A Good Week

We participated in a wonderful memorial service for Elder Walker at the Spanish Town building.  All the missionaries in Jamaica were able to travel  and participate.  President Hendricks is so wise to bring all the elders together and teach them (one more time) about the plan of salvation.  Elder Coleman of the 70 was here with his wife.  They both gave great talks and everyone was edified.  Since this has all happened President Hendricks has been interviewed several times by newspaper people.  They all want to know if he is pulling out the missionaries, if the church is going to sue the police, if the church blames Jamaica, and other such inquires.  It is so funny to hear him repeat over and over that the church blames no one, that the church is staying here in Jamaica, and that this was not a tragedy.   Without the perspective of Eternity, I can see why some would be inconsolable.  It seems the newspapers want to make this into some sensational.

Elder Walker’s little sister was there.  What a beautiful young lady.   Her aunts and uncles have taken her in.  I know she is very lonely without her brother and mother.  But she is in a place where she feels loved. 

Fun with Senior Couples

One of the fun things on a mission is the friends you make.  We have had some wonderful experiences with the other senior couples.  A few weeks ago we went down the Rio Grand River on banana boats.  It was quite an experience.  We spent a few hours on the river, had a wonderful, traditional lunch, then another hour down to the take-out place.  When we were finished,  assistants pulled the boats back up the river (about six miles) by hand….all barefoot.  The boat captain allowed Mike and I both to go to the front and used the stick to guide the boat.  Lots of fun.

George

George is our wheelchair friend.  A few weeks ago he told us of one of his dreams.  (He is the one who was stabbed in the back, cutting his spinal cord, leaving him a paraplegic).  He said someday he wants to walk up to bear his testimony.  We talked of finding him a walker to start with.  Today at church there was a lady who had a walker and George traded her for the day. She was having trouble getting around with her walker, so George, being George, just traded her for the day.  He was so slow and careful but he walked up (with the walker) to the front and bore his testimony.  The whole congregation sat stunned and you could have heard a pin drop as he made his way to the front.  It took all his concentration and his legs shook the whole time, but he made it.  (I told Mike I wanted to take a picture.  He just rolled his eyes and said something like, “you can’t”, which made me want to do it even more.  But I didn’t take it.)  However it is etched in my brain and I am so thankful to be here and see it.  I think the whole audience wanted to cry.  This is the guy who gets in his wheelchair and goes over an hour to get to church every week.  He is always here and always early.    What a great inspiration to us all.

I know this is short.  So much more has happened, but much sounds the same.   One of the wonderful things about being a missionary is that life is really simple.  We get up, exercise, study, find, teach, visit, visit, visit.  We have so few other cares.  I think when we go back to “real life,” it will be hard to manage all that is required of normal people.

We are getting excited to come home….but trying not to think about it.  We love you.

The seven Elders that were in the van with Elder Walker at the time of the shooting….and Elder Walker’s little sister.

Mike pulling banana boat

Things Are Never as Ugly As They Seem

This week has been such an emotional one.   Tonight we spoke at a missionary fireside.  It was so fun and the love we feel from and for the Jamaican people is amazing. It is hard to explain the extreme “highs” and “lows” that come with where we are and what we are doing.  We (sister Flake and myself) had two people approach us asking for information about our church.  After talking with them, they both want to be taught by the elders.  Elder Walker’s death has softened hearts and made people want to know why this young Jamaican was serving for two years….what we are all about….  There are lots of rumors about the church here and this has brought it all to the front.  Many think this is a “white man’s” church and they are surprised to see their own people serving as missionaries.

We took Elder Osberg (the elder who got glass in his eye) to the Ophthalmologist twice this week.  He has no permanent damage.  I communicated with his mother on FaceBook for which she was extremely grateful.  I am so inspired by these young elders.

Another quote from the Schaefermeyer’s note: 

Recall with us the story of the tapestry,

There was a little boy sitting at his mother's feet as she was sewing a tapestry. After a long while of him gazing up, he had this strange look on his face.  His mother asked him, "Darling, What is the matter?"

His reply was, "Mommy, that is the ugliest thing I have ever seen!"

