Busy month again!

Hi ya'll!  Well, I had the opportunity to go without electricity for a couple of days again.  The whole complex was out from 9am - 4pm, but my condo was the lucky one that didn't trip on.  Finally, got it on Monday afternoon as I was cleaning out the freezer again to get rid of thawed food.  Then the A/C  and stove weren't working - apparently part of the switch hadn't completely reset.  We have had some more ups/downs as the mission is getting "reset" as well with the outstanding leadership of President Zwick.  

On a lighter note, Elder and Sister Wentzel arrived from Sacramento, CA and are a great joy and strength!!  They remember Matt Blake when he served his mission there.  It was fun to reconnect them again.  Matt remembers them taking him out to a Mexican Restaurant and going on splits with their sons.  We have become fast friends and they join Sis Allred and I as we rotate for Sunday dinner and play games while drinking virgin PinaColadas.  They, initially, moved into the Patterson's apt in my complex, but have now moved to the Costley's apt in Caguas.

The first part of June was a spiritual feast as I attended 5 Zone Conferences around the island.  President and Sister Zwick shared much wisdom with the missionaries providing them with motivation and 'tools of the trade'.  Their son, Scotty, participated as well.  Scotty is 43 yrs old and is mentally/physically challenged, but able to live with minimal supervision.  He is a joy and really livened up the zone conferences.  He was here for a week so he could attend and participate in all the conferences.  Sister Zwick commented that she "thought Scotty would be one of my greatest trials, but he has been my greatest blessing."  He is so kind and loving with great childlike faith.

June 7th was a busy day as I met Sisters Stirland and Diego for lunch at Macaroni Grill followed by a basketball game at night.  Gary Wilkinson, who was an All American Basketball Student/Athlete at Utah State, is in our ward for the summer.  He has been playing Pro Basketball in New Zealand with previous seasons in Korea, Greece, etc.  He is playing the Spring season with the Bayamon Vaqueros.  He was kind enough to arrange free tickets for the game.  Elder/Sister Wentzel, Sister Allred and I went and had a great time.  He warned us that some of the music lyrics were a bit strong, but I assured him that it is likely that I wouldn't understand them anyway and I wasn't expecting Church dance music.  They lost, but Gary played a great game.  He is putting basketball aside and will be attending law school at the Univ of Utah in the Fall.  He is here with his wife and 2 small children.

I had the opportunity to visit San German again - it was established in 1511.  Also, Sister Allred and I made a quick shopping trip to Old San Juan.  We met up with the same singer/guitarist as when we were over there with Kris and Eric.  That time, however, he had been drinking a bit and just serenaded us with "Happy, Happy, Happy".  Sister Allred gave him a dollar to leave.  This time, he sang pretty well :o)

This has been a busy week.  We welcomed 15 new missionaries on Tuesday and sent 11 home on Thursday.  I was at the Mission Home on Tuesday to do a quick briefing with the new arrivals and helped Sister Zwick with lunch.  Elder Bennett did a great job grilling burgers and hot dogs.  Later in the afternoon, I picked up Sisters Castaneda and Butler.  They were among the missionaries headed home, so they stayed with me Tues and Weds nights.  Both flew home on Thursday to Utah and Colorado, respectively.

We are looking forward to a Sisters Conference on Monday.  The speaker will be Sheri Dew from SLC.  She will, also, speak at the English-speaking sacrament meeting tomorrow.  Then, the Wentzels, Sister Allred and I are invited to the Mission Home for dinner after Church.  Enjoying Sister Zwick's cooking is becoming a pleasant habit!  Our new Mission President and wife, President and Sister Boucher will arrive from Utah on the 27th.  We will be excited to meet our new president, but sad to see the Zwick's leave.  They have enriched all of our lives.

Sunday Dinner at Mission Home - Pres Zwick at head of table and Sis Zwick to my left

Sisters Stirland/Diego - Macaroni Grill

San German

Sisters Partridge/Ponce

San German

Impromptu singer on Catano Ferry - Happy to accept tips!

