It's hard to say good bye

As we look forward to our new adventure in Barbados, we have to say good bye to our old experiences in Martinique.  I don't like good byes.  I prefer see you later's.  We won't see some of these missionaries again for a long time.  We will be losing four of them at the next transfer.  These are really great missionaries.  We love them a lot.

Today we had our last P-day together.  We went to the River Alma. 

Then we went to a water fall

Then we visited a member who weaves baskets out of paper.  She is awesome!

And last, we stopped and looked at the ocean with some of our favorite people!

We love them all.  And we love YOU!

Birthday Gifts

It was my birthday this week!  Birthdays are fun!  It's always nice to be remembered.  This year, I wanted to do something for the branch.  Instead of getting a gift.  I wanted to give a gift.  We ordered 25 hymn books in French.  We took 5 to the group in Trinite and the rest to the branch in Fort de France.  It really felt good to give them something that they will use every week.

Grandpa did give me some small gifts that have great meaning to me.  At first, I couldn't figure out why he gave me these things:

Then I read the inside of the card.  In part, it says,"I appreciate you giving us Martinique and I will do everything I can to give you Barbados."  It made me cry because I know how hard this is going to be, mostly for him!  The rock on the left is coral from the beach in Barbados and the pen and paper punch represent office supplies.  He sure is a good man!

He even made me dinner!

And I made dessert.  It's cinnamon rolls without cinnamon and raisins.  But they do have chocolate chips!

It was a great birthday.  I can't believe I have celebrated two birthdays in the mission field!  There is no better place to be!

We love YOU!

It's not all fun and games

It's not all fun and games in the Caribbean!  This picture is a check list of what I have been doing for the better part of 3 days this week.  Every transfer, I make up a 4 page Word document for each missionary who is going home.  This time there are 17.  It takes me about 4 hours for each missionary from start to finish.  Each document has 8-15 pictures in it and a write up of what they have learned on their mission.  I start a month in advance by emailing them and telling them what is required.  I email them all each week for 3 weeks and then call them when they haven't complied.  I spend a lot of time fixing their pictures.  I want their paper to look nice.  I also do a different kind of paper for each new missionary that comes each transfer.  They only take about an hour to make.  We had 11 this transfer.

It's pretty time consuming and I wish I was out with the missionaries, but I am glad I can do this for the missionaries.

Grandpa doesn't like to sit around and watch me do this, so he goes out with the missionaries.  This time it was with the Zone Leaders.  Elders Lewis and Peterson.  They are wonderful and make our job so much easier!  And as a bonus they bring me chicken and bakes at the end of the day.  (Which is 9:30 pm!)

They climbed a LOT of stairs and Grandpa got pretty tired, but he's a trooper!  We are both glad to be serving a mission together, even during the hard parts.

We hope you are enjoying your callings, too.  Even the tedious, not so fun parts.  It is all worth it in the end.

We love YOU!

The calm before the storm...

We went to Barbados this week to get to know the country a little bit.  We also met the District President and he will be very helpful as we get things rolling.  These pictures are of our morning exercise as we walked along the beach.  The water is so pretty here!  And the beaches are soft and cool.  We wish we could have spent more time on them, but we were busy doing other things.

We are so grateful for this mission!  We look forward to when ALL of you get to serve one!  (Or another one!)

And always remember that we love YOU!

The living tree

A couple of weeks ago, we went to the very south end of the island to a place called St Anne.  It is where many tourists go.  We enjoyed a few hours on the beach (but only found 1 tiny piece of sea glass!)

As we were walking back to the car, we noticed this dead tree stump, with a live tree coming out of it!  Isn't it amazing what God can do?  He takes something that looks totally useless and turns it in to something beautiful and vibrant.

