Eventful Week June 5 Email

It has been raining every day since last Tuesday. In fact we were not able to go to Yallahs this morning because the water was too high to cross where they had started working on the road where it dips so you can cross a river. We had a phone call from a branch member that the road was closed but we still drove through the flooded streets and coast highway to see if they had reopened the road. We found vehicles backed up and discovered no one could get through. Even if the road wasn’t cut any deeper, we estimated it would have been 4-6 feet deep. We drove carefully back and attended the Kingston Branch. I tried to get pictures, but with the heavy rain still coming down the pictures didn’t really show what it looked like. One scene vividly in our memories was the deteour where the bridge washed out just before we got here last October in tropical storm Nicole. The brown water boiled under the temporary bridge and into the Carribbean where the blue water was turned brown for quite a distance. In fact we saw the sea turning brown all along the coast. We let the missionaries know we couldn’t get through and they conducted services in the Yallahs Branch. We later learned that only one sister joined them for Sacrament Meeting. Then a young man came after she had gone home. We read on the Internet that Jamaica is on the edge of a tropical depression and more rain is forecast. We hope the storm will be tempered so there will be less impact on people and their property.

They trimmed the trees in our apartment complex very severely this week. They cut back to the major limbs so all the smaller branches and all the leaves and flowers are gone. The gardener said they do it every year before hurricane season. He said in two or three weeks we will have leaves again.

We got a change in assignment for the Whiteheads who have been here just about three weeks. They were changed to Humanitarian missionaries and will work with and then replace the Schaefermeyers who finish their mission in Sept. So we are hoping for a replacement to help with Leadership Training. In fact, it would be nice to get more than one couple. The Smith’s get here in a couple of weeks but the Area gave permission for him to give Patriarchal blessings while he is here and we don’t know where they will be assigned.

Thursday was our 40^th wedding anniversary. Also that day our two oldest grandchildren, Stephen and Kaylene, graduated from high school in Las Vegas, Nevada. Amy and Bryce were in Salt Lake City all week recording and performing a new oratorio, “Messiah in America”. You can read more about it on the church website (search for "Messiah in America oratorio"--it was under upcoming events for May but they just changed to the June events). We are grateful that Amy was able to get away from rehearsals and fly to Las Vegas Thursday to attend the graduation. She promised us lots of pictures.

We were also happy to hear from Sarah this week. They changed their phone numbers and weren’t responding to our emails so we had been unable to contact them for several weeks.

Friday after work we joined the other senior couples for dinner at Gauchos. I had a delicious dinner -- Asian pork chops with plum sauce and mashed potatoes. Elder Daniels enjoyed a hamburger. The best part of the evening was visiting with the other missionaries.

Saturday after cleaning and doing laundry we went for a walk and got drenched. We took our umbrella because it was raining as we started, but it got heavier and heavier. So we did more laundry after that! Later that afternoon we went for a short ride with the Whiteheads to see University of West Indies and University of Technology campuses which are close to our apartment.

We have been trying to contact Social Security, our existing medical insurance carrier through Elder Daniels’ retiree benefits, and the church medical insurance to understand and make changes as he qualifies for Medicare this month. We had the forms filled out to defer Medicare while we are out of the country but hadn’t felt right about sending them until talking to Freescale. We finally got through to them May 31^st and were able to enroll by phone for the Medicare supplement insurance they require retirees to carry so we can continue my medical insurance with them. We felt like this was another tender mercy. We had tried several times and then the day before Freescale would have terminated his medical insurance since he would have begun Medicare we were able to get through. We had not received the papers they sent. They explained when he retired that if you ever go off the retiree insurance you can never re-enroll. This wouldn’t have been a problem for him, but I would have been without medical insurance when we return from our mission. Once again, the Lord blessed these missionaries.

We love you all very much and pray for you.

Mom and Dad, Sister and Elder Daniels