Elder Jorgensen/Rodriguez (recovered from appendectomy!)

Gary Wilkinson - never missed a free throw - great 3 pointers as well!

Elder/Sister Wentzel/Sacramento, CA

Belated Happy Memorial Day!!

The past couple of weeks have flown by!  Well, the Elder with stomach pain had chronic appendicitis with an abscess.  After a couple days inpatient with IV antibiotics, he had an appendectomy and was discharged this week.  I think my car drives to the hospital on autopilot.  He is a great young man from Guatemala - comes to my shoulder!  He was treated at the Auxilio Mutuo Hospital in the Hato Rey area of San Juan by a surgeon who had performed hernia surgery on an Elder in February.  His hospital care was awesome - equal to or better than I have seen in the US in recent years.  Dr. Pelet is great, as well.....the fact that he has lived in the US and speaks English is a great benefit to me :o)  Elder and I spent many hours together 'communicating'....we both had to rephrase some sentences sometimes, but eventually got the message across.  He speaks no English except "Wow" and "Oh, my gosh!"  He is doing well.

The current health bulletin for the Caribbean is re: the Chikungunya virus.  It is carried by a mosquito with daytime bites.  I will be alerting the missionaries over the next couple weeks at Zone Conferences.  It is essential to use insect repellent on all uncovered areas.  It has already hit the island of Dominica and is expected to hit hard in the Dominican Republic, Caribbean, and even, possibly, the Southern US.  Symptoms are fever to 104 and severe joint pain (similar to severe arthritis which occurs overnight).  In some ways, it is worse than Dengue.

I have had time to fit in a couple piano lessons.  One student will begin playing simple hymns for prelude in her ward where there is only one other who plays a little bit.

Wednesday night was crazy....the scouts in my ward washed 5 mission cars as well as Sis. Allred's and my cars.  With 2 office Elders and the two of us, we moved cars to and from the office as well as the mission home.  Pres and Sister Zwick have been visiting the islands this week, so I was driving the President's Honda Pilot around running shuttles.  I felt like we were a band of car thieves.  All ended well, though, with a 10:30 pm dinner at Burger King.

My Bishop here has asked me to serve as Primary Chorister - it has been a while since I have done that :o)  We can't be called/set apart in the traditional way for ward callings, but are given "opportunities" to serve.  So much for the easy RS pianist role!  We have about 20 Primary kids and one sharing time.  These are all American kids....many of their dads are here with FBI.  As usual, it is a small world in the Church - Matt Foulger and family are here - his brother was Taylor's scout leader in Allen 4th Ward.

Tonight is a Relief Society Activity - Sis. Allred and I will observe the exercise and yoga class, but enjoy the salad dinner :o)  We are afraid that if we get down on the floor, we may never get up again!!!

Almost forgot --- we had a new Senior couple here BRIEFLY!  Let's just say that they were not a good fit for this mission.  The sister couldn't believe that she wasn't met at the airport with a fruit basket and the apartment (similar to mine) was not adequate.  Also, it was too hot here and there was too much traffic. They got lost driving to the office two days in a row.  To make a long story short.....the Elders were pleased with the opportunity to provide transportation for them to the airport.....they have been assigned to a mission in California!  (To make matters worse, SLC had not advised the Mission here re: their arrival/travel plans, so they arrived at the airport unexpectedly.  Fortunately, the Elders in the office hadn't left yet since that was the only phone number they had.  Then, President/Sister Zwick were ready to sit down to dinner at their home with a visiting Area Temporal Affairs director and his wife.  The Elders picked them up and took them to the Patterson's apt in my complex to drop off their luggate.  I thought the Elders were going to stop by my apt to grab a couple pina coladas (virgin, of course) on their way home.  Instead, they brought with couple with them.  I was in a house dress with slimy hair after cleaning my floors and the couple appeared in their missionary finest clothing.  The Elders later told me that they had to stall and waste time before they could take them to the Mission Home to meet the Pres.)

I haven't been anywhere new, so no photos this time......

Update - Finally!

