To say that we have been blessed to be involved in these projects/opportunities would be a gross understatement.
We are still doing a lot of training – but we are seeing progress. It has been a special experience to work with the Area Seventy, the Mission President, the Stake Presidents, and the Bishops/Branch Presidents. This is a very strong group of priesthood bearers and the Women in the Church are equally strong.
This trip – as much as any before we have been made cognizant of the hopelessness of the people and the extreme poverty. We think that Myanmar was just as poor as Haiti – but in Haiti there just seems to be more lack of pride and desire to be better. This is not true among the Church Members like it is among the general population. The dirt and grime and garbage and filth is so prevalent. While we steel ourselves so it will not bother us too much it certainly “gets to us” from time to time.
One experience is worth repeating:
On Friday afternoon we finished our last meeting at 4:00 p.m. We were pleased because we had so much reporting to do and projects to write up – we were anxious to get to our hotel. We stayed adjacent to the airport this time – for the first time. The distance from the Bishops Storehouse where we held our last meeting to the airport normally takes 30 minutes – 45 minutes at the most. Odney, our associate in Haiti was driving and he knows all the shortcuts. We had been traveling just about 30 minutes and were getting close to the hotel. We came down a road and a garbage truck which apparently had engine problems was parked across the road – with no space to around it. Odney found out that because it was Carnival weekend the driver had determined that nothing could be done till Monday so we could not get through. We had to circle back and take one of the main roads. With Carnival causing extra traffic, we knew in a few minutes we were in a pickle. When we got to the main road it took us two hours to travel three blocks. After making several attempts at other routes and doing all Odney could we were stuck. We realized about three hours into the problem that we were very low on gas – but the fourth hour we were riding on empty. It was pitch black outside – no street lights, of course. Odney’s phone was dead. We had used mine, but when we pulled Dad’s out to have him call his wife, we discovered his battery was dead. No phone, low on gas, pitch black, total gridlock. It was the first time in our six trips to Haiti that we felt some fear. The masses of people walking by and the thousands of motor bikes whizzing around and no place for us to turn. One false move and we could have been in trouble. We both decided to pray – pray first that we would not run out of gas and secondly that somehow the gridlock would break up and we would be able to move more than just a car length every ten or 15 minutes. Within about 20 minutes the line of cars in front of us began to move on a slow pace and we made some progress. Within a few minutes after that we passed the first gas station we had seen for over four hours. We were able to get some petrol and with a big sigh of relief were able to move forward. There is no question in our minds that the Lord answered our prayers – it was to direct and obvious to be anything else. Finally after five hours we arrived at our hotel – it was an indescribable relief – in many ways. This may not sound very hair-raising – and, frankly, unless you were there and experiencing it, it would be hard to comprehend. But we were there, and we were concerned, and we were grateful to arrive at our destination. A blessing from the Lord.
We will be in the Dominican Republic next week. We will be in meetings in Santo Domingo – resolving some problems that have developed and making plans for future Wheelchair Distribution. So we will be in a much more pleasant and comfortable environment. We will be out visiting food projects just one day. The week will be a nice reprieve. But probably not as many journal entries.
