Ocho, Montego Bay and Brown's Town

January has gone by really fast and I have been quite delinquent in writing in my blog.  I am not going to try and remember lost days but I will write about this week.

Monday was our 49th anniversary.  It is hard to believe that next year will be our 50th.  We got a call from Sister Vacianna that "Food for the Poor" was trying to get ahold of us.  She said they had a form that we needed to get from them.  We thought that we would be going to St. Ann's Infirmary with the Whiteheads, but the truck that was suppose to deliver the washing machines, refrigerator and freezer and other kitchen items put us on hold until next Monday.  Wayne needed some electrical parts so we picked those up for him and then headed to St. Ann's to pick up the form from "Food for the Poor".  We had received some rice and beans in November so we were not expecting to get more food but they had food and some books for us. After they loaded up our truck we drove up to Lime Hall to talk to Wayne about the passing of his mother and drop off the electrical supplies.  We then went home long enough to unload the smaller items and then picked up the Elder's so that they could help Brian carry in the 110 lb. bags of rice and beans. Elder Jones and Elder Cox had not had a chance to e-mail their families so we told them they could use our computers.  We fixed them some French toast for dinner and then delivered them back to the Vacianna's for FHE.  It was pouring rain but we decided to stop at the store and get some bags so that we could package the rice, beans, cornmeal, and TVP.  It is nice to be able to help the families with these extra commodities.

Tuesday morning we dropped Elder Cox's watch off at his apartment and then headed out to the Sister's to do an apartment check.  On the way home we decided to go out to Sister Thompsons and look at her stove.  We called the elders to see what their plans were because we knew that Elder Jones used to work for Sears in their appliance section.  We thought this would be a good service project for them.  All their appointments had fallen through so we picked them up and drove out to Sister Thompsons.  Because the oven wasn't working, we thought the problem might be with the thermostat.  When we went looking for parts, no one had that part.  They said we could get a part in Montego Bay but we figured that Sister Thompson could not afford the $160 part even if we were to pick it up after zone meeting.  Brian did some research on the stove problem when we got home and decided that we should check the igniter first.  That would be a lot less expensive part to replace if we could even find that part!  After we dropped the elders off, we drove over to Rohan's to drop some books off for their school and then stopped in to see how the Llewellans were doing.  We had a nice visit and then headed home for the evening.

Today we drove to Montego Bay for zone meeting.  We left home at 6:50 so that we could pick up the elders.  Zone meetings are always good.  This one was particularly good. On the way home we drove to Brown's Town to drop off a check  to one of our sisters and also take some food to two other families.  We then took the elders to Sister Alexander's cook shop.  I had called her the day before to tell her that we would be bringing the elders up with us and I also asked her what time they close.  When we got there, she had made us some sweet and sour chicken.  It was delicious.  I love it when I don't have to go home and cook.  We all enjoyed the meal.  We didn't get home until after 6:00.  I made some cookies for seminary tomorrow because we are leaving for Falmouth early in the  morning to visit with the Greensides.

Sister Garrett and Sister Thompson.  Sister Thompson is from Jamaica and joined the church  a year before her mission.  

The Ocho and Port Antonio Elders with Sister Garrett.  This was our district before they split us.

This is the North Coast Zone.  Three sisters were added to the zone and they are serving in Montego Bay.  Next to Sister  Wilkinson is Elder Lewis and Elder Lewis.  They are both serving in Port Antonio.  The tall Elder Lewis is from Jamaica and the broad Elder Lewis who is also tall is from Georgia.  

I wish you could see all the houses in this little complex.  One of our sister's lives here with the rest of her family. There are several homes that kind of surround a grassy area.  They are all related.  They do their wash by hand.

Kingston

Monday morning we waited for the plumber to come and fix our faucet.  He was not able to find the parts he needed so he said that he would come on Wednesday.  Right after we left for our monthly trip to Kingston for our FHE, Blossom called to tell us that he had found the part.  She didn't want us to turn around and wondered if it would be okay  for him to fix the sink if the condo supervisor stayed with him the whole time.  We told her that would be fine.  The supervisor tried to open our door but the lock was stuck so Blossom called us back to tell us that the plumber would come on Wednesday.

