Transfer Means Goodbye

At transfer time, there is almost always an equal (or similar) number of incoming and outgoing missionaries. The January transfer is no different as we welcome four new faces and say “goodbye” to Elder Phillip Laurence Helms, returning to his home and family in West Point, Utah; to Elder Caldy James Buhler who departs from the WIM to travel back to his future in West Jordan, Utah and to Elder Abraham Austin who, next week, will be welcomed into the arms of his friends and family in Lehi, Utah. Elders, you have left an indelible mark on the Saints in the West Indies Mission. Thank you for your devotion to the Lord and His children in this part of the world.

A Very WIM Christmas

From St. Lucia, Elder and Sister Bush write, “Our two Christmas dinners were very different, but both delightful. A traditional dinner in Grenada with ham, potatoes and pie on the Tuesday before Christmas, was with Elders Hunt, Hartshorn, Rice, Nielson and Sisters Fish and Stephenson. Our second dinner on the beautiful island of St. Lucia was with Elders Jones, Bastien, Palmer and Webb. Potato soup and wassail are not on any traditional Christmas menu, but everything was good.”

On Saturday in Georgetown, Guyana, the missionaries sang carols and distributed newborn kits to mothers and babies in the maternity ward of a local hospital, then gathered for turkey and ham with all the non-traditional trimmings. After dinner, the Georgetown Twelve played some "Minute to Win It" challenges. Skyped-calls home took awhile during which companions watched "Lost Land of the Jaguar," a BBC documentary about Guyana's interior.

On Saturday in Berbice, the missionaries visited an orphanage where they sang Christmas carols, played games and had the children participate in a Nativity play as Elder McLain read from the Bible. Sunday after Church, everyone sat down to Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, shared their favorite holiday traditions in their home, then watched “17 Miracles.” Phone calls home were a bit difficult since Skype was interrupted 3 times by black outs.

As always, Christmas in the West Indies Mission was filled with good service, good fun, good food, good companionships, phone calls to loved ones at home and a renewed dedication to reaching and teaching Heavenly Father’s children in the islands of the Caribbean and in three countries in South America.

Goodbye to the Clarkes!

Elder Douglas and Sister Jean Clarke have recently returned to their home and family in British Columbia, Canada after serving nearly two year in the West Indies. Thanks to this outstanding couple for their service to the Lord’s children in Linden, Guyana as well as in Trinidad and Tobago.

Goodbye, Elder and Sister Young

Just in time for Christmas, Elder Verrol and Sister Helen Young will say goodbye to their mission experience which they call “the best thing we have ever done aside from our baptism into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

As they prepare for a future which will likely include “visiting our family in the UK, taking a cruise, then serving a six-month mission in the London Temple” they reflect on time spent together in the West Indies Mission.

The Young’s will miss meeting people and are grateful for the challenges they have overcome and which have given them strength. “We have done what we could to help others and have learned to accept that some can only be helped by the Lord. Elder Young’s service as a branch president – twice during their mission – was not easy and we felt we didn’t get enough training in the beginning, but it’s all part of mission work!”

“There was the joy of seeing a family of five baptized – a new experience for me because I had not ever seen so many people baptized at the same time,” states Sister Young. The couple will also never forget the youth conference in Canje which drew 125 participants. “We were overwhelmed by the turnout. They all had fun, made friends with one another and enjoyed learning more about the gospel.”

The Young’s are grateful, too, for the opportunity they had to be part of the Humanitarian Service project at the New Amsterdam Special Needs School. “The Church’s contribution was fantastic. The children and staff now have water in the toilets and in their kitchen. They have writing desks and air conditioning in the computer room to make learning more comfortable. These are experiences we will always keep in our hearts,” states Sister Young.

Surprisingly, the thing they will miss most about life in the mission field is “transfer. I just love transfer even when we had to leave home at 4:30 a.m. to drive to the airport. It was sad to say goodbye to those going home, but exciting to see the faces of new missionaries fresh from the MTC and anxious to begin their work of bringing souls to Christ.”

Thank you for your service, Elder and Sister Young. You will be blessed for your dedication and hard work and missed by us all!

Humanitarian Service is Goodwill for the Church

On Wednesday, December 14, dignitaries from Guyana’s Ministry of Health and representatives from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gathered for the official “handing over” of a semi-truck sized container filled with 235 wheelchairs, walkers, canes and crutches. Elder Lynn and Sister Sharon Angus’ efforts to help the disabled in this South American country is just one of many projects designed to spread goodwill and friendship for the Church and its members throughout the West Indies Mission.

