Beautiful Barbados

Wow! Barbados was a gorgeous place to end our island tours. As I looked over the beautiful waters I got so sentimental to think that all of this is coming to a close. Our mission has been such a blessing and we will really miss it. Each place we visit we fall in love with the people and their culture. These wonderful people had everything ready for us. They had a new built in table for the computer. And YES the computer was there!!!! We did have a little trouble with the internet but after Elder Allred gave his magic touch (he has become the computer pro now) it worked. It always amazes me how much time it takes to solve computer problems. This one was an all day one. Another wonderful thing was they had all their consultants and director called and we had a great training. I could help with the teaching because they all speak English. Hurray! We finished in record time and had a day extra to see the beautiful sites. What a wonderful time we had. Another place in my heart was touched by the faithful few saints. I admire the island members. They are few in numbers but have strong convictions of the truth. They are the true pioneers of the Caribbean. We have truly grown to love them all. We pray the Lord will continue to bless them in our absence and their love for family history will grow and flourish. We pray that their families will be united forever.

Suriname

Suriname is a small country in South America. They speak Dutch but thank goodness a few understand English. We went to set up their first family history center. Unfortunately the computer was on back order and arrived the day of our departure. We used our laptops instead and purchased a desk and chairs for when the computer arrived. There was also another disappointment that the Internet was not installed yet. We still carried on with our training in the hotel where we had Internet. President Johnson called a new West Indies family history adviser and we were able to meet with him and his wife to teach them. The best part of the whole trip was the food his wife fixed for the missionary zone conference that was going on the same time we were there. It was a delicious buffet of Oriental and Indian food. Many of the members there are from Oriental background but they speak Dutch. I kept expecting them to speak Chinese or Japanese. Their ancestors came to work as servants for rich landlords. It is sad to see how families were ripped apart and sold from their homeland just for the comfort and ease of the wealthy. Also they have different cultures and religions such as Buddhist, Muslim and Christianity. The church is very new there and they were so anxious to hear about family history. It was wonderful to feel their spirit because we could not understand Dutch. We enjoyed our stay and their open arms for our visit.

Good bye Puerto Rico

We took our last trip to Puerto Rico. We checked all the equipment, upgraded the computer memory and trained directors. We visited all of our family history centers which had us sleeping in a different bed each night. It was back to work and plenty of it! Each day was full and we would drop into bed late at night. We did get a chance to kiss Susan and Stan good bye. It is always so fun to see them and we talk non stop about all our common work. They are wonderful mission presidents and a fine example of dedication. They begged us to come back to their mission. Now we have lots of offers to come back as President Johnson wants us to come back to the Caribbean. Our family history trainers want us to come to South America. We are grateful we have had the privilege of serving. When we got back to our temple home, we found out one of the couples had to go home. The wife had an emergency and they had to rush her to the states. The husband just cried because he loves the work here and hated to leave the people. It will be a bitter sweet time when we have to leave too. We have learned so much and are so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Savior's love for all of us.

St. Kitts

Just about when we could stand it no longer, we got to go to St. Kitts to set up a new family history center there. We were so homesick for those grandkids hugs. We had a great time with Adrian and Beth and the kids! Who would have ever thought that our mission and their home would all be wrapped up in one. St. Kitts is the favorite place of our mission because our family is there plus it is the most beautiful island. We set up a new center there, but the computer never came ( it is on the slow boat to China ). We taught the members the importance of family history using 12 lap tops to help 25 members to sign up on new family search. Adrian is the family history priesthood leader in his branch so that was fun working side by side with him. We taught and sang about family history. We love sharing the plan of happiness with the members. They get so excited to know they can be sealed as eternal families. Adrian helped a sister send her father's name to the temple. She was so grateful. We love serving and it always brings such blessings. Beth and I had a fun day furniture shopping even if it was only computer table and chairs for the new family history center.

Of course we spent a couple of extra days enjoying the beach and the beautiful island! Brennan and Payton still think they are the luckiest kids in the world to have their own private pool and ocean to swim in every minute of the day.

Thanks Adrian and Beth. We love you.