 Sister Wege was in charge of dinner and choose to do a potato bar.  Our assignment was drinks.  We got to watch "Meet the Mormons" as President Brown was given a copy.  I really enjoyed it - especially the last story.  It shows the reach and power of the atonement.  After FHE we went back to the Whiteheads and spent the night.  They only have one more month in Jamaica and I am really going to miss them.

Tuesday morning, Elder Whitehead made pancakes and Sister Vance came down to visit while Elder Vance was getting ready for the day.  After Elder and Sister Vance left, we took off with the Whiteheads to check a restaurant supply place so that we could order some items for the St. Ann's Infirmary.  The store was kind of like Gigi's Restaurant Supply so I thoroughly enjoyed looking at all the items that they had.  We drove back to the Constant Springs Ward and visited with Sister Wege for a minute and they said our goodbyes and headed to Pricesmart for some grocery buying.  We got home in time to put the groceries away and then we picked up the elders so that we could go with them to an investigator's home.  The gentleman that we visited was such a delight.  He and his wife have been married for 61 years.  They both are very involved with charity efforts.  She is a member of the Kiwanas and had a meeting so she didn't stay.  She is a Baptist but he doesn't go to church with her.  I always have such a good feeling when I am doing missionary work.  After we got home, Sister Mouritson and Sister Garrett came over so that Brian could give them each a blessing as Sister Mouritson was leaving for Nassau to be the district leader over four sisters and Sister Garret was getting a new companion.  I will really miss Sister Mouritson.  She has been a great missionary.

Wednesday I spent the morning working on my seminary lesson.  We didn't have district meeting because it was transfer day.  We were not involved with transfers this time.  I taught my lesson at 4:00 and then we headed out to Huddersfield to drop off some clothes that Sister Pearson had given me for any little girls in the branch.  While I was teaching seminary, Sister Garrett came in with her new companion, Sister Thompson.  She is Jamaican and I am excited to work with her.  I understand she is a terrific missionary.

Thursday morning we studied for seminary and then Brian and I headed to the branch so that we could visit with one of our members.  After the visit we made a couple of visits and then picked up Rohan and headed out to Brother Barbagee's for branch presidency meeting.  I got to visit with Sister Barbagee while they were having their meeting.  She served us some cornmeal pudding that was kind of like a dense cake with spices and raisins.  I really liked it.  She told me that she cooked it on the stove first and then baked it.  She also told me about some of the foods that she likes to cook.  Goat head and cow head are very popular here.  They take out all the eyes and brains so that what you have is bone and meat.  It makes for a flavor full broth.  She also loves chicken feet and cows foot and they make soups with these parts.  They really do not let anything go to waste.  She told me that the cow feet cook faster in the pressure cooker.  They cut of the toe nails and then slice up the foot.  I find that most of the women really like to cook and they are good at it.  They always wash their meat and fish in either lime or vinegar.  They are pretty careful how they cook.  After the meeting we hurried back to the branch so that Brian could teach institute.  Mark had told me that he couldn't come on Thursday so I didn't have to worry about teaching.  I thought I would be teaching the 6:00 class but Jahleem was sick and Raheem didn't come - probably because his brother wasn't coming.  We didn't get home until almost 9:00.

This morning I worked on my YW's lesson while Brian did various odds and ends.  We made a couple of visits and headed down to the branch to pick up a check for one of our sisters.  We had an early dinner and then headed back to the branch for our weekly missionary correlation meeting.

President Brown's son Jarom being held by his oldest brother Jonathan.

Kimolie and her little 5 lb. girl who is only a week old.

Every time we go out to Brother Barbagee's, we pass this house.  They have removed most of the dirt surrounding it.  We are curious to see what they are going to do with it.

The happy couple.  Unfortunately, the picture was a little blurry.

