Halfway Home!

It is almost impossible for either of us to believe on this September 27, 2011 we have now served half of our mission! It has been 9 months since we entered the MTC and five months since we left our WIM office assignments in Trinidad for our “real” calling to Guyana. Like so many other couple missionaries, there has been a period of adjustment, a steep learning curve and lots to do. We both feel we have only just begun to accomplish those things the Lord has sent us here to do . . . and wonder what difference we will make in the lives of these wonderful Saints here in Guyana in the time we have remaining. The time is going so fast!

Those We Love in Guyana: Alicia at Nigel's

Alicia is our favorite checker at Nigel’s Grocery Store . . . and, we are told, we are her favorite customers! Her ever-present warm smile always greets us as we come through the door and if she sees us in time, she will delay her breaktime to be sure she is available to wait on us. The last time we were there, she gave me a great big hug and when one of the baggers tried to move us to another line . . . all three of us protested! We hope to invite her to an upcoming YSA activity. We love her too much to let her miss the opportunity to be part of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Those We Love in Guyana: Sister Neshaw

This lovely little sister, with a testimony as big as the Guyana interior where she was born, lived a Hindu life for more than 50 years. On New Years Eve 1997 she went to bed as usual but could not sleep. Eventually she recalls drifting off, but was still in that “twilight” between awake and asleep when a “shadow” appeared at the end of her bed. This personage did not frighten her, but gave her pause to think when “it” asked her why she had not been baptized as the Savior commanded. She sat up in bed and pondered the question until she finally concluded, “If you want me to be baptized, Lord, I will do so . . . but in which church?”

The next morning Elders Reidhead and Louis came to her front door with a message. She couldn’t wait to ask them to tell her about baptism! The elders, she recalls, “grinned from ear to ear” at her question. Then she shared her experience of the night before telling the young missionaries she believed the “shadowy spirit” was her dead aunt. The missionaries assured her the personage was indeed a heavenly messenger.

Sister Neshaw became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in February 1998 and said, “after my baptism my trials and tribulations started in earnest. My family – including my four children – would have nothing to do with me. My friends abandoned me. I was left alone with nothing but my testimony and the elders for support. I was eventually forced to leave my home and all my belongings. I lived in several different places – wherever I could find refuge – for many months, but finally found help from my brother who had softened, but lived 60 miles away from the nearest church. He drove me to my meetings for several weeks, but finally told me he could no longer afford to make the trip. I eventually moved into Georgetown so I could be close to a branch and one day, I was told I could have my house back . . . and my family – some who have now joined the Church – embraced me again”

“I never expected to be where I am today. I am so eternally grateful to my Heavenly Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ for the great blessings of the Gospel in my life. I love the scriptures and I know the Lord answers our prayers,” states Sister Neshaw with her customary big smile.

We Was Robbed!!!

Three of us were sitting in the car outside of the mission office talking with Elder Benn when a menacing looking man walked up with his hand in his shirt and began, in a low, threatening voice, to demand money. Elder Benn (a former police officer here in Guyana) told him to go away. The man again demanded money to which Elder Benn again said, “go away.” Then the man pulled out a shiny machete and began waving it around. He told Sister Treseder and I to give him our rings and watches. Then he wanted our purses. Sister Treseder told him NO, but he kept insisting. I don’t have a purse . . . and told him so, but the back of our car was filled with three laptops since we had just come home from our computer class.

After a few minutes, I leaned over and started honking the horn. With that, the man ran one direction, Elder Benn ran the other way and we all heaved a huge sigh of relief! Elder Sappington didn’t lose anything. Sister Sappington lost only her $10 JC Penney wedding ring, but he took all of Sister Treseder's rings and her watch and two of Elder Benn's rings!

Serves us right for putting ourselves in harms way by being out late at night in Guyana! We had been warned!

