We have been watching the weather and other news reports for the US
and Intermountain West. Snow is a distant memory for us and we hear
that you have had an abundance of the beautiful "white stuff". We
also have missed the Thanksgiving holiday. It is not observed at all
here, of course. The young missionaries were counseled to not worry
about it but a few of the senior couples and senior sister
missionaries celebrated this wonderful tradition in our apartment on
Thursday evening after serving in the mission office during the day.
Since our last e-mail we have had a very busy few weeks. We had Zone
Leader Council and Leadership Training with all the Zone and District
Leaders coming to Trinidad. It was a logistical fete with trips to
the airport and getting everyone to places of lodging as well as
navigating the immigration needs. We had 11 Elders staying the WIM
apartment in our complex and we were responsible to keep groceries and
other needs in the apartment. The Mission furnished one good meal a
day and the rest was potluck. We heard that the meetings were
outstanding which is usual with President Gamiette at the helm. We
also had the opportunity to have Pres. and Sis. McIntosh stay with us
and Pres. and Sis Ricks stay with Elder and Sister Harris (CES).
They are counselors to President Gamiette and we had not met the Ricks
before. We had a very enjoyable time with them even though it was a
hectic time. The McIntoshs are CES also. They are now called S and
I, meaning Seminary and Institute. Elder McIntosh speaks French and
is a welcome addition to the French side of the Mission. It is good
to meet with other couples and share experiences and gain strength
from each other.
This week we planned to have Thursday off from the office and
celebrate Thanksgiving. We received notice that Dayanara, who is from
the Area Office in the Dominican Republic, come to train Elder Wheeler
and Elder Luster. We thought she would arrive on Friday and we would
still be able to have Thanksgiving. Then came the news that she would
be here Wednesday evening and need to train all day Thursday and
Friday morning. We then decided to cancel Thanksgiving and go to
dinner all together Thursday night. Sister Harris implored us not to
cancel but have Thanksgiving in the evening. She made the rolls, yams
(not available here so she used what they call sweet potatoes) and
bought some pies. I did the turkey, stuffing, potatoes and gravy.
Sister Luster did a fruit salad and Sister Mimi did green beans. We
were glad that we went ahead and had it; it meant so much to be
grateful for our heritage, membership in the Church, families and all
of our blessings. Elder Wheeler and Elder Luster had quite the
training sessions with Dayanara. She is Spanish from the DR and a
lovely lady. She was there for our devotional Thursday morning and
shared her experience with a terrible car wreck a couple of months ago
and the many "tender mercies" she and her family have experienced
since then. Our devotionals have been such a blessing to start our
days and have blessed us with harmony in the office so that the Spirit
can be with and guide each one of us in our diverse and varied
assignments. Dayanara and Elder Wheeler have developed a wonderful
friendship through e-mail and it was good to meet her in person.
Dayanara and Sister Wheeler hit-it-off right away. It is interesting
that now that our days are numbered, the training is finally here,
better late than never. Dayanara left for home via Miami in the early
afternoon on Friday. Elder Wheeler is exhausted and we were glad for
a quiet Saturday. I was delighted to find Christmas decorations and a
tree here in the apartment and decorated while Elder Wheeler rested.
We had the Angus couple here the first part of the week for a few
hours between flights and again on Friday. We had lunch with them the
first time and then had them for leftovers on Friday evening before
their flight. Elder and Sister Luster came in on Wednesday for office
training and stayed with us at our apartment til Friday morning early.
Elder and Sister Childs arrived back in Trinidad after their training
trip to the French side on Friday afternoon and were here at our
apartment for leftovers also. It was a great group that had leftovers
on Friday evening. We love these couples we serve with. We have very
diverse backgrounds which help the work to move along. We appreciate
each other even though in different circumstances we probably would
not relate.
As you can see, there are many comings and goings. no time for
boredom. We have had many missionaries who have been sick or have
health issues. At present, we have two young Sisters who are living
in the WIM apartment. They are both from Guyana and are having a hard
time toughing it out. They are sweet girls and went to the Chiguanas
branch with us today. We hope that they can return to their
missionary activities soon, as do they.
We love you all and are so grateful for the Christmas season which is
upon us. We look forward to the First Presidency Devotional next
Sunday. You are in our thoughts and prayers!
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Oct.31,2010
Dear family and friends,
We have been missing the Halloween weekend. We have yet to see the
family pictures of the Wheeler family spooks and are looking forward
to that. When we were in St. Vincent, it came and went without any
notice but they do celebrate it here. You probably all celebrated
last night as today is Sunday but they will celebrate it here tonight.
