Cruising Down the River

One evening last week we went on an excursion to the Bird Sanctuary with four other senior couple. One of the couples, the Farrers, was leaving us soon and one of the others was taking their place, the Barnes. The Farrers wanted to see this one more time before they left. For the rest of us, it was our first time. We got in a 20 man boat with a motor on it and cruised through a man-made river out to a large cove near the ocean. The trip through the river introduced us to many unusual plants and animals. We saw a cayman (small alligator) hiding under the roots of the large mangrove trees. We saw very small, brightly-colored crabs crawling all over the branches of the same roots. We saw huge termite nests that looked like beehives. We saw a snake coiled in the branches above our head. And, we saw lots of beautifully colored birds. Passengers are motored out to the cove because just about 45 minutes before the sun sets hundreds of birds fly into the trees surrounding the cove to roost for the night. It happens every night without fail. The trees fill up with brightly colored birds making them look like they are blossoming. Unfortunately, my camera wasn't good enough to get a good shot of the birds roosting in the trees.

WE ARE THANKFUL

We had two Thanksgiving dinners this year. This is a picture of the one we had on Thanksgiving Day. The day before was Transfer Day and we got three new elders to replace three who were transferred to other sections of Trinidad. There are ten elders in the picture because we invited a new senior couple, the Barnes from Washington state, to join us and bring four of their elders. They actually have eight to look after but four of them had been invited to a member's house. The members are American working in Trinidad. We had fourteen for dinner that day.



On the Sunday before Thanksgiving we had a little bit bigger crowd. We invited the branch president and his wife and two sons. We also invited three newly baptized members that we had the privilege of teaching with the elders. Dianne Springer is in the picture with Elder Willis and Elder Guy. Elder Willis is new to us and Elder Guy just got transferred. Elder Leishman is in the background with President Gopaul.



Pictured in this picture is Jameil Springer, on the left, his friend, Antonio, and Melroy Fordyce. Melroy went with us to Dianne and Jameil's baptism the week before as a guest because he was scheduled to be baptized the following Saturday. Elder Leishman jokingly invited him to get baptized that night since the font would already be full. Melroy thought about it for a while, then said he would like to be baptized right then. He was interviewed, found worthy, and then baptized. Just like that! Antonio heard Jameil talk about his baptim at school and asked about it. One day he saw the elders walking in the street. He ran after them and asked them if he knew Jameil. They said 'yes' and then Antonio asked if he could be baptized. The elders said 'yes' again but that he would have to come to church first. On the following Sunday, we went to pick up Dianne and Jameil to take them to church early because Jameil was being interviewed to receive the Aaronic Priesthood. Antonio had called and asked if he could have a ride. So we met him at the bus stop and took him to church, then to our Thanksgiving dinner, and finally to a fireside at the Mission Home. (with his mother's permission, of course) His mother, sister, and aunt are all having the lessons with him and are all preparing for baptism. WE HAVE SO MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR!

Elder Leishman is posing for a picture with some children in a village called Chase Village. It's one of the areas we go to with the elders to teach. We are't teaching these children because their parents aren't interested but every time we go to this area, the children swarm us.



This area is in one of the more depressed parts of Chase Village. If its been raining, and it usually is, the path through the houses is very muddy. That requires careful stepping and the use of boards for bridges.



The elders that are assigned to West Chaguanas and surrounding villages were Elder White, the tallest one with dark hair, and Elder Risenmay. I say 'were' because Elder Risenmay just got transferred to another section of Trinidad. Elder White's new companion is Elder Payne from Salt Lake City.

On Nov.22nd we had another baptism where 3 new members were added to our Chaguanas Branch and 1 new member was added to our Couva Branch. The really wonderful thing about the baptisms is that 2 of the young men will receive the Aaronic Priesthood this Sunday and there's another one coming up in a few years. The one thing that is desperately needed in the West Indies in priesthood holders. The four who were baptized are Ryan and Avinesh Parag, brothers, Devon Grant, and Alicia Richards. The others in the picture are Elder and Sister Leishman, Elder Risenmay, the other white guy in the back, and Elder Endemann, the Samoan in the front. In case you are wondering why you see so many pictures of baptisms and missionary groups with both hands held above the heads, I will explain. I'm not sure when it started in the West Indies but "Hurrah for Israel" is a cheer for our mission. You remember the story of Brigham Young when, even though he was so sick he could barely stand, he stood and gave a "Hurrah for Israel" shout as he departed for a mission so his family wouldn't worry about him. The shout and the arms gesture has become a tradition at baptisms in the West Indies. Now you know!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We celebrated Elder Hickenlooper's 20th birthday with a lunch and a cake with trick candles. Elders White, Endemann, and Risenmay tried to help him blow out the candles but they wouldn't stay out.



