Variety Week

Sunday 31 March 2013

Sunday 24 March we went to Old Harbour Branch for our PEF Fireside.  This is about an hour from Kingston so it was nice to be near home.  We got there quite early and called the local Elders to get us to the church.  It turned out to be an upstairs room over a hardware store.  But there is a sign hanging outside and the facility is quite adequate.  One of the Sacrament meeting speakers was a woman who must have had an assigned topic of Marriage because she sounded like she really did not want to address that topic and it became apparent that it was a sore subject for her.  I talked to her cousin afterward and learned that her husband had abandoned her not long ago.  I had some important (to me) thoughts as she was speaking that I may or may not include in this posting since they are pretty personal. 

 Here is the Old Harbour Church.

Okay, so I decided to put in my personal ruminations since this is sort of my journal as well as our blog.  As I have mentioned below regarding some other personal thoughts and confessions this week I hope my friends will be patient and accepting of my personal thoughts.

Marriage is the preparation for Godhood.
We learn to control ourselves and to live with and cooperate with a partner as a preparation for being a God who organizes worlds.
We work with a spouse and children to learn to govern as a God of a whole world

If God governed This world the way people act in the world how long would the world last?
If people acted the way God governs this world how long would the world last?

People who are unfaithful to a spouse are unfaithful to God who instituted marriage as a training for Godhood. How could a person who is unfaithful to a spouse be faithful to God or be faithful to the calling of a god? How could a person who violates the laws of chastity and morality as the laws of God be trusted to be faithful as a disciple of God?
How can a person who trifles with the power of God within him of procreation be expected to take seriously the powers of creation?  How could our Heavenly Father trust that person to govern in the Church let alone in his own world? 

For Sunday School they just turned some of the chairs around in the back of the room and arranged a few chairs in the front of the room in a semi circle—I realized later that these were arranged so the teacher who sat the whole time could rest her arms on the backs of the chairs next to her.  (I don’t know if this is why but it is what happened.)  So two classes were taking place in the same room—I didn’t think it would out but it actually worked and the teacher did a very good job.  She was very good about involving lots of people.  I heard later that she is a high school English teacher.

Relief Society was pretty good.  I tried to introduce the No Poor Among Us program but I did not feel I connected as in some of the other branches.  The class was pretty good even though the teacher did not show and we had to read and discuss the Ensign talk as we went along.  Our PEF presentation went very well also so it was another good day.

This is Alexia Pinnock.  We met her the first Sunday we were in Jamaica about 2 weeks before her marriage.  Her husband Vaughn had been a member of the Church for a year when they got married.  He is now a Councilor to the Branch President and will one day be a Branch President I am sure.  Alexia is the Relief Society President.  (Married less than 6 months.)

 Yes, these little dolls are triplets!  About 2 years old.  Mother was amazingly patient and calm the entire day.  Dad is not a member so was not there fortunately she has lots of support form others in the branch both men and women.  Pres Brown said there were triplet girls born in Spanish Town about the same time these little guys were born.

Tuesday I met with Carrie again.  I think she really just likes to talk to me but I think it is good for her so we will continue.  That evening we went to Linstead for another PEF fireside.  I don’t know when we will stop getting lost and making wrong turns.  It is a good thing we never get upset over it.  We took a wrong turn in Linstead and had the experience of a lifetime.  It was a one way street so no way to escape when I realized it and saw the street literally packed solid with taxis and masses of people.  I slowly pulled up behind a taxi as we crept through the packed street.   On both sides of us were tons of produce and articles for sale and many people buying and selling and eating and talking and moving through the street as if there were no cars around.  The speedometer on our car did not even register movement.  The taxi in front of us stopped several times and people packed in.  When his car was full he moved a little faster but not until.  I could feel people bump up against our car as we crept through the street and some walked in front with not even a notice of us.  I wish I had had a camera but I was so enthralled with the experience it did not even occur to me.  (I would not have taken pictures where people could see me do it.  I am very sensitive about offending people by making their lives which are very real and serious to them a novelty and curiosity to me.  4 months ago or maybe even 3 I would have been very nervous on that street as it was so crowded but I was not.  I really enjoyed the experience and the opportunity to see this teeming mass of life on the market street of Linstead, Jamaica.

 This is Carrie.  When I first met her I thought she was about 14.  She is actually 24.  Very sweet young woman. 

