Happy Birthday!

Grandpa had a birthday!  He got a little misty eyed reading your letters before we went to the office.  He (WE!) sure love you all and are so grateful for your love and support!

In the afternoon, we took a few hours off and drove up the west coast of Barbados.  We stopped for lunch at a place called the Beach House.  It had a Bajan buffet.  Grandpa really liked it.  Gremma, not so much.  They like different spices than I do!  The dessert was fabulous and free!  The words and designs are written in chocolate!  Mmmmmm....

 I loved watching the little bird enjoying the fruit on someone's glass.  I hope they were finished with it!

We went and had a little swim and then we drove a little further north and Grandpa found an old light house to climb.

Here are two things that I love about Grandpa.  He is curious and he loves life!  I am so grateful that he is not the kind of man who sits around watching TV.  He is a man of action.  We hope that you, too, will be people of action.  Pursue your dreams and interests.  There are so many exciting things out there waiting to be discovered and appreciated!  

We are so grateful that we took the opportunity of going on a mission.  It's one of the best things we have ever done in our lives.  Thank you for your love and support.

We love YOU!

She's Gone

 This is very difficult to write.  Two weeks ago today my beautiful mother passed away.  Several months ago when I told her we were extending our mission she gasped and said, "I don't think I can live that long!"  She was right.   We flew home the day after our original release date and she died two days later.  I miss her so much.  I love this picture because it shows Mom with her perpetual smile.  It also shows what a great family I have.  When we got to the hospital on Friday night, they were having a party!  There was so much love shared between us all.  That is pretty amazing considering that we are steps, and halfs and halfs again.  We all worked together very well when it was time to make arrangements.

I love you Mom.  I am so grateful for the woman you were and are.  You taught me well and left a wonderful posterity.  I look forward to seeing you again.

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!

It's the Little Things that Count

I just found some more notes from the District Conference that Elder Cornish spoke at.  He asked us, how many of you know what happened 100 years ago?  We all knew that it would have been 1915 but no one knew the significance.  Turnrs out it was the end of World War I.  The war to end all wars.  It was a big deal 100 years ago, but now no one even thinks of it.

He then went on to do a little math.  He said that if he had 5 children, and each of them had 5 children, and each of them had 5 children, etc for just half of the millenium (500 years).  How many descendants would that be.  93 trillion!  How many of those will care about the little things that you did?  Like keeping the commandments, being faithful to your spouse, being sealed in the temple, etc.  Those little things WILL matter a lot to all of those descendants!

The little things are the big things.  We need to wear our Christianity with our sleeves rolled up and our work clothes on.  We need to let others know that we miss them, we love them, we need them.  We need to love like Christ loves.

1 Nephi 16:29-small things can bring about great things.

Your obedience shows that He can trust you.

We miss you.  We love you.  We need YOU!

Choices

Some choices are easy to make, others are more difficult.  Grandpa has figured out a way to make some choices very easy.  He has two hangers.  Each day, he takes a tie off of one hanger, wears it and at night he puts it on the other hanger.  After a while, all the ties have been moved to the second hanger and the first hanger is empty.  Now he starts over and just grabs a tie, wears it and puts it on the other hanger.  This way he doesn't have to think and he doesn't get caught wearing the same tie two days in a row!

Other choices can be just that simple.  If we just decide to make good choices every day, life is simple!  Choose to read your scriptures.  Every day.  Choose to say your prayers.  Every day.  Choose to not lie.  Or steal.  Or break any commandment.  Every day.  Life will be so much easier and you will always be happy!

We love YOU!  Be happy!

The Sabbath

Today is a perfect day to write a post about something I have wanted to since August 9, 2015 (Kristi and Max's birthday's!)

We were privileged to be in a District Conference with Elder J Devn Cornish.  He is a member of the 70 and the Area President.  He was visiting Barbados.  What a wonderful talk he gave.  Here are the highlights:

The church is a hospital.  We are all sick.  We come to be healed.  Be more patient and forgiving to others than they deserve.  We need the same from God.

