Feb. 21, 2010

We have heard from several of you this past week and we have enjoyed
getting caught up on your news.
We heard of Raymond Parks passing away and it brought back many
memories for Jim about the Moreland 2nd ward and growing up. Raymond
was a little older than Jim and all the boys his age looked up to
Raymond. He was their Sunday School teacher and he also had a
hard-top convertible car that was "all that and a can of Spam". We
did not hear what kind of an accident he was in; we hope someone will
let us know.

Our week has been relatively quiet which is a change. This coming
week is a very busy one so we are grateful for the breather so we can
prepare. Last Monday, the Jackson's dog, Sandy, had her pups. She
had 8 and 2 died. It has been fun watching them come home from work
and school to check on the little litter. Aaron is especially good
with Sandy and had fixed the doghouse up with long grass for a bed and
a blanket to cover the door for shade. I made a chocolate cake for
"the best friends a dog ever had". For lunch after district meeting
on Tuesday, we ordered doubles from a member who makes them and that
was fun. Any of the elders who have served in Trinidad love them. We
have never had them and they were good, a nice change of pace.
Wednesday we took two of the elders to town to get a police report for
them before transfers the first of March. It was another experience
with "just now" but we are being blessed to not be held up for weeks
like it sometimes can be. While we were in and out of the main police
station in Kingstown, there were three boys, about 10 years old there.
Two were sitting on a bench and a third boy was barefoot and looking
through the bars in the cell he had been put in. The second time we
went into that area, the lady police officer asked us to, "Please help
these boys!" She said that they had been molesting people, which
means that they had been stealing. We talked to them and found out
that two of them were brothers; we asked for their names and phone
numbers. We will try to find out more about them and see if their
families will be receptive to the "good news". There are many who get
on the wrong track early in their lives here. There are a lot who go
to school and never learn to read. The school system doesn't care if
they learn anything; they just pass them to the next grade whether or
not they have learned anything. People not knowing how to read is one
of the main problems here. The Church has a great program that helps
them learn to read by using the Book of Mormon. I sat by Gracie today
in Church and she was doing really well following the words in the
hymn book while we sang. I wish you could all meet Gracie, she is a
one of a kind, great lady! She listens to the Book of Mormon on CD
everyday and she teaches with the missionaries several times a week.
That is pretty much it for this week. We will have a lot to tell you
next week.

We hope that winter is wearing itself out in your neck of the woods
and that this finds you healthy and happy. Just a little reminder to
read the Book of Mormon everyday. We just finished it Friday and
started again on Saturday. Elder Wheeler has also been reading the
Old Testament and sharing his findings with me while I am busy with
other mundane things (wash, cook, etc.). The mission has also started
the "Loan a Book of Mormon" program and we have faith that it will
bring many into the waters of baptism. We have the members mark the
Book of Mormon with 50 scriptures and then write their testimonies in
it and then loan it to family and friends; they check back in about a
week to see what they have learned and many want the missionaries to
come to teach them more. Through the statistics kept by the mission,
we have found that 100 percent of converts who are taught by the
missionaries with a member are still active. Til next week...

Much love,

Feb. 17, 2010

We have had a great week here in St. Vincent and hope that you are
doing well also. We see, from time to time, the beautiful scenes of
winter with family and friends in them. There is much to be grateful
for no matter where in the world we are.

