Sunday, May 14, 2017

Happy Mother's Day to me.

Even though we are so far away in miles, these gorgeous flowers from our six beautiful children assured me we are always together in heart and mind. 

We attended the Boulevard Ward for Sunday meetings. Our hearts were touched as five youth speakers gave the most loving tributes to their mothers. 

After church, we had the wonderful treat of hosting four companionships of missionaries for dinner. We extended the invitation not only to share a meal with these amazing young adults, but also to afford them the opportunity to use our two laptops to Skype their families. It was a great way to spend Mother's Day. Overhearing a little of the conversations certainly brought back tender memories of our phone calls during our kids' missions. They served before the days of Skype or Face Time. We staggered the times for the companionships to come throughout the afternoon and evening. Buddy made four pans of delicious lasagna, and we had sides of hot Italian bread, tossed salad, with strawberry shortcake for dessert. We thought this menu was a convenient way to have a fresh, hot dinner ready at the different times. It worked out beautifully, and we don't think anyone went away hungry. 

This past week we had another exciting outing with other senior missionaries. We missed having President and Sister Pearson with us. They were preparing for an off-island trip. We met in Mandeville and then traveled to Black River near the southwest coast to go on the Black River Safari. It was a fantastic day. This adventure is known for its gorgeous scenery and abundant wildlife, especially the CROCODILES. It was so cool!

Right when we arrived, our guide, Captain C, showed us the dock-side pet, but we were cautioned that she is often very cranky and is VERY FAST so to not get too close. 

There was a huge rookery of white and blue heron right at the start of the tour, and the nests were full of babies. A big ol' lazy croc was lurking right under the trees just hoping for one of the chicks to fall out of a nest. 

White heron on nest

 Blue Heron

Not a log - but a crocodile with its mouth open. This is how they keep cool. Our guide told us they will stay in the same positions for hours and hours. 

Another mouth breather. 

Captain C was trying to call this crocodile over to the boat. He even opened the gate on the side of the boat inviting the croc to come on in. Yikes! I guess as Captain C said as long as a crocodile never tastes humans we are safe. 

If you look closely at the next three pictures - you may see a gorilla in the trees. And we always heard there were no primates in Jamaica.

They're actually termite nests.

 

Lilly pads and water hyacinths

When we got back to the dock, the big cranky croc was out of the water by one of the other boats. Of course, the elders all wanted to get closer for a photo, but not too close.

Close up of the flowers on a bush outside the entrance to 

the Black River Safari building. Stunning!

"Crocodile Buddee"

Especially for the grandchildren...

After the safari, we drove to the coast to Treasure Beach for lunch at 

Jack Sprat's Seafood and Pizza Restaurant. It started to rain just as we were finishing lunch. We'll need to go back to spend a little more time there in the future. 

Fish 'n' chips Jamaica style

I forgot to include a picture last week. These pictures were taken in our friend's yard in Williamsfield outside of Mandeville. She told us, "Oh, you should see this when they're really pretty."  We thought how could they get any prettier. 

This is our dear young friend, Elder Walker. He is one of the first people we met when we arrived last fall. He is the son of the principal of the preschool in Linstead where we recently finished a big project. When we first began our work on that project, he was waiting for his mission call. Finally, he received his call to Dominican Republic and is serving in Jamaica while he waits for his visa. We are so proud of him. He will be an awesome missionary. 

I had a crazy fall on Tuesday night; fortunately I'm just fine. I slipped on some water on the tile floor and thought for sure I had cracked open my head and sprained my foot. Buddy gave me a blessing as soon as I was able to calm down; I was really scared. I am so grateful for his worthiness to be able to minister to me and for our faith in priesthood blessings. By Wednesday morning all I had was a stiff neck - kinda' like from a whiplash.  Buddy's head is still sore from his bad fall back in March, so we now have matching tender spots on our heads. 

We add our testimony to that of Elder Neil A. Anderson, "Through the ordinances of the priesthood, ...all of us receive comfort, strength, protection, peace, and eternal promises."

So many milestones are passing by back at home, and we certainly miss being part of them, but we know this is where we are supposed to be right now. We regularly offer prayers of gratitude for the loving support and encouragement from our family. Just since January, we have had a faithful grandson being ordained a Deacon, a young granddaughter and a grandson learning to drive, a granddaughter receiving a scholarship for ballet, a granddaughter becoming a teen-ager, and next Saturday, a grandson being baptized. Congratulations Darren, Kaylee, Josh, Tamri, and Landon; we love you and all our precious grandchildren so very much.  

We're so thankful for Face Time, a Magic Jack for inexpensive calls to and from the U.S., Facebook posts, and almost daily texts or emails keeping us in the loop of the busy lives of our friends and family.  

May the Lord continue to bless us all and keep us in one another's hearts and minds as we continue to find joy in the journey through mortal life. 

All our love...