November 9 ,2009

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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.
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