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.

Busy Week

I thought I had better repent and make a post on this blog.  It has been a really busy week.  Monday we made a trip to Highgate to see two of our members and take them some food.  We visited with Sister Raymond and Sister Bennett.  I gave them each a "My Family" book so they could start gathering names for our temple trip in July.  The mission and stake have set a goal of 2,000 names so we are trying to get our members busy.  I am excited.  On our way home the elders called us.  They wanted to know if we were close at hand.  The water supply line to their toilet burst and they came home to two inches of water.  By the time we got back to Ocho it was cleaned up so we headed for home.  The plumber had just been out to their home to fix the toilet.  He actually taped up the small hole in the supply line so I am not surprised that it burst.

Tuesday we spent the morning at the branch.  I vacuumed and swept while Brian worked on some membership records for President Brown.  Later that afternoon we visited a less active sister and our elders quorum president.  We also went out to Huddersfield to visit with the Noble family. The rest of the evening was spent in studying for classes.

Wednesday was a very long day.  We left our condo at 8:10 so that we could make a trip to Port Antonio to pick up two of our elders.  We were hoping to see one of our members on the way but she didn't pick up her phone.  We found out later that she had been in Kingston.  We loaded up Elder Rammell and Elder Grossbeck and headed for Spanish Town.  We went over Stoney Hill.  It was the first time I had made the trip and it wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be.  Luckily, we did not come across any big trucks.  We stopped at Pricesmart in Kingston to buy a pizza for lunch and then finished our trip into Spanish Town.  Elder Rammell was leaving to be one of the new zone leaders in Kingston and Elder Grossbeck was going back home to Oregon.  Some of my favorite elders and sisters were leaving to go home.  We had a nice meeting and it was fun to see some of the missionaries that we haven't seen for awhile.  After the meeting we headed back to Port Antonio with Elder Muirhead who is Jamaican and Elder Hunt.  When we got to Port Antonio, we unloaded the truck in pouring rain.  Brian was pretty wet when he got back in the truck.  From there, we headed back to Ocho in the dark.  It was a very long day.  We figured that we spent about 10 hours in the truck.  We also got two new missionaries in our branch.  Elder Gardner from Orem replaced Elder Jones and Sister Tuttle from Bountiful replaced Sister Garrett.

Thursday morning we paid our internet bill and then headed to the branch to pick up Sister Llewellan who was being dropped off by the AP's so that we could take her to her home.  It was fun to get to know her a little.  Her family had their porch decorated for her return.  We left her with her family and then stopped to purchase some ice cream for the branch social. Later in the afternoon we drove to the branch for seminary and institute.  Mark did not come and Brian's adult class fizzled out also.  We did get our YA's out for the 6:00 class so that was nice.  After class we stopped at the store and then took the elders back to their apartment before heading home.  The elders needed a few items and so did we so it worked out great for both of us.

Friday we went to Lime Hall to get the truck washed.  We got to visit with Humphrey for a few minutes.  He saw that Wayne was washing the truck and he had just gotten off work and was pretty tired but he came over to visit with us.  I love some of the expressions here.  Wayne said to Humphrey, "You look mashed up."  That was his way of saying "you look tired".  I love some of the Patwah  phrases.  I went home and made a pan of brownies and two sheet cake pans of banana cake for the branch activity.  The sisters dropped off a chocolate cake for us to take to the activity.  We headed to the branch for missionary correlation meeting at 5:00 and then set up for the branch social that started at 6:30.  We got about 50 people out and they seemed to have a lot of fun.  We are going to try having a branch social every other week.  We went through 6 gallons of ice cream.  Most of the branches and wards do not serve any refreshments at their activities so we will probably do the same.  However, the members love to eat sweets so I hope they will still come out even if we don't serve refreshments.

Saturday we made a trip into Spanish Town for our temple meeting.  We are excited about the trip and hope that we can encourage our members to participate.  We were going to stop at Pricesmart but decided to wait until we come to Kingston next Tuesday for family history training.  When we got home, I made dinner while Brian cleaned up the church.  We spent the rest of the evening getting ready for Sunday.

Sunday it rained so our attendance at the branch was not that great. Jamaicans do not like to go out in the rain so it always affects our attendance.  Lately, we have had a lot of rain on Sundays - a good test of their faith. I taught the YW's lesson on "Our body is a temple."  I really enjoyed teaching that lesson. I only had two girls in the class but we had a good time.  After church, Brian taught the Temple Preparation class.  He also taught the gospel doctrine class and was suppose to teach the YM but the Elder's quorum president asked him to come into priesthood to help out with the lesson so he turned the YM over to Rohan.  It was a busy day for him. When we got home I fixed dinner and then we made a visit to the Llewellans.  Jody was called to be the new YW's President.  That will free me up to concentrate on getting the members involved in family history since I am also the family history specialist in our branch.  It was a good day.  We got to Facetime and Skype with Amy, Jill and Emily.  Ben also called.  It is always nice to talk to family.

From left to right, David (Jasmine's husband), Jasmine, Cindy, Jody, and Jody's mom Marge.

Jody and Shawn (our two returned missionaries)  Tracy is in the back.