We have been praying that He will do the same thing for us.  When the mission President called us and asked us to take on the new assignment of office couple in Barbados, we both wondered if we would be up to the task.  The President assured us that if we were all called based on how well we could do it right now, none of us would be called to anything!  The Lord takes us the way we are.  We may not look like much to others, they might not see the potential within us.  We may not even see the potential within ourselves.  But the Lord does.  And he knows that he can make a green tree out of us.

Psalms 1:3 - And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Job 14:7 - For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.

We are grateful for the faith and trust that God has in us.  That the mission president has in us.  And that you have in us!

Thank you so much for praying for us!  We need it and we pray for you, too.

We love YOU!

And here's a pretty picture of St Anne, Martinique.

Phone call

We got a phone call.  From the Mission President. Last night.  He asked us a question.  He wanted an answer today.  One of us slept like a rock.  The other slept like a baby (woke up every few hours crying).

We made our decision and called him today.  Then I looked at my calendar page for the day.  Seems appropriate!

Call for more info!

Baptism!

We had a baptism on February 28, 2015.  His name is Bryan and he is almost 13.  He has wanted to be baptized for a while but his Mom didn't want him, too.  He has been coming to church and has lots of friends there.  Finally, he asked his mother again, and she said yes!  She signed all the papers and he was baptized!  She wouldn't come to the baptism, tho.  Isn't that sad that he doesn't have any family support?  But it is so awesome that he did the right thing!

I am so grateful that we have a family that supports each other.  We are so blessed to have the gospel in our lives!  We are grateful that you show us love.  We miss you!

And we love YOU!

Tout est bien

Tout est bien.  All is well.  I learned a new phrase this week!  We were singing "Come, Come ye Saints", (in French of course) and this phrase stuck with me.  And things are going well.  We are managing to keep our head above water!  Last week was carnival so there was not a lot we could do for several days.  We all had to stay away from the parades, etc and all the stores were closed so we stayed pretty close to home.  I was grateful that a member, Juliette Doumbia, lent me her sewing machine!  Oh!  How wonderful it is to mend a few things!  I had almost forgotten what it was like to be able to do that!

We had to run some errands downtown and had to kill some time one day so we went to a Mexican restaurant!  Can I just tell you how hard it is to order Mexican food from a French menu?!  It turned out pretty good tho!  We took the one picture just for Kristi & Peter because of the New Mexico connection.  (Can you see it?)

Grandpa wanted me to show you a picture of the outside of the restaurant.  It looked scary to me and I refused to go to it for several months.  It's amazing what hunger will do to a person!

The other day I looked at my shoes and noticed that they are getting pretty worn out.  I wear them almost every day and realized that it had been 11 months since we had left home!  We are so grateful for this opportunity of serving a mission and hope that each one of you will have the same opportunity in your lives!

We hope that "all is well" with each of you.  We pray for you daily and appreciate your love and support.

We love YOU!

Rose Colored Glasses

When we went to the Seniors Conference recently, a new friend gave me these rose colored glasses.  I love them!  If you are unfamiliar with the term, to wear rose colored glasses means you look at things in a happy, optimistic way.  I was glad my new friend thought to give them to me.  I wore them when my other friend was kind enough to cut my hair.  It was so nice of her and so desperately needed!

One of my favorite scriptures is found in D&C 123:17-"Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed."

There are three parts to this scripture that I love.  The first is to be cheerful!  I have never been accused of being too serious (as you all know!), but I have found that being cheerful is always the best approach to problems.  I have had trials and stresses, but by choosing to be cheerful, things seem to go easier.

The second part I like about this scripture is to "stand still".  I am not very good at that.  I think we should all take more time to just be still.  To stay on our knees for a few seconds after the amen and just listen.  To wait patiently for the Lord to answer our prayers.  To understand that not all blessings that we desire will come in the time frame we think it should.  We need to stand still, and wait for the Lord to help us in His time.

The third part is to have "the utmost assurance" (faith) that his arm will be revealed, (His will be done.)  I have looked back on many instances in my life when I thought things should go one way and the Lord had them happen another way.  I am so grateful his way won!

