Thirteen New Elders Welcomed

A bakers' dozen morally and spiritually strong young men – fresh from the MTC - arrived on Monday, June 14 to begin the best two years of their lives serving the Lord in the West Indies Mission. Their shirts are white, their pant legs are creased, their shoes are shiny and well-heeled and they “are numbered among those of the church of God . . . distinguished for their zeal towards God and men . . . perfectly honest and upright . . . and firm in their faith in Christ, even unto the end” (Alma 27:27).

Welcome to assignments in the islands of the Caribbean or countries of South America to Jayson Paul Kemble (Salem, OR); Bradley Dahl Wilson (Spanish Fork, UT); Austin McKay Jones (Queen Creek, AZ); Chris Anthony D’Oliveira (West Bank Demerara, Guyana); Landon Jeffrey Slaugh (Vernal, UT); Samuel Boyd Jensen (Farmington, UT); Brock Richard Hartshorn (Caldwell, ID); John Garrett Largent (Inola, OK); Nathan Allred Porter (Pleasant Grove, UT); Jarom Quinn Hartshorn (Driggs, ID); Ruita Tehoiri (West Bank Demerara, Guyana); Michael Meredith (Georgetown, Guyana) and Trevor Stewart Peck (Carey, ID).

Seven Months to LaGrange

Remember the final scene in “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark” where the wooden box containing the ark was moved into a warehouse among hundreds of other non-descript wooden boxes?

That scene is not unlike what Elder and Sister Angus have dealt with in trying to get their container, filled with emergency supplies, off the dock and through customs in Georgetown, Guyana where it has sat, buried among many other similar looking containers, for more than seven months! On Saturday, June 11 - "an historic day" according to Sister Angus - the patience and determination of these hardworking WIM Humanitarian Services missionaries paid off when the container was finally located, released and stopped traffic on both sides of the Demerara Harbor Bridge as it was being transported to its permanent location on the grounds of the LaGrange Branch building.

The trailer, which was provided through donations from all over the world to the Church’s Humanitarian Services Division, contains dozens of tents, tarps and blankets, hundreds of hygiene kits, a large supply of water filter systems, rope and the famous yellow "Helping Hands" t-shirts until a time when these potentially life-saving provisions are needed to help relieve the pain and suffering caused by natural or manmade disasters in the area.

Mini-youth Conference a Success in Berbice

“Where Your Treasure Is, There Will Your Heart Be Also” was the theme for a mini-youth conference in the Berbice area on Thursday, May 25 - a beautiful Guyana Independence Day.

According to organizers, Elder and Sister Young, the event “surpassed our expectations” when nearly 120 young people between the ages of 12-18 gathered at the East Canje Branch where President Ramnarine introduced the theme for a day filled with fun, food and spiritual instruction, including their choice of one of two classes during each of four hours . In the first hour, conference participants made the choice to attend “Called to Serve (a Mission)” and “Preparing for the Temple” taught by Yohann Pooran and Rupa Munro or "Establishing a Righteous Heritage through Temple Marriage” with Brother and Sister Bennie as the instructors. In the second hour, the choices were "Evils and Designs of Conspiring Men" (Word of Wisdom) taught be Brother and Sister Kirton or "Joseph and Potiphar's Wife" (Law of Chastity) taught by Brother and Sister Moses. In the third hour, President and Sister Samaroo spoke on "Preparing to Compete in the World" (Education) and Elder and Sister Harris addressed the topic of “Something You Can Take With You" (Seminary & Institute). The day concluded at about 4:30 p.m. with a testimony meeting.

In the end, organizers and local leaders wished they had started a little later in the day and had planned some outdoor games to allow the kids to work out their wiggles, but overall everyone was very pleased with the turnout and content of the event and look forward to seeing the fruits this effort will produce in this outstanding group of young people.

June Transfer Says Goodbye to Ten

They have served with honor through two rainy seasons to "bring souls unto Christ" in the West Indies Mission. They have worn out shoes and the seat of their pants, transferred several times from any of numerous Caribbean islands to the South American continent and back again; and now they are returning to family, friends and the rest of their lives! A fond farewell to Nathaniel James Park (Aberdeen, ID); Dawson Park Lake (Bountiful, UT); Nathan Broadbent Morris (Murray, UT); Brock Martin Beeson (Sammasish, WA); Forrest Alexander Plaster (Orem, UT); Carson Quentin Ence (Ivins, UT); Benjamin Jared Babbel (Corvallis, OR); Tobin Lucas Prince (Murray, UT), Ralph Rodney Wehl (Paramaribo, Suriname) and Freda Toussaint (Abymes, Guadeloupe).

Thank you for your service, and remember always the Lord's promise to his servants when He said, “I, the Lord, delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and truth unto the end.”(D&C 76:5)

June 1 . . . the First Day of Guyana's Future!

Today is the first day of the future for worthy and ambitious young church members (ages 16-30) in Guyana. On this day, the “new and improved” Perpetual Education Fund application goes on-line for those who meet the criteria for financial help to further their education.