His mother turned her tapestry over, and He was right!  It was ugly.  There were knots, and strings and threads and they were all crossed in various ways and it WAS ugly!

His mother replied, "Oh sweetie, you are right, but you are looking at it all wrong!

You see, if you look at it from up here, it is beautiful!"  With that she turned the tapestry over for him to see. It WAS beautiful. It was perfectly stitched.  "The little boy replied with joy, "OH Mommy! It is PERFECT!" I couldn't see what you saw!

That is exactly how this life is for us. We see things from underneath; from our human perspective. The entire time, GOD is weaving the tapestry of our lives from up above, and He sees our lives from HIS perspective. He sees the right side of that tapestry.

God is weaving something beautiful with the fabric of our lives and we are each a unique thread in God’s beautiful tapestry.  Some of us are long threads and some of us are shorter ones.  Elder Walker had a shorter thread, but it was woven into just the right place.  It was the right color, the right length and highlighted all the threads around his.

Just want you to know that we never feel afraid.  We feel protected and led every day.

Tiny Blessings to Lift the Spirit

Yesterday I was getting a temple recommend interview (because I had lost my purse with the recommend in it).  Right in the middle of the conversation I got a call from Price Savers (a huge Costco like store here).  Someone had found my purse and wanted to return it to me.  We immediately got in the car and drove to Spanish town to find the address.  We went to a very rough area where I found the man who said they found the purse.  Oshane went with us to help us find the home.  The man (Christopher) said the back pack was found in the bushes and my purse was inside. 

A preliminary investigation found most everything was intact.  All my checks, credit cards, license, debit card, were there. (Of course I had already cancelled them)!   The backpack containing Elder Poulsen’s scriptures and ID were there.   Of course the computer and camera were gone…… I gave the guy 2000 Jamaica dollars for helping us…about $23 American.  We took the elder’s stuff to him.  It was such a relief to get the purse back…. To know no one had my checks to use is such a blessing.

The Schaefermeyers invited us to dinner.  We went and they offered us this extra computer to use while we are here.  It belongs to the Humanitarian missionaries, but they both have their own and do not need another one.  I am so grateful to be able to write my journal, skype, and email friends.  So I went back for the past several months and found old emails to get your addresses.  I'm sure I have left some out and perhaps added some new addresses.

Rasta Village- MoBay Spiritual Leader

At Port Royal

People Being Nice

Spent most of the day at the police station ....same place we had been on Monday.... making a report, fingerprinting the truck, etc.  Everyone was so polite to us.  They knew by our badges who we were and they were so concerned about our feelings and our belongings because of the shooting. (I am not sure anyone will ever follow up, but it was nice to be treated so well).  

No Words

I don’t know how to describe today.  A very somber day to start out because of Elder Walker’s  death yesterday.    We went to the mission office to print off some tax papers.  Because I could not get the IBM PC’s to read my zip drive, I took my whole computer, hooked it up, and got the job done.  Mike traded cars with the Daniels so we would have a pick-up to take George his wheel chair.  That took all morning so we headed straight out to Spanish Town to meet the Schefermeyers.  (They were meeting us to adjust George’s wheel chair).   Anyway, we picked up the elders, met the Schaefermeyers, and got George all set up.  He was like a kid in a candy store.  So excited.  !

We went on another visit and took the elders to Dominos to get a soda.  Probably in a 15 minute period of time,  between 4:30 PM and 4:45 someone broke the back window of the truck, stole my purse, the computer, and elder Poulsen’s  back pack.  In it was his scriptures, his camera,(with all his pictures form his mission) and other minor things.  I feel like we were kicked in the gut.  We went over to the Flakes and used their computer to cancel all my credit cards.  (Nothing had been used).

So - -- No computer!     No Purse!  No credit cards, or any way to get cash)!  The thieves left my movie camera and camera (so grateful)! Mike thinks it was such a quick job, they made one swipe and took what they thought was important.  There was no money in my wallet….so they got no cash

The Lord is in charge.  I just don't know the plan.