This is a new day in Barbados.  The spirit is rising.  Angels have been sent to help.  Follow the council of President Herrington.  He holds the keys to this area.

(Elder Cornish was a neo-natal Dr and saw lots of babies born.)  Babies come to earth with complete personalities.  We lived before we were born with someone who created all and knows us.

We can receive revelation.  Take a blank piece of paper and a pen.  Pray like you really mean it.  Ask, what do you want me to do differently today?  What to fix, change or help?  Then listen and write it down.  It may scare you, but he will reaveal to you as long as you are willing to write.

Being happy is not easy.  Sin is the only thing that can take our happiness away.  Follow Jesus.  Sometimes we don't know where to start.  Here is one way:

He was in a General Authority training meeting after conference last April.  This is a common occurance and usually there are several topics brought up that the Brethren want taught to the members.  The Presidency and the 12 fasted and prayed for months in preparation of this meeting.  Their question was, How do we strengthen our members?  The only answer that came was, "Keep the Sabbath day Holy."

This commandment is as old as creation.  Even God took a day of rest.  Elder Nelson talked about the Sabbath day in the April Conference.  He speaks Spanish, Portugese, Russain, and Chinese.  He was one of the inventers of the heart/lung machine.  He would not study on the Sabbath.

The Sabbath is not about lists of what to do or not to do.  It's about loving God more than loving yourself. 

We must show God how we put him first and ourselves second.  It will be different for each person.  Ask Him how you are going to do that.  He suggests that if we are quieter, respectful and worshipful, we will have reverance.  Until you know reverance, you will not get revelation.  Decide what you can do to make a sign between you and Him.  It might be giving up something.  It might be adding something.  Make the decision today.  We were then promised that He will change and bless everything in our lives.

It was a pretty powerful sermon!  I knew that the emphasis was on keeping the Sabbath day holy, but the reasoning here makes a lot of sense to me.

I just thought I would share.

We love YOU!

I saved a life today

Well, each of us did!  And it was really a blessing when we really needed one.  We have been going through some hard things.  Really hard.  And it has been constant for over three months.  It gets to be a little wearing.  Today, for me (Gremma), I just had to leave the office.  I could not do one.more.thing.  Grandpa came home for a little while and we decided to go for a walk along the beach.  It was almost sunset and there are some nice places to sit and think and enjoy the beauties that God put here for us.  We sat there for a while and then started walking back.  We came across a lady with a baby turtle in her hand!  Just to give you a little background, turtles come up on shore between May and October to lay eggs.  These are pretty good sized turtles.  I have not seen a mama turtle yet, but we see their tracks quite often and I would guess that they are about 3 feet long and 2 feet wide.  Anyway, they try to find a place to lay their eggs and then swim back to sea.  Several weeks later the eggs hatch and the babies must find their way back to sea.

Tonight, there were a bunch of little turtles who were on the wrong side of the boardwalk.  I don't know how the mother would have been able to cross over the rocks and the boardwalk and dig a hole in the very hard ground there.  But she must have!  Because there were a dozen or more trying to find their way to safety.  There was a young woman there who was searching for them.  She found one and gave it to Grandpa and we hurried to the ocean to let it live.  It seemed pretty grateful!

Grandpa had to go back to the office but I stayed.  And looked.  And looked.  And looked.  Finally the lady found another one and handed it to me!  What a wonderful feeling to be given a chance to help something so helpless!  That would surely die if someone did not reach out a hand to save it!

I hurried to the ocean and set it on the sand.  It scurried to the water and swam easily out to sea.  Hopefully it will grow up to be a good turtle.

This experience didn't really change my day, but it did change my attitude.  I went from feeling like a failure, to feeling like I had done something very worthwhile.

Now please don't think that I am unhappy.  We still know we are supposed to be doing this.  But it is hard.  Very hard.  I am just grateful that the Lord allows these little moments of brightness to carry us through.

