African?

I had a funny thing happen in Primary today.  Kalaya is 4 years old and very smart.  She likes to comb my hair and "plait" it.  (Braid).  She was pulling my hair up and kind of gasped!  She said that my hair was turning black!  Then she said maybe I was turning in to an African!  I thought it was so cute!  

Endings...

We had to go to Martinique because our visa in Barbados was expiring. We were glad that we got to spend some time with some of the people that we love so much.  The members are amazing!  And we got to know the missionaries who are serving there now a little bit better.  One of our favorite things to do is to walk behind our apartment at sunset.  Such a beautiful view.  

We love how the clouds drifted over the tops of the pitons.  We have loved our time in Martinique and may not ever be able to come back.  We have our memories tho and we feel like we made a little difference.  There have been several baptisms while we were gone these past 3 months.  We didn't think we had any part in them but we learned that a member credits us with encouraging him to share the gospel with family and friends.  We don't even remember it but he took the encouragement to heart and there have been at least 4 baptisms of his family and friends since then!  That really warmed our hearts.

That was a lesson to us.  You never know which words you say will be acted on by someone else.  It is always better to use words of encouragement and love than words of anger and hate.

It won't be long at all until we are home and our West Indies experience will be behind us.  As we look at the sun setting on this experience, we look forward to the sun rising on so many new experiences.  We can't wait to see you all!

Remember that we love YOU!

How will you react?

We are back in Martinique!  It is nice to be here and renew old friendships!  We visited two special sisters today.  One is Sister Pedale.  She is an older lady who has a hard time getting around.  She used to have us come over for lunch about twice a month.  She loves to sing and she loves us for some reason!  She speaks a little english and always tells us she loves us and that we make her happy.  She was our first stop.  We had the Sister missionaries arrive before us.  They were all singing a song when we walked in.  It was so priceless to see Sister Pedale's face!  She smiled broadly and welcomed us with open arms!  She cried!  She kissed me!  She hugged us!  It was pure love and happiness!

Then we went to visit Sister Martial.  We just love her!  She is a stalwart of the branch.  As we drove in to her yard, we could see her on her patio straining to see who was driving in.  Then suddenly she was gone!  We talked to the daughter for a while and waited about 5 minutes for Sister Martial to return.  We had a wonderful visit.  She is from St Lucia so she speaks very good English.

After we left, I got to thinking about the two very different reactions to our surprise visit.  One just welcomed us as she was.  She was in a house dress and not expecting company, but she just let herself fully enjoy the moment.  The other was more concerned about her apperance.  She ran inside to change because she didn't want us to think less of her I guess.  We didn't care.  We love her anyway.

It made me think of the Savior and made me wonder what my reaction will be when he comes again.  I'm pretty sure it will be a surprise!  Will my reaction be to accept him with open heart and arms?  Or will I be concerned about how I look or what I am doing?  I hope I will be like the first sister.  I hope I will know that I am loved just the way I am.  And that I will feel at complete ease in his presence.

We love you just the way you are, too!  We miss you.  We are grateful for you.   And we will see some of you in 89 days!