amily and friends,
We hope that you all had a joyful Christmas with those you love. We
had a very good week here in St. Vincent.
It was a little quieter than usual because everyone was busy with
their preparations for Christmas. We had a wonderful visit with an
inactive sister whom we met right after we arrived and she came a few
times and we haven't seen her lately. She was very receptive to us
most gracious. We hope that she will become more active and we will
continue to visit her. We continue to teach Yinca with Elders, Gilley
and White. When she has read the Book of Mormon the lessons go very
well and when she has not it is very evident that she hasn't done her
part. We also were successful, finally, in getting our passports
renewed. We were able to renew ours until September but we will have
to continue to renew the Elders every 3 months.
Christmas day was very busy. We started by having breakfast at the
Toubierre's and Cupid's for breakfast and celebrating the Cupid's
anniversary. The four Calliaqua missionaries and us were a part of
that celebration. At 10:30 we met the four Kingstown Elders and all
ten of us visited a nursing home and visited with the residents and
sang carols. It was the highlight of the day, to have them join us in
singing the carols and watch their faces light up and the smiles come.
We were invited to Sister Samuel's home for dinner. They live on
the far side of the island and it is a beautiful drive. We stopped
and spent some time on a beach which was a nice rest. Sister Samuel
has been a member for about 25 years and she and her husband retired
to St. Vincent from England 3 years ago. Their home is lovely and the
dinner was five star with china and crystal table setting and the
works. We finished the day at our apartment with all of us and the
Elders making and receiving their phone calls from home. A tender
time for all of us. On December 26 we had a wonderful time talking to
our family on Skype. It was fun to hear about their Christmases and
to see how much our grandchildren have grown since we left five months
ago. We love them all so much and are so grateful for our family. We
have so many blessings!!!
The branch president in Calliaqua has gone to the States to visit his
family for Christmas and will be gone until the end of January. His
wife lives in New York and has been there the last four years. There
are many interesting family arrangements here. A few months ago,
after a baptism at the beach, we met a couple going to the beach who
visited with one of the Elders. It was no coincidence. He had been
baptized in 1994 and had gone to Canada. He had not been active for
years. He has been coming ever since and was ordained an elder a
month ago and is now serving as first counselor in the branch
presidency. He has a lot to learn and is so willing. Elder Wheeler is
in a shadow leadership role and is constantly coaching Bro. Nichols.
It is a sweet opportunity as well as being an adventure. There are a
handful that we know will be at church and will fulfill their
assignments. One Sunday, we started the sacrament and after the bread
had been passed, they uncovered the water to bless it and there was no
water in the sacrament cups. So, everything stopped and they went to
the kitchen to get the water. We have new members who seem to have
strong testimonies until they have to do their part and then we don't
see them anymore. There are so many here who are less active. As
long as the gospel was being brought to them they loved it and then
when it was time for them to come to the gospel, they just quit.
Their tradition is to go to church whenever they want and listen to a
preacher and then go home. The church is new here and they are first
generation Mormons; so lots of change in habits is required. The
focus from our mission president is to have them read from the Book of
Mormon every day. After prayer and meeting with zone leaders he has
increased the requirements for baptism with faith that we will be
baptizing people after they are truly converted and ready to commit to
being truly active.
We love you all and hope that 2010 is especially kind to you!!!
Much love
Elder and Sister Wheeler
Elda and Sista Wheela (they don't say their r's here)
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Thursday, December 31, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
December 20 2009
It is fun to see the different traditions for Christmas here in St.
Vincent and in the Caribbean. One of the most interesting is that
they stay up all night if necessary on Christmas Eve and deep clean
and redecorate their homes. They change the covers on the cushions of
their sofas and put up new curtains etc. Sounds crazy to add that to
the Christmas busy but it is tradition here. It will be interesting
to watch as the family that we are spending Christmas morning with
will have been up all night!!
We have had lots of changes in the last week. One of them is that the
mission has made a new zone. We have had the Island zone which
included the islands of St. Vincent, Granada, St. Lucia and St.
Martin. Now St. Vincent and Granada is a zone and St. Lucia and St.
Martin is another zone. We will be hosting the conference here in St.
Vincent and will no longer be going to St. Lucia for zone conferences.
That means that we will be responsible for accommodations, food, and
facilities for the conference. It also has made renewing our visas at
immigration necessary. When we went to St. Lucia, we would get our
passports stamped with a visa stamp which was an automatic renewal of
the passport. Now we will be renewing them here at immigration every
30 days. We have had quite a time meeting all the immigration
requirements this week for 5 of us whose 30 days were up. They have
added more requirements than were required the last time it was
necessary for it to be done. Hopefully we have it down now and will
be able to do it easily.
It has been difficult to get in the mood of Christmas being in a
strange land with different customs and climate. What a difference a
year makes. Last year we were snowed in, just the two of us; family
was finally able to make it for Christmas dinner the next day. This
year the temp. is about 90 degrees, which is a little cooler, with
beautiful flowers and greenery everywhere. But with all the changes,
the reason for the season is the same. We are so grateful for God's
gift of His Son, His Son's gift of His life. We miss our family and
we are so grateful for the updates about what is happening in our
children's and grandchildren's lives. We are grateful for wonderful
friends who bless our lives with their influence and friendship.
Everyday we have new experiences that make it all worth it! We are
so grateful for good health and circumstances that allow us to serve.
We are experiencing growth in our testimonies, our love of the
Caribbean people and especially our love for each other. We have
loved the messages on the Church web-site. Pres. Monson's message
says, "All we have to do is drop the last syllable of the phrase "The
Spirit of Christmas" and it becomes "The Spirit of Christ". We wish
you all a wonderful Christmas.
Much Christmas love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
Montreal Garden photo.jpg
Vincent and in the Caribbean. One of the most interesting is that
they stay up all night if necessary on Christmas Eve and deep clean
and redecorate their homes. They change the covers on the cushions of
their sofas and put up new curtains etc. Sounds crazy to add that to
the Christmas busy but it is tradition here. It will be interesting
to watch as the family that we are spending Christmas morning with
will have been up all night!!
We have had lots of changes in the last week. One of them is that the
mission has made a new zone. We have had the Island zone which
included the islands of St. Vincent, Granada, St. Lucia and St.
Martin. Now St. Vincent and Granada is a zone and St. Lucia and St.
Martin is another zone. We will be hosting the conference here in St.
Vincent and will no longer be going to St. Lucia for zone conferences.
That means that we will be responsible for accommodations, food, and
facilities for the conference. It also has made renewing our visas at
immigration necessary. When we went to St. Lucia, we would get our
passports stamped with a visa stamp which was an automatic renewal of
the passport. Now we will be renewing them here at immigration every
30 days. We have had quite a time meeting all the immigration
requirements this week for 5 of us whose 30 days were up. They have
added more requirements than were required the last time it was
necessary for it to be done. Hopefully we have it down now and will
be able to do it easily.
It has been difficult to get in the mood of Christmas being in a
strange land with different customs and climate. What a difference a
year makes. Last year we were snowed in, just the two of us; family
was finally able to make it for Christmas dinner the next day. This
year the temp. is about 90 degrees, which is a little cooler, with
beautiful flowers and greenery everywhere. But with all the changes,
the reason for the season is the same. We are so grateful for God's
gift of His Son, His Son's gift of His life. We miss our family and
we are so grateful for the updates about what is happening in our
children's and grandchildren's lives. We are grateful for wonderful
friends who bless our lives with their influence and friendship.
Everyday we have new experiences that make it all worth it! We are
so grateful for good health and circumstances that allow us to serve.
We are experiencing growth in our testimonies, our love of the
Caribbean people and especially our love for each other. We have
loved the messages on the Church web-site. Pres. Monson's message
says, "All we have to do is drop the last syllable of the phrase "The
Spirit of Christmas" and it becomes "The Spirit of Christ". We wish
you all a wonderful Christmas.
Much Christmas love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
Montreal Garden photo.jpg
Sunday, December 13, 2009
December 13 ,2009 (the real one)
Dear Family and Friends,
Another week and Christmas is close! We had all four missionaries
serving in the Calliaqua branch speak in Sacrament meeting today. It
was a great meeting and the spirit was very strong. They all spoke
about the mission of the Savior and about his birth, all very
different and all very good.
We have had an exciting week with these young Elders this past week.
Last Monday, all the elders were in the red Toyota when Elder Damm,
who was driving, rear ended another car. They had been doing their
usual thing for Monday morning and had broken the basketball hoop at
the Kingstown church and were headed to Calliaqua to use another
basketball court. Not a fun day for anyone. Luckily accidents
usually do not involve injuries as it is hard to get a lot of speed
with all the curves and hills etc. An accident report was required
and all that goes with it and once an Elder has had an accident he can
no longer drive. Elder Damm was scheduled to be a zone leader in
Trinidad for the transfer that was to occur on Wednesday so
assignments had to be rearranged. There were 4 Elders scheduled to
leave St. Vincent and 4 new ones coming in on Wednesday. Besides the
transfers, a Zone Council was to be held on Thursday and Friday with
all the new zone leaders attending from throughout the mission. We
had 3 Elders from here who flew in the evening on Wednesday and Elder
Damm was one of them. As they were going through immigration at the
Trinidad airport, Elder Damm was unfortunate enough to get an agent
who would not let him through even though his papers were the same as
Elder Huntsman's had been who flew into Trinidad that morning. Elder
Myers from the mission office and Bishop Ailleen could not talk this
agent out of the trouble he wanted to cause. So, Elder Damm was taken
to a hotel with an armed guard to spend the night. To satisfy
immigration requirements, whenever we fly we all have an open ended
ticket which means that it shows a return flight somewhere (indicating
that we are not there to stay) and then that ticket is cancelled
later. Elder Damm's open end was to JFK in New York City. They put
him on a plane and off he went to New York Thursday morning. The
mission office went right to work and he flew from New York to Miami
and then on to the Dominican Republic that day. A branch of the MTC
is there and he spent the night with new Elders who will be serving
here in the Caribbean. On Friday, he flew to Puerto Rico and then on
to St. Vincent. What an adventure and what an unbelievable set of
circumstances. So, he is now safe here in St. Vincent until President
Gamiette decides where he will serve. He no longer has the option of
Trinidad or Guyana as he has been red-stamped in both countries.
Elder Wheeler and I have been sighing from relief that we were not
serving in the mission office for this one.
Elder Damm 's armed guard on Wednesday night was a very nice man and
Elder Damm and others from the Church made an impression that planted
seeds. It would great fun to know what happens with this man and his
family. Everything happens for a reason and difficult times often
result in sweet fruit.
The Kingstown branch has an activity every other Friday night and the
youth of the branch were responsible for this one. They are so
talented; they sang, danced and recited poetry and ended with a
devotional which was very well done. It is obvious that Seminary is
making a difference here already. The Area Authorities are
emphasizing the importance of Seminary and Institute in the growth and
stability of the Church here. Reading the Book of Mormon is crucial
to all of us if we want to have our testimonies grow and hold on to
the Iron Rod which will bring us happiness and eternal life.
All nine Elders will be here later for birthday cake and ice cream
(Elder Wheeler's birthday). We will be arranging eleven flights to
St. Lucia in the morning for the Island zone conference on Wednesday
and Thursday this week. There is never a dull minute.
We love you all and hope that all is well with you all as you prepare
for Christmas! We wish you all a joyful Christmas season with your
families.
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
Another week and Christmas is close! We had all four missionaries
serving in the Calliaqua branch speak in Sacrament meeting today. It
was a great meeting and the spirit was very strong. They all spoke
about the mission of the Savior and about his birth, all very
different and all very good.
We have had an exciting week with these young Elders this past week.
Last Monday, all the elders were in the red Toyota when Elder Damm,
who was driving, rear ended another car. They had been doing their
usual thing for Monday morning and had broken the basketball hoop at
the Kingstown church and were headed to Calliaqua to use another
basketball court. Not a fun day for anyone. Luckily accidents
usually do not involve injuries as it is hard to get a lot of speed
with all the curves and hills etc. An accident report was required
and all that goes with it and once an Elder has had an accident he can
no longer drive. Elder Damm was scheduled to be a zone leader in
Trinidad for the transfer that was to occur on Wednesday so
assignments had to be rearranged. There were 4 Elders scheduled to
leave St. Vincent and 4 new ones coming in on Wednesday. Besides the
transfers, a Zone Council was to be held on Thursday and Friday with
all the new zone leaders attending from throughout the mission. We
had 3 Elders from here who flew in the evening on Wednesday and Elder
Damm was one of them. As they were going through immigration at the
Trinidad airport, Elder Damm was unfortunate enough to get an agent
who would not let him through even though his papers were the same as
Elder Huntsman's had been who flew into Trinidad that morning. Elder
Myers from the mission office and Bishop Ailleen could not talk this
agent out of the trouble he wanted to cause. So, Elder Damm was taken
to a hotel with an armed guard to spend the night. To satisfy
immigration requirements, whenever we fly we all have an open ended
ticket which means that it shows a return flight somewhere (indicating
that we are not there to stay) and then that ticket is cancelled
later. Elder Damm's open end was to JFK in New York City. They put
him on a plane and off he went to New York Thursday morning. The
mission office went right to work and he flew from New York to Miami
and then on to the Dominican Republic that day. A branch of the MTC
is there and he spent the night with new Elders who will be serving
here in the Caribbean. On Friday, he flew to Puerto Rico and then on
to St. Vincent. What an adventure and what an unbelievable set of
circumstances. So, he is now safe here in St. Vincent until President
Gamiette decides where he will serve. He no longer has the option of
Trinidad or Guyana as he has been red-stamped in both countries.
Elder Wheeler and I have been sighing from relief that we were not
serving in the mission office for this one.
Elder Damm 's armed guard on Wednesday night was a very nice man and
Elder Damm and others from the Church made an impression that planted
seeds. It would great fun to know what happens with this man and his
family. Everything happens for a reason and difficult times often
result in sweet fruit.
The Kingstown branch has an activity every other Friday night and the
youth of the branch were responsible for this one. They are so
talented; they sang, danced and recited poetry and ended with a
devotional which was very well done. It is obvious that Seminary is
making a difference here already. The Area Authorities are
emphasizing the importance of Seminary and Institute in the growth and
stability of the Church here. Reading the Book of Mormon is crucial
to all of us if we want to have our testimonies grow and hold on to
the Iron Rod which will bring us happiness and eternal life.
All nine Elders will be here later for birthday cake and ice cream
(Elder Wheeler's birthday). We will be arranging eleven flights to
St. Lucia in the morning for the Island zone conference on Wednesday
and Thursday this week. There is never a dull minute.
We love you all and hope that all is well with you all as you prepare
for Christmas! We wish you all a joyful Christmas season with your
families.
