Goodbye, President and Sister Ricks

President Gary Ricks (First Counselor in the WIM Presidency) and Sister Florence (aka "Christie") Ricks bid a fond farewell to service in the West Indies Mission, but say, "Goodbyes are hard for us. Our preference is to be like 'old soldiers' and just 'fade away' - preferably, quietly into the sunset. To paraphrase the opening line of A Tale of Two Cities, this mission has been the best of missions and the worst of missions.

When we "fly away" on September 1, 2011, we will be taking memories filled with the brilliant colors, sounds, smells, contrasts and heartbeat of the tropical wonderland which makes up Guyana and Suriname. More than anything else, people stand out in our collection of remembrances against the brilliant backdrop of everything else; little children, especially little girls, in neat, colorful school uniforms with hair done up in braids and ribbons to match their clothes, walking hand-in-hand along the roads going to or from school; a father carrying a toddler on his shoulders through crowded streets; an Amerindian family bathing and brushing teeth in a river; men wearing tall rubber boots and armed with weed-whackers clearing tall grass and other growth from the drainage ditches; sleeping under mosquito nets sold by mosquito net merchants hawking their colorful wares on busy street corners; long lines of people - each patiently waiting a turn at the window to pay a bill, make a deposit, mail a package, or collect a pension.

The responsibility to 'oversee' the 7 mission dependent branches in Guyana and 2 districts provided one the most enjoyable aspects of our service here. Attending a different branch every Sunday gave us the blessing of meeting and becoming acquainted with many more Guyanese and Suriname Saints than any other assignment would have provided. Meeting personally with the various branch leaders as we discussed concerns and provided training, gave us insights into the struggle the saints have between Church culture and Guyanese culture which gave us increased patience by this understanding. The 'downside' to this wide exposure was the limitation to being more fully involved in the lives of members of any single branch.

No doubt, it will be the people we miss the most. Although, curry and roti may run a close second along with the faces of dedicated, optimistic young elders and sisters!

We will NOT have trouble doing without Guyana's humidity, heat or mosquitos, or hours of driving, however.

Advice we would give to any incoming missionary - young, old, married, single, male or female - is to recognize that as we accept mission assignments to serve the Lord, we do so by serving His people. Forgetting ourselves and our comfort zones as much as possible and focusing on making the most of our commitment will increase our effectiveness. It makes for a truly great adventure when viewed with this perspective.

We leave our next, great adventure open to inspiration from the Lord, but we have recently sold our home in Santa Barbara so our first task will be to pack up all our belongings for a move to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. We look forward to becoming reacquainted with family and friends, Mexican food, and being ordinance workers in the temple."

Til we meet again, President and Sister Ricks . . . we thank you for your steady leadership. You will be missed among the Saints and missionaries in Guyana and throughout the West Indies Mission.

WIM Welcomes the Summers

Bradley J. (aka “BJ”) and Martha Rae ("Marty") Summers of Leavenworth, Washington are very excited about their call from President Thomas S. Monson to service in the West Indies Mission.

“We feel events in our lives have led us to this point” states Elder BJ. “Two years ago, I retired as a commercial airplane pilot with Alaska Airlines, then we sold our home and many of our possessions. So what we have left is a small house next door to our children. We are probably as ready as we can be to leave without much to worry about.”

Sister Marty grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. Elder BJ grew up on a small farm in Oregon, then served a mission in Frankfurt, Germany. They met at BYU, were married in Manti, Utah, then spent the next 8 years in the Air Force. The Summers’ have lived in Lubbock, TX, St. Louis, and Frankfurt, Germany before finally settling in Washington State.

A few years ago, the couple – who both love the out-of-doors - relocated to Leavenworth, a small town in the mountains of Washington to enjoy such hobbies as water skiing, hiking and white water rafting, gardening, camping and flower arranging when not delighting in the company of their five married children and ten grandchildren.

Elder BJ has given most of his Church service to the young men’s program while Sister Marty has served in almost every auxiliary, including Relief Society, Primary, and Young Women. Together they have worked in the YSA program and completed a home mission at the home storage center in Kent.

Elder and Sister Summers . . . thank you for bringing your lifetime of experience to strengthen the Church in Guyana! We know you will make a difference in the lives of the Saints here in the “land of many waters.”

Goodbye, Elder and Sister Luster

Elder Jim and Sister Joan (nicknamed “Joey”) Luster will say goodbye to the West Indies Mission on August 26, 2011 when they fly home to friends and family eager to welcome them home in Ephraim, Utah.

