October 27, 2013

Back to work in Jamaica October 27, 2013

Singram Medical

We finally got this project approved!!! It had taken a long time but this project will help our Prospective Jamaican Missionaries get their medical work completed for their mission requirements.  We had to go to downtown Kingston to find this Medical Supply Warehouse.  The one we are looking for is upstairs and to the far right.  Each set of doors you see is a different business. There is plumbing, auto parts and many other types of business’s here.

 Wheelchair

 Mr. Edwards would not let me put his chair together for him,  he wanted to do it himself.  This gentleman is getting his second chair from us.  He got his first chair 3 years ago.  He was rolling down the road and was so happy he was singing to everyone he saw.  Then he rolled by an older woman who was much worse off than he was and he felt so bad for her.  Here this old lady who was trying to get around without help, who couldn’t walk; and here he was younger and stronger than she was in a brand new chair…so he gave her his new chair.  It took a while for some friends to find him a broken down wheelchair that he has been piecing together and fixing all this time while he waited for another chair.  It takes a long time to get the chairs here and then to have the correct size available. So after a three year wait he finally got his new chair.  He was singing again and rolling all over the road.  It was a pretty busy road too.  Everyone came out of their homes and shops to see what all the singing was about.  Mom started to get a little nervous but when everyone realized we were the ones who brought the chair they were all excited for us to be there and everything was good.

 When we went to the emergency container two members were cleaning up around the Spanish Town Chapel.  They had been working all morning and most of the afternoon.  The only tools they had were the head of a shovel and their hands.  The only tool most people use is a machete and their hands. So they would pick up a hand full of dirt or a couple of bricks and walk to the back of the property (at least an acre) where they dumped the debris.  Then come back and get another hand full.  All total they moved about five or six pickup loads.  They were about half done when we got there.  We let them use the humanitarian wheelbarrow and in about half an hour later they were finished. Notice the shovel head.

 Still haven’t goon fishing yet but we did talk to some fishermen.   One man had a fishing pole which is kind of unusual; the other man had a hand line.  Fishing line wrapped around a plastic pop bottle.  They tie a heavy rock on the end then throw it out into the sea.  He had some cloth tied to his line every ten or so feet so he could tell how far out he was.  If they keep the line tight they can feel the fish bite.

 Good friends going home.

We have many things we do here including taking some of the senior missionaries to the airport for their final flight home. This sweet couple even got to stay overnight with us for their last night in Jamaica. Elder and Sister Wright have flown to their home in Idaho.  They were our CES Couple and did a marvelous job with the Seminaries and Institute here in Jamaica.  They served with some definite challenges but always had happy hearts, willing hands and a ready smile.  The will be greatly missed.   Elder Wright is scheduled to have a surgery in the near future and we want them to know that we are praying for them.  It should be noted that they have jackets with them.  They are for when they get home.  Neither of them ever used them while serving their mission.  Jamaica is much too warm for that!  We also get to be “school bus drivers” starting last Friday (E/S Wright, one more item for the resume for the All Inclusive Resort!).  Our mission President and his wife are at a Mission Presidents Seminar for all of next week so we are chauffeuring their children back and forth to school with our other more normal duties.

We had a granddaughter Elizabeth Kate Miller celebrate her 7^th birthday on Sunday the 27^th. We were able to Skype with her and sing happy birthday to her.  She is such a cutie and we love and miss her along with ALL of our family and friends.  Our hearts and prayers are with the Chaston’s as Elder Chaston continues to recover in the hospital in France.  We are sure that they will be sorely missed when they must leave for home in December.  Knowing Doug and Marsha as we do they must be struggling with this but the Lord knows of their dedication and willingness to serve Him.  Their mission may have been shortened but it has been a successful one.

