THE DOG DONATION

Before we get into the dog thing, we need to tell you about the meeting we went to today, that lasted four hours, with the mission president:
Recently we have been a little down about the extreme poverty that surrounds us. We begin wondering, just a little, why we were here, what good could we do. Well we went to this meeting. Called a zone conference, put on by the mission president, president Maravilla, he begin teaching us and we have to say he was amazing. He would have the missionaries laughing one moment and in humble repentance next. What a really great leader!! However, what impressed us the most was the brief story of his personal situation. When he got married, they were dirt poor. They lived in a shack, and, their bed was only about two feet wide. He and his wife begin a path of obeying Gods commandments, and now, he has great responsibility in our church, he was just called as an area president, and he has prospered both spiritually and temporally. So, we felt bad about our previous thoughts and we have begun to look at people for what they could be and not what they are. (By the way, the president and his wife kept their little bed as a reminder of where the came from)
Now the dog. We ended up today working with a little missionary that speaks no English. He had broken his foot and has to hang around the office until he heals. His companion went with other missionaries so there was just him and us. We tried to teach him English and he tried to teach us Spanish. The blind leading the blind. It became late and he had to come home with us. No missionary can be left alone. He really is a nice little guy. While at home the door bell rang. There were two ladies and little girl. They wanted money for something about dogs. They had this crumpled up piece of paper with names and signatures on it and a picture of a really ugly dog. Our little missionary talked to them and attempted to tell us what was going on. Gary, thinking he understood the Spanish, decided it was a donation to some kind of dog refuge. This dog really needed a refuge! Well, Gary gave them a little money but wasn't about to sign any petition. So, they went their way and we were pleased with our Spanish capability. Later, when the English speaking missionaries showed up, they heard the story and told us it was actually a raffle for the dog. Give us some money and you might win a dog. Well, with Gary's luck he would have won this very ugly dog!