Sunday, April 2, 2017

Presidents Eyring, Monson, and Uchtdorf

187th Annual General Conference of 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

We are so grateful we were able to watch General Conference over the Internet and were excited to hear the announcement of 5 new temples: Brasilia, Brazil; the greater Manilla, Philippines area; Nairobi, Kenya; Pocatello, Idaho; and Saratoga Springs, Utah. 

All of the talks were inspiring and uplifting as they always are. We are very grateful for the righteous example of all the Church leaders and their willingness to share their testimonies of the Savior and His atoning sacrifice on behalf of all of God's children. President Eyring's talk Saturday morning especially left an impression upon me. He said through "the providence of God" we have received the gospel and the eternal ordinances for ourselves so that we can now provide the way for our ancestors to also receive these blessings. I turned to Buddy and said I would love to serve a Family History mission which actually could mean serving from home. An ordinance worker we knew at the Portland Temple had this opportunity. 

                           https://youtu.be/Ly9xk59Qkfc

For the fourth consecutive Easter season, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is encouraging Mormons and others around the world to share hopeful messages about Jesus Christ. This year's focus comes from the Bible's teaching that Christ is the Prince of Peace. 

As with previous years' messages, this year's messaging initiative coincides with Holy Week - from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, April 9-16 - and includes three invitations:

1. Come to Christ.

2. Learn principles of peace from the Prince of Peace.

3. Share ways to find peace through the Savior. 

On Tuesday, we attended a combined Zone Conference for the Kingston and the Spain Zones. (The Spain Zone is what they call the Spanish Town area districts.) We always enjoy going to these meetings. President Pearson invited the missionaries to share examples of miracles they've had. We heard some amazing testimonies of faith and the resulting miracles. We particularly noticed how each missionary concluded their contribution with the principle they had learned. For example, one elder shared that their investigator was afraid to tell her mother that she was investigating the church, so the elders did a role play with her. (I used to do this with our kiddos. We'd think of all the possible scenarios when they were afraid about some situation - we'd  practice - you say; then they'll say; then you'll say ...remember?) The young girl gained the confidence to speak with her mother and was baptized last Sunday. Principle: The Lord opens the way for all to keep the commandments. 

We had special visitors at the Zone Conferences. Two men from Utah and Idaho who served missions here back in the 90s brought their 12 year old sons to visit Jamaica. They were here for a week sharing their experiences and the sights of Jamaica with their sons. They both spoke at the zone conferences. One of the men works for LDS Family Services. One of the main things he does is counsel with returned and prospective missionaries. He helps in the adjustment to being back and in the preparations for missions. He was a very engaging speaker. Much of what he said also had application to our role as senior missionaries. The other man is an entrepreneur with several businesses. His emotions were so tender as he spoke of life-changing experiences he had here which helped shape who he is today. Both men talked about the changes that are made before, during, and after serving a mission. Buddy and I reflected on a beautiful piece of advice our Jeff shared with us when we began our mission - To not resist the changes the Lord will make in us. We have seen this already. The speakers both spoke of the importance of keeping a journal and recommended returned missionaries - no matter how long they've been home - go back and read their mission journals to remember some of the sweet, precious feelings they had when serving.

We also attended part of the Zone Conference the next day in Montego Bay for the Mandeville, North Coast, and Bahamas Zones. The off-island zones always join in by Skype. We were in Montego Bay to help the branch in the process of creating an emergency preparedness and response plan. After the conference, the visitors followed us up the mountainous road to West Haven Children's Home. They had contacted us back in January asking if there was somewhere they could do some service. After introductions, we left them there to interact with some of the children. 

Instant friends. 

Spring fed pool close to Salt River 

outside of Freetown, Jamaica

We had one of the best experiences of our mission - at least so far - on Friday morning. We drove to Old Harbour to pick up the sister missionaries and then out into the country to meet the elders outside of Freetown to witness the baptism of a fine young man we've known for a few weeks. The elders told us the baptism was to be near the Salt River, but we certainly didn't expect the location to be this beautiful. We walked down a steep bank to reach this gorgeous clear water pool. We are very excited for this young man and all those he will influence through his righteous example. 

"Yes, we'll gather at the river, The beautiful, the beautiful river;"

Heather shared a poignant comment when 

I shared this picture with her in an email. 

"I love how the water is rippling! It's so symbolic! 

It makes me think about how our covenants are eternal and they go on and on, but it all starts with baptism."