Please continue to pray for us as we are praying for you too.  Each one of you is precious to us and we cannot imagine our earthly existence without you in our lives.  Thank you so much for your love and support…

Mom and Dad

E/S Murdock

October 20, 2013

Dear Family and Friends

This week has been filled with a little fun and blessings.  We had our Senior Missionary FHE with Pres. Brown ad family.  It was our turn to give the lessons.  I gave a lesson for the Brown children and Dad for the adults in the group.  As you can see by the pictures, we talked about putting on the Armor of God.  Dad and I spent all morning last Saturday making the armor out of cardboard, duct tape, tin foil, poster paper and string. Oh yes it came complete with a bamboo ‘Sword of the Spirit’ that dad made up special. Jonathan (age 11) helped his little brother Jared (age4) put on the ‘armor’.  We planned it this way because you just cannot get Jared to hold still.  Even taking the pictures, it was difficult to get a good one because he is so active. He reminds me of our Talon, he is always on the go but a wonderful little boy.  I would talk a little, ask questions, but each time dad reached inside the bag to pull a new piece of the armor out, Jared got so excited he started jumping up and down so it was hard to get him to stand still long enough to put it on.  I didn’t do so good with the lesson but it didn’t seem to matter to the children.  Dad got off easy with his lesson (as usual). It was the last Monday with the Wrights.  They will be going home after a wonderfully successful mission to Idaho Falls Monday the 21^st.  We will be privileged to take them to the airport.  They will spend their last night here with us at our apartment.  We have been putting the spare room to good use lately.  Just hoping we get some new seniors here soon. When we came to Jamaica we were the eighth senior couple. Soon we will be down to four.  We do have one couple coming in December so that is good news.

Brown Family Home Evening

The Helmet was the final piece of armor to put on.  He was so exited!!

Public Affairs Meeting

This next picture is of our new Public Affairs Committee. They are a power packed trio. Combined they have a Bachelor’s Degree with 12 years’ experience working in community development, and 2 Masters degrees, one in Law and the other in Media.  These women are so dedicated and motivated to move the work of the church forward in the eyes of the public here.  They are out to clear up any misconceptions about the church, and to create  social media pages and an official Jamaican Church web site so the community will know what the church does and how we are helping the people of Jamaica, members and non-members alike.  It will be wonderful!  They are starting out by getting the International Day of Service publicized with what each branch is accomplishing in the community and then Pres. Brown wants to have a Christmas Program for less actives and non-members.   The only way an active member can attend is to be either in the program, which is by invitation only, or to bring less active or non-member friends.  We are really trying to stress member missionary activity here.  Pres. Brown is so excited about this and the Public Affairs Committee is really working to get this publicized early enough.  We are hoping for about 700 to be in attendance.  They will also help with our projects to get them into the local newspapers and on the web site too.  We are excited to be able to work with them.

 This Donkey Cart passed while we were stopped to put a tarp over some wheelchairs that we had just picked up.  It wasn’t raining when we got them but we could see it was right in front of us.  We got the job done just before the rain started to come down.  I seem to love these carts.  This was the third one we saw that day but the only time I was on the right side of the road.  He even slowed down so I could get his picture. He had already emptied his cart of produce. This donkey is bigger than the others.  I feel so bad whenever I see the little one pulling a heavy load for the fruit and vegetable vendors alongside the road to Spanish Town.

 Delivering Wheelchairs

us to come.  His story is a sad one.  He and his little brother were visiting cousins and were left at the cousin’s house for a little while.  He was 12 years old.  He saw that the electrical wires were sparking and knew that he had to get out of the house.  He went to the back of the house to get his little brother and by the time they got to the only door out of the house, the fire had already started and the door was shocking him when he tried to open it.  He couldn’t get the slats out of the only window in the room they were in. They were trapped in the house. Panic set in and Perry got his little brother and they crawled under the bed and then piled books and box’s around them thinking that would stop the fire. They curled up into a ball and Perry tried to protect his little brother from the fire.  Perry woke up in the hospital after being in a coma for three months.  His first question was about where his little brother was. It seems he remembered everything until he blacked out.  His little brother died in the fire and Perry was badly burned.  He is now 17 years old and the scars will be his for life.  The ones you see on his legs are not as bad as the ones you can read in his expression.  He still cries for the loss of his only brother.  He has never known any love from his father, his little brother was killed in the fire, and his mother died last year.  He now lives with his only living family member, a very elderly grandmother in this small part of a house. This is his front door; it is only a curtain to keep out the weather and other dangers from hurting him and his grandmother.  His grandmother had found this chair that he is sitting in now.  We ended up taking the chair we brought back with us.  The chair he is in is a fairly nice one, and there are many more that have been waiting that can use the one we had brought, so we will keep it for another recipient.  I think of all the stories we have seen, this one really broke my heart.

