Hardy's in Jamaica: Browns Town, Port Antonio and Highgate

I guess I will start with today. Brian and I decided that we would go to Browns Town to visit with two of our members. We forgot to set our GPS the last time we were up there so we were a little bit worried about finding these two sisters but Brian did a good job of navigating and we made it there. We had a nice visit. We then drove to Discovery Bay to visit a sister that we have not seen in months. I think she was surprised to see us but she seemed happy that we had taken the time to come to her home. We had a good visit with her also. On our way back to Ocho, we stopped at the St. Ann's Infirmary to get some measurements and pictures to send to Elder and Sister Whitehead. They are the humanitarian couple and they are hoping to get the funding to fix up the kitchen at the Infirmary. We then drove to Lime Hall to give a lesson to W on the Priesthood. We then drove home for the evening.

Yesterday we had seminary and institute so most of my day was spent in studying. I try to make a treat to share with the seminary and institute students. There are not very many of them that can afford to come. Brian had to make an emergency trip to the pharmacy for one of our members. He has had the Chikungunya for a month now and has a hard time walking. He is a taxi driver but has not been able to drive. He is diabetic and it seems like the Chik V (nice name) targets the unhealthy parts of the body. His blood sugar was really high and it was affecting his eye sight. We have another sister who is in the same situation. One of our missionaries has had problems with his ankles and he still gets pain in his ankles even though it has been a month since he had the virus. Our CES missionaries, the Vances, both came down with the virus at the same time. We feel like we are walking time bombs but so far we have been able to escape it. We have been in a lot of infested areas. We feel really blessed.

Wednesday we made a trip to Port Antonio for district meeting. After the meeting we headed over to one of the little cook shops that our district leader, Elder Hall, liked to frequent when he was serving in Port Antonio. We got two pieces of fried chicken, some brown stew chicken, and rice and peas and a little cabbage slaw. It was really good and it only cost us $300 JD (less than $3.00) a piece. Even Brian liked it and we will probably frequent that place again. When you see the picture you will think that we were brave!
On the way home from Port Antonio, we stopped in Highgate to show the sister missionaries where one of our members lived. We had Elder Jones and Elder Guthrie with us and the sisters followed. Sister B shared her conversion story with them. She is such a neat lady. The is 75 and lives with her grandson. She cannot afford to come to church because she has no income. After we left Highgate, we dropped off the elders and then picked up Shawn Jones at his work so that he could make a trip with us to the J's. We had a nice visit and that is when we found out about our member who has not been able to recover from the virus. The J's were going to take him to the doctor because he is a relative and lives with them. While we were at the J's, Elder Guthrie and Elder Jones came riding on their bikes so that Elder Jones could pick up his new (used) bike from brother J. Shawn and Elder Guthrie were companions in Spanish Town and they were so excited to see each other. It was fun to watch them. After our visit we dropped Shawn off at home and headed back to our place. It was a long day!

I think I will skip Monday and Tuesday and tell you about Saturday.

Saturday was our service day at St. Ann's Infirmary. We had nine men and 5 women attend from the branch. The residents really seemed to enjoy our visit. The men gave haircuts, clipped nails, sang at the bedside of some of the men and had wheelchair races. The women combed hair and braided it. Sister Garrett and the Chik V so she kept her distance. It was a very nice activity. When it was finished, we went back to the branch and then dropped R & T off at their home and then headed back into town to pick up some hot dogs and chips for the YM's activity that was held at our condo. The boys swam and played games and it was a nice activity.

On Sunday, I decided to make rolls. We bought some new yeast to try because my last batch of rolls were so heavy. The rolls turned out good and Brian was delighted. It was our fast meeting so I rolled out the rolls when we got home from church and then we headed to the B's to visit them. Brother B is in the branch presidency with Brian. It had rained very heavily on Sunday so he was not able to get a taxi into the branch. Taxis are scare on Sunday anyway so when it rains hard, it is really hard to get a taxi. One of our members almost turned around twice because of the rain.