I (Buddy) would like to add an entry from my journal:

"This morning we drove to Old Harbour to meet with the missionaries and a young man who was to be baptized. We picked up the sister missionaries to convey them to the baptismal site. We drove to what turned out to be a small spring fed pool in the country. This was a beautiful spot for a baptism. The water flowed from under a rock formation at the base of a hillside. It was clear and beautifully calming. Our little group of 10 sang hymns and had a talk on baptism. Young Brother Bryan was baptized by Elder Menlove. The simplicity of the service and baptism was wonderful. This was the best baptism that I have ever attended. Debbie and I were asked to bear our testimonies. We were grateful for the opportunity. This has been a day that I will never forget."

I am so glad that we are serving here in Jamaica. The love that we have for the people grows as we serve them and serve our Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you all for your support and prayers on our behalf.

All our love...

Sunday, March 26, 2017

 Rafting on the Rio Grande

As promised here are the details and some pictures from the river rafting trip we took this week. We had such a grand time lazily floating down the Rio Grande River on the north coast just west of Port Antonio with most of the other senior missionaries. The weather was perfect; it was warm, but there were fluffy clouds to periodically provide some shade. 

We began our day by meeting the other missionaries at the end point of the rafting adventure - which is right on the ocean. We purchased our tickets and then took a 30 minute taxi ride up river to the beginning point. Our taxi driver shared a little bit of the history of the area. Errol Flynn, the legendary swashbuckling movie star, who made Port Antonio his home, introduced the idea of rafting as an attraction. Prior to this, the rafts were used to transport produce, especially bananas, from the interior of the island. Torrential rains rushing down from the Blue Mountains feed the river. The taxi driver showed us a water depth indicator which went as high as 20 meters, and this was pretty far up on the bank.

We met our raft captain named Richards - a 69 year old who has been doing this for over 20 years, boarded our comfortable bamboo raft (we even had cup holders made out of bamboo), and started out on a beautiful, relaxing trip on the river in what we consider the most scenic part of the island. We were told the captains of the rafts start out by being the ones to bring the rafts back up river - a really difficult job - they pole back up just like they would going down river, but of course they're going against the current. After they've become more experienced they are allowed to captain the rafts. There are many captains, so they are on a waiting list and only get to do this when their number comes back up to the top of the list - about 2-3 times a week. It is a good source of income for them. Our taxi driver also works as a captain. He said that rafting is his gym!

Below is a map of the location of the river and the part we were on. You can see how lush the vegetation is in this part of the island. 

Left to right: 

Elder & Sister Brown from Illinois [Member and Leader Support (MLS) Missionaries], Sister Dennis from Jamaica [Self-Reliance/Pathway Missionary], Elder and Sister Chandler from upstate Washington, [Church Educational System (CES) Missionaries], Us, Elder and Sister Gotfredson from Utah [also MLS Missionaries].  President and Sister Pearson weren't able to join us, but they've taken this trip multiple times since this is their second mission here. 

The Browns - so you can see the full raft. 

Their captain was 77 and has been doing this for 60 years!

Taking a raft back up river. 

About mid-way, we stopped for lunch at Melanie's - a riverside restaurant for the rafters run by an amazing cook. She lives on the other side of the mountain, and she carries ALL of her equipment and the food here every day by herself. Another man sells drinks, so together they raft across the river to this place. She offers jerk chicken, red snapper (pictured below), and crayfish. Buddy had pre-ordered the crayfish and was disappointed to find they were finished (as they say here, which means she was all out.) Evidently, these craydads run about a pound - more like a small lobster. 

The ladies' and gents' room.

Too soon, we arrived back at the ocean and came to the end of this amazing trip. We'll definitely be doing this again! One of the workers said we should come back in the summer when the water is more calm. We told him we loved white-water rafting and had enjoyed the few little riffles. 

I've tried to insert a few videos; I hope they'll play for you. 

We hope spring has arrived at your house. Here in Jamaica there are only slight changes in the seasons. Compared to the heat when we arrived in August, the somewhat cooler weather especially in the evenings since December has been wonderful. The days are becoming warmer and the nights are not as cool, so summer is on its way, but we'll continue to enjoy the little bit cooler weather while we can. We were told last summer was exceptional hot; we hope that's the case, and that perhaps this summer won't be quite so hot. 

We celebrated Buddy's birthday by having a lovely dinner at a nice restaurant here in Kingston. It is a favorite place of ours, and all of the church visitors we host always put a trip to South Avenue Grill on the itinerary. It is an outdoor restaurant with great ambiance. One of the waitresses, Rita, has become a dear friend who always greets the women with hugs.

Happy 66th!

We were excited to receive the go ahead from our Area Welfare Manager to continue to the submission phase for one of our potential projects. We're now in the process of entering everything into the online system. We have another project ready to propose and hope we'll be able to get both underway very soon. 