On the blessing side of the week; we found out that one of our projects has been approved.  It has been a long process but our Prospective Missionary project with Singram Medical Services was approved Friday night.  We called the Grahams Saturday morning to let them know.  They were so excited.  We did a project for them to get some medical equipment for their medical practice, and in exchange, they will do the medical exams and tests for our prospective Jamaican missionaries. It is a win win situation!

Kingston Branch Elders Quorum Project

I think we mentioned last week about the roof that the Kingston Elders wanted to do for one of their members.  He calls himself ‘One eyed Bennett’. Funny because he has both eyes! The missionaries say he has been a member for 14 years, but he will say that he was baptized when he was 5 years old and he is in his fifties now.  He is an interesting kind of guy. Each Sunday that we attend the Kingston Branch he is sitting along the side of the chapel building all alone, listing to his music before coming into church.  Anyway we went Saturday to pick up 5 sheets of 12 ft. Zinc (corrugated tin), for his roof.  That is as all the width of his new house.  The elder’s quorum will put the roof up on his new place Monday.  Monday here is a holiday.   It is Hero’s Day so all the business will be closed and the perfect time for a wonderful service project.  We are so proud of this group; they got all the money and/or roofing supplies from the members of the quorum and they are doing all the labor too.  It may sound like a simple thing to do at home, but here it is a great feat. This is Bro Graham holding down the sheets of tin so we wouldn’t lose them in transport.  Sister (Dr. Sinclair) Graham is standing next to the truck with dad smiling.

Our hearts were saddened by the news of Elder Chaston’s heart attack.  We are so thankful they were able to get help so quickly…what a blessing…our prayers go out for him, Sister Chaston, the Chaston family and the Doctors and nurses who will be involved with his case.

Take care and know that you all are in our thoughts and prayers daily

Love

Mom and Dad…E/S Murdock

October 13, 2013

Hello again!

Well this week has been a little different other than lots more computer work.  We got an invitation from Pres. Brown last Monday to take one of the missionaries to Montego Bay.  The Missionary was Elder Stuart who is serving in Yallahs, (east end of island) and needed to be taken to Montego Bay, (west end and on the north side of island).  That would have entailed a twelve + hour drive in one day to accomplish what needed to be done, so we made a two day trip of it.  Elder Stuart and his companion were involved in a traffic accident in Mo. Bay.  He ran a red light and hit a car, the Elders were not hurt but 3 Jamaicans in the other car ended up hospitalized.  We were there to deliver him for his court date and give support.  The church provided the lawyer.  The missionaries have all been praying for Elder Stuart and for the people who were hurt.  He was charged with Dangerous Driving which carries a fine of $20,000.00 (Jamaican Dollars, about 200. U.S.); and a possible jail term, so you can see how serious it was.   Elder Stewart put on a good face but he was one very scared young man.  We prayed with him and did everything we could to reassure him and make him feel better.  When we arrived at the court house, there was a huge line with over 100 people waiting to see the Judge.  We thought, oh man this is going to take all day…but the lawyer said just to wait for a minute and she will come back and get us.  In less than that time she was back and issued us into the court room.  When the Judge heard the case she asked the lawyer why ‘Mr. Stuart’ was in Jamaica.  She explained about the missionaries and how they are here for 2 years serving Jamaican people and pay all expenses by themselves.  It was also brought up that the Elders went right to the hospital and gave blessings to the injured parties and talked about the gospel.   We were hoping to get the charge reduced to Wreckless Driving because of bad weather conditions.  It was pouring down rain and the truck hydroplaned through a red light. But the judge reduced the charge to Careless Driving a non-criminal charge.  She stated the fine would be $6,000.00 and asked if Mr. Stuart had that much money.  He said ‘No’.  The Judge then asked how much money he had and he took out his wallet and said $3500.00. The Judge said that would be enough.  So he paid the fine and left the court as soon as possible.  It was absolute proof that the Lord watches over his missionaries.   Even the arresting officer (who phoned in) agreed with the lowered fine and no jail time.  We are so thankful to the Lord for blessing Elder Stuart in this matter.  He is a great young Elder who was anxious to get back to his missionary work.  He told us that two days of not doing missionary work was just too much time off.  He was so glad to get back to Yallahs.  We were glad to have him with us as we had a flat tire just past Bull Bay on the way to Yallahs!  His young muscles and agile body to crawl under the truck and get the spare tire out was a blessing to us.  We really appreciated his helping hands.  He was so full of joy all the way home.  We also had about four or five locals stop to see if we needed any more help.  Even a Detective Sargent with the Jamaican Police stopped to make sure we were ok.  We all were glad to get back to our missionary work.

