Brian had some branch business in the morning so I did two loads of whites, defrosted the freezer as usual and then we headed for Kingston around noon. All was going well on our drive until we heard this funny sound like you would hear with a flat tire. Brian pulled off the road and sure enough we had a flat tire. I was kind of surprised because the truck is only three months old. Unfortunately for us, the tire that was flat was the one closest to the road. Even though it was P-day, Brian had on his white shirt because we were in charge of FHE at the Browns. It had been raining so the underside of the truck, where the tire was, was pretty dirty. He grabbed the tarp to lay on but ended up with a few splatters on his shirt. A Jamaican boy riding a bike stopped to help us. I am sure Brian could have done it on his own but this kid was really helpful and seemed to enjoy helping us. As it turned out, the jack didn't jack the truck up high enough and even though Brian told him to leave the tire on, he took it off because he was trying to be helpful. Of course it wasn't high enough to put the good tire on so the boy went across the street to get some broken cement to put under the wheel and another chunk of cement to put under the jack. Frankly, I was glad he was there to lift the cement. I was a little worried about the cars and trucks that were going past because we were not that far off the road. A police truck came by and then turned around and put his lights on so that traffic would slow down. We finally got the tire on and Brian tipped the boy for his help. Every little bit of money really helps these people. You should have seen this boy's bike. Deseret Industries probably would not have excepted it. I think they can make anything work in Jamaica.
We were going to stop at Price Mart on the way down but decided to go to the office instead in hopes that the office elders could take the tire and have it fixed. We took care of some business at the office and then headed up to the Browns to warm up the gravy and start the rice for the Hawaiian Hay Stacks that we were having for dinner. Brian gave the FHE lesson on music and everyone seemed to enjoy it. It is really fun to hang out with the couples. We spent the night with the Whiteheads, who are our new humanitarian missionaries. We are really short couples in this mission and I understand it is that way everywhere around the world.
Tuesday morning we drove back to the office to get Elder Lafayette (a Jamaican elder). We needed to take him to Ocho so that the zone leaders could pick him up and deliver him to Negril. We were also able to get the office elders to take our tire to get fixed so we stayed at the office for awhile. When they got back, they informed us that the inside of the tire was shredded so they had to buy a new tire. I guess we didn't pull off soon enough. We understand that one mission president had 65 flat tires in the 3 years that he served here. We took Elder Lafayette to Price Mart with us. It is very close to his home and he has only been out for 5 months. We treated him to pizza after we got through shopping. Their pizza is a lot like Costco's and about the same size but they cut their slices smaller. I bought a whole pizza. I had two slices, Brian had three, and Elder Lafayette finished it off. He seemed to be very happy because he loves pizza. He is such a cute boy and he has a lot of personality. I love working with the elders and sisters. It fills the void of not being able to be around the grandkids. We finally got back to Ocho around 3:15. We dropped Elder Lafayette off at the elders apartment and then headed home to unload our groceries. We then turned around and went back to the elders apartment so that we could take the three elders to an appointment that was scheduled at 4:00. We then drove to P L's house to find out about a birth certificate and check on the " food for the poor" that he would some times get. When we got to his house, we found out that he had picked up some "food for the poor" that week so we bagged up some rice, beans, and cornmeal and then delivered some to a lady in the branch that had called earlier in the afternoon telling Brian that she did not have food. P L told us that he would have his son bag the rest so that we could come and get it. I think P Lwas in need of food also so that is probably why he picked it up. We need to find out more about that program because it comes in handy when people call at the last minute with food needs. I think one of Brian's biggest challenges will be welfare needs because by US standards, the whole branch should be on welfare. The church wants the members to be self sufficient and not have to rely on the church. We heard that there was a time when people joined just so they could get help from the church. Unfortunately, when the helped stopped, they quit coming. We have a lot of people on our branch list that we have never met.
We stopped at the branch on our back from P L to meet with Brother Hullet. He is over facilities for the entire mission and is a very pleasant man to work with. He wanted to check out our DVD player. He also hooked up the computer to the television so that we can show conference to the members. After Brother Hullet left, we delivered some food to a lady in the branch and then headed home. It was another late night for dinner.
Today we went to district meeting, made a stop at the bank, and took some papers over to the L. We ended up staying for two hours. We made a trip to Pimento Walk and then headed home for the evening.
There is a lot to do here in this little branch. Tomorrow I teach seminary for the second time. Last Thursday I only had Mark Henry show up. He is 16 years old and the only member in his family. He has been a member for about a year. I am so impressed with him. Hopefully I will get more students tomorrow but I am not holding my breath.
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