Over the past several months, the Anguses have been involved in the donation of an X-ray machine and autoclave to a hospital in St. Lucia. In Barbados, members from two Church branches worked shoulder-to-shoulder to create 600 hygiene kits – some will be distributed by the branches and some by the Ministry of Health – for use in times of emergency. Humanitarian Service funds were also used to refurbish a neighborhood special needs school in St. Vincent. The school’s kitchen, to be used for life skills training, saw the addition of cupboards and appliances and through HS funding, the school now also has a playground and grass. In a Georgetown, Guyana neighborhood, a community center received a gas stove, 2 large folding tables, 50 chairs, kitchen wares, cots and mattresses, books and bookshelves.

In the new year, the Humanitarian Service missionaries will focus much of their time on helping to teach and train recipients of chicken coops and chicks and will help families create backyard gardens to build self-reliance among members and friends of the Church in Guyana. They will also finalize plans for delivery of computers to four local prisons to enable prisoners to develop marketable skills.

Throughout the Caribbean, government officials and agency recipients of the Church’s generosity are united in their praise: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a valued senior partner and one of our most efficient and responsive donors.”

WIM Welcomes Holiday Arrivals

In another split transfer, the West Indies Mission is pleased to welcome five incoming missionaries fresh from the MTC and excited for the opportunity to serve the Lord and His children in this part of His vineyard. Elder Robert John Palmer (Providence, Utah)and Sister Sarah Walch (Tigard, Oregon) arrived two days after Thanksgiving . . . while French-speaking Elders Tyler Kenneth Ward (No. Ogden, Utah), Justin Michael Cox (Erda, Utah) and Arnold Sosa-Murillo (St. Hubert, Quebec, Canada) arrive in mid-December - just ten days before Christmas.

These five incoming missionaries are certain to bless their respective areas of service with gifts of dedication to the church, devotion to their Heavenly Father and a deep love for His children.

Goodbye, Elder and Sister Childs

“No doubt about it, the best thing about our mission was meeting and working with the members of the Church,” say Elder Ralph and Sister Paulette Childs, returning to their home and family in early December. Their assignment as Assistant Area Auditor and Trainers required them to travel the mission where they met and worked with stake, district and branch presidents, senior couples and young elders and sisters.

High on Sister Childs’ list of best things was her opportunity to meet all the missionaries as they came in and out of the Mission Office. She enjoyed the opportunity to prepare their First and Last Wills and Testaments. Preparing these two documents enabled her to get to know them better and appreciate the growth they experienced on their missions.

The Childs’ also enjoyed the chance to watch over the Gamiette children when President and Sister Gamiette were out of town. As surrogate grandparents, they enjoyed trips with the Gamiette's five children to the zoo, 85-ft. monkey, Pizza Hut and Wendy’s. What a great family!

From a selfish family perspective, the Childs were grateful to be able to witness the baptism of their grandson, Carson and his two cousins on October 14 in St. Lucia. “It was a blessing for both sets of grandparents to witness this special event in this beautiful setting by fathers worthy to perform the ordinances."

The Childs’ spent their entire 18 months in Valsayn, Trinidad living in an apartment just behind the Mission Office, although their assignment took them to 11 of the WIM’s 12 countries.

“We will miss relationships with people we have grown to love. Elder Childs will miss President Gamiette’s doctrinal discussions on faith and repentance. Sister Childs will definitely miss hugs from sisters throughout the mission. Elder Childs wonders if he can greet sisters in our home branch with a kiss on each cheek like he did in the French Islands. Probably not!” laughs Sister Childs. The couple say they will also miss bake-and-shark at Maracas Bay and the beautiful Caribbean beaches and warm clear water.

The couple will not miss living in a walled and gated compound with bars on every window. Elder Childs, who has now become accustomed to driving on the left side of the road, wonders if he will be able to drive on the right side of the road. However, he will not miss congested traffic, cars parked anywhere in the roads, and deep unprotected drop-offs into drainage ditches . . . and, of course, crazy drivers. Elder Childs’ goal was to finish the mission without a wreck but unfortunately, he did not accomplish that goal. Luckily he only hit a fire hydrant.

Their immediate plans upon arriving home in American Fork, Utah are “to spend Christmas 2011 with all of our children and grandchildren. Elder Childs will likely go crazy with all the noise. However, that will be offset by being able to ski with them. The grandchildren are already jockeying for dates to get him on the hill before Christmas,” states Sister Childs. “We also look forward to getting acquainted with all the new members of our branch, going to the temple regularly, delving more deeply into family history, and doing whatever the Lord has in store for us. We are grateful for the opportunity to have served in the West Indies Mission and are appreciative of the many blessing the Lord has poured out on us and our family.”