Sunday, June 10, 2018

We begin this week's blog post by asking everyone to please include our mission president and his wife in your prayers. President Pearson was hospitalized on Friday after over a month of dealing with unexplained fever and other symptoms. Finally, he was able to undergo the appropriate tests to determine an accurate diagnosis and is now receiving the treatment he needs. The Pearsons are scheduled to finish their mission at the end of June, so we are all praying they'll be able to stay here in Jamaica and President will receive excellent care. They both are very calm and express feelings of gratitude that the diagnosis, though serious, has a positive prognosis.

The Lord truly sustains his servants. Even though President was getting weaker day by day, he was able to preside at all five final Zone Conferences and conduct interviews with the elders and sisters.

It was an extra blessing for all the off-island missionaries to fly in for their last conference with the Pearsons.  We also were so excited to get one more chance to see these elders and sisters before we leave.

Bahamas Zone

(representing Caymans; Turk & Caicos; 

Nassau and Freeport, Bahamas)

  

We attended church today at the Mandeville Branch. It was a true blessing to be able to partake of the Sacrament and hear inspiring talks from two sisters in the branch. As we attended our other meetings, my heart was especially touched as I witnessed the enthusiasm of the sisters in the branch as they participated in a wonderful lesson on unity in Relief Society. 

This branch's sisters are in extraordinarily competent hands as our dear friend, Tracy, serves as Relief Society President. If you haven't read about her in any previous blogs, Tracy had a brain aneurysm about ten years ago which left her paralyzed and blind. Multiple miracles have blessed her over the years so she has regained most of her ability to move and to walk although she is a little unsteady, but she is still blind. Even so, nothing thwarts her commitment to the Lord, His gospel, and to building up this branch is having a very positive effect on the sisters.  Tracy has an amazing mind and a heart of gold. She has so many great ideas to help these sisters fulfill the demanding roles of womanhood and is leading the way in ministering to the one.

 This sweet Jamaican mother's valiant son celebrated his 12th birthday yesterday and was ordained a Deacon today by his older brother. 

Saturday evening, we attended a baptism in the Constant Spring Ward here in Kingston. We always enjoy seeing the beaming faces of missionaries as they watch people they love enter the waters of baptism. These missionaries work so diligently day after day to teach their investigators and help prepare them to make and keep sacred covenants. They tirelessly engage in a labor of love to assist our Father in Heaven in His glorious work to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man". (Moses 1:9)

During President Pearson's course of treatment, we are doing everything we can to alleviate some of the pressure on both of them by handling all the missionaries' medical calls and many of the needs that arise within the branches of the mission. We are still awaiting the arrival of the new Welfare Services couple, Elder and Sister Arrington, and we're all praying for their visas to be approved any day allowing them to come to Jamaica very soon. We're hoping for even a short amount of time to train them while we're still here; if not, we have a plan B. 

We know the Lord is in charge, and we will continue to do all we can to keep things running smoothly and make the transition as seamless as possible. We appreciate your prayers and support.

Until next week...all our love. 

Sunday, June 3, 2018

We had a wonderful week that included enjoying participating in the Kingston, Mandeville, and North Coast Zone Conferences. Every Zone Conference we have attended over the course of this mission was extremely enlightening and uplifting, and we continually have come away with renewed commitment to be better personally and to be more diligent in our missionary service. The enthusiasm of the young elders and sisters is contagious and gives us a boost to keep up the momentum. 

 Kingston Zone

Mandeville Zone

North Coast Zone

 Missionaries love to eat and socialize...

  

Mandeville Zone sisters - "It's a great day in Jamaica. Ya, Mon!"

This being our last time to attend Zone Conferences before we return home, we were invited to share our testimonies at the end of each conference. With emotion, we bore testimonies of our love for our Savior and our gratitude for the inspiration and divine guidance we have felt since joining the Church over forty years ago and during this mission. We know our lives have been richly blessed and will never be the same after the experiences we have had serving God's children here in Jamaica.  

On Friday, June 1, the Church held an event at the Conference Center on Temple Square that celebrated, through song, dance and the spoken word, the Church’s June 1978 revelation that extended the blessings of the priesthood and the temple to all of God's children everywhere in the world. The event was titled “Be One,” a reference to Latter-day Saint scripture where Jesus says, “Be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine” (D&C 38:27).

We highly recommend viewing the video of the moving celebration of a historic time in Church history. 

https://youtu.be/7I43VRudhMw

We also want to share the link to an article in the recent April 2018, Ensign written by the man who has been called with his wife to serve as the new Jamaica Kingston Mission President and companion. Elder Parker is a convert to the Church and in this article shares a very powerful message about his experiences with racism and how we can all work toward being One in Christ. We look forward to meeting the Parkers when they arrive on June 28th. 

Elder Fred A. "Tony" Parker

Of the Seventy, North America Southeast America

"The Savior Heals Our Hurts"

https://www.lds.org/ensign/2018/06/commemorating-the-1978-revelation/the-savior-heals-our-hurts?lang=eng&_r=1&cid=HP_TH-31-5-2018_dPTH_fLHNA_xLIDyL2_

From the "Soon Come" board in the Mission Office:

Our replacements, Elder and Sister Arrington, were scheduled to arrive last Friday after their two weeks in the Missionary Training Center, but unfortunately their visas to come to Jamaica are delayed, so they will wait back in their home city serving as Stake Missionaries. We all were disappointed. This is a fairly common occurrence for missionaries coming here, and many of our young elders and sisters serve in state-side missions for one to several months while visa waiting. We will continue our welfare work as usual and continue to pray for the Arringtons to be able to arrive as soon as possible. Our predecessors actually went home a month before we arrived in Jamaica and kindly gave us training through Skype sessions and phone calls. We were so grateful for their help, but it will be so advantageous if we can have some face-to-face training time.

