We had a fairly quiet week at home in Kingston. We were able to get a lot of paper work done for completed and current projects. We've received approval for two new projects and are anxious to get them underway.
The weather is very predictable right now with lots of sun and warm temperatures in the earlier part of the day; then every afternoon about 2 PM the clouds roll in resulting in rain and thunderstorms. Just this afternoon we had a few loud claps of thunder, the electricity went out for about 10 minutes, and then the skies went back to just being very cloudy.
Tuesday evening, President and Sister Pearson invited us over to the Mission Home for a lovely dinner with them and two missionaries who were leaving mid-transfer. This fine elder and sister have served diligently and will be missed.
Well, someone had to finish off the last of the yummy dessert.
The next transfer is in two weeks. We have 14 missionaries going home and 15 new elders arriving. A lot of changes for the mission, but the work goes forth smoothly.
Wednesday and Thursday, we had the wonderful opportunity to go on a teaching appointments with the Boulevard Ward sisters. It was a great experience, AND the investigator came to church today and stayed for all the meetings! He has so many questions and is a genuine seeker of knowledge and truth.
As we worked with these sweet sister missionaries we thought of our precious Emily when she served her mission in Chile. We know the people loved her there just as the Jamaicans love the sisters here.
One of the projects recently approved is similar to one we finished up for our predecessors when we first arrived last fall but on a bigger scale. LDS Charities is providing 405 back-to-school kits for children in foster care all around the island. We have boxes and boxes of supplies stacked in our living room. We will take everything to Montego Bay next week. We have asked some of the missionaries to help us on their P-day to assemble the kits. We'll then hold a Handing-Over ceremony with the partnering organization - the Child Development Agency.
We had to take down our usual "fancy" dining table
(which is actually a round plastic folding table)
to make room for all the boxes.
The other project will provide some much needed kitchen equipment for a little neighborhood school. We are partnering with a finance company here in Kingston for this project.
Yesterday, Saturday, we went to Portmore in the morning to inspect the sister's home. We always love visiting with our beautiful Hawaiian sisters. They informed us of a baptism they were having that evening, so we went back later to attend a very special baptism. Of course, all baptisms are wonderful, but this one seems extra special in that this man's wife and children are already members of the Church and have been praying for years that he would be baptized. Now, another family is on the right path toward becoming an eternal family.
Parting thoughts
(taken from Stand a Little Taller by President Gordon B. Hinckley)
Giving Loving Service
"Yea, and now behold, O my son,
the Lord doth give me
exceedingly great joy in the fruit
of my labors."
-Alma 36:25
Tremendous happiness and peace of mind are the results
of loving service to others. Nobody can live fully and happily
who lives only unto himself or herself.
We humbly and gratefully testify of the truthfulness of this principle because we experience opportunities to give loving service everyday here in Jamaica in one way or another.
Until next week...
All our love.
Getting to know and serve with the young missionaries is one of the great blessings of serving a senior mission. We keep in contact with young men and women - well some are not all that young now - who we served with. The missionaries are thrilled when they find that a couple are serving in the area they are being transferred to because they know that they are going to get some dinner invitations.
ReplyDeleteI love that your able to go out with the missionaries! That's so neat!
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