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
November 28,2009
November 28, 2009
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James Wheeler
to Alyssa, Austin, Bobbi, Brenda&Justin, Brittney, Caleb, cass&mindy, Cheryl, Chris, Debbie, Don, Emily, Ferrall, Gary, Heather, Jane&Rick, John, John, Katharine, Kathy, Kory, Kylie, Megan, Mitchel, Neil, Neil&Carla
show details Nov 30 (13 days ago)
Dear family and friends,
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with the Elders and we hope that all of you at home did also. It is a great tradition and holiday to be grateful for our blessings and we have an abundance of them. We loved what was on the Church's website of interviews with people in New York City asking them what they were thankful for. It comes back to love of family and faith in God. Good stuff!!!
The Elders left our apartment about 3 p.m. to go back to work. Elders Huntsman and Ackerman returned to their apartment and found that they had been robbed for the second time in a week. We did not feel good about their safety at that point and have been looking for another apartment for them. They have been staying with the zone leaders at night until today. We found a very nice and secure apartment for them with great access to the area that they are working in. They will not have to walk as far and they will be living next door to the landlord who asked us today, when we signed the lease etc., if we thought they ( the Elders) would convert him and his wife. Good thought. It is amazing that when hard things come to us that if we endure it well it turns out to be a blessing.
Several weeks ago we told everyone about a man (Anthony Nichols) and his wife that were arriving at the beach where we had just held a baptism service. He told us that he had joined the Church several years ago in Toronto and had not been active for years. He has been coming to Church faithfully since then. We have been given strong counsel to call the local people and that we (missionaries) should not be doing things that they could. So, Sunday Elder Wheeler released himself as first counselor in the Calliaqua branch and Anthony Nichols was sustained as the first counselor. The blessings that we are seeing here are so exciting. Several other members were sustained in callings that will bless them so much as they stretch to magnify their callings. We spent most of the day Saturday supporting those who have been called to teach Seminary and Institute in Calliaqua. The Book of Mormon is the converter when read, pondered and prayed about and the vision is that as the youth's testimonies are strengthened the future of the Church in the Caribbean is bright.
We also attended the funeral of Shonette Charles. (I have been spelling her name wrong.) She is the young woman who has been so sick with stomach cancer. Her sister Iteca is a member in the Kingstown branch. The service was held in the Anglican Church and was very respectful. However, it would have been so comforting for the family if they had heard the plan of salvation; death is devastating without this "good news". It was also hard for us because we are used to feeling the spirit at such services and it didn't happen. Everyday we see examples of how much our lives are blessed with the gospel, makes us more bold in asking people good questions that make them think about what they really believe.
We think of everyone at home often and hope that all is well with you. Please read the Book of Mormon everyday. It blesses all who will do this faithfully so much! Till next week...
- Show quoted text -
Inbox X
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James Wheeler
to Alyssa, Austin, Bobbi, Brenda&Justin, Brittney, Caleb, cass&mindy, Cheryl, Chris, Debbie, Don, Emily, Ferrall, Gary, Heather, Jane&Rick, John, John, Katharine, Kathy, Kory, Kylie, Megan, Mitchel, Neil, Neil&Carla
show details Nov 30 (13 days ago)
Dear family and friends,
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with the Elders and we hope that all of you at home did also. It is a great tradition and holiday to be grateful for our blessings and we have an abundance of them. We loved what was on the Church's website of interviews with people in New York City asking them what they were thankful for. It comes back to love of family and faith in God. Good stuff!!!
The Elders left our apartment about 3 p.m. to go back to work. Elders Huntsman and Ackerman returned to their apartment and found that they had been robbed for the second time in a week. We did not feel good about their safety at that point and have been looking for another apartment for them. They have been staying with the zone leaders at night until today. We found a very nice and secure apartment for them with great access to the area that they are working in. They will not have to walk as far and they will be living next door to the landlord who asked us today, when we signed the lease etc., if we thought they ( the Elders) would convert him and his wife. Good thought. It is amazing that when hard things come to us that if we endure it well it turns out to be a blessing.
Several weeks ago we told everyone about a man (Anthony Nichols) and his wife that were arriving at the beach where we had just held a baptism service. He told us that he had joined the Church several years ago in Toronto and had not been active for years. He has been coming to Church faithfully since then. We have been given strong counsel to call the local people and that we (missionaries) should not be doing things that they could. So, Sunday Elder Wheeler released himself as first counselor in the Calliaqua branch and Anthony Nichols was sustained as the first counselor. The blessings that we are seeing here are so exciting. Several other members were sustained in callings that will bless them so much as they stretch to magnify their callings. We spent most of the day Saturday supporting those who have been called to teach Seminary and Institute in Calliaqua. The Book of Mormon is the converter when read, pondered and prayed about and the vision is that as the youth's testimonies are strengthened the future of the Church in the Caribbean is bright.
We also attended the funeral of Shonette Charles. (I have been spelling her name wrong.) She is the young woman who has been so sick with stomach cancer. Her sister Iteca is a member in the Kingstown branch. The service was held in the Anglican Church and was very respectful. However, it would have been so comforting for the family if they had heard the plan of salvation; death is devastating without this "good news". It was also hard for us because we are used to feeling the spirit at such services and it didn't happen. Everyday we see examples of how much our lives are blessed with the gospel, makes us more bold in asking people good questions that make them think about what they really believe.
We think of everyone at home often and hope that all is well with you. Please read the Book of Mormon everyday. It blesses all who will do this faithfully so much! Till next week...
- Show quoted text -
December 13,2009
We have found ourselves thinking a lot about home and the Christmas
season; this will be my first Christmas ever away from home.
Gratefully, we are staying very busy. We hope that all of you are
enjoying this joyful season of the year and making traditions that
focus on the birth of the Savior. Someone who proceeded us left a
nativity scene which is helping us celebrate the season.
On Monday of this week. we found an apartment for the Elders in
Kingstown that will be much more secure than where they were. We have
found out that the other apartment had been robbed once before so we
are glad to find one that we feel more comfortable about. It is close
to downtown and will be closer to the area they are working in and
will mean less walking for them. It is on the third floor and has
four patios with breathtaking views. The Kingstown chapel can be seen
from there. It would be a great apartment for a senior couple in the
future. Are any of you thinking about that possibility?
We also have been teaching with Calliaqua 2 Elders and they have two
fun young ladies. One was taught by a young man two years ago before
he went on a mission and he will return on Thursday. The other is
Domanick's sister who is working for the prime minister and plans
social events. It will be interesting to see what happens.
We had a transfer (going away) dinner here on Sunday night. Transfers
will happen this week and we will lose 4 of our eight to somewhere
else and receive 4 more. Busy, busy week in the mission office in
Trinidad, glad to be here!!!
We have just been listening to the family downstairs sing Jingle Bells
as we watch the palm trees sway out our patio doors. We love you all
so much and hope all is well on the home front!!!
Much love to all,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
season; this will be my first Christmas ever away from home.
Gratefully, we are staying very busy. We hope that all of you are
enjoying this joyful season of the year and making traditions that
focus on the birth of the Savior. Someone who proceeded us left a
nativity scene which is helping us celebrate the season.
On Monday of this week. we found an apartment for the Elders in
Kingstown that will be much more secure than where they were. We have
found out that the other apartment had been robbed once before so we
are glad to find one that we feel more comfortable about. It is close
to downtown and will be closer to the area they are working in and
will mean less walking for them. It is on the third floor and has
four patios with breathtaking views. The Kingstown chapel can be seen
from there. It would be a great apartment for a senior couple in the
future. Are any of you thinking about that possibility?
We also have been teaching with Calliaqua 2 Elders and they have two
fun young ladies. One was taught by a young man two years ago before
he went on a mission and he will return on Thursday. The other is
Domanick's sister who is working for the prime minister and plans
social events. It will be interesting to see what happens.
We had a transfer (going away) dinner here on Sunday night. Transfers
will happen this week and we will lose 4 of our eight to somewhere
else and receive 4 more. Busy, busy week in the mission office in
Trinidad, glad to be here!!!
We have just been listening to the family downstairs sing Jingle Bells
as we watch the palm trees sway out our patio doors. We love you all
so much and hope all is well on the home front!!!
Much love to all,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
Monday, November 23, 2009
November 23, 2009
,
We are thinking of all of you with grateful hearts; Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time to count our blessings. We love what is on the Church's website as they interview people on the streets of New York City. We also love the example the Bednar family set by offering prayers of gratitude only when there was a death in their ward and a visiting general authority, who asked them to offer such prayers, was visiting in their home. We are so grateful to be citizens of the United States and to have the fullness of the Gospel to guide us and help us be happy. May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
We have a very interesting week. We had Zone Conference in St. Lucia and their were 10 of us who went from St. Vincent. We have learned that it is a good time for the senior couples to spent some time at the beach and at the resort where we stay while Pres. Gamiette interviews all the elders. Pres. Gamiette brought his wife and three of their youngest children with them which made it fun for everyone. We had a great time for a few hours on Tuesday afternoon in the ocean and at the beach. The next day was full with meetings and preparing lunch, cleaning up and getting to the airport in time for our flight back to St. Vincent. Pres. Gamiette presented a plan for the mission to adopt which will help new members and less actives. It is called the 40 day plan. We track those with whom we are working for 40 days as to what we are teaching them and with whom and if they are reading the Book of Mormon, attending meetings, paying tithing, having family prayer, personal prayer and keeping the commandments. We feel that it is inspired and will help so much with the retention here in the Caribbean.
We also have had quite a week at the hospital. On Friday Shanet Charles passed away after a terrible fight with cancer. We have talked about her before and we know that she is in wonderful circumstances now. We hope that she will have the blessing of being taught the gospel there. She had just begun to hear the gospel here and had felt the power of the priesthood through blessings. The same day, Morel had a baby boy which they named Delroy. We love this family so much. They were the first non-members we met when we arrived here in St. Vincent. They have finally resolved Wilson's (father of Morel's children) paperwork and will be able to start the paperwork for their marriage license so they can be married and baptized. That will be such a wonderful day for all of us. Then there will be three members in that family, Wilson, Morel, and Delano 9 yrs. old.
On Saturday was another great day in the Kingstown branch. Brother Providence has been a member of the Church for 10 years and his wife has never joined. The member thought that it would never happen. Well, Elders Huntsman and Ackerman taught her and she accepted baptism. It was a beautiful sight to see Bro.
and Sis. Providence in baptismal white with their family. They are acting like newly weds and looking forward to going to the temple to receive their endowments and be sealed as a family.
We had a great Sunday in the Calliaqua branch and spent the afternoon and evening visiting and teaching new members, investigators and less active members. Got to love 'em!!!
We also have settled back into a routine here after thinking (off and on for the last month) that we would be transferred to the mission office in Trinidad. We are feeling much more relaxed as it would have been a huge challenge to learn the technology and all the ins and outs of dealing with so many countries. There are three languages, 5 currencies and I'm not sure how many different governments making the West Indies Mission one of the most complex in the world. It was quite a miracle as a couple came into the picture who wanted to serve an office mission for the full 18 months and are "computer experts". I am so grateful for miracles. We will also be having several senior couples going home the first several months of 2010 and we are recruiting any of you who think that you would like to serve in paradise. Please let us know!!!
Well, for another week.....
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
,
We are thinking of all of you with grateful hearts; Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time to count our blessings. We love what is on the Church's website as they interview people on the streets of New York City. We also love the example the Bednar family set by offering prayers of gratitude only when there was a death in their ward and a visiting general authority, who asked them to offer such prayers, was visiting in their home. We are so grateful to be citizens of the United States and to have the fullness of the Gospel to guide us and help us be happy. May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
We have a very interesting week. We had Zone Conference in St. Lucia and their were 10 of us who went from St. Vincent. We have learned that it is a good time for the senior couples to spent some time at the beach and at the resort where we stay while Pres. Gamiette interviews all the elders. Pres. Gamiette brought his wife and three of their youngest children with them which made it fun for everyone. We had a great time for a few hours on Tuesday afternoon in the ocean and at the beach. The next day was full with meetings and preparing lunch, cleaning up and getting to the airport in time for our flight back to St. Vincent. Pres. Gamiette presented a plan for the mission to adopt which will help new members and less actives. It is called the 40 day plan. We track those with whom we are working for 40 days as to what we are teaching them and with whom and if they are reading the Book of Mormon, attending meetings, paying tithing, having family prayer, personal prayer and keeping the commandments. We feel that it is inspired and will help so much with the retention here in the Caribbean.
We also have had quite a week at the hospital. On Friday Shanet Charles passed away after a terrible fight with cancer. We have talked about her before and we know that she is in wonderful circumstances now. We hope that she will have the blessing of being taught the gospel there. She had just begun to hear the gospel here and had felt the power of the priesthood through blessings. The same day, Morel had a baby boy which they named Delroy. We love this family so much. They were the first non-members we met when we arrived here in St. Vincent. They have finally resolved Wilson's (father of Morel's children) paperwork and will be able to start the paperwork for their marriage license so they can be married and baptized. That will be such a wonderful day for all of us. Then there will be three members in that family, Wilson, Morel, and Delano 9 yrs. old.
On Saturday was another great day in the Kingstown branch. Brother Providence has been a member of the Church for 10 years and his wife has never joined. The member thought that it would never happen. Well, Elders Huntsman and Ackerman taught her and she accepted baptism. It was a beautiful sight to see Bro.
and Sis. Providence in baptismal white with their family. They are acting like newly weds and looking forward to going to the temple to receive their endowments and be sealed as a family.
We had a great Sunday in the Calliaqua branch and spent the afternoon and evening visiting and teaching new members, investigators and less active members. Got to love 'em!!!
We also have settled back into a routine here after thinking (off and on for the last month) that we would be transferred to the mission office in Trinidad. We are feeling much more relaxed as it would have been a huge challenge to learn the technology and all the ins and outs of dealing with so many countries. There are three languages, 5 currencies and I'm not sure how many different governments making the West Indies Mission one of the most complex in the world. It was quite a miracle as a couple came into the picture who wanted to serve an office mission for the full 18 months and are "computer experts". I am so grateful for miracles. We will also be having several senior couples going home the first several months of 2010 and we are recruiting any of you who think that you would like to serve in paradise. Please let us know!!!
Well, for another week.....
