A Little America

We have enjoyed the last few days immensely.  We got to go to Jamaica for the weekend!  Yea!  To get off the island for a few days was a great treat, in and of itself.  We left Friday very early in the morning and stopped in the Miami airport just long enough to get a Whopper at 9:30 AM.  You have to understand there is no Burger King on our Island and Mike has looked forward to that for many months.  We got to Jamaica fairly early and went to the mission office.   (Standing in line for over an hour in customs was not our favorite part of the trip....)   We got to visit with several mission leaders and got several items of business taken care of....in person.  The office couple took us to eat at a Chinese restaurant...which was so exciting for me.    President Hendricks took us to the mission home where ate again and went to bed early.  We enjoyed being with the Ockeys who had come for the weekend also.  

Saturday morning we were instructed in the new focus’ of Preach My Gospel.  So powerful!  I am so thankful to be a part of this great work.  There are 8 new areas of focus (not to be confused with Young Women values), and they all have to do with revelation.  Joseph Smith had a revelation and so much each of us to be converted.  We will probably not see an angel, but the Holy Ghost will burn a testimony into our soul, such that we can accomplish all He intends us to do!   Missionaries must be prepared with their own testimonies and guide, teach and expect revelation for new convert.  Often Mike and I get busy doing all the “things” we do that we forget whose work we are doing.  What a great reminder.  Then all the senior couple in the whole mission....a total of 16 senior missionaries were there and we had a great day, eating, playing games, visiting, sharing experiences.  What a fun day!

Monday was a terrific day back in the USA.  We requested and received permission for a several hour lay-over in Miami and rented a car.  We were afraid we would have trouble driving on the right side of the road, (because we drive on the left on our island), but Mike did a great job and we found our way around without a hitch.   We looked forward to three things....  Walmart, Costco, and Golden Corral.  We did Walmart and spent as much time as Mike could stand, and were amazed at the low prices, the large variety of commodities, and customer service.   Mike found a Bass Pro Shop and I had a hard time getting him  out that door as it reminded him of Cabelas.  Then we headed to Costco and bought nuts and dried mangos....two things we have sorely missed.  We did not have time (nor could Mike stand more walking up and down the isles) to enjoy more of the ambiance of Costco.  (Of course our membership had run out months before, so we needed to renew it....so much for saving any money there.)  We could not find a Golden Coral, Sizzlers, or anything similar so we ate at Dennys, and it was really delicious.  (We don’t have any chain restaurants in Turks and Caicos and miss food from the States.) 

BACK TO WORK !

July 30, 2010

Mike interviewed Ruben and he was baptized this morning.  He is such a great guy.  The elders have been teaching him for months....none of us could figure out why he was not being baptized.  He read and studied, prayed continually, and continued to ask questions.  We knew when he made up his mind he would be wonderful....and it finally happened.   Turned out he was so concerned that his father would be upset.  It ended up his father was not particularly happy, but was willing to let his son make his own decision.   He is one we found because of English class.  I did not do much to help teach him the gospel, but I am so excited to be a small part of his story.

 This is Elder Packard with Ruben.  These guys become like our children.... Take them out of their white shirts and they act so silly!

Off the Island

Hi You Guys....

       We made it off the island after 10 straight months. We are at the Mission Home this morning waiting for a ride to church. We've had a great time here, meeting with the other couples, etc. Tomorrow morning we leave Jamaica on an early flight that will get us into Miami at about 10:00 AM. We don't leave for Turks and Caicos until 8:00 PM. So we will get a rental car and head for Walmart, Costco, and other places on a quick shopping trip. That will be fun! We already have a list of things we need to buy and take back with us. We hope you are all well and safe. We will try and talk with you soon on SKYPE. We love you guys.

Dad and Mom

P.S. We will hit our 10 month mark in 3 days!

Happy July 24th!

Happy 24th of July!  

Today is a special day for LDS people.  Today is the anniversary of the day Brigham Young brought the first group of pioneers down into the valley of Salt Lake in 1847.   Salt Lake City became the end of the long trek west for thousands of saints who sought religious freedom.  Up to that point they had been persecuted and driven from their homes and were forced to go far away to the west.   So we celebrate all the sacrifices and hardships they suffered  in order to worship without persecution.  We honor those who went before and dedicated all they had to serving the Lord.

