“The Consuelo Branch”

“The Consuelo Branch”

Elder Darrel L. Hammon

One of the grand opportunities senior missionaries have is to attend small branches in the Church. After talking to President Hernandez, the Santo Domingo East Mission President, and his counselor President Mauricio Munive, we will be going to the Consuelo Branch, a small branch out in the San Pedro District, which is located beyond Boca Chica and Juan Dolio, both resorts on the beach. Instead of heading toward the beach, you head away from the beach. It is about 1.5 hours from our home in Santo Domingo.

Opening to the Consuelo Branch meeting house

Last Sunday was our first visit. We rose early in order to get ready to go to our little Consuelo Branch. We met President Munive who also works at the Area Office in front of our apartment. He was a bit late; so I knew we were going to be late to the meetings. But we began our journey. We followed him down Bolivar to Gomez and then onto to the Autopista. And away we went. He was driving pretty fast, even though there was a bit of rain falling. He got up to 109m kph. I thought that was pretty fast, but we were already 20 minutes late.

We arrived at the branch meeting house around 9:15 p.m., and they hadn’t started priesthood meeting yet. We had probably around ten brethren there, including the missionaries, President Munive, and me. The Branch President is a young man named Gary Montero, who has been home from his mission for about eight years. There were several children there. One little girl by the name of Ana came up to me. She is nine and very cute. All the little girls have long hair, and it has been divided up into little twisted pony tails, bound extremely tight, with bobbles at the ends. To me, it would hurt my head if I had little pony tails wrapped everywhere on my head. They seemed happy though.

Front of the Consuelo Branch building

The Consuelo Branch building is right on one of the streets. During the meetings, motorcycles and other cars race by. Sometimes, I thought the motorcycles revved their motors just a bit more as they passed our doors. We had to leave the doors open just to have some sort of circulation throughout the building. Ceiling fans are the only things that circulate the warm air.

Priesthood and Relief Society came first, then Sunday School, and then Sacrament meeting. The branch president taught the priesthood lesson, and a single mother of four taught the Sunday School lesson. It was pretty good. She had a quick smile. I tried to respond a couple of times. Sacrament was very good. Two of the brethren spoke who had gone to the temple the day before. They both had excellent experiences. Then, President Munive, the concluding speaker, called on Joanne and me to bear our testimonies. I went first. Then, Joanne gave her sweet testimony. Tears welled up in both of our eyes. Someday, she will be able to stand on her own and give her testimony without notes. I know it is difficult for her now, but wait, she will be excellent before the mission is over.

After church, we visited some of the members and the missionaries. We did talk to a young woman by the name of Ana Maria who is about 14-years-old and who really wants to learn to play the piano. We told her about a program the church has for people just like her. We also told her that we would find out about it and let her know next week. It would be wonderful for her to learn how to play. It would enhance her life and her way of thinking and doing business.

Today was our second Sunday at the Consuelo Branch. We left early and drove along the beach until we merged on to the Autopista. The trip was extremely pleasant, not too much traffic this early in the morning and on Sunday. We arrived early and parked in front.

Ana Maria y Samuel

During Sunday School, President Montero approached me and asked that I take him to his house, which I did. Apparently, he left the Duty God and YW medallion at home for two young people named Samuel, age 17, and Ana Maria, age 14. It was heartwarming to see these two young people stand and go to the front. They were both wore incredibly huge smiles. Their parents accompanied them. When President Montero handed these two awards to these two young people, you would have thought he had given them each $10 million. Both bore their testimonies today and told how grateful they were to have earned these awards. To them, completing the assignments was easier because they wanted to do what the Lord wanted them to do. Their testimonies were impressive.

I talked to Samuel and Ana Maria’s mother after the meeting and told her what wonderful young people they are. She just beamed but shared some important counsel. She said parents need to be diligent and vigilant in helping the young people perform their tasks. “It is the parents,” she said, “who can help these young people grow and progress.” What a wonderful mother she is! She just glowed when we spoke to her about her children. You can see she loves them and wants to do what is right. We truly enjoyed visiting with her. On the way home, we noticed that their family stopped by a neighbor’s and was visiting. Ana Maria and her father waved at us as we drove by, Ana Maria still grinning and still holding her medallion close to her. What a pleasant sight!

We are enjoying our time at the Consuelo Branch. These humble people treat us like royalty each Sunday. They make sure they shake our hands and ask how we are doing. We already love them and know there are many who are not active whom we should visit. The Consuelo Branch is working diligently on working toward building a chapel. The Church has already purchased a wonderful piece of property for them. Our hope is they can reach their goal before we leave.