I hope you, too, will look at the world and your lives with rose colored glasses.  Not everything will be perfect, but look for the good things and the good things will increase.

And always remember that we love YOU!

Ketchup flavored toothpaste?!

Can you believe that they have Ketchup flavored toothpaste here?  I bet Kristi would love it!  Well, maybe not, but I bet Peter would!  Should we bring some home for all of you to try out?

What if I told you it wasn't really toothpaste?  Would you believe me?  I mean, it looks like a toothpaste tube, doesn't it?  Have you ever seen ketchup in a tube like this before?

One of my favorite scriptures is Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Sometimes we have to have faith in others because they might know a little more than we do.  The prophets know more than us, so it's a good idea to follow their counsel, even if it is something we have not heard of before. 

Will you have faith in me?  I can promise you that this is not toothpaste.  It is ketchup in a tube.  Even though you (and I) have never seen it done this way before, that doesn't mean it can't be true. I have seen the "evidence" that this is ketchup.  You have not, so you have to have faith in me.  And we have to have faith in those lead and guide us.

So, that's the lesson for today.  Trust your parents, your Bishop, your Primary teachers and leaders of all kinds.  And then you will see the evidence of our faith in due time.

We love YOU!

 

Camouflage

Have you ever noticed that things that can hurt you usually try to blend in with their surroundings so they won't be noticed?  A rattlesnake blends in with the ground.  An alligator blends in with the swamp.  We went to a swamp this week and our guide showed us something.  Can you spot it?

There are actually two things on the big trunk.  If you look closely, you will see two tiny bats!  They are flat against the tree and upside down.  They are "spread eagle".  Can you see them?

They live deep in the swamp.  It's dark and and bit scary in there.  They only come out at night and spend the night feeding on insects.  I don't like bats much, so I'm glad I'm not an insect!  The insects don't like them much either, because they know they could be eaten!  If they could see the bats, they would have a better chance at survival.

Now look at this picture.  What do you see?

If you said you saw a bunch of red birds flying around, you are right!  When we got through the swamp, we got into some open water and sat and waited.  These birds fly in to roost every night at sunset.  There were hundreds of them!  They are of no danger to anyone or anything so they don't have to try to conceal themselves.

What kind of person are you?  Do you try to camouflage what you are doing?  Are you doing things that should be hidden?  That could hurt you or others?  If so, then stop!  Be like the red birds!  Be proud of who you are and what you are doing.  Be the kind of person that has nothing to hide.

Can you find Gremma and Grandpa in this picture?  Of course you can!  We have nothing to hide.  We are happy to be serving the Lord with these other wonderful missionaries here in the Caribbean.

We want you to know how much we love you and pray for you always.  We can't wait to see you in a few months and see the good people that you are!

We love YOU!

Oops!

We were driving down the road in St Lucia the other day and we came upon this site.  Yikes!  A gas truck had tried to get into the gas station to fill the underground tanks.  It must have cut the corner a little too close and the pavement over the ditch must have been a little too thin.  The pavement actually collapsed under the weight of the truck and the wheel fell in the ditch!  They brought in a front end loader to try to lift it out of the ditch.  That didn't seem like too good of an idea to me.  One spark and KaBoom!!!  We got out of there as fast as we could.

How does this apply to you and me?  Well, it is never a good idea to cut corners!  We need to stay as far away from danger and temptation as possible.  We also need to stay on firm ground.  Make sure that the path we are taking is solid.  Another thing we need to remember is that we can make a bad situation worse by trying to rectify the situation in the wrong way.  If you find yourself in trouble, stop and think.  Pray and ask for help from people who know.  There is a solution to every problem.  And with the help of the Lord and those who love you, all problems can be fixed in the right way.

We love YOU and hope you are keeping the commandments.

