A Missionary Mother's Day In Guadeloupe

I got to spend most of Mother's Day in a hospital in Guadeloupe. Not to worry -  it was all good, because I truly got to "Mother" on that day.  So here is my Mother's Day Story....It started very early 

( here's  the Traveler Palm beside our apartment building at sunrise.) 

One of our sweet sister missionaries, Sister Cruz, from Nevada, had not been feeling well for several days after having  just been transferred here from the island of Maritinique. She was extremely tired all the time and her legs kept giving out from under her.  Our mission medical advisor   ( on another island - St. Martin) advised her companions by phone ( she is in a threesome) to take her to the Emergency Room at the hospital.  The closest one to them is the largest one on the island, the Centrale Hospitale Universite in Point-a-Pitre.  They sat there with her for NINE hours in a  dimly lit, crowded,  hot and humid waiting room. When we called at 11:30 pm to see what was happening, and were informed she still hadn't been seen yet, we drove across the island to see if our presence might help.  

Just before we arrived, she was finally admitted to be examined. The nurses said that they would keep her there but that nothing would be done or decided until 6:00 am.  Her companions ( two very determined young ladies) wanted to stay with her through the rest of the night, so we went back to our apartment and returned at 6:00 in the morning.  Sisters Covey and Gomez were ready to go home by then!  I brought them  hot breakfast sandwiches, and we took them to their apartment to get some sleep.  We returned to the hospital to stay with Sister Cruz. It took us 30 minutes to find her room.  There was virtually no one there working and the little paper directional signs taped on the walls were peeling off.    We finally found her in her room, sitting up and smiling, though a bit  nervous.

After about an hour, a nurse came and told us we would have to leave.  I told her we could not leave our little missionary  there all alone. I don't know why she changed her attitude, but she agreed to let us sit on the metal chairs outside our patient's door. We sat there for five hours. ( Yep, we missed church.) We had a lot of time to think about the pros and cons of socialized medicine ( we are technically, after all,  in France.)   On the pro side - this was costing us almost nothing.  On the con side - there was black mold dripping from the ceiling . Actually, parts of the ceiling were missing. I won't even describe the bathroom.  

When we arrived at the hospital the night before - we thought it was abandoned. It looked like something from a horror movie.  There were no directional signs, the sidewalks were overgrown with tall weeds, and it was very dark.  We went inside where it was also dark and  no one was to be found.  Miraculously we found the emergency room ( partly by seeing people walking along the side of the road in the dirt to get there.) Of course, things looked much better in the morning...

Mmmm... maybe not so much.  A doctor finally came and decided ( thankfully) that Sister Cruz could leave.  An hour later, we were on our way and we took her back to our apartment for the rest of the day, where she slept for four more hours.

On Mother's Day,  all the missionaries get to 'skype' home ( normally,  they just email every week) so this call was going to be a bit awkward....( Hi Mom, I just got out of the hospital.  Yeah, they think it's the after-effects of the Zika virus I got from a mosquito bite a couple months ago - no problem.)  Of course, our mission president had already let her parents know what was happening.  Still, I felt badly for her mom, and let her know I was trying to partly fill her shoes.  I made her daughter and two young Elders ( I know that's oxymoronic) who  were also here to skype home, a very nice dinner and even baked chocolate cupcakes ( I imported ingredients from our last trip to St, Vincent).

So, Sister Cruz didn't have to be sent home from her mission. She told me she has been wanting to do this since she was sixteen ( she's now the ripe old age of nineteen!)   We have been back to the lovely hospital for more tests, with results pending at the end of the month.  She is back with her intrepid companions and managing okay. Here she is on the left with  Sisters Gomez and Covey. 

 

And I got to be a 'mom' on Mother's Day even though I am far away from our own children and grand children.  I've about decided that this is really what our mission - what everyone's life mission - is all about ... Caring for those who need you most whenever and wherever you might be.  The End.

This post is dedicated to our four children - Wallace, Wendi, Sarah, and Whitney  - who gave their mom and dad permission to run off to the Caribbean to  see if they could help make a little difference in the world. Love you tons, Mom and Dad   

     

 

 

So What Do Senior Couple Missionaries Do?

Someone once told us, "Whatever  you think your mission is going to be - it probably isn't."  Although I can't remember what I thought it was going to be anymore, I'm sure it didn't include cows in the road,  flying prop planes around the Caribbean, or melting in heat and humidity during church meetings. I have always loved seeing the photos published in  our world-wide monthly church magazine, The Ensign, of couples serving their missions.  I have wondered what goes on behind the scenes of those photos.  Well, I can only share what goes on 'behind the scenes' in our photos... 

