,
Our thoughts are with you all as we hear about bad weather in the States and as we start our preparations to come home. Seth has talked with the Moreland first ward bishopric and they told him that we will be speaking on the third Sunday in February. This eighteen months has gone very quickly as we look back at it.
We had another busy week. Our Sister Mimi, who works with us in the Mission office, flew to Miami on Friday and will be staying with her older sister there for a few months before returning to her home in Canada. She has been the cheerful face to the front desk and will be greatly missed. We also spent part of the week at the Mission Home with the Gamiette family while President and Sister Gamiette were at Zone Conferences in St. Lucia and Guadeloupe. We are grateful for the opportunity to serve and to get to know the Gamiette family. They have fun, wonderful personalities. It has been interesting to see how the school system works here. They all go to private schools. Coralie and Jennifer go to a private girls high school and Terry, Tom and Amy go to a Catholic elementary school. Sister Gamiette decided to come back on Friday night late instead of Sunday so we could prepare to speak in stake conference. We would have had to take the children with us to the Saturday night adult session which would have been a challenge. We had a great Saturday as we got caught up with our weekly preparations for next week and preparing our talks. The Saturday night session was most enjoyable. President Gould is a wonderful speaker and the new stake patriarch, Brother Henry, gave a very humble talk. A young lady gave a talk about her feelings about her patriarchal blessing, which was the first blessing given by Brother Henry. President Gould is a very inspired and strong leader. Today was a satellite broadcast from Salt Lake City with Elder Oaks and President Uchtdorf speaking. They both gave talks that were good for all but especially for the unique traditions and lifestyles here in the Caribbean. President Uchtdorf said that the Church numbers over 14 million and is the same throughout the world. We are having the same lessons and meeting formats as you are at home. After conference, we invited the Childs in for a "raid the fridge" lunch. We enjoy their friendship very much.
We are counting our blessings everyday and are experiencing "tender mercies". Our Heavenly Father loves us all and want us all to be happy. We love you all!
Monday, January 17, 2011
January 9,2011
,
We just received an e-mail from Salt Lake City about more snow. We have seen some great pictures of a white world. We hope that you all are keeping warm and staying well and that you are enjoying your wonderful white world. There is a lot to say about for a change of seasons.
We have had another great week. On Monday, President Gamiette was sitting in a chair between Elder Wheeler's and Sister Wheeler's desks with Sister Ellison standing by, when he dropped the news of who would be coming to the office to take our places. It was a bit of a dramatic moment for Sister Ellison and President Gamiette handled it very well. Elder and Sister Luster who are serving in Tobago will becoming to do finance and travel and Elder and Sister Sappington who are in the MTC will be coming to do finance and immigration/secretary. The Lusters were called and arrived here in Trinidad on Thursday. The Sappingtons will arrive on January 21. We have much to do to make a smooth transition. Immigration is still in an evolving mode and we hope that it becomes evident what the bottom line will be before they arrive. We also had Zone Conference for Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday. We decided to make chicken enchiladas as many of the Elders have asked for them when they come to the Mission office. We don't have much time to cook and so we decided it would be easier to do a big batch of them for Zone Conference instead of having several of them at a time come to our apartment for them. They were received with enthusiasm which made all the work well worth it. We were also surprised at how fast the homemade refried beans went. GONE!!! The Conference was very good, we are always impressed with the leadership qualities of these young Elders. President Gamiette is a wonderful motivator and teacher and Sister Gamiette gave a great segment on STRESS!!! There was a lot of discussion and it was very helpful. There is always time for testimonies at the end and President Gamiette asked us to bare our testimonies. Senior missionaries role is always to be a shadow, so we normally listen to the young missionaries and love it. We were grateful to have this opportunity to bare our testimonies. President Gamiette also bore his testimony that there is never again a time when you can serve the same kind of proselyting mission as when you are a young missionary. We have spent time today looking through our mission pictures and preparing our Last Will and Testament. We have been abundantly blessed to have been able to serve this mission. We again send the message that senior missionaries are needed!! All missionaries are needed but there is a special role that is filled by senior missionaries. Don't wait if you are thinking about it because we never know what the future will bring.
