Dear Family,
The pictures this week are:
(1) my Primary class last Sunday:
(2) Elder Weldon, Pauline, and Elder Diehl
(3) Yallahs Branch members after the baptism
We had another baptism in Yallahs after our block of meetings last Sunday. We transported people to the beach for the baptismal service to add support to Pauline . Once again they used the river instead of the Caribbean sea for the baptism. Before church, Sheika rode with me to see if Abby wanted to come to church. Elder Daniels was in a meeting. Abby’s sister and the rest of the family were very happy to see Sheika—they used to be neighbours! That was the first time Sheika had gone with me and since the family aren’t members of the Church, they hadn’t seen Sheika for a very long time.
We had a nice Sacrament Meeting—several people were called to give extemporaneous testimonies since some of the speakers didn’t come. We had six in Primary—one member I had never seen before and 5 investigators. Two of them are preparing for baptism. No other Primary workers came—the Primary President was sick and I don’t know why the other teacher didn’t make it. We had Singing Time, then the lesson, followed by Sharing Time. I usually add music to the lesson and to Sharing Time, too. The Primary songs are so good for teaching basic principles. I always prepare for Singing Time and Sharing Time and read through the lesson but I guess I’d better prepare for that, too.
After the baptism, we went back to the church to do paperwork. They increased the security by adding a grill for the branch president’s office so we don’t have to transport the computer back to Kingston every week anymore. The printer wouldn’t work, though, so they couldn’t do all their reports, etc. We were late getting back to our apartment and had dinner after 8:00 p.m. We are grateful the phone is working (sometimes) at the apartment. We had a nice visit with Michael and LeAnn. Then we had to make a quick trip to the mission office so we could visit with Amy, Bryce and Lizzie after our phone went dead.
Saturday, the day before, we had our first preparation day in two weeks. (Last week we were at the YSA Conference). We had lots of laundry, cleaning, and shopping to do. That afternoon we had a short visit with Craig.
This week we are preparing for Zone Conferences. Elder Viñas, the Area President will be doing a mission tour starting Friday in Nassau, Bahamas. Our Zone Conference will be Saturday (so no Preparation Day this week). Then Monday and Tuesday will be the conferences for the other two zones in Jamaica.
Last night we had Family Home Evening with the other senior couples at the mission home. We were joined by Bennie Lilly, the Area Welfare Director. We were happy to hear his report on the projects the Church is doing in the Caribbean. One ongoing project is housing for people in Haiti displaced by the earthquake a year ago. He said they had not had cholera in Haiti for over a hundred years until some of the Nepalese peacekeepers brought it with them. Many people have died and over 400,000 have contracted the disease. The church is providing rehydration kits—evidently if you have adequate hydration within the first six hours of contracting the disease you will be all right.
Then we evaluated the YSA Conference and visited. We learned that Elder and Sister Smith, who had been serving in Ocho Rios as Branch President, are being transferred to Junction. One of the tender mercies was that their rent is due monthly and came due yesterday! They had just finished helping with the YSA conference—they secured the location which was just a few minutes from where they live. Last week their branch finished a three-day service project to redo a garden area at the hospital in Ocho Rios. Then tomorrow they deliver school bags donated by LDS Charities to a school where one of their branch members teaches. Sister Smith said that they will then have no outstanding projects. They are anxious to start in a new area. Couples aren’t transferred very often in our mission.
We heard from Aunt Margie and Louise that they enjoyed visits with Jim and Irene who just finished their mission.
We love you and hope things are going well for you.
Mom and Dad/Sister and Elder Daniels
No comments:
Post a Comment