We spent most of the day last Tuesday with Brendon and Cardian. After
nine days in the hospital, Cardian was more than ready to get home.
We arrived at the hospital about 11 am and thought they would be ready
to leave. They were, but it took the hospital until 4 pm to come up
with a discharge letter. It was another "just now" experience. Their
little angel baby, Athena, is beautiful. We had a Skype conference
with Sister Meezan Adams and Elder Alvarado on Wednesday night. Elder
Alvarado is an Area Seventy and also works for CES. He is planning a
training meeting to our island Feb. 22-24. He also told us that he
has been called to be the mission president for the newly formed
Puerto Rico mission. He is only 38 years old and we have had
delightful times with him. On Thursday, Bailey, who is an
unbelievable 82 year old, was baptized at the beach. It was a very
sweet service with testimonies born by several including Gracie and
Bro Pemberton. Bailey was so tender that words would not come for
him; he has had wonderful times when the spirit has born a powerful
witness to this wonderful man. He does not read. When taught about
the Book of Mormon and invited to pray to know if it was true, he
prayed and then laid down with the Book of Mormon on his chest and
felt a tingling through him that bore witness that the book was true
and from God. Friday morning we all flew to Grenada for zone
conference and enjoyed the missionaries and branch members there. We
have grown to love the Rasmussens who are the senior couple serving
there. Elder Rasmussen has been an FBI agent and is an interesting
person to be around. We spent Friday helping them get set up for
conference and seeing some the sites in Grenada. Our impression of
Grenada is that it is more modern than St. Vincent but dryer, not as
green. The missionaries say that there is a definite pro-American
feeling because of the invasion during the Reagan administration which
saved them from a Cuban take-over. We stayed just down beach from
Rasmussens and the church building. We had a lovely walk on the two
mile long beach early Saturday morning before walking to the church to
start our meetings for the day. President Gamiette's family arrived
about 11 pm on Friday night and will stay for an R & R until Tuesday.
President Gamiette is a gifted teacher and we could listen to him for
a long time. He is wise enough to involve everyone so that we not
only hear but learn the principles he teaches. He ended his
presentation by talking a bit about how busy he is and then expressed
that there is no better way than to just wear it out. We had a great
lunch and then interviews. The branch in Grenada had a baptism at 4
pm and a fireside at 6 pm. The baptism was in their font which is on
the beach just below their church. (There is a story about President
Monson's sister who was teaching at the medical school there and she
let President Monson know about this beautiful building on the beach
that the Church had rented for the branch. She suggested that it be
bought for the Church and after seeing it , he did.) It is a beautiful
site and hopefully we will get pictures on the blog today so you can
see it. We left for the airport immediately after the fireside to
find that Liat was on time and we arrived back in St. Vincent just
before 10 pm. A very busy but wonderfully memorable week.

We are enjoying our extended summer in the beautiful Caribbean. Our
thoughts and prayers are with you daily!

Love and blessings
Elder and Sister Wheeler

Jan. 7,2010

We have been hearing about the wonderful opportunity of having an
apostle at Blackfoot Northwest Stake conference. We hope someone will
fill us in about all the details. It is so exciting to be apart of
preparing for the Second Coming of the Savior and to hear from the
general authorities is direct revelation of what we should be about
doing.

We have had another wonderful week here. There are definitely ups and
downs but no way will the adversary keep us down longer than for us to
catch our breath and decide what needs to change and how to make the
change and "do it". We have been attending the temple prep class in
the Kingstown branch and it is going very well. The instructor is a
gifted man and prepares well and invites the spirit. Both branch
presidents are encouraging a temple trip this year. It is definitely
a challenge to prepare both spiritually and temporally. Those who
have made the commitment are excited and will lend support to each
other, as will we.

We have had another interesting week visiting members in the hospital.
Brendon and Cardian, who were baptized in October, went to the
hospital on Monday to have their baby. They were still there on
Thursday.
When we arrived about 4 pm Thursday afternoon, they had decided to
take the baby cesarean. They both looked exhausted. Elder Wheeler
gave her a blessing and we left the hospital. Brendon called us just
before 7 pm and the baby and mom were doing great, what a relief! We
went the next day to see them and found two other members in the same
ward. The Trumpets are expecting and are waiting in the hospital for
her to be approved for a cesarean delivery also. Sheena Providence,
who was baptized a few months ago in the river, is expecting a baby in
June and had an emergency appendectomy. So, we had a chance to
encourage and show our concern for all of them. Amazing, that you can
walk into a hospital and find that many people in the same ward.

We have been wanting to go to Young Island since we got here. It is a
small island just off the beach at Villa. It is a private resort and
we decided to take the ferry and check it out to celebrate our being
here for six months. It was "all that and a can of Spam" as our sons
would say. We had a lovely dinner on the beach in a thatched hut.
Very romantic and a memory for the journal.

We attended the Kingstown branch's meetings today for the first time
in several weeks. It was great to meet with them again and their
meetings were very good. There was a good spirit there and about 100
in attendance. It is the larger of the two branches here. We serve
in a shadow-leader relationship in both branches and it is much easier
in the Kingstown branch. We checked in with Calliaqua before coming
back to our apartment to end our fast. Calliaqua had a super week
last week with 65 in attendance, a new high, and today they had 34.
We smile after each week in Calliaqua because it is like a box of
chocolates (you never know what you are going to get). Plenty
challenges!!!