I find that most of the women really like to cook and they are good at it.  They always wash their meat and fish in either lime or vinegar.  They are pretty careful how they cook.  After the meeting we hurried back to the branch so that Brian could teach institute.  Mark had told me that he couldn't come on Thursday so I didn't have to worry about teaching.  I thought I would be teaching the 6:00 class but Jahleem was sick and Raheem didn't come - probably because his brother wasn't coming.  We didn't get home until almost 9:00.

This morning I worked on my YW's lesson while Brian did various odds and ends.  We made a couple of visits and headed down to the branch to pick up a check for one of our sisters.  We had an early dinner and then headed back to the branch for our weekly missionary correlation meeting.

Brown's Town

Sister Wege sent us an e-mail requesting some signatures for two of our members who are on the PEF  program so Monday we decided to make a trip into Brown's Town to get the signatures.  We stopped at Sister Alexanders to get Anika's signature.  She was in the middle of helping her mom make dinner for 140 people.  She had quite the assembly line going.  Sister Alexander  is a very good cook and recently opened a little restaurant.  We decided to check it out and ended up getting sweet and sour chicken.  It was really good.  The chef said, "I'll see you tomorrow."  We told him we lived in Ocho  but little did we know, we would be back up on Wednesday to fix all the problems that we created on Monday so we decided to stop at the cook shop again.  This time we had fried chicken.  I honestly don't know how they can make their lunches so cheap.  We had fried chicken, rice and peas with a nice sauce, a few pieces of curry chicken and a little salad.  We ordered the small size but he gave us the medium size and it was only $350 JD which is a little less than $3.50 US.  I think Sister Alexander must burn the candle at both ends because she also has a full time job.  She is also our Primary president.  On our way home from Brown's Town, we stopped in Lime Hall so Wayne could wash our truck.  We stopped into see Humphrey and Tanesha in Lime Hall also.

Tuesday we made a trip out to Highgate to see Sister Raymond.  We also stopped in Port Maria to see a sister that lives in Highgate but works in  Port Maria at the hospital.  She was very pleasant to talk to.  I wish Highgate wasn't so far away.  I took another picture of one of Sister Raymond's banana spiders.  They are really creepy looking but I hear they are not harmful.

Wednesday we had district meeting and then left for Brown's Town.  On our way back home we stopped at the hospital to see Sister Robinson.  We had met her at the branch that morning before her doctor's appointment.  She was walking down the hill from her house and fell on her bottom and twisted her ankle.  Little did we know that she would go into labor that night.  She lives in Parry Town and their had been a shooting up there.  There was a curfew going on and when she tried to call for a taxi at 1:30 in the morning, no one wanted to go up into that area at that time of night.  She couldn't get a hold of her midwife so her friend called a family member to come and get her.  She left for the hospital at 4:30 a.m. and had her baby at 5:00 in the car.  She ended up going home that evening at 4:00.  Her daughter only weighed around 5 lbs.  She is so cute.  I might add that to get to her home, she had to hike up a hill that nearly killed me the first time I hiked it.  I thought about how easy it is to have a baby at home and how pampered we are.

Thursday we stopped in to see Sister Lewellan.  She was able to get the blood that she needed so she got to come home from the hospital.  We also stopped into see the elder's new apartment.  It will be really nice and in a lot better area.  Right now they live on James Street.  It is in the middle of town and the road is almost always congested with cars and pedestrians.  I taught seminary and Brian taught institute.  It was a good day.

Friday we did a little shopping after Brian got home from the Branch.  I spent the morning studying for my YW's lesson.

Saturday we got the truck washed and then headed for Spanish Town for a seminary and institute inservice.                      After we got home, I put a vegetable lasagna together for our Sunday dinner.  I  invited the Pearsons to join us since they were coming to the branch so that Elder Pearson could do an audit.  I also worked on my YW's lesson.  I might mention that while I was in the kitchen getting the lasagna ready, I heard a sound that sounded like rushing water.  I ran into the bathroom to see if the toilet was overflowing but it was not.  Brian ran into the bathroom and noticed that the hose going to the water faucet had sprung a leak.  He turned off the little valves and took off the faucet thinking that he could just replace the hose but the hoses were permanently connected to the faucet.  I was so glad that it didn't happen while we were in Spanish Town.  We would have had a real flood on our hands and who knows what would have happened with all the electrical cords that we have on the floor for our computers and fans.  I feel really blessed that we were home when it happened.