Our fireside went well but I was very self conscious and Bob said he didn’t know how I did it but I talked about the importance of repaying a loan you promised to pay, not for the sake of the fund, but for your own integrity etc.  One of the people who has not made a payment in about 7 years was sitting right in front of me and I am very sure I was making her very uncomfortable.  I felt bad but it really is an important thing for the people here to understand and really feel.  (In the meantime I am working to get this woman’s debt forgiven because it is not her fault she was not able to finish her program and she has not been employed since the school she was attending closed and the owners left the country with the money.)

This was a very thoughtful week.  As Bob said we had some real growth this week.  I wrote about my experience and so I am going to include it and hope my friends will be understanding and not judge me too harshly.

We have survived March. As a matter of fact it has flown by with 9 PEF firesides and 2 job seminars. It was hard at times and we were very tired a lot of times but it was still fun to be able to meet so many new people.  But as we finish one thing we take on something else as we have so many times in the past. We have been resisting really getting involved with employment beyond what we had created and we were comfortable with. I have been particularly resistant and I finally realized why--it is because I felt railroaded into something I was afraid of. I am beginning to recognize this trait in myself--when I feel pushed to do something I don't know how to do, my fear caused me to react in anger and resistance. I can be pretty unpleasant. But I have also realized as I have gone forward and started doing what I have to do, my fear starts to dissipate and I can even become very involved and energetic about that which I had previously resisted. 

I'm not particularly proud of this particular trait but as we are now entering another of these situations. I recognize my reaction and feel much more in control over my frustration and anger. When we first came to Jamaica we were told we would be doing employment as well as PEF.  Neither of us remembers who informed us of this or when we heard or how we heard it--as a matter of fact we are in conflict as to how it happened. But in our minds we were PEF missionaries and would do employment as we were able. But somehow our employment seeking seminars occurred  very early in our mission. As the Area people sort of started to push us more into doing it another way, we resisted.

Well yesterday we spent the entire day trying to learn how to use ldsjobs.org. We have looked at it many times and tried halfheartedly to promote it with PEF participants but now we have accepted a mandate we actually received in the beginning but resisted and even ignored (I think because of what I was talking about earlier). We are trying to learn how it can be used here with people who are not looking for professional jobs. We have actually been given the assignment to make some suggestions about how it can be more useful for people with little or no education or training. When Elder Cornish was here we expressed our frustration about ldsjobs.org and he agreed and said he would look into it. Well that is where this assignment came from. (Good leadership skill--listen to the frustration, empathize with the person, offer support, follow-through, then assign that person the job of fixing it.) 

Bob and I are a lot alike in what I described but he is much better about finally taking the bull by the horns. As a matter of fact this is one of his great strengths. When he starts thinking about something and really working on it mentally he is in his element. I am like that to a certain degree but it is a real strength in Bob. So we are trying to learn about the thing we resisted so that we can help make it more usable for people like the 160+ we have encountered in our jobs seminars.  One of the things that is helping our attitudes is that there is now a couple called to be Education/Employment Specialists in the district and so they will be able to carry on and do much more than we can do after we are gone. It really would be wonderful to help bring about a change in ldsjobs.org that would be valuable for these job seekers here.

Friday we had another Sister Larsen Special.  She invited 7 of her keyboard students to bring their keyboards and they all played together in concert as she led them.  It really was good practice for them and they really had a good time doing it.  They want to do it again.  

These are some cute young people.  This was a day off school that they came to the church at 2:00 in the afternoon for this event. (not an easy task for some of them) Sabrina Singh, George Robinson, Shirlette Brown, Alexia Brown, Shequil Peart.

 Latoya Williams on the far end came a little later and then another young man came still later.  The audience was Elder Larsen, the Pearsons and the Pugmires and a couple of Peart boys. We sang as they played.

And on Saturday Sister Larsen taught the next phase of her quilting class which she did several months ago.  The women really do enjoy getting together and they are coming along on their projects but are not finished so they are going to try to squeeze in one more session before Larsens leave in June.

 Sister Murdock with the RS sisters.  She and I came to help Sister Larsen.








