Meeting New Friends

Our first day in Trinidad included getting lost for hours trying to find our way out of where our house is back to Valsayn where the mission office is. We were driven to our place at night in a state of exhausted stupor. Even with hand-drawn maps of where we were and where we needed to be, we managed to get ourselves very lost. We had an appointment to sign our lease at the mission office at 2:00 pm. We left at 11:00 am and thought we would have plenty of time to do some grocery shopping but we ended up being a few minutes late for our appointment with no time for shopping. Later that day, had dinner at the mission home and met the other five senior couples serving on Trinidad. President Robison shared with us the current information about Trinidad getting its 1st stake. It's close but the time still isn't certain. After the dinner/meeting, we drove down to San Fernando, a 30 minute drive, for a baptism. At the fireside we went to on Sunday night, a young man introduced his wife who had been having lessons with the missionaries. After the fireside, President Robison challenged Sister Mohan with a scripture from Mosiah 18:10. The next morning she called to say that she was ready to be baptized, and so, she was.

Thank goodness for Elder and Sister Farrer who drove us to San Fernando and back to Chaguanas. They also followed us to our apartment because it was dark and helped us get back home safely. We couldn't have done it on our own. We can now, but not then.

On Tuesday Elder Farrer and his wife came over to help show us "the ropes" and teach us what our responsibilities would be. After a couple of hours of work, we went for a quick lunch with them and then headed back into Valsayn, where we spent the rest of the afternoon getting a bank account set up here in Trinidad. We finally managed to stop at PriceSmart (its like a Costco) on our way home and got a few groceries. We had to shop frugally, though, because we didn't have a lot of Trinee cash and didn't have access to our money in the bank until the next day.

On Wednesday two of our elders, Elders Hickenlooper and Endeman came by for a visit to introduce themselves to us. Elder Endeman has be working in Chaguanas and knows the people and the area. Elder Hickenlooper is coming back to the area after being gone for a few transfers. Then, we picked up Elders LeBaron and Richards at the mission home and drove them around Chaguanas so they could say good-bye to some of the members they knew. They were a big help to us because they directed us through very unfamiliar territory, but, by doing so, we were able to get more acquainted with the area.

On Thursday, we traveled down to Couva and Claxton Bay to meet some members and investigators with Elders Guy and Mundy who are our Zone Leaders. We had some wonderful visits and were immediately put upon to use the skills we learned in the MTC about teaching the Preach My Gospel lessons. I am so grateful now for the MTC experience because doing it in the field was so much easier. The key to the whole situation is to listen to the Spirit and it will tell you what you should say. (D&C 84:85) (D&C 124:97)

On Friday, we fixed dinner for the East elders before going out with them on visits. We visited many families on the East side of Chaguanas with Elders Endeman and Hickenlooper. We visited investigators, members, and less actives and again had the opportunity every time to bear our testimonies and to teach gospel priniciples.

Saturday afternoon and evening we helped the East and West Elders home from the grocery store with their groceries. Two of our elders were companions until this last transfer at which time they were split up and given new companions. Their area was split back into East and West area. Only Elder Endeman stayed in the same apartment. Elders Hickenlooper, White, and Risenmay all moved to new apartments. So, they all needed groceries to replenish the fridge and the shelves. In the afternoon and evening we went on visits with Elders Risenmay and White to members and investigators on the west side of Chaguanas. Our last visit of the night was pretty amazing. We met the Deonarinesingh children while waiting for their father to get dressed. When he came out, he looked very startled, like he'd seen a ghost. Apparently, Sister Leishman looks just like a former sr. sister in this area, Sister Allen. Sister Allen worked diligently with this family to keep them actively involved in the branch. When she left, Brother Deonarinesingh quit going to church. When he saw Sister Leishman, he thought Sister Allen had come back to haunt him. He was challenged to come back to church the next morning and, sure enough, he was there with his whole family. Whoever Sister Allen is, she is to be commended for having such an impression on this brother that her look-alike could reactivate him.

Sunday was our first day of meetings with the branch. The chapel and classrooms are in the upper story of a building on the west side of Chaguanas. There is a large room for the chapel, a kitchen, a bathroom, and 3 other classrooms used for Primary, Sunday School, Relief Society, and YW/YM. Apparently we are very fortunate in the fact that it just got air conditioning. The branch is small but a good % attend. Sacrament Meeting was disrupted severely by a rainstorm that lasted most all of the meeting. The rain beating on the tin roof was so loud that we couldn't hear a couple of the youth speakers very well. Sunday School was taught by Brother Garcia, the District President. His family have been members for over 20 years. It is unusual to find someone in Trinidad who has been a member that long. I went to Relief Society and was immediately asked to give the lesson on Temples and Family History. The sister in charge said she just found out that morning that there was no one to teach the lesson and since she has never been to the temple she would appreciate having someone with more experience on the subject to teach the lesson. Of course, I said I would be happy to.

One last thing to close out this post. THE DRIVING HERE IS NUTS! We pray every night that we will be safe on the roads. There are laws, I guess, because there is a test that has to be taken to get a driver's license but nobody follows any rules and nobody enforces them. The streets are narrow but you can stop and park anywhere you want even if it blocks a lane of traffic. And there are only 2 lanes to start with. We've seen drivers ignore stop signs and red lights, turn a corner from any lane in front of other cars, block a lane of traffic for any reason, get out of a car to go talk to someone else while traffic builds up for a block or more, etc. ITS NUTS!