We love you all and hope all is well with you. Our computer kicked me
off a few minutes ago and when I got back on, it was on the Church
web-site. It reminded me of the message for Christmas. "What will
you give for Christ(mas)? I knew there was a reason that it put me
back there. Good thought for all of us to remember all year round.
- Show quoted text -

Jan. 31, 2010

,

We received wonderful news from your neck of the woods this week; our
prayers are with you all and we are so grateful to hear your news.
Life is challenging and rewarding at the same time. If we didn't have
some bitter along the way we wouldn't know how good the sweet is. Our
Father's plan gives so many opportunities to grow.

We are seeing the evidence of growth as new members live the
principles of the gospel. We had a wonderful Sunday in Calliaqua
yesterday with 65 in attendance, a new high. It was President
Robertson's first Sunday back after a month long trip to the States to
visit his family. He was all smiles as he realized what had happened.
Kingstown also had a high of 121 a couple of weeks ago.

We are also teaching a young man, David Soleyn, who wants to go on a
mission to read. It is a very rewarding experience and he is on fire.
He is giving the Elders a lot of referrals and they are teaching his
family and friends. The Literacy program from the Church is inspired
and teaches reading using the Book of Mormon. We will start a
literacy class in Diamond in the near future as there are so many new
members and investigators there who do not read.

We are also having an interesting experience with Dr. Aussi. He is
the doctor who helped me last week and we now have an Elder who is ill
that he is helping. He is a very good man and there are no such
things as coincidences, right? We will watch and listen to the Spirit
to see what is going to happen.

We also decided to have the front bumper on the Rav 4 fixed; it had a
dent in it when we arrived. We left it in Largo Heights in Kingstown
to be fixed and walked back to our apartment in Villa. It took us two
hours and was a good workout. The Elders couldn't believe that we had
done that and told us that all we had to do is hold out our hand to
flag a van and give them a dollar. We will have to make sure we have
that experience before we come home. The van drivers make a ride with
them an adventure that I have not been ready for yet.

Well, that is our news for the past week. We love you all and hope
that you are enjoying sitting by the fire and reading a good book.
(Book of Mormon)

Jan. 24, 2010

Dear family and friends,

We just viewed a report about the winter storms in the US. We are
having a very long summer and wish we could share with you. Actually,
we can if you want to visit us while we are here. Let us know.

We had a very blessed Monday. We started with going to immigration to
extend three Elders visas. We have felt a little more confident in
preparing for these encounters. However, on Monday they threw us
another curve and said that even though all the paperwork was in
order, the Elder (person) had to apply for the extension in person.
That is a first! We have never had to do that before. We thought it
might take us awhile to get the Elders there. We were up against a
deadline and and needed to get it done before the immigration office
closed for the day. We began calling the Elders. They were all
together in Kingstown, a block from us, e-mailing their families! We
had all of them in the immigration office within a half hour. There
were some surprised faces and we felt very blessed. I also had a
health issue and needed some antibiotic. I had gotten some the week
before and it had not worked. We went back and asked for something
stronger and the pharmacist told us that I would have to see a doctor.
We expressed concern because we didn't know any doctors here. He
recommended a doctor that was next door and we went there directly.
The receptionist was very nice and told us that we would have to come
back about 4 pm as the doctor was in surgery. Our thought was that
"just now" would be our lot for the rest of the day. It was just
about 1:30 pm. We walked about a block away and our phone rang. The
receptionist said that the doctor had just returned and that I could
see him. We walked back and he did see me right then. We had a
stronger prescription and were on our way home by 3 pm. We could have
spent the whole day in a state of frustration but it all turned very
quickly. That kind of a day does not happen here without the powers
of heaven intervening.

We also had transfers on Wednesday and lost 3 Elders and gained 3
more. Elder Weiderhold was especially disappointed about leaving St.
Vincent. He has only been here for one transfer and the work in
Diamond is going so well. He hated to leave those that he and Elder
Vi have been teaching. Our new Elders are Elder Vance, Elder Bowles
and Elder Gordon. There are a lot of good things happening with less
actives and the branch attendance is gradually increasing in both
branches. Kingstown branch also has a temple class on Tuesday nights
and they will be choosing a date to attend the temple in Santo Domingo
in the coming months. Calliaqua branch has had a lot more primary
children than they are used to and it has been a challenge. We talked
it over and decided to have Gracie and Sister Wheeler help with
reverence. Gracie is the best. She is a recent convert and is
constantly teaching her friends and family. She cannot read and
listens to the Book of Mormon on CD's. She has friends into her home
to listen with her. She also exhorts the children to be quiet even in
Sacrament meeting. When Primary was over, there were smiles all
around, from the children, from the Primary presidency and from Gracie
and I. Heavenly Father blesses us so much when we follow his plan.
The Primary presidency is becoming convinced that they need to follow
the program. We also attended the baptism of two 8 yr old girls in
Kingstown on Saturday. Bro. Jackson was to fill the font as his
daughter was one of the girls and he was to baptize them both. He
didn't come early enough to fill the font completely and so....
Sariah Jackson was immersed three times and Chelsea was immersed
twice. It was a bit traumatic. There was a good spirit however----
never a dull minute. We have begun a literacy class and we will share
how that is going next week.

