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