Santo Domingo Temple Trip

After five months of living here, Jesus and I finally got to go to the Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Temple!  It’s one of the last larger temples that have been built and I believe it was finished in or around the year 2000.  It’s a very stunning structure. The marble on the outside even appears to change color with the sun.  It’s about 2 hours from our home so without a car and a baby we just haven’t made it yet.  We were there once but only to the outide because it was closed and Joaquin was with us anyway.  Well today we got a babysitter and went with our Santiago East stake for an old fashioned Temple trip!  (Stakes are a bunch of different congregations within one area for the church hence our stake covers the East side of Santiago).

Before I continue, some of you may be asking what is a Temple?  It’s different than our regular church.  It’s another place of worship and those who enter need be found worthy because it’s all very special and very sacred.  There are only so many around the world so while some have them nearby others have to travel many miles to attend.  There’s a small explanation of a temple on Mormon.org which reads:

“What greater peace could you have than knowing you can live with your family after you die? The central purpose of our more than 130 holy temples is to unite families for eternity. When a man and woman are married in a temple their marriage will not end at death but can last forever. Also in the temple members can perform important ordinances for family members who have died before having the opportunity to be baptized into the Church. This means they can still accept God’s Plan of Salvation even after they die. All are welcome to visit the beautifully landscaped grounds at any of our temples. They can also attend open houses prior to a temple’s dedication for its holy work, after which only worthy Mormons can enter.”

For me, it’s the closest place to heaven on earth.  And you can know, that when I tell you I’m going, it’s a happy day for me.  There is also this video titled “Why Mormons build Temples” on Mormon.org and here is the link:

http://mormon.org/beliefs/church 
You have to scroll down and click on "our members" and there's a little video towards the bottom right of the page called "Why Mormons build Temples."

Growing up in the church I would often go on youth Temple trips to Chicago because  that was the closest temple to MN at the time although MN has one now.  These Temple trips were the best!  We would get 100 or more youth together on a big charter bus, spend a day in the Temple, another day at Lake Michigan or the Science Museum and then head back home.  It was always a whirlwind and always worth it.

My Temple trip this week in the Dominican Republic I’d say was a very Dominican experience!  First of all, let’s look at a picture of the bus!  What do ya think?  1970s, 80s?

It’s a luxury for people to be able to attend the temple in this country.  Jesus and I were lucky enough to be able to pay for ten spots  for people to go on the trip because it takes a lot for people to afford to go on their own.  It was 300 pesos per person which is just over 7 US dollars but here 300 pesos is  much more significant than 7 bucks.  It brought me so much joy to see so many people attend.  We had about 30 people on our bus and around 100 attended in total.  Many people don’t have cars here so that also makes it a trial to get to a Temple 2 hours away.  It really made me happy to see so mnay people dedicated to serving the Lord even if it took some sacrifice.  Another thing that pointed out a common economic status was that almost everyone brought their own food for lunch.  There is a cafeteria in the Missionary Training Center next to the Temple and for lunch everyone piled in there and cooked their own food, washed their own dishes and enjoyed the community of one another.  Jesus and I of course walked to McDonalds but  you know us…

Some of our friends: Modesto and Maribel and Carlos and Rosanna

One part of the trip that’s not as significant but was neat for me was that we sat around at least four people who spoke English on the bus.  When I first got here, I thought no one spoke English and while it is definitely a minority I enjoy finding more and more people that do.  You have to remember that I speak Spanish to everyone here besides Jesus so finding English speakers is a nice break for me and takes the pressure off. 

Here's Maribel, Modesto and their baby Benjamin in front of the temple doors.

Another thing indicative of here is everywhere you go in the Dominican Reoublic, you will see people selling things in the middle of the streets and to your car windows.  I mean literally to your car windows!  They will knock and stick their face close to the glass just trying to get you to buy anything from fresh fruits, candies, phone chargers and phone cards.   Oh and I can’t forget the window washers who will wash your windhsield and expect you to pay even if you say, no please don’t wash my window. Well our bus stopped on the side of the road to pick up a man selling dulces (Domincan sweets) and he gave us all samples and sold to many people on the bus while the driver kept driving.  Then the man got off and likely found another bus going back to whence he came in the opposite direction.  Now that’s a way to get business! 

After everyone enjoyed their dulces, the next thing I saw was a jug of natural pineapple juice being passed around  the bus while everyone who brought a cup with them held it out for a drink.  Remember I said people brought their own dishes for lunch so having a cup was ordinary. No cans or 20 oz sodas here!  Except of course for Jesus and I with the Coke we brought in my purse.

And finally I can’t forget my torta…in the beginning of our trip we stopped at this really big Colmado for breakfast!  A colmado is like a corner store but this one was big and served fresh cooked Dominican foods so maybe it technically wasn’t a colmado but it looked like a gas station with a restaurant inside minus the gas..  There I ordered a delicious torta which was a similar to a hunk of corn bread.   The first time I had one was from a woman on the side of the road who baked it in her house and that one was actually better but this one was good too. Man I love those tortas! 

Amidst all this excitement, we found some time to have peace in the temple.  What a sweet event to get a babysitter for and it really was a pleasure to go along with my congregation at church rather than to find a way on our own.

Being cute in my summer dress as I anticipated a long day in a hot city but turns out it rained which also explains the wet hair in this photo.