Gibsons Say Goodbye

Elder Wilburn (aka “Willie”) and Sister Julie Gibson will complete their 18-month member support mission on Grenada on June 28 when they fly home to the arms of friends and family in Alamosa, Colorado.
 
Their mission actually began in the Dominican Republic where they were called to help manage the distribution center  . . . but quickly recognized Spanish was not going to be something they wanted to add to their skill set!   A move to the neighboring West Indies Mission found them on the beautiful island of St. Lucia where they served for a period to ten months, before they were transferred to Grenada.

Sister Gibson calls seeing two sisters from Vieux Forttravel to the temple “an experience we will never forget.  We were not able to go with them, but when Sister Baptist came home her countenance had changed.  She was glowing with the light of Christ.  We were only able to teach the Temple Preparation class and help them fill out the application for financial assistance, but it was a wonderful experience for them – and for us – as they shared their excitement.”

What will they miss most? Like most couples, "what we will miss most is interacting with our brothers and sisters we will probably never see again in this life.  They have been such an example to us as they strive to live the gospel.  They are happy and very humble children of Heavenly Father.  We have grown to love them all. We are also going to miss daily interaction with young elders and sisters who bring such a great spirit and love of the gospel,” notes Sister Gibson.

Their advice to other senior missionaries is “to be flexible and not try to make things work here like they do at home.  You have to just do what works best for the branch, then enjoy the love the members so freely give to the couples,” states Elder Gibson.

The only big plans these hardworking and dedicated missionaries have for their future is “to spend time catching up with our family.  Elder Gibson has several grandsons waiting for Grandpa to take them camping and fishing. I can’t wait to hug and play with my grandchildren, then be there to welcome the newest one arriving in October.”

The Saints in Grenada will surely miss this vibrant couple.  The love and best wishes of those with whom you have served in theWest Indies Mission goes with you!

Farewell to Eleven WIM Sons

Rodney

Eleven of the WIM’s best arrived two years ago as spiritual infants filled with faith, hope, genuine charity – and with love in their hearts for the Savior and His children – and with this transfer return with honor to home and family as mature adults, ready to face life head-on!

Farewell to the following sons of the West Indies Mission:  Kyle William Dyson (Salt Lake City, UT), Mark Rodney (Linden, Guyana), Milton Stephen (Georgetown, Guyana), Jens Dallin Howe (Ephraim, UT), Nathan John Nielson (Stansbury Park, UT), Franklyn Joel Smith (Nassau, Bahamas), Melvin Ricardo Hoepel (Paramaribo, Suriname), Johan Andres Sujilio Damaso (La Romano, Dominican Republic), V Wallace Nolan Nonumaefele So’Oto (Carlsbad, CA), Stephen Hurt Lundgren (Sandy, UT) and Michael James Jordan (Beaver Dam, AZ).

Thanks for your dedication and hard work among the Lord’s children in the Caribbean.  You have truly changed lives!

Farewell to the Benns

Elder Kenrick and Sister Rose Benn will complete their mission on June 27, but as the first Guyanese couple to serve as senior missionaries in their native land, their return home will not require airfare or hours of travel. 

The retired police officer and his companion consider theirs a rather eclectic mission – serving first in the mission office in what Elder Benn describes as “total immersion in office work!”  When another couple arrived to assume their responsibilities in the office, the Benns moved to Linden as member and leader support missionaries followed by several months in that same assignment in Berbice.  The last six months of their mission found them back in the mission office.  Along the way, he served as a branch president and finished his mission as President of the Georgetown Guyana District!  “Even now, after more than a year in the office, we are still struggling to understand some of the Church internet systems, including iMOS,” states Elder Benn with his characteristic big laugh!
 

Aside from office work, Elder and Sister Benn found the most challenging part of their mission “was making members understand the doctrine and what The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is all about – that things are done differently than in other churches.  We worked hard to make them understand basic principles including the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity.  We had some interesting discussions helping members understand why they had to get married when they had been living together for a number of years and had parented several children.”
 

Interacting with the young missionaries has been both fun and interesting, say the Benns.  “We have heard hilarious stories relating to lost cell phones or the ones which were baptized by accident then 'put into a microwave oven to dry' . . . how car accidents occurred and the reasons why apartments need repairs done!  We have also heard about some creative foods these young people have prepared.”
 

Their advise to couples considering a fulltime mission together:  "insure you and your companion are in agreement with what you want to do.  If not, take more time and invite the Lord to help because you will be together twenty-fours a day. That is tough!"

The Benns have plans to take a much-deserved holiday after they are released.  Sister Benn will spend some time helping her elderly mother. They also have plans to serve again!  “We are willing to serve the Lord in any way we are asked and have enjoyed our service to the Church in Guyana, but both of us look forward to serving a ‘real’ mission where we have the opportunity to bring souls to Christ.”
 

This amazing couple has huge shoes to fill!  They will be missed tremendously!