Time and assignments for this talented couple while in the WIM have been busy and varied. The Lusters have served twice in the mission office – Elder Luster as the Finance Secretary and Sister Luster, first as Secretary to the President and later as WIM Travel Secretary, assigned to help schedule airline reservations. In between, they served on the island of Tobago where Sister Luster taught seminary and provided shadow leadership to the Relief Society, Young Women’s program and the Primary in the branch, while the former college professor worked with the priesthood brethren and branch presidency and managed petty cash reimbursements and JP Morgan Cards for senior couples - all done remotely from Tobago. The couple’s final assignment was a return to the work they enjoy most of all – working with members in the branch in Point Fortin, Trinidad.

According to the Lusters, “the most memorable part of our mission was the time we spent in Tobago working with members in the branch there. We grew to love and appreciate those people because of their dedication and testimonies of the Gospel. Our experiences there will forever be stamped in our memories.”

Another memorable experience while serving in the West Indies Mission was the opportunity to attend the Couple’s Conference held in St. Lucia. “It was great fun to meet face-to-face with senior couples who, up until then, we had only known through conversations on the phone or through e-mail. We will cherish the acquaintances we have made with the wonderful senior couples with whom we have served. What an inspiration they have been to us! After we all return home we hope to be able to visit many of them and reminisce about our experiences,” say the Lusters.

“We will miss the native people, their friendship, and bright smiles. They are truly our brothers and sisters in the Gospel and we have felt at home here. Also dear to our hearts are the young missionaries. Their spirit and dedication to the Lord’s work has been very impressive. It is truly a miracle to see the enthusiasm with which these young people leave the comfort of their homes to travel to an unfamiliar part of the world,” says Joey Luster.

What the Lusters’ will NOT miss are "bars on the windows and padlocks on the doors and doing business in offices where clerks are hidden from view behind a glass plate where communication is only through a small hole,” states the Utah sister missionary. “We are anxious to return to our family and friends, but it will be bitter-sweet to leave behind those we love in the Caribbean.”

Until we meet again, Elder and Sister Luster . . . you are loved and will be very much missed here in the West Indies Mission.

Goodbye, Elder and Sister Stevens

On August 26, 2011, Elder Dallas and Sister Sharon Stevens will complete their 2-year missionary service on the beautiful Caribbean island of St. Maarten to return to their life and family in the beautiful skiing community of Park City, Utah (where many of the most memorable events of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games were held).

According to the Stevens’ the most enjoyable experience of their mission was “being able to share our testimony of Joseph Smith, the restoration of the gospel, repentance, baptism and the promise of eternal life . . . then watch investigators gain a testimony for themselves until their desire to be baptized burns in their heart.”

More than anything else, the Stevens' will miss the interaction with the people of the West Indies. “We have learned to love those we have met, have learned through their examples and have been touched by their sweet spirits and testimonies. We have become family. We have gained a great respect and love for the elders and sisters with whom we have shared the experience of proselyting and through the relationship with other senior couples, we have found answers to problems in common and don’t feel so isolated. We will miss the closeness we have with our Heavenly Father and the knowledge we’ve been doing the Lord's work, and, of course, we will miss being under the leadership of President Gamiette. . . but, we WON’T miss the traffic or the mosquitos!”

Their advice to other senior couples? “We don’t know who – or if anyone – will replace us, but we hope they will love the people, and try not to let the distractions of home and family impact their desire to serve the Lord. Be flexible and relax! Things will occur on your mission for which you are not prepared, such as illness, robbery, and change of assignments. Just go with the flow! A mission is like a roller coaster: there are up's and down's, but in the end it's a great ride. Oh, and one other thing: READ THE AREA BOOK.”

The Stevens’ first order of business back at home is, of course, “to visit all of our children and grandchildren. Then we will probably fix up and sell our house . . . and maybe go on another mission!”

You will be greatly missed in the islands of the Caribbean and countries in South America. Ne soyez pas consterné adieux, un adieu est nécessaire avant que vous pouvez rencontrer de nouveau et de nouveau réuni, après quelques instants ou des vies, est certain pour ceux qui sont amis.

WIM First Counselor Named

At age 29, Colin Ransford Goodluck has already had more leadership positions in the Church than most have in a lifetime! The newly called First Counselor in the West Indies Mission Presidency joined the Church as a young child in March, 1994 in his homeland of Guyana. At age 19, he was called to serve as a fulltime WIM missionary in Trinidad, St. Maarten and Barbados (2004-06). Since his honorable release, he has shared his joyful countenance and deep love of the gospel of Jesus Christ as Branch Clerk, District Executive Secretary, Elders Quorum President, Branch President, Georgetown District President, and most recently as First Counselor in the Georgetown District Presidency.

