Sunday 9 September 2013
I had better get some things written down before I forget
them. Sundays are pretty much spent
doing our employment fireside. On the 25 of August we were at Constant
Spring. It was fun to be there as that
is where we were originally assigned and so feel a little like home there even
though we have only attended there half a dozen times. Our fireside went well—they sure do work
better having them in the third hour of the meeting block rather than expecting
that people will stay after the block for another meeting. The Branch Presidents have been very gracious
in letting us do this. I don’t feel too
bad about it though because it is a good fireside and has real spiritual and
inspirational elements in it.
That Monday we went down to the car to get Bob to the eye
doctor for a check back and discovered a car that would not start. So we called the man Larsens always took the
mission cars to and he actually made a house call and came and fixed it—after
he had to go out and buy a battery leaving us pretty much stranded the whole
day. We worked on our training material
for our replacements.
We stopped by the office before leaving town and were able to visit a few minutes with these new missionaries who just arrived from the MTC in DR. Sister Patchrina Hudson on the left was the RS president in the Junction Branch, Sherida Lafayette was in our branch and a live wire leader of the youth, especially in performing. Sister Llewellyn taught RS the first time we visited Ocho Rios. Sisters Hudson and Lafayette were assigned "off island" in Nassau--pretty exciting for girls who have not even been anywhere in Jamaica! All three are 19 I think.
Thursday we drove to White House a town on the way to Savanna La Mar. That is where the Girl’s Camp was held. They invited us to speak at camp—I expected an outdoor situation with lots of mostly young girls. I expected that they might have trouble hearing us. I guess I expected what I was accustomed to at girl’s camp at home—and it wasn't anything like that! They told us to call when we got to the shacks where they sold fish. Well we didn't exactly recognize the right shacks but we called and Pres Blake tried to talk us in. We had to turn around twice but finally they said someone would be on this certain road to meet us so we went back to the first place we tried and there was a young man sitting on a log—fortunately he recognized us! So he took us to the “camp”—which was very confusing as we were in a residential area. I was a little taken aback when we pulled into the yard of a good sized house and were met by several young men and lots of little children and a few young women. There were actually more young women but some of them had to go back to Sav (about 20 rough miles away) to register for school. So Sister Robinson rather unceremoniously gathered the remaining girls together in what was the front room of the house where they sat on the floor and brought us chairs to sit on (thankfully!) After a song they sang to us accompanied by recorded music and a prayer Sister Robinson turned to us and said “Okay you can go now.” We talked to about 10 young women from ages 15-18 and three leaders (one of whom slept on the floor beside us and another two were in and out the whole time.) We talked on their theme for this year: “Stand in Holy Places”
After we spoke we answered a few questions. Even in light of our more spiritual talks Sister Robinson sort of guided them to questions regarding employment. One that generated quite a bit of discussion was about young women getting an education or being stay at home moms. At least that was the discussion—I can’t remember the question. Then one of the girls gave us a formal thank you speech and another girl with another rather formal speech presented us with a picture of all of them taken at the first of the week. It was a very nice experience. When we left we took three of the leaders back into Sav. One was the Montego Bay Branch President’s wife. She needed to catch the bus back home, the other two, a young man and a young woman needed to get to Western Union to get some money. (I did not realize until later that this money was probably coming from family abroad—one of the biggest sources of national income for Jamaica.)
Girl's Camp, Sister Robinson, the YW President in on the far right.
These girls are from different Branches but Girl's Camp always brings girls together.
A group picture before we left girl's camp.
The picture they gave us. We love it.
It was raining one of Jamaica’s quick down-pours as we drove
a section of some of Jamaica’s worst roads.
But even as we drove I was glad we were taking these people and that
they were not having to wait for a taxi or having to even ride in a taxi in
these conditions—not that they aren't very used to it and were not even giving
it a thought.
When we dropped them off at the bus station (where the other
two were going to have to catch a taxi back to the camp) we drove on to Negril
where we checked into a very nice hotel, The Grand Lido, for a couple of
nights. This was arranged by Sister
Blake, a PEF participant and the wife of the Sav Branch President, who is the
head of housekeeping at the hotel. It is
a beautiful old hotel and it was very nice to see Sister Blake again, and we
were treated very well, but the first night our room turned into an old broken
refrigerator. The air conditioning was
turned so low and we were still freezing, so we turned it up and eventually off because it
was not getting any warmer. It ended up
raining in the evening so I am sure that added to it also, but our room
eventually became WET. The mirrors were
totally fogged with condensation, the tile floors were slippery wet, and the
walls were so wet that it made the roll of toilet tissue wet as it touched the
wall. It was miserable. When we told them about it they were a little
less friendly but very quick to move us into another room. They implied that happened because we turned
the AC off but I am not convinced—I think the AC unit was not working properly
because we turn off our AC all the time in our apartment.