As they say here in the Caribbean, "May you have a blessed week!"
Much love,
We just received an e-mail from Salt Lake City about more snow. We have seen some great pictures of a white world. We hope that you all are keeping warm and staying well and that you are enjoying your wonderful white world. There is a lot to say about for a change of seasons.
We have had another great week. On Monday, President Gamiette was sitting in a chair between Elder Wheeler's and Sister Wheeler's desks with Sister Ellison standing by, when he dropped the news of who would be coming to the office to take our places. It was a bit of a dramatic moment for Sister Ellison and President Gamiette handled it very well. Elder and Sister Luster who are serving in Tobago will becoming to do finance and travel and Elder and Sister Sappington who are in the MTC will be coming to do finance and immigration/secretary. The Lusters were called and arrived here in Trinidad on Thursday. The Sappingtons will arrive on January 21. We have much to do to make a smooth transition. Immigration is still in an evolving mode and we hope that it becomes evident what the bottom line will be before they arrive. We also had Zone Conference for Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday. We decided to make chicken enchiladas as many of the Elders have asked for them when they come to the Mission office. We don't have much time to cook and so we decided it would be easier to do a big batch of them for Zone Conference instead of having several of them at a time come to our apartment for them. They were received with enthusiasm which made all the work well worth it. We were also surprised at how fast the homemade refried beans went. GONE!!! The Conference was very good, we are always impressed with the leadership qualities of these young Elders. President Gamiette is a wonderful motivator and teacher and Sister Gamiette gave a great segment on STRESS!!! There was a lot of discussion and it was very helpful. There is always time for testimonies at the end and President Gamiette asked us to bare our testimonies. Senior missionaries role is always to be a shadow, so we normally listen to the young missionaries and love it. We were grateful to have this opportunity to bare our testimonies. President Gamiette also bore his testimony that there is never again a time when you can serve the same kind of proselyting mission as when you are a young missionary. We have spent time today looking through our mission pictures and preparing our Last Will and Testament. We have been abundantly blessed to have been able to serve this mission. We again send the message that senior missionaries are needed!! All missionaries are needed but there is a special role that is filled by senior missionaries. Don't wait if you are thinking about it because we never know what the future will bring.
As they say here in the Caribbean, "May you have a blessed week!"
Much love,
Sunday, January 2, 2011
January 2,2011
Another new year is here and we look forward to another good year with family and friends. We are grateful for each of you and have appreciated your messages through this past year. Many things have transpired in 2010 which can be looked upon as tragedies. As these challenges are faced with courage and faith, there are blessings that become evident that are unexpected and would not have been available without the challenge. We have had a wonderful 2010 here in the mission field; there have been challenges and through those challenges our belief that this is His work has been reaffirmed.
This week has been filled with more immigration needs and it has also been transfer week. We are now down to 16 young Elders here in Trinidad. We feel that we are being guided to fulfill the immigration requirements. We must guarantee the financial support of all the missionaries and the bond that guarantees this needed to be renewed. We had President Gamiette go to the bank to fulfill his part and then it was our turn to go to two different government ministries to finish the legal requirements. Stamps are a very important part of documents here. We needed to go to the heart of Port of Spain and the traffic is unbelievable. We decided to park our car and walk. We were the only "clear people" we saw and we got a lot of looks. We definitely got in an extra walk that day but we were blessed to find the appropriate ministries. The last office we needed stamps and a release letter from was in the Ministry of Immigration and was in the OIM Department. OIM stands for Other Important Matters, made us laugh. We will talk more of immigration as things become more settled.