This is the airport in Guadeloupe - very nice and modern ( 20 years old this year).  I love the glass windows that look out over the area where you can see the  arriving passengers walk through passport control, ride down the escalator, and pick up their luggage. Elder Booth and I hang out here a lot.  We drop off and pick up missionaries all the time.  Most missions involve getting in a car or bus for missionaries to transfer or visit other areas - here we hop on airplanes and fly around the Caribbean.  I think this photo was taken about 11:00 pm; waiting to pick up one of our 18 missionaries on the island.  After what happened in Brussels, we are always sure to say a quiet prayer for their safety every  time we send them off.

We also get to attend and help out at baptisms. The best!  We got to teach this mom and her son with the sister missionaries once.  It was neat to watch them grow in confidence and beauty as this day approached. Abymes Branch Guadeloupe.

One of the other joys - feeding the missionaries.  They are always so grateful for food!  This was our Easter Feast where we fit 18 into our tiny apartment.  We followed the meal with feasting on the scriptures as well- the Easter story , of course. So glad we bought this extending table! 

One day, recently, we had to drive  into Pointe-A- Pitre to get our medical work  ( an X-ray and brief exam)  for obtaining our Extended Stay Visa for France ( not a fun three hours in a very old hospital.)  There is one set of Elders working in this city.  One night, we had some papers we needed to drop off to them, so they met us on one of the mostly deserted  streets.  It was a sight in contrasts, as they walked toward us in the darkness  with their sweet smiles, past the  scantily clad 'ladies of the night'. This is what a couple blocks of the city look like ... 

We got to watch the live General Conference broadcast from SLC here.  I stayed in the chapel with the members and our Tahitian missionaries to watch and listen in French.  Elder Booth and the American missionaries could watch it in English in one of the adjoining rooms.  The next week we had District Conference with Elder Gamiette of the Area Seventy speaking to us.  Here, our sister missionaries are  having a little fresh coconut milk during one of the breaks.

Of course between every transfer, there are always apartment inspections to do.  Here is Elder Booth getting ready to brave entering another apartment. Can you spot the gecko?

  

   Thankfully we haven't had any major medical disasters to deal with since arriving.  One missionary burned his hand, one got a bad sunburn, one had his nose almost broken, and we recently figured out that Sister Gomez from Guatemala needed glasses.

 

Occasionally we are invited to dinner.  One evening this month we went to a new member's apartment in this building for a visit and a meal of traditional Chicken Colombo. They were so poor yet so generous.  They shared with us their joy in their new faith.  The mother and father said that their son 

( about 7 years old) had been saying that he felt sad inside all the time. Their  five year old  girl wasn't speaking.  After joining the church - their  little boy began smiling and their little girl began talking ( non-stop). That's what it's all about. Changing lives for the better through Christ.

We flew back to St. Vincent this week where we got to attend an ocean baptism.  

Hurrah for Israel!

I think God was pleased...

Today we both spoke in sacrament meeting at the Callaqua Branch ( thankfully in English) and I helped out in Primary.  Here are Rihanna, Tessiney, and Zion. They kept admiring my Chinese fan ( which I was using vigorously during class )  so I made them each their own.

  

Well that gives you a brief glimpse of our service here this past month. I would take photos of our doing a lot of paper work, but that's not too interesting.   Almost forgot... Elder Booth is now a President Booth.  President Herrington has asked him to serve as Second Counselor in the mission presidency....  I wonder what adventures that  will hold?  

 

Island Impressions

The wonderful couple that was serving in Saint Vincent, the Goddards, finished their mission this month and went home to Utah, so President Herrington has asked us to cover Saint Vincent as well as Guadeloupe for the time being.  This, of course, presents a few challenges - the main one is that it is difficult to be in two places at the same time, particularly when those two places have a bit of Caribbean Sea between them. The plan is to spend about a week here each month in SV and the other three weeks in Gudadeloupe. It takes about half a day to get here, and due to the Liat Airlines schedule ( stands for Leave Island Any Time?) about a day to get back to Guadeloupe.  SV is a poorer smaller island than Guad and presents new challenges for us.  There are some good aspects to being here as well as some not so good.  Let's start with a few  good things. 

Our apartment is clean, air conditioned, roomy, and has an incredible location right on the beach with a gorgeous view and the rhythmic sound of the waves splashing on the narrow beach below us. 