Today we went to Yallhas Branch. Elder Evans is the Branch President there so when we asked if we could come do our PEF Fireside there he invited us to speak in Sacrament meeting.  Yallhas is about an hour away from home so it was a pretty nice drive along the south eastern coast.  The branch is small and they meet in a nice little house and the room was full.  I noticed that the Elders were standing in the doorway because there were no seats left to sit.  Bob did a particularly good job with his talk.  He really spoke with authority and conviction that I am sure went to the hearts of many.  Mine was okay too so I think people were spiritually fed during the meeting.  The whole congregation watched a new video release from the Church on Priesthood Strengthening Families.  It was very good.

 

This is the little house that is the Church building in Yallhas.

This is Samuel.  I met him when I came out to get a picture of the building.

 Samuel wanted me to take a picture of him with his bike.

Our presentation was a Jobs Seminar as there was only one person interested in PEF.  I talked to her privately before our presentation.  While Bob was talking I was watching three, thirty something women in the corner and suddenly remembered a new directive we recently received and I just reviewed yesterday about the Church’s Women’s Endowment Fund being suspended and PEF replacing it for women over 30.  I don’t really know if I was inspired but I asked to talk to the three of them afterward and told them about the fund and suggested if they had ever had dreams of going to school or getting training for a specific career or job that they might consider PEF at this time.  I don’t know if any of them will follow through but a couple of them seemed a little interested.

There is no room inside the meeting room for the keyboard so they play from outside the window.  Sister Evans played for the meeting but this young woman is learning to play.  Her mother is supervising her.

This is the 16 year old key board player.  

This is all one family.  Older brother is leaving soon on a mission.

Sorry I cut off the top of the stack of braids on the top of his head.  Cute little guy.















This little guy was adorable.  He did have a vest on but mommy took off him without even disturbing him one bit.  I am sorry I did not get Daddy in the picture I had a nice visit with him and looked at pictures of his kids as well as the truck he drives on his phone.

This is Beverley Williams.  I asked her to tip her hat back so I could see her face but she never did take it off.

Run, Run, Run!

Saturday 24 March 2013

This has been a very busy couple of weeks and we are not done yet.  Since my last entry we have been to the Kingston Branch to do PEF Fireside, to Montego Bay for a Job Seminar, and to Port Antonio and Ocho Rios for PEF Firesides.  We have pretty much traveled to both ends of the island in these two weeks as Port Antonio is pretty close to the North East end and Montego Bay is pretty much in the North west end of the island.  Fortunately the highway on the north beach is a good one, but the only way to get there is up over the mountains.  The mountains are where the roads are the worst.  In between all this travel we also had our District Relief Society Meeting, one dinner out with the Senior Missionaries, a meeting with the Murdocks which turned into a dinner party with them and the Evans and us, an appointment with the orthodontist and another with the little gal I am meeting with, and a very long conversation with one of our PEF participants who I am trying to help get on track.  Other than those things life has been just nothing but fun!

Our firesides are going very well.  We show a video about the announcement and plan of the Perpetual Education Fund featuring Pres Hinckley and then we explain all they have to do if they think they would like to apply for a loan. We have had quite a large number in attendance at our firesides but out of those we will probably have 6-10 people who actually make application.  But it is really fun to meet them all and be able to bear our testimonies about the program and how it came as a revelation to a Prophet of God.  

These are two of the Bonilla girls.  She just returned from El Salvador where she went home to to have her 5th little girl.  Dad (below) is a counselor to Pres Singh of the Constant Spring Branch.  He is a PEF participant from El Salvador.

 Last Saturday was the RS Conference and I have to say when Jamaican women get together they do have fun.  The woman who was the MC is a woman I have worked with quite a bit as she is a PEF participant.  She is a school teacher and a very sharp woman not only in her dress but everything about her.  Every time I have talked to her she has spoken very proper English but I tell you I cracked up watching her carry on totally in Patois (this is the language they speak at home and only among themselves—not really understandable for us.) and keeping those women all but rolling in the aisles.  She is a very natural comedian and apparently there is no one else who MCs like she does so she is very popular.  I thoroughly enjoyed it even though I could not understand 3 out of 20 words.

This is the cultural hall and there is a folding door separating the Chapel area.  They just hung curtains in front of the podium area and used the whole space and it was pretty well full.

This is Sister Wright from Spanish Town.  She is lovely.  Tall and thin and a good Sunday School teacher.

This is Janet Benjamin, the RS President in Kingston Branch and her friend Sister Smikle.

 This is the woman who surprised me so much.  Her name is Raia Richards.  A very classy lady with a great ability to entertain.

