June 22, 2009

Well another week has flown by and I am trying to remember some of the things that have happened. Monday the elders came and did their emailing and then we went on a little tour up toward Soufriere. We had been there before but we took more pictures of a luxurious resort named Ladera. It is a wonderful place and quite expensive, but would be fun to have a vacation there. The one picture shows a little view of it with a swing over the private swimming pool. Each room/rooms has one whole side open to see the view and the ocean. Each room has its own private small pool. Elder Ash took a video of it and it is quite breathtaking. Tuesday we went to Castries for District Meeting and a nice lunch. It is fun to be with the elders because they are so good. Elder and Sister Whitehead, the mission humanitarian couple and live in Guyana, were on St Lucia for three days this week looking at proposals. Dave had been to the hospital a few times trying to get them interested in things we could do but they said they were too busy getting prepared for the hurricane season and did not have time for anything else. On Thursday we met them along with the Castries couple, Elder and Sister Collins, at the FondDoux Plantation, about a forty five minute drive north of Vieux Fort, for lunch. We had an enjoyable afternoon together and it was nice to meet the Whitehead's. The main event of the week however, was the baptism of Celina on Saturday. Celina is a special lady. In addition to working full time she has living in her home; three handicapped brothers she takes care of, an eleven year old daughter and a nineteen year old daughter with a baby and expecting another one. As her baptism date came nearer she started having friends, neighbors, and some family members doing their best to discourage her with the typical Mormon scare stories. Elder Ash telephoned us Friday evening around 8:30 p.m. asking if we would give her a telephone call to reassure her of her decision to be baptized. When we tried her cell phone had been turned off so we decided to drive to her home and talk with her. She lives in an area of narrow streets and walkways with people everywhere. We were thankful to find her at home, had a short nice visit in which she affirmed she planned to be baptized, and then she walked with us back to our car. Saturday morning the baptism took place as scheduled right in between the rain storms. Celina will be a great addition to the branch and we are happy for her.You probably have the idea that we just wander around most of the time just taking pictures and we do that because we want to share the things we are seeing and doing. Each day is a great adventure, good for anyone that is retiring or bored at home. Some of the other pictures are ---Elder Sturdevant and the holes in his stockings. He was leading the singing for the baptism program and had his shoes off, because of the rain and as he stood there doing a good job leading I saw the end of his toe sticking through his stocking. It was cute. He will go home in a few months and is trying to make things last. The other pictures of the baptism are a keep sake for us as a remembrance of how difficult that step can be in the lives of these special people. The view of all of us standing looking over the ocean is at Calabash Cove Resort another fun vacation spot. It is a new resort and is close to the Collins apartment. The road to get back into it is so full of chuck holes it is almost impossible to get to the resort. Good roads are not found here.Well it is Monday morning and the beginning of another great week. We could not finish last night too tired and Elder Faux had to get to bed because he was going fishing at 2 am. He is back now and had a good night but he caught no fish (thank full for that) Elder Sturdevant caught a small shark and I think Elder Endeman caught something. But no big success stories. I had better get my day started as it seems we have another full day planned. Let me just say the church is great here in St Lucia as are the members in it. What good people they are. They are very close to our heart. Hope all is well. We send our love to our family and friends. Elder and Sister Faux PLEASE WRITE