Walking In His Path

Walking In His Path

One of the greatest blessings of serving as a Senior Missionary Couple is the opportunity to work with the young missionaries.  Sometimes we go with them  ( or take them) to teaching appointments. Here we are walking ( some of the roads are so bad we can't take a car on them) to meet a lady that Elder Alldredge and Monroe are teaching. A lot of the places we go, I can only describe as "tropical slums" ... there is a lot of poverty here. 

After following the goat trails through a hillside, we came to this little house

which is home to one of our church members - a family of six.  

We also help out with the missionary transfers  by dropping off and picking up missionaries at the airport.  This photo was taken during the February  transfer which went on for several days because planes couldn't land at the airport due to high winds.  The old airport closed this month as the new one just opened.  In the USA, missionaries transfer by bus  or car - in this mission,  it is always between islands by plane.  ( This photo) ...After their two year mission, these  missionaries were going home to Tonga - we understand it  took a week for them to finally get there.  

Sometimes the missionaries make us a little crazy - like when they wreck a car.  It is a long process for us to get a car repaired here and very expensive and difficult to get a new one shipped in for the church from the states.  Honestly, the accidents are rarely due to their negligence.  It's just that the driving here is so dangerous - an accident is bound to happen to any of us.  We are always so thankful that missionaries are seldom hurt in these accidents. We avoid head-on collisions almost everyday we are out on the road  here in Saint Vincent.  This is our "Rav -cat" that we let the missionaries borrow while we were in Guadeloupe.  That was months ago. We are still waiting for it to be repaired.  Thankfully, a new car arrived for us  at the same time we did in December- it was ordered a year ago.   

We have a TV that we can hook up to the internet, so  sometimes we host the missionaries in our apartment to watch a missionary broadcast of some sort. Right now we have twelve Elders in SV.  

The best thing we ever get to do with the missionaries is to attend a baptism. Here is Bro. Samuel just  after his baptism - he was pretty excited! 

I hope these young people are always kept in our prayers.  What they are doing is unbelievably difficult.  Their desire to bring "souls unto Christ" is an inspiration to us everyday. The SV Zone Mission Statement is "We are inVINCYble! In: being positive, testifying of the Savior, and wearing the whole armor of God."   

2017 ...Two Weddings and a Funeral (and a Baptism)

This is little Julia Weekes.  Her parents have been taking the missionary lessons for years, and it was our great blessing to be here when they finally decided to be married and become baptized members of  Christ's church.   The concept of marriage and family here is not well understood or respected, so this was a big step for them.  It is rare to find an intact family on these islands, so the missionaries help them create one.  Before a couple can get baptized they have to get married in order to keep the commandments regarding the holy order of matrimony.  So Keisha and Julian got married at our little 

church branch house. We could feel their joy as they were married.

 

The next weekend they wanted to be baptized together. This was done at the beach just down the hill from the church. President Sutherland of the Kingstown Branch baptized them,  as the last set of missionaries who taught them, Elders Alldredge and Monroe ,were witnesses.  Several members attended  to enjoy the occasion, including us!

The next week we had a funeral to attend with President Booth conducting it as it was the Kingstown Branch President's father who had passed away.  Bro. LaBorde was a faithful member for many many years - one of the original members.  He was elderly and died of cancer.  The funeral drew a large crowd ( first meeting we have been to that actually started on time!). His casket was bright red with gold colored trimmings.  After the service at church we went to the grave side dedication.  The main difference between a funeral here and  one in the states, is that they covered the casket in the ground with the dirt as we all watched.  It took about 45 minutes and was rather depressing for his wife.  

   This is a view of part  of  the cemetery as we are standing near the grave site. It was quite steep up   where he was buried and we nearly fell several times onto ( into) other grave sites.  

We were blessed to finish off the month with another wedding.  This one was between two active church members.  After their beautiful ceremony,  they flew off to be sealed for time and all eternity at the Panama City Temple in Panama.  ( As in the UK, one has to be married in a civil ceremony and the marriage registered at the ceremony before being  married in the temple.)

.....There were a lot of other things that happened during the month, but these events were certainly the most memorable.  We had reconfirmed to us many times,  that God loves His children everywhere    and the greatest expression of that love are the joyous and comforting principles of the restored    gospel of Jesus Christ.