The branch presidency spoke in Sacrament meeting today.  The talks were really good.  Brian met up with Elder Pearson at 7:00 this morning to work on the audit.  I worked on my lesson and made some bread sticks and a cabbage salad for dinner before Sister Pearson picked me up to go to the branch.  I was disappointed in the turnout at the branch.  You never know how many will show up.  Elder and Sister Pearson and I left right after the block so that I could put the lasagna in the oven while we were waiting for Brian to come home.  We had a great visit and then after the Pearsons left, we went to St. Ann's Hospital with the sister missionaries to visit with Sandra Henry.  Sister Mouritson is leaving Ocho for Nassau.  I hate to see her go.  She has been a very good missionary.  It is amazing how you get attached to these missionaries.

Banana Spider

Negril

All of the senior couples and Sister Wege decided that we would go to Negril for the New Years weekend.
Elder Pearson is in the mission presidency and covers the North Coast Zone in the mission. He and Sister Pearson live in a condo on the beach just outside of Negril.  Their condo used to be in a resort so it is an amazing place to stay at.  There is a great place to snorkel not far from their condo.

  Brian and I left Wednesday after district meeting.  It takes a little over 3 hours from Ocho to get to Negril but the road follows the ocean so it is a lovely drive.  We had a pot luck dinner after we arrived and had fun visiting with the other couples.  We even brought white elephant gifts to exchange.   Because we are all seniors, we did not stay up to welcome in the New Year.  Most of us, however, heard the fireworks at midnight.  Brian and I and the Vances stayed with the Pearson.  The Whiteheads, Halls, and Sister Wege stayed at Cocoa La Palms.  The first morning we were there, we all sat out on the beach while the men and Sister Wege went snorkeling.  That night, we drove to the Moon Dance Resort and ate at the restaurant that overlooks the beach.   The next day we visited an old plantation called Abeokuta. It has a 300 year old swimming pool and the ruins of the old plantation.  It was obvious that a lot of visitors there like Ganja (Marijuana).  One guy we ran into was just coming from his farm.  Mike Vance asked him what he was growing and he said Jamaican Gold.  Mike said, "Oh, you mean wacky tabacky."  It is quite plentiful here on the Island.  After we got home from Abeokuta, we went to Murphy's for dinner.  It is a little cook shop type restaurant.  I had Devils chicken (jerk chicken in a spicy sauce) and pumpkin mashed potatoes and it was delightful.  Brian had jerk chicken and french fries.  Brian and I left Saturday morning around 10:00 so that we could get back to Ocho in time for a baptism scheduled for the river in Lime Hall.  Wayne baptized his daughter Crystal and Brian baptized Lennard.  Wayne usually washes our truck by the river so we knew there was a small pool there.  The water is very clear and the surrounding area is beautiful. We really lucked out because we were the only ones at the river.  The board of directors of our condo decided that we can no longer have baptisms in the pool so now we have to find other places to baptize.  Since Wayne lives in Lime Hall, we thought this would be a good place for the baptism.  It was a nice experience.

Sunset at the Moon Dance Resort

Outdoor restaurant at the Moon Dance Resort.  From left to right, Elder and Sister Whitehead, Sister Pearson,  Elder and Sister Vance, Sister and Elder Hall.

300 year old swimming pool at Abeokuta.  The water comes into the pool by way of a cement aquaduct.  It leaves the pool the same way.

Ruins of the old plantation

Vances, Pearsons and Brian standing by the falls where the aquaduct empties out of the  pool.

Dinner at Murphys

Waiting for dinner at Murphys

Wayne and his daughter, Crystal.

Brian and Lennard.

Sunday we had 62 people at church.  It was nice to see so many.  After church, we made a trip to the hospital to see two of our members and then went over to Sister Lewellans for a visit.