They have some American groceries here - oh  the joy of Betty Crocker Brownie Mix! ( Which I was able to make once I found some eggs.) There are also two fast food imports from the states - a Subway and a KFC.  We've had more KFC chicken in the past ten days than the past ten years. Apologies to all my chicken loving friends. Here is our local grocery store and the Colonel's very popular eatery which is the most modern building on the island.

                                                                          

Last but not least, they speak English here ( sort of ) so communicating is much less stressful than Guadeloupe.  This allows us to be a bit more helpful when teaching with the missionaries. 

The poverty in some areas is pretty depressing.  One sees a lot of the preferred Third World building material here - corrugated metal.  Many houses have a first floor with the idea of building a second floor - but the money runs out and there is only a cinder block shell open to the sky.  The sign on this person's house says, "please call out do not knock on door" which is ironic since much  of the time there is no door so one just calls out to the house.  Yesterday we taught a  gospel discussion with the elders.  I'll try to paint a picture for you:  it was really hot and humid ( as always) ; three ladies were sitting in front of their house as we stood in the dirt teaching  them for an hour  while  dogs and chickens walked around our legs;   I tried to not notice  the mosquitoes biting.  This house was directly  behind the beer factory so we were hearing truck loads of beer bottles being dumped and broken while teaching the blessings of the Restoration. Not quite the MTC-suggested format for creating a spiritual environment.   

This is  the police station in Kingstown, the capital of St Vincent, which is quite possibly the ugliest city I have ever seen.  Since it is really the only city on the island- this observation is kind of depressing. SV got its independence from Britain in 1979 but the only solid buildings in Kingston  are the ones built by the Brirish in the 1800s.  The guide books say the town is "lively and bustling" which is the nice way of saying it's dirty, crowded, noisy, exhaust filled, and dangerous.  Thankfully, the people are usually very nice ( if odd at times - I don't think I've ever run into ( literally) Rastafarians before).  I've twisted my ankle a couple times on the uneven broken up 'sidewalks' and constantly walk in fear of being run over.  The only safe place to walk is in the gutters- the regular kind, not the three foot deep ones. 

One of our assignments is to pay the bills for the missionaries so they don't have to take their time to do it.  This is why we need to go into Kingston.  They have yet to adopt payments online, though we understand they are starting to implement that.  Imagine everyone in  an entire country going to one office to pay their water bill!  Even more challenging is picking up boxes delivered through DHL.  The customs procedure can take hours in order  to visit several bureaucratic  locations in town.  Here are a few more sights in and around Kinston...

Here we are in the post office to pick up mail. 

The best sight is to see children going to and from school.  Most have access to education, so that gives me hope that the country will have a better future.  

The church has three units here.  This big chapel was built for the Kingstown Branch by E. T. Joshua the first chief minister of the country who joined the church when he was in his seventies ( 1980).  He is much beloved by the people of St Vincent.  Unfortunately his baptism did not lead to making the church well known.  The airport is named after him.

This is the chapel for the Calliqua Branch halfway up the coast.  It's in an old house with a great view...

And this is the Georgetown Group chapel.  They rent the upstairs of this house.

Here are the Primary children...

Then time for the hour drive home...The beautiful views make up for the scary hillside road.

Something I've learned on St. Vincent....  It doesn't matter if you are in a really depressing  part of the island;  If you just look up and out, you realize you are surrounded by incredible beauty.  When we are in a depressing  part of our life, if we  look up to God and out to serve others, then  we realize our lives  are actually surrounded by incredible beauty as well.  See you back in Guadeloupe!

Sunday Photos

Today we drove down to Basse-Terre Branch which is about an hour drive away at the far end of the island.  Can't complain about the scenery... This tropical mountainous area takes up the middle of Guadeloupe.

And the view to the left...

Can you tell which piece of blue is the sky and which is the ocean?  Trick question...it's two shades of blue of the ocean.

The walk along the beach in the city of Basse-Terre on the left..

And your basic volcano on the right...

Helping out in Primary in Basse-Terre Branch.  Sloane drew a great picture of Lehi's vision.

Decided to drive home around to the far coast go  half way up the island and cross back through the mountain range.  A little harbor...

A little jungle...

And back out to the coast again...

Finishing off with a few sugar cane fields...