Sorry, folks!  I hope you haven't been holding your breath waiting for an update!  A lot has happened since I last wrote.  Our Mission Pres/Wife were released on April 28 and they returned to Alabama where Sister Smartt will be treated for a new diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis.  Then, Elder Cornish of the Area Presidency came to preside over the mission until a new/interim president could be identified and arrive.  Elder W. Craig Zwick of the First Quorum of the 70 and Sister Zwick arrived on May 3rd.  What a joy and blessing to have close association with them and Elder Cornish.  Many of you may remember the April General Conference Talk re: the 18 wheeler on fire and the sister who jumped out with the baby.  Yep - Sis. Zwick is that awesome sister!  Then there were transfers, missionary visits and, ultimately, an All Mission Conference held in Caguas to re-group and instruct the missionaries.  It was a wonderful conference as the missionaries from the islands were flown in as well. 

 I was able to visit Mom in Florida for Mother's Day - left here 5/9 and returned on the 14th.  It was really strange being out of the mission.  I felt like I was in limbo and was anxious to return to my assignment.  The next 2 days were Orthopedic appointments for a couple of elders, the weekend and here we are.  I sat down to update this blog last evening and received a call re: an elder with stomach pain, so visited him about 10pm.  Fortunately, they were only about a 15 min drive from my apartment.  

The really great news is that I now have screens on all windows.  Since mosquito-borne Dengay fever is a risk in this area, screens are a necessity and I had none.  My landlord has been great about responding to the requests of the Mission after receiving a letter indicating that the contract would be considered null and void if he didn't comply with the requests.  My washer has been repaired as well after a month or so.  I had considered moving to a different apt in the complex on the ground floor which was vacated by the Pattersons when they were released, but opted to stay here in a brighter, more pleasant unit.  I decided I could climb the 2 flights of stairs for the this apt and not have to go through a move.  All apts in this condo complex have the same floor plan.  I have one missionary to visit today so far - twisted knee playing soccer last week.  One of these days I need to do a good cleaning of the apt.  The downside of all of the open windows is the dust/dirt that blows in from the Sahara via the Trade Winds.  It is like a fine black powder on everything and a real pain to deal with on the nearly white tile floors throughout the entire space.  I vacuum first and then damp mop.  That is a small price to pay for the opportunity to enjoy this beautiful island and the cool breezes. 

The photos this time are random pictures of an evening with the Senior missionaries before the Pattersons and Petersons went home.  Costleys go home in June which will just leave Sister Allred and me as the oldies. We went to the Crepe Maker for dinner, then the men decided they needed ice cream as well....so we caravanned (4 Chevy Cruzes) to Baskin Robbins. Word is that 3 new senior couples will be arriving within the next month.  They are greatly needed! Our new permanent Mission President will arrive July 1 for a 3 year mission.  Sending my love to all ya'll!!!

Dinner at the Crepe Maker (Elder Patterson taking the photo)

Elder Patterson/Retired Dentist from Idaho

Sisters Sigler/Stirland/Zwick at the Mission Home

Mom - Sebring, FL - Mother's Day

Time flies!