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
We are thinking of all of you with grateful hearts; Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time to count our blessings. We love what is on the Church's website as they interview people on the streets of New York City. We also love the example the Bednar family set by offering prayers of gratitude only when there was a death in their ward and a visiting general authority, who asked them to offer such prayers, was visiting in their home. We are so grateful to be citizens of the United States and to have the fullness of the Gospel to guide us and help us be happy. May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
We have a very interesting week. We had Zone Conference in St. Lucia and their were 10 of us who went from St. Vincent. We have learned that it is a good time for the senior couples to spent some time at the beach and at the resort where we stay while Pres. Gamiette interviews all the elders. Pres. Gamiette brought his wife and three of their youngest children with them which made it fun for everyone. We had a great time for a few hours on Tuesday afternoon in the ocean and at the beach. The next day was full with meetings and preparing lunch, cleaning up and getting to the airport in time for our flight back to St. Vincent. Pres. Gamiette presented a plan for the mission to adopt which will help new members and less actives. It is called the 40 day plan. We track those with whom we are working for 40 days as to what we are teaching them and with whom and if they are reading the Book of Mormon, attending meetings, paying tithing, having family prayer, personal prayer and keeping the commandments. We feel that it is inspired and will help so much with the retention here in the Caribbean.
We also have had quite a week at the hospital. On Friday Shanet Charles passed away after a terrible fight with cancer. We have talked about her before and we know that she is in wonderful circumstances now. We hope that she will have the blessing of being taught the gospel there. She had just begun to hear the gospel here and had felt the power of the priesthood through blessings. The same day, Morel had a baby boy which they named Delroy. We love this family so much. They were the first non-members we met when we arrived here in St. Vincent. They have finally resolved Wilson's (father of Morel's children) paperwork and will be able to start the paperwork for their marriage license so they can be married and baptized. That will be such a wonderful day for all of us. Then there will be three members in that family, Wilson, Morel, and Delano 9 yrs. old.
On Saturday was another great day in the Kingstown branch. Brother Providence has been a member of the Church for 10 years and his wife has never joined. The member thought that it would never happen. Well, Elders Huntsman and Ackerman taught her and she accepted baptism. It was a beautiful sight to see Bro.
and Sis. Providence in baptismal white with their family. They are acting like newly weds and looking forward to going to the temple to receive their endowments and be sealed as a family.
We had a great Sunday in the Calliaqua branch and spent the afternoon and evening visiting and teaching new members, investigators and less active members. Got to love 'em!!!
We also have settled back into a routine here after thinking (off and on for the last month) that we would be transferred to the mission office in Trinidad. We are feeling much more relaxed as it would have been a huge challenge to learn the technology and all the ins and outs of dealing with so many countries. There are three languages, 5 currencies and I'm not sure how many different governments making the West Indies Mission one of the most complex in the world. It was quite a miracle as a couple came into the picture who wanted to serve an office mission for the full 18 months and are "computer experts". I am so grateful for miracles. We will also be having several senior couples going home the first several months of 2010 and we are recruiting any of you who think that you would like to serve in paradise. Please let us know!!!
Well, for another week.....
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
,
We are thinking of all of you with grateful hearts; Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time to count our blessings. We love what is on the Church's website as they interview people on the streets of New York City. We also love the example the Bednar family set by offering prayers of gratitude only when there was a death in their ward and a visiting general authority, who asked them to offer such prayers, was visiting in their home. We are so grateful to be citizens of the United States and to have the fullness of the Gospel to guide us and help us be happy. May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
We have a very interesting week. We had Zone Conference in St. Lucia and their were 10 of us who went from St. Vincent. We have learned that it is a good time for the senior couples to spent some time at the beach and at the resort where we stay while Pres. Gamiette interviews all the elders. Pres. Gamiette brought his wife and three of their youngest children with them which made it fun for everyone. We had a great time for a few hours on Tuesday afternoon in the ocean and at the beach. The next day was full with meetings and preparing lunch, cleaning up and getting to the airport in time for our flight back to St. Vincent. Pres. Gamiette presented a plan for the mission to adopt which will help new members and less actives. It is called the 40 day plan. We track those with whom we are working for 40 days as to what we are teaching them and with whom and if they are reading the Book of Mormon, attending meetings, paying tithing, having family prayer, personal prayer and keeping the commandments. We feel that it is inspired and will help so much with the retention here in the Caribbean.
We also have had quite a week at the hospital. On Friday Shanet Charles passed away after a terrible fight with cancer. We have talked about her before and we know that she is in wonderful circumstances now. We hope that she will have the blessing of being taught the gospel there. She had just begun to hear the gospel here and had felt the power of the priesthood through blessings. The same day, Morel had a baby boy which they named Delroy. We love this family so much. They were the first non-members we met when we arrived here in St. Vincent. They have finally resolved Wilson's (father of Morel's children) paperwork and will be able to start the paperwork for their marriage license so they can be married and baptized. That will be such a wonderful day for all of us. Then there will be three members in that family, Wilson, Morel, and Delano 9 yrs. old.
On Saturday was another great day in the Kingstown branch. Brother Providence has been a member of the Church for 10 years and his wife has never joined. The member thought that it would never happen. Well, Elders Huntsman and Ackerman taught her and she accepted baptism. It was a beautiful sight to see Bro.
and Sis. Providence in baptismal white with their family. They are acting like newly weds and looking forward to going to the temple to receive their endowments and be sealed as a family.
We had a great Sunday in the Calliaqua branch and spent the afternoon and evening visiting and teaching new members, investigators and less active members. Got to love 'em!!!
We also have settled back into a routine here after thinking (off and on for the last month) that we would be transferred to the mission office in Trinidad. We are feeling much more relaxed as it would have been a huge challenge to learn the technology and all the ins and outs of dealing with so many countries. There are three languages, 5 currencies and I'm not sure how many different governments making the West Indies Mission one of the most complex in the world. It was quite a miracle as a couple came into the picture who wanted to serve an office mission for the full 18 months and are "computer experts". I am so grateful for miracles. We will also be having several senior couples going home the first several months of 2010 and we are recruiting any of you who think that you would like to serve in paradise. Please let us know!!!
Well, for another week.....
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
November 16 ,2009
,
Good day from paradise. We are hearing that a change of season has hit where you are and we still feel like we are in mid-August. There are more "clear people" in the last couple of weeks and a cruise ship showing up every few days now. Most of them are from England and France which makes it fun to try to guess from their appearance where they come from.
We have had another good week starting with the Elders calling on p-day and wanting to come to our apartments and cook for us and themselves of course. It was very good and we enjoyed it a lot. The next day was the Island zone conference held here also. The zone leaders did a masterful job of putting the web meeting together and having our three islands talking and setting goals from our apartments or church buildings. We had chicken enchiladas after and then all went to work.
Cardian Toubierre has been in the hospital this week with swelling and numbness; she is in here last trimester of her pregnancy and has returned home now with medication for the problem. While we were trying to find Cardian in the hospital, we found several others there from the Kingstown branch. One that has been a heartbreak to watch is Shanet whose sister is a member in the Kingstown branch. Shanet came with her sister Iteaca to General Conference. She was able to leave the hospital for a short time with her sister and was so weak that she couldn't sit up the whole meeting. Jim and Elder Huntsman gave her a blessing before she returned to the hospital. She has cancer and they operated two weeks ago. When I came into the ward she was in she immediately made it known that she wanted to see me. When they motioned for me to come close, I recognized her and was so touched by her pleading eyes. I immediately went into the walkway and motioned for Jim to come into the women's ward. We visited with her for awhile and she was asking for tonic and that the doctor needed to give it to her. We called Iteaca to find out what we could do and she said that she would find out. Iteaca called us the next morning and said that the doctor said that Shanet is dying. It was a sad time. We arrived at the hospital again that afternoon and family and friends had come to tell her good-by. Her little twin boys were there as well as a 12 year old son. When she saw us in the walkway she motioned for us again. They made room for us and Iteaca wanted Jim to give her another blessing. There was pastor there from another church and he wanted to help Jim. Amazingly they made room and were very respectful as Jim gave her a reverent blessing of comfort. She is still here and has been much more peaceful since then. We have been to see her almost every day and she is always so glad to see us. She is losing ground and we hope that she can pass soon. Our thoughts and prayers have been with her constantly; hospital and medical care are decades behind here. Everyone is in large wards and the cemetery, which is located behind the hospital, is visible from most of the wards, not very encouraging!!
We have Elder and Sister McIntosh here the last 4 days. They are serving a CES mission and helping to establish the Seminary and Institute programs here on St. Vincent. It has been fun getting to know them. They served their first mission in India.
We also baptized Gracie on Saturday morning at the beach. It was a joyful time for all of us involved because she has come such a long way. She had a Rasta boyfriend living with her and that was a difficult thing; she finally sent him down the road and told him not to come back unless he had a ring. She is about 50 years old so this lifestyle has been very much a part of her life. Her countenance is wonderful.
We attended church in the Kingstown branch on Sunday. We had a nice lunch with the McIntoshs and then while they were visiting Seminary students we visited the Small family and taught their friend Marcella. She has been taught by the Elders before and we are excited about continuing to teach her the gospel. She is a beautiful young lady.
Well, we have had another great week and are leaving early in the morning for another zone conference with President Gamiette in St. Lucia. We love you all and appreciate your news to us.
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
Good day from paradise. We are hearing that a change of season has hit where you are and we still feel like we are in mid-August. There are more "clear people" in the last couple of weeks and a cruise ship showing up every few days now. Most of them are from England and France which makes it fun to try to guess from their appearance where they come from.
We have had another good week starting with the Elders calling on p-day and wanting to come to our apartments and cook for us and themselves of course. It was very good and we enjoyed it a lot. The next day was the Island zone conference held here also. The zone leaders did a masterful job of putting the web meeting together and having our three islands talking and setting goals from our apartments or church buildings. We had chicken enchiladas after and then all went to work.
Cardian Toubierre has been in the hospital this week with swelling and numbness; she is in here last trimester of her pregnancy and has returned home now with medication for the problem. While we were trying to find Cardian in the hospital, we found several others there from the Kingstown branch. One that has been a heartbreak to watch is Shanet whose sister is a member in the Kingstown branch. Shanet came with her sister Iteaca to General Conference. She was able to leave the hospital for a short time with her sister and was so weak that she couldn't sit up the whole meeting. Jim and Elder Huntsman gave her a blessing before she returned to the hospital. She has cancer and they operated two weeks ago. When I came into the ward she was in she immediately made it known that she wanted to see me. When they motioned for me to come close, I recognized her and was so touched by her pleading eyes. I immediately went into the walkway and motioned for Jim to come into the women's ward. We visited with her for awhile and she was asking for tonic and that the doctor needed to give it to her. We called Iteaca to find out what we could do and she said that she would find out. Iteaca called us the next morning and said that the doctor said that Shanet is dying. It was a sad time. We arrived at the hospital again that afternoon and family and friends had come to tell her good-by. Her little twin boys were there as well as a 12 year old son. When she saw us in the walkway she motioned for us again. They made room for us and Iteaca wanted Jim to give her another blessing. There was pastor there from another church and he wanted to help Jim. Amazingly they made room and were very respectful as Jim gave her a reverent blessing of comfort. She is still here and has been much more peaceful since then. We have been to see her almost every day and she is always so glad to see us. She is losing ground and we hope that she can pass soon. Our thoughts and prayers have been with her constantly; hospital and medical care are decades behind here. Everyone is in large wards and the cemetery, which is located behind the hospital, is visible from most of the wards, not very encouraging!!
We have Elder and Sister McIntosh here the last 4 days. They are serving a CES mission and helping to establish the Seminary and Institute programs here on St. Vincent. It has been fun getting to know them. They served their first mission in India.
We also baptized Gracie on Saturday morning at the beach. It was a joyful time for all of us involved because she has come such a long way. She had a Rasta boyfriend living with her and that was a difficult thing; she finally sent him down the road and told him not to come back unless he had a ring. She is about 50 years old so this lifestyle has been very much a part of her life. Her countenance is wonderful.
We attended church in the Kingstown branch on Sunday. We had a nice lunch with the McIntoshs and then while they were visiting Seminary students we visited the Small family and taught their friend Marcella. She has been taught by the Elders before and we are excited about continuing to teach her the gospel. She is a beautiful young lady.
Well, we have had another great week and are leaving early in the morning for another zone conference with President Gamiette in St. Lucia. We love you all and appreciate your news to us.
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
November 9 ,2009
,
We were saddened with the news of Frank Transtrum's passing away. I will always be grateful for the influence Dr. "T" was to me as a young women. He was a good example of so many characteristics and Dianne was kind and gracious also. And now we share grandchildren who mean so much to us.
We went to Trinidad for a conference to train branch presidents and all of us so that we will be able to work well together and know what each of our responsibilities are and which ones we share. It was an inspired conference and Pres. Gamiette, Pres. Hymas, and Elder Alvarado (member of the Seventy) definitely taught with the Spirit. It was touching to see men step up to the plate and accept counsel about their responsibilities when their culture has been so much different. They are used to going to Church as an observer and now they are what makes it all go, with support of course. There were two times when Pres. Gamiette was touched to tears. Once when he talked about the missionaries and again when he expressed his dream. He talked about being a lost boy in Guadeloupe and the change the gospel has made in his life and in turn the life of his family. He said that he is accused of being a dreamer and he said I am and I can see a time when my family will live here without all the evil that now exists. It was an experience that we will cherish and always remember. We also met more Senior Couples and that is always so much fun. We have wanted to meet the Meyers and have communicated with them a lot this past week and we finally met. They are unbelievable in their ability to keep the mission office running smoothly. This mission is one of the most complicated with 5 currencies, 3 languages, and I'm not sure how many different governments to deal with.
We loved seeing another country also. The island of Trinidad has a million and a half people and has a totally different feel than St. Vincent. The island is quite flat and has a lot of East Indian people. Elder Meyers told us that it is about 40% black, 40% East Indian, and 20% mix. We went to a huge mall and you could see the mix of different cultures. There was a Subway, Burger King, their local curry food and a KFC of course. KFC is very popular in the Caribbean; St. Vincent is building their third. The people here in St. Vincent give directions starting from KFC. There are parts of Trinidad that are very modern and then as you get away from the more populated areas you find very humble conditions. We stayed with the Meyer's and they were wonderful hosts. We also enjoyed the Treseders who are serving in St. Lucia who also stayed with Meyers. We had a good flight home with Liat (the only Caribbean airline) leaving early and arriving early. A very pleasant surprise.
We had a wonderful Sunday ending with good meetings with the Tobierres, the Morris orphans and the Williams family who are waiting to get paperwork done so they can be married and baptized. They have been waiting a long time which is not unusual here. "Just now" which is a common phrase here means everything except now. Moral and Wilson Williams have a 9 year old boy (Delano), a 3 year old girl (Melissa) and they are expecting a new baby any day. Moral was one of the first investigators that we met and she touched our hearts then. It will be a wonderful white day when they finally are able to be baptized.
We love you all and hope that this finds you enjoying the blessings that are ours when we strive to keep the commandments. We see everyday that it is not how much you have but how you are living that brings happiness.
