21 February 2010
Our week started with a trip to Castries to get a police report for Elder Morris which he will need for his next transfer. On the drive to Castries he related the various encounters he has had with the police. Some mischievous, others somewhat more grave-but thankfully no arrests. He felt some of his encounters almost bordered on harassment rather than an actual reason. Ironically on our return to Vieux Fort we were stopped at a police road block. We were asked for our insurance and driver license, which we were able to produce and pass the check OK. Then the officer asked why there were six people in a four passenger vehicle. Our excuse: that we had been in Castries and were returning to our residences in Vieux Fort. Also that the auto does have five seat belts so we were only exceeding the load limit by one. He repeated the question a couple of times and received the same reply each time. Finally he told us to go on but not to let him catch us doing this again. As we proceeded on our way Elder Morris was quick to point out this was a prime example of police harassment. Whatever…However, the day we have long been anticipating arrived. Thursday evening our son Jeff, his wife Kris, and their children Wesston, Ceci, and Hunter arrived to spend a week with us. As they live in Rupert, Idaho, coming to St Lucia this time of the year is quite a climate change for them. For activity starters we spent the better