Kingston, Ocho, Montego Bay

I thought I had better catch this blog up starting with Thursday.

Sister Noble invited Brian and myself to her graduation from the Sandals resort.  She has been doing the church's PEF program in hospitality and is a very good student.  She received her first training at the Bahia but was not hired at the end of the 6 week program which is very common here.  She should have received a certificate from them but they never gave it to her.  After completing her schooling, she applied to Sandals for another six weeks of training.  This time she not only received her certificate, but they had a graduation program for all of those who were training.  It was a very nice event.  One thing I really picked up on was that it was okay to thank God and quote scripture and say an opening prayer without any kind of threat from some organization threatened by that kind of open expression.  It was really nice.  Jamaica is a Christian country and I hope it stays that way.  Sister Noble called us today to tell us that she had been hired on by Sandals.

Friday morning we inspected the sister's apartment and then met the Pearson's at the branch so that Elder Pearson and Brian could finish up the temple recommends.  Sister Pearson and myself came back to our apartment and had a really nice visit.  When our husbands got back, the Pearson's followed us into Brown's Town so that they could do another interview.  We now have six new people with temple recommends.  We  are excited about their desire to go to the temple.  After we were finished in Brown's Town, the Pearsons  drove to Negril and we went back to Ocho in time for our Friday night branch activity.  We watched Ephaim's rescue.  There were not very many there.  We are hoping it will pick up.

Saturday I worked on family history for awhile while Brian ran a few errands.  When he got back we drove to Bamboo to take some mail to a sister that we had never met.  We had a nice visit. She is a young adult and she is looking to get a job.  She joined the church in Rio Nueve which is a lot closer to Ocho than Bamboo.  When her grandmother died, she moved back to Bamboo and it has been hard for her to afford the taxi fare. We were hoping to get the truck washed on the way back but Wayne must have been doing tile work because he did not pick up his phone.

Sunday after we finished at the branch, we took Sister Thompson and Cindy to Saint Ann's Hospital to visit Sister Llewellan.  Marsha and Sister Alexander were also there for a visit.  We sang some songs and had a nice visit.  As we were about to leave, a man came over and asked us to say a prayer for a lady that was in a bed just down the row from Sister Llewellan.  I said a prayer because Brian had stepped out for a minute and then when he came back in he gave her a blessing.  We sang a few songs and then Sister Thompson, Marsha, and Sister Alexander quoted a scripture from Psalms.  They knew it much better than I did.  It was a sweet experience.  I always feel good when we are visiting the sick.  By the time we got home, it was after 6:00.  It was a long day but a good day.  

It has been unseasonable hot on the Island.  I asked Blossom if it was hotter than usual because our apartment feels more like July of last year.  She told me that it was hotter.  We do not get a cross breeze in this apartment so we have to depend on the air conditioner in the bedroom to keep the place cool.  It is not keeping up with the heat.  We needed to make a trip into Kingston on Monday to pick up a check for the Pearsons since we were going to be seeing them in Montego Bay today.  Sister Pearson told me on Saturday that there could be a possibility that we may need to pick up two of the elders in Linstead and take them to the doctors office in Kingston.  She called us Sunday night to confirm that they still needed to go.  We were happy to help out and Brian was especially happy to make a trip down in the air conditioned truck.  The truck is the one way he has of coping with the heat.  He feels the heat a lot more than I do.  We had a nice visit with Elder Iverson and Elder Humphrey. We knew Elder Humphrey before when we were working both Port Antonio and Ocho when we first got here.  It was fun to visit with him.  He is headed  home in July.  After dropping them off at the doctor's office we went to the mission office to pick up the check.  We visited with Elder and Sister Hall and then headed back to the doctor's office to pick up the elders. From there we went to Pricemart to pick up a few items.  We treated the elders to pizza and then headed back to Linstead to drop them off and do an apartment check.  When we got back to Ocho, we dropped the groceries off and then went to Progressive to pick up the Ocho Elders so that we could carry them back home with their groceries.  It is always nice to get back to Ocho.  The traffic in Kingston is not very fun.  There are certain intersections where window washers are stationed and if you are at the light for too long, you can always count on getting the window washed even if you tell them no.  Of course they expect to be paid.  I really don't have a problem with that because I know they need the money.

