Dunn's River with Sister Wege and Jean Harper

Wednesday morning we had district meeting at our condo.  After the missionaries left, Sister Wege and Jean Harper came up for a visit.  Jean was a companion to Sister Wege when they both served in the Washington DC Mission.  We visited until 3:00 and then they headed to their hotel while Brian and I headed to the branch.  I waited for Mark to come to seminary but he never showed up.  Brian went with Sister Wege and Jean to visit Rohan and Tracy's school.  When they got back to the branch, we all went out to dinner with Shawn.  We decided to go to Scotchies for Jerk chicken.  Sister Wege wanted to talk to Shawn about the Path program.  I found out from Jean that she and my cousin Steve Morgan are very good friends.

Thursday we picked up Jean and Sister Wege and headed to Dunn's River.  Brian and I wanted to check it out to see if it would be a good place to take our children when they came.  We were not disappointed.  It was very crowded but we did not hike up the falls as we did not have our swimming suits.  I am sure Brian will hike up the falls when family come.  After we dropped Jean and Sister Wege off at their hotel, we went home for lunch and then stopped to see the Llewellans as Abigail had just gotten out of the hospital.  We then headed to the branch for seminary and institute.  I ended up teaching Raheem and Jahleem but Mark did not show up.

Friday morning we picked up Tracy and took her to St. Ann's so that she could check out the cost of getting  passports.  We want our members to start getting their passports now so that they can go to the temple in July.  After we got home, Brian went to the bank while I studied my YW's lesson.  When he got home, we went to the store to pick up some ingredients for Sister Alexander as she wanted to make lasagna for her restaurant grand opening.  The sisters called and wanted to go to Brown's Town with us so we waited for them to get to our condo and then headed out.  We stopped to see Cheryl and Monica and then picked up Sister Alexander and headed to her cook shop.  We treated the sisters to dinner at the cook shop before heading back to Ocho.  We all had fried chicken and rice and peas.  Later on in the evening, Elder Jones called to tell us that Elder Cox had been bitten by a 40 legger.  That is what they call the centipedes around here.  They can get pretty big (5 - 9 inches long).  The one that bit Elder Cox was small and he said that it didn't hurt or break skin.  He was pretty lucky!  You can check it out on google.  Just type in " Jamaican 40 legger."

Saturday morning we headed over to the elder's apartment to help them move to their new apartment.  After we took the first load over, I decided to stay at their old apartment and mop the floors and do a little cleaning.  I thought it would save them some time.  Elder Cox and Elder Jones seem very pleased with their new apartment.  However, they told us this morning at church that they don't have very good water pressure.  I will not miss driving down James Avenue to pick them up.  It is a very congested street and sometimes it is hard to navigate our way through it.  The new apartment is just down the road from Tracy and Rohan.  It will be a longer walk to church for them but it will be closer to most of their contacts.  After we finished with the move, we went back to our condo and started watching the Roots Conference.  It was very inspiring.

We had a pretty good turnout at the branch.  We had one family from Canada and another from Blackfoot, Idaho.   We are always happy when we get visitors as it boosts our numbers. After the meeting we visited with the Llewellans.  Jasmine is visiting from the Isle of Man. She is such a delightful lady.  She is going to speak in church next week.  She and her niece Jody are the only ones who have gone to the temple in that family.  Jody is Marge's daughter and she is serving a mission here in Jamaica.  Her mission ends this month. After our visit, we headed back home for the evening.  We do not like to venture out on the roads at night.

Sister Wege, Shawn, Brian and Jean Harper at Scotchies

Jerk chicken being cooked.

Sister Wege and Jean at the pool Thursday morning before Dunn's River.

This is the top of the falls at Dunn's River

Midway down the falls.

Lower view of the falls

Another view of the falls with tourists hiking up.

The beach where the tourists gather before they head up the falls.

Tourists hiking up the falls from the beach below.  They are headed under the road.

Mystic Mountain, Kingston and Kingston

Saturday was a fun filled day at Mystic Mountain with the senior couples and Sister Wege.  We were originally going to go to Port Antonio for a river raft on the Rio Grande but there was a 60% chance of rain so we decided that Mystic Mountain was a better option.  I experienced my first ever zip line.  It was fun but not as exciting as the bobsled run.  I also loved the chair lift with it's beautiful view of the ocean and Ocho Rios.  After our excursion, we all headed back to Ocho where we all stopped for a bite to eat at our favorite Chinese restaurant.  Before going home, we stopped to pick up some bread for the sacrament and then headed up to Lime Hall for a badly needed truck wash.  Last Monday while we were parked in Ocho, a bottle of pop hit the road and pop sprayed all over the truck so it was looking pretty bad.

Sunday Brian dropped the bread off at the branch and then came home to pick me up so that we could travel to Kingston for President and Sister Brown's baby blessing.  It was fun to go to a ward where there were actually families sitting together.  It was a good sized ward.  The blessing was beautiful.  President Brown is a very spiritual man.  After the blessing we headed back to Ocho.  The sisters called us to let us know that Sister Llewellan was in the hospital so we drove up to see her and then headed for the branch so Brian could meet with Brother and Sister Sorenson and Brother Singh for clerk training.  I had a nice visit with Sister Sorenson.  This is their second mission.