Today we went to Brown's Town to finish up some PEF items for Sister Wege.  We decided to try out Sister Alexander's cook shop and we were very glad that we did.  Brian and I both had sweet and sour chicken and it was very good.  We had the medium size and it only cost us $350 JD which is a little less than $3.50 US.  Most of the little cook shops are very reasonable.  The fast food places like Burger King, KFC, and Pizza hut are a lot more expensive here. On the way home, we stopped in Lime Hall so that we could get the truck washed.  We also made a visit to see Humphrey and Tanisha while Wayne was washing the truck.

Christmas

I am not going to try and catch up on all the days that I have missed.  I will highlight some of our most recent activities.

On December 19, we drove to Kingston for our Christmas FHE.  We stopped at the office to take care of some mission business and then Elder and Sister Whitehead drove us to Boon Hollow Oasis at Stony Hill
where we had a wonderful dinner with President and Sister Brown and all the senior couples.  The environment was fantastic as was FHE.  The Vances set the tone for the FHE by sharing some past Christmas experiences and then the President and Sister Brown and several of the couples shared some thoughts.  I enjoyed the spirit that I could feel as those thoughts were expressed.  One of the benefits of serving a mission is the experience of meeting such choice individuals that you might not otherwise have the opportunity of meeting if you had stayed home.  We found out later that Sister Brown went  into labor that night and had her baby early the next morning. We spent the night with Sister Wege.  She shared with us her trip to the Dominican Republic.  The next morning we made a trip to Pricesmart to purchase some items for the branch Christmas party and a few food items for ourselves.

We skyped with the Port Antonio Elders for our district meeting on Christmas Eve.  We were informed at that meeting that we would no longer be meeting with Port Antonio and that Elder Jones would become the new district leader for Ocho.  We were sad about not being able to go to Port Antonio but I can see the wisdom of eliminating all the travel that is involved going back and forth.  Elder Jones will do a very good job.  He has only been out for two transfers but he is very capable.  After the meeting we delivered a few cookies and some Christmas cards to some of the employees of our condo complex.

Christmas morning I woke up and started a batch of rolls and made two pumpkin pies before Sister Mouritsen and Sister Garrett came over to skype with their families.  It was fun to meet the families of both sisters.  They were so excited to skype and it brought back memories of the excitement I felt when we got to talk to our own missionary children.  We also got to skype with some of our children and that was wonderful.  Rohan, Tracy, and their children came over for Christmas dinner along with Elder Jones and Elder Cox and the sister missionaries.  Rohan and Tracy made fried chicken, rice and peas, fried fish and a Christmas drink.  It was fun to watch them cook and they are very good.  Rohan does not measure so it was hard for me figure out all the right ingredients.  The Christmas drink had two cans or carrot juice, two bottles of Malta, 2 raw eggs but normally it would be 3, 4 TBS. of vanilla, one can of sweetened condensed milk, and one box of Nestles full cream milk.  I really enjoyed the drink and the meal.  I made a potato salad also. It was the first time Rohan and Tracy had tasted pumpkin pie.  Jamaican potato salad is very different from my recipe but they seemed to enjoy the salad also.  Jamaican potato salad has frozen mixed vegetable mixed in with the potatoes and eggs.  I do enjoy their salad also.  In fact, I like most of the Jamaican food I have tried.

Friday we drove up to Lime Hall to get our car washed.  The Halls came up to visit with the members in Ochi since that is where they served before going to the office.  They followed us up to Lime Hall to get their car washed also.  We left for Browns Town as soon as our car was washed so that we could pick up food for the Branch Christmas party the next evening.  After we got everything loaded into the truck, we dropped the food off at Sister Vacianna's and then dropped the chicken off at the Hall's condo so that we could use their refrigerator.  We then went with the Halls to a Chinese restaurant in town.  It was very good.