The Kotiah's invited the Senior missionaries to dinner on Monday which was a holiday, but not for us. Brother Kotiah loves to cook and is very good at it. They had duck, chicken, goat and curry mango along with the traditional rice and chick peas. Brother Kotiah made sure that Elder Wheeler had a steak. He also makes a delicious barbeque sauce which is spicy hot and has pineapple in it. The Kotiah's are a delight.
We have had an enjoyable weekend with other Senior Couples. The Angus couple arrived here on Thursday from Guyana and we spent New Years Eve and New Years Day with them and the Childs. They are now our dear friends. We had a lovely dinner at Ruby Tuesdays on New Years Eve. We went to Maracas Bay and the beach on New Years morning and then had snacks and games in the evening. A great stress reliever. We attended the Couva ward today and loved the testimonies born on this first fast Sunday of 2011. Sister DeFrance told of saving money for a need that her family had. She works at Pizza Hut. She served a family who comes into Pizza Hut regularly, on New Years Eve. They usually tip but on this occasion they handed her an envelope. As they were leaving, she opened it and found "blues" ($100 bills). She ran to the parking lot to ask, why this gift? They told her that God wanted her to have it. She returned to work in tears and knowing that God had heard their prayers. There was another "blue" given as a tip later on during the night. She continued to bear a strong testimony of the Savior and the truthfulness of the Gospel. Sister Petale, the bishop's wife shared with us that she is expecting their second baby and that she has realized that she is to stay home instead of finding work this year. Their little daughter will be seventeen months old when the baby comes. It is wonderful to watch the Lord blessing these wonderful members of the Church here in Trinidad. There are plenty of challenges, but blessings become evident as faithfulness is demonstrated. As we sacrifice. we never get ahead of the Lord.
May you all be blessed as we embark on a new year!
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
This week has been filled with more immigration needs and it has also been transfer week. We are now down to 16 young Elders here in Trinidad. We feel that we are being guided to fulfill the immigration requirements. We must guarantee the financial support of all the missionaries and the bond that guarantees this needed to be renewed. We had President Gamiette go to the bank to fulfill his part and then it was our turn to go to two different government ministries to finish the legal requirements. Stamps are a very important part of documents here. We needed to go to the heart of Port of Spain and the traffic is unbelievable. We decided to park our car and walk. We were the only "clear people" we saw and we got a lot of looks. We definitely got in an extra walk that day but we were blessed to find the appropriate ministries. The last office we needed stamps and a release letter from was in the Ministry of Immigration and was in the OIM Department. OIM stands for Other Important Matters, made us laugh. We will talk more of immigration as things become more settled.
The Kotiah's invited the Senior missionaries to dinner on Monday which was a holiday, but not for us. Brother Kotiah loves to cook and is very good at it. They had duck, chicken, goat and curry mango along with the traditional rice and chick peas. Brother Kotiah made sure that Elder Wheeler had a steak. He also makes a delicious barbeque sauce which is spicy hot and has pineapple in it. The Kotiah's are a delight.
We have had an enjoyable weekend with other Senior Couples. The Angus couple arrived here on Thursday from Guyana and we spent New Years Eve and New Years Day with them and the Childs. They are now our dear friends. We had a lovely dinner at Ruby Tuesdays on New Years Eve. We went to Maracas Bay and the beach on New Years morning and then had snacks and games in the evening. A great stress reliever. We attended the Couva ward today and loved the testimonies born on this first fast Sunday of 2011. Sister DeFrance told of saving money for a need that her family had. She works at Pizza Hut. She served a family who comes into Pizza Hut regularly, on New Years Eve. They usually tip but on this occasion they handed her an envelope. As they were leaving, she opened it and found "blues" ($100 bills). She ran to the parking lot to ask, why this gift? They told her that God wanted her to have it. She returned to work in tears and knowing that God had heard their prayers. There was another "blue" given as a tip later on during the night. She continued to bear a strong testimony of the Savior and the truthfulness of the Gospel. Sister Petale, the bishop's wife shared with us that she is expecting their second baby and that she has realized that she is to stay home instead of finding work this year. Their little daughter will be seventeen months old when the baby comes. It is wonderful to watch the Lord blessing these wonderful members of the Church here in Trinidad. There are plenty of challenges, but blessings become evident as faithfulness is demonstrated. As we sacrifice. we never get ahead of the Lord.
