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.
Monday, August 31, 2009
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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