June 15, 2014

Dear Family and Friends:

First and foremost Happy Father Day!!! I am so thankful for our fathers, and for the fathers of our grandchildren. We are thankful for Bishop Epling as the ‘Father of our Ward’. Thankful for those worthy men who were/ are teachers that influence others for good in the world. Especially thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who loves and forgives us and desires us all to return to His presence; who has provided a Savior for us, who was the one perfect example of how to live, love and serve each other.  So many blessings come through the Priesthood of our Father in Heaven…blessings that enhance our lives if we are willing to work for them.

It has been another busy week here in Jamaica.  We started the week out with some of the returned senior missionaries who came for the Stake Organization. The Whiteheads, Larsens, and Pugmires came and it was great to have them here in Jamaica again.  These are friends we served with so it was wonderful to see with them again.

 They were here for our Monthly FHE at the Mission Home. It was our turn for the lesson so Mom made this Shield with all of the Brown Family Pictures and we cut it out around their pictures. We had each of them write on the back of their puzzle piece how being in a family protected them and increased their faith. Then when they put all the puzzle pieces together it made a Shield of Faith, a protection for their family. This is our Mission president with his two youngest children, Leah and Jared, putting together their “Shield of Faith”

 We also have been working on Project Development Worksheets. That is the preliminary paperwork for the projects we enter into the church ChaS program.

We traveled out to the West end of the Island to Negril and Savanna la Mar. We stay in Negril with another set of senior missionaries, the Pearsons, at their apartment and travel to Sav, or Mo Bay.  We are hoping to have a couple of projects in Sav.  One will be with a school and another will be a Food Initiative (chicken) Project. They have been working on getting all of their paperwork filled out and ready for us.  It takes a lot of work and determination from the members to get ready for this.  After the paperwork is done they will attend about 6 training classes on how to raise, care for, manage the finances of each project, and they need to find a place to commit to buy their meat or eggs. They have to work up a budget so they know how much to sell their produce for so they can make a profit to maintain their projects too. Some of these areas of training are new to these people, but essential for good business practices.  We want them to succeed. Ultimately it is up to them for the follow through, but if you teach them correct principles they can govern themselves.

This picture is of the Sav. Branch Project members.

 We are also working of a similar Food Initiative for the Montego Bay Branch as well.  They have already begun their training and we will receive their paperwork this week. The Zone Leaders will be bringing it in on Wednesday coming.

Staying in Negril is real hard….the Pearsons live on a private beach that is fantastic! Dad and I have learned to love snorkeling. Sorry no Pictures…

We did take a picture at the coast by the airport. This is where we usually go for a walk. Mom and Sisters Mortensen and Kinghorn are in the picture. The Mortensen’s will complete their mission and return home to Lubbock Texas the end of this month.  They are currently serving as the office couple. We have grown really close to this couple.  They live just 3 doors down in our apartment building so we see them often.

 Elder and Sister Mortensen

We also had a couple of birthdays this week. Our daughter Katie had a birthday last Wednesday, granddaughter Bodi, Richards’s daughter, also celebrated a birthday yesterday (Saturday). What treasures these sweet girls are in our family. They are wonderful and we love them forever!!

If anyone is interested there is an article on lds.org in the ‘News’ section about Elder Holland’s Visit to Jamaica organizing our very 1^st Stake.  On face book you can look for ‘Mormon Newsroom-Jamaica. If you scroll through the pictures you will see mom sitting with a group of women listening to the session of conference.

Love to all

Mom and Dad

E/S Murdock