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.