When we got home we took photos of the zone leaders' nearly dead Van to send to hq in Dominican Republic  and took two phone calls,,, one from a set of sisters who had their bikes stolen while they were at a teaching appointment, and a set of elders whose car was overheating so much they thought it might blow up.  Pretty typical Sunday

Oh - I almost forgot, we had a our first zone conference this week!  Great to meet with president and his wife and all our missionaries in the Guadeloupe Zone.   

Change of Perspective

                

 

In 1988 when we moved our family from upstate New York to Hong Kong, I had moments of weakness during my battle with Culture Shock, during which I occasionally complained about our  new home.  (OK-  actually I complained a lot).  Then my husband had me join him on a business trip to India for a week.  After seeing India, I didn't complain about living in Hong Kong anymore.

I had a similar experience this month.  President Herrington asked us to visit the island of St. Vincent to  learn the duties of the senior couple there as they are going home in March. He may have us visit on occasion to help out the missionaries. I know you can't tell from this photo - but trust me- it was a lot more backward than Guadeloupe.  It's one of those many places that fell apart after the British left.  Anyway, now I am counting my blessings!  

Here are some of them:

1. We have potable water.  The mission requires us to have three  filters on our tap, but really, we have    been places where you have to keep your mouth closed in the shower.

2.  We have electricity. It has only gone out once in the month we have been here.

3.  We have a car.  With air conditioning!

4.  We have an apartment.  With air conditioning!

5.  Although driving here is an exercise in insanity, I think it is more scary in St. Vincent where the roads are more narrow and winding and have two foot deep uncovered gutters on each side.

The biggest blessings in the mission are the faithful members.  When we visited one of the church buildings  in St. Vincent ( actually the upstairs of a house in a town with no grocery store, gas station, restaurant, anything) we met a wonderful sister  who shared with us her desire to go to the temple this year.  She is very poor in material things but very rich in the spirit.  

We asked how she knew the church was true when the missionaries found and taught her family.  In answering, she related a story about her daughter, who when she was very little, had a dream about her deceased grandmother.  In her dream, the grandmother said that it was very important that she ( the grandmother)  be baptized.  This happened on three different occasions.  For years, the family didn't know what it meant, until the missionaries came to  their home. They  explained the Plan of Salvation and the ancient Christian ordinance of vicarious baptism for the dead which is performed only in LDS temples.  This sister had tears come to her eyes as she shared how much this meant to her, as she loved her mother very much.  It was not long before her whole family joined the church. 

This  story gave me a new perspective that made me feel gratitude for a doctrine I sometimes  take for granted.  A change in perspective ... one of the great themes of the gospel - one of the great themes of serving a mission. 

  

Adventures In Cleaning

This week we not only finished cleaning our own apartment, we did our first tour of duty inspecting the apartments of the Guadeloupe District missionaries for President  and Sister Herrington. Quel aventure! 

As we learned while living in South East Asia some years ago, keeping  a place clean in the tropics is no easy task.  There is a constant battle with black mold, orange mold, and just about any kind of mold you can think of, plus there is the unwanted stream of guests consisting of cockroaches, spiders, and mosquitoes. The Sisters' apartments were spotless:                                                                        

                 

The Elders' apartments... Mm not so much:

                                                                                       

This second floor apartment was in the middle of Pointe-a-Pitre, the main city in Guadeloupe.  It kind of reminded us of many of the 'Second' World cities we have visited throughout the world.  Not exactly Singapore or Paris. 

                                                                                    

At the next Zone Meeting, we will be giving out awards ... including the Golden Ajax Trophy ( " Elders are you familiar with Ajax?" ) and the Celestially  Clean Award ( " Awww...The sisters always win.")

Our other big learning experience here involves keeping track of and helping the missionaries with their visas, paperwork, and transport to and from the airport.  This has got to be the most expensive and complicated mission in the world.  Missionaries don't just drive to a new area - they fly to a different country.  The first day we were here, I got a phone call from a missionary  who said, " One of our elders is being held by the immigration officers at the airport because he doesn't have his card showing he got his Yellow Fever vaccination.  What do we do?"  Learning curve indeed.  Here is the board we started for some of this month's travel schedules. 

Finally, I haven't mentioned how we are doing with the French. Pas tres bien.  Today we visited the Abymes Branch ( they have an actual church) where we spoke with members who had accents ranging from Haitian to African. I can tell which members have lived in France because they are the only ones I can understand! 

So yes, right now everything here is an adventure for us; whether it is just helping the missionaries, inspecting apartments, driving around the island, or just visiting with members.  If we wanted an adventure in missionary work - we found it! ( God has such a great sense of humor!)

                                                                                   

Abymes Chapel