Fenn

It is very hard to describe Fenn but suffice it to say he is a character.  He is the most humble crazy person we have ever known.  Fenn gave a talk a few weeks ago.   He speaks both Creole and English so he did not need a translator.  When Fenn talks he has a tendency to go on and on.  Sometimes it makes little sense and we often just shake our heads.  This time he was talking about the blessings of tithing.  He said that no one should have a hard time paying tithing on our island....because anyone could go fishing, and sell the fish, and bring the tithing to the Lord.  Then he went on and on.... “and if you can’t sell the fish, just bring the fish to the church and give it to some people who are hungry”.  Then he continued to talk about growing plantains and bananas (which do not grow on this island) and bringing them to the church for tithing.  While talking with a Creole speaking man after church, he said that Fenn told different stories and examples in Creole than he did in English.  That is so scary because often people say things and we are never sure what they are really talking about.  How can we correct mistakes or false doctrine when we don’t know what they are saying.

Spiritual Experience

Had a great experience at English class last week.  We had talked about Joseph Smith previously and one man asked how we could believe about the first vision because the Bible is very clear that man can not see God and live.  I told him I would prepare some things and get back to him the next class.  Anyway I found and listed 12 Bible scriptures that recorded where prophets had seen God.  For about 1/2 hour we discussed why Bible scriptures can seem confusing, the characteristics of God, and what Joseph Smith learned.  I am not sure how many will change or want to learn more, but I was so excited to get to teach.  The spirit was really strong and I felt I was able to do what I was sent to do......

Rain!

Had tons of rain Wednesday.  What a blessing for us.  We have paid a ton of money for water to be brought to fill the cistern under our house.  We were thinking we would need to have it filled again, but alas, it was filled almost full in one day.   Tropical storm “Bonnie” threatened to cause a lot of trouble, but it blew over only leaving the water we need so badly!  

Family night with the Chalas Family

 Great kids in our branch.

English class....one of my favorite things.

Fritz with Elder Packard.  What a great new convert....so faithful.

Passed Half-way!

Dear Family and Friends,

Two weeks since we wrote.  Just want you to know we are ok.  I keep thinking there is nothing really happening that is new to interest anyone else.  We continue to be involved in the building of our little branch.  We think we are successful in baptizing and teaching, training, and supporting, then immigration takes more of our sweet members and we get discouraged again.  My English class has shrunk to under 20.  That is wonderful for the “English” part of my class, but not so wonderful for our teaching pool.

We finally got several amazing pictures up in our rented church building.  It brings the spirit of the Lord and feels more like a place of worship.  We are working on getting air conditioning in the whole building...(thank you,thank you) but it IS the Caribbean and we really do not know when anything will actually be accomplished.  We are also waiting for a car for the missionaries.  That should have been here months ago and will be a great blessing when it comes.  We found out recently that there are 3 new senior couples coming to our mission.   That will do a lot to further the work here.  They are in desperate need for a couple for the mission office.  Anyone interested?  

It is so hot and we finally started using the air conditioner at night.  What a great blessing.  We wake up refreshed and are able to enjoy a deep sleep.   However it makes me feel guilty because so many of our members have no home, and we have so many blessings.  We put on our mission clothes in the morning and start to sweat.  Drink and drink water.

We were blessed with another visit from our good friends the Ockeys..(mission Presidency) last week.  We so enjoy their visits and always feel appreciated and loved when they leave.

We passed our 9 month mark which means we are half way done with our mission.  In some ways it has gone so fast.  We just want to do what we are called to do while we are here. 

Our Friday night volleyball games have become a big hit.  We have more and more coming, more for the missionaries to teach. Love those elders.

We love you all.

Elder and Sister Herbert

 Trying on a new white shirt!

During the World Cup

Dear Family and Friends,

Spiritual experience;

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Very few people in English class tonight.  The World Cup has had a huge effect on church attendance this whole month, but tonight the problem was  Immigration.  Life for the Haitians stop when Immigration comes around.  So we just had about 20 people there....only 1 member of the church.  It was really fun because with smaller numbers we can play more games and get to talk a lot more, rather than me just teaching.  On Thursday we have Institute after English class but tonight the Institute teacher did not show up either.  So we pulled out the English Hymn book and begin to sing.  I was very clear that no one had to stay and that English was over.  Not one person left.  We sang for a good half hour and I think they would have stayed for as long as I would have let them.  I kept thinking how amazing it was .... 19 nonmember men singing out of our hymnal.....feeing the spirit and not wanting to leave.