The Grand Lido Hotel in Negril
Just after the rain storm.
This is a new look at missionary life!
The Hobie Cat we took out and the bay we learned in.
Anyway we did not let this ruin our stay. We did something Bob said he has always
wanted to do and that was learn to sail a Hobie Cat—a small catamaran. I have never before heard Bob say he wanted
to learn to sail a Hobie Cat—just goes to show some of the secrets men keep
from their wives! A young man took us
out into the bay for a few minutes then brought us back in and sent us out on
our own. We did pretty well though I was
not the least confident and I did not feel Bob was either but we did not feel
unsafe because the bay was pretty small and the waters pretty calm. We really enjoyed it and looked forward to
doing it again but were not able to the next day because of time.
So while Rob and Andrea were getting married and their
families were all enjoying their day, we were driving from Negril to Kingston
across the North Highway. We had a
Fireside in Spanish Town the next day.
That Sunday was very busy.
We did our fireside in the Spanish Town 2 branch during their Priesthood
and Relief Society time, then we met with Audrey Simpson and Paula Steele, our
Church Service Missionaries taking over PEF, during Sunday School for
the first branch; then we moved into the chapel and did our fireside again for
the first branch. If that wasn't enough
we went home for a couple of hours to have dinner as it was Fast Sunday, and
turned around and went back to meet with these two sisters again at Sister
Simpson’s house. We were very tired but
also very impressed and happy about these two women. They will be very good. They pick up very quickly and they are not at
all hesitant on the phone.
Monday Bob had a Dentist appointment and we went to the
office where we told Pres Brown of our need for phones for our Church Service
Missionaries. He was a little less than
gracious about telling us no and that we would have to talk to the new
Self-Reliance Director for the Area. We
were hurt and a little upset by his manner so we spent the next few days trying
to work that out. But we now better
understand the new direction of PEF/Self-Reliance. We immediately contacted the Area
Self-Reliance director and soon got authorization to buy one phone. (We will need to get another asap. Phones are a big deal here as people pre-pay for minutes/credits and they are very precious to them. That is why they often text or call and ask us to call them back.)
In the meantime we drove back and forth to Spanish Town to
further train and allow these women to make the necessary phone calls using our phone. It is not terrible (about half an hour)—people
here do it all the time—but I am not crazy about driving at night because there
are so many pedestrians and I really do pray to get through this mission
without killing one of them.
Tuesday, we drove to Spanish Town to have lunch with one of
our PEF Participants, Krishna, with whom I have established a nice
relationship. It was so fun to meet her,
she has a very sweet personality and gentle manner. After pizza (the only eating places we know
in Spanish Town) we drove her home and she took us in to meet her mother and
niece. Mother has the same sweet gentle
manner. She has shared some of her
struggles with me so this was a very special experience.
Thursday Bob had an orthodontist appointment and then we met
with Pres Britton for a few minutes about some new PEF loan applications then
we took off for Montego Bay for a planned vacation at the Rose Hall
Resort. We had a fireside scheduled in
Savlamar that Sunday so we just took in a couple of days at Rose Hall before
we go home. This is a very nice
all-inclusive place (we stayed here when Steve and Regina came in April). Friday we went out on a Hobie Cat on much
rougher water and a much bigger bay. I
think we were both a little nervous for the first few minutes then we settled
into how things worked and really enjoyed it—they had to signal us to come in
as we stayed out so long. Then we went up
and got a non-alcoholic pina colata and floated on inner tubes around their nice
lazy “river”. Then we got our Kindles
and sat by the pool until a threatening rain storm sent us to our room where we
just lazed around until it was time to eat again. Saturday was a repeat of Friday. We really enjoyed the Hobie Cat, the lazy
river and water slide, and the lounge by the pool. This time we did not let the rain send us
inside, we just shared the umbrella of the life guard and stuck it out—it was
not at all bad nor was it cold as other rainy situations you might find
yourself in. Instead of Jerk Chicken and
Festival for lunch/snack this day we had French fries—we did not want to spoil
our appetite for dinner.
This view from our room of the water and the golf course just about convinced Bob he was ready to go home!
This picture does not do this scene justice by any means. This was from our window in the evening and it was really gorgeous!
We haven't seen many steel drums while in Jamaica but this evening made up for it. This "orchestra" was great and boy could they dance while playing those drums!
We got a little rain and wind in the afternoon sitting by the pool but it was still beautiful!
Rose Hall Resort, lovely!