The church is true and the book is blue.  I know that.  I am grateful for it.

Please always remember that we love YOU and are so grateful for your faithfulness!

 Just look at that cute baby turtle!

 OK, here you go, now find the water!

 You are almost there!

Swim, buddy, swim!

 This is what they would have had to climb over, then cross, and then get over a lot of big rocks before getting to the ocean.

I tried to take a picture while I was carrying him to safety.

Hugs

This was a hard week.  We had twenty new missionaries come in and 21 go out.  That meant a LOT of work!  We fed, we transported, we taught, we laughed, we cried and we hugged!  I really needed this hug. Max was baptised on Sunday and "He who has no name" was born on Tuesday.  We got the call at 6:00 am.  We were so happy!  We had to leave at 8:00 am and did not get home until 11:15 pm that night.  We got to Skype with Heidi and the "new baby" for a while.  It was so wonderful!  And so hard!  I want so desperately to hold him myself!

The next day was when the returning missionaries were here.  They were all at the Mission Home when we brought some food in.  These two Sisters (Riley and Tenney) came running up and gave me a huge hug!  I did not want to let go of them.  It was the hug I wanted to give the new baby and Max (and all of my grandchildren!) but couldn't.

It made me realize how full circle life is.  I was here helping and hugging someoene else's grandaughters.  It made me grateful that in 6-18 years, some other Sr Couple will (hopefully) be able to help and hug, not only "He who has no name", but any and all of our grandchildren who serve missions.  It's very possible that we will be dead and gone when that happens, but I know that they will be watched over, just like we watch over these wonderful missionaries.

We are so grateful for the plan our Father has for us.  We know that we were led here to do this work at this time.  Even tho it is hard and we are missing things like baptisms, births, and Priesthood ordinations, we know we are doing what we are supposed to be doing.

And we know that you are too.  We love you all so much.  We can't wait to wrap our arms around you!  But until then, we will be doing what the Lord has asked us to do.

Always remember that we love YOU!

Work!

Work, work, work!  That is all we have been doing lately.  (It seems).  There is so much work to be done in the new Mission Office!  And we are all the Lord has to work with right now.  We are doing our best, but sometimes we feel inadadequate and over whelmed.  Each day when we go in to the office, we have a little devotional.  We sing, we pray, we have a little thought or scripture that we talk about.  Most of the time they are on patience, or endurance.  We know that we really don't have the skills we need to do this job, but we also know that the Lord has blessed us with abilities beyond our own.  While things have been hard, we have seen his hand helping us.  It is wonderful to know that he knows us and loves us.  We love him too,  and will continue to do all we can to further this great work.

Judging by the amount of papers on the desk, who is the hardest worker?!!

We love YOU!

Miracle Part 2

Have you ever wondered why things seem to be so hard sometimes?  I have been thinking about that a lot lately because things are REALLY hard!  Some days it seems like we haven't made any progress at all.  Actually, it's most days!

A few weeks ago I wrote about some missing files.  A box came in and there were lots of files in them and they were definately needed, but we later discovered that there were about 25 files still missing.  We called Trinidad and had them look everywhere.  We looked everywhere.  We had the AP's look everywhere.  We searched every apartment connected with the AP's.  I called both airports (which is not a fun thing to do) and they had seen nothing.  We were resigned to the fact that they were gone.

President Herrington called his In Field Rep almost a week ago and we didn't get a reply.  I wrote to the person in the MTC who handles that kind of thing and she didn't reply.  I kept thinking, don't they know how serious this is!?  This is an identify thiefs dream!  Copies of passports, driviers licence, original birth certificates, police clearance letters, FBI reports.  All just sitting there for 25 people!

Yesterday we had a long talk with the AP's again.  Elder T quizzed them at length about what they remembered.  I asked them if they looked inside shirts and clothes to make sure they weren't wrapped up in something.  They assured us that they had searched everywhere.