Today we went to zone meeting in Montego Bay.  We took Elder Cox and Elder Gardner with us.  The sisters followed in their truck.  It was a great meeting.  Sister Tuttle and Sister Panado shared some thoughts to start out with.  They did a great job.  President Brown was there this time along with the Pearsons.  It is always nice to have them there and listen to their comments.  When the meeting was over, we went to Mega Mart with the sisters so that we could pick up some toasters for the Port Antonio Elders and also the Ocho Elders.  The four elders drove the sister's truck to Discovery Bay and then they switched vehicles because the sisters had an appointment in Discovery Bay.  We took the four elders back to Ocho and had dinner at Little Tokyo.  It is kind of like a Panda Express.  The elders and sisters are a plus to our mission.  We just love them.  

Well, that is our week.  It is a joy to serve the Lord here.  I am so grateful for my testimony of the truthfulness of this gospel.  

Sister Noble's graduation at Sandals

Sister Noble standing outside Sandal's conference center holding her certificate.

From left to right, Cindy, Marsha, Sister Thompson and Sister Alexander visiting with  Sister Llewellan.

 

Wata Land

I have been helping the branch members with their family history and I find myself on the computer every extra second I get trying to find names.  My next project is to load them into family tree.  That will take some doing.  We have a very limited amount of computers among the members in this branch which makes it hard for the members to do their family history.  We are suppose to have a Roots Tech day on the Island so I am hoping that we can get a few computers down at the branch to help the members.

Saturday we had a fun day with the youth in the branch. We took them to Wata Land.  We had five girls and
five boys show up. We fed them hot dogs and chips about an hour before the park closed and then they went back into the park to do some more playing.  This was a first for all of them which made it all the more fun.  At Chirstmas time, Shane's boys pooled their money so that they could fund an activity for the youth in our branch.  It was fun for us to watch them having so much fun.  A big thanks to our grandsons!

Sunday we had 72 people out to church. Twenty two of those visitors were from the states.  We had to bring chairs down from all the classrooms so that we could accommodate them.  Just as the meeting was getting started, the power went out.  There went the air conditioning, the fans, the microphone, and our keyboard.  We opened the windows and doors to get some cross ventilation and it did get a bit stuffy but there was still a good spirit felt there.  I guess life would get a little dull if we didn't have some glitches every now and then. The air finally came on by the end of Relief Society.  Debbie Vance's daughter gave me a big hug for my sister Chris as they are in the same ward in Arizona.  I felt so stupid as I started tearing up thinking about my sister. One of the groups attending was a family of 16.  You could easily spot the parents of the bunch as they were gray haired. They were there for a family reunion.  It was so wonderful to have them attend the branch and contribute to the lessons.  I love it when we get visitors because it shows our branch members how important Sunday is to members of the church all over the world.

Wednesday we made a trip to Port Antonio for district meeting.  We are not back in the routine of making that trip every other week with the exception of zone meeting in Montego Bay.  We got back just in time to head to the branch for seminary.  It has been a lot harder to have seminary on Wednesdays but that is the only day Mark can come so I try to be there for him.

This is Mark - my one and only seminary student!

Stacie and Cindy.  They are sisters.

The youth going on a tractor ride around the park.

The tailgate dinner.

Last minute sliding.

Mark

Shaquille

Ocho

I loved conference!  One thing I have noticed being in the mission field is how much the young elders and sisters look forward to conference.  It seems to have more meaning for them now and it gives them a spiritual boost.  We had a pretty good attendance on Sunday but there were still a lot that didn't show up. I thought we would have more because it was Easter Sunday.  There were stores open Sunday that usually are not open.  It seems like Good Friday is more sacred to them than Easter.  Everything was closed on Friday.  Another interesting tradition for Jamaican's at Easter is that they always purchase bun and cheese.  The buns are kind of a spice fruit bun and they like to put canned cheese with it.  The store shelves were loaded with buns and cheese.  I understand that the bun is kind of a take off of the British hot cross buns.