We made a stop at Discovery Bay and had lunch at Columbus Park (great Jerk Chicken and Jerk Pork) on the way home.  Elder Stuart was busy talking to all the people around us. Even the Pirates.  He did get a commitment from our waitress to go to the Ocho Rios Branch for church, such a good Elder.  Our mission is full of really wonderful, special, missionaries. Elder Stuart is from Woodruff Utah and has been on his mission about 17 months now.

 The place we stayed at was up on a cliff overlooking the Caribbean Sea.  The sunsets are always pretty here.  There was no time to enjoy the Beach or the town.  However we did take a little walk and took some pictures before going sleep.

 It also overlooks Doctors Cave Beach. It is a local attraction that a lot of the tourists use too.

 Outside of our Hotel you can see the ‘bush’. It is hard to keep back the growth, but it sure is pretty to look at.

 When we first got to Mo Bay we met the Zone Leaders and the Mo Bay Elders at the Mo Bay Chapel.  We left Elder Stuart in their capable hands and headed to our hotel.  We picked him back up Tuesday morning in time to go to court.

The picture below is of Mr. Martin and Bro. Graham from the Kingston Branch.  They are working on an Elders Quorum service project to help one of the members get a roof on his house.  It was good to see the Priesthood at work and to see Jamaican members help each other out.  Life is a lot tougher here so I will tell you about this service project and hope you can understand a little more about what it is like to be a Jamaican church member.

A Branch member lost his home so the other members found him a new home.  The home is not finished just a little building 10’ X 12’ cinder block home with walls but no roof.  One of the members had a tarp so they put that up for a temporary roof.

They have struggled for several weeks to try to get enough materials and money for a new roof.   It has taken some time to gather up what they need but we are so proud of them for doing it the right way.  They need 16= 2X4’s for rafters.    Members donated 4= 2X4’s.  Some Zinc (Corrugated steel) for the roof.  Members Donated or promised to donate $8,000 or ($80. U.S.).  It will cost another 10,000 Jamaican to buy the rest of the zinc to finish the project.  The Branch President believes he can help with some Branch Money.  Lots of Branch Members are going to donate the labor.  The Mission is donating an old missionary mattress.  It may seem like a simple thing for you to think about and do at home but here; ‘service’ to others is a difficult concept and money is very hard to come by.   Bro. Graham and his family are new to the branch and he is really helping them get together and help each other out

The Primary presented their Sacrament Meeting today in the Kingston Branch.  They had five children participate.  Four gave talks, one was too shy to give his talk, and they all sang.  It is so fun to watch the children.  They are not shy about singing right into the microphone and they will push the others away to get there!!  They really did a good job.   Mom got a hug from all of them when Sacrament meeting was over.

We love you all and hope you are doing well.

October 6, 2013

Dear Family and Friends

Conference just ended and we have been lovingly fed by the leaders of Christ’s church.   What a wonderful weekend.   We had most of the senior couples at our apartment to watch the Saturday sessions of Conference on the ‘big screen’.  Thanks to the Whiteheads, the Humanitarian couple before us, our apartment was all set up and we walked into our little home away from home with all the comforts of home in place for us. Starting at the back by the door is Elder and Sister Evans, Elder Mortensen, Dad, Elder and Sister Pearson, and Sister Mortensen.  We had a pot luck dinner afterwards.  We all enjoyed watching conference together.  Today (Sunday), they all went to their respective branches to be with the members they serve with.