"El Mesón de la Cava"

Elder y Hermana Hammon at El Mesón de la Cava

"El Mesón de la Cava"

Darrel L. Hammon

El Mesón de la Cava (the Table of the Cave) is a very unique Dominican Restaurant. It is inside of a cave in Santo Domingo. Eight missionary couples met at the La Casa near the Temple and climbed into two vans and a car. Then, we weaved through traffic, down Bolivar to Gomez and up Mirador to El Mesón de la Cava, overlooking the southern ocean front. We parked on the street and headed down the steps. Joanne and I and the Eickbushes stopped and took some pictures of each couple as we overlooked the restaurant. Once to the bottom, we discovered a panorama of beautiful flowers and trees. We were so engrossed in the beautiful of the outside dining area of the restaurant, we failed to see where everyone went. Soon, one of the caballeros beckoned us to follow him inside of the restaurant, which, in reality, is a cave or a series of different. We sauntered pass the young woman at the cashier’s desk and entered the true cave (la Cava). Wow! What an incredible sight. Pictures do not do it justice. We were seated quickly near one of the cave walls.

Outside El Mesón de la Cava

            While the food at the El Mesón de la Cava was a bit pricy per Dominican standards, which was within the medium to upper price range in the United States, it was delicious and tastefully arranged. Joanne had a type of beef steak with whipped yucca, a type of potato, and few vegetables scattered around this delicately ordered plate. The yucca reminded us of twice-baked potatoes and tasted very similarly. My snapper had been cooked in a delicious sauce and surrounded with saffron yellow rice. A few vegetables adorned the plate and completed the food ensemble.

Inside El Mesón de la Cava. Note: This picture is from their website

            The ambiance was incredible! Built in 1967, El Mesón de la Cava and has become one of the most distinguished restaurants in the Dominican Republic.  For millions of years, the oceans waves slammed against the limestone rocks, creating unique caves throughout. According to the history of the caves, the caves sheltered many people and things throughout the years. In fact, when they were constructing the restaurant, they discovered various artifacts belonging to some of these peoples, including the native Tainos, one of the first people who inhabited the Dominican Republic. El Mesón de la Cava now touts some of these artifacts as part of its ambiance for all to see and admire.

Check out their website for more pictures, history, and menu: http://www.elmesondelacava.com

The Banao Encampment: The Church's Gift to the Dominican Republic Saints

"The Banao Encampment: The Church's Gift to the Dominican Republic Saint"

Darrel L. Hammon

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is doing some incredible things around the world, trying to create opportunities for those who don’t have anything. Just like young people in Utah and Idaho, young men and women and their parents in other countries can engage in similar experiences, perhaps a bit different, than their counterparts. Such is the case with young people living in the Dominican Republic (DR).

A bit north of Santo Domingo, the capital of the DR, sits an encampment on 220 acres of lush Dominican countryside, full of green trees, rolling hills, and richly green undergrowth. We traveled as senior missionaries in a very nice, air-conditioned guagua (a bus) on Monday as Hurricane Irene threatened the Caribbean.

We jostled our way through traffic to the countryside called the campo here. The Dominican freeway passed through several towns before we rolled off to the left and onto a country road that split up several fields of rice. One of the DR couples who is serving a temple mission told us the fields were experimental fields, own and operated by the government. They grow several varieties and did testing to develop different types of rice. Plus, they pointed out orange groves and other groves of fruits along the way.

 Soon, we entered a small village and turned left at a little building that had the sign: “Banca Gringo.” This banca sells lottery tickets. We cautiously crossed a gently flowing creek and struggled our way down a narrow road. On each side of the road was a living fence. Tall, thick poles had been planted as fences with wire strung between them. The poles were truly saplings, and small, green limbs spouted out of them—thus a living fence.

Soon, we turned off the road and rolled through a magnificent rock entryway with an iron fence. We had arrived at the Banao Encampment the Church owns near Banao. Elder and Sister Riggs, two senior missionaries from Arizona, greeted us. He didn’t dress like typical missionaries. Rather, a cowboy hat hung just slightly to right of his head. He wore an open checked shirt, Levis, and comfortable work shoes. His mission was not to preach and teach, per se, although he did a lot of that with the volunteers and the youth. Rather, his mission was to convert 220 acres into an encampment for the Church in the heart of the campo, all with volunteers and a few hired locals.  

On the property was an old hacienda, formerly owned by a government attorney who also raised prized, registered sheep. He had previously built beautiful sheds for them. Elder and Sister Riggs had converted these sheds into dormitories for those who came to the property to enjoy and participate in Church activities.