  We had a great lunch between sessions.  Sister Alexander fixed fried chicken, Sister Henry made potato salad, Rohan and Tracy brought salad, and Sister Jackson made rice and peas.  I made brownies and banana cake and also cheesy potatoes.  The members seemed to really enjoy themselves.  It was pretty noisy during the afternoon session with all the children that were there.  I look forward to rehearing the sessions at our apartment.

The Halls came to Ocho on Monday so we went visiting.  We stopped at Sister Nelson's in Port Maria and also Sister Bennet's in Highgate.  Sister Bennet's sister was there also.  We had a great visit with all of these sisters.  I have so much love for them.  We talked about family history at Sister Bennett's.  I was so hoping to find a lot of information on her line but it has dead ended for me so I will need to talk to her further to see what I can find.  We drove back to Ocho and stopped at the Chinese restaurant for lunch.  It was really fun to be with the Halls.  They are a great couple.  They were in Ocho and Port Antonio for four months before us so we know the same people.  After they left we went to Fontana to get a prescription for one of our members but they didn't have what we needed so we had to go to two more pharmacies before we finally got the prescription filled.  We decided that we would make a trip into Brown's Town to drop off Sister's Alexander's pans and utinsils from the Sunday dinner so we headed out but the traffic was bumper to bumper.  By the time we hit St. Ann's Bay, the traffic was no better so we decided to stop at the hospital and visit Sister Llewellyn but she had already gone home so we just turned around and went home.  Monday was also a holiday.  They call it kite flying day and a lot of people fly kites.  Most of the school children are out on Easter break.

Tuesday we made our trip into Brown's Town.  We stopped at Sister Scarlet's house and had a nice visit with Cheryl.  We then drove back to Ocho so that we could help the elders with their groceries.  We stopped in to see Sister Llewellyn at her home.  It is nice to see her out of the hospital.

Wednesday we woke up at 5:00 as we needed to pick up the two Elder Lewis' and take them to Spanish Town for transfers.  The meeting was to start at 10:00 a.m.  I always enjoy being at the transfer meeting because we get to hear from President Brown and Sister Brown and also we get to hear the testimonies of the departing missionaries.  Our sweet Sister Thompson was one of the sisters going home.  I will really miss her.  She was replaced in Ocho by Sister Panado.  Luckily, we got to keep our two elders.  We did not have to go back to Port Antonio with new elders because they didn't have enough incoming elders to replace them so that was a blessing for us.  The sisters followed us back to Ocho.  After we got home, I fixed lunch and then we went to the branch so Brian could work on a few items of branch business.  I spent the rest of the evening working on family history.

Thursday I spent most of the morning working on family history while Brian and the elders worked on the quarterly report.  When Brian got home, we made a trip out to Jasmine's home to pick up a few items for Marge.  We drove home to pick up the cookies I had made for class and Brian's institute materials and then headed for the branch so Brian could teach his institute class.  After class, Brian took me home and he and Rohan went out to see brother Lester - but he wasn't home.

So here it is Friday!  Brian and Rohan made a trip out to brother Lester's this morning. On their way back, they got a flat tire.  After getting the tire fixed they came back to the apartment and I fixed Rohan and Brian a fruit smoothie.  They then left to fix the sister's brakes.

Elder Henderson in the Spanish Town Ward foyer.  The sisters are in the back ground saying their goodbyes.

Loading up trucks and cars after the transfer meeting.

Elder Lewis, Elder Hunt, Elder Lewis, and Elder Muirhead in front of their apartment in Port Antonio.  Elder Muirhead will take over as branch president in Port Antonio.  They are also going to be in our district  so we will be making trips to Port Antonio again.

Brian, Imogene, myself, and Sister Bennett on Sister Bennett's porch.

Baptism

I guess I will start with Friday.  Brian spent the morning working on his service project and then came home to pick me up so that we could go look at a spot where we thought might be a good place for baptisms.  Our concern was getting everyone to and from the ocean.  After we dropped the elders off, we drove to the project so that I could take some pictures. Brian, Rohan and Wayne finished up what they were doing and then we left because Brian and Rohan had a meeting scheduled with President Medley and the Dominican Republic so that they could fix our MLS problems. The problem is still not fixed so I guess we will be making a trip to Kingston this week.  When we got home, Brian cleaned up and we headed to the branch for branch missionary counsel meeting.  As soon as that was over, Brian and the elders and sisters walked down to the beach to see if the public beach would work for the baptism.  They decided it would be a good spot and there were dressing rooms there and that make it even nicer than the other place.  When they got back, we had branch Friday night activity.  It wasn't  very well attended but all who came had a good time.  Kimesha does a good job of planning.