Elder’s Quorum Party

Saturday, June 26, 2010....very interesting

Very few people came.(Immigration again), but it was a good thing.  We ended up with just enough food.  We had an opening song, opening prayer, food, closing song, closing prayer. ( During the week I told Mike I wanted to call and see what they needed for help and he kept saying they needed to work it out themselves.) Anyway after the closing prayer, I asked the Elder’s Quorum President if we could play some games.  He said sure and we played simple children’s game, like musical chairs, Simon Says,  Pass the Chalk.  Anyway, they laughed and had so much fun.  I get such a kick out the simple things that make them so happy.  Every event is a real learning experience for them.  Each time we hope they will build on what they learned from the last experience.

Saturday:  Our son Scott fought in the championship Ring Wars bout which includes a five states circuit and is now the new Light Heavyweight  Mixed Martial Arts champion for that area.  We are proud of him.  Fighting an opponent that was 6’4”, he thinks he probably broke his nose.  But he is so excited that he won by unanimous decision and says it was worth it all.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

When Sacrament Meeting started we had less than 20 people there.  As we average about 52, we braced ourselves for the worst.  No one wants to leave home because so many have been picked up by Immigration and we were thinking we would have such low attendance. By the end of the meeting there was 46.  More than half of those that were there, came after the sacrament.  We teach and teach about being on time......

Today was Mike’s birthday.  Sort of a bummer for him, I think.  He misses the children and grandchildren very much at the holidays especially.  The elders came for dinner and we had cake and ice cream.  Mike has not eaten sweets for several months, so he was excited  and enjoyed that.  

My sister explains that she skims through my letters each week, but enjoys the pictures.  So I will cut the letter short and send more pictures.  

Love you all.

Elder and Sister Herbert

Allistede being baptized by Renel

 Chaloute washing his clothes at the church.

 Elder’s quorum party.

Cleaning the building after our party.

Playing musical chairs.  So much fun!

Father's Day

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy Father’s Day.  Next Sunday is Father’s Day in Haiti.....so we will celebrate it twice.  Of course it is Mike’s birthday next Sunday so we will celebrate that too.  He even said he would have cake and ice cream with that next week.  He has not eaten any junk food for several months so he is looking forward to that.

Went to Beaches and had a huge family dinner with a very generous tourist family on Wednesday.  That would have meant nothing to me before we came here.  After living here for a while it was Way Fun to go enjoy the amazing food and family hospitality.  Thank you Diamonds and Eddys.  It was great!

Had a wonderful visit with the new mission president, President Hendricks and his wife.  We felt so loved and appreciated when they left.  They made us feel we are doing an important work.  They gave us empowerment and inspiration to do better.  

Had a wonderful baptism today after church.  Sometimes we baptize people that we wonder how they will endure.  Alistede is a wonderful man.  I hope and pray he will stand firm in the faith.

Had another man picked up by Immigration this week.... and still another planning on going home soon.  It seems we baptize them, train them to be faithful members, try and teach them English, and then they leave.  We only hope they stay faithful when they get to Haiti.  We are reminded that Elder Coleman, of the seventy, told us during his visit that we are training future leaders of the church in Haiti.

We love you all so much.

Elder and Sister Herbert

Oatmeal Cookies

OK.  I am making these oatmeal cookies for this teaching appointment at 4 PM today.  I use these amazing Cranberries (thank you Diane) and I am mixing them with my new mixer (thank you Aimee) and I am ready to put them into my brand new oven (thank you landlord), and the phone rings.  It is our 4 PM appointment that can't meet with us today.  I am major disappointed because it is a real FAMILY....like together with kids and jobs.  I am so excited for them to learn the gospel.  We have prayed and prayed for families......  He gave me a good reason and rescheduled.    Please add this (last name Moven) family to the list you already pray for.  I love you guys so much.

Mom....and Bonnie