Monday we did our typical P-day routine of wash and defrost and then headed down to Kingston for FHE.
The Halls were in charge.  Everyone brought their own meat plus a side dish for the dinner and then Elder and Sister Hall gave a lesson and had an activity of roll playing for all of us to do.  We all said our goodbyes to Elder and Sister Whitehead and met their new replacement, Elder and Sister Summers.  It was hard to say  goodbye to the Whiteheads as they are such a wonderful couple. We have had a lot of fun doing some humanitarian projects with them.  We spent the night at the Whiteheads.  Elder and Sister Summers are staying with Sister Wege until Friday and then the Summers will move into the Whitehead's apartment.

Before going back to Ocho, we ate breakfast with the Whiteheads and Summers and then headed to Pricesmart.  It was fun to buy frozen vegetable and frozen fruit to put in our little 2 ft. by 2 ft. freezer at home.  We should have bought the freezer months ago.  I purchased 5 lbs. of butter as it is about $2.00 a lb. cheaper at Pricesmart.   We traveled a new route on the way back to Ocho.  We got on a road called Red Hills and continued on it until we got to Sligoville Road.  It was high in the hills and we had a beautiful view of Kingston.  The road was in excellent shape but somewhat windy.  The Chinese are going to build an overpass road near the Bog Walk so the Bog Walk is going to be closed and this will be the alternate route into Kingston.  The road comes out just past the Flat Bridge and completely bypasses Spanish Town.  I am not sure it is any faster but mileage wise, it is shorter.  There was not a lot of traffic on it so that was a plus.
When we got home, we unloaded groceries and ate lunch.  Brian headed to the branch while I studied and fixed dinner.

Brian and I sitting in the chair lift with the Vances.

Overlooking Ocho Rios from the Mystic Mountain Tower.

The top of the tower.

Looking towards Montego Bay from the tower.

Lunch at the Chinese restaurant.  From left to right, Brian, Elder Whitehead, Sister Whitehead, Sister Wege, Sister Vance, Elder Vance, Elder Hall and Sister Hall.

President and Sister Brown with friends and family after the baby blessing.

The bobsled ride!

Three Hills

Sister Thompson informed Brian on Sunday that after he and the elders finished putting the stove back together last Tuesday that they tried to light the back burner and a big swoosh of fire came out and they hadn't been able to use the stove.  Brian called Rohan and the elders to see if they wanted to go back out to Sister Thompson's and take another look at the stove.  Since the elder's service project had cancelled, they agreed to go.  Five hours later, the stove was put back together and working.  Of course, that includes the time it took to go back into town to pick up parts.  The oven is still not working.  Brian thinks it is probably the igniter.  He gave Sister Thompson the phone number for a stove repairman.  As they were all gathered around the stove, I asked them, "How many elders does it take to repair a stove?"  They all laughed remembering the old saying, "how many people does it take to unscrew a light bulb."

Tuesday night we took Rohan and Tracy, Sister Vacianna, and Sister Henry out for Chinese food.  They worked so hard on the branch Christmas party that Brian told them that he would take them out to dinner.  We had a nice visit and they all seemed to enjoy the food.  We had sweet and sour chicken, sweet and sour port, sweet and sour fish, chow mein, cashew nut chicken, peppered beef, and special fried rice.  Sister Alexander and her daughter Anika were not able to join us.   Anika is going to school in Kingston and Sister Alexander did not want to make the hour long trip into Ocho from Brown's Town.

From left to right, Sister Henry, Sister Vacianna, Rohan and Tracy and Brian.

A few of the dishes that had already arrived.

From left to right, Elder Cox, Brian, Rohan, and Elder Jones.

St. Ann's Infirmary

Today Elder and Sister Whitehead picked us up so that we could go out to St. Ann's Infirmary.  ATL had arranged to meet us at the Infirmary so that they could drop off two washers, a freezer, a stainless steel sink, a TV, a microwave oven, a blender, a large exhaust fan, and a pressure cooker.  Brian had arranged with the deputy inspector of the poor to meet us out at the Infirmary at 1:00 for a turnover ceremony.   Elder Whitehead took some pictures with the deputy so that he could send the pictures to those who oversee the  Church's humanitarian efforts.  The people at St. Ann's seemed very appreciative as did Lucille, who is the deputy inspector of the poor.  It was fun to be a part of that project.  The Church's humanitarian department do such wonderful projects.  I hope this puts the church in a better light for some of these people in Jamaica.
After we left the Infirmary, we went to lunch with Elder and Sister Whitehead at the Island Grill.  They leave for home next week.  It will be a sad day.

The sisters came over so that Brian could put new windshield wipers on their truck and look at their brake light.  Sister Garrett was feeling pretty sad because she lost a lot of her pictures as she was downloading them.

Laundry on the line at St. Ann's Infirmary.  The Infirmary is on  beach front property.

The laundry room with the new washers.  

Wash basins where the excess laundry gets washed

Two of the cooks at St. Ann's Infirmary.  The new microwave, pressure cooker and Vitamix are in the background.

Yesterday was our Caribbean Conference.  It was excellent.  We got to hear from Elder Anderson, Sister Osgerson, Elder Holland and President Packer.  The internet kept freezing during the talks which was very frustrating.  The emphasis of the meeting centered around the Savior, the family, the church and the temple.  The meeting started at 9:00 and some of our members did not reach church until the closing song. While we were waiting for Brian and Rohan to finish branch business, I played Johnny Lingo for Tracy and her children.  Brian and Rohan came down in time to finish the movie.  It was enjoyed by all.  After we left the building, we took some food to two of our members and then headed back to our Condo for the day.