We got an email from the In Field Rep that day that said this could cause the delay of all of those missionaries coming in to the field!  What a mess.  We took comfort in the fact that Sister Miller, (Mary Rose's sister)  put our names and the names of the Missions on the prayer roll in the Cardston Temple.

Last night I was quite discouraged.  Again, why do things have to be so hard?  We went to bed early just to end the day early!  About 9:30 we got a phone call from the AP's.

THEY FOUND THEM!  We could not believe it!  They hadn't told us this before but they had actually brought about 5 suitcases with them!  There were personal suitcases that needed to end up in our mission after the split.  As they were unloading their suitcases at the airport, and Elder thought one suitcase was too heavy so he took the files out and put them in another suitcase.

The AP's forgot this because they had to move the next day and then left for a 10 day mission tour.  Apparently something Elder T said yesterday sparked some kind of thought to look in those other suitcases.  And there they were!

We are soooooooo very, very grateful!

After the trial come the blessings and it is so much sweeter than if it was easy!  I know some of you are having a trial or two.  Just hang in there!  Things will all work out!

And remember that we love YOU!

Dive right in!

The other day we went for a walk along the beach for our morning exercise.  Grandpa wanted to swim so he waded out a little way.  Reminiscent of a time on another beach in Delaware, a giant wave came up!  Grandpa looked at it and in a split second decided the best thing to do would be to dive in to it.  All Grandma saw from the shore was him disappearing and then it looked like he was doing a hand stand on the ocean floor!  All she could see was his feet sticking straight up!  It took several seconds for him to get right side up.  Grandma was even getting a little worried, but he finally got turned around and was safe and sound.

Sometimes we are faced with a problem and we have to make a split second decision.  We can either try to run away from it (but that never works) or we can dive right in!  Things may seem a little mixed up and scary for a moment but it will all turn out right in the end.

We are glad you are the kind of people who dive right in and get the job done!

Remember that we love YOU!

Two Miracles

It's been a week full of highs (and a few lows) but we are so grateful to be a part of the new Barbados Bridgetown mission!  It seems like the adversary has been trying his best to discourage the growth of the church here.  We have met with many obstacles, but we are amazingly calm and cheerful.  Maybe I should call this three miracles because of that!

Yesterday, we had two distinct miracles.  I will tell mine and then Elder Turner will tell his.

Over a week ago, the Mission Office in Trinidad sent over a suitcase full of files.  When I looked through them, I did not see the ones that I desperatly needed.  I contacted the secretary there and she said she had sent them and to look again.  I looked again.  And again.  And again!  I asked the AP's if they remembered seeing them in the suitcase they brought over.  They said they saw three sets of files.  They were sure of it.  We only got two sets in the suit case.  I lost a couple of nights sleep over this.  It was information on the incoming missionaries.  Things like copies of their passports and driver's licences, birth certificates, police and FBI reports.  All the kinds of things that should be guarded and kept safe and I could not find any of the 23 folders!  We were worried that they might have been stolen out of the suitcase.

On July 2, all the missionaries on the island had a meeting with President and Sister Herrington.  I really felt the spirit as he spoke.  As he was talking, it came clearly to me that the Lord knew where the files were and if I had faith, he would help me find them.  Right as I was thinking that, the DHL delivery man came in with a huge box.  It was a little disruptive because it was in the middle of Pres Herrington's testimony.  I continued to pray and to put my faith in Him.

About an hour later.  I had a chance to open the box.  It had been sent from the Mission Office in Trinidad on June30 and it had arrived on July 2.  That in itself is a miracle!  That just does not happen in the islands.  I looked in the box and what did I see?  You guessed it!  The files I needed were right on top!

I don't know if they were always in that box (because the other secretary insists that she sent them in the suitcase) or the Lord put them there.  I immediatley gave thanks.  I truly believe it was a miracle.

I am constantly amazed at how the Lord answers our prayers, even before we ask them!  I am so grateful to know that He love ME!  Of all people!  And he cares about each of our daily needs.  It was a real blessing.