- Show quoted text -
We were saddened with the news of Frank Transtrum's passing away. I will always be grateful for the influence Dr. "T" was to me as a young women. He was a good example of so many characteristics and Dianne was kind and gracious also. And now we share grandchildren who mean so much to us.
We went to Trinidad for a conference to train branch presidents and all of us so that we will be able to work well together and know what each of our responsibilities are and which ones we share. It was an inspired conference and Pres. Gamiette, Pres. Hymas, and Elder Alvarado (member of the Seventy) definitely taught with the Spirit. It was touching to see men step up to the plate and accept counsel about their responsibilities when their culture has been so much different. They are used to going to Church as an observer and now they are what makes it all go, with support of course. There were two times when Pres. Gamiette was touched to tears. Once when he talked about the missionaries and again when he expressed his dream. He talked about being a lost boy in Guadeloupe and the change the gospel has made in his life and in turn the life of his family. He said that he is accused of being a dreamer and he said I am and I can see a time when my family will live here without all the evil that now exists. It was an experience that we will cherish and always remember. We also met more Senior Couples and that is always so much fun. We have wanted to meet the Meyers and have communicated with them a lot this past week and we finally met. They are unbelievable in their ability to keep the mission office running smoothly. This mission is one of the most complicated with 5 currencies, 3 languages, and I'm not sure how many different governments to deal with.
We loved seeing another country also. The island of Trinidad has a million and a half people and has a totally different feel than St. Vincent. The island is quite flat and has a lot of East Indian people. Elder Meyers told us that it is about 40% black, 40% East Indian, and 20% mix. We went to a huge mall and you could see the mix of different cultures. There was a Subway, Burger King, their local curry food and a KFC of course. KFC is very popular in the Caribbean; St. Vincent is building their third. The people here in St. Vincent give directions starting from KFC. There are parts of Trinidad that are very modern and then as you get away from the more populated areas you find very humble conditions. We stayed with the Meyer's and they were wonderful hosts. We also enjoyed the Treseders who are serving in St. Lucia who also stayed with Meyers. We had a good flight home with Liat (the only Caribbean airline) leaving early and arriving early. A very pleasant surprise.
We had a wonderful Sunday ending with good meetings with the Tobierres, the Morris orphans and the Williams family who are waiting to get paperwork done so they can be married and baptized. They have been waiting a long time which is not unusual here. "Just now" which is a common phrase here means everything except now. Moral and Wilson Williams have a 9 year old boy (Delano), a 3 year old girl (Melissa) and they are expecting a new baby any day. Moral was one of the first investigators that we met and she touched our hearts then. It will be a wonderful white day when they finally are able to be baptized.
We love you all and hope that this finds you enjoying the blessings that are ours when we strive to keep the commandments. We see everyday that it is not how much you have but how you are living that brings happiness.
- Show quoted text -
Sunday, November 1, 2009
November 1,2009
We are watching another glorious sunset; the sun going down out our front door and a full moon out our back door with beautiful golds, reds and white. We know that you are experiencing the golds and reds also in the fall colors. We have had such a good week hearing from you and are so grateful for your news. We live in such a marvelous time; to be able to see and talk to family live is a miracle and makes what we are doing so much easier. We loved seeing the grandkids who were set up for Skype on Halloween. We love you all so much!!!
Our week has been a lot different than the last few. We have been so busy getting people ready for baptism and etc. and this week has been a slow down. We went with the Elders to La Soufriere on Monday morning. La Soufriere is the volcano that formed this island and is about 4000 feet. We arrived at the trails head at 7:10 a.m. and all 8 Elders headed up. We decided that we would take a nap, study and then take and hour walk ourselves and be back about the same time as the Elders. We have heard from everyone that it takes about 3 hours to get to the top. Well, were studying away and I heard voices and they were back. They had made it in two hours flat; a record I would think. They were wringing wet and out of breath but they had the pictures to prove that they had been there. They said the wind was blowing really hard and it was cold so they didn't linger. I will get some of the pictures for the blog. These Elders are really in shape as they tramp these mountains every day. They still experienced some muscle soreness for the next couple of days.
The next day was Independence day here and we spent most of the day with the Toubierre's. We went to the inner part of the island which is the breadbasket where a lot of the food is grown. Elder Wheeler loved it! We drove an unbelievable road to Montreal Gardens which is 7 acres right out of the Garden of Eden. It was a most pleasant day. That evening the Kingstown Elders came to our apartment to use the computer and send some reports to the mission office. It was Elder Stebbing's last night here; I was feeling bad about not having any goodies for them to eat and said that it would take me about an hour to make some cookies and they said, "Oh, we will wait!" So, it turned into a fun night of sharing experiences and sending Elder Stebbing off for home.
We are doing a lot of new member lessons now and we had our first with the Toubierre's. We talked about the temple and temple marriage; it was great to see their enthusiasm for preparing for those ordinances!
I already talked about being able to talk to family on Halloween!!! We have had a wonderful Sunday!!! We set a new record for people attending Sacrament meeting and they all stayed for the rest of the block. It was fast and testimony meeting and there were no breaks in between the testimonies and they were strong, powerful witness of the Savior and how the gospel has changed their lives for the better. Wonderful!!! We spent the rest of the day with members and we will end the day ready for the "napas and the pillas".
We hope that you all have a good week; we pray for you every day!!! We love the gospel plan and teachings and we have a strong testimony of atonement of the Savior which makes forgiveness and mercy possible. For another week---we love ya!!!
Mom and Dad
Our week has been a lot different than the last few. We have been so busy getting people ready for baptism and etc. and this week has been a slow down. We went with the Elders to La Soufriere on Monday morning. La Soufriere is the volcano that formed this island and is about 4000 feet. We arrived at the trails head at 7:10 a.m. and all 8 Elders headed up. We decided that we would take a nap, study and then take and hour walk ourselves and be back about the same time as the Elders. We have heard from everyone that it takes about 3 hours to get to the top. Well, were studying away and I heard voices and they were back. They had made it in two hours flat; a record I would think. They were wringing wet and out of breath but they had the pictures to prove that they had been there. They said the wind was blowing really hard and it was cold so they didn't linger. I will get some of the pictures for the blog. These Elders are really in shape as they tramp these mountains every day. They still experienced some muscle soreness for the next couple of days.
The next day was Independence day here and we spent most of the day with the Toubierre's. We went to the inner part of the island which is the breadbasket where a lot of the food is grown. Elder Wheeler loved it! We drove an unbelievable road to Montreal Gardens which is 7 acres right out of the Garden of Eden. It was a most pleasant day. That evening the Kingstown Elders came to our apartment to use the computer and send some reports to the mission office. It was Elder Stebbing's last night here; I was feeling bad about not having any goodies for them to eat and said that it would take me about an hour to make some cookies and they said, "Oh, we will wait!" So, it turned into a fun night of sharing experiences and sending Elder Stebbing off for home.
We are doing a lot of new member lessons now and we had our first with the Toubierre's. We talked about the temple and temple marriage; it was great to see their enthusiasm for preparing for those ordinances!
I already talked about being able to talk to family on Halloween!!! We have had a wonderful Sunday!!! We set a new record for people attending Sacrament meeting and they all stayed for the rest of the block. It was fast and testimony meeting and there were no breaks in between the testimonies and they were strong, powerful witness of the Savior and how the gospel has changed their lives for the better. Wonderful!!! We spent the rest of the day with members and we will end the day ready for the "napas and the pillas".
We hope that you all have a good week; we pray for you every day!!! We love the gospel plan and teachings and we have a strong testimony of atonement of the Savior which makes forgiveness and mercy possible. For another week---we love ya!!!
Mom and Dad
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Oct. 25, 2009
It's hard to believe that it is almost the end of October; time is going quickly!!! We have had a very eventful week. The Sunday meetings in Calliaqua can be quite an adventure. Last Sunday we attended that Kingstown branch and when we went to Calliaqua to help with tithing etc., the Elders told us that during the Sacrament hymn the branch president stopped everyone and told them that they were singing the wrong tune and that he wanted them to try it again. He is a good good man just needs more time to know what is appropriate and what is not.
Monday was spent catching up on housekeeping, cooking for Tuesday and washing and ironing. Jim helped shuttle the missionaries between the supermarkets and the Internet cafe where they send their e-mails.
Tuesday we had district meeting even though Elders Risenmay and Harris were sick. We had the traditional lunch here at our apartment and had lasagna. We finally found all the ingredients that were needed for it (dairy products are hard to come by). It was the usual huge pan of lasagna that I make for the family at home. Well, there were no leftovers even though two elders were missing. That afternoon we went to the courthouse again and met with Mr. Pitt (great guy) to find out what we needed to do to make sure there were no surprises for the marriages that were to happen the end of the week. We found out that it was going to cost an additional $150 that we didn't know about. The couples that were preparing for marriage and baptism have very limited funds and became a major stumbling block. We fasted and prayed and the Elders decided to contribute their travel money to make it happen. So, Dominique and Albert were married on Thursday afternoon and Brendon and Cardian were married Friday morning. It was a very rewarding experience and relief to have these two couples married after teaching the law of chastity and overcoming the challenges they both met in getting it done. Now they both were ready for baptism. The rest of Friday was spent with the District leader giving baptismal interviews and us get him where he needed to go and getting the baptismal clothes gathered up and washed for Saturday's early morning baptismal service at the beach near the marina.
Saturday was a day to remember forever. We all met at the Calliaqua church and dressed in the baptismal clothes and then proceeded to the beach. There are pictures of everything so don't miss them. It was quite a sight to see the back of Pres. Robertson's pickup filled with people dressed in white. The service before and after were the baptisms was sooo good. There were 8 baptisms and all of the converts bore their testimonies after with such conviction. There was a family that all the children were baptized and the mother knows the church is true but cannot be baptized because she is not married to their father; he works on one of the small islands near here and is only home twice a year. She bore a strong testimony and is hoping to get things figured out to be baptized as soon as possible. What a wonderful white morning. We returned to the church to change and get everyone headed home. The Elders were ready to celebrate and suggested that we kick back till early afternoon and have another lasagna feed. So, they went to the store to find the ingredients and we came home to get things started. It was a fun, unplanned celebration. We all had appointments in the afternoon so it definitely was not an extended thing but much appreciated.
Got to go help some Elders teach a wonderful family, so...that pretty much tells of our week. We love ya all!!! It would be GREAT to hear from you.
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
Monday was spent catching up on housekeeping, cooking for Tuesday and washing and ironing. Jim helped shuttle the missionaries between the supermarkets and the Internet cafe where they send their e-mails.
Tuesday we had district meeting even though Elders Risenmay and Harris were sick. We had the traditional lunch here at our apartment and had lasagna. We finally found all the ingredients that were needed for it (dairy products are hard to come by). It was the usual huge pan of lasagna that I make for the family at home. Well, there were no leftovers even though two elders were missing. That afternoon we went to the courthouse again and met with Mr. Pitt (great guy) to find out what we needed to do to make sure there were no surprises for the marriages that were to happen the end of the week. We found out that it was going to cost an additional $150 that we didn't know about. The couples that were preparing for marriage and baptism have very limited funds and became a major stumbling block. We fasted and prayed and the Elders decided to contribute their travel money to make it happen. So, Dominique and Albert were married on Thursday afternoon and Brendon and Cardian were married Friday morning. It was a very rewarding experience and relief to have these two couples married after teaching the law of chastity and overcoming the challenges they both met in getting it done. Now they both were ready for baptism. The rest of Friday was spent with the District leader giving baptismal interviews and us get him where he needed to go and getting the baptismal clothes gathered up and washed for Saturday's early morning baptismal service at the beach near the marina.
Saturday was a day to remember forever. We all met at the Calliaqua church and dressed in the baptismal clothes and then proceeded to the beach. There are pictures of everything so don't miss them. It was quite a sight to see the back of Pres. Robertson's pickup filled with people dressed in white. The service before and after were the baptisms was sooo good. There were 8 baptisms and all of the converts bore their testimonies after with such conviction. There was a family that all the children were baptized and the mother knows the church is true but cannot be baptized because she is not married to their father; he works on one of the small islands near here and is only home twice a year. She bore a strong testimony and is hoping to get things figured out to be baptized as soon as possible. What a wonderful white morning. We returned to the church to change and get everyone headed home. The Elders were ready to celebrate and suggested that we kick back till early afternoon and have another lasagna feed. So, they went to the store to find the ingredients and we came home to get things started. It was a fun, unplanned celebration. We all had appointments in the afternoon so it definitely was not an extended thing but much appreciated.
Got to go help some Elders teach a wonderful family, so...that pretty much tells of our week. We love ya all!!! It would be GREAT to hear from you.
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Oct. 5, 2009
We are a little late getting this written this week because Sunday and Monday were so busy. So, this is still for last week even though it is being sent on October 15.
We have found that getting Brendon and Cardian ready for marriage is more difficult that we originally thought it would be. They are from the island of St. Lucia and immigration is making it hard. We went there on Tuesday and they had everything ready we thought and they didn't like how they had formatted a letter that was required and so we went to an internet cafe and retyped it and they still said that they would have to come back on Friday to get the letter that is required at the court house so they can get a marriage license. They are still doing well with the lessons, reading and praying. He got a job and that is an answer to prayer even though it doesn't pay much.
After Kingstown's PEC meeting on Thursday night, we went with Elders Huntsman and Stebbing to Carlton"s home which is way up a gap. We walked quite a ways with our flashlights to get there. He was amazing! He has 3 boys, 5, 7 and 9, that he is raising by himself. His lady took off and he has been doing it all for several years. He works at the port and there are at least two people to every job which means that it is part time for all of them. He was on the national soccer team several years ago and loved it. He has never gone to school because his mom insisted that he be a hustler (sell whatever on the streets) from the time he was very young. He had already put his boys to bed, so we had his full attention. He was very receptive and the spirit was strong. He committed to come to church with his boys on Sunday. It rained while we were there and so it was extremely slick when we left and I could not keep my feet under me. I fell over and over again; Elder Stebbing was in front of me and was trying to help me and I would slip and nearly knock his feet our from under him. It was so steep, slick and dark but we finally made it to our vehicle. So, after laughing most of the way and getting more muddy by the minute, Elder Wheeler is calling Sister Piggy. Carlton did come to Church on Sunday and they started him with the reading class and he is so excited.
Elders Huntsman and Stebbing have also been working with Sheena Providence. She has been coming to the Kingstown branch off and on for years and has finally caught fire. She loves the Book of Mormon and reads all the time. She committed to baptism and wanted to be baptized in a river like the Savior. The Kingstown Elders went to work and dammed off the river behind Brother Jackson's home to make a pond and it made a beautiful location to be baptized. The baptism was Saturday at noon and it was wonderful.