Saturday we went to Spanish Town for our monthly temple trip meeting.  When we got home, we decided to  go shopping for a microwave.  I was excited to finally get one only to find that the clock on it is very slow and does not show an accurate time.  Just to show you an example, I reset it when we got home from church and by the time I started this blog, it was almost 1/2 hour behind the time.  I guess I shouldn't worry about this but my watch died and my only source of time is my ipad, the computer, or Brian's watch.  I have missed not being able to see the time in the kitchen since our last microwave died.  I guess we will take the microwave  back tomorrow.  We upgraded from the last microwave because it only lasted a year. Maybe we just need to stick to the cheaper models.  Our last microwave was a Whirlpool.  This microwave was a Panasonic Inverter.

 After we got home from the store, the sisters called.  They had an almost flat tire and the member they were visiting was trying to put air in it with a bicycle pump.  They were hoping to get enough air in the tire to get them to the nearest gas station.  When they got to our apartment, Brian followed them to the tire shop so that they could get the tire repaired.  We left for the baptism shortly thereafter.  It was such a nice baptism.  They both seemed very excited.  Sonya told us how she had gone to work that day knowing that she needed to be at the branch by 4:00.  Normally it would take her until 6 or 7 in the evening to finish her work but she was able to get all her work done by 3:30.  She said that she wasn't even tired like she normally was and she couldn't believe how fast she was able to finish her work.  Simone, likewise, was very happy.  It was a beautiful service.  After the baptism, we went back to the branch to watch the Women's Conference.  Brian and Rohan left to do some branch business.  It was a great day!

Today was Fast and Testimony meeting.  I love hearing from the members.  There was a lot of participation. Our new converts bore their testimonies and that sparked a lot of testimonies as members remembered their own conversions and how happy they were at the time of their baptisms.  Brian taught the temple prep class and then had an interview so it made for a very long day.  We came home to drop everything off, skyped with Janelle so Brian could answer some of Kaylee's questions on his childhood, and then headed to the hospital for a visit with Sister Llewellan.  We finally got home and fixed dinner.  I have been trying to avoid eating late at night but tonight it was almost 7:00 before we finally sat down to our meal.

Elder Cox, Simone, and Elder Gardner

Sister Tuttle, Sonya, and Sister Thompson.  Sister Thompson  goes home on  April 8 so we were happy that the sisters  got a baptism before she leaves for home.

Simone, Sonya, Brian, and Elder Cox.  Their smiles reflect my own feelings about the baptisms.

Kingston

We had a great time in Kingston.  We were privileged to hear from Elder Martinez of the Seventy.  Both he and his wife were our FHE speakers.  Sister Martinez had all of us tell a story from one of our ancestors.  Sister Summers, who with her husband are our humanitarian couple, told a story from Isaiah Cox who is her ancestor.  We started comparing notes.  She actually came from a different wife of Isaiah than the line I am on.  She told me that she had heard that Isaiah's wives had their sealings cancelled because he had not asked permission from them when he took on another wife.  It was fun talking to her.  I told the experience of Grandma Prince dreaming about the records that she wanted Uncle Wayne to look up when he went back east.

Brian and I decided to attend the Kingston zone conference since we would not be able to hear Elder Martinez at our zone conference.  Both he and Sister Martinez are very inspiring as are President Brown and Sister Brown.  I always enjoy hearing from them.  We left before the lunch as we still needed to make a Pricesmart run before we headed back to Ocho.  Elder Pearson was coming to Ocho at 3:30 to do a temple recommend for one of the sisters in the branch who was going to the states.

Tonight we got to go with the Elders to visit one of their investigators who is getting baptized on Saturday.  She is great.  She is very anxious to start finding her ancestors.  This work is so exciting.

