Monday is Preparation day for us. We washed our clothes in the morning after Blossom open the laundry room. I set the washer on Whites but no water came out. I found out that there is only one water temperature and that is cold. After we finished the laundry we ate lunch and headed for Kingston.
I really do hate that drive but their is air conditioning in the truck so that is a real plus. I never worry about your father falling asleep because it is too scary to drive that road and you have to be alert at all times. I find myself even staying awake.
We drove to the mission office. The Vance's were there along with the Murdocks. We had an appointment with President Brown at 4:00 so we just visited with everyone and got a little more information about Ocho and Port Antonio from Sister Hall. We mentioned some of the members that we had met at the social in Port Antonio and she preceded to show us some pictures of the conditions some of them live in. One of the sisters just had a new baby. She has a set of twins also and one other child. When Hurrican Annie swept over Jamaica a few years back, her house was blown away. She collected what corrigated tin she could recover and put up a few walls and covered the rest of the hut with a plastic tarp. She is still living like that. She has a make shift kitchen out side. It rains quite frequently there. Her husband is trying to build them a new place but he drank his last paycheck and that happens quite frequently. Another man who is single and is my age (the one that Brian described as looking like he lived in the Australian bush) sleeps on a door that is covered by a tarp. He is a wood carver and tries to sell his carvings but there are a lot of craftsmen so sometimes he can go for 3 days without food. He is a faithful brother when it comes to the gospel. It makes me feel like a spoiled brat when I complain that my refrigerator is not working properly.
We had a wonderful interview with President Brown. He is native Jamaican and really knows his people. You can really feel the spirit in his presence. He has such hope for the church in Jamaica and he is hoping that with the increase of Elders and Sisters that are serving from the island, the church will have the power to keep growing. He is not only over all the missionaries assigned to Jamaica but he is also incharge of all the Jamaiican missionaaries that are being called.
We probably have over 200 priesthood holders in Ocho and its surrounding areas but right now we have two active Melchizedek priesthood holders and 5 or 6 active Aaronic priesthood attending. He asked if I would teach Seminary and Brian would teach Institute. You can imagine what was going through my mind! I would only teach once a week in the afternoon and the rest of the week the students would do home study. He also wants us to attend the zone meetings and at least two district meetings a month. Zone meeting is two hours away and one of the district meetings is held in Port Antonio which is another two hours in the opposite direction. We will also be attending that branch in Port Antonio two Sundays a week. The president assures me that we will be able to find the homes that we need to go to. I felt somewhat overwhelmed as I left his office but I know this is the Lord's work and we are on his errand so it will be alright.
We drove with President Brown to his home for family home evening. All the couple missionaries meet at his home once a month. The Halls gave a great lesson on prayer. The Browns have 4 children and Sister Brown is expecting. We spent the night at the Murdocks. The Vances spent the night with Sister Wigi who lives upstairs from the Murdocks. The Vances took us to the mission office so that we could pick up our truck. The office elders had taken our truck to the dealer for it's 1,000 mile service.
We drove back to Ocho and arrived around noon. We looked at two - two bedroom apartments but for the money they want, we probably will stay here. The refrigerator repairman came back to check our refrigerator. We defrosted the freezer because of the ice buildup. It has only been a week since it was turned on. We will see what happens.
The mission office provided us water filters for our apartment and the elders and sisters serving here. We were hoping to deliver them but they were going to be out late. Brian did get ours installed and it will be nice not to have to buy bottled water.
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