It was fun to see many of the women from the district and be able to visit with them.  All the Senior Sister Missionaries went together and about the time they took a break for dinner we slipped out and met our husbands at the Chinese restaurant down the street.  It is fun to visit with the other missionaries and this was one of the more enjoyable evenings of visiting.

Sunday morning we were up and on the road by 6:00 on our way to Montego Bay.  It is not really a long drive but we still had to get up over the mountains and there by 10:00.  When we got in down town where the Chapel is located our GPS could not identify exactly where we needed to be so we ended up driving around in a circle through busy narrow streets 3 times.  Finally we called Pres Lee and he told us it was next to the Trinity Church so ask someone.  So we stopped this young man and asked him.  He gave us directions (one street over from where we had been circling.) and we drove right to it.  As we drove up Pres Lee came running (literally) out to greet us.  As we were getting out of the car the young man we had asked directions from walked into the parking lot.  He was in a white shirt and tie and I had suspected when we stopped him but didn’t ask.  He said “why didn’t you ask where the LDS Church was?”  Silly us…

I teased the girl in the middle about being 15 but she is actually one of the leaders and one of our PEF participants Tricia Wint Allen.  Her husband, also a PEF participant, is a councilor to the Branch Pres.

This is the other half of the Young Women's group in the branch.

Trica Allen and Tonnie Brown, of the Brown Family in Constant Spring, she is studying Law in MoBay staying with the RS Pres.

 I did not get this woman's name but the man is Pres Lee the Branch President.

We enjoyed our visit to MoBay.  The Branch was good and pretty well attended.  Good Sacrament Meeting talks by 3 young people who did very well.  The Sunday School lesson was taught impromptu by the Relief Society President and she did well under the circumstances and the RS lesson was good as well.  We had about 12 people at our Job Seminar and that went well.  Good participation and enthusiasm for what we are doing.  We went to our hotel and I got the mini resumes all finished that evening as we had to meet the Elders the next day at noon to go and inspect their apartment.  We met two of the Elders at the church and drove them to the apartment.  It is interesting to see where the missionaries live and how they live. (Not quite the same as Senior Missionaries.)  They had given us their excuses on Sunday why their apartment was “untidy”  well it was much more than that and I had to give them a real lecture about the difference between untidy and unclean and disorganized.  Three of them took it pretty well but one—the spokesman—didn't like it very well.  

This is Willbert Buchannan II, he taught the Priesthood class that Bob was so impressed with.  As we were visiting with him on Monday he told us he has only been a member of the Church for a year.  Bob was amazed!

 This is the Montego Bay Chapel it got a new coat of paint in preparation for the visit of General Authorities who were not able to enjoy it because of bad weather getting out of the US.

After we finished the inspection we took all four to lunch at a very swank Pizza Hut.  I am not kidding.  It was a very nice restaurant not a fast food pizza place.  We had pizza and something called a Cinnamon Ring that was really good.  Well this pretty much took up the middle of the day.  Bob and I got back to the hotel and changed into beach clothes and went down to the beach.  We did not go into the water just sat near it for a while and talked and then took a nice walk up on the street where all the shops are.  It was a nice evening.  We saw a big 5 mast sailing ship take off out of the harbor but of course I did not bring my camera as we were going to the beach.

The dining area at El Greco where we stayed in MoBay.

The view from the dining area at El Greco.  We had to take an elevator 15 floors down to the street and beach.

 We watched half a dozen airplanes come in to the right here every morning.  The airport is not far away.

Tuesday we were going to go to the beach again but Bob got the idea we should use that time to test a new deposit slip for our PEF participants.  So we drove down town and I let him off at the bank and I “drove around the block” --Very funny!  We know it takes a long time at the bank so I found a place where I could just stop at the side of the street for a few minutes.  It was really fun to watch life on the street.  A huge truck (not quite a semi but close) pulled onto the street and parked on the right hand side facing oncoming traffic.  There really was no room for a car let alone a truck it--was not a parking place.  But no one thought anything of it and just maneuvered around it--even another truck squeezed by without a honk.  