 Our week here has been a little different than most.  We spend several days in the Mission Office learning how to do some the work there.  Our funding for our projects was in the process of being replenished so we had some time on our hands and thought we would be useful,(or useless depending on who you talked to)and help out the office couple.  Most missions have two or sometimes three couples working in the office depending on the size of the mission.  We have one office couple and our mission has almost doubled our compliment of missionaries so that places a real strain on them.  We Love the Evans!

We don’t have a couple doing the cars or apartments our single couple do it all.  The Evans are a marvelous pair and they strive to do their best in the office.  They really know their jobs.  They know all that is going on in the mission concerning the missionaries.  With transfers coming up this week they are really busy.  I have been learning how to enter the baptisms on the CDE system and been making phone calls checking up of missionaries and putting together booklets for the new missionaries called to serve here in Jamaica.  Dad has been learning the financial side of the office.  Wow now that’s a job!!  And Pres. Brown just told Elder Cornish that he could have places to put 22 more sister missionaries, so they will really be busy when that happens.

Monday we finalized the dates for the wheelchair training with the Salvation Army and our SLC people, the Spencers and the Cullimores.  It will be the last week of January and the first week of February.  We are in the process of letting our 22 sub-partners know of the dates so they will be able to send people in for training.  Some people just need a refresher course and others will be newly trained as they may be new to the organizations we work with.  This is all done on a voluntary basis and without any pay.  The people (generally Physical Therapists, or similar occupations), do this out of the goodness of their hearts and because they see a need and no one to fill it.  Most organizations do not pay for their time or gas money.   They are too short handed, so any training and or wheelchair assessments they do is at their own expense and on their own time.  If they leave work to do a wheelchair assessment they are not paid for their time away, and they are still expected to fulfill all their normal job requirements.  Our Wheelchair Assessors really are dedicated to helping those in need.

We also had a meeting with Pres. Brown to keep him informed as to what we are doing with our Humanitarian Service.  We also discussed the new Media Communications Committee.  We had our first meeting with them last week.  They are a power packed trio of women who are very excited about their new callings.  We will be gathering information on ‘opinion leaders’ and getting to know them to help clear up some misconceptions, let them know we love and worship Jesus Christ and help the church have  more positive influence here.  It will be exciting to have a web page for our mission…maybe even a Facebook page!

We have had a good week here and hope that you were blessed as well. We have felt of our prayers on our behalf and truly appreciate and love each of you for what you do to support us here on our mission.  Everything we do becomes easier because of your love and support for us.  May the Lord bless you this coming week.

Love

Mom and Dad

E/S Murdock

September 29, 2013

Hello again from Jamaica

Same old story again this week lots of paper work.  Wrote up four great new Humanitarian projects and put together a budget for next year.  All are great projects that will help enhance the Church’s work here in Jamaica while assisting the too poor become more self-reliant.  We will tell you all about these projects when we start the real work on them.

Went to the Kingston Branch today, most people walk or ride bikes everywhere they go.  There are three cars in the parking lot two of them belong to Missionaries.  Everyone else walks.  This is the Martin family; the little girl is Sister Murdock’s best friend along with two or three other little girls.  They love to come sit by her when we come to their branch.

 Here are two of the girls sitting next to Sister Murdock.  Their Father came to get them but they were playing with Sister Murdock.   I just shrugged and said you’re too late. 

 We went to a welfare meeting that got out early but too late to go to class so we went into the chapel and watched the Primary practice for the next Sacrament meeting program.

 The picture is so some Kingston Branch Mothers.  Sister Taylor (the one on the right) is fired up about doing missionary work.  The elders are teaching one of her friends and the lady in the center is her neighbor who she talked into going to church with her.  The missionaries have talked to this lady before but she said she was just not interested in the church.  Sister Taylor never gave up and just up and asked her if she wanted to go to church with her and she came.

