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
Inbox X
Reply
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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
Reply
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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
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