An Emotional Week

The senior couples and the  branch presidents met with officials from “Food for the Poor”  this AM.  It was a great meeting where we learned all the good that Food for the Poor does here in Jamaica and other countries.  We learn how the church could best utilize the things that FFO offers.  We ate lunch at Pizza Hut in Angels. We were heading to George’s house with his new wheel chair when Schaefermeyers got a call that said one  of our elders had been shot and killed.  We drove right to the hospital and then police station. 

I am copying the Schaefermeyer’s words for part of my description of what happened ….

On Monday January 17, 2011, the Kingston Zone and Spanish Town Zone met at the Spanish Town Church to play football.  The Elders of the Kingston Zone drove to the activity in the mission van so all eight of them could ride together.  After the activity, the elders stopped for lunch and then were traveling toward Portmore when they were stopped in traffic and saw a police car and policemen by the side of the road– which isn’t unusual.  The police frequently set up traffic stops and car checks along the roads between cities.  The unusual thing was that a police officer ran past their van with his rifle drawn and shots were heard shortly thereafter.  Elder Emery (one of the zone leaders) told them to duck and just then the back window of the van shattered.

This is a 15 passenger van which has 4 bench seats behind the front seats.  Elder Ostberg was seated on the far back bench by the rear window; he was covered with glass and some of the glass and shrapnel went into his right eye; the bullet passed by him on his right side.  He commented that he heard the bullet pass by his head.  Elders Knowlton and Nelson were sitting on the next seat forward and the bullet passed between them.  Elder Walker (the only Jamaican Elder in the van) was seated on the third seat forward (the middle of the five rows in the van) and was struck in the left temple by the bullet.  Upon discovering that Elder Walker had been hit, the Elders checked for but could not find a pulse.  Elder Emery pulled out of traffic and sped to the Spanish Town Hospital where Elder Walker was declared dead on arrival.  When we arrived at the hospital people commented on how these seven elders from the US cried over their Jamaican brother.  Seeing grown men cry here is an anomaly as they want to appear “tough”. 

Elder Walker’s death was caused by a stray bullet from a person who had stolen a car.  The police did not immediately apprehend the person responsible but have since determined his identity.

The elders were then directed to the police station where they spent a long afternoon and evening giving their stories to the police who interviewed them.

The incident happened around 12:30 PM and we got their around 3 PM.  The seven were very upset, crying and devastated.  President and Sister Hendricks  were there giving comfort, taking and making calls.  After a few minutes we left to go buy food for the elders, and mission home. 

When they all got back to the mission home they were exhausted, and dirty.  They were anxious to take a shower and eat what we had prepared.  After our dinner the mission president had a wonderful, spiritual meeting.   He taught some amazing things.  He told of Joseph Smith.  The Lord told Joseph Smith that his days were appointed to the Lord and no one could harm him until he had completed his mission. He told great stories of missionary work that needs to be done after this life.  He talked of a mother and son whose love had a great bond. Sister Hendricks said she felt this one incident would bond these young men forever.  Elder Schafermeyer gave great council too.  One thing they all said was that his life here was ended, but his mission had been extended.

The elders one by one bore their testimonies of the Plan of Salvation and their love for the gospel.  It was so powerful!

Those are the facts…Now the rest of the story….

Elder Walker was a gentle, quiet, humble gentlemanly person that stood about 6 feet 5 inches tall.  He had a firm testimony and in his gentle way would bear a very powerful testimony.  Elder Walker was a Jamacian elder.  His mother, and little sister were all the family he had and he loved them so.  They all joined the church together and his mom was so proud he wanted to serve a mission.  When he was in the MTC he told another elder of his love for his mom.  He said she was his earthly angel and that if anything ever happened to her, he would not want to live.  When she became ill on his mission and it looked like she was NOT going to bet better, President Hendricks considered giving Elder Walker an early release.  President Hendricks sought and received permission for Elder Walker to visit with his mother in the hospital.  While there his mother expressed her desire that he complete his mission…. And he agreed to do that.   Well she passed away and was buried on January 8^th.  In one instant today he was taken home to his mom.  I know there are accidents in this world.  I know that bad people are allowed to do bad things that hurt others.  But today, Heavenly Father took a choice young man home to carry on with his mission in another place. 

