Santiago

Sunday we took the bus down to Santiago (an hour away) to go to some of the church wards that Cole used to serve in. The bus ride to Santiago was interesting. The drivers down here are crazy. There are no enforced laws or signs of what you can and can't do so little mopeds, rickety buses and trucks were making 2 lane highways into 4 lane highways. Small trucks filled with tires or mattresses stacked 3 times as high as the actual truck would pass buses and barely squeeze by etc. . . It was crazy! There were also a few guys just drinking their beers on the bus and not a soul could care.

On the bus.

Our first stop was Hato Mayor. The church building doubled in size since he served here 9+ years ago.

A few ladies at church. It was fun to see how many people recognized Cole. They called him "Johnson" and it was so neat to see him be reunited with "his people." My Spanish skills still need a lot of improvement but I was able to understand quite a lot of what people were saying. I even taught a cute little girl how to say "My name is . . ." She was thrilled and so was I!

Just some cute kids in the street having the best time with these metal buckets.

Me doing my best sister missionary pose.

Inside one of the nicer homes in the area.

We visited this cute couple in their home (pictured above). Cole taught this guy and baptized his family. The home was cinder blocks and they had a fridge, bed, table and TV all in one room.

Cole taught this family when these girls were like 7 and 9. They still had the pictures of the three of them that was taken 9 years ago.

Next we headed to Pueblo Nuevo to visit another ward. The ladies were just thrilled to see Johnson again. Here is Cole being reunited with his maid Damaris (on right).

In front of Damaris' home in a nicer area of town.

Getting deep fried pig from a guy on the side of the road. It was tasty.

Just some more cute kids. I think I was missing my own kids at this point.

At the gas station. There was a huge tank in the trunk that actually held propane. Notice the speaker in the trunk. There was also another one in the back seat. The streets are filled with Toyota Camry's and Honda Accords. We managed to cram about 8 people in this car after church. So funny.

He's cutting open this coconut for us. 

Drinking the fresh coconut milk. It was kind of strange, not sweet at all.

Here's Damaris' granddaughter Lizzy telling secrets to her grandpa Nelson.

This was out mode of transportation back to the resort. Cole told him to go slow, just for me. The three of us were piled on together.

Our trip was amazing and it was such a blessing to meet so many of the people Cole wrote and told me about while he was on his mission. Ive also been typing up his mission journals so to see it all in person was truly a dream come true!

** Fun Fact:  Cole was in college and I was a junior in highschool when he recieved his mission call. Often people say where they think the new missionary will be called to serve (you have no choice, it's a calling from the Lord). I guessed the Dominican Republic! I couldn't believe it. I wrote it to Cole in a letter a few weeks before he got his call. We still have the letter as proof!**