Elder Leishman and I were out with Elders Risenmay and White one afternoon in Chase Village. It was a Saturday afternoon and we ran into lots of children out playing in their yards. They followed us all over the area. They were so fun that we had to take their picture. We would love to have taught their parents but they weren't home that day. Maybe another day.





We spent a wonderful morning hiking to Maracus Falls in the mountain range north of Port of Spain. The hike was strenuous for the old and infirm like me, but with my companion's help, and only with his help, I made it to the upper falls and then to the lower falls. The trip was so-o-o-o worth it. It is definitely somewhere
I hope to show any of my family, and friends, who are ever able to take a trip to Trinidad. Look for the water fall behind the missionary couples on the ledge. The excursion was only marred by the fact that our van was broken into and our belongings would have been stolen if two couples hadn't headed back to the van ahead of the rest of us because one sister wasn't feeling well. As it was, they still had time to steal $100 TT (about $16 US) out of my wallet. But luckily, all the credit and debit cards were left in there place.

I made this slide show for my granddaughter's 13th birthday. I send it to her but decided to post it on my blog. The 13th birthday is a big deal. She's a teenager now. Or, as we call them sometime teen-ragers. Luckily, Jayden isn't like that. She's a sweetheart. We love her and miss her. Happy Birthday, Jayden.

We also have another granddaughter who just turned 10. We want to wish Indigo a very happy birthday. Indigo your card is on your mom's email at work. We love you very much.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

THERE IS A GREAT WORK TO DO!

It's hard to believe that it's been two weeks since my last post. There is so much work to do in Chaguanas, Trinidad, West Indies that we are kept busy from early morn until late at night but we love it and are having some great experiences. We are having some frustrating ones, too. The traffic is NUTS, contacts don't keep their appointments, baptisms are postponed as Satan works his devious plan to thwart the growth of God's Kingdom, and other things go wrong (like being lost in the crazy streets of Trinidad) but we're not going to dwell on the negative. We want to emphasize the positive so we'll share some of our special experiences and add some pictures as well.

We've met some wonderful people. The members of the branch have become just like family. They all loved the Leavitts, the couple we replaced, but have accepted us, too. I've already taught a Relief Society lesson and Truman has already given a Sunday School lesson. We both have assignments to speak in church but not on the same day. We attended a Friday night activity Game Night and had a great time. It was on Halloween which isn't really celebrated here. I volunteered to make cookies for it because I wanted an excuse to bake my traditional sugar cookies that I make and decorate every Halloween with my grandchildren. I didn't have any orange food coloring or a pumpkin cookie cutter so I just made circles which I cut out with the lid of the PAM and added sprinkles after they were frosted. Even if I had that stuff it wouldn't have been the same because I didn't have my grandchildren. The Elders were are assigned to have taken us to most of the active members houses and we can actually find our way by ourselves to a few of them. We've been invited to dinner to 4 of the member's houses. You'll have to be sure to check out my slide show called "Divali" to see pictures of two of those dining experiences.

We are also working with some wonderful investigators. We are assigned to two areas of Trinidad - Couva and Chaguanas. There are two sets of elders that work in Chaguanas and one set that work in Couva. The Couva elders had two baptisms last weekend. They were both young girls who have other family members who were baptized previously. The elders have been teaching them for a while. The baptisms were done in a cement font located outside the Couva chapel. They were special experiences. I played the piano for both of them and Elder Leishman gave a talk at one of them. Pictures of these baptisms are on the slide show called "Trindad, the beginning", meaning the beginning of our time in Trindad. We have been working with the Couva elders with a young mother and her son - Diane and Jameil - since our 1st week in Trinidad. She knows the church is true and wants to be baptized but her father and mother are trying to stop her. Her 14 year old son wants to be baptized so bad. Every time he prays at one of our meetings in their home he asks Heavenly Father to please let them be baptized. Tonight we set a date with her for Nov. 11th but Diane is still hesitant. I would ask that all who read this please pray for her to be able to take the leap of faith that she needs to at this time. She wants to be baptized on one of the beaches when she is baptized. Since we are serving by any beaches, I wasn't sure we would ever get a chance to be a part of a beach baptism. Now it looks like it might happen after all. I will put up pictures when her baptism becomes a reality.

The Chaguanas elders have been working hard and have several families that they are teaching. Last Sunday there were 14 investigators at church. That was an amazing day. One family is really ready but there is a problem that comes up a lot in the Caribbean - couples are married to each other even after having lived together for many years and have children together. So before they can be baptized, they have to get married. One family needs to have the grandparents and the parents get married but they really want to be baptized. They have 4 children, 3 are over 8. Another family of 14 who came from Guayana to work in Trinidad really want to be baptized as well. That will be a really big splash if that one comes about. We have lots to look forward to in the next few weeks. I'll keep you posted.



There is great work to do in Trinidad and we are glad to be a part of it. Hurrah for Israel!