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