Well, here I am - 2 wks later and a lot of photos to load!  Kris and Eric arrived about noon on the 11th.  I met them at the airport and we immediately headed for Ponce where I needed to meet an Elder for a Dr appt.  I dropped them off at the 'usually scenic' square - happened to be preparations for the university olympics.....beer tents all over the park, ATM machines had been cleaned out to avoid break-ins during the festivities, and the local merchants were boarding up windows as if a hurricane was approaching.  On the way out of town, we saw numerous inbound police cars and ambulances.  On Sat, we took the Catano ferry to Old San Juan for some shopping and went to the yummy Argentine restaurant for dinner.  After Church on Sunday, we returned to Old San Juan to visit San Cristobal fortress.  On Monday, we caught the Fajardo ferry to the small island of Vieques - about 1 1/4 hr ride.  The 0930 tickets were sold out, so had to wait for the 1pm trip.  We stayed overnight at La Lanchita resort in Isabel II on the island and did a lot of travelling around the island.  One of our PR missionaries is from Hawaii and said when he went to Vieques, he felt like he was home.  It was a fun adventure...Eric and Kris got us in places and on roads that I never hope to revisit, but we didn't get lost for very long :o)  We returned to PR on Tuesday and drove to Arecibo on Weds to visit the Camuy Caverns and the amazing Arecibo Observatory.  After a more leisurely day on Thurs, they flew home on Friday.  I pretty much covered the island on Sat visiting sick missionaries and dropping off mail/supplies as I was in the area.  Visited Aguas Buenas and Cidra (West of Caguas), Salinas (South coast East of Ponce), Ponce, Adjuntas and Lares.  That was a 12 hr day!  This week I have been on the road at least part of every day and will spent part of tomorrow locating Orthopedic surgeons in two different areas to evaluate 2 of the missionaries.  I am posting quite a few photos and want to mention that the missionaries in photos gave me permission to post their pictures on this blog.  

Elder Peralta/Peru

Elder Henao/Columbia

L to R - Kris/Eric/Sis & Elder Patterson/Sis Allred

Old San Juan/San Cristobal

Looking from San Cristobal to El Moro

Wild Horses on Vieques

Sun Beach/Esperanza, Vieques, PR (Caribbean side of the island)

Abandoned Navy Bunker - saw lots of those!!

Sunset in Esperanza

Bananas Restaurant/Esperanza

La Lanchita/Isabel II (Segunda) - Atlantic side of the island

Vieques Chapel/Sis Escobar (Guatemala)/ Sis Howell and Sis Crist (US)

Outbound from Vieques on Ferry

Inbound return to Fajardo, PR from Vieques

Fajardo from front window of ferry

Arecibo Observatory Dish

View from inside the Camuy Caverns (South of Arecibo)

Quick update!

I have been pretty good at staying out of trouble this week! No 'exciting' adventures for a change. Travels to Rio Grande on Monday and some new territory today - Aguas Buenas (east of Caguas), Juncos (west of Caguas), Carolina and Luquillo (north of Fajardo - on the coast).  Visited 4 missionaries today and discovered the beautiful Playa Azul (Blue Beach) in Luquillo (photos below).  Had an awesome time washing greasy, grimey bedroom windows yesterday - literally grease up to my elbows :o( - elbow grease???  At least, that is done!  The great thing is that I'm not even stiff after all the trips up and down the step stool!  Kris and Eric arrive tomorrow AM, so should have some interesting photos next week....see ya then!

Lots of adventure this week!

On Saturday, Sis. Allred and I boarded the train by the office and headed off to Rio Piedras, a stop on the way to San Juan.  We walked through the shopping area and ended up at a 'mall'.  It mostly had fruit/vegetable stands and food court in an air-conditioned building.  It was fun, but a lot of walking.  The food was all very interesting - the best was a pina colada frozen drink.  After we returned home, Kathie came over to watch Women's conference on my TV.  I got a ROKU so we can access BYU channel.  As the conference was ending, I received a call from the Mission Pres - an Elder with Type I diabetes had passed out and the ambulance was enroute in Ponce.  Kathie volunteered to go along which was welcomed since Ponce is nearly 2 hrs away and it would be a very dark ride through the mountains.  Fortunately, the Elder recovered, but wasn't seen by the ER Dr till 2am and had to wait for lab results.  I dropped the missionaries off at their apartment and got home about 9am.  Had time for 2 hrs sleep and then off to Church since I had to play the piano for Sacrament meeting and Relief Society (special musical number).  Survived all that and went to bed early!  On Tuesday, I drove to Rincon, a vacation spot on the NW coast.  The Sisters live very close to the beach.  As it was approaching dark, we drove down the street to look at the beach.  One of the sisters said it was safe to drive on the sand a little - NOT!  As the photos below show, we quickly got stuck :o)  Some members were called and pulled us out with a strap and pick-up - Learned a lesson with