WIM Welcomes the Beutlers

Elder Melvin and Sister Carol Beutler of Dayton, Idaho decided to serve a mission together about 5 years ago when their stake president encouraged senior couples to choose a date when they would be available to serve a mission.  “We planned that we would go in 2012 – as soon as possible after Melvin’s retirement.   We told our children our plans, with the condition our 20-year-old daughter, Amy needed to be married, independent or going on a mission herself.  She decided to follow us into the mission field.  In January all three of us started preparing mission papers.  Our calls were received within 5 days of each other.  Amy will serve in the Micronesia Guam Mission while we are in the West Indies Mission.”  The Beutlers, parents of 9 grown offspring and grandparents to 22 (with 2 more due in the fall), “were really surprised to be called to the West Indies, since we had no knowledge or prior experience in the Caribbean, but we are excited.  We have met many returned missionaries who served in the islands and loved it.  They all say the people are wonderful!”

 

The couple, who will serve in Guyana, are both well-educated and well-traveled.  Elder Beutler finished a bachelor's degree in education, then with his young family, spent 3 years in the US Army stationed in Germany.  After returning to the USA, the Beutlers lived in Orem, Utah where Melvin taught middle school math.  During this time Sister Beutler earned a bachelors degree in General Family Life Studies from USU while he earned a Master’s degree in Education Administration at BYU.  In 1979, the family relocated to Dayton, Idaho where they have lived ever since and where  Melvin worked as a 6th grade teacher, an elementary school principal and for 25-years as the Superintendent of the West Side School District.

 

Sister Beutler enjoys singing, gardening, reading, going for walks, and teaching 4H cooking and sewing.  She also loves music – including conducting and piano.  Melvin loves to grow fruit trees in his spare time.  He also loves the mountains where he frequently goes hiking and hunting with his boys.  He also enjoys coaching cross-country and distance runners on the track team.

Melvin served his first mission in Taiwan in 1966.  Since then, he has continued to serve the Lord in the elders quorum presidency, a high priest group leader, as a scout master, a stake Sunday School president, and as a counselor in the stake mission presidency.   Carol has been in leadership and teaching positions in all of the organizations.

Welcome to the West Indies Mission, Elder and Sister Beutler. 

They're Back!

Elder Peter and Sister Ina Jansen are on their way back to Suriname.  On April 25, after completing a successful 18-month mission, they flew home to their family and home in The Hague, Netherlands – only to be invited back because, apparently it is not easy to find another Dutch-speaking couple to replace this dynamic duo.  The Jansens will arrive back in Paramaribo, Suriname on June 16 and have committed to serve until September 4 because, they kiddingly noted, “we don’t have anything else to do!”

Sappingtons Bid Farewell to Guyana

Elder Ed and Sister Linda Sappington return to their home and family in St. George, Utah on June 11 after having served four months in the Trinidad mission office and 14 months in Guyana.  Called to serve as Guyana PEF missionaries, their assignment expanded dramatically in Guyana after hearing Caribbean Area President Francisco Viñas teach, “It’s not enough just to baptize.  We must teach them to read so they can get an education.  We must help them qualify for jobs so they can support their families.  We must minister to our members from birth to the cemetery!”
 

“At that moment, we were impressed to ‘teach them what we know!’,” states Sister Sappington.  “What we know is computers, employment and fun!  When we embraced those three concepts, our mission truly became remarkable!” 

For Elder Sappington, the most enjoyable experience of their mission together has been “making a difference in the lives of young people through the Perpetual Education Fund program . . . and taking thousands of great pictures of this beautiful country!”

Sister Sappington found her most enjoyable experiences to be “hearing the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ of students attending basic computer classes or Secretary School, getting kids excited about going to school and of course, interacting with young single adults at the YSA Center and the other senior couples with whom we have served.  I have also enjoyed helping people find meaningful employment – especially missionaries returning home.  I have particularly loved, loved, loved the experience of helping them recognize the minimum of TEN wonderful, marketable skills they developed on their missions!”

The Sappingtons agree, “we will miss the tropical landscapes, our young single adults and the other couples with whom we have served: the Treseders (Queen Creek, AZ), the Summers (Leavenworth, WA), the Cooks (LaVerkin, UT) and the Benns (Georgetown, Guyana) . . . all who have become some of our best and dearest friends.”

Both also agree they will definitely NOT miss dogs barking all day and all night, humidity, crazy mini-bus drivers, animals in the middle of the road, hungry mosquitos . . . and public urination!

Elder Sappington counsels new senior missionaries to “come to the mission field with patience and understanding because the pace is different than it is at home.  If you can't adjust, it will drive you crazy!”  Sister Sappington’s advice?  “Teach what you know!  It will make your mission amazing and fun!”

The Sappingtons have several plans for their future:  Cuz’N Camp with the grandkids . . . catching up with family all over the western US; travel; “and, who knows?  Perhaps there is another mission in our future.  Oh, and by the way, the mission needs a new blogger.  Any takers?”

St. Vincent YSA Center Sees Success

According to Elder and Sister Henderson, the Young Single Adult Center in St. Vincent is seeing some amazing success toward the Church’s mission for the YSA program “to bring souls unto Christ” through priesthood driven, doctrine centered, missionary oriented and people focused activities for members and non-member friends (ages 18-30). 

All activities focus on four areas including wholesome social interaction; service-learning in the community; career and personal development; and, temple work and genealogy.  The YSA Center in St. Vincent opened in September 2011 and has consistently had 16-20 in attendance each week.  Since January 2012, there have  been 4 young single adults baptized, one young woman has received her mission call and two young men are getting their papers ready to submit, asking their YSA friends to keep baptizing . . . especially young women so they will have someone to marry in the temple when they return from their missionary service.