Farewell to the Dominican Republic: Hasta la Vista

Farewell to the Dominican Republic: Hasta la Vista

Darrel L. Hammon

Bennie presenting the plaque with Lisette from the HR Office

 Before we left the Dominican Republic, Joanne lamented, “One of the things I hate most is goodbyes.” Goodbyes are hard to say, hard to receive, especially when you have grown to love the people, and we love the people in the Dominican Republic and throughout the Caribbean Area. Our goodbyes came in a variety of ways:

Clase de Español

 The Spanish class. Darrel had fun teaching/facilitating the Spanish class. We had class on Monday and Thursday afternoons. We started with a small group, and then more came, which we enjoyed. The most challenging was the diversity of the students. Some were new and just learning; others had been in the country for several months; others were returned missionaries; and others had served previous Spanish-speaking missions. Overall, they were/are a good group who loved to practice, hated to practice, and enjoyed each other's company.

Los Haws

 They all came over to the Almacén del Obispo (Bishops’ Storehouse) for dinner. Los Haws, the humanitarian couple, threw the party. Everyone had brought fixings for taco salad. We ate until our hearts content. Then, the Haws sang a song while Elder Haws played the ukulele. When they were done, Elder Haws began the quasi-roast. They were so very nice. It ended up like a eulogy. Tears came to our eyes when Reid Cornish stood up and told us how much he loved us and that he had a picture of us in his room. He is such a sweet young man. We truly appreciated all of the words they spoke to us and about us. 

Los Lows y los Hammon

 Senior missionaries. On Monday evenings, all of the senior missionaries attended FHE. Our despedida (farewell) happened on Monday, January 14, 2013. We shared the stage with the Lows from Canada. We did our best to check the tears. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always work, especially when Joanne’s tears flowed easily and often, and she shared her testimony in Spanish before I did. We have thoroughly enjoyed meeting and working with all of the senior missionaries in the Area. They are incredible people with huge hearts and incredible talents.

Hermana Hammon speaking at the Devotional

 Area Office. We spoke at the Area Office Devotional on Tuesday before we left. There were tears and laughter. Joanne bore her testimony in Spanish. Darrel spoke about the People of Ammon and how they accepted people into their fold. That’s how we should be: loving and kind people, willing to accept anyone into our fold like the Dominicans have done to us. We both shed a few tears. We then dedicated a PowerPoint presentation to them. It was full of pictures we had taken along the way of everyone in the office. The presentation was about 10 minutes long. They loved it. Afterwards, Daniel Almeida, Director of Temporal Affairs, said he learned things about his people he hadn’t known before. 

We received a beautiful plaque, and Joanne received a Mary Lantigua doll. It truly was a great event. We gave and received lots of abrazos.

Elder Hammon speaking at the Devotional

 Dinners. We had dinner with the Ruckers, Eickbushes, and Buttons and all their guests. The food was good, the company even better. We have made some eternal friends as we served, and none better than the senior couples and missionaries with whom we served. They are spectacular!

The Berroa Family from San Pedro District, Kennedy Branch

Private goodbyes. Several people came to our office to say goodbye and give us their abrazos. We all shed tears of sadness and happiness, sadness that we were going, but happiness knowing we were going home to family and friends and we could utilize technology to visit with our new friends, anytime, anywhere. One private goodbye came in a Facebook message, saying she couldn’t say goodbye because the tears wouldn’t have ceased.

Then, on Friday morning, January 25, 2013, Bennie Lilly came by very early, loaded us up in RAV4, and took us to the airport. He stayed with us until we walked through customs.  Thanks, Bennie! You’re the best!

Cristina, Joanne, Darrel, Francisca

 And so it went. How we loved our mission, but the goodbyes were sad, just like Joanne predicted. The best thing, though, is the technology. We told them all we could stay in touch via email and Skype. And since our departing, we have had messages via a variety of venues from some of them.

Dayanara

 As we said our goodbyes, Dayanara who works in the Area Office Finance Department said to Joanne, “This is why I don’t talk to the senior couples. They come and then they leave, and you never hear from them again.” Joanne told her that would not be the case with the Hammons. We want to stay in contact with them. We love all of them. They truly have become part of our family.

Santo Domingo Temple

In essence, though, there really are no real “goodbyes,” just “hasta la vista.” And we wait anhelosamente for the day when we see you all again, either in the Dominican Republic, the isles of the sea, or here. Remember: Nuestra casa es su casa. We salute you all.