While most were preparing the meal of hotdogs and hamburgers, some of us trundled off to an enclosed “Hurl a Whirl,” a very unique Maypole-looking thing that Elder Riggs had designed and built. It had four extended seats, equally spaced around a pole. Someone pushes the seats in a counter-clock-wise position, basically “winding you up.” Then, they let go, and the “Hurly Whirly” begins to unwind at an alarmingly rapid rate. Now, the dangerous part of the whole process happens to the person who does the pushing. He or she needs to get out of the enclosed arena as fast as they can so he or she won’t get hit. In this case, there isn’t much room between the seats and the enclosed fence. Fortunately, our pushers cleared uneventfully. It unwinds and then begins rewinding by itself. It continues this wind and unwind process until it has run out of winding. Elder Riggs said that the young people can play for hours on this contraption. He had to build a small fence around it to protect the cheering crowds.

We had lunch in one of the small pavilions on the property. Over 27 of us fit nicely on newly-built sturdy picnic tables. Lunch was great! We had hot dogs and hamburgers.

Then Elder Riggs began talking about their last 18 months at the Encampment and all the work that had gone into it. It was a great talk. They have worked extremely hard in accomplishing their many tasks. They had built two pavilions, one of them where we ate and another one just down the path. When we all walked down there after lunch and between rain showers, I was aghast at the size of the second pavilion. It was monstrous. As my dad would have said had he seen it, “You could park a lot of hay here.” Elder Snow, another senior missionary, said the same thing. It had a room full of chairs and tables and its own kitchen. Just before you arrived at the pavilion, there was set of several bathrooms and showers. 

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We also walked with Elder Riggs over to where they had converted the sheep pens into adequate living quarters. Most of them had two bunk beds, each sporting a foam mattress. At the end of one of the living quarters were bathrooms and showers that the local contractors had built. They had tile floors and sinks. Elder Riggs said that recently they had had over 500 youth there on an outing, plus another 120 Relief Society sisters who just showed up to participate in training.

Soon, it was time to leave. It was actually quite sad to leave the gorgeous countryside with its rolling and foliage-covered hills and enter the big city with its rolling waves of people, cars, guaguas, and pollution. The Church made a wise decision by purchasing those 220 acres outside Banao for an encampment so the members of the Church can escape the hustle and bustle, much like we do in Utah and Idaho and other states where the Church has built camps.

The Banao Encampment is truly a place where people can provide service, become intertwined with nature and God’s green earth, feeling secure on dedicated property, with a wonderfully built hacienda on one of the rolling hills, surround by lush greenery, hearing the early morning crows from nearby roosters and the braying of the Brahma-like cattle that roam the countryside, and feeling the spirit the Lord envelop them like the beauty that resides there.

Firsts in the Dominican Republic

" Firsts in the Dominican Republic"

Darrel L. Hammon

This has been a week of firsts:

• First time driving—This has been an experience. 
• First time going to the Santo Domingo Temple—What an experience this was! We were the witness couple. Joanne went through in English, and I went through in Spanish. Whew! Lots to learn.
• First time walking the streets—Mom and I went down to the ocean front and walked on Saturday morning. Gorgeous views!
• First time witnessing a DR baptism—We went to a baptism out in the campo on Saturday. We were humbled by the surroundings but enlightened by the spirit of these pioneering people.
• First time going to a DR branch—President Glazier, the MTC (CCM) President here, gave a pioneer presentation to a branch way out in the campo. Again, these are humble people with huge, huge hearts. They were very welcoming to us. Just an incredible experience.
• First time eating at a McDonald’s—It cost us about $18.00 for a Big Mac/Chicken Sandwich combos and one apple pie. I guess drinks were included.
• First time eating at a true DR restaurant—The food was good. We ate at a second one on Saturday out by a beach. It was called El Mesón. Delicious and plentiful.
• First time teaching a lesson in Spanish—Yes, I have taught a lesson already. President Glazier from the MTC asked me to teach the Priesthood lesson in Spanish.
• First time visiting with Elder Vinas, the Area President—He is such a nice man. His wife is wonderful.
• First time visiting with Presidente Hernandez and his wife—He is the Santo Domingo Mission President. We have been assigned to the Santo Domingo East Mission. Their apartment is incredible.
• First time collecting water in a blue jug—Yes, we have to go for our water in big 5-gallon jugs. Fortunately, the water store is about two blocks away and costs about 20 pesos (about 50 cents) to fill it. It is pretty cool. They put the jug on a conveyor belt and run it through a steamer. Then, it rounds the corner and fills up. They attendant puts on lid, which the machine clamps down and seals.
• First time drinking a mango smoothie—Mom has got this down: mangos, pineapple, and orange juice mixed together. It is absolutely delicious.
• First time using a water purifying on our faucet—Yes, we have to filter every penny’s worth of water.
• First time attending FHE with senior couples—They have this every Monday night. We will be going and becoming acquainted with the couples. They are all very, very sharp and have led incredible lives. We talking to you about some of them later. 
•  First time going to a DR bank—The people at the bank were wonderful. 
•  First time going to a DR grocery store—Actually, we went to several. We really like Jumbo, but it is pretty far from our house.

Many more first to come...