After a few minutes I noticed a man carrying something on his head.  They do that quite a lot here but since I do all the driving I have never had an opportunity to get a picture of it.  After a few more minutes I realized they were hauling from the truck to a store across the street.  So I got out my camera and tried to get a picture.  I say tried because the minute I decided that is what I was going to do that other truck went down the street blocking my view, then two men came out and stood behind the car I was parked perpendicular behind, I did not want them to see what I was doing so I had to put the camera down; when they left and I had a good chance a woman walked by and was right in front of my view again.  So the pictures are not good but I got them.  Then I went and picked Bob up at our pick up spot and we drove out of town towards Ocho Rios.

 Here is the other truck that squeezed by.

Here is the woman who got in my way but you can see the man in blue off her right shoulder.

 The man in green is carrying a big bag on his head.   No one minds waiting as they carry their load across the street.  It all works here in Jamaica!

We stopped in Ocho and then in Linstead and made deposits testing our new slips.  Bob was pretty discouraged because they did not work.  Even with instructions clearly highlighted the tellers would not put in the number that identifies the individual participant.  This causes big problems because the Fund gets the money and does not know who to give the credit to.  So when we got home we designed a new one with even bigger and more obvious instructions and a big red arrow.

(I told Ann, as I sat in the car waiting for Bob to come out of the different banks I felt like I was driving a get-away car.)

We got back at 4 and were supposed to meet at the Murdocks at 5:00 so we were going to grab a quick bite when she called and said she had dinner ready for us.  We quickly ate the oatmeal Bob had already prepared and went to their house.  Just as we were starting to eat the Evans called and so Sis Murdock invited them to join us.  It was really fun—we really like the Evans.  What was fun for me is that Sis Evans and I started talking about the Arizona State University Institute back in the early 60s and discovered we knew a lot of the same people and if either of us had been more outgoing back then we may have even known each other but we both were pretty shy back then.  I need to talk to Marie because Sister Evans remembers Pam Sherwood Fuller very well.  This is someone that Marie and Greg have run into on their mission in SLC.  Pam married our good friend Byde Fuller.

Anyway we visited for a long time and then Evans left and we met with the Murdocks about the direction we both are going towards employment.  They are Humanitarian and we are PEF Missionaries but we both are going to be doing more employment sorts of things in the future.  We don’t really know what yet.

We had an orthodontist appointment for Bob the next morning and I had to run out and get a journal for the girl I am meeting with because I promised I would.  So I dropped Bob off and ran to the store.  After I met with Carrie, Bob wanted to try out our new and improved deposit slips so we went to several banks again with me driving the” get-away car”.  At one point I headed the wrong way down a one way street but everyone (two lanes of several cars) waited patiently as I turned around.  I love that about Jamaican drivers!

This deposit slip looks like it is going to work.  Bob waits until everything is completed and then asks if they entered the serial number.  (The one with the big red arrow to it—that was ignored when it had only a small red arrow to it.)  He says they are offended when he asks.  Bob is happy.  He really has worked hard on this issue since we have been here I am glad things are finally looking better.  If we can get this problem solved it will be a very big accomplishment for our mission.

Thursday I called this young man I had promised I would and talked for over an hour about his career and financial plans for his family.  He is a smart young man and very talented but not focused and so has not settled into a good career yet and he has a family of three kids.  I really like him and enjoy talking to him but I worry about him as well—I hope I can help him.  Bob was getting concerned when I was talking so long because we had to drive to Port Antonio—a new destination for us on our own.  

He had every reason to worry.  We somehow got on the wrong road and drove a long way up the mountain before finding someone to tell us we were going the wrong way.  Bob was very upset with his GPS because it could not even tell where we were let alone how to correct our error.  He called the Larsens to borrow their GPS so we had to go all the way back down into town to find them where they were at lunch with the Wrights.  Then we set off again an hour later.  We were leaving early enough to inspect the Elders apartment so we were still in pretty good time.  The road is pretty rough and very windy and narrow—lots of very sharp switch-backs.  The north beach is a very pretty part of the island and the road is lots better than in the central and southern parts of the island.  We met two of the four Elders and went to eat at their favorite place—good barbeque chicken and rice and peas. Then we went to the apartment they share with two other elders.  It is a nice, good sized little house with 2 bedrooms, a large living room and small kitchen.  They have no living room furniture but have strung lines for hanging clothes—very ingenious.   Thankfully this apartment was very clean and orderly so I am able to give a good report.