It will be interesting to see how many times our doorbell rings.
There are quite a few children who live in our complex. Everything
here is gated so they probably only go to those they know.
We had another interesting week. It was a "catch up" week as we had
not spent our usually time at the office the week before as we were
staying with the Gamiette family. We were relieved to feel almost
"caught up" as we left the office Friday night. About noon on
Thursday, security came into the Office and evacuated us as they had
received a bomb threat to the bank next door to us. They moved all of
us to the north end of the parking lot and kept us there for about an
hour and a half. It was interesting to watch how they reacted to such
an event. They did not stop traffic from coming into the parking lot
and they were still letting a few people walk by the bank. We decided
to go to lunch instead of waiting for the okay to go back to work.
"When you are given lemons, make lemonade." Right? On Friday, about
the same time we began to receive tropical storm warnings. Tomas was
beginning to form and they were warning everyone to prepare for heavy
winds and rain. The grocery stores were packed and the traffic became
unreal. The evening hours came and went and nothing. Night came and
went and nothing. Morning came and was very pleasant. And then we
began to hear that Tomas had indeed become a hurricane and was
battering Barbados. By noon we received a message from Brother
Sutherland in St. Vincent that they expected Tomas to hit about 1 p.m.
and that he would stay in touch if he could. Tomas strengthen to a 2
hurricane when it hit St. Vincent and St. Lucia. It tore roofs of the
houses, downed power lines, flooded and caused mud slides. Our hearts
and prayers are with our dear friends in St. Vincent and we are
anxious to know how they weathered the storm. Brother Sutherland
expressed his great faith that the Lord's will would be done. Those
who are truly converted have such great faith and are an inspiration
to all. It sounds like Tomas will be around for the better part of
this next week. It will be interesting to see what happens. We are
grateful to be this far south as most of these storms begin here but
do not strengthen until they are north of Trinidad. A local told us
that we are not out of danger for 36 hours and then it is over. We
had heavy rain this morning but it did not make it impossible to go to
Church. We were grateful to be able to go to Sacrament meeting and
partake of the sacrament. We attended Church in Couva and enjoyed our
meetings immensely. Sister Mundah, who was the first baptism we went
to here in Trinidad, talked and gave a very good talk. She has grown
so much and has been so faithful, great to watch.
Our thoughts and prayers are with each of you. We are so grateful for
our blessings and recognize our Father's hand in all we do. We look
forward to the Thanksgiving season and remember well President
Monson's admonition to be grateful.
Much love,
We have been missing the Halloween weekend. We have yet to see the
family pictures of the Wheeler family spooks and are looking forward
to that. When we were in St. Vincent, it came and went without any
notice but they do celebrate it here. You probably all celebrated
last night as today is Sunday but they will celebrate it here tonight.
It will be interesting to see how many times our doorbell rings.
There are quite a few children who live in our complex. Everything
here is gated so they probably only go to those they know.
We had another interesting week. It was a "catch up" week as we had
not spent our usually time at the office the week before as we were
staying with the Gamiette family. We were relieved to feel almost
"caught up" as we left the office Friday night. About noon on
Thursday, security came into the Office and evacuated us as they had
received a bomb threat to the bank next door to us. They moved all of
us to the north end of the parking lot and kept us there for about an
hour and a half. It was interesting to watch how they reacted to such
an event. They did not stop traffic from coming into the parking lot
and they were still letting a few people walk by the bank. We decided
to go to lunch instead of waiting for the okay to go back to work.
"When you are given lemons, make lemonade." Right? On Friday, about
the same time we began to receive tropical storm warnings. Tomas was
beginning to form and they were warning everyone to prepare for heavy
winds and rain. The grocery stores were packed and the traffic became
unreal. The evening hours came and went and nothing. Night came and
went and nothing. Morning came and was very pleasant. And then we
began to hear that Tomas had indeed become a hurricane and was
battering Barbados. By noon we received a message from Brother
Sutherland in St. Vincent that they expected Tomas to hit about 1 p.m.
