July-18-2010

Dear family and friends,

We are so grateful for the blessings of this week. We have had great
news from home with the arrival of another grandson. Kory and
Heather's Alexander arrived on July 15. Two more grandsons while we
have been here on our mission. We are so grateful for the Internet
and Skype and being able to see and talk to our family. It is also
wonderful to receive e-mails and sometimes instantly respond. Almost
like a good walk and visit with good friends and family.

We have had unbelievable rain this morning which kept us home from the
beach. We also have been waiting for the senior couple from St.
Vincent to come to Trinidad before returning home from their mission.
They have been exceptional in their assignments and a great example to
all. They have not arrived yet because Liat airlines is having "much
trouble today". Their flight was to leave at 7:40 a.m. and they
finally left at 3:00 p.m. Their plane had trouble and had to land on
the island of Canouin which is a small island just off St. Vincent.
It is now 6:30 p.m. and we are still waiting to hear from them. We
have so much to be grateful for by living in the United States and
enjoying the best that is available. We had a quiet dinner with two
other senior couples last night and talked at length about the
challenges that so many have in just living from day to day. The
Angus couple are back in Trinidad from their Humanitarian assignment
in Guyana and they have so many interesting stories about life there.
Our thoughts are with you at home and with our ancestors as July 24
approaches. We have so many in our families that have shown such
courage in facing hardship and trials of their faith. We face a
different challenges and have their example to live up to. So many of
the Conference talks of the importance of our families and drawing
close to each other. We love you all so much and pray for you every
day.

We have had an exceptional week with missionaries. We spent Monday
with Elder Roeper and Elder Lubberink who are from Holland. They came
to Trinidad to renew some immigration requirements that they could not
accomplish in Suriname where they are serving. They were both
exceptional young men. We had a great day with them and then had FHE
with the Childs(senior couple), the office Sisters and these Dutch
missionaries before they left for a late flight back to Suriname. We
will remember with fondness the Dutch missionaries we have met. They
have a politeness and quiet manner that is engaging. Tuesday, the
local missionaries from Guyana. Suriname, Haiti, and the Bahamas
arrived from the MTC in the Dominican Republic. It has been a joint
effort to satisfy all that is required for them to serve and so we
feel like we know them even though we have not actually met them.
There was a wonderful spirit in the office as they were oriented and
taught by President Gamiette. They will be a strong force for good as
they serve their missions and will be a firm foundation for the Gospel
to grow from in the Caribbean. Elder Franklyn Smith from the Bahamas
was taught and baptized by Shawn Jones, Randy and Charlene Jones son,
a year ago. The missionary from Haiti is a sister missionary and had
such courage and confidence. Unbelievable what she went through to be
able to serve. Great smiles all around! They are pioneers here in
the Caribbean! We have felt so many blessings as we have stretched to
meet the demands of serving in the mission office, "tender mercies".
We have even felt that the rain has not fallen so we could get our
walk in the morning. It has been raining when we woke up and it was
raining when we left for the office. The walk is a great way to start
the day!! We know that our Father loves each of us and we feel his
blessings every day.

We look forward to hearing about how you all will celebrate July 24.
We look forward to the Choirs broadcast! The Fauxs (senior couple)
will return home on July 23. It will be a long day for them and they
will arrive home late that night. Elder Faux said, "We get home at
11:30 p.m. and it is a good thing because they are going to have a
parade for us the next day." Great sense of humor! What a delight
they are!! Sister Faux cut my hair a few times when we would go to
St. Lucia for Zone Conferences. Our thoughts and prayers are with