Saturday we did a lot of running around for the Christmas party.  We had to pick up a few odds and ends in paper products and food items.  We also had the Halls over for breakfast.  We stopped at the branch to drop off the papers goods and noticed that the power was still off in our building.  We asked the security what was going on and they said the whole complex was without power.  As it was, the power never came back on until around 9:00 in the evening.  I went home to make cheesy potatoes for the dinner.  I also frosted the cookies.  The Halls came over so the Brian could practice a song with her on the keyboard.  When we took the potatoes to the branch, we found out that the food wasn't going to be ready until 5:00.  We already at people at the branch - most of which was investigators.  The elders and sisters entertained while we went back and forth to get the food.  By the time we started, we still had a little daylight but by 6:00, it was dark.  We used flashlights so that we could dish up the food.  Sister Alexander, her daughter Anika, Rohan and Tracy, Sister Henry and Sister Vacianna prepared the food.  It was excellent.  We had fried chicken, Jerk chicken, Jerk pork, curry goat, rice and peas, potato salad, vegetables, cheesy  potatoes and Sorrel to drink.  We also had Christmas cake (non alcoholic) for desert. Everything was so good.  We did not have a program because their was no light.  When it was all over, the sisters and elders said they would come back to clean early Sunday morning.  We could not see to do anything as far as clean up was concerned.  Brian and I stopped to get gas and noticed as we were going back through town that a few of the places had lights on.  We needed to pick up some items at the branch and we were thrilled when we turned on the lights and they worked.  We ended up cleaning up the building so that we would not have to come back early in the morning.  By the time we washed pans and put things away, it was midnight before we got to bed.  I decided to see how much the cheesy potatoes cost to prepare.  It added up to $85 US dollars not counting the tax which is about 16%.  I had hoped to get some pictures of the party but with all the confusion of the power being off and all the running around, it did not happen.

Sunday the Halls spoke in church and did a great job.  Brian also gave a little Christmas message.  The Primary sang two songs before Sunday School started.  After the meeting, we served the goathead soup that they didn't bring over the night before.  I also passed out pumpkin cookies to everyone.  The Halls made a few visits to some of the branch members and then came back for dinner.  The sisters came over to drop a  paper off for the Halls and we invited them to have a bite to eat.  After the Halls left, we invited the sisters to make a trip with us out to St. Ann's hospital to visit Sister Llewellan and Sister Sandra Henry.   When we got back to our condo, we got to skype with Jill.  It was a nice day.

Today the Whiteheads came up.  We made a trip to  St. Ann's Infirmary and also to St. Mary's Infirmary.  When we got back to Ochi, we decided to eat lunch at the Chinese restaurant.  I will really be sad when the Whiteheads leave for their home in February.

Elder Lewis from Georgia, Elder Grosbeck, and Elder Lewis from Jamaica who is also the branch president for Port Antonio

After our last district meeting in Port Antonio, the whole district stopped to eat at our favorite cook shop.  The zone leaders and sister trainees were also there so that they could do splits.

Boon Hollow Oasis

River bed at Boon Hollow

President and Sister Brown walking down the path at Boon Hollow.

President and Sister Brown

Another picture of Boon Hollow

Our dinner spot at Boon Hollow

Christmas day dinner.  From left to right, Brian, Javoni, Sister Mouritson,  Jaleem, Sister Garrett, Rohan holding Kiki, Elder Jones, and Elder Cox

Rain and More Rain

December rain fall is making up for the dry summer.  When we went to Port Antonio on Friday, there was a mudslide on the road and some fallen trees.  The elder's roof is leaking.  The good thing is our apartment is much cooler.  We seldom have to turn on the fans in the living room.

Today was wonderful at church.  We had two members that we haven't seen in a long time show up.  Kimoya, who was baptized about 3 or 4 weeks ago, was able to come to church today for her confirmation.  Her non-member sister and her three children came also.  I could really feel the spirit for that confirmation.  For Sunday School we showed the video "Pioneers of Faith."  A lot of our members have not seen it so it was fun to see their reaction.  They really enjoyed it.  Rohan called me to be Young Women's president.  I nearly croaked.  I guess I can look at it as good study time.  I do enjoy the girls so that is a plus.  I was supposed to be sustained today but Brian had not been able to contact the outgoing YW's president so it didn't happen.  After church, Rohan, Brian and myself went to see Sister Llewellan so that Rohan and Brian could bless and pass the Sacrament to her.  I was able to find the "Pioneers of Faith" video on Youtube so that Marge could watch it.  After we dropped Rohan off, we drove back home to pick up some rice and  peas for a member of the branch.