As the mission's First Counselor, President Goodluck - also recently hired as the Church's Facilities Manager for Guyana and Suriname - will assist President Gamiette in efforts to "bring souls unto Christ" in those same two countries. He will assume the responsibilities of President Gary Ricks, who will conclude his mission on September 1 after 18-months of “steady leadership” in the mission presidency.

In his very limited spare time, President Goodluck enjoys spending time with his eternal companion Vonella and their two small boys; a rousing game of basketball and classes at the University of Guyana where he is taking a one year sabbatical from his studies for a degree in International Relations toward a future career in government.

WIM Welcomes Sister Galbraith

Barbara Jean Galbraith, a longtime resident of Dayton, Ohio, is the WIM's newest senior missionary called to step into the very big assignment of Mission Travel Secretary in the Trinidad office. She can be reached at wimtravel@gmail.com.

“I have wanted to go on a mission for a long time, but there never seemed to be a right time,” says the retired French teacher and mother of four accomplished offspring. “Then I heard church leaders and others say, ‘Your family will be blessed if you go on a mission.’ Well, my family needs blessings so off I go, I thought, but when . . .? A returned-missionary couple advised me to ‘just pick a date. There will never be a perfect time.’ When my call came to the West Indies Mission, it exactly fit my availability date of October 17th! Then, President Gamiette asked me to come in mid-August instead, so I re-shuffled things and here I am.”

A lifetime member of the church, blessed to be descended from pioneers who crossed the plains, Sister Galbraith notes, “My testimony has always been a part of me, but I believe it took root during my 8 formative years spent growing up near Paris, France where we attended the Paris Branch, among members and missionaries who set a marvelous example of strength in the gospel.”

Sister Galbraith has served most in the Primary and Relief Society, but her favorite – and most challenging - calling in the Church was teaching seminary for 3 years. Most recently, she served as Ward Music Chairman where she gained an appreciation for the hours and hours members invest in preparing a musical number for Sacrament meeting.

A native of Washington DC, Sister Galbraith lived in Germany and France as a child, and in the Salt Lake Valley and southern California while raising her family. She has a BA and MA in French and a teaching degree from the University of Utah, but chose to be a Home Mom for the first 22 years of her married life. When her children were grown, she accepted a teaching position at Wright State University in Dayton where she taught French for 22 years, including organizing a study abroad program so she could take her students “home” to France.

The new travel secretary adds, “the best part of my story really is my grandchildren! They range in age from 2 to 9 1/2. Leaving them is the only thing about my mission I consider a ‘sacrifice’."

Welcome to the WIM, Sister Galbraith!

Goodbye, Sister Ellison

The West Indies Mission will lose an incredible asset on August 8, when Sister Diane Ellison goes home to her family and friends in southern California. Sister Ellison has spent 23-months caring for the health and wellbeing of the “young . . . and a little past young” missionaries in her role as WimNurse. In her other role as WimTravel, she has also pulled off some truly miraculous feats in arranging hundreds of airline flights for transfers, zone conferences and other mission journeys.

The most enjoyable experience of her mission? “Doing things which seemingly could not be done. Seeing miracles happen because I wouldn't believe they couldn't. Being cornered by impossible flight schedules or medical problems, then feeling the flash of insight coming straight from The Source. Getting to know the missionaries. I've laughed with them, I've cried with them, I've learned and grown with them. My love feels no limits when I think of them.”

While she will mostly miss the “incredible tropical breezes,” the WIM will miss this senior missionary's positive attitude, her giving spirit and her infectious laugh, but she is excited for her future. “I am a Red Cross disaster nurse and they are already emailing me and counting the days until I come home. They’ve asked me to up-grade my certification so I can be deployed internationally, as well as nationally. I love this kind of exhausting, heartbreaking and incredibly satisfying work which pushes the edge of the envelope. The assignments are about 3 weeks at a time so I'm not gone from my family long and they love the stories I have to tell when I return. I also plan to be a nurse at summer camp. Because of my connection with the Red Cross I could do all their certification like lifeguard training, water safety, first aid and CPR. Most of all I love the out-of-doors, I love health and I love swimming and teaching children to swim.”

Til we meet again, Sister Ellison. We are better (and healthier) for having known you!