So, now for my miracle. When we rented the new mission office space, it was totally without furnishing or closets, except for one small room that was sort of a kitchen and had one small wall of cupboards. As we began figuring out how to use the space, we stored what few odds and ends we had received, the keys to the outside doors, the keys to the inside doors, the contract copies and some instruction manuals. The outside doors had electronic keys and we passed those out but the inside doors just had plain old metal keys and since were not locking them, we had just left those keys in the kitchen cupboard,

Fast forward 2 weeks to the first day of the new mission. The Mission President has arrived and is having a meeting with all the misisonaries on Barbados. The meeting was to be in held at a chapel but the electricity was off there so we moved it to the office - it was kind of a stretch but it worked. We had a morning session and then had a local restaurant deliver individual lunches. The morning session went well, the lunch arrived a bit early and we helped the lady put it in the kitchen, shut the door and continued the meeting. When we broke at noon I went to open the kitchen door and it was locked! And the only keys we had were inside the kitchen! And we had 23 hungry people about to be hungrier! Sister Turner looked at me. I looked at her. I knew we had to get in that kitchen and the door was definitely locked. I had a strong feeling to take a screwdriver and go outside (the far end of the kitchen has a fire exit door that was supposedly alarmed and could only be opend from the inside. So I found a screwdriver and walked outside. Meanwhile Sister T called the building rep to see if she could find another key. When I got to the outside of the door I leaned down and looked at the edge of the door where the latch was and I could see a thin line of metal. I stuck the screwdriver in and pried a bit and it moved, I did it two more times and the door popped open, I walked in unlocked the door on the other side and there was Sister T looking panicked.  She had talked to the security guard and everyone had gone home for lunch and there was no spare key to be found.  She was amazed and so was I. I'm still not sure how I did that and I am not planning on taking up a career in burglary, but apparently the Lord agreed that it would be good to continue the conference with a lunch. It all worked out - no damage to the door and no, we won't keep storing the keys in the kitchen.

We are so grateful for the tender mercies that happen each and every day.  We have enjoyed seeing pictures of all of you having a great time together!  We would love to be a part of it but know that whe have been led here "for such a time as this".  We pray that we will be equal to the task.

Here are a few more pictures showing how old we look and the new office a bit.  I made cupcakes in honor of July 1 and July 4.  It is a great group of missonaries. 

Remember, we love YOU!

Coming Home?

We got a bit of a shock today (runs in the family, eh, Doug?!)  We looked on the official Mission website and saw something that we were not aware of.  Look closely at the Release Date.  (!!!)


Apparently because of the mission split, they have to technically release all of us and put us in the new mission.  Stake Presidents have started getting emails notifying them of the release of a missionary from their Stake.  One Sister got an email from her Stake Executive Secretary asking her when she would like to be released.  I told her, never!  They just got here and we need them desperately!

Anyway, even though it would be fun to be home for the 4th of July, I don't think it's going to happen.  But we will be thinking of you!

We love YOU!

Sister Mehr

We got this in an email from the Mission President's wife today.  It is really special to us and I just want to remember it.  It has been a privilege to work with these fine people.  Now I know why we were sent here.  We are feeling blessed.


Dear Sister Turner. 

I’m sorry to be so slow responding! Your letter brings so many emotions for us as well. We feel incredibly privileged to work with couples who dedicate their lives to the service of their Savior and who are such examples. We feel strongly that you were hand-picked to be in the West Indies at this time, with your unique set of talents, gifts and experiences, which have blessed the mission and members in significant ways. We have depended on you in Martinique, in St. Lucia, and now in Barbados—and each time, you have been specifically prepared for the tasks at hand. I love seeing how the Lord sets things all in motion.

You two are incredible. We are so grateful for you. Thank you for the huge service you have been, from support to training to cheerleading and doctoring and chauffeuring and office-ing and real-estate-ing and banking and negotiating, etc etc etc. You have been indispensable. I know the missionaries love you both deeply. 