We drove out beyond the city to see if we could find a hotel to stay in sometime but did not find it so came back for our fireside.  We had a good turn out by about 15 minutes into our presentation.  This is a pretty small branch and we only have about 3 participants there right now but it looks like we may have about 3 more.  After the meeting a lovely woman came up and introduced herself to me.  I liked her immediately.  She is a participant in the Women’s Initiative the Church runs to help women in particular get educated for jobs.  She is a math teacher just finishing up her degree, she also teaches Seminary in the branch. 

By the time we were leaving it was about 7:30 and dark.  Sister Rampasard, the Branch President’s wife told me if someone bumps my car do not stop to investigate just keep driving.  Well that got my attention.  

This is Elder Gill from Toronto and Elder Carter from Utah in front of the Port Antonio Church.

The Port Antonio Chapel.

 The view from the Port Antonio Church.

The road is pretty nice all the way across the top of the island but it is windy and of course very dark most of the time.  I am most concerned about hitting people as they walk along the roadway and that was a concern that night.  Even between the little towns far from any visible civilization there were people walking on the roadway.  There were also several big trucks which could not travel at normal speeds so we would get caught behind them, afraid to pass because we could not see which way the road turned up ahead.  So it was about 2 ½ hours of tense night driving to Ocho Rios.  Fortunately we knew where we were staying  and were able to drive right to it.

 We love this hotel which is right on the beach because this is what we have seen both times we have been here in Ocho Rios.  There are lots of people in town then the ship is in--when it is not it is pretty quiet.

Friday morning we got up and walked down town after breakfast.  Then we came back and sat in the sun for a couple of hours (about an hour too long).  The weather was beautiful, very mild not terribly hot and a nice breeze most of the time.  We went back and changed our clothes and walked back to the main part of town and a man named Jack pointed out a restaurant to eat at. (Fried chicken and rice and peas,)  Somehow I had forgotten we had a fireside that evening so at some point I had to re-gear my thinking and give up the idea I had in my head of relaxing into the evening.  Where in the world was my head??!!

 This is an interesting statue in one of the shopping malls.  This is quite typical of the Jamaican Art.

At about 4:30 Pres Lester (the Branch President in Ochy) called and invited us to come to visit his house.  I have talked about Pres Lester and his house that got burned down and he has not had the money to completely rebuild but that he and his son still live in.  He gave us directions and we took off.  I could not believe I was as comfortable as I was wending our way through the crowded streets in an unfamiliar part of town.  We had to call Pres Lester two or three times to get further directions and we also had to ask several people on the streets but everyone is very helpful and we finally found it.  It is way up in the beautiful vine draped forest on a very rocky unpaved road.  I could see it was a nice little house at one time but the roof is off of two of the main rooms now and he has had to repair part of the roof over the kitchen and the bedroom with used zinc of all sizes.  He says it does not leak in the bedroom but it does in the kitchen.  It was very dark as the windows have no glass and so have boards over them but it was clean and quite orderly.  He and his son are very clean and neat all the time even though they have to heat their water to shower with.  He actually has to buy his water because there is no water nearby and no electricity as far as we could tell.

He raises plants which he sells to companies and offices to decorate with, and he also has a pretty good chicken business both layers and broilers.  There is a stone quarry down the road from him where he also works part time.  We were very impressed with what he has made for his son and himself. They seem quite happy and relatively comfortable.  After our fireside Bob said we would love to take them home but we could not drive over that road in the dark.  The said he would not ask us to do that—so he took his normal mode of transport—a taxi.  I cannot imagine a taxi lasting long traveling that road very often.

Our fireside started about 40 minutes late but we did have a couple of potential participants including a missionary who will be released in June.  We also got to meet a participant who we have not been able to reach by phone.  I actually thought she was avoiding us but now that we have met I hope she won’t in the future.

This morning we walked down town after breakfast and then just came back and packed up and headed home.  The drive from Ocho is hard but it is quite beautiful most of the way.  We were also able to get bananas in one of the Linstead roadside stands.  We really have not had bananas in Kingston since the hurricane in Nov.

It is time for bed now but it is also time for the entertainment to begin down the street at our favorite club so I suspect we will not be going to sleep for quite a while as it sounds like the stereo is in my apartment with the volume turned up to the highest level!  O well this is Jamaica.  We go to Old Harbour tomorrow but that is only about an hour away I think.  Hope the Larsens have the chapel in their GPS (which we still have) because we don’t.