Banao Camp

This is a late post to our blog but still had to write about our visit to the Church young men and young women;s summer camp at Banao, D.R. several months ago.  A fun and educational experience!

Banao Youth Camp Entrance

 Located about 50 miles north of Santo Domingo and nestled in the 5,000-6,000 feet elevation mountains is a beautiful youth, young adult and family camp.

The Church has made a significant investment in land, large assembly/dining building, baseball and recreation fields grass-covered "bunk" houses and showering facilities for the members in the Dominican Republic. It is in a gorgeous setting and impeccably clean.

Bunk Houses

In the center of the camp for all to see is a large display board with the scripture from 3rd Nephi 5:13 "I am a disciple of Jesus Christ..."  Powerful!

The Banao Camp each Summer hosts 400-800 young men and women each week for "Strength of Youth SOY" conferences.  Multi-stakes rent buses and transport the youth and their suitcases to this special spot for three days of spiritual, motivational and recreational activities.  We have witnessed the return of the youth from the camp and listened to their testimonies in sacrament meetings about how exciting and spiritual the camp experience was for them.

Showers and Washing Facilities

They love the camp and are so excited to share their feelings about their experiences.  Many of our Institute students provide leadership and supervision at the camp, playing games and teaching classes.

Dining, Dance and Activity Hall

Many non-members also attend and come back wanting to keep the feeling of the Spirit alive that they felt by meeting with the missionaries.  In the Valiente branch, for example, several young men who had been attending the Valiente English class were baptized after they returned from the camp and wanted to serve a mission as soon as possible. They felt the Spirit bearing witness that this is the gospel of Jesus Christ and they want to be a part of it.

We received a tour of the camp from Elder and Sister Nunez, who are senior missionaries from Puerto Rico.  It is impressive.  The Banao Camp reminds us of the Heber Valley Camp near Heber, Utah.

We could feel the Spirit of the Lord in this beautiful place and know why both youth and adults love this site.  A great experience on a Saturday afternoon to enjoy this special place.

Temple Blessings

Since the beginning of September, we have been invited to attend the temple sealing and endowment ceremonies of two of our Institute and Pathway students--Emilio "Richard" Rodriquez, and Nelly Luciano.

Richard, our Pathway student, and his beautiful wife Alba, were married and then sealed together. He was a wonderful student with straight A's.

Richard and Alba Rodriguez

Our "Gentle Giant".at 6 ft. 4 ins., he is very muscular, but so quiet and humble. Peggy had him in her class and especially loved him.
Nelly Luciano, the Public Relations specialist on the Institute Student Activities Council, recently received her mission call to Lima, Peru, and went to the temple to receive her endowment.
It was an honor for us to be asked to attend the temple with them.  We both commented on how special these young friends have become in our lives.  They are the future leaders of the Church  here in  the Dominican Republic and will provide the continued foundation and strength the Church needs as it grows, To attend the temple to make their sacred covenants with the Lord and for us to be asked to attend is such an honor for us.

Nellie has impeccable English and she helps us so much with communicating with other students and using our electronic devices. Peggy will miss her so much. She spends quite a bit of time with her when both are at the institute.  Her testimony is amazing and she is friends with everyone. We loved having her in class because she added so much. But now she is working during our class time, so we won't be able to teach her any longer.

Right now, she is working two jobs to pay for her mission. Her parents don't want her to go on a mission. Her father, especially is quite angry with her. She didn't tell him for about two months after her mission call came. Peggy told her that she had a lot of courage to do what she thought was right and she said, "I only regret that I haven't done it before now." We had talked and we knew her circumstance and Peggy had asked her about how her father would feel if she went. She said that he would be very angry and would not support her. Peggy asked if he would ever disown her and she said, "No, never no matter what. Parents here (in the DR) just don't do that."

Nelly and Anabel Luciano

She is 22 years old. She hasn't gone until now because her father said, "No you can't go." So this is very much against his will and was very difficult for Nellie. She says that she just couldn't ignore the promptings of the spirit any longer. She really loves her father, mother and her sweet sister, Anabel (19 yrs old). Peggy says she has a feeling her father will come around in the next year and a half.
These young people are very committed to serving the Lord. The Lord knows their love and He is in charge.

Alba Rodriquez

We will See Richard still because he works at the CCM teaching the new missionaries. We are there every Monday night for our Spanish class and see him. We also see him at the temple now and then. How we love our young, wonderful students.

The Institute of Religion

Every several months the Institute has a major dance activity.  The recent dance was bigger than we have ever had before with close to 400 students attending.

Institute of Religion University of Santo Domingo

So many college-age students came to the Institute building across the street from the University of Santo Domingo to enjoy this closing of the old AND opening of the new school semester activity.   As they say, "Ay yi yi" It was crowded! They crammed into the Multipurpose Room, dancing the Bochata and Merengue dances from 8:00 pm to midnight.   Dominicans love to  dance! (Dancing would go on longer, probably 'til two if allowed).