We love you both, and look forward to catching up at the next reunion. We promise, there will be one in spring time too : )

Love you,

Sister Mehr

This is a picture of President and Sister Mehr with the going away shirts that our Zone Leaders in Martinique thought of getting them.  We are so proud of all "our" missionaries!

Grateful

Lately we have been sleeping like a baby.  We wake up every two hours crying!  The mission split is a slow, tedious, and stressful process!  Things weigh on our minds but this morning as I rolled out of bed to say my prayers and my knees hit the small rug, I was grateful.  I had knelt on hard tile for many months before we bought the rug.  I even brought it from Martinique because it is such a comfort.  Today it reminded me to be grateful for small things.

I decided to look for other things I am grateful for.  Here are a few:



I am grateful for this sink strainer that keeps my contacts from going down the drain, and keeps roaches from coming up the drain.  (It has happened!)

I am grateful for this mosquito zapper because we certainly have a few!

I am grateful that we can go for long walks on the beach for our morning exercise,

where we can find half eaten things like this: (What is it?!)

And I am MOST grateful for the eternal friendships we have made.  We got this picture this morning of the newest member of the Occolier family who was born yesterday.  His name is Mathias.  I helped his mother make that blanket and we gave him the little soft toy up in the corner.  It is so nice to know that they still think of us.  We love them all so much.

And we love YOU all so much!  We miss you tons!  We are grateful you are doing so well. Sometimes we get a little misty eyed thinking of you and all we are missing.  We hope that our service here is blessing your lives.  We know it is blessing ours.  Thank you for your love and support.  

Remember to be grateful and remember that we love YOU!

Be a good fixer!

We have been travelling for three weeks and forgot that we needed an adapter for our American electrical items when we went to French Guadeloupe.  I solved the problem by just not washing my hair so I didn't need the blow dryer or the curling iron.  (And it looked like I didn't use them, too!)

Grandpa had to shave, tho, so he was more creative.  He figured out how to take a lamp cord apart and "plug" his razor in to it!  He has always been a good fixer.  He fixes electrical things, and computer things, and car things, and anything that is broken things!  I am so grateful for him!

I hope we can all be fixers, too.  Let's fix anything that needs repenting of or forgiveness for.  We are so blessed to have this gospel and we are so grateful that we can serve a mission!

Remember that we love YOU!

We saw monkey's! (And we weren't looking in a mirror.)

We saw monkeys!  Three of them!  They were walking around the yard where we were staying.  They were eating the fruit of a mango tree.  It was so cool!

Ever since we got to Barbados, we have been looking for them.

When we saw the three monkeys, it reminded me of a popular saying that I was taught as a child.  It was always depicted with a picture of monkeys, like this:

The saying is:  See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

That is good advice, even today!

What kind of evil should we avoid seeing?  Bad pictures or movies are things we should not see!

What kind of evil things should we avoid hearing?  Music with bad words, gossip, people swearing, etc.  Those are all evil things that we can avoid.

What kind of evil things should we avoid saying?  We should not say unkind words, or bully in any way.  We should not gossip or lie.

I think it is very good advice, even today.

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

Believe it!  Do it!

Remember that we love YOU!

The Voyager Tree

There is a beautiful tree here that the locals call the Voyager Tree.  When I asked a lady why it was called that, she explained that in olden times, when sailors saw land they would look for this tree.  Quite often, their supplies of water would be very low and they needed fresh water quickly!  Apparently there is a large amount of water stored in the intricate weave of this tree.  The sailors were always grateful to see them and they are still a symbol of hope in the Caribbean today.

We are all voyagers in this life of trial and temptation.  Sometimes things look pretty bleak.  We feel like we are out there all alone on a vast sea and we might not make it to shore.  Have hope!  There is always a solution to every problem!  There is living water just waiting for you to take of it!

We have seen that on our mission.  People who are lost and searching.  Then they find the gospel and how their lives change!  It is a wonderful experience.

Always partake of the living waters.

And remember; we love YOU!