Saturday we spent the day in Brown's Town.  The sisters had never been up there so we took them with us. We first drove out to Rio Bueno so that Brian could interview Kimoya.  We didn't know where she lived and  she didn't have the phone with her.  She wasn't excited about us coming up because her family is not excited about how far it is to church especially when there are so many churches in Rio Bueno that she could go to.
We were able to find her home by asking around.  It is amazing who you can find when you are on the Lord's errand.  I have seen it happen more than once.  From Kimoya's we drove to Discovery Bay to see Sister Jones.  This is the third time that we have visited with her.  I hope she comes back to church one of these days. After our visit we drove to Brown's Town and visited with Cheryl and Sister Alexander.  We did not make it back to get our car washed.  We tried to call Wayne and left a message but he was not able to get back to us before it got dark.

Friday we drove to Port Antonio so that we could take the elder's Christmas boxes to them.  When we were going through the town of Hope Bay, there was a guy on a bicycle that was pretty close to our car as we passed.  He must have lost his balance or his handlebar hit the back of the truck but when we looked back, he was on the ground.  It nearly gave us a heart attack.  We backed up and he came up to the window.  I asked him if he was okay and he said he was.  His bike was fine so we went on our way.  It did put a damper on the rest of the drive.  The towns are so hard to drive through because you have people walking on the roads and you have bicyclists driving in the road plus taxies that just stop to let their passengers get out or in and then you have taxies passing taxies on the other side of the road so they come into your lane and you can barely squeak by and that is what happened with this bicyclist that we passed.  A taxi was in our lane and we were trying to maneuver between the bicyclist and the taxi.  We were not going very fast but we were a little too close to him.  We drove on to Port Antonio and got a bite to eat at the cook shop and then headed to the elder's apartment so we could drop off the boxes and check their apartment.  We also had some book bags to drop off so we drove to the branch so the elders did not have to carry them on their bikes.  We were able to visit with Shaneeza for a few minutes.  It was so good to see her again.  Her baptism was the first one that we attended on this island.  It was dark by the time we got home.  With all the rain and overcast skies, it gets dark around 6:00 here.  We stopped at the branch for the missionary correlation meeting and didn't get home until after 8:00.

Thursday was seminary and institute so we did a little studying and then Brian dropped me off at the branch because he needed to pick up Rohan and take him to Brother Barbagees for a branch presidency meeting.  I needed to be at the branch at 4:00 and I didn't want to take a chance that they would not get back in time.  As it was, my only student didn't show.  We spent the afternoon at the branch so that Brian could teach his two classes.

Wednesday we went to Montego Bay for Zone Conference.  Elder Martinez and his wife were there.  He is a member of the 70 and both he and his wife gave great instructions.  They were very inspiring.  President Brown also did some training  and he was excellent as usual.  After the training meeting we had lunch and then had the Christmas program. I had to tell a Christmas story.  I told the story of the stolen Christmas trees that Brother Jesperson shared in gospel doctrine last year.  We had a good time.

Tuesday was spent visiting people.

Zone Conference Christmas party.

Elder and Sister Martinez

President Brown with one of the elders.

Primary children showing off the ring pops that Sister Garrett's mom sent.

Ocho

Today was P-day.  We are definitely in a routine with the wash and refrigerator freezer defrosting.  Brian picked up Rohan and they drove to Lime Hall to pick up Wayne.  Wayne needed to get his birth certificate so that he could get a tax number.  It is always nice to have Rohan along because he knows the ins and outs of Jamaica and he is also is very familiar with the PEF program since he and Tracy have taught the course.  I stayed home and studied for my seminary lesson.  Brian brought Rohan and Wayne back to our condo so that they could fill out the birth certificate application on line.  After Brian took Wayne back up to Lime Hall, I went with Brian to take Rohan home and then we stopped at the store to get a few items.