We attended Church meetings in the Santa Cruz Branch today and loved being with these faithful saints in this small but quickly growing branch. Buddy, as President Stewart, presided and also had the very special opportunity to give a blessing to a baby in the branch. 

“Every member of the church of Christ having children is to bring them unto the elders before the church, who are to lay their hands upon them in the name of Jesus Christ, and bless them in his name” (D&C 20:70).  Buddy had not performed this ordinance since blessing our own little Blake over 31 years ago. He has participated in many blessings including for most of our grandchildren, but this is the first time since Blake where he was actually voice for the blessing. He was delighted to be able to exercise the priesthood he righteously holds and honors. Sweet little Ariya and her beautiful mother - two more of our new eternal friends And one more special event of last week...       Congratulations to our # 1 grandson, Zach Stewart, on his graduation from Layton High School.  His next adventure: Ghana Kumasi Mission  August 2018 Until next week...all our love.

     

Sunday, May 27, 2018

In Jamaica, Labor Day is in May. Unlike in the U.S., neighborhoods and organizations involving many Jamaicans actually do labor in their communities to fix up and clean up. There are still many people who choose to use the day off for outdoor activities with family and friends much like in the U.S.  

We traveled to May Pen and Mandeville on Labor Day so Buddy could conduct several temple recommend interviews. About 40 Jamaican saints and some of the senior missionaries have a trip planned to the Panama Temple in July. We are so happy for them. 

This precious family of three generations will be sealed in the temple. The grandfather and father are deceased. I shared some pictures with them from our trip to the Panama Temple last August. They are so excited though a little nervous about taking their first plane trip. 

While in Mandeville, we stopped in to see our dear friend, Tracy, just in time for a Labor Day cookout.

We loved seeing Elder Shafer patiently instructing Tracy on the use of some new gadgets to help her function with her blindness. We commented on his kindness and compassion as he took the time to minister to her in this very practical way. 

With heavy hearts, we're in our last round of Zone Conferences. We attended one conference last week and will attend three more this next week. 

Spanish Town Zone Conference

We had a very special experience in the morning session as President and Sister Pearson shared an extraordinary video of an address Elder Jeffrey R. Holland gave at the Missionary Training Center in Provo in 2011. It is definitely one of the most inspirational messages for missionaries we have ever heard. 

          

 Everyone enjoyed the yummy taco salad and of course brownies for dessert.

                  

Good down to the last crumb. 

Now, that's a sad elder. 

A few nature shots we thought we'd share.

The tree this banana bunch is growing on is actually in the neighboring yard, but the banana bunch is hanging over the wall of our apartment complex. Does that make the it fair game? Here in Jamaican these green bananas are usually served boiled. that may sound gross, but honestly, we thought the ones we ate tasted like artichoke heart - just needed some butter and salt. 

An interesting cactus we see all over the island. This Euphorbia Lactea has several common names including candelabra cactus. 

   

These gigantic French Peanut trees are also found all over the island. 

This gives you some perspective as to the 

enormity of these trees. 

     

The pods of the French Peanut tree 

- evidently some of the species of this tree have edible fruit. 

To further the objective of bringing the Church out of obscurity and of course to serve our fellowmen, the National Public Affairs Council participated in the Family Expo and Special Needs Resource Fair in Kingston on Saturday. A few of the council members manned a booth and offered a variety of free Church materials promoting family values and unity. It was a beautiful day, and the event was attended by 100s perhaps 1000s. 

This past Saturday was one of those days we missed being with family. Our oldest grandson, Zach Stewart, was ordained an Elder by his father, Jeff; and our 8 year old grandson, Jackson Price (Carly) was baptized and confirmed by his father, Kegan. We are so proud of these two precious grandchildren and are thankful for their good hearts. Heather and Tom were in Utah checking on the progress of their new home, so all the siblings were together except Emily. It won't be long before we'll ALL be together at least for a few days; we will treasure every moment. 

L-R: Josh, Ben, Jeff, Zach, Renee, Sam 

L-R: Tom, Heather, Collin, Kenna, Tamri, Mason, Ben, Zach, 

Sam, Jeff, Renee, Josh

Lucky Aunt "Gigi" snuggling with Oliver (Collin's baby boy) 

and Uncle Jeff with Lucy (Carly's baby girl)

L-R: front row: Tamri, Paislee, Jaidree, Kallie, Jackson 

2nd row: Megan w/Oliver, Kenna, Paidan, Liam, Collin, 

Madison, Sammy, Mason, Josh, Renee, Sam, (Ben)

3rd row: Chelsea, Faryn, Blake, Zach, Carly w/Lucy, 

Boston, Kegan, and Jeff

Jackson and Oliver

Besides attending the Zone Conferences this week, we will be sorting and organizing the Welfare Services materials in anticipation of the arrival of our replacements, Elder and Sister Arrington. They are in the MTC for their second week and were originally scheduled to arrive this Friday. Even though they were told to expect a delay in leaving the U.S., we're hopeful they'll arrive soon. 

With the development of this year's first tropical storm in the Atlantic, we're also double checking on preparedness for the upcoming hurricane season. Typically, Jamaica is more likely to have hurricane activity in September and October, so we're thinking we may personally escape any difficulties. 

 Until next week...all our love.