Institute Dance 

We love the Institute!  It is where we work every day and get a chance to meet and socialize with so many young people, both members and non-members.  We have had so many fun and tender experiences sharing the joys and the heartaches of life with "the kids." They are amazing.  We are always impressed by their stories of faith and sacrifice.  When we ponder this opportunity that has been given to us, we count it as a major blessing that we will treasure forever.

Now, back to the Institute. Students attend religion classes, our English class and just "hang out" enjoying friends, the social environment, ping pong, Dominos, futbolito and air hockey games, the air conditioning, cold water and the positive feeling they receive being in the Institute..  When both members and non-members are asked, "Why do you come to Institute?" many have commented, ",,,I love the feeling here."

Jordys Tineao - "Disc Jockey"

One of our responsibilities as Church Education System (CES) missionaries is to support the Institute Student Council.  We attend planning meetings with Daisi Brito, president, Luis Castillo, Jordys Tineao, Nellie and Anabel Luciano  Bismark Brito, and others advising them as needed.  

Nellie Luciano, Peggy, Anabel Luciano

We drive the student leaders to purchase decoration materials and refreshments.  Sometimes is seems less than exciting and important waiting for purchases to be made, but we know, since most students don't have access to an automobile, that we are assisting to make the activities successful.

Luis Castillo

The dance activity had a fun theme of a Traffic Signal with everyone dressing (a few died their hair) in colors of "red" if you are not available for dating and a relationship, "yellow" if you are dating someone but can be persuaded to date someone else too and "green" if you are absolutely available.  It was so much fun to watch everyone have fun dancing and taking pictures.  There were so many people jammed into the multipurpose room that I am sure the fire code was violated (if they have a fire code).  Even  the hallways and the foyer area were jammed with people. Amazing! It gets so hot with so many bodies together that it is difficult to feel if the air conditioner is working.

Bismark Brito

A funny moment was when Randy, thinking that the air conditioning system was not working, decided that someone had not turned on the a/c/ system in each room.  So he, with his a/c key, walked into each room and turned all the rooms "off" thinking he was turning the system "on".  It got worse.  "Elder Park, it is so hot in here" When realizing the error, Elder Park became the object of laughter by everyone!  He was embarrassed but had a good laugh too.  By the time we get home at about 1:30 am we are extremely tired but filled with joy and satisfaction.  Life if good!

Security Guards - Victor and Gregory

Working at the Institute is very enjoyable because of the two security guards that help us a lot.  Gregory works the day shift from about 7:00 am to 7:00 pm and then Victor takes over covering the late afternoon and over night.  He has a small sleeping area in the back utility room.  These guys teach us Spanish and we in turn teach them English. Every day it's, "Buen dia, como estas.  Como has estado, Tenga una buena noche"  It is fun to see them smile when Randy walks to the little cafe next to the Institute and and surprises them with a cold soft drink.  They love it.  Peggy is particularly fond of Victor.  He is so sweet, humble and kind.  We  love these guys.  They are our "amigos." Randy

Ana Patricia

We were honored by one of our amazing Pathway students, Ana Patricia Rotellini, asking us to attend her endowment session in the Santo Domingo Temple.  We were thrilled!  Having been her Pathway teachers over the past year, she recently received her mission call to serve in Guatemala leaving in early October, so this time was extra special and will always be a highlight for us.

We have grown to love the Rotellini family--Jose, Dayanara, Ana, Luigi and Jose Jr. Jose Sr. has been our bishop in the Piantini Ward and then he was called to be the second counselor in the Santo Domingo Central Stake.

Ana, Jose Jr., Dayanara, Jose Sr., Luigi Rotellini

Joining with the Diaz family in their home, we have enjoyed several fun family night dinners together singing and talking with the Rotellini's and Diaz families.

The Santo Domingo Temple has been closed for a month for preventative maintenance, some remodeling and upgrading of the air conditioning system, so it was good to return and feel the Spirit of the Lord.  We had just been talking about setting a temple date when Ana called and invited us to attend with her. Conflicts with a major  Institute teacher's meeting and our opening social student dance activity the same night created a scheduling challenge.  "This is a special time for her AND she wouldn't have asked us if she didn't want us to be there," we agreed, so the decision was easy-- we have to attend.  Her mother and father, Dayanara and Jose, along with our bishop Julio Lee and another Pathway student and friend Wilfry Gil attended.  We hugged and shared some very tender moments in the Celestial Room enjoying a spirit of love and friendship.  We are going to miss Ana and her family when the time comes to leave this wonderful country.  We have grown to love this special young lady.