Transfers took place this week; it's always an exciting time. I believe six of our wonderful missionaries left this time. One Jamaican elder has been waiting since we arrived in August to go to the Netherlands and was finally able to go begin his mission there. The rest returned honorably to their families. It's fun to receive pictures of their homecomings and to now keep in touch through Facebook. We welcomed five new missionaries - 3 sisters and 2 elders - hailing from Utah, Idaho, Hawaii, and Arizona. This week is Zone Conferences, so we'll get to be rejuvenated by the youthful energy and enthusiasm always present in any gathering of missionaries. 

  

I hope all the sisters reading this were able to watch the General Women's Session broadcast Saturday evening. If not, I encourage you to do so as soon as you can. I was inspired and uplifted by all the talks, and I particularly loved Sister Linda K. Burton's message. She shed a whole new light on the idea of being a certain woman as she expounded on the importance of this adjective when we consider the many meanings of the word certain - e.g. unquestionable, beyond doubt, sure, definite, unchallenged, etc. This truly is an incredible way to describe many women in the Bible. 

In just the following two examples, we can gain great insight if we think of certain in the way Sister Burton explained.

Luke 10:38

Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.

Luke 24:22

Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre;

We are looking forward to hearing messages of inspiration and guidance from the First Presidency, members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and other General Authorities and General Officer of the Church during the upcoming sessions of General Conference. 

Click link below for live viewing time and options...

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/live-viewing-times-and-options?lang=eng

Until next week...all our love.

Sunday, March 19, 2017

For those of you who are still dealing with winter weather, 

just remember, spring will come eventually, 

OR 
you could come visit us in sunny-getting-warmer-every-day Jamaica. 

   

Notice the bamboo rafts? 

We're going rafting on the Rio Grande this week 

with some of the other senior missionaries. 
We'll be sure to post some pictures next week.

After being so busy for three weeks, it was nice to have a bit more time this week at the apartment office to get caught up. We were able to work on proposals for a couple of new potential projects. The process isn't really difficult, but it can be time consuming. We did have one long trip on Monday with stops in Linstead (central), Montego Bay (NW coast), and Mandeville (SW), and then
making a full circle back to Kingston.

During this trip, we took a large generator to West Haven Children's Home. This is the last big item to deliver there, so now we just need to finalize overseeing the installation of all the water tanks for the project to be complete. 

We were excited to see the laundry area cleared of the usual piles and piles of laundry.They're finally all caught up thanks to the new washing machines and water tanks. 

       

   Before                                          After

Newly installed water tanks for the laundry room.

On Saturday afternoon, we enjoyed attending the baptism of two fine men at May Pen. They actually both attend the Old Harbour Branch, but because that building does not have a font, the baptism was held in May Pen about 20 minutes away from Old Harbour. All the young missionaries from both towns were there; it's always a treat to be with them.

   

  

  

Stony Hill Road

Today we made one of my least favorite drives because of the rough, windy, narrow roads through the mountains, but one of the most beautiful drives because of the scenery to travel to Port Antonio on the NE coast. There has been a great deal of rain up in the mountains, and we saw several landslides and a lot of standing water. We attended all the regular meetings, and then we held a training for the members of the Branch Council. Under the direction of our Area Welfare Manager, Elder Acosta, we are training all 25 units' councils in the mission to help them create Emergency Preparedness and Response Plans. The Church has great resources for us to use including preparedness.lds.org (check it out). 

You know how sometimes people will post Pinterest "nailed it" or "failure"? Well, we had a Jamaican cooking failure. We tried our hand at rice and peas - so yummy made by other people - so yucky made by us! Yesterday at the grocery store, we ran into one of our dear Jamaican friends who works at the Mission Office. He was accompanying the two administrative office elders showing them what to buy, and then he was going to teach them to cook. We were lamenting our awful results, and he assured us he could teach us how to make the best rice and peas ever; we bet he can. Yay! Jamaican cooking lessons. We'll let you know how things turn out, and if we get really good at it, we might even cook something like this for you when we get back. 

Rice and peas with a Scotch bonnet on the top.  We've been warned to not puncture the Scotch bonnet.

From our study this week:

1 Nephi 19:18 "And I, Nephi, have written these things unto my people, that perhaps I might persuade them that they would remember the Lord their Redeemer."

What does it mean to remember the Lord?  

How do the scriptures help us remember Him?

President Henry B. Eyring taught, "We keep our covenant to remember Him every time we gather our families to read the scriptures. They testify of the Lord Jesus Christ, for that is the message and always has been of prophets. Even if children do not remember the words, they will remember the true Author, who is Jesus Christ" (Ensign, May 1998).