We also had a baptism for two brothers who are 10 and 12. They have been coming to church with their neighbors, great boys. There are quite a few neighborhood kids that have been attending church and family home evening with the Adams family. The branch president agreed to their baptism if Brother Adams would continue to make sure they attend church regularly. It was a very touching baptism with the branch family there to support them. Their mom gave permission for their baptism but didn't come. Good, good people here!
The Adams wanted to feed the missionaries but their home is so small that it was not possible now that we have 10 of us. So, we had the dinner here on Sunday night. Sister Adams is originally from Guyana; they made us curried rabbit (which they raised) and bakes. I made a cake and we had a wonderful time.
Another great week here in St. Vincent!!! We love hearing from you and updating us on our corner of the world; keep the e-mails coming!!!
We have found that getting Brendon and Cardian ready for marriage is more difficult that we originally thought it would be. They are from the island of St. Lucia and immigration is making it hard. We went there on Tuesday and they had everything ready we thought and they didn't like how they had formatted a letter that was required and so we went to an internet cafe and retyped it and they still said that they would have to come back on Friday to get the letter that is required at the court house so they can get a marriage license. They are still doing well with the lessons, reading and praying. He got a job and that is an answer to prayer even though it doesn't pay much.
After Kingstown's PEC meeting on Thursday night, we went with Elders Huntsman and Stebbing to Carlton"s home which is way up a gap. We walked quite a ways with our flashlights to get there. He was amazing! He has 3 boys, 5, 7 and 9, that he is raising by himself. His lady took off and he has been doing it all for several years. He works at the port and there are at least two people to every job which means that it is part time for all of them. He was on the national soccer team several years ago and loved it. He has never gone to school because his mom insisted that he be a hustler (sell whatever on the streets) from the time he was very young. He had already put his boys to bed, so we had his full attention. He was very receptive and the spirit was strong. He committed to come to church with his boys on Sunday. It rained while we were there and so it was extremely slick when we left and I could not keep my feet under me. I fell over and over again; Elder Stebbing was in front of me and was trying to help me and I would slip and nearly knock his feet our from under him. It was so steep, slick and dark but we finally made it to our vehicle. So, after laughing most of the way and getting more muddy by the minute, Elder Wheeler is calling Sister Piggy. Carlton did come to Church on Sunday and they started him with the reading class and he is so excited.
Elders Huntsman and Stebbing have also been working with Sheena Providence. She has been coming to the Kingstown branch off and on for years and has finally caught fire. She loves the Book of Mormon and reads all the time. She committed to baptism and wanted to be baptized in a river like the Savior. The Kingstown Elders went to work and dammed off the river behind Brother Jackson's home to make a pond and it made a beautiful location to be baptized. The baptism was Saturday at noon and it was wonderful.
We also had a baptism for two brothers who are 10 and 12. They have been coming to church with their neighbors, great boys. There are quite a few neighborhood kids that have been attending church and family home evening with the Adams family. The branch president agreed to their baptism if Brother Adams would continue to make sure they attend church regularly. It was a very touching baptism with the branch family there to support them. Their mom gave permission for their baptism but didn't come. Good, good people here!
The Adams wanted to feed the missionaries but their home is so small that it was not possible now that we have 10 of us. So, we had the dinner here on Sunday night. Sister Adams is originally from Guyana; they made us curried rabbit (which they raised) and bakes. I made a cake and we had a wonderful time.
Another great week here in St. Vincent!!! We love hearing from you and updating us on our corner of the world; keep the e-mails coming!!!
Monday, October 5, 2009
October 5, 2009
October 5, 2009
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to Alyssa, Austin, Bobbi, Brenda&Justin, Brittney, Caleb, cass&mindy, Cheryl, Chris, Debbie, Don, Emily, Ferrall, Heather, Jane&Rick, John, Katharine, Kathy, Kory, Kylie, Megan, Mitchel, Neil, Neil&Carla, Pat, Paula
show details 8:40 PM (1 minute ago)
Dear Family and Friends,
General Conference was wonderful. It wasn't as convenient to watch as it was 6 months ago but we were extremely grateful to be able to watch it at the Kingstown chapel. Our new members were there and for the most part soaked it up. We also had a surprise, the young mother we found a week ago at the TOP of a gap who hadn't been to church for years came. She was less than cordial when we found her, no she was rude; but gradually warmed a little. She loved Elder and Sister Amos who served her years ago and I have had quite a few people tell me that I remind them of her and she thought so too. Hopefully we can encourage her because of that coincidence--no coincidences right? We had lunch with Meezan and Gary Adams between sessions, we have become very good friends.
We went to the island of Bequia last Monday and it was fun. There is a turtle farm there and beautiful beaches. Elder Harris talked to a young man who was diving for shells and he got a big conch shell from him for me. It is beautiful. Good day!!!
We have also had a good week with the lovebirds(couples who are living together but not married). We were discouraged but we received good news from two couples in the past two days. Albert and Dominique will be married this Saturday and she will be baptized the next Saturday. Elders Risenmay and Gilley were ready to give her the drop lesson and she surprised them. The couple we have been teaching were going to put off getting married until December; we gave them the Chastity lesson again and talked about how they knew the Lord was guiding them. At the close of that lesson, Brendon gave a wonderful prayer. They told us at Conference that they would keep their first goal of getting married on the Oct. 20 and baptized on Oct. 24. We are being so blessed. They told us that they are going to name their baby Chastity
We also had two baptisms on Wednesday. Sister Johns who is 66 years old and the best little lady was baptized in the morning and stood on the beach after her baptism and bore a strong testimony. She hummed and giggled all the way home. We went back to Calliaqua and watched the Joseph Smith film with Nathan Daniels, who was baptized later that afternoon, and Elders Vaea and Vi and Brother Phillips. The spirit was so strong. We all bore our testimonies after and there were tears of joy all around. Brother Daniels is a very special man and will do much to build the Church in St. Vincent. His baptism was exceptional!!! He loved Conference and was thrilled by the Tabernacle Choir and the messages that just made things more clear and answered his questions. He can't learn fast enough; he attended all five sessions of conference and couldn't wait to get home to read his notes and ponder.
We are enjoying great relationships with all the Elders. Our apartment is a great place to meet and share what is happening with "the work" on the island and eat of course. Elder Wheeler says, "They are all bottomless pits." Six of the eight Elders experienced being incarcerated in the police station in Guyana and then deported.
We have tender feelings about home and the fall season. It is still hot here; it was 95 on Saturday. We had rain and wind today so it was only 90.
We love ya all,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
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From: James Wheeler
To: "Alyssa De St. Jeor", "Austin & Bonnie Moses" ,
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"cass&mindy Baldwin", "Cheryl & Duane Williams" ,
"Chris & Stephanie Jensen",
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"Emily & John Melander", "Ferrall &Tammy Wray" ,
Heather Hunt, "Jane&Rick Tew" ,
"John & Carol Crilley", "Katharine &Daryl Thompson" ,
"Kathy & Richard Polatis",
"Kory & Heather Wheeler",
"Kylie De St. Jeor", Megan Wheeler ,
"Mitchel De St. Jeor", "Neil & Deonna Fuller" ,
"Neil&Carla Murdock", "Pat & Brent Byrum" ,
"Paula &Kent Hansen", "Rhonda&Barry Bollwinkel" ,
Seth Wheeler, "Sharon& Dennis Campbell" ,
"Stacey & Calvin De St. Jeor", "Steve & Becky Reeder" ,
"Steve & Linda Williams", "Ted & Billie Bollwinkel" ,
"Terry&Marilyn Hatch", "Wade & Kim Wheeler" ,
"Will&Kathy McBride"
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Dear Family and Friends,
General Conference was wonderful. It wasn't as convenient to watch as it was
6 months ago but we were extremely grateful to be able to watch it at the
Kingstown chapel. Our new members were there and for the most part soaked
it up. We also had a surprise, the young mother we found a week ago at the
TOP of a gap who hadn't been to church for years came. She was less than
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to Alyssa, Austin, Bobbi, Brenda&Justin, Brittney, Caleb, cass&mindy, Cheryl, Chris, Debbie, Don, Emily, Ferrall, Heather, Jane&Rick, John, Katharine, Kathy, Kory, Kylie, Megan, Mitchel, Neil, Neil&Carla, Pat, Paula
show details 8:40 PM (1 minute ago)
Dear Family and Friends,
General Conference was wonderful. It wasn't as convenient to watch as it was 6 months ago but we were extremely grateful to be able to watch it at the Kingstown chapel. Our new members were there and for the most part soaked it up. We also had a surprise, the young mother we found a week ago at the TOP of a gap who hadn't been to church for years came. She was less than cordial when we found her, no she was rude; but gradually warmed a little. She loved Elder and Sister Amos who served her years ago and I have had quite a few people tell me that I remind them of her and she thought so too. Hopefully we can encourage her because of that coincidence--no coincidences right? We had lunch with Meezan and Gary Adams between sessions, we have become very good friends.
We went to the island of Bequia last Monday and it was fun. There is a turtle farm there and beautiful beaches. Elder Harris talked to a young man who was diving for shells and he got a big conch shell from him for me. It is beautiful. Good day!!!
We have also had a good week with the lovebirds(couples who are living together but not married). We were discouraged but we received good news from two couples in the past two days. Albert and Dominique will be married this Saturday and she will be baptized the next Saturday. Elders Risenmay and Gilley were ready to give her the drop lesson and she surprised them. The couple we have been teaching were going to put off getting married until December; we gave them the Chastity lesson again and talked about how they knew the Lord was guiding them. At the close of that lesson, Brendon gave a wonderful prayer. They told us at Conference that they would keep their first goal of getting married on the Oct. 20 and baptized on Oct. 24. We are being so blessed. They told us that they are going to name their baby Chastity
We also had two baptisms on Wednesday. Sister Johns who is 66 years old and the best little lady was baptized in the morning and stood on the beach after her baptism and bore a strong testimony. She hummed and giggled all the way home. We went back to Calliaqua and watched the Joseph Smith film with Nathan Daniels, who was baptized later that afternoon, and Elders Vaea and Vi and Brother Phillips. The spirit was so strong. We all bore our testimonies after and there were tears of joy all around. Brother Daniels is a very special man and will do much to build the Church in St. Vincent. His baptism was exceptional!!! He loved Conference and was thrilled by the Tabernacle Choir and the messages that just made things more clear and answered his questions. He can't learn fast enough; he attended all five sessions of conference and couldn't wait to get home to read his notes and ponder.
We are enjoying great relationships with all the Elders. Our apartment is a great place to meet and share what is happening with "the work" on the island and eat of course. Elder Wheeler says, "They are all bottomless pits." Six of the eight Elders experienced being incarcerated in the police station in Guyana and then deported.
We have tender feelings about home and the fall season. It is still hot here; it was 95 on Saturday. We had rain and wind today so it was only 90.
We love ya all,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
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From: James Wheeler
To: "Alyssa De St. Jeor"
"Bobbi Jo & Rex Young"
"Brittney De St. Jeor"
"cass&mindy Baldwin"
"Chris & Stephanie Jensen"
"Debbie & Jessie Byrum"
"Emily & John Melander"
Heather Hunt
"John & Carol Crilley"
"Kathy & Richard Polatis"
"Kory & Heather Wheeler"
"Kylie De St. Jeor"
"Mitchel De St. Jeor"
"Neil&Carla Murdock"
"Paula &Kent Hansen"
Seth Wheeler
"Stacey & Calvin De St. Jeor"
"Steve & Linda Williams"
"Terry&Marilyn Hatch"
"Will&Kathy McBride"
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Dear Family and Friends,
General Conference was wonderful. It wasn't as convenient to watch as it was
6 months ago but we were extremely grateful to be able to watch it at the
Kingstown chapel. Our new members were there and for the most part soaked
it up. We also had a surprise, the young mother we found a week ago at the
TOP of a gap who hadn't been to church for years came. She was less than
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Monday, September 28, 2009
September 28,2009
We have heard from several of you and it always makes our day to receive updates from you. Another week has come and gone and the time is flying by. We have been in the mission field for almost two months. We had a "hump-day" ceremony for Elder Harris on Thursday which was fun for me as I had heard about them but never witnessed one.
Highlights of the week!!! We baptized a rasta man at Indian Bay Beach on Saturday. He is so excited to be changing his life and it was sweet to see his hair all in a white turban for the devotional before the baptism. He was very nervous about the water, as many of the people here are, but it went very well and he has a very humble spirit. We are also teaching a young couple who moved here from St. Lucia about 3 months ago. Their names are Brendon and Cardian and they are not married and are expecting a baby in March. Three years ago Brendon received a terrible beating in his rough neighborhood and was in the hospital. He had a near death experience and has been looking for answers ever since. Their questions and understanding are wonderful. The spirit has had a strong influence with them because of their prayers. When we were talking to them about being married last night, they both got tears in their eyes and expressed their desire to have a family different than what they both have had. Brendon's father has never had anything to do with him or his mother and Cardian's mother abandoned her when she was a baby. Being married is the exception here in the Caribbean and there is another couple that need to get married so she can baptized. We have a set a baptism date of October 24 for them. Every missionary companionship on the island had investigators to church on Sunday. We also had some members who have not been active for awhile in attendance because of our visits and committing them to come back. We are experiencing wonderful things here. We had a great P-day with the Elders on the island of Bequia, which is one the Grenadine Islands and is the closest to St. Vincent. Pres. Gamiette gave us permission and it has been a good day for all of us. We took the Rav 4 on the ferry and it made it possible for us to see most of the island; it has beautiful beaches.
We are looking forward to General Conference this coming weekend. We watched the General Relief Society meeting at the Kingstown chapel on Saturday night. We looked at each other and both were thinking the same thing. We have not seen that many "clear people" since arriving in St. Vincent. It makes us hope that the members here will be able to feel the strength of the Church because all they know is a small branch. We will be thinking of you as we enjoy Conference with you!!! May you all have a great week.
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
Highlights of the week!!! We baptized a rasta man at Indian Bay Beach on Saturday. He is so excited to be changing his life and it was sweet to see his hair all in a white turban for the devotional before the baptism. He was very nervous about the water, as many of the people here are, but it went very well and he has a very humble spirit. We are also teaching a young couple who moved here from St. Lucia about 3 months ago. Their names are Brendon and Cardian and they are not married and are expecting a baby in March. Three years ago Brendon received a terrible beating in his rough neighborhood and was in the hospital. He had a near death experience and has been looking for answers ever since. Their questions and understanding are wonderful. The spirit has had a strong influence with them because of their prayers. When we were talking to them about being married last night, they both got tears in their eyes and expressed their desire to have a family different than what they both have had. Brendon's father has never had anything to do with him or his mother and Cardian's mother abandoned her when she was a baby. Being married is the exception here in the Caribbean and there is another couple that need to get married so she can baptized. We have a set a baptism date of October 24 for them. Every missionary companionship on the island had investigators to church on Sunday. We also had some members who have not been active for awhile in attendance because of our visits and committing them to come back. We are experiencing wonderful things here. We had a great P-day with the Elders on the island of Bequia, which is one the Grenadine Islands and is the closest to St. Vincent. Pres. Gamiette gave us permission and it has been a good day for all of us. We took the Rav 4 on the ferry and it made it possible for us to see most of the island; it has beautiful beaches.