Bamboo

The other day I was talking to Kade on the phone and I mentioned the bamboo plants growing outside of our apartment.  He said he had seen bamboo before.  They had it growing in their house once.  It probably looked something like this:

When I realized what his frame of reference was, I decided to take a picture of what bamboo looks like here in Martinique:

All of that is bamboo!  I was standing on the second floor of our apartment building when I took that picture.  The bamboo is taller than our 3 story building!  The stalks can be 6" thick!  It grows very fast.

I got to thinking about perspective.  This bamboo kind of reminds me of how the church is.  Here in our mission, the church is much like the first picture.  It is very small and takes a lot of care and "babying" to make it grow.

Where you live, the church is flourishing!  It is strong and healthy and needs almost no effort to keep it running.

Sometimes we forget that there is new growth that needs babying along...even in wards where the church is flourishing.  We are here on our mission to help those new, young members set deep roots and flourish.  We pray that you, too, will look for those who need a little extra nourishing and help them to become tall and strong.

We love YOU!  (And hope you aren't freezing this winter!)

PS
On our morning walk, we noticed this plant with giant leaves.  Do you know what it is?  It's a philodendron!  I have had one growing in my house for years and years!  It has often been on top of the chiffarobe.  At home, it doesn't have the same opportunity to grow.  There is not as much sunlight, or heat or water.  Here in Martinique it has plenty of all those things so it can flourish.  We hope that someday the church will do the same here.

We give our lives to that which we give our time

I just read this great talk. If you are looking for ways to be better and do better, you might like to read it.  We have been living an "uncluttered" life for 9 months now and I can honestly say that there are only a few things I really miss.  I miss all of you!  And I wouldn't mind having a sewing machine for a few days, but when it comes right down to it, we have everything we need.  I hope we can continue to live uncluttered when we go home.  And we pray that you will continue to do the important things in life.

We wish you a Happy New Year!  We love YOU!

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1992/04/unclutter-your-life?lang=eng

We are so lucky!

We are so blessed to have people in our lives who are hard to say goodbye to!  We had a wonderful time with Steve, Heidi, Ridge, Nali and Trek and look forward to spending similar time with Doug, Sarah, Isaac, Kade, Kristi, Peter, Eliza, Max, Hyrum and Clara!

We love YOU all!

He is the Gift

Christmas. The very word brings such a variety of memories and thoughts to me. I like to think of the changes and progression of what it has meant and has come to mean in my life over the years. 

My first real memory (at least the first one that I can still remember) of Christmas brings up a picture of the fireplace and mantle in the house that used to be my Great Grandpa’s where we lived in Raymond (that was later McKee’s old house before it burned down). We never used the fireplace but on Christmas eve Mom and Dad would hang our stockings from the mantle and in the morning they were miraculously filled with candy, treats, toys and always a real Japanese orange – a rare treat for me back then.

I do have memories of certain toys as I grew a little older (my real Lionel electric train was a highlight), but more than that of our family Christmas traditions that just always happened. We always had a program at our house on Christmas eve with Grandpa and Grandma Turner there with us (Grandpa always sang and Grandma always told a story).  Christmas day always brought a big Christmas dinner at Grandma’s house, in the living room with the best dishes, with all of us and usually Uncle Rube and the Meldrums and some of Grandma and Grandpa’s friends. The afternoon then passed with the kids and cousins and friends playing upstairs while the grown-ups and others who stopped by would visit downstairs. Whenever I think about those times I again get a feeling of love and comfort and peace.

As I hit my late teens and started to think about who I was and what I knew, and whether I was going on a mission or not, Christmas changed. I finally started to make the connection to what it was that we were really celebrating and who Jesus Christ was. I knew what gifts were but it wasn’t till I was 17 or 18 that I began to realize just what a great gift that Christ was and had given. As a family we were having some difficult economic struggles and we didn’t have much for earthly stuff but it really didn’t matter – we had the gospel and the church and our friends. The winter and Christmas that I was 18, I was attending the Lethbridge Junior College, living at home and commuting, with one other active Latter-day Saint, David Iwaasa, and with 4 less active or non-member Raymondites.  Although there were lots of opportunities to go either way, I can remember making conscious choices to turn towards the Lord and away from the other things that I saw. I think that was the first Christmas I had where I can remember really trying to focus on Christ and what He had given me. It was quite an experience and has affected my whole life.