Ocho Rios

I was so looking forward to going to church today.  Brian asked three people to speak that had never spoken before.  They were all nervous but did such a great job.  He also had Elder Cox speak and when he bore his testimony about the atonement of Christ, I could feel the spirit so strong.  We  had a couple and a family visiting from the states and Brian said that one of the brothers was visually touched by the meeting.  It is always so nice to get visitors.  It not only shows the members the dedication of these people to attend on vacation, but it also tells me something about those who come. 

The excitement of family history is picking up in our branch.  I have had so much fun helping them.  I was suppose to speak on family history if there was time left over but since we went over in our time in sacrament meeting, I will give my talk at a later date.  At least it is prepared.  After church we had ward correlation meeting and then came home for a quick bite to eat before heading to the hospital to see Sister Llewellan.  Brian gave her a blessing and then we went to Jasmine’s house so Brian could dedicate it.  Jasmine lives in the Isle of Man but has a house in Jamaica.  Every time she rents it out, she has to do a lot of repair on it so they have decided to sell it.  It is a lovely home.

Brian has been busy this week working on Shawn’s house.  I have loved doing family history work in his absence.  Thursday he took a day off so that we could attend district meeting.  He also needed to go to Brother Barbagee’s for branch presidency  meeting plus he had to  teach institute in the evening.  I think he was thankful for a break.

Saturday we went to Spanish Town for seminary and institute inservice.  It was a great meeting.

Well, that was our week.  I am looking forward to our monthly Kingston FHE trip tomorrow.  I am in charge of the dinner but I only have to make the main course.  I decided to do the Lion House sweet and sour meatballs.  We were suppose to do the FHE lesson also but Elder Martinez of the Seventy will be there and he is going to do the FHE lesson.  Lucky us!

We were sitting in front of Jasmine's house so I decided to take a picture of the neighborhood. 

This is Jasmine's house.  I love Jamaican architecture.  Maybe it is because I think this would be a great reunion house.
Notice all the bars.  Most Jamaican houses have bars.

This was an unfinished house that we saw on the way to Jasmine's.  You see a lot of unfinished houses because they run out of money or they leave for the States hoping to earn enough money to finish the project.

This is typical of a lot of Jamaican back roads.

Another busy week!

Since I have been working on family history for the branch, I find that I am having a hard time posting on my blog.  This past week has been busy.  Brian has been working on a project for President Brown so yesterday I got to do some service with the sister missionaries.  We helped Jasmine with her home and then I went with the sisters to do some missionary work.  It was fun for me to watch them teach.  It always seems like we spend a lot of time traveling as everyone lives so far apart.

Wednesday was our district meeting.  We have been having them here at the condo.  It works out really well.  The area held a meeting for the youth and young adults.  Since they were broadcast at the same time, we had to take the TV down to the branch with a computer to hook up the internet for the broadcast.  We also hooked up the broadcast on our other computer at the condo for the youth.  The young adults got to hear from Elder Holland and the youth got to hear from Elder Zivic and Elder Clayton.  We missed most of Elder Holland’s because we were with the youth.  When we took them back to the branch for desert, Elder Holland was still speaking and that was nice.  We were a little worried earlier during the day because our internet was off but it finally came back on. 

Brian spent most of his day working on the project for President Brown so I stayed  home and did family history for most of the day.  It was so nice.  I love looking for these names.  I wish there was some way of doing it in the member’s homes but most of them do not have internet access.

We got our truck washed on Saturday.  By the time we got home I fixed an early dinner and then we headed to the branch for leadership training.  While we were waiting for meeting to start, I helped a few members with some of their geneology.  It is starting to catch on.

Our attendance at church is dropping but I think it is because of the rain.  When it rains, people do not like to come out.  For some, walking down a path can become treacherous if it is rain hard.  For others, it is a way of life.  We were lucky that it did not rain today.  We started with very few at the beginning of church but we had over 50 by the end.  The talks were given by the missionaries and they were so good.  It is really too bad that so many missed their talks.  That seems to be typical for most Sundays.

I will try and repent and take more pictures.  Sometimes I don’t think about it until it is too late.