Lord.