WIM Comings and Goings

On September 1, President Gary and Sister Florence (aka “Christie”) Ricks bid a fond farewell to the West Indies after two years overseeing the 7 mission-dependent branches in Guyana as First Counselor in the WIM Presidency. This dynamic couple, who have now served three missions (first as President of the Manchester, New Hampshire Mission followed by three years in New Delhi, India where he again served as Mission President). The things they will miss most in Guyana are "the wonderful people, although curry and roti run a close second along with the dedicated, optimistic and hardworking young elders and sisters, but we will NOT miss Guyana's humidity, heat or mosquitos, or the many hours of driving between Georgetown and the rest of the country.”

The Ricks plan to leave their next great adventure open to inspiration from the Lord, but they recently sold their home in Santa Barbara and will return just in time to move to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. There they hope to get reacquainted with family, make new friends, eat lots of Mexican food and serve as ordinance workers in the temple.

A week before the Ricks left for the rest of their lives back in the US, Elder Jim and Sister Joan (aka “Joey”) said goodbye to the West Indies to fly home to friends and family in Ephraim, Utah.

According to the Lusters, “the most memorable part of our mission was the time we spent in Tobago working with members in the branch there. We grew to love and appreciate their dedication and testimonies of the Gospel. We will miss the native people, their friendship, and bright smiles. They are truly our brothers and sisters in the Gospel and we have felt at home here. Also dear to our hearts are the young missionaries. Their spirit and dedication to the Lord’s work has been very impressive. It is truly a miracle to see the enthusiasm with which these young people leave the comfort of their homes to travel to an unfamiliar part of the world."

What the Lusters’ will NOT miss are "bars on the windows and padlocks on the doors and doing business in offices where clerks are hidden from view behind a glass plate where communication is only through a small hole,” states the Utah sister missionary. “We are anxious to return to our family and friends, but it will be bitter-sweet to leave behind those we love in the Caribbean.”

At the same time the Ricks and the Lusters were buying last minute souvenirs and packing their bags, Bradley J. (aka “BJ”) and Martha Rae ("Marty") Summers of Leavenworth, Washington were arriving in the West Indies.

A retired commercial Alaskan Airlines pilot, Elder BJ grew up on a small farm in Oregon then served a mission in Frankfurt, Germany. Sister Marty grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. The couple met at BYU and began their eternal love story in the Manti Temple, then spent the next 8 years in the Air Force living in Lubbock, TX, St. Louis, and Frankfurt, Germany before finally settling in Washington State.

The Summers – who both love the out-of-doors - relocated two years ago to Leavenworth, a small town in the mountains of Washington. In Guyana, they will provide shadow leadership to the members and leaders of the struggling Linden Branch.

The senior couples in our mission each have interesting stories and histories as well as personalities and strong testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At the end of the day, they go to bed exhausted but are "not weary in well doing” as each shares life experiences and their time and talent in service to the Lord. We hope our paths will cross again.

We've Moved!!!

Life in the West Indies Mission is like dominos falling over!

Two weeks ago, Elder and Sister Benn were transferred to serve in Rosignol and Bushlot (Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday) . . . and in the Georgetown mission office (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday). Then, Elder and Sister Summers arrived from Washington State and President and Sister Ricks went home - so we had to move . . . but after four months in Trinidad and four months in the mission office apartment, we are now officially and finally PEF, ERS and YSA missionaries.

Our new apartment is the lower flat "fortress" which, until September 1, was occupied by President and Sister Ricks. It is MUCH smaller than the office apartment where we had two big bedrooms and two nice bathrooms. Now we have only one bedroom with a bathroom the size of a telephone booth . . . but we have a bigger TV (not that there is anything to watch or time to watch it) and a better A/C unit so it is much cooler.

Our two big desks in the office apartment have now been replaced by one big desk and the kitchen table . . . but our refrigerator and freezer are about 30% larger (room for ice cream if we can find it). My dog "Killer" is now an unnamed tabby cat. Trekker's new playmate alternates between our apartment and Elder and Sister Angus' upstairs flat to be fed by both couples (see him in the foreground welcoming us home).

Both of these moves have been hard since I tend to "settle in" or "nest" and I have been in my comfort zone with a little bit of office work mixed in with all the other things we have been doing . . . but, change, in the West Indies Mission, is as certain as the sun coming up at 6:30 a.m. and setting at 6:30 p.m. - so, its probably safe to assume, this may not be the last move or the last change!