Our thoughts are with you all. We love hearing from you and sharing
your news and your faith promoting experiences also. One of the
things that we learn over and over again is that the answer to the
challenges in life are solved by reading, praying and pondering the
Book of Mormon. How are you doing? We love you all!!!

Jan. 17, 2010

,

We have received some e-mails asking about Haiti being in our mission.
Haiti is part of our area. There are 8 missions in the Caribbean
area. Haiti is quite a ways north of us and so we didn't experience
any tremor or heavy waves etc. We have been watching, like the rest
of the world. the unbelievable tragedy happening in Haiti. We
received an e-mail on Sunday from the mission office in Trinidad
telling us that all missionaries in Haiti are accounted for and fine
and all the church buildings are standing. The Church has also
brought in doctors and set up a hospital in one of the church
buildings. All of the missionaries in Haiti are native and the
mission president is also a native. He is very young and his wife and
children are now in the US. They have two pre-school children and she
is expecting a baby in February. It is amazing how the miracle of one
house being totally destroyed and the house next to it being intact
happens. We soon realize again that our Father is in charge and we
are blessed for our obedience and diligence in keeping the
commandments. "If you are prepared, you need not fear."

The news from the Calliaqua branch is wonderful. The Williams family
were finally able to be married. We have waited for an unbelievable
time for the documentation of papers to happen so that this family
could be together. Wilson and Moral have been together for a long
time. They have a son, DeLano 9, a daughter, Melissa 2, and a new
baby DelRoy. They were married on Tuesday and it was a beautiful
sight. We hope to be able to have their baptisms on January 30. They
must all read the Book of Mormon for14 consecutive days and be at
church for 3 consecutive weeks. The also must have FHE and help teach
a friend about the Restored gospel. They are doing well but Wilson
has a hard time reading and has some problems with his eyes. We were
able to get the Book of Mormon on CD for them and they had to get
their cd player repaired. Moral loves the Book of Mormon and will
help her family reach the goal of being baptized all together.

We are also getting ready for transfers on January 20 and will need to
get some visas renewed next week depending on who stays here in St.
Vincent. We hope that what we have learned has not changed again.

We had a wonderful Saturday. There was an Area training for branch
and district presidents and leaders from the Dominican Republic. We
received it here by satellite; it lasted from 1 pm to 5:30 p.m. It
was one of the meetings we hope to remember forever. Elder Bednar was
the main presenter with Elder Costa and Elder Coleman helping him. It
was formatted like a workshop with question and answers and
revelation. We were instructed that it was not to be recorded; so we
will review our notes and hearts often to keep the teachings fresh in
our memories. At the end of the meeting, Elder Coleman gave a brief
report of what was happening in Haiti. The Dominican Republic and
Haiti are on the same island. Our Church is so inspired in everything
they do. In the days and months to come we will all hear about the
miracles that are happening amid the chaos.

At 3pm. on Saturday, in the same building, Cornelius Thompson was
baptized. It was one of those sweet experiences. Elder Findlay felt
good about Cornelius even though most everyone else were stuck on his
limitations. He sometimes would talk incoherently because of a head
injury and the locals wrote him off as loco. He has been a police
officer and received this injury as a result. The more he embraced
the gospel, the more his understanding increased. The change has been
a miracle and the baptism was attended by branch members that have
received a new testimony of the power of Restored Gospel of Jesus
Christ.

We finished the week with the CES fireside on Sunday at 5 pm. We
viewed a week late because transportation for people to get home would
have been very limited if we had shown it live. We would have had it
at 9 pm last week and there are very few vans that run on Sunday. We
have so much to be grateful for. We do not have to look far to
realize how blessed we are and that where much is given much is
expected. Our lives are being so blessed!!!

May your week be especially sweet. We love you all!!! Would you
qualify for baptism? 14 consecutive days of reading the Book of
Mormon.
- Show quoted text -

Jan. 10, 2010

We are hearing a lot about the bad weather in the States. We are
thinking about you and missing the seasonal changes that we are
accustom to. It is a little cooler here right now and Elder Wheeler
is loving it. We will be hot again in February so we will enjoy it
while we have it.

