My How You Have Grown

My slideshow still isn't done but here are some more wonderful pictures of the people we love.

My darling Young Women and their leaders.
Pictured with them is Sister Collins, the new Senior Sister.
She is in the upper right hand corner. I guess she's easy to find, she's the only red-head there.

There were over 80 who attended Sacrament Meeting on Sept. 27th, our last Sunday.
Elder Leishman insisted on a group shot outside.
What a special group of people they are -
faithful, loving, and dedicated to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Linden has over 20 students in seminary

with an average attendance of 13 or 14.

They are wonderful, eager-to- learn youth. They are the future leaders of Linden.

Nice looking bunch of Priesthood holders
looking sharp in their Priesthood uniforms, white shirts and tie..

Here we are at the Guyana airport.
Smiling on the outside but crying on the inside.
We will miss Guyana.
We will be going back to visit before we go home.

Don't Give Up On Me

I've been working on a slideshow for over a week now. It's almost done but I just don't have time to finish. We are leaving Monday morning for Tobago, an island just above Trinidad, where we will finish our mission. We're so sad to leave Guyana. We really love Linden and the people of Linden, especially the members of our church groups.

This is "Farmer" Elder Leishman talking to his good friend, Oral, and Oral's donkey. Oral farms on 35 acres.



This is my very good friend, Alice. We are like sisters and I'm really going to miss her.

More Baptisms in Linden

I call this picture "Angels in the In-field".
Elder Leishman and Elder Brenkmann walk through a grassy field
to the place where the baptisms will take place.

We had four baptisms in Linden at 8 o'clock this morning, Sept. 5, 2009
L to R in the front are Simeon, Chris, Ashley, and Oral.
L to R in the back are Elders, Harris, Tupou, Brenkmann, and Leishman.

Sister Leishman, Oral McLean, Elder Leishman after his baptism.
Oral is a farmer in Linden.

Elders Harris and Babbel found and taught Simeon
who is a drug and alcohol counselor in Linden.

We had a really nice group at this morning's baptismal service.

Baptism by Moonlight

I'm afraid I'm not very expert at using my new digital camera. So, this shot of the full moon just before Malika's baptism leaves a little to your imagination. Can you see the shadow of the palm trees in front of the moon? The light at the bottom of the picture is the moon's reflection in the blackwater creek where Malika Culpepper was baptized on Sept. 3rd, 2009.


Malika's mother, Juliet, was baptized earlier this summer. We were all very happy when Malika called the elders Thursday morning to say that she was ready. We had a sweet service in the moonlight on the rocks by the creek with songs, talks, and testimonies. We don't have a font in Linden. All of our baptisms are in the river or a tributary of the river.

Young Men's Camp in Linden, Guyana 2009

We had 24 young men from the Linden Church Group attend Young Men's Camp this year. We also had two of our sisters volunteer to go spend the week with the boys and be part of the cooking staff. (What's up with that? Shouldn't the boys be doing their own cooking?) They had a great time playing volleyball, fishing, going on 5K runs every morning, studying the scriptures, swimming in the nearby creek, and, of course, eating.


The highlight of the camp for the Priest age boys was a service project in Anarika which is a small village about 10K from where the camp was held. A member family lives in Anarika. You might remember about the man who was seriously injured in a logging accident. It was at their house that they did the service project.


The Ramdeholls had a garden spot that they used each year to plant vegetables for their family's use and to sell. They had already planted 50 pepper plants in pots earlier in the year. Shortly after that he had the accident that has prevented him and Sister Ramdeholl from clearing the garden spot and planting the vegetables. So that's what the Priests did for a couple of hours during their camp experience.


The Ramdeholls were very grateful for the help. The garden spot was cleared and planted expertly by the boys with the help of Elder Leishman's many years of experience.

FYI - Brother Ramdeholl is scheduled to finally have the pins removed that have held his pelvis in place for 3 months. When that is finished and he has healed, he still needs to have surgery to repair his ureter. This sweet family has suffered much pain and sorrow in the last 4 months but their faith and testimony of Jesus Christ as their Savior and Redeemer has not wavered. They are a special family and we know that Elder Leishman was inspired to make Anarika part of his mission in Linden.

ANOTHER FIRST FOR LINDEN, GUYANA

GIRL'S CAMP

On Tuesday, August 11th, we took 10 girls and their leader to Summerville Camp where we met the rest of the girls from various branches in the Georgetown District.
Check out those smiling faces.

Sister Juliet Culpepper in pink on the far right volunteered to be our girls' leader for the 4 days and nights they would be at camp.
Of the 10 girls in the picture, 5 of them are her family members.
One is her daughter, one is her granddaughter, and three are her neices.
Sister Juliet was baptized in May but as yet, no one in her family has been baptized.
None of her 5 girls have been baptized as yet but I think that will change soon.
All the girls had such an amazing spiritual experience and her 5 girls were especially touched. Each of the girls who went, including the 5 who aren't members, bore their testimony in church the following Sunday.

Doesn't this look like a refreshing way to spend a summer afternoon?

This is our group of girls catching up on camp gossip under the shade of a big tree.

Experience the Light

Our deepest fears concern the unknown.
Some of us walk in darkness not knowing the power of light.
There are those of us who fail to search, to stretch or reach for their destiny when it is within their grasp.
Those not willing to find the height to which they can rise will fall short of their greatest aspirations.
Light overcomes fear,
experience overcomes doubt,
knowledge overcomes the unknown.

by Elder Truman Leishman

Have you ever see a more picturesque spot for a baptism?
The water is actually called 'blackwater'. It's not dirty water, it's water that has been darkened by minerals and from the dyes in the leaves and bark of trees in the rainforest where the water starts. It's like a mirror the way it reflects the blue and white from the sky and clouds.

This is a closer picture of the man who is in the first picture. Elder Leishman just baptized him last Sunday, Aug. 1, 2009. His name is Lee Almond Darrel.

On the weekend of the July 17th & 18th, we had a big SPLASH! There were 16 new members of the church added to the Linden church group (soon to become a branch).
In the picture above is a family of seven. This baptism was held on July 17th.

This picture is of the baptism held on Sunday, July 18th.
Six people were baptized members of the church. So the grand total for the weekend was 16. Now comes the job of keeping them active and working in the church.

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MIB or MISSIONARIES?
They're handsome enough and smart enough to be MIB but they are, of course, hard-working missionaries - 24/7.
Missionaries in the West Indies are not required to wear a suit coat. They were wearing theirs to attend a funeral of a member of our church group.
L to R: Elder Tupou, Elder Babbel, Elder Harris, Elder Packer.