Sunday was interesting.  Our Elder's quorum president, Relief Society presidency, and Sunday School teacher were all absent.  Brian taught Sunday School and  Sister Mouritson taught Relief Society.  She did a great job.  After the meeting I tried to help Sister Barbagee with her ipad but that was like the blind leading the blind.  She had forgot her password and when she was setting up her ipad, her birthday got entered in wrong.  The e-mail on her phone was different than the one that was put on her ipad so there was no way of getting her new password.  We finally gave up.  When we finished at the church, we took Shawn with us to visit Sister Noble and her family and then we stopped at Brother Lester's to give Peter a school bag.  Shawn is the new branch mission leader.   From there we drove to Mansfield Heights to visit a sister that we have not met before and we also visited with the Elder's quorum president.  When we got home we skyped with Jill and Brian talked to Ben.  He informed us of the passing of Jeff Greensides.  We were really sorry to hear that news.    We watched the Christmas Devotional and then retired for the night.  I got a ton of mosquito bites on my legs while we were at Sister Nobles and I woke up in the night clawing at both of my legs.  The mosquitos are vicious here.

Saturday we went to Lime Hall to get our car washed.  Brian talked to a man who is just starting a restaurant and he  gave us his card.  We will probably go up there to eat some time.  We thought we would wait until  our company came but we thought it might be better to try it out first.  He gave us  four Soursops.  They are a really interesting fruit.  We had to ask Wayne what you do with them.  He told us that when they are really ripe, you just peel them  with a spoon and take out the seeds and blend the fruit in a blender or press it through a sieve.  I tried one of the Soursops.  It wasn't too bad.  I mixed it in a smoothie of banana, and orange, pineapple and mango juice.  Sunday night I juiced the other three as they ripened very quickly.  Wayne told us to mix it with water or milk and add some nutmeg.  I haven't tried it that way yet.  After leaving Wayne's, we met up with the sister missionaries and they showed us where one of the members lived.  From there we went to see one of our less active sisters.  She is very sick and her blood is very low so she was freezing - if that is possible here.  She reminded me of how Sister Rose looked before she died.  Brian gave her a blessing.   We drove home for lunch and then met the missionaries at the branch.  We were going to sit in on a lesson but the investigator never showed up.  We took the missionaries up to Shaw Park to visit with Sister Temple.  She hasn't been out for awhile but she said she would come and she was there on Sunday.  We left the missionaries in Shaw Park as they had another appointment and then we headed home.

Friday we spent the morning with the plumber.  Our tub would not drain.  The plumber had come over on Thursday but he couldn't fix the problem.  He thought it was the drain plug but found out on Friday that it was some roots that had gotten into the pipe.  After lunch, Brian went to the bank and I did some reading.  I am trying to read Jesus the Christ. I am really enjoying it.  I think I started  it a long time ago but never finished so I thought it would be a good Christmas read.  When Brian got home, we took some school bags to Sister Jackson and stopped to visit with Sister Llewellan before we picked up Tracy to do my hair.  It was nice to get the hair cut short again.  Tracy does a good job.

Thursday the Whiteheads came up to Ocho to pick up the humanitarian kits.  It was nice to get the kits out of our condo.  We went to lunch with them at Island Grill.  They made a trip out to Mustard Seed to drop of the kits but we didn't go with them as we had seminary and institute to teach.  Brian bought some drano to put down the tub drain and when that didn't work, our condo supervisor called a plumber.  She said he could come at 3:00 so Brian took me down to the branch so I wouldn't be late for seminary.  He came back home but ended up not being able to teach institute because the plumber was still at the condo.  Finally, at 7:00 p.m. he came down to the branch to pick me up.  I did get to meet Elder Cox.  He is new to Ocho.  He is from Emery County but use to live in Manti. His family moved to Castle Dale a few years ago.  He didn't have enough knowledge of his ancestors to know if we were related.

Wednesday was transfer day and because Brian was taking four elders back to Port Antonio, I stayed home.  I made some rolls and spent most of the day reading.  Brian got home around 7:00.

Soursop fruit.