 Kids love to have their picture taken.  Yes Ellie Jamaican girls lose their teeth too.

Kingston is a small branch with between 45 and 60 members attending Sacrament meeting.  The Branch set a goal to baptize 24 people this year.  It seemed kind of high when we heard it.  Later that night the missionaries came to our apartment for dinner I asked them if it was possible for them to baptize 24 people this year.  Their simple answer eliminated any doubt.  They have baptisms 20 people so far and expected be way over the goal of 24.

September 21, 2013

Letter from the Murdock’s

This week started with a missionary farewell dinner.  Monday we went to the China Express and had a fun/sad evening. Then on Tuesday morning Sister ‘P’ called and we just HAD to go on one more chocolate run to Devon House.  This of course included an ice cream cone too.  No wonder it’s hard to lose weight on a mission!  The Pugmire’s will be flying home Tuesday morning.  We will be privileged to take them to the airport.  They will be replaced by two Jamaican Service Missionaries.  It will be two single sisters, but not until December.

Later we drove to Negril to meet with Branch President Barker. He is a young missionary from England. He wanted to see if a Church Humanitarian project could help a local soup kitchen which prepares meals for the poor.  He wants the Branch to do a service project to paint the inside and the outside of the soup kitchen.  They serve about 130 meals a day here in this little shop.  This is the only counter and there is very little space to store their food.  Father Jim has rented the two shops that are connected to this one where they have some food in one and clothing in the other.  They do a great job of assisting the poor here.

Missionaries have been helping prepare meals at the kitchen every Thursday for 3 years.

 Miss Pearl is the volunteer worker in charge of the soup kitchen.  She loved her job and got Sister Murdock laughing and having fun.

 Father Jim was the Catholic Priest in charge of the kitchen.  He is doing everything he can to help the poor in the area.  Just across the street from the kitchen is a very poor section of town where people live in old shacks on captured land (government land where they live without permission).  Many have no jobs the only food they get is one meal a day from the soup kitchen.

 This is chicken foot soup.  Today the soup kitchen served chicken foot soup a piece of bread and a slice of cheese.  Yes the soup is made with real chicken feet and is the only meat and the main flavoring for the soup.  If you actually get a chicken foot in your cup of soup you’re considered lucky.  By the way it tastes good, almost like chicken noodle soup without the noodles.  Miss Pearl serves a variety of meals here.

While we were in Negril, I took some time (it was my birthday) and went snorkeling.  I experienced some new things in the sea that were a lot like the things I have experienced in the desert.  First the sea is not a good place to be during a lighting storm.  I even realized hiding under a cliff while swimming probably would not protect me from getting shocked if the lighting strikes the water near me,  just like standing under a lone tree in a lighting storm isn’t a good idea in the desert.  Fortunately I got out of the water as quick as I could. The thunder was crashing right on top of me, and then the lightening would come right after.  Second scraping your ankle on coral is a lot like scraping your ankle on lava rock.  Finally getting stung by a sea anemone is a lot like falling and putting your hand in a cactus, and just as hard to get out of your hands.

This is where I went snorkeling very pretty with lots of fish of every color; orange, blue, green, black red or a combination of these colors.  The mist you see in the picture is rain but if you’re in the water you’re already wet so who cares and it never gets cold.  I like to snorkeling only next time I will be more careful.

I love this job!  I get to do Humanitarian work that helps people who really need help, like the soup kitchen and all those who eat there, and once in a while I even get to go to the Beach.  What could be better than this?

We spent two days here, but were glad to get back to our little apartment.  It is a long ride out to Negril.  It takes about five hours to travel the distance going between 50 and 80 kilometers an hour.  You will have to figure the miles per hour speed when you get into your vehicle next time.  Our truck only shows KPH not MPH. 

The Mortensen’s brought us down a couple of cinnamon rolls tonight.  Sister Mortensen baked them for Elder Mortensen’s birthday.  It was nice to be included in their birthday celebration.  Our past Mission President T. Scott Hendricks had a birthday last week also, and we want to wish him all the best.  He is loved here in Jamaica by missionaries and Jamaicans alike.  We have been blessed to have been able to serve under two of the Lords finest men as our Mission Presidents.