We have had a great week. We had zone conference here in St. Vincent
on Tuesday and Wednesday. The missionaries from Granada came and we
enjoyed them a lot. They have a set of sister missionaries. One of
them is from Trinidad and the other is from Guyana. They are very
successful and a great blessing to the work. The schedule a mission
president keeps is unbelievable and it exhausts us just to help
facilitate just two days for him. Our conference was very motivating
and the spirit was strong as usual. We are encouraged to become
master teachers. There are skills to learn and then be prayerful and
listen to the spirit. The accommodations worked out and the food
disappeared so, I guess that part was a success.

With the new requirements for baptism, we will have fewer baptisms but
we will have fewer less actives also. It is amazing how many new
converts don't come to church after a few weeks. We also have started
a "40 days to Zion" program that is helping to make the transition
between the missionaries and becoming friends with the members.
Inspired program.

We also had a fun experience with the family that live downstairs. We
wrote about having a FHE with them and how well it went. When we came
back to our apartment Friday evening, Aaron 8 and Matthew 6 were in
the tree which is where we park our vehicle. They asked us when we
were going to have another party and talk about God. Sounds like we
will have opportunities to have more FHEs with this wonder family. We
have become very attached to them; they are so good to us. They
brought us coconut water and lunch today. Little Asharia 2 had tears
in her eyes today when we came home from church and I asked her if she
needed a hug. When I hugged her, she kissed me on the cheek. We
definitely were supposed to move here.

Well, that is about it for this week. We hope that the beginning of
2010 has been good to you. We are so grateful to have the "good news"
to share with those whose hearts have been prepared. We send our love
and our testimonies that our Heavenly Father loves us and that reading
the Book of Mormon will help us be happy, successful people in this
life and eternal life in the future.
- Show quoted text -

Jan. 3, 2010

It has been a quiet week because of the holidays. We were busy except
for New Years day which is the first day since we got here that we
spent the entire day in our apartment. We felt a little
discombobulated. Things have definitely picked up since then as we
are preparing for the first zone conference ever here in St. Vincent.

The highlight of the week was having a Home Evening with Lydia and OJ
and their six children. They live below us and are our landlords. We
asked Lydia a few weeks ago if they would like the missionaries to
come and share a message with them and Lydia politely said they were
not interested. Elder Wheeler then talked to her about our Family
Home Evenings and asked if we could share a Monday night with them.
She said they would like that sometime. We had not said anything more
about it and she was in our apartment last week and asked us when we
were going to do the family thing with them. We set it up for the
next Monday. We thought we would be going to their home but they came
to our apartment and brought the food. It was a wonderful evening.
OJ expressed his faith in God even though he does not go to church.
His father insisted that he go as a child with his mother and he has
very good values because of that blessing. Lydia is from a family of
10 and has always gone to church but it is an off and on thing for her
also. We had wonderful responses from the children to our lesson and
their youngest, Asharia, 2 years old, sang a great song she had
learned in church. We had printed off some Primary songs for them to
sing with us that went along with the lesson about how we can tell our
Heavenly Father loves us. We played a game and then shared the food
they had brought upstairs from their home. They stayed and visited
for awhile afterward and it was a good experience. They are a
wonderful family and are definitely not the norm here in St. Vincent.
We expressed our gratitude for living here and Lydia talked about
listening to her heart when she stopped and asked Elder Wheeler if the
missionaries needed another place to live. We feel that it is no
accident that we are here and we are building a very good friendship
with all of them. Matthew, 6 years old, just asked me if the guys
that come here are our sons and I was able to tell he and Lydia about
the missionary program. Lydia was quite surprised at the sacrifice
that is made for us to come on missions. To be continued!!!

We have not eaten out much since we have been here. We found a place
called Surf Side that serves an expensive but great hamburger and
fries and we had dinner there last night. We have made a friend with
one of the servers there and she also is one that we are praying for
the right moment to happen in the near future. She has been so kind
and friendly to us. We watched the sun go down and took a deep breath
and then went back to work. You gotta love it!

Sunday meetings in the Calliaqua branch are like a box of chocolates,
you never know what you are going to get! Today proved to be another
adventure! They have a tendency in their testimonies to get a little
pentecostal and you hope they don't stand up, clap their hands and
shout. We love them and know that the Lord will lead them along.

We love ya and hope 2010 is very good to you all. It is wonderful to
know that the Father's plan is for us all to be happy and to find joy
in life's journey.