Words from Elder Lamar y Hermana Sarah Jean Gray in the Dominican Republic

 

"We are serving in the Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple and live in an apartment building near the temple that also houses the MTC,

Area Presidency office, family history center, and the distribution store.

 We work every day in the temple except Sunday and Monday. On Monday Elder Gray drives the temple van and takes the temple missionaries to do their shopping. 

Sundays we serve in a small branch, Los Llanos, which is about 50 miles from Santo Domingo. Elder Gray is the branch president. The average attendance is 50. They are a loving, gentle people. For example, we also go on Tuesday evenings where I 'teach' the keyboard. My Spanish is limited and one day I was frustrated and said, "Mi español es muy malo." They all quickly said, "No importa, Hermana Gray, no importa" and expressed their appreciation for my effort. We currently have 4 Elders from the Santo

Domingo East mission working in Los Llanos and helping us in the branch.  We enjoy

their enthusiasm and support. 
 
The workers in the temple are also very patient with those trying to learn Spanish. The natives feel it is such a privilege to work in the temple. Many come a long way on motorbikes, buses, taxis, metro, etc. Few have cars. 

 One of our favorite days is Thursday because the MTC missionaries come to the temple. They are awesome, humble young people and, like all missionaries , there are lots of challenges ahead of them. We are in awe of all of the missionaries in the world!

 On the weekends, many wards and stakes come to the temple. They come off the guaguas (buses), taxis, vans and public transportation in their Sunday best--white shirts and ties and dresses. Many have traveled at least 4 hours to get here.  The building we live in has rooms that they can rent ($3.00 US) and lots of them come and stay a week at a time, especially those from the other islands.  It’s interesting to see them cook meals in the kitchen of the MTC and gather around as one happy family. 

 This temple serves all of the islands in the Caribbean and there are many languages spoken, the main 3 are Spanish, English, and French.

 Many temples in the world are closed on holidays, but here the members stream to the temple on holidays. 

Well, here it is December 1, and the temperature at 10:30 pm is 84 degrees. One of the reasons we love it here.

 Merry Christmas to you all."