and that he would stay in touch if he could. Tomas strengthen to a 2
hurricane when it hit St. Vincent and St. Lucia. It tore roofs of the
houses, downed power lines, flooded and caused mud slides. Our hearts
and prayers are with our dear friends in St. Vincent and we are
anxious to know how they weathered the storm. Brother Sutherland
expressed his great faith that the Lord's will would be done. Those
who are truly converted have such great faith and are an inspiration
to all. It sounds like Tomas will be around for the better part of
this next week. It will be interesting to see what happens. We are
grateful to be this far south as most of these storms begin here but
do not strengthen until they are north of Trinidad. A local told us
that we are not out of danger for 36 hours and then it is over. We
had heavy rain this morning but it did not make it impossible to go to
Church. We were grateful to be able to go to Sacrament meeting and
partake of the sacrament. We attended Church in Couva and enjoyed our
meetings immensely. Sister Mundah, who was the first baptism we went
to here in Trinidad, talked and gave a very good talk. She has grown
so much and has been so faithful, great to watch.
Our thoughts and prayers are with each of you. We are so grateful for
our blessings and recognize our Father's hand in all we do. We look
forward to the Thanksgiving season and remember well President
Monson's admonition to be grateful.
Much love,
Nov. 7,2010
,
How are things in the Mountain West. We have noticed that there are
many coats and cold weather gear. That kind of weather has become a
distant memory for us but will come home to us when we reach home in a
few months. We love your e-mails and are so grateful to those who are
so faithful to write to us.
We have had a cultural week this week as the Hindu people have
celebrated Divali which is as big to them as Christmas is to us. They
call it the Festival of Light and they light there entry way with
little clay bowls with candles in them the evening of Divali. They
also cut bamboo in half and make designs and put these candle lit
bowls along the bamboo design also. It is a beautiful sight to walk
the neighborhood and see so many candles. They also open their homes
to family, friends and neighbors and have huge feasts and fireworks.
They dress in their best native dress and it is beautiful. We had a
Hindu investigator at church today in Chiguanas and it was most
interesting to listen to her explain their belief compared to our
belief. The Hindu people we have met are very good people.
It is transfer week and we are still working with the changes that
President Gamiette is making. Sister Ellison is the one that has the
most to do as she is the one that books all the flights that
facilitate the changes that are made. We only have four Elders going
home this time and no new missionaries coming in. December is much
the same but we will have a huge transfer week the first few days in
February. We have 16 of us going home and 13 coming then. We have
had notice that we will also receive 2 more senior couples who are
needed desperately.
We never a lack for interesting things happening. President Gamiette
worked with Elder Wheeler for a couple of days getting a plane load of
drinking water shipped to St. Lucia which had been hit by hurricane
Tomas. They needed the water desperately and when the plane arrived
the government wanted to charge the Church $8,000 duty. Unbelievable!
We have learned that we never give up, that things will work out and
to be happy. Our Heavenly Father is in charge and we just need to do
our best and leave the rest to Him.
We love you all!!!
Elder and Sister Wheeler
How are things in the Mountain West. We have noticed that there are
many coats and cold weather gear. That kind of weather has become a
distant memory for us but will come home to us when we reach home in a
few months. We love your e-mails and are so grateful to those who are
so faithful to write to us.
We have had a cultural week this week as the Hindu people have
celebrated Divali which is as big to them as Christmas is to us. They
call it the Festival of Light and they light there entry way with
little clay bowls with candles in them the evening of Divali. They
also cut bamboo in half and make designs and put these candle lit
bowls along the bamboo design also. It is a beautiful sight to walk
the neighborhood and see so many candles. They also open their homes
to family, friends and neighbors and have huge feasts and fireworks.
They dress in their best native dress and it is beautiful. We had a
Hindu investigator at church today in Chiguanas and it was most
interesting to listen to her explain their belief compared to our
belief. The Hindu people we have met are very good people.
It is transfer week and we are still working with the changes that
President Gamiette is making. Sister Ellison is the one that has the
most to do as she is the one that books all the flights that
facilitate the changes that are made. We only have four Elders going
home this time and no new missionaries coming in. December is much
the same but we will have a huge transfer week the first few days in
February. We have 16 of us going home and 13 coming then. We have
had notice that we will also receive 2 more senior couples who are
needed desperately.
We never a lack for interesting things happening. President Gamiette
worked with Elder Wheeler for a couple of days getting a plane load of
drinking water shipped to St. Lucia which had been hit by hurricane
Tomas. They needed the water desperately and when the plane arrived
the government wanted to charge the Church $8,000 duty. Unbelievable!
We have learned that we never give up, that things will work out and
to be happy. Our Heavenly Father is in charge and we just need to do
our best and leave the rest to Him.
We love you all!!!
Elder and Sister Wheeler
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