"Los Llanos Baptism"

"Los Llanos Baptism"

Elder Darrel. Hammon

Probably nothing is more sweet than to witness a baptism while you are serving. Last Saturday was one of those days.

Elder Cowley, Hermano Romero, y Elder Anderson

We went with the Eickbushes to attend a baptism in their little branch Los Llanos. What an incredible experience! The ride out was forgettable. Actually, it was downright miserable. We took the Boca Chica exit and headed north on a fairly decent road. Before too long, however, the road turned into a gravel road with huge potholes. Brother Eickbush swerved here and there, and there and here.  He did a great job maneuvering around the potholes. He crossed two railroad tracks. If they had been Union Pacific’s, they would have fired the guys who were supposed to keep them up. A whole car could have been swallowed up. In fact, on one of them, Brother Eickbush rubbed the tail end of the car. If he had been going any faster, the bumper would have been removed.

The "font"

                When we arrived, we walked into the capilla or the building that they hold church in. There in the middle of the floor was a swimming pool—a real swimming pool, like the kind you might buy at Sam’s Club to put in your backyard. This one, though, was in the middle of the floor. But it was full of crystal clear water. I don’t know what it took to put it up, but they did it, and it was ready to go way before the baptism.

Los Fernandez

         Many people had come to the baptism. It was nice to meet and greet everyone. Los Fernandez were there with one of their grandchildren, an 10-year-old named Amber. What a delight she is! They are the ones who went through the temple a couple of weeks ago. Last Sunday, Hermano Fernandez was called and set apart as one of the counselors in the branch presidency. He was all smiles and gave us all hugs. He is such a sweet man.

One of the sisters who was at the baptisms for the dead a month ago had brought three of her sisters. None of them is a member. They enjoyed being there. Two of them had children who came with them. They were wonderful women who are dedicated to their families.

                It started almost on time. Presidente Vasquez is one of those excellent branch presidents who likes to move things along in their proper order. The speaker was Elder Anderson and then two members gave testimonies. They all did wonderful jobs. Then came time for the baptism.

Hermano Rafael Romero

Hermano Rafael Romero, age 60+, was going to be baptized. They had to literally pick him up and place him into the font because there weren’t any stairs for him to use. Elder Cowley, a new elder, performed the baptism. Unfortunately, a leg came up the first time. Then, a toe came up the second time. Before we attempted a third try, I talked to Hermano Romero and Elder Cowley. I told Elder Cowley to place his feet into front of Hermano Romero’s feet. I told Hermano Romero to kneel instead of trying to go straight backwards before being baptized. Well, it worked. The third time was the charm—as they say. Hermano was completely immersed.

Some members of Los Llanos Branch

                Presidente Vasquez asked me to say a few words before I prayed, which I did. After the prayer, I congratulated Hermano Romero. It was fun to see him baptized. It was wonderful to be in the branch and meet the people.

Joanne and Sister Eickbush had made some cakes, and they were ever so popular. Before too long, other kids from the neighborhood came running. I don’t know who ran out and told them, but they came, eager to participate in the cake letting. Joanne had found some pumpkin at Nacional and made a pumpkin cake. It was delicious.

                After the cake letting, it was time to empty the font. We began by dipping pails into the water and carrying them outside to dump them. Before too long, they had completely dismantled the pool, and the water gushed out onto the floor, and the sisters were there with brooms to sweep out the water. It was an incredible rush of water out both of the doors. I just stood and watched, bucket in hand, until all of the water had been swept out. I told Presidente Vasquez that if he had a baptism every week, he would have the cleanest chapel in the entire church.

Young people in Los Llanos Branch

                We said our goodbyes. They were sad to see us go. I really like Presidente Vasquez and Los Fernandez. They are good people, trying their hardest to make the branch grow and develop. The ride was a good one. The bumps were still there, but we were riding high from the incredible baptism we had just witnessed.

Tuesday Devotional with Elder Wilford W. Andersen

"Tuesday Devotional with Elder Wilford W. Andersen"

Elder Darrel L. Hammon

What a wonderful day today! It started off with our regular Tuesday devotional for the week. This was a special week, come to find out. Every second Tuesday, a member of the Area Presidency comes and speaks. Today, Elder Wilford Andersen came to speak to us. His Spanish is flawless. I was very, very impressed with his language skills. What was more impressive, however, was his ability to bring the spirit to the meeting. His topic was Cuba.

                The Area Presidency has been working with Cuban officials to have the Church become an official and recognized entity. It was been a lengthy struggle, but these men have seen miracles. Just a few months ago, the BYU Ambassadors were able to go to Cuba and deliver a wonderful program. The Cubanos loved it. One of the government officials was there and enjoyed it immensely. Elder Andersen said they have a solid friend in this person.

Elder Wilford W. Andersen

                A miracle occurred before all this happened. They had received visas to go to Cuba to begin the conversations, but they had to go to Miami to pick up the tickets because they didn’t deliver them electronically. To top it off, this was one or two days before they were supposed to go, and they were about to resign themselves to the fact they couldn’t go because of the time crunch and tried to find someone who could obtain the tickets. They called around about how they were going to get the tickets because that office was going to close in one hour. One of the people from the office, I think it was Rafael from the PR Department, said, “Let’s call Esteben de la Cruz. He knows lots of people.”