It was a very nice couple of days vacation and we did
accomplish a few things for work while we were there. We had lots of opportunities
to talk about the Church and what we are doing in Jamaica. People are very interested in what we are
doing and I think impressed with the Church as a result.
Sunday we got up a little early and drove a new road through
the end of the island instead of around the end, as we have done in the past,
to Savanna La Mar. We really liked this
new route. It is quite similar to the
road between Ocho Rios and Linstead which we really like. This was our second to the last employment
fireside. Savlamar of course is filled
with a lot of our favorite people so it was really fun to be there and see so
many of them. Sister Robinson, the YW
President who invited us to Girl’s Camp and her husband who is a councilor in
the branch presidency were the speakers.
It was a very good meeting.
Sunday School was also quite good.
Something new: The teacher, in a very
soft voice at the beginning of the class when I was not even sure everyone was
ready to start, announced “there is no talking in my class unless you say it
for the whole class.”—And there wasn't!!
I was astounded—this is not Jamaica! Interestingly though she did
several other things very different from anything else we have seen here—or at
home. She started the class with a hymn,
prayer, and scripture reading. Then
everyone in the class read in unison the purpose of the lesson which she had
written on the chalk board. Maybe this
is the kind of discipline that is needed here.
(The reading was done “on two” which is how they begin singing when
there is no keyboard or piano. It means,
without even a pitch, everyone starts singing after the count of 1, 2. Surprisingly it doesn't take them long to
come to the same (or similar) key for singing.)
Our fireside went really well. We both were really keyed into the people
present and to the Spirit. The Branch
President was not only there to listen but gave very supportive encouragement
to the people after we finished. Only
one other branch president has been as supportive, which is a shame because the
branch president is the key for making the concepts we are teaching work. When we were saying goodbye to Sister Blake
she asked if she could have a copy of our presentation to modify and use with
her staff at the Grand Lido, where she is the head of housekeeping, as I
mentioned earlier.
In addition it was very gratifying to receive a phone call
on Monday morning from a man in that branch who called to ask if we could send
a copy of our presentation to his wife.
Soon after sending it we received a thank you email from her saying she
was considering quitting her job until she heard our presentation and now she
not only feels better about her own job but wants to use the presentation to
help her co-workers.
Monday we spent quite a while getting the phone for our CSMs and then just before going to our PEF meeting I got a phone call from one of my PEF friends in Sav telling me about how her court appearance with the father of her children went. He wanted proof that the children were his, which he got. Fortunately he was very repentant and asked her forgiveness and told the judge he intended to provide child support. So that turned out well for her and she called to tell me about that and her personal struggle with breaking up with another man she was briefly engaged to and hoped to be sealed to in the temple. We were almost late for our PEF meeting but I could not—would not-- cut her off.
Our PEF meeting was shorter than usual which was good as we
had to get to the mission home for dinner and FHE with the Browns. After dinner the Pearsons taught a lesson for
the children about Abinadi and Alma using popcorn to represent the 450 people
who were baptized in the Waters of Mormon.
Everyone enjoyed the lesson—even the kids. The “lesson” for the adults was a spotlight
for Bob and me as they went around the room telling us goodbye and saying nice
things to us. Bob is greatly admired
because of his age and all he still is very capable of doing. The only
impression I have made is that I am the only senior sister who drives a car
here. O well I am glad I can be good at
something.
I learned later that the popcorn people sprouted in the baptismal water after a couple of days so Johnathan planted them in a planter outside. I hope some will come up.
Everyone was very interested to see what was going to become of those "people" and the dish of water.
Sister Pugmire and Gabrielle Brown, now age 13.
Yesterday we worked really hard trying to finish up some loose
ends and then at 3:30 we picked up Sister Simpson from her work and drove to
Sister Steele’s to get her and went to Sister Simpson’s and worked until about
7:30. When we got home around 9:00 I fried eggs for supper and even though we
were very tired we worked until about 11:00 before dragging ourselves to bed.
I woke at 4:30 this morning worrying about all that needs to
be done to prepare to leave so. I
finished this post because I am quite sure I will not have time to post again
before leaving Jamaica. So the plans are
we will pick Sister Simpson up at 3:30 again today and work with her
alone. Then work with Sister Steele
probably tomorrow because of new time constraints on her time. (Her single-mother sister she lives with is
going to NY to be a nanny and earn a little money, leaving Sister Steele here
with her three kids. This will really
change things for Sister Steele’s ability to serve as a Church Service
Missionary.)
Bob just informed me we have to meet with someone we had not
planned on—so plans have changed. It is
a good thing Senior Missionaries are flexible!