May you all be blessed as we embark on a new year!
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
Dec.26,2010
Our thoughts are with you as we celebrate the birth of our Savior. We are feeling the true Spirit of Christmas. President Monson has told us to drop the last syllable and make it the Spirit of Christ.
We have had a great week! There were three birthdays this week. Elder Wheeler and Pam and Curtis Kotiah. We decided to celebrate all three by having dinner at the Mongolian Grill on Thursday night. The Kotiahs had a wonderful announcement. Brother Kotiah would be rebaptized on Friday morning after 14 years. He is a great father and husband and wonderful helper with all activities in the Curepe ward. He had a problem of misappropriation of funds and it had taken a long time to repay it. They have reached that goal and are out of debt. The baptism was attended by his family, a friend. his bishop, all of the Mission office staff and the Assistants to the President. It was a tender scene and a new beginning for a good man. He asked Elder Wheeler to confirm him and that was an honor for him. What a great Christmas gift. They are dear friends and this will be a never forgotten memory.
There have been ward and branch parties all over Trinidad. We have heard about a lot of them from others and were able to go to Chaguanas branch Christmas dinner and program on Friday night. It was a traditional Caribbean celebration as it was scheduled to start at 6:30 and it began at 8:15 p.m. It was a good program with great music and a replay of Pres. Uchtdorf's Christmas message. Then we had a great dinner with the traditional rice, coleslaw, chicken and the Christmas ham. We enjoyed it very much. The food presentation was delightful. They have two chefs in this branch. One has worked on cruise ships, great food sculptures. President Judahn gave a spiritual, short Christmas message. His little son Jeremy stood by him, holding his hand and cried a bit and after President Judahn finished, he turned and gathered him up into his arms and hugged him tight. It was a very touching scene. Jeremy is a handsome little 4 year old and is autistic.
On Saturday morning, we went to Maracas Beach with Elder and Sister Childs. It was a welcome stress reliever after an interesting week in the Mission office. We then had Bake and Shark at Richard's, which we will miss when we come home. On the way home, we went to Movie Towne Mall for an ice cream at HagenDaz and to do a little shopping at PriceSmart before calling it a day. This mall makes us feel like we might be in the States. We had a wonderful surprise as they had a 50 piece band and 6 singers performing Christmas songs and other enjoyable music in front of the Movie Towne theater. The percussion section came out and danced through the crowd as their finale. They were excellent and a real delight. We felt like we had been granted another Christmas gift to be able to enjoy such a wonderful day.
We love Sundays as we are getting to be great friends with people in the two branches and one ward where we take turns attending Sunday meetings. We count our blessings to be where we can attend Sacrament meeting every week. The Deonarinesingh family is in the Chaguanas branch and have grown spiritually since we have been here. They have one daughter and four sons. They lost a full-term baby shortly after we came to Trinidad. The father has not missed Church since. They have been working on their home for several weeks now and will dedicate it this Thursday. He made it clear that he wanted us to be there and we decided that we wanted to find where it was before coming home from Church. We followed the directions and found it. It is a very humble dwelling but a refuge to this special family. We knew that we had found the right place because he has drawn a diagram of the Plan of Salvation on the side of the house.
We are being blessed abundantly and feel humbly grateful to be a part of this great work. We know our Savior lives. We know our Father loves each one of us. We know that Joseph Smith is indeed the Prophet of the Restoration. We love the Book of Mormon and know that is the word of God and a guide to bless each day of our lives. We are grateful for a living prophet, Thomas S. Monson and for his counsel to us. May your Christmas be especially blessed.
Joyous Christmas love sent to you all!
