Mangú for Marissa!: Beautiful Barahona

Carolina and I moved into an apartment that was rented out for us by the temple in Santo Domingo on Wednesday. Since then, we have become buddies with several of the senior missionary couples serving in various callings here. Thursday was a Dominican holiday, so we all took the day off and the senior missionaries invited us to join them on a trip south about 3 hours away to the area of Barahona.

We left the house at about 6am and Elder and Sister Duke, also from Utah, drove past the crazy traffic of Santo Domingo and out onto the long freeway, passing endless fields of banana and sugarcane crops, lush green hills, and desert areas. We stopped and looked around a hospital with another senior couple in our group who are a doctor and nurse. They will be returning to the mission in May to start humanitarian projects. When we got there, the beach was better than a postcard!

The missionaries told us about Larimar, a special blue stone made from minerals that are compressed by volcanic forces. It is only found in this specific area of the entire world! People make beautiful jewelry and other artwork with it, and it serves as a little economic boost for this poor area.

The beach was full of smooth stones, rather than sand. As we were walking and picking up Larimar and other neat-looking rocks, a boy about age 14 approached me and offered me some. I told him I couldn't buy from him, but he waved his hand and silently insisted that I take it as a gift.

We found out that this boy's name is Andy, and he was born deaf and mute. He had a kind, positive attitude that exuded from him, even without saying anything. He uses unofficial hand signs to communicate with friends and family in his tiny, impoverished village. By gesturing back and forth, I learned that he doesn't play basketball, but loves baseball. And he doesn't surf, but he can swim well and dive really deep into the ocean!

The Benedicts talking to the kids about starting prospective healthcare projects for their community.

The senior couple who will be returning for a medical mission talked to Andy and some of his family and neighbors about possible returning to do a project in their area to investigate how many people are in the deaf community and finding ways to help them learn how to speak, read, and write. We met a friend of Andy's who is deaf also. He had a kind smile and light in his dark. He liked playing with the frisbee I gave them.

Another cute, outspoken 11-year old joined me on the beach as well immediately intertwined her fingers in mine and walked me up and down to look for pieces of Larimar. She mentioned how she'd love to have a tablet like she's seen the Americans who come around have haha. We took pictures with the kids by their homes and a grafiti wall. We also met met a group of young men playing an intense game of dominos and a naked baby brother. We shared some of our peanut butter sandwiches with a couple of the kids, which were completely foreign to them.

The girl who held my hand insisted on gifting me an especially large and valuable chunk of Larimar from her own home, even though I didn't offer her anything in exchange. I will treasure that.

My heart just swells when I think of sweet, speechless Andy offering to help us as strangers on the beach. It's amazing how not only the beauty of the island, but the generous people who live in it, will fill your heart with LOVE!