We attached pictures of our trip to a matinee performance of the 70th annual Little Theater Movement National Pantomime and a doctor bird. We had our first week of training our replacements, the Smiths. They came Tuesday morning and left Thursday afternoon to go back to Junction and their responsibilities there. Elder Smith is the Branch President there and won’t be released for a few more weeks. We jumped right in to show them the procedures in the mission office. I was able to help Sister Smith with three kinds of immigration one day—applying for Extention to Stay for newly arriving missionaries, applying for work permit exemptions for missionaries yet to arrive, and the paperwork to pick up passports after missionaries have arrived and received extended visas. We talked through off-island immigration procedures but don’t have any to process now. She was also able to input baptism records and work through the checklist we use with them. I have tried to list each step and record where to find the documents to be sure nothing is omitted. It helped me when phone calls or people coming into the office would interrupt working on paperwork. Elder Daniels has made a spreadsheet of all the bills he paid for the mission with notation of special circumstances. He was able to take Elder Smith to the bank to cash the petty cash check, process reimbursements to have money put back on missionaries’ debit cards, and complete the monthly reconciliation for the credit card purchases for the mission. We are grateful they will be back this week, again Tuesday through Thursday. Then we won’t see them until the last week before we go home since they have family coming for a visit. They stay with us in the spare bedroom in our apartment but found an apartment that they will move into the last week. They considered renting our apartment but Elder Daniels was able to help them find one that is closer to the office and $300 per month less expensive. So another thing Elder Daniels will be showing Elder Smith is the process of negotiating the deal, approving the contract, and getting the utilities started.
The Smiths brought a crock pot of soup with bagels and cream cheese for our lunch when they came last week. They are very thoughtful. We went to Wendy’s instead of Chilitos Tuesday night since the traffic was unusually heavy. Elder Smith went with Elder Daniels to deliver a rent contract for a member of Yallahs Branch who wants to move to Kingston. The location was near where we live, up a lane across from the US Embassy. But the reality was much different from expectations after looking at the map. They went down the lane and then into a gully. Elder Daniels explained it as “entering a different world”. Elder Smith said it was “true ghetto”. After they got deeper and deeper into that area looking for the landlord, they were impressed to leave and call the man from the pickup to come meet them. They were not harmed but we are grateful for the promptings of the Holy Ghost that kept them safe. Elder Smith said he would hate to have someone live there and Elder Daniels replied it is better than where this lady lives now.
The Smiths are doing very well learning all the office procedures. I say they are “quick learners”. They are both PHD’s. He was in Recreational Studies and she in Family Studies. They taught at University of California, BYU, and other places. He was the dean at BYU for over ten years I think. She usually taught only part time. They have ten children. They arrived in Jamaica about a week after us but are serving a two-year mission. They were in Ocho Rios for about 10 months, and have been in Junction for several months. Both places Elder Smith served as Branch President.
Friday several missionaries called in orders for supplies and that afternoon we received a big shipment from Distribution in Salt Lake City. I went ahead and took care of getting things to the missionaries since I’m sure we will have more come so I can show Sister Smith the process. I also edited and retyped part of the Mission Secretary Area book. We got three more work permit exemption letters for missionaries coming in April. One came with the wrong dates so we will have to take it back to the Ministry of Labour to be corrected. We have four of the seven ready to apply for visas now.
On Saturday, after our household chores including extra laundry, we went to the Pantomine, “Anansi and Goat Head Soup”. We tried to go the week before but they were sold out. It was very interesting. The costumes were creative and very colorful. The music very entertaining, but we missed much of the dialogue since it was in Patois. Grateful they had the story in the program! Anansi is a character in Jamaican folk lore that is sly and a trickster but usually does right in the end. They had a goat, pig, and cow that added humor and interest to the play. We are glad we attended.
Sunday was our last Fast Sunday in Jamaica. We had many people attend our branch—44 at Sacrament Meeting. We can fit 40 chairs in our chapel. We were thrilled to see so many. There were some heartfelt testimonies given. The Relief Society president said that she had faith that the branch can thrive and grow and that the Priesthood holders would return one by one. We hope the people will do what is necessary for them to have the blessings the Lord has for them. We had 8 in Primary—two were children of a new investigator. We took a box of books from the Humanitarian Missionaries and each child happily received one book. I taught 4 music lessons. We were late getting home after all the interviews and paperwork. We stopped by Brother McGowan’s so he could sign a check, and we saw a doctor bird (hummingbird). It was the closest we have been to one.
We love you all and are looking forward to seeing Dave and Lani this week and more of you soon.
Love,
Sister and Elder Daniels (Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Amah and Agong)
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