Right now the Church has a program for all of us to us titled “He is the Gift” with a pass along card and some internet resources to help people feel Christ in Christmas. Just yesterday I had a good discussion about Christ with a real estate lady as she was showing us some possible Elder’s apartments and the Spirit witnessed to me again, just what a Gift Christ is and how much we have to celebrate. He is the only Saviour, He is the king, He is our hope and salvation, and Christmas is a celebration of His coming to earth to live and fulfill that blessing. I know that. Through the years, men have added many things to the celebrations, some are good, and some detract, but ultimately what we celebrate is the miraculous birth in Bethlehem of a babe who was and is the Saviour of the whole world, who loves us, helps us, guides us and saves us. All He asks is that we believe in and follow him, and He gives us the gift of Eternal Life. I love Christmas for its celebration of that truth.

We love YOU and will be thinking of you on Christmas Day and always!

Christmas Prayer

When I was about 7, all I wanted for Christmas was a horse.  I remember that being my first fervent prayer.  I would say over and over again:, "Please Heavenly Father!  All I want is a horse!  Just put it in the garage and I will find it!"

Now let me give you a little background.  At this time we were living in Heyburn, Idaho.  Mom was single and had 5 kids ranging in age from 11 to 3.  She was a waitress and didn't make much money.  And to make matters worse, we would sneak into her room when she was sleeping and steal her tips so we could buy her a Christmas gift!

We lived in a very small house.  Chris, Arlene and I slept in one double bed.  I think Steve slept in a room by himself and I'm not sure where Mary slept.  Probably in the room with Mom.

I remember that times were tough.  Sometimes we would have water on our cereal because we had no milk.  I remember one winter that I had to wear my much older cousin's ballet slippers to school because for several weeks until Mom got paid and could afford a new pair of shoes for me.  But we were happy!  I don't remember feeling poor.  I always knew that Mom loved us and that she was doing her best for us.

I must have been taught a good lesson on prayer and how they are always answered because I was SURE that if I prayed, I would get a horse!  Well, Christmas morning came.  There was no horse in the garage. Or tied up outside.  Or under the Christmas tree.  I think I got a doll that year that Mom ordered from the back of a cereal box.  I remember I really wanted that, too, so I'm pretty sure I was happy.

So, do you think my prayer wasn't answered?  My prayer was answered.  And the answer was no!  Heavenly Father knew our situation.  There was no way that we could have a horse in our circumstances.  He knew we needed something better.

That something better came about 6 months later.  That's when Mom married Dad (Merle), on June 16, 1960.  He brought with him 5 more siblings for us.  He loved us and he took care of us.  He was a good man.

If, in my 7 year old mind, I had had the wisdom to ask for what I needed and for what our family needed, I would have asked for a Father.  Heavenly Father knew our greatest need and he answered the prayer that I should have been asking for.

Heavenly Father always answers our prayers.  Sometimes the answer is yes.  Sometimes it's no, and sometimes it doesn't matter because we are capable of making some decisions on our own.

I want you to know that we are always watched out for and our prayers are answered.  Many times I have seen that the answer to my prayers was in the process even before I knew what to pray for.  I know that this can happen to you, too.

I pray that during this Christmas season, and always, you will remember to add to your prayers that you want to do His will, and have your prayers answered the way He wants them to be answered.  I did not need a horse, but I certainly needed a Dad.  He always knows what is best.

We love you all very much.  We know that your prayers are helping us on our mission.

