Sunday, November 12, 2017

Another week has come and gone here in beautiful Jamaica - well, let's amend that to RAINY Jamaica. It is definitely the rainy season in the Caribbean, and it seems to be much wetter than our last fall here. 

Because of the torrential rains, we weren't out much this week. Yes, we're from the NW where it rains a lot, but it's extremely different here because the streets and roads get terribly flooded very quickly; just getting from point A to B can be a real challenge. 

We did have the opportunity to transport some elders and sisters who needed to come Kingston for doctors' appointments; we always enjoy time with the young missionaries. We traveled to the north coast twice to Port Antonio and Montego Bay, so we were away from Kingston for most of two days. 

Today we drove north through the beautiful mountains and valleys to the north coast highway and then on west to Montego Bay to bring the sister missionaries back here. We stopped at the Linstead Ward on the way to attend Sacrament Meeting and were excited to be able to see their Primary Program - so adorable. This small ward only has 17 children in the Primary. They all did an amazing job sharing their budding testimonies of Jesus Christ and specifically of the blessings they could realize from choosing the right. Their parents and teachers are doing a good job of following the admonition in the scriptures to:

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6) 

A beautiful promise.

We are looking forward to a special visit from Elder Quentin L. Cook, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Elder Claude R. Gamiette, an Area  Authority Seventy, who will be here next weekend for a special conference. I'm sure we'll have some insights to share. 

Buddy's turn: While we were inside much of the week, we did get two of the four projects we are working on submitted for approval. The Area Welfare Committee meets on Thursdays to consider projects, so we hope to hear back on Friday comin' (Jamaican saying for the day). Our hope is to get all of the outstanding information for our last two projects this week in order to submit them to the Area Office. There really is a lot going on right now but it's mostly completing paperwork, emailing, and making phone calls. 

In our Book of Mormon studies, we just finished the "war chapters" in the Book of Alma. I love the multitude of life lessons that are contained in those chapters. As we look at the conflicts and situations that the Nephites find themselves in, we can see how they prevail when they have divine help and fail when they lose divine assistance. The Lord's response comes quickly when they are repentant and quick to call upon Him. His response is slow or withheld when they are unrepentant and slow to rely on His might. We are often beset by forces that would attempt to destroy us. These chapters give us great examples of how to live our lives so as to claim Heaven's aid as we rely on His arm instead of our own. As we "liken the scriptures to ourselves" they come alive. 

Until next week...all our love