Our trip started off with us almost to the airport, then i realized i had forgotten my backpack with our passports and all of our electronics. Luckily we left enough time that we weren't to crunched. Our flight left salt lake city at 12 at night and this is a picture of us rolling into the JFK airport at about 6:00 a.m. to 18 degree weather! I love when you can see the moon and the sunrise!
We got to the Dominican republic at about 3 o'clock Sunday afternoon, to 86 degree weather. We were so exhausted, we checked into our room at the MTC not knowing what to expect, when we opened the door to our room all we could do was laugh!!!
Monday we went to the "conde" which is their version of our gateway. It was very crowded. We went into different shops, checkin out anything worth buying. While we were buying some jewelry the lady at the shop heard josh speaking spanish (incredibly well might i add) and she said "weren't you an LDS missionary here a while ago?" They went on to talk and they knew a lot of people in common. I though it was awesome Josh had already run into someone he had connections with. (notice the dog just lying there, there were dogs everywhere that no one took care of, it made me so sad)
Monday Night we got to visit a family Josh Baptized. They were so sweet, although the language barrier was a huge challenge between us. Josh Baptized the lady in white with her sister (not in pic) and got their mom (in blue) going back to church. She married her husband in December, he had a baptized a few months before, and their son will be baptized in a couple weeks. They are also expecting a baby. We ate dinner at their house, which was "spaghetti" that consisted of a can of milk, corn, raisins, ground beef, and noodles. I could tell how hard she was trying to impress us so i pretend that i loved ground beef, i usually don't eat beef at all. After dinner we had family night. They sang a song and josh read some scriptures. We gave their son a new book of Mormon and he was so excited he asked us to write our testimonies, he thought it was hilarious that i didn't speak Spanish. Everyone went around the table and bore their testimony. Although i couldn't understand everything they were saying, i felt the spirit so strongly. Their love for the gospel showed on their faces, also i could tell how much they loved Josh for introducing them into the church. It was so great to see my husband in his other element. He is amazing and i know he has touched so many peoples lives there.
We were able to attend the temple everyday. It was nice to get the peace and quiet and off the streets. The first night we went and did a session and I couldn't find anyone who could speak English to help me I got so lost I broke down crying. The next night we went back and I made sure josh found me someone before he went off to the locker rooms. I had never been in a session before with only four people. I wish I could've stayed longer to help them with the work, they are very much in need. The temple was gorgeous, as always. While we were doing work in the temple Josh saw a lady from across the room he knew from his mission. After lecturing him on not calling her to let her know we were coming she was so excited to see him. The next day while waiting for the elevator in the mtc josh struck up a conversation with a missionary asking him what mission he was from and where he was from. The guy asked josh what his name was and told josh he had ties from him. Josh was thinking he meant connections but he pointed to his tie and said no i have TIES from you. I guess on their missions they trade ties or give them away and they had Joshs name on them, they had been passed down for five years to this other guy. I thought that was hilarious, we forgot to take a picture with him though,
We were able to see a lot of the city, and we went to the beach one day. We went to a cool old catholic church, some ruins, a monument where they have Columbus' bones, and a house Columbus built his son. We saw a few more people josh knew, by chance. The environment is so different there. I wish that pictures could capture half as wonderful as it was. I have so many experiences and feelings from the trip that cannot be described on paper. I am so glad we were able to make it back. I hope we can take our kids back one day.
When we were planning our trip we were really struggling choosing the week we wanted to go. We finally chose a week according to our schedules and josh having to go out of town. When the earthquake hit Haiti I was really concerned that it would hit again while we were there, because they are on the same vault line. Every factor that played into the week we booked slowing started unraveling, but I felt like we were inspired to choose the week we did. Although no life changing things happened I felt like we kept seeing people we wouldn't have had we gone the week before. Seeing a different country has really opened my eyes to how blessed I really am. Not only did it change my perspective but it also gave me a new light to see Josh him. I feel like I understand him so much better now seeing how he lived for two years. My 850 square foot condo felt like a mansion when we got home. I hope we get to travel more before we start a family!! I have already started a list of places i want to go....Greece, Ireland, Spain, Paris, Australia, Egypt, and Alaska. ( Just to name a few) To view more pics check out my facebook page
