6 June 2010

Greetings from paradise. We know that it is a beautiful season on the
home front and we hope this message finds you doing well in your part
of the world, which is home to us also. We have fond thoughts of home
and all of you and hope and pray that the gospel is alive and well in
your hearts. The knowledge of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ changes how we do everything.

To begin this week, we are sending out a call for couples. We need
Senior Couples here in the West Indies Mission very badly. There are
many returning home with no one to replace them. They are such a
blessing to the work here as this is such a complex mission. When
you serve here, you are an extension of the mission president in a
profound way. If you have an unexpressed desire, please don't keep
it a secret. Let us know and we will send you the information that
you need to make you a convert to the wonderful experiences that are
here for you as you serve in this part of the vineyard. Hope to hear
from you.

We are having such an experience in the mission office. There are
miracles each day that come to help the work go forth. There are
plenty of challenges and opposition and there is either an immediate
answer or with time the answer becomes evident. We have been
preparing for the zone conferences that will be held from now until
the end of the month with three days of rest for Pres. Gamiette and
his Assistants. Their schedule is daunting. Pres. Gamiette's family
had a holiday break last weekend on the island of Tobago. He
participated in a triathlon and placed first in his age group and
fifth over all. The Assistants came into the office on Thursday
dragging as they had accompanied the President on his morning run. He
really put them through it. Just a little miracle that is the
process. The couple that are serving in French Guiana have a van and
the Elders put gas in it and it is diesel. Thus a major overhaul was
needed and the need that was really there became evident. The couple
have some needs that need to be met. The Elder cannot see well at all
and his wife does not know how to drive a standard transmission
vehicle. There are no vans available with an automatic transmission.
As the days have passed, the solution is coming together. A
humanitarian couple are here in Trinidad and are in an apartment in
the building next to ours. We went to Maracous Beach (the best beach
we have seen) with them yesterday. As we visited with them, they told
of going to Suriname in car that is an extra in Guyana to Suriname.
They are going to Guyana again this next week and would be able to
drive that car, which is an automatic transmission, to French Guiana
and then fly back. Tender mercies are all around if we are watching
and grateful for them. We also had a great conversation with Morel
who was baptized with her family in St. Vincent last week. I was
given a cell phone when we first arrived here in Trinidad. This past
week, I was given another phone which has the number for the WIM
secretary. I boxed the other phone up and left it in the office for
another missionary to use when needed. We had been very busy and as
things started to wind down for the day, I could hear a phone ringing
and ringing. The missionaries had left the office for the day to
proselyte for the evening hours and I thought that maybe one of them
had left their phone. I began to look and then realized that the box
with the phone in it was ringing. It was Morel and she had called 12
times that day trying to call us. One of the things that she shared
was the testimony she had written in a Book of Mormon that she was
planning on using as part of the "Lend a Book of Mormon" program.
Their family will be such a blessing to the growth of the Church in
St. Vincent. We had a great Saturday, we spent the morning getting
supplies for the office and doing a couple of things that couldn't
wait for Monday. And then, we had a beautiful drive and a walk on the
beach that just helped us relax and be ready for another week. We
even had a man serenade us as we ate at an outside food stand.

We have so much to be grateful for! When we think we might be
sacrificing, the unexpected blessings come and we become so, so aware
that our Father and the Savior know each one of us and that the
blessings are there if we have faith and ask. May you feel this
reality this week.

Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler