Sister Leishman (serving in Tobago with her husband) reports: Our Christmas day service project was visiting at a children's home called the SylPhil House, home to 26 children (ages 9 months to 18 years). Phillip and Sylvia started the home over 55 years ago. Sylvia is deceased but Phil has a daughter, Susan, who helps him run it now.The Elders decorated sugar cookies and we took 3 dozen along with two boxes of food items and a laundry basket fulled with gifts for each of the children. We purchased crayons and coloring books, reading books, and journals to give to the children. On Christmas Eve, Elders Duncan, Chambers, Linton and Jensen helped us wrap the gifts.
On Christmas morning the Elders came over for breakfast. Elder Chambers did his best to beat Elder Jensen in a pancake eating contest but Elder Jensen outdistanced Elder Chambers by two pancakes. After breakfast was cleared away, we headed over to the SylPhil House to take our gifts and to sing them some Christmas carols. Turns out, we were the ones entertained by a small band made up of some of the children. There were actually about 10 playing instruments which included recorders, bass guitar, drums, keyboard, clarinets, and the star of the show, the steel pan.
After entertaining us, the children went outside to have fun in the sun. They had a blow-up swimming pool big enough to hold about a dozen of the smaller children. They were shoulder to shoulder in the pool, but they didn't care. It was a hot day so, as long as they were wet and cool, nothing else mattered. The elders were tempted to join them but they obeyed mission rules and stayed out of the water.