Elder and Sister Wheeler
Dec.12,2010
As we watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, our thoughts
went homeward bound. May your days before Christmas be filled with
peace and joy as we all prepare for the celebration of the birth of
the Savior. We are grateful that Christmas is celebrated here in
Trinidad and that we can feel the Christmas spirit here also. There
are many Hindu and Muslim people here along with Christians and they
all enjoy each others holidays. No problem saying Merry Christmas in
Trinidad.
This has been a great week in the Mission office. We are having a bit
of a breather. President Gamiette and the Assistants have been here
all week. It has been great to watch and be a part of the proselyting
goals and training. President Gamiette and the Gamiette family have
been in and out a lot more and it is most enjoyable to have family in
the office. Also, Elder and Sister Childs are expecting their
daughter and her family to arrive here in Trinidad sometime this week
which has also brought great expectations. We are starting the 12
days of Christmas as part of our morning devotionals this week. We
will start on Elder Wheeler's birthday, the 13th. We have had rain
every day again this week. I was walking back to the office on
Thursday night and meet a great young father name Denish with his baby
girl in front of Mario's Pizza ,which is just below the Mission office
He and his wife are looking for a church and are not satisfied with
what they are finding. We are being watched all the time and meet
people who are curious about us. Members conversion stories make us
realize that we are planting seeds that may not be harvested now. I
hope that Denish and his family are ready to hear the Good News and
embrace it. The Patriarch in the Trinidad Stake did not join the
Church for many years after his wife did. But, when he finally
decided it was very, very good.
The Adopt a Missionary opportunity has met with great success. We
have been overjoyed with those of you have accepted this challenge.
We will share the joy and smiles you bring to these dedicated
missionaries. Knowing people are aware and care about what you are
doing adds to your ability to do and the letters and small gifts will
be a great boost to them. There is much joy in sharing the Gospel and
realizing how much it blesses the lives of others. With both kinds of
blessings, the work will progress with added enthusiasm and smiles.
We thank you for your willingness to share your time and love.
May your Christmas preparations continue to be blessed.
Christmas love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
went homeward bound. May your days before Christmas be filled with
peace and joy as we all prepare for the celebration of the birth of
the Savior. We are grateful that Christmas is celebrated here in
Trinidad and that we can feel the Christmas spirit here also. There
are many Hindu and Muslim people here along with Christians and they
all enjoy each others holidays. No problem saying Merry Christmas in
Trinidad.
This has been a great week in the Mission office. We are having a bit
of a breather. President Gamiette and the Assistants have been here
all week. It has been great to watch and be a part of the proselyting
goals and training. President Gamiette and the Gamiette family have
been in and out a lot more and it is most enjoyable to have family in
the office. Also, Elder and Sister Childs are expecting their
daughter and her family to arrive here in Trinidad sometime this week
which has also brought great expectations. We are starting the 12
days of Christmas as part of our morning devotionals this week. We
will start on Elder Wheeler's birthday, the 13th. We have had rain
every day again this week. I was walking back to the office on
Thursday night and meet a great young father name Denish with his baby
girl in front of Mario's Pizza ,which is just below the Mission office
He and his wife are looking for a church and are not satisfied with
what they are finding. We are being watched all the time and meet
people who are curious about us. Members conversion stories make us
realize that we are planting seeds that may not be harvested now. I
hope that Denish and his family are ready to hear the Good News and
embrace it. The Patriarch in the Trinidad Stake did not join the
Church for many years after his wife did. But, when he finally
decided it was very, very good.
The Adopt a Missionary opportunity has met with great success. We
have been overjoyed with those of you have accepted this challenge.
We will share the joy and smiles you bring to these dedicated
missionaries. Knowing people are aware and care about what you are
doing adds to your ability to do and the letters and small gifts will
be a great boost to them. There is much joy in sharing the Gospel and
realizing how much it blesses the lives of others. With both kinds of
blessings, the work will progress with added enthusiasm and smiles.
We thank you for your willingness to share your time and love.
May your Christmas preparations continue to be blessed.
Christmas love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
