Our one year mark!

We entered the MTC one year ago on the 6th and arrived in the Dominican Republic one year ago on the 18th.  Someone once said that the days travel slowly but the years fly.  That is so true - it really is hard to believe that we have been gone this long.  And, because this is a 23 month mission, we had our "hump day" (or half way mark) sometime last month.

Then!
Here we are at the MTC pointing to the Caribbean and knowing little or nothing about it!

There are so many things that we have learned this past year.  One of the most important is just learning to work together as a companionship.  We thought that not having some unknown companion every few months, like when one serves a mission at 19 or so, would make that a breeze.  It hasn't been difficult or anything like that, but we have had to decide who takes care of what in the apartment (Rob does the night dishes, empties the trash, and often helps with sweeping or mopping - I do the cooking, clothes washing and general cleaning - we kind of share everything else).

One of the things that Rob has learned is to be a good sport about is shopping.  He used to hate going shopping (not that he loves it now), especially when there were things to look at and decide on - he's always been a "just go into the store and buy it" kind of shopper.  But he has had to learn to wait for me while I try to figure out what brand to buy at the grocery store where everything is new or to accept the fact that we have to go shopping AT LEAST once a week.  I've learned to try to hurry a little faster.

Rob has become the best Dominican driver and can hold his own with all of the crazy motorists on the street.  I appreciated that even more during the short time after his hospital visit when he wasn't allowed to drive!  He knows to never just drive into an intersection because the light is green - you have to look both ways for the folks that try to run their red light just because they can or be aware of the fellow to your left you has been in a left-only lane who suddenly decides to turn right by pulling in front of you!

We've learned to figure our schedule out a little so that we're not working 60 hour weeks.  That has meant not going into the office every day where there are a hundred interruptions and to just work from home in peace and quiet.

We've met the most wonderful people all over this area from Trinidad, Guyana, and Barbados in the south to Puerto Rico, St. Kitts, and Antigua in the east, and the dear folks here in the DR.  People are so kind  - when we don't know where some place is located, we just ask someone in the town, and they will either give us directions or jump on their moto for us to follow them.  They are friendly and are always saying "Buen Dia" to us.  We love their abrazos (hugs) and friendly hand shakes.

But most of all, we've learned how the Lord is in the details of our lives.  At our Church's last General Conference in October, our leader, President Thomas S. Monson said he has constantly had reinforced "my knowledge that our prayers are heard and answered. We can communicate with our Heavenly Father through prayer, and those prayers will be heard and answered — perhaps not how and when we expected they would be answered," he said. "But they will be answered, and by a Heavenly Father who knows and loves us perfectly and who desires our happiness."

We have seen prayers answered, both ours and yours, as Matt has gone through his cancer treatment and now is cancer-free.  There are not words to express how much your love and friendship has been for us and for our family.

And now!

We look forward to the coming months to see what else the Lord would have us learn.  We hope that we can serve Him well.