Morning, Morning “Jamaican Hello”
Busy Busy week. It started on Monday with Mom saying we needed to do something to get rid of the extra weight we have gained. Then we went for our hill walk and met a man riding his bike up the hill. We talked about good and bad people and taking care of our bodies. We even talked a little about church and family. His name was Damith and he was a trainer for a local bicycle club. So he invited us to go on are ride with the club on Saturday. Before I knew it mom had agreed to go on the ride with them, not that I minded. I miss riding my bike. More about the ride later.
It will be too hard to go into a lot of detail so I will list most of our activities and explain some in more detail. Things we did: Met with the two other welfare Senior couples (PC and CES), went to Senior Family Home Evening, got some clothing for Members in Yallahs, Picked up some key boards for music lessons, planned for a week long visit from the Cullimores (our Project leaders form SLC), went to a Mission Zone conference, participated in online financial training, and did lots and lots of computer reports.
We also went to a little community called Caledonia, they were requesting some help finishing a Citizens learning center for their community. We picked up Mr.Norman Douglas in Bog Walk then he took us to Caledonia about eight miles on a little one lane paved road then when the pavement ran out, we drove another 3 miles on a 4 wheel drive (I even had to put it in 4 wheel drive to get up the road) road to Caledonia. Mom said I was having way too much fun. We attached some pictures of the town hall (Citizen’s Center ) and the proposed Citizens Learning center. Note the dirt road, it is new all the homes were built by carrying all the building materials on their heads 3 miles up a trail (now a 4 wheel drive road). There are about 500 people living in Caledonia. The area grows lots of fruits, oranges, bananas, pineapple, and coconuts. We included a picture of some coconut trees. I’ll bet not even Tallon or any of the grandkids could climb these trees. We also bought some bananas and they were really good. We ate the whole bunch in a couple of days.
Now back to bicycle ride it started at 5:15am. I was scared to death. The club took really good care of us and put us in the middle of the group to protect us. But it was pitch black with more huge pot holes than sand in the sea. When they would pass a pot hole they would yell “ pot hole”. I don’t know how they keep from going hoarse. We were riding older bikes, mine with no rear break. Both bikes with skinny seats with only part of the padding left. They took us on the short ride, only 30 miles through downtown traffic. Some how we survived and made it back to our starting point at 8:30. Neither mom or I could walk or sit for a while after the ride. Not because we were out of shape but because the bikes and our bodies were not made to be together for that long. All in all we enjoyed the ride and the company. They made us feel very welcome and we made some new friends.
One of the other pictures is of the Yallahs Branch Church. If you look close you can see a lady sitting behind the grate in front of the building. That’s the piano (key board) player, there is no room inside the chapel for her so she has to sit on the porch outside. Elder Evans, one of our friends and another Senior Missionary, is the Branch President. A young Elder Missionary is his councilor. There was only one other active priesthood member in the Branch until that day when an older member was made a Priest and a young soon to be Missionary was made and Elder.
The last picture is another jungle or as they call it, the bush picture taken in the Blue Mountains.
Well that is all for this week. Know that we love and pray for you all everyday. You are always in our hearts. There was a comment made by our Mission Presidents wife; she said about the time they have been here in Jamaica that, “there are some friends who come and go and there are some who leave footprints on your heart. “ We feel like we have many of your ‘footprints’ on our hearts. I have been thinking of our little ‘comfort zones’, how so many of us don’t ever want to leave our little zones. When in reality, the larger the zone, the more that can fit in it, the more love you can give and receive. I’ve decided it is the Lords Plan for us to be always increasing our zone. When that occurs we grow and expand our spirituality. And that is his goal…the immortality and eternal life of man..
Love to all
Dad and Mom