Waiting for the Tren

Rio Piedras Food Court - the pork/rice/beans were all dry :o(

Little lady in pink shirt was cleaning tables hoping for $$

A fun night on the playa in Rincon

And we were out! (tracks were about 9-10 inches deep)

that one, but did enjoy getting my feet in the water!  Wednesday was a trip to Caguas for a missionary Dr. appt that took forever and included xrays at the hospital.  Friday was a marathon day - left at 0700 for a missionary appt in Ponce - 0945 appt - out at 2pm; then off to visit a sister in Ponce and 4 missionaries in Cabo Rojo.  Got caught in torrential downpours on the back roads enroute to Cabo - the GPS even dropped out at one point.  Even though it showed my car was off the road, I knew I was on a good 4 lane highway.  Came home via Mayaguez arriving at 9pm.  Quite a day, but very productive and great kids to visit.  Nice quiet day today - watched conference at home.  Kathie came over - I made potato salad, deviled eggs and sloppy joes with brownies for dessert.  Only problem is that my landlord damaged his car somehow, so he couldn't come fix the washer yet.  Another week in the life!!!

Getting warmer.....

More photos collected, so thought it was time for an update again...I was clever enough to lock myself out of the condo a week ago!  I had garbage bags in both hands with my bag over my shoulder, turned the lock, closed the door and realized that I had left the keys inside.  Fortunately, I had my phones, spanish books and a bottle of water.  I sent a text to the landlord hoping he had an extra key - he replied that he could come at 6pm...only problem was that it was about 11:15 am at the time.  I asked if he could come sooner since I was sitting on the step and he was able to come about noon.  So - I just enjoyed the breeze, drank water and studied spanish.  I have tried to get additional keys made at Home Depot and none of them work.  In fact, the most recent key got stuck in the lock today and I had to dismantle the lock to get it out. Then, the washer leaked again all over the kitchen floor and I learned that the landlord is out of town.  Oh well - have plenty of clothes!

Last Friday, I attended the Relief Society dinner at the Metro Ward/English speaking.  It was so nice to be able to understand the entire meeting.  Several of the families are FBI.  Then, on Saturday afternoon, Kathie Allred and I caught the Catano Ferry to Old San Juan for shopping and lunch.  The cost for the 10 min ride is 25 cents for 60+ and 50 cents for the younger folks.  I was happy to treat her for the ride....grand total of $1 for both of us round trip.

Yesterday, I was at the office on transfer day to see a Sister with a minor health issue and learned that a couple of the sisters didn't have transportation to their new area, Adjuntas.  With the Pres OK, I offered to take them.  After a quick stop at McDonald's for to-go lunch and a stop in Ponce for more baggage, the girls and I headed to the small jungle city. I felt like I was taking kids to college with all the bags, etc. in the trunk and back seat along with the 2 passengers. Initially, Adjuntas looked pretty bleak, but on the way out of town, I saw a neat town square with shopping and a fairly large supermarket.  If you look at the map, Adjuntas is north of Ponce and south of Arecibo.  Another new area to explore with huge bamboo trees and very curvy two lane roads.

Today, I took a couple sister missionaries out for lunch at the Crepe Maker.  The President thought they needed a little TLC, so we enjoyed lunch on the President's nickel :o)  Also, got the car washed and oil changed.  Pep Boys has the contract for the mission fleet.  I have included a variety of photos - Enjoy!  If you are planning to visit, get your reservations in early - Kris and Eric will be here 11 April and probably Thanksgiving, Dani/daughters from my last job are planning to come on 7 July and Heidi will probably visit in October. I am really looking forward to sharing my adventure!

View of Pool from my balcony

Boombox on top of the pick-up - PR advertise colleges, etc. by driving around town broadcasting

Heading to the Catano Ferry - Old SJ/El Moro in the background

Old San Juan

Blue paving in Old SJ

Weekend Vendors in Old SJ Parque

Adjuntas Chapel

Avocado from the roadside stand down the street - soft ball size

Size perspective - guinea bananas/avocado with my computer mouse