We are looking forward to General Conference this coming weekend. We watched the General Relief Society meeting at the Kingstown chapel on Saturday night. We looked at each other and both were thinking the same thing. We have not seen that many "clear people" since arriving in St. Vincent. It makes us hope that the members here will be able to feel the strength of the Church because all they know is a small branch. We will be thinking of you as we enjoy Conference with you!!! May you all have a great week.
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
September 20,2009
It has been an unbelievably busy but good week here in St. Vincent!!! We hope all is well with you. We love hearing from you and what is going on.
On Monday, we had a wonderful FHE for the Calliaqua branch. We had a major transfer coming in the mission and would lose all but one of the Elders here. We had a Tongan Emuu (or something like that) and roasted a pig in a pit with breadfruit and banana leaves and the works. Elder Veae and Elder Moala did a great job!!! One of the highlights of the night was an investigator that Elder Moala and Elder Veae contacted on the street and invited him to the party. He is an architect and a very bright man. Jim was very impressed with him. Since then Natha has read a lot about the restoration and the Book of Mormon and has committed to baptism. That is since Monday!!! He told us that his life is a disaster and that he wants what the gospel offers. Really golden!!!
On Tuesday, Elder Cottam left for Guadaloupe and will be speaking french and will be the zone leader there. He has been such a blessing because he has great computer skills. We spent the rest of the day moving from one apartment to another further up the gap andwhich is cheaper with a lot more room and an unbelievable view. The breeze that comes through the apartment is better than air conditioning and will help with the electrical bill. Elder Moala flew out that night to Trinidad and then on the next day to the US and home. He was excited and sad at the same time after serving a good mission.
On Wednesday morning, Elder Vi arrived straight from the MTC; he is Elder Moala's cousin. So we still have the Tongan Elders in Calliaqua with Elders Veae and Vi. Later that afternoon Elders Damm, Harris, Huntsman, Stebbing, Risenmay and Gilley arrived. They all came from Guyana and were part of the 42 missionaries that were arrested and held in the police station there. Some of them were headed to Trinidad but that country would not let them in either. So, we are being blessed to have a boost in the missionary work here in St. Vincent. We spent the rest of the day getting cell phones, drivers licenses, food, money and etc. and getting them settled in their apartments. The Kingston branch came up with a good way to remember the 4 missionaries assigned to their branch. Damm, Harris just Stabbed Huntsman. We spent the rest of the week just cleaning up details on apartment contracts moving the office and mission supplies to our new apartment and trying to orient the Elders to the island where there are no addresses. They are hard workers and have "hit the deck a running". Our new apartment is up a steep gap, quite a climb in a vehicle or especially on foot. Saturday morning, after our walk, I baked cookies before cleaning up for the day. My thought was that there was no way the Elders will climb that hill just for cookies. At 10:30 am the Calliaqua 4 came and ate a lot and about 2 pm as we were leaving the Kingstown 4 came and finished them off.
We have been visiting less active members and have had some interesting experiences. One man has not been to church for a long time and knows the church is true but is addicted to marijuana. His story is a tragic one; he thinks he is in control of his own destiny. We met him in the market and he told us that he is a wild man but when he saw us he felt soft.
Well, the Elders want to go to Dark View Falls and Wallilabou Bay at 7 am so best call it a night.
We love ya,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
On Monday, we had a wonderful FHE for the Calliaqua branch. We had a major transfer coming in the mission and would lose all but one of the Elders here. We had a Tongan Emuu (or something like that) and roasted a pig in a pit with breadfruit and banana leaves and the works. Elder Veae and Elder Moala did a great job!!! One of the highlights of the night was an investigator that Elder Moala and Elder Veae contacted on the street and invited him to the party. He is an architect and a very bright man. Jim was very impressed with him. Since then Natha has read a lot about the restoration and the Book of Mormon and has committed to baptism. That is since Monday!!! He told us that his life is a disaster and that he wants what the gospel offers. Really golden!!!
On Tuesday, Elder Cottam left for Guadaloupe and will be speaking french and will be the zone leader there. He has been such a blessing because he has great computer skills. We spent the rest of the day moving from one apartment to another further up the gap andwhich is cheaper with a lot more room and an unbelievable view. The breeze that comes through the apartment is better than air conditioning and will help with the electrical bill. Elder Moala flew out that night to Trinidad and then on the next day to the US and home. He was excited and sad at the same time after serving a good mission.
On Wednesday morning, Elder Vi arrived straight from the MTC; he is Elder Moala's cousin. So we still have the Tongan Elders in Calliaqua with Elders Veae and Vi. Later that afternoon Elders Damm, Harris, Huntsman, Stebbing, Risenmay and Gilley arrived. They all came from Guyana and were part of the 42 missionaries that were arrested and held in the police station there. Some of them were headed to Trinidad but that country would not let them in either. So, we are being blessed to have a boost in the missionary work here in St. Vincent. We spent the rest of the day getting cell phones, drivers licenses, food, money and etc. and getting them settled in their apartments. The Kingston branch came up with a good way to remember the 4 missionaries assigned to their branch. Damm, Harris just Stabbed Huntsman. We spent the rest of the week just cleaning up details on apartment contracts moving the office and mission supplies to our new apartment and trying to orient the Elders to the island where there are no addresses. They are hard workers and have "hit the deck a running". Our new apartment is up a steep gap, quite a climb in a vehicle or especially on foot. Saturday morning, after our walk, I baked cookies before cleaning up for the day. My thought was that there was no way the Elders will climb that hill just for cookies. At 10:30 am the Calliaqua 4 came and ate a lot and about 2 pm as we were leaving the Kingstown 4 came and finished them off.
We have been visiting less active members and have had some interesting experiences. One man has not been to church for a long time and knows the church is true but is addicted to marijuana. His story is a tragic one; he thinks he is in control of his own destiny. We met him in the market and he told us that he is a wild man but when he saw us he felt soft.
Well, the Elders want to go to Dark View Falls and Wallilabou Bay at 7 am so best call it a night.
We love ya,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
September 13, 2009
Dear family and friends,
Well, how was the Fair? Some of you told us that you were going and this is the first time in my life that we haven't gone. We will miss two of them; they have been a marker in the year for us!
What a great week we have had!!! Yesterday we had three baptisms at different times of the day. We started with Sherwyn and Kyle's (baptized a week ago) mom, Mavis. What a great lady and here countenance was beautiful. Her baptism was in the Kingstown church at 8 a.m. and there was a great spirit there with wonderful testimonies from branch members. At 10 a.m. we went to the beach for Dexter's baptism. I think that we mentioned him in another e-mail. The first time he came to church in Calliaqua, he sat by me and was just like a sponge soaking everything up. He is 18 and will be a great member of the church and a good example to his friends. As we were getting in our cars after the baptism, a couple were headed to the beach and stopped and talked to us. Elder Vaea took the lead and found out that Anthony had joined the church in Canada a decade ago and had not been active for years. We invited him to come to the Calliaqua branch on Sunday. The timing couldn't have been better and he did attend church today and found that he knew quite a few of the members.
Then, the missionaries went to work finding an 8 year old boy's parents to get permission for his baptism. His mom has been deaf and dumb since birth and has done well with her limitations. She is a single mom, lots of them here, and the dad is involved just enough to make things interesting. Solomon was baptized in the ocean about 4 p.m. He acted very afraid of the water to begin with and after his baptism we couldn't get him out of the water. He didn't know what he was feeling but we did. Elder Cronin had learned sign language earlier in his mission and was able to make the baptism understandable for Solomon's mom by signing for her. A very memorable day on St. Vincent!
We have been busy finding apartments for four more missionaries and in the process found another one for us that is farther up the gap with an unbelievable view and a breeze that cools things off nicely. It is also bigger and less money; so we will be moving along with the Elders this week. Transfers are this week and we will lose Elder Moala (going home) and Elder Cottam (has been a great trainer for us on the computer etc. and will be going to Guadeloupe where he will learn French). Elders Cronin and Vaea will stay and we will get six new elders on Wednesday. We have gotten very attached to these young Elders and will miss them greatly.
We also had zone conference in St. Lucia on Thursday and Friday. St. Lucia is a beautiful island with white sand beaches and more conveniences available. There are more resorts, restaurants and shopping. We stayed in a beautiful resort on the beach. The elders stayed in an apartment that is in the basement of one of the branches. There are quite a few perks for the senior missionaries. It was great to meet some of the other couples in the mission. Elder and Sister Collins and Elder and Sister Faux are serving on St. Lucia and Elder and Sister Rasmussen are serving on Grenada. The Collins received a surprise transfer (they thought they would be staying on St. Lucia til their release) to Guayana. Elder Willford Anderson of the Second Quorum of the Seventy was with Pres. Gamiette and it was a great experience being taught by them. We shared breakfast and dinner with them as well as rides to and from the church and it was wonderful to hear their perspectives about what is happening in the Church. Elder Anderson didn't use one note as he taught us for an hour and a half.
We had 45 to Church today!!! We also start seminary in the branches this week. Things will happen with more missionaries here and on several of the other islands. A miracle has happened in Guyana; 12 perspective missionaries from that country have been interviewed and will soon be serving in their home country. Do you think the Lord has his hand in this great work? Trials turn into blessings!
Well, we are calling it a day or should we say a week!!! You are in our prayers!!!
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
Well, how was the Fair? Some of you told us that you were going and this is the first time in my life that we haven't gone. We will miss two of them; they have been a marker in the year for us!
What a great week we have had!!! Yesterday we had three baptisms at different times of the day. We started with Sherwyn and Kyle's (baptized a week ago) mom, Mavis. What a great lady and here countenance was beautiful. Her baptism was in the Kingstown church at 8 a.m. and there was a great spirit there with wonderful testimonies from branch members. At 10 a.m. we went to the beach for Dexter's baptism. I think that we mentioned him in another e-mail. The first time he came to church in Calliaqua, he sat by me and was just like a sponge soaking everything up. He is 18 and will be a great member of the church and a good example to his friends. As we were getting in our cars after the baptism, a couple were headed to the beach and stopped and talked to us. Elder Vaea took the lead and found out that Anthony had joined the church in Canada a decade ago and had not been active for years. We invited him to come to the Calliaqua branch on Sunday. The timing couldn't have been better and he did attend church today and found that he knew quite a few of the members.
Then, the missionaries went to work finding an 8 year old boy's parents to get permission for his baptism. His mom has been deaf and dumb since birth and has done well with her limitations. She is a single mom, lots of them here, and the dad is involved just enough to make things interesting. Solomon was baptized in the ocean about 4 p.m. He acted very afraid of the water to begin with and after his baptism we couldn't get him out of the water. He didn't know what he was feeling but we did. Elder Cronin had learned sign language earlier in his mission and was able to make the baptism understandable for Solomon's mom by signing for her. A very memorable day on St. Vincent!
We have been busy finding apartments for four more missionaries and in the process found another one for us that is farther up the gap with an unbelievable view and a breeze that cools things off nicely. It is also bigger and less money; so we will be moving along with the Elders this week. Transfers are this week and we will lose Elder Moala (going home) and Elder Cottam (has been a great trainer for us on the computer etc. and will be going to Guadeloupe where he will learn French). Elders Cronin and Vaea will stay and we will get six new elders on Wednesday. We have gotten very attached to these young Elders and will miss them greatly.
We also had zone conference in St. Lucia on Thursday and Friday. St. Lucia is a beautiful island with white sand beaches and more conveniences available. There are more resorts, restaurants and shopping. We stayed in a beautiful resort on the beach. The elders stayed in an apartment that is in the basement of one of the branches. There are quite a few perks for the senior missionaries. It was great to meet some of the other couples in the mission. Elder and Sister Collins and Elder and Sister Faux are serving on St. Lucia and Elder and Sister Rasmussen are serving on Grenada. The Collins received a surprise transfer (they thought they would be staying on St. Lucia til their release) to Guayana. Elder Willford Anderson of the Second Quorum of the Seventy was with Pres. Gamiette and it was a great experience being taught by them. We shared breakfast and dinner with them as well as rides to and from the church and it was wonderful to hear their perspectives about what is happening in the Church. Elder Anderson didn't use one note as he taught us for an hour and a half.
We had 45 to Church today!!! We also start seminary in the branches this week. Things will happen with more missionaries here and on several of the other islands. A miracle has happened in Guyana; 12 perspective missionaries from that country have been interviewed and will soon be serving in their home country. Do you think the Lord has his hand in this great work? Trials turn into blessings!
Well, we are calling it a day or should we say a week!!! You are in our prayers!!!
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
Monday, September 7, 2009
September 6,2009
Dear family and friends,
It has been another good week in St. Vincent. We hope that you all have had a good week also. It is great to hear from home; how is that for a gentle reminder?
We had our first ever zone meeting on the web on Tuesday. Elder Cottam and Pres. Gamiette are both unbelievable on the computer. Elders Cottam and Cronin are the zone leaders and over three island nations, which makes having a zone meeting a bit of a challenge. It worked great as we were able see all the other elders with a program like Skype and also met the other couples on the other islands. Pres. Gamiette and his APs were also with us. It turned out great and then we had Mama Jan's fajitas for lunch with guacamole of course. The elders had not had Mexican food for quite awhile and Elder Vaea had never had it. They ate a lot. The avocados here are unbelievable!
On Wednesday we received word about the trouble in Guyana and immediately knelt and prayed for the safety of the elders there. Pres. Gamiette immediately went to Guyana to try to work things out with that government. It is complicated politically as the ruling party is Hindu and they want the Mormons out. We received word tonight that we need to find more apartments here in St. Vincent for elders who will be coming here from Guyana. It will be interesting to see how the Lord will turn this all into a blessing. The people in Guyana are so ready for the "Good News" that it is hard to think about over 40 elders being deported. They will organize the first stake there this month.
The sunset from the Calliaqua branch was amazing. Pictures on the blog.