Rafael called Esteben and asked him where he was. As Rafael was listening, his face blanched. He turned to Elder Andersen and said, “He is in the Miami Airport.” So they made arrangements for him to go pick up the tickets. Elder Andersen said, “What are the chances of that happening? The Lord knew we needed those tickets, and he also knew we were not going to be able to get to the airport.”

                Just incredible! The Lord definitely has a hand in all things. And we look forward to hear more.

The Liceo Project

"The Liceo Project"

Elder Darrel L. Hammon

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is incredible! Its willingness to help with humanitarian projects continues to amaze me.

One of the stakes here in the Dominican Republic--the Las Americas Stake--is doing a 75th Anniversary Project. They have submitted a project to transform a neighborhood apartment building into a school for secondary students. The Stake President is Presidente de la Cruz, a wonderful man who is willing to help everyone in his stake, including members and non-members alike. Like me, he believes education is the key to success.

A couple of weeks ago, we went out to the project to see what it all entailed so we could write it up and then submit it to the Caribbean Area Presidency for review and possible approval to complete. We met Presidente de La Cruz at Los Frailles 2 chapel building. He drove because we didn't know where it was located. 

The apartment building to be converted

 We stopped to pick up his first counselor who really knew what was going on with the project. We clamored over and down roads that had huge rocks jutting out. I don’t think our little Honda Civic would have made it. We stopped in front of a building that looked almost completed. We were introduced to the director of the school and a handful of other people, some teachers and community members. We then went on a little tour of the place. It has nueve aulas (nine classrooms), which can ostensibly hold 35 students each. They will have 200 students in the entire school from the 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. session and another 200 students from the 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. session. When we went up there to one of aulas, I couldn’t believe the space could hold have that many student, but they assured me they had a capacity of 35 students.

The courtyard that will also serve as the P.E. spot

Inside one of the classrooms

What the Stake wants to do is convert this apartment building into a school for their children and for the community. It will cost about $12,000 to transform it from an apartment building to a school. Our K-12 educators would literally scream if they had to teach in this environment. Now, couple the environment with no computers, no air conditioning, no real playground, no real area for teacher offices or workrooms, no lunch room, no principal’s office, etc., etc., etc. Yet, the community is willing to make the sacrifices for this to become a liceo for their secondary students because there is no local school for them, and they now have to walk almost two miles to get to school. While school is mandatory here until they are 16-years-old, many do not go because of the challenge of getting to school. I complimented the directora por su coraje (courage) y vista (vision).

First Counselor in the Stake Presidency and the Liceo Director

The community, school supporters, Stake President, Elder and Sister Hammon

And to think Cheyenne built a new South High School for just under $70 million with all of the goodies one would ever need. And the people in this poor suburb of Santo Domingo are trying to convert an apartment building with $12,000 of humanitarian money to do it, and they are grateful and feel blessed that the Church wants to help. When I went to visit the second time, they had already begun with 140 students with no chairs, no chalkboards, no computers, no books.Many of the students brought their own chairs. After seeing what I saw, I have nothing but respect for what they are trying to accomplish.

I wrote up the project when I returned. The Area Presidency approved it on Wednesday with a couple of caveats. I returned on Friday with a couple of Church engineers to make sure the structure is stable enough, especially after taking out the entire wall between the living room and the bedroom, thus making a single room for students. It appears the Las Americas Stake has some service to provide, but they are more than willing to help the community of Las Brisas to get it done.

After thanking all of them for their work, we drove over to the first counselor’s home to meet his family. He has a wonderful little family—a beautiful, vivacious wife, four cute kids, the oldest one being 13. They live in a small home, behind another home. They were very happy to have us there. We stayed for only a moment. Then, we walked down the street, and Presidente de la Cruz greeted several people who were members of the church, some less-active but mostly active families.

We walked over to another house where a young woman was outside doing wash. Her mother came out with another daughter. Both daughters were teenagers. Soon, another little girl came walking up, probably five or six, and jumped into Presidente de la Cruz’s arms and gave him a big hug. He said, “We shouldn’t have favorite families, but this is my favorite family.” They were definitely humble people. After saying good bye, we  walked toward the car. Just as we arrived, he saw another family at the Colmado (little store on the corner). We stopped and greeted them. It was one of the hermanas (sisters) with her esposo (husband). She said she was a member but hadn’t been coming because she had been ill.  He had a nice visit with them. He told me that he had been the bishop here and had very fond memories of the place, and these people were in his ward. Now, they were in his stake. I could see that he was a man of God, loved by all of his people. His heart was full of love, and he wants to help all of them. He is a good man.

We said our good byes, climbed into his car, and he took us back to the capilla (the chapel) where he opened the door for us and for the missionaries who had come to teach English to a group of people. One of the sisters from California was going to teach the English class.

Front of the building with the big gate

I'll keep you posted about the Liceo. It is an exceptional project, one that will help hundreds of young people obtain an education that they might not have otherwise.

“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.