The President is having them spend the night tonight and tomorrow night.  But in the day time, they are back to work.  He has a great love for the elders that they each feel.

Elder Walker was in Portmore last Wednesday and we got to teach with him.  He was a powerful teacher and Mike and I both commented on what a wonderful day it had been with him.  We feel so lucky that we got to know him a little that day.

President instructed that each elder was required to sleep for 8 hours that night.  I think that will be the only time on their mission, they have permission to sleep past 6:30 AM.  We all love President Hendricks so.

8 missionaries right before the shooting

Food, Water, Conference

Food Initiative:

We have a terrific, forward thinking, humanitarian missionary couple in our mission named Elder and Sister Schaefermeyer.   They wrote up this gigantic plan to help the people here in Jamaica, sent it into the Dominican Republic (over our area) and then to church headquarters for approval.  It was approved and funded 100%.  Nothing exactly like this has ever been done by the church in the whole world.  Other similar things have been tried other places but the church has learned from their mistakes and are doing things a little differently.  Before the Schaefermeyers wrote up the proposal they went around to branches in the two districts in Jamaica.  They introduced their plan and interested people signed up.  It is for members and nonmembers alike so members could tell their neighbors and have them sign up too.  (Unfortunately now others are wanting to get in on the plan but the church had to cut it off somewhere, so they are not accepting any new people now).  These people who signed up have a choice of 6 projects they can do. Chickens (for eating), Layer chickens, pigs, goats, bees, or gardens.  The government agriculture department here (RADDA....I have not idea what that stands for), will train the people in their separate projects.  No one can have anything for their projects until they are trained....including financial training on how to keep the projects going and make them self sustaining projects.    After they have been trained and their land is checked to make sure they have areas to put their projects, everything will be provided for the project...materials for the pens, the animals, the food and antibiotics/medicine to keep them alive, seeds for the garden, along with fertilizer and whatever is needed to make the project successful.    The Jamaicans are responsible to build their own pens (and are required to help each other).  Here is what makes it different that other places in the past and also makes it so exciting.  

1. The people got to choose their project...no one is pushed into something they don’t want to do.
2.   Each project receiver must be trained before the church provides help.
3. There will be follow-up by missionaries and/or RADDA.
4. It is designed to be self perpetuating....so the people must learn to keep it going...not eating/selling everything at one time.

There are so many problems here...so impoverished.  Many have never learned how to think ahead, plan, and organize.  So much is done in “survival mode.” 

   A few major problems with the Food Inititive: 

1.  Their projects must be secured so the animals are not stolen.  

2.  What will they do when their neighbors come and ask for food because they are hungry?  

We will teach them that they must take care of their own lives before they can help others.  They must plan how much they can give away, eat, sell, etc to allow them to be successful.  We know there will be failures..... but what a wonderful opportunity for them.  I can’t help but feel such pride for the church and its programs to “lift” the lives of others, in and out of the church.

3 1/2 months of cold water....

We have been in Jamaica for 3 1/2 months.  For 3 1/2 months we have had cold showers, sometimes warm.  We could not figure out why our hot water heater was not working.  Well the other day a missionary was in our house and just happened to say.... “OK, their is your stove power, there is your hot water heater.”   So there we had the answer.  For 3 1/2 months we did not know that we needed to turn on that switch.  We had turned it on when I cooked  because I thought both switches were for the stove so periodic warm water in the morning....because I had cooked the night before.  So goes the secrets of life in Jamaica.  If we just just know the right switch, life goes much better.

District Conference

We have 7 branches in our district and we had district conference this weekend.  What a spiritual feast.  It was wonderful!  Probably the most fun was that Mike had a priesthood meeting and I got the car for 3 hours, with some other cute ladies, and we got some fun visits in......without men.

Have a great week.  Love, The Herberts

Sister Flake, Sister Bradford, and me

The back of her house

Her bathroom

Love those Jamaica potholes!