Friday night was the YW talent show in Calliaqua and the Kingstown branch was invited. It was to start at 6 and Elder and Sister Wheeler and Bro. Jackson and his daughter were the only ones there at 6. It started at 7 and was wonderful. The YW president, Sister Quetelle had done a great job of getting the program and the girls ready and had written some wonderful poetry and skits for them. It was all gospel oriented and everyone involved sang and danced there hearts out. Pres. Robertson played his guitar for several of the numbers and sang his favorite hymn, Does the Journey Seem Long. It was fun to see how proud he is of his little flock. Great night in Calliaqua.
Megan had responded to a ASAP request for my chocolate cake recipe and I stirred it right up. The elders had been taking turns being sick (happens during the rainy season I guess), but felt better when invited for cake and ice cream after the talent show. Amazing how much better they felt!!!
We are preparing for Seminary to start in a week here. They are having difficulty wrapping themselves around the idea of early morning seminary 5 days a week. It will be interesting to see what finally happens to accommodate their culture. Pres. Gamiette and Elder Alvarado are determined that it will be a success. Sister Meezan Adams and I made up the Seminary kits tonight. She is a convert from Guyana and a great member of the church. Her husband's name is Gary and he is a good, good guy.
Well, that is the news for another week. We get tender when we pray for you all. Thanks for all you do!!!
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
It has been another good week in St. Vincent. We hope that you all have had a good week also. It is great to hear from home; how is that for a gentle reminder?
We had our first ever zone meeting on the web on Tuesday. Elder Cottam and Pres. Gamiette are both unbelievable on the computer. Elders Cottam and Cronin are the zone leaders and over three island nations, which makes having a zone meeting a bit of a challenge. It worked great as we were able see all the other elders with a program like Skype and also met the other couples on the other islands. Pres. Gamiette and his APs were also with us. It turned out great and then we had Mama Jan's fajitas for lunch with guacamole of course. The elders had not had Mexican food for quite awhile and Elder Vaea had never had it. They ate a lot. The avocados here are unbelievable!
On Wednesday we received word about the trouble in Guyana and immediately knelt and prayed for the safety of the elders there. Pres. Gamiette immediately went to Guyana to try to work things out with that government. It is complicated politically as the ruling party is Hindu and they want the Mormons out. We received word tonight that we need to find more apartments here in St. Vincent for elders who will be coming here from Guyana. It will be interesting to see how the Lord will turn this all into a blessing. The people in Guyana are so ready for the "Good News" that it is hard to think about over 40 elders being deported. They will organize the first stake there this month.
The sunset from the Calliaqua branch was amazing. Pictures on the blog.
Friday night was the YW talent show in Calliaqua and the Kingstown branch was invited. It was to start at 6 and Elder and Sister Wheeler and Bro. Jackson and his daughter were the only ones there at 6. It started at 7 and was wonderful. The YW president, Sister Quetelle had done a great job of getting the program and the girls ready and had written some wonderful poetry and skits for them. It was all gospel oriented and everyone involved sang and danced there hearts out. Pres. Robertson played his guitar for several of the numbers and sang his favorite hymn, Does the Journey Seem Long. It was fun to see how proud he is of his little flock. Great night in Calliaqua.
Megan had responded to a ASAP request for my chocolate cake recipe and I stirred it right up. The elders had been taking turns being sick (happens during the rainy season I guess), but felt better when invited for cake and ice cream after the talent show. Amazing how much better they felt!!!
We are preparing for Seminary to start in a week here. They are having difficulty wrapping themselves around the idea of early morning seminary 5 days a week. It will be interesting to see what finally happens to accommodate their culture. Pres. Gamiette and Elder Alvarado are determined that it will be a success. Sister Meezan Adams and I made up the Seminary kits tonight. She is a convert from Guyana and a great member of the church. Her husband's name is Gary and he is a good, good guy.
Well, that is the news for another week. We get tender when we pray for you all. Thanks for all you do!!!
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
August 30,2009
Dear family and friends,
We have had another great week. We have heard from some of you and it is great to be updated about how you are doing and what is happening at home.
We have had President Gamiette and Elder Alvarado here this week and we didn't know that either of them were coming until last Monday. President Gamiette arrived on Wednesday and left on Thursday. Just a little bit about our mission President. President Claude Gamiette is French and from Guadoloupe. He and his wife have 5 children who are all at home, so young. He is 41 years old and has been a CES director, has served a mission in Florida and rumor has it that he converted over 300. He is extremely motivated and ran our zone leaders ragged. In 2008, this mission baptized 2012 and President Gamiette's focus is on retention and rescuing those who have become inactive. Our zone leaders were with him except when they took him to his hotel to sleep. We had lunch with him and the zone leaders and Elder Cronin was sunburned, (they have a car and do a lot of their work that way) hungry and thirsty.
President Gamiette left St. Vincent at 6 a.m. and Elder Jorge Alvarado arrived at 9:30 a.m. We spent two days being his host and facilitator. It was Pres. Gamiette's goal to get seminary and institute organized on this island. It was started last year and they gave it up after two months. They are very hopeful that they have a new chance at making it work here and that it will be a great blessing to the members and the young people who will be the future missionaries and leaders.
Elder Alvarado is 38 years old and is from Puerto Rico. He and his wife have 3 children and they stay in contact when he is traveling through Skype. He has taken Pres. Gamiette's place in CES and so they have a very interesting relationship. Elder Alvarado reports to Pres. Gamiette about CES and Pres. Gamiette reports to Elder Alvarado about the West Indies Mission (WIM). Elder Alvarado has served as a bishop, stake president and has been an Area Seventy for 6 years. He is dynamic, motivated and yet can kick it back a notch when things don't turn out like we had them planned. We visited members and young people in both branches hoping to get them committed to go to seminary and to get an institute program up and going for the young single adults. These programs help keep our youth strong in the States and the Caribbean members have not caught the vision yet. Elder Alvarado meet with the recently called supervisors and teachers to train them and set them apart. We had a fireside on Friday night and it was great. Both leaders were great examples of contacting people wherever we are and asking them if they would like to have the missionaries come. Elder Alvarado is very good teacher and a lot of fun. He left for other assignments in St. Lucia Saturday morning and hoped to be home with his family in Puerto Rico Sunday morning. These leaders put in unbelievable days and go to bed exhausted, but when they are ministering you would never know they are tired.
We had a wonderful day today. It started out a bit slow with the Calliaqua branch only having 5 people there including us at 9 a.m. and starting 10 minutes late. By the time the sacrament was over we had more than 30. Elder Alvarado has taught us not to stress when things don't go as planned; it is just part of the culture. The Kingstown Elders baptized Kyle and Sherwyn. (I told you about them and their mother Mavis a week ago.) Mavis had sickness and will be ready in the near future. They had a time for testimonies after the baptism and the spirit was very strong. We also were invited by President Baynes of the Kingstown branch to attend a family gathering on the beach. It was on the leeward side of the island and so the waves were small. It is a huge family. His wife is number 11 in a family of 16. Her mother will turn 90 in the near future and was there also. Pres. Baynes is the only member in that huge family. We hope to become good friends and hopefully help that situation. There was a man at this gathering who works at the airport and saw Dad there that thinks Dad looks like Teddy Kennedy (We heard Teddy passed away this week). We are sending a few pictures.
Another wonderful thing happened today. We visited the Small family the first week we here which we told you about before. They have so much to offer and Brother Small has not been to church for 3 years. His wife has also been inactive but is doing great now and has been called as a seminary teacher. Brother Small attended church in the Kingstown branch today!!! It was an exciting day!
We are still learning how to eat; however they have these huge avocados and the Elders are always ready for us to make a new batch of guacamole when the members give them another avocado. Elder Alvarado went home with quite a few in his suitcase. I would love to make mango salsa, anyone have a recipe?
The days are busy, they are full, but very enjoyable.
We love ya all lots,
Elder and Sister Wheeler.
We have had another great week. We have heard from some of you and it is great to be updated about how you are doing and what is happening at home.
We have had President Gamiette and Elder Alvarado here this week and we didn't know that either of them were coming until last Monday. President Gamiette arrived on Wednesday and left on Thursday. Just a little bit about our mission President. President Claude Gamiette is French and from Guadoloupe. He and his wife have 5 children who are all at home, so young. He is 41 years old and has been a CES director, has served a mission in Florida and rumor has it that he converted over 300. He is extremely motivated and ran our zone leaders ragged. In 2008, this mission baptized 2012 and President Gamiette's focus is on retention and rescuing those who have become inactive. Our zone leaders were with him except when they took him to his hotel to sleep. We had lunch with him and the zone leaders and Elder Cronin was sunburned, (they have a car and do a lot of their work that way) hungry and thirsty.
President Gamiette left St. Vincent at 6 a.m. and Elder Jorge Alvarado arrived at 9:30 a.m. We spent two days being his host and facilitator. It was Pres. Gamiette's goal to get seminary and institute organized on this island. It was started last year and they gave it up after two months. They are very hopeful that they have a new chance at making it work here and that it will be a great blessing to the members and the young people who will be the future missionaries and leaders.
Elder Alvarado is 38 years old and is from Puerto Rico. He and his wife have 3 children and they stay in contact when he is traveling through Skype. He has taken Pres. Gamiette's place in CES and so they have a very interesting relationship. Elder Alvarado reports to Pres. Gamiette about CES and Pres. Gamiette reports to Elder Alvarado about the West Indies Mission (WIM). Elder Alvarado has served as a bishop, stake president and has been an Area Seventy for 6 years. He is dynamic, motivated and yet can kick it back a notch when things don't turn out like we had them planned. We visited members and young people in both branches hoping to get them committed to go to seminary and to get an institute program up and going for the young single adults. These programs help keep our youth strong in the States and the Caribbean members have not caught the vision yet. Elder Alvarado meet with the recently called supervisors and teachers to train them and set them apart. We had a fireside on Friday night and it was great. Both leaders were great examples of contacting people wherever we are and asking them if they would like to have the missionaries come. Elder Alvarado is very good teacher and a lot of fun. He left for other assignments in St. Lucia Saturday morning and hoped to be home with his family in Puerto Rico Sunday morning. These leaders put in unbelievable days and go to bed exhausted, but when they are ministering you would never know they are tired.
We had a wonderful day today. It started out a bit slow with the Calliaqua branch only having 5 people there including us at 9 a.m. and starting 10 minutes late. By the time the sacrament was over we had more than 30. Elder Alvarado has taught us not to stress when things don't go as planned; it is just part of the culture. The Kingstown Elders baptized Kyle and Sherwyn. (I told you about them and their mother Mavis a week ago.) Mavis had sickness and will be ready in the near future. They had a time for testimonies after the baptism and the spirit was very strong. We also were invited by President Baynes of the Kingstown branch to attend a family gathering on the beach. It was on the leeward side of the island and so the waves were small. It is a huge family. His wife is number 11 in a family of 16. Her mother will turn 90 in the near future and was there also. Pres. Baynes is the only member in that huge family. We hope to become good friends and hopefully help that situation. There was a man at this gathering who works at the airport and saw Dad there that thinks Dad looks like Teddy Kennedy (We heard Teddy passed away this week). We are sending a few pictures.
Another wonderful thing happened today. We visited the Small family the first week we here which we told you about before. They have so much to offer and Brother Small has not been to church for 3 years. His wife has also been inactive but is doing great now and has been called as a seminary teacher. Brother Small attended church in the Kingstown branch today!!! It was an exciting day!
We are still learning how to eat; however they have these huge avocados and the Elders are always ready for us to make a new batch of guacamole when the members give them another avocado. Elder Alvarado went home with quite a few in his suitcase. I would love to make mango salsa, anyone have a recipe?
The days are busy, they are full, but very enjoyable.
We love ya all lots,
Elder and Sister Wheeler.
Monday, August 24, 2009
august 23 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
We have had another wonderful week in St. Vincent! We will start with Monday which is our P-day. We left early in the morning for the leeward side of the island. There were unbelievable views in every direction. Our first stop was the farthermost destination. It is Dark View Falls and is also a bamboo refuge. You can see all of the pictures we took on our blog. We then went to Wallilabou Bay which is where Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed and that was great fun. We had lunch with the Elders there and then went on to Fort Charlotte which was built in the 1600's. Great history for the history buff and the view was spectacular. We finished in the early afternoon and did our P-day chores. We then had family home evening with the Adams. There home is about the size of our kitchen at home. They insisted that Jim and I sit in the two chairs that were in the kitchen/living room and the 4 Elders and Gary and Maazen sat side by side on the floor. Elder Cottam gave a great lesson and testimonies were shared. Maazen made pizza for Gary's birthday, which was very good. They are raising ducks for some extra money and we all became quite well acquainted with them before we left as they were right by the front door. Elder Vaea sat on the front steps and talked to the ducks until it started to rain and then we all were inside together. It was a wonderful experience and reaffirmed our belief that what you have is not what makes you happy but what you believe and how you live. Gary and Maazen are very strong members of the Kingstown branch.
We had the Elders for lunch after district meeting on Tuesday and they loved it. We had wonderful grilled chicken and a batch chocolate chip cookies that didn't turn out like home but they didn't know the difference and guacamole and chips. Adams had huge avocados growing right next to their house and gave us one. Lunch here will probably become a tradition after district meetings.
Wednesday and Thursday were quite quiet because Elder Vaea and Elder Cottam took turns being sick and needing some assistance. We did renew passports for the first time and Elders Cottam and Cronin had the paperwork so well prepared that we sailed right through.
We went to the market on Friday. We liked the variety at one vendor and bought several things from a lady named Joyce who said, "Jehovah told me to sell to you for less." She and her daughter also taught us how to prepare some of the produce that we are totally unfamiliar with. We then found a vendor who was selling fresh fish. There were three men who were very helpful in teaching us how to prepare the fish. As we were leaving, one of them said, "Will you pray for me Jesus lady? My name is Ammaron." I said that I would and that we would be back next week.
Saturday morning we had a wonderful walk in the rain at the cricket field. We then went visiting inactives with Elders Moala and Vaea. We went to a lady that had been offended in the Calliaqua branch. When we went into her house, she had sewing machines all over and had once had 40 employees who made clothing. Sharp lady and we hit it off right away. She does like to run things which can be a problem no matter where you are a member. We challenged her to forgive and to come to church on Sunday and she said she would. Surprised the Elders, us too. She did come to Church today and said she would come again next week. We have had some spiritual experiences visiting less active members. The Small family from the Kingstown branch are coming along and we are very hopeful that they will be ready to go to the temple while we are here.
The Kingstown branch had an Open House Saturday night which was to help the community understand what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is really about. Elders Cronin and Cottam and the branch mission leaders did a great job. We taught the workshop on the Family and the Proclamation. We were excited about some of the people that came to find about the Church. At the end, the branch put on a skit that was hilarious to everyone except Elder and Sister Wheeler who didn't understand any of it. They talk so fast! Just when we thought we were getting better.