PEF - a “bold initiative” which this year celebrates a decade of helping more than 50,000 young men and women in developing areas around the world - currently has nearly 750 students in schools throughout the Caribbean, including 17 in Trinidad . . . but only 1 in Guyana!!!

The Guyana Country Committee is committed to moving PEF forward in their country desperately in need of people educated in the fields of accounting, medicine, technology, education, computers and in management and administration in all these fields.

The Lord is mindful of Guyana’s needs and is poised and ready to fulfill President Gordon B. Hinckley's prophesies when in 2001 he introduced this modern miracle and a catalyst for growth in the Church, saying PEF would be the means whereby members in the West Indies Mission and the world will:

“. . . become leaders in this great work in their native lands”
“. . . pay their tithes and offerings which will make it possible for the Church to expand its work across the world”
“. . . step out of the cycle of poverty they and generations before them have known”

Humanitarian Service is Goodwill for the Church

Elder and Sister Angus, WIM Humanitarian Services missionaries who travel from island-to-island and country-to-country building goodwill for the Church, had a particularly busy mid-May as they finished up three large projects benefiting, perhaps as many as, 2000 people in Guyana.

On Monday, May 16, family and friends of the New Amsterdam Special Needs School, the school’s 72 children; 18 teachers and staff employed there, along with local leaders and members of the Church came together for handing over festivities to celebrate the completion of multi-faceted church-sponsored humanitarian service projects at the school suggested by Elder and Sister Young, another senior couple serving in the West Indies Mission.

The nearly month-long project included repairs to plumbing to bring water into the kitchen and washroom, a privacy door and 4 new toilets, installation of taps for all sinks and air conditioning in the computer room; a metal filing cabinet, stationary and school supplies for the office and use by the children, and 25 new student desks.

On Tuesday, May 17, the Humanitarian Services missionaries handed off a 40-foot container of materials and supplies to the Guyana Relief Council to assist in their ongoing efforts to alleviate at least some of the trauma suffered by persons whose lives have been disrupted by disasters.

The container, donated by Church Humanitarian Services, was filled to capacity with clothing, shoes, hygiene kits, school supplies, baby kits, toys, household items and blankets valued at $74,219 USD. Also donated were mattresses, bedding, kitchenware and story books for the children all purchased locally and valued at another $891,580 GYD. It is estimated the contents of the container will help as many as 1600 individuals, particularly those who have lost their homes to fire.

For more than seventeen years, the Guyana Relief Council, chaired by Yvonne Hinds, wife of Guyana's Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, has provided for the needs of those in distress in the country’s 10 regions. In 2010, for instance, the GRC provided help to 75 families who had lost their homes to fire; 3 families suffering from losses due to wind damage; and 166 persons who needed welfare assistance, including those in 4 Hinterland communities.

On Wednesday, May 18, parents, teachers and sixty-four first and second grade students at the Windsor Forest Primary School excitedly accepted delivery on Wednesday of a new television, a DVD player, tables and chairs, as well as books for their new reading room.

In addition to the electronics and other materials, valued at $1580 USD (about $316,000 GYD), the school was also the beneficiary of a youth service project involving more than a dozen young men and women from Georgetown’s Vreed-en-Hoop Branch who showed up on a recent Saturday morning to paint some of the interior of the school.

The Church's Humanitarian Services program has long been actively involved in humanitarian relief and development activities throughout the world. These include emergency relief assistance in times of disaster and humanitarian programs to strengthen the self-reliance of individuals, families, and communities.

Seven Enter Through the Gate

Seven young converts stepped into the baptismal font on Saturday, May 14 to show their willingness to come into His kingdom and keep His commandments from this time forward. Surrounded by friends, family, branch members and Elders Scott and Fernandes, Andre Jacobus, Martin Kassim and five of his seven children – LaToya (age 15), Kristine (14), Emmanuel (10), Christopher (9) and Lawrence (8) – entered the strait and narrow way to become members of the Church and the Diamond Branch in Georgetown, Guyana.

18-year-old Brother Jacobus, who was introduced to the gospel by a young woman with whom he goes to school, has expressed a desire to serve a mission when he is eligible to do so.

When asked how the miracle of today’s baptism of all the eligible members of her family had come about, Sister Kassim – who was herself baptized just 6 weeks ago - simply said, “we started praying together night and morning and reading the scriptures as a family. Soon the children began asking, ‘why can’t we be baptized, Mommy?’”

The names, faces and circumstances may be different but this same scenario is being repeated weekly in the West Indies Mission in fulfillment of prophesy by Elder M. Russell Ballard who petitioned the Lord in his dedicatory prayer on February 23, 1990, for a future day in Guyana when “wards and stakes [will] dot the face of this land [where] Thy honest-in-heart children, those who love Thee and are seeking for the truth, may . . . flock by the hundreds, yea, even thousands to receive their saving ordinances in preparation to receiving all the blessings of the House of the Lord, even a temple.”