P-Day

We went with the senior couple to Lime Cay.... a little island about a mile off Jamaica shore.  It was a fun day spent with wonderful people.  Tonight we are going to Senior couple Family Night.  We do this once a month at the Mission Home and it is always a delightful and spiritual experience.  As we were going around the group, we found that most of them we have connections with outside our mission.    One couple, the Schaefermeyers , have a daughter named Adrian.  She and Aimee were best friends in Florida.  When we figured that out we just laughed and laughed.  Another sister's father served with my father in Germany before the war.  Elder and Sister Flake and Elder and Sister Daniels, from Arizona, knew my mothers family from the same place.  It is amazing how small the world is.

As we are coming home in a few months, we want to begin putting in pleas for senior couples.  They desperately need mature people all over the world, (particularly right here in the Jamaica, Kingston) who have served in the church and understand how the wards and branches should run.  If you, or anyone you know, is ready and willing to come, our mission president is actively looking for couples to come.  He is an amazing man and the other senior couples you would work with are terrific.  Just think, no pushing snow for two winters.

We love you and are so thankful for your love and support.

Elder and Sister Herbert

Missionary - someone who spends time away from loved ones so others can spend eternity with theirs

These little kids are so, so sweet. 

An Object less in our Teacher Development class

Great Visits

Brother Dushan Price, and his wife Jodi, went with us to see some of the families that he home teaches.  It was so good to have another active member who “gets it.”  He is so bold and friendly with a huge grin on his face.  He walks around and smiles at everyone.  He is one of the best teachers Mike or I have ever seen.  We went to George Blackwood’s house and Mike and Brother Price prepared and served the sacrament to him.  He is in a wheelchair and his wheelchair has been broken for several weeks and he has not been able to come to church.   I was so proud of Mike for thinking of the idea and making it happen for George.   Hopefully George will have a new wheelchair this week and he will be able to come back to church.

I finished the Old Testament this week.  This has been a several month project as I studied the Old Testament Student Manual (Institute manual), and How Often I Would Have Gathered You, by Val Greenwood, along with it.  I learned so much and it was an amazing experience.  Reading and studying the scriptures every day has been one of the best parts of a mission.  We have at least one hour built into every day, to spend searching, pondering, and enjoying the scriptures.  I have always tried to read some each day, but it is a whole different experience to immerse yourself as we have been able to do.

Mike and I teach the Teacher Development class in both branches that we visit.  It is so interesting how different the two branches are.  In one branch we teach after the block of meetings each week that we are at that branch...the other during Sunday School.  One is so consistent with the same people from the beginning.  The other, the branch president has chosen different people to take part.  We teach different lessons each week but the second branch president thinks some training is better than none....so he rotates the teachers that come in.  We like teaching this class.... as it is just a continuation of what we have both done for our careers.  

This week we got to teach with the elders one day.  It was so sweet to feel the spirits of wonderful searching people.  Usually our calling to to find people who are lost, people others have not seen in a long time.  It was a refreshing break.

George in the middle in the wheelchair.  Oshane and Brother Price...helped with sacrament.

Sister Shakes and me.  Love visiting with her.  she is 85.

I met this guy.  He was so friendly.  I asked him to take a picture.  Love those dreads....

All the kids here wear uniforms.  They all like their picture taken.

Close Encounters

Wow.  We came within inches of having a serious accident.  We were in Spanish Town.  The roads are narrow with very few traffic signs.  The roads downtown are crowded with people, animals, cars, pot holes, and lots of other dangers.  Mike was going very slowly through and intersection and a lady in a big bus just barreled through.  Mike almost hit her.  We were very grateful that everyone was ok.  We had a very good day visiting and inviting people back to church after that.  I feel we were protected and guided once again.

On one of our visits we met a little girl (three years old) named Dana.   She was wild and independent and smart.  She kept holding her nose, looking at me, and saying what I thought was, “stink, stink, stink.”  I asked her mom what she was saying and she said she was so shocked to see my nose was “pink.”  This was way deep in an area where the little children do not see many white people.  She thought my nose was so funny because it was pink and it was pointed.  “Out of the mouth of babes.”

A Young Women Presidency Meeting.  I told them I had to take a picture because what they were doing was so important!

This is how many people get their electricity....Hum

Elder Herbert with Byoncee