Today has been a very busy day. We took a vehicle packed with members to Church and then to took a vehicle even more packed home. I stayed at the church while Jim took them home to make more room. We both had meetings etc. after the block. We got home about 3 and fried some fish and plantain (like bananas) for dinner and then took another vehicle load back to the church for YW meetings and our first choir practice. Pres. Robertson called a new convert to lead the choir who can sing gospel music so well. She doesn't know how to lead music so he taught her right there. It was something we will not forget for a long time. Great spirit! As he has expressed concerns with the missionaries he ends his comments with, "These are precious people." We returned home shortly after 8 and decided to send this e-mail tonight instead of tomorrow.
Our blog address is http://jimandjanwheeler.blogspot.com which will have our e-mails and the pictures that we are taking. Good week for pictures because of our trip on Monday.
We are very grateful for all of you and your support. We love hearing from you and know now how our family missionaries loved news from home. Our prayers are always with you and hope that all is well on the home front.
We love ya lots,
Mom and Dad (Elder and Sister Wheeler)
We have had another wonderful week in St. Vincent! We will start with Monday which is our P-day. We left early in the morning for the leeward side of the island. There were unbelievable views in every direction. Our first stop was the farthermost destination. It is Dark View Falls and is also a bamboo refuge. You can see all of the pictures we took on our blog. We then went to Wallilabou Bay which is where Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed and that was great fun. We had lunch with the Elders there and then went on to Fort Charlotte which was built in the 1600's. Great history for the history buff and the view was spectacular. We finished in the early afternoon and did our P-day chores. We then had family home evening with the Adams. There home is about the size of our kitchen at home. They insisted that Jim and I sit in the two chairs that were in the kitchen/living room and the 4 Elders and Gary and Maazen sat side by side on the floor. Elder Cottam gave a great lesson and testimonies were shared. Maazen made pizza for Gary's birthday, which was very good. They are raising ducks for some extra money and we all became quite well acquainted with them before we left as they were right by the front door. Elder Vaea sat on the front steps and talked to the ducks until it started to rain and then we all were inside together. It was a wonderful experience and reaffirmed our belief that what you have is not what makes you happy but what you believe and how you live. Gary and Maazen are very strong members of the Kingstown branch.
We had the Elders for lunch after district meeting on Tuesday and they loved it. We had wonderful grilled chicken and a batch chocolate chip cookies that didn't turn out like home but they didn't know the difference and guacamole and chips. Adams had huge avocados growing right next to their house and gave us one. Lunch here will probably become a tradition after district meetings.
Wednesday and Thursday were quite quiet because Elder Vaea and Elder Cottam took turns being sick and needing some assistance. We did renew passports for the first time and Elders Cottam and Cronin had the paperwork so well prepared that we sailed right through.
We went to the market on Friday. We liked the variety at one vendor and bought several things from a lady named Joyce who said, "Jehovah told me to sell to you for less." She and her daughter also taught us how to prepare some of the produce that we are totally unfamiliar with. We then found a vendor who was selling fresh fish. There were three men who were very helpful in teaching us how to prepare the fish. As we were leaving, one of them said, "Will you pray for me Jesus lady? My name is Ammaron." I said that I would and that we would be back next week.
Saturday morning we had a wonderful walk in the rain at the cricket field. We then went visiting inactives with Elders Moala and Vaea. We went to a lady that had been offended in the Calliaqua branch. When we went into her house, she had sewing machines all over and had once had 40 employees who made clothing. Sharp lady and we hit it off right away. She does like to run things which can be a problem no matter where you are a member. We challenged her to forgive and to come to church on Sunday and she said she would. Surprised the Elders, us too. She did come to Church today and said she would come again next week. We have had some spiritual experiences visiting less active members. The Small family from the Kingstown branch are coming along and we are very hopeful that they will be ready to go to the temple while we are here.
The Kingstown branch had an Open House Saturday night which was to help the community understand what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is really about. Elders Cronin and Cottam and the branch mission leaders did a great job. We taught the workshop on the Family and the Proclamation. We were excited about some of the people that came to find about the Church. At the end, the branch put on a skit that was hilarious to everyone except Elder and Sister Wheeler who didn't understand any of it. They talk so fast! Just when we thought we were getting better.
Today has been a very busy day. We took a vehicle packed with members to Church and then to took a vehicle even more packed home. I stayed at the church while Jim took them home to make more room. We both had meetings etc. after the block. We got home about 3 and fried some fish and plantain (like bananas) for dinner and then took another vehicle load back to the church for YW meetings and our first choir practice. Pres. Robertson called a new convert to lead the choir who can sing gospel music so well. She doesn't know how to lead music so he taught her right there. It was something we will not forget for a long time. Great spirit! As he has expressed concerns with the missionaries he ends his comments with, "These are precious people." We returned home shortly after 8 and decided to send this e-mail tonight instead of tomorrow.
Our blog address is http://jimandjanwheeler.blogspot.com which will have our e-mails and the pictures that we are taking. Good week for pictures because of our trip on Monday.
We are very grateful for all of you and your support. We love hearing from you and know now how our family missionaries loved news from home. Our prayers are always with you and hope that all is well on the home front.
We love ya lots,
Mom and Dad (Elder and Sister Wheeler)
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Pictures from our mission
You can find our pictures at this link:
http://photobucket.com/jimjanwheeler
http://photobucket.com/jimjanwheeler
First Week in St. Vincent
Dear Family and Friends,
Our first week on the island of St. Vincent has been amazing!!! We have been very busy and the Elders who are serving here have been doing a good job of orienting and training us. The mission office have had a few problems so the missionary couple that are serving there who were going to come to train us have not been able to come. Elder Cottam is a whiz on the computer and has completely reformatted our computer to handle WIM (West Indies Mission) information and reports etc.
You already know that our 3 hour layover in Barbados turned into an almost 9 hour layover. The Liat airline in notorious for never being on time and the locals say LIAT stands for Leave Island Any Time. We arrived in at Vincent just before midnight and Elders Cottam and Cronin were still waiting for us. Since were are talking about the challenges here, we will continue with that. Driving on the island is high adventure. First of all we are driving on the left hand side of the road, second-the roads are very narrow, windy, and steep, third-there are deep cement ditches on the sides of the road to carry away the rain water (it RAINS almost every day). Needless to say, we have been "white knuckling it" a lot. There are no stop lights, if you can imagine, with a population of 100,000. Thankfully they don't all drive. There are vans that are called buses and those drivers are dangerous. People beep their horns before going around corners or over hills that you can't see and when they are yielding to the other person to go. Amazingly, it works for the locals. There are no addresses and the streets are called gaps which come off the main road that goes around the island. The houses are on such steep terrain that a lot of them are totally or partially on stilts and have large retaining walls around them. It is very warm but it is the rainy season and that has helped. Everything is very close together and compact, there are very few parking lots. It is very crowded in downtown Kingstown and there are lots of small shops and vendors with a huge farmers market in the middle. Kingstown is the only city of size and is the capitol. Around the south end of the island it is all populated and in the north it is uninhabitable because of the rough terrain and bush which was caused by the volcano La Soufriere.
The people talk very fast and with an accent which is almost impossible to understand; we are getting used to it but there are still some that leave us wondering "what did he say?". We ask them to slow down so we can understand. It is worse than the disclaimers at the end of advertisements on the radio. We have seen very few "clear" people here so it is more like 98% black. There are many many different churches most of which we have never heard of but are Christian. They are very religious, gospel oriented people. Very kind. The whole island observes the Sabbath and everything is closed today, even the crazy buses are not running today.
Now, for the good stuff. The little house we are living in is charming. It is stucco with a tin roof and gated yard. We have air-conditioning in two bedrooms and a washer and dryer which we did not expect. The floors are all tile as well as the patios which are off the kitchen and the living room. The Francis family (landlord) live next door and have been very cordial. We can see the ocean and several of the adjoining gaps with the houses up each gap. There is lush, green foliage everywhere. There are many banana and breadfruit tree as well as coconut, mango and others we don't know yet. The ocean is a beautiful blue color; the locals don't spend much time in the ocean or at the beach because the do not swim and are afraid of the water. (I feel right at home.) There are hardly any tourists right now but even in tourist season there aren't a lot. There are a few small resorts and so it doesn't feel like a tourist attraction which makes it even more beautiful. They are just beginning to build an international airport on the other side of the island which will probably change things.
We have had some wonderful spiritual experiences with the missionaries. Our first lesson with an investigator was with Elder Moala and Elder Vaea (both from Tonga and great missionaries). We went down a gap to a home that was very humble and Mora and her son (9 years old) and Melissa (2 years old) were sitting on the steps waiting for us. The Elders had been there once before. We went inside and there was an unbelievable spirit as the Elders taught them about the Book of Mormon. Mora asked very good questions about what she had read since the day before and when we read with her Moroni 10:3-5 the spirit was so strong. Her son, Delano, is very bright and had soaked up all that the missionaries had taught. What a wonderful experience to share the "Good News" with such a wonderful family who needs it so badly.
We participated in baptism of Korey Cyrus who is 10 years old; his mother was baptized two weeks ago. It took place at a very secluded beach in the ocean. Elder Vaea baptized him and Elder Moala confirmed him a member today during sacrament meeting. It was quite a site to see them dressed in white in the blue, blue ocean and the great smile on Korey's face as he came out of the water. Unforgettable!!!
We have also been with Elder Cottam and Elder Cronin in teaching investigators Jenny and Mavis and visiting inactive members and encouraging them to come back. We have felt the spirit very strong with these good people and are loving them already.
We are going with the Elders to teach another investigator in a few minutes; so; we've got to go!!! Our prayers are with you and we love ya lots!
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
Our first week on the island of St. Vincent has been amazing!!! We have been very busy and the Elders who are serving here have been doing a good job of orienting and training us. The mission office have had a few problems so the missionary couple that are serving there who were going to come to train us have not been able to come. Elder Cottam is a whiz on the computer and has completely reformatted our computer to handle WIM (West Indies Mission) information and reports etc.
You already know that our 3 hour layover in Barbados turned into an almost 9 hour layover. The Liat airline in notorious for never being on time and the locals say LIAT stands for Leave Island Any Time. We arrived in at Vincent just before midnight and Elders Cottam and Cronin were still waiting for us. Since were are talking about the challenges here, we will continue with that. Driving on the island is high adventure. First of all we are driving on the left hand side of the road, second-the roads are very narrow, windy, and steep, third-there are deep cement ditches on the sides of the road to carry away the rain water (it RAINS almost every day). Needless to say, we have been "white knuckling it" a lot. There are no stop lights, if you can imagine, with a population of 100,000. Thankfully they don't all drive. There are vans that are called buses and those drivers are dangerous. People beep their horns before going around corners or over hills that you can't see and when they are yielding to the other person to go. Amazingly, it works for the locals. There are no addresses and the streets are called gaps which come off the main road that goes around the island. The houses are on such steep terrain that a lot of them are totally or partially on stilts and have large retaining walls around them. It is very warm but it is the rainy season and that has helped. Everything is very close together and compact, there are very few parking lots. It is very crowded in downtown Kingstown and there are lots of small shops and vendors with a huge farmers market in the middle. Kingstown is the only city of size and is the capitol. Around the south end of the island it is all populated and in the north it is uninhabitable because of the rough terrain and bush which was caused by the volcano La Soufriere.
The people talk very fast and with an accent which is almost impossible to understand; we are getting used to it but there are still some that leave us wondering "what did he say?". We ask them to slow down so we can understand. It is worse than the disclaimers at the end of advertisements on the radio. We have seen very few "clear" people here so it is more like 98% black. There are many many different churches most of which we have never heard of but are Christian. They are very religious, gospel oriented people. Very kind. The whole island observes the Sabbath and everything is closed today, even the crazy buses are not running today.
Now, for the good stuff. The little house we are living in is charming. It is stucco with a tin roof and gated yard. We have air-conditioning in two bedrooms and a washer and dryer which we did not expect. The floors are all tile as well as the patios which are off the kitchen and the living room. The Francis family (landlord) live next door and have been very cordial. We can see the ocean and several of the adjoining gaps with the houses up each gap. There is lush, green foliage everywhere. There are many banana and breadfruit tree as well as coconut, mango and others we don't know yet. The ocean is a beautiful blue color; the locals don't spend much time in the ocean or at the beach because the do not swim and are afraid of the water. (I feel right at home.) There are hardly any tourists right now but even in tourist season there aren't a lot. There are a few small resorts and so it doesn't feel like a tourist attraction which makes it even more beautiful. They are just beginning to build an international airport on the other side of the island which will probably change things.
We have had some wonderful spiritual experiences with the missionaries. Our first lesson with an investigator was with Elder Moala and Elder Vaea (both from Tonga and great missionaries). We went down a gap to a home that was very humble and Mora and her son (9 years old) and Melissa (2 years old) were sitting on the steps waiting for us. The Elders had been there once before. We went inside and there was an unbelievable spirit as the Elders taught them about the Book of Mormon. Mora asked very good questions about what she had read since the day before and when we read with her Moroni 10:3-5 the spirit was so strong. Her son, Delano, is very bright and had soaked up all that the missionaries had taught. What a wonderful experience to share the "Good News" with such a wonderful family who needs it so badly.
We participated in baptism of Korey Cyrus who is 10 years old; his mother was baptized two weeks ago. It took place at a very secluded beach in the ocean. Elder Vaea baptized him and Elder Moala confirmed him a member today during sacrament meeting. It was quite a site to see them dressed in white in the blue, blue ocean and the great smile on Korey's face as he came out of the water. Unforgettable!!!
We have also been with Elder Cottam and Elder Cronin in teaching investigators Jenny and Mavis and visiting inactive members and encouraging them to come back. We have felt the spirit very strong with these good people and are loving them already.
We are going with the Elders to teach another investigator in a few minutes; so; we've got to go!!! Our prayers are with you and we love ya lots!
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Set Apart as Missionaries
Today at five o'clock we were set apart as missionaries with Jan being set apart by President Jerry Gwinn and Jim was set apart by President Jim Thalgott. We had three of our children with our families there and it was a great spiritual experience.
Tomorrow morning at a.m. we depart for the Provo MTC. We will spend five days there being trained as missionaries. We will have 1 day off in Salt Lake, then Saturday night just after midnight we fly to Atlanta then to Georgetown, Barbados then to Kingstown, St. Vincent. We should arrive in St. Vincent about six thrity p.m. August 9th.
Tomorrow morning at a.m. we depart for the Provo MTC. We will spend five days there being trained as missionaries. We will have 1 day off in Salt Lake, then Saturday night just after midnight we fly to Atlanta then to Georgetown, Barbados then to Kingstown, St. Vincent. We should arrive in St. Vincent about six thrity p.m. August 9th.
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