Symbols of Christmas

Is it starting to feel like Christmas to you?  It's hard to feel it here.  There is no snow.  No Christmas music.  No people hurrying to shop.  They celebrate Christmas here, just in a different way.  We know that Christmas really isn't about all of that stuff anyway.  It's about the birth of our brother, Jesus Christ. 

Have you ever wondered why we put up certain decorations to celebrate Christmas?  Here is a list of some of the symbols of Christmas.  Maybe you could read the scriptures to understand why these symbols are important.

We know that Christ was born and that he changed the world!  He is our brother, our friend, and our Savior.  We hope that you will feel it, too

We love YOU!

The Reason for the Season

What can I give Him,

Poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd

I would bring a lamb.

If I were a Wise Man

I would do my part,

Yet what can I give Him?

Give my heart.

(Christina Georgina Rossetti)

President Monson tells this story about a Christmas when he was a boy.

"Christmastime had come. We were preparing for the oven a gigantic turkey and anticipating the savory feast that awaited. A neighborhood pal of mine asked a startling question: “What does turkey taste like?”  I responded, “Oh, about like chicken tastes.” Again a question: “What does chicken taste like?”  It was then that I realized my friend had never eaten chicken or turkey. I asked what his family was going to have for Christmas dinner. There was no prompt response, just a downcast glance and the comment, “I dunno. There’s nothing in the house.”  I pondered a solution. There was none. I had no turkeys, no chickens, no money. Then I remembered I did have two pet rabbits. Immediately I took them to my friend and handed the box to him with the comment, “Here, take these two rabbits. They’re good to eat—just like chicken.”  He took the box, climbed the fence, and headed for home—a Christmas dinner safely assured. Tears came easily to me as I closed the door to the empty rabbit hutch. But I was not sad. A warmth, a feeling of indescribable joy, filled my heart. It was a memorable Christmas."

Christmas is a time to remember the birth of Jesus Christ.  It's his birthday.  It is always nice to get gifts on your birthday, isn't it?  Have you thought about what kind of gift you could give to Jesus for His birthday?

Here are a few ideas that you could give for a gift:

Say prayers every morning or every night, or both!

Read the scriptures every day.

Or choose something from this list to do.  You could even make up a little calendar and write down what you do each day.  On Christmas Eve, you can look at your list and know that you have truly given a gift to Jesus.  

Always remember that we love YOU!

 

Corporal James

Last week as we were waiting for someone at the airport, we almost got a ticket for parking on a double yellow line that did not exist.  The officer was not very pleasant and we had to talk a blue streak to get him to not give one to us.

Today, we had to go to the airport again and guess who was on duty?!  We pulled up in the loading zone and he came over (to ask us to move, because they always do.)  We were looking at the arrival board and it said that the flight was on time but there was no Sister Shirts.  He was kind enough to go to the desk and ask the airline when the flight would be in.  It would be another hour so we left. 

We came back an hour later and the same thing happened.  He came to ask us to move, we asked him if the flight was in, he found out it would be yet another hour and a half so we left again.

I started thinking about him.  We are going to be seeing him a lot so I thought we should try to become friends.

The last time we went, another officer came up and asked us to move and I asked her if I could talk to that other nice young officer.  He came over and I told him that we appreciated that he was just doing his job the other day.  That we were still learning things because we are new here and appreciated his patience.  I told him that I hoped we could be friends because we would be seeing a lot of each other.  I told him my name and asked him for his.  He said it was Corporal James.  Then he told us we could park in the staff parking lot until our Sister missionary arrived.  That was so nice!  So we did.  I hope we have made a friend.

I had to swallow my pride a bit.  We were not in the wrong when he tried to give us the ticket.  The pictures clearly show that there were no double yellow lines where we were parked.  (Those are his feet in the first picture.)  I realized that it is more important to be friendly than right.   Many things are more important than being right.  I learned a lesson today.  Have you?

We love YOU!