We also picked up another nine wheelchairs from Food For The Poor.  The Mortensen’s helped deliver three of them this past Monday as Dad was not feeling good.  We will get a few more delivered next week as time permits. 

Saturday we were invited to talk at the Leadership Training Meeting for the Spanish Town District.  We were to talk in the Relief Society Training portion.  As usual dad was to speak last and there was no time left…again…so he didn’t get to give his talk.  I think the next time I will request that he goes first so he can finally give the talk!  This is getting to be a habit for him, (I personally think he plans it this way, but I’m getting on to his little plan!).

Dad enjoyed his time snorkeling for his birthday.  It sure won’t happen once we get back home so he took advantage of the day.  Me, I was reading and studying my talk for the training meeting, besides it was pouring down rain and thunder and lightning to boot; so I stayed on the balcony as the storm blew through.

September 15, 2013

Jamaica Kingston Mission This week started out by having a farewell FHE for the Pugmires.  They don’t actually go home until the 24 of this month but this was their last family home evening at the Mission Home.  The Pugmire are the couple in the front.  Behind Elder P you will see me, Sister Evans and Sister Pearson and Sister Brown.  Beginning at the left behind me is Elder and Sister Mortensen, Sister Wright, Elder Evans.  The back row from the left is Dad, Elder Mortensen, Elder Pearson and our Mission President Kevin Brown.

 

We have started taking turns giving the FHE lessons.   This time it was the Pearson’s turn. And they taught about Alma at the Waters of Mormon.  All the people were kernels of popcorn.  If you know Elder Pearson you would naturally assume that popcorn had to be in there somewhere…He loves the stuff even more than me and that is saying something! In the Back are Sister and Elder Evans, me and then the Browns, Jonathon in the blue, Pres. Brown with Leah, then Jared and Gabrielle.   

 

 

Also this week we had to meet with the Salvation Army to make a change in the Wheelchair Training Dates.  We had initially planned on doing this the second and third week of January, but with the wheelchair shipment being delayed due to paperwork we have had to push back the dates to the last week of January and the first week of February.  Below is the planning meeting at Captain Mitchells home.  This picture shows Major Lyons on the left with Dad in the center and Captain Mitchell on the right.

 

Me, I had the hard duty.  I got to tend the baby!! He is so cute!!

 

We experienced a little problem with our computer this week but we have a very talented Branch President from Spanish Town 1^st branch who came and worked his magic for us.  He even helped us create a network where few can share folders from each of our computers without having to leave our own computers. That was a real big help as we were constantly looking for certain files that we had on the other computer.  Now we just put them in the shared folder and we both can see them at the same time.

We are almost finished with our Building Self-Reliant Trainings with the Branch Presidents.  We met with the last one in the District Presidency, Bro MacPherson this week.  We also had his wife Sister ‘Mac’ who is the District Relief Society President, come and answered her questions as well.  This will take all the auxiliaries working together to make it work out right.

We got to inspect the Kingston Branch and Office Elders missionary apartment this week.   This apartment was not too bad. We love our young missionaries.  They work so hard and are such good representatives of the Lord.

 

Mothers, while you are teaching your prospective missionaries all about the gospel please teach them how to clean their rooms, wash the dishes and do the laundry.  This would be in addition to how to shop for groceries and cook simple meals.  With the addition of the 18 year old missionaries some have NEVER HAD ANY EXPERIENCE IN THESE AREAS.  We all want to take good care of our children and part of that care is teaching them to take care of themselves when the need arises and missions are one of those needs! These are the best young men/women the church has to offer and they are marvelous, and we love the dickens out of each and every one of them.  But they still have to live on their own and with other Elders/Sisters.  Teach them to be neat and courteous.  Ok off my Soap Box

We have experienced some hard times this week but we will move forward as the work of the Lord will always roll on.  His programs will grow and increase and we will try to do our best to be of help whenever and wherever  we can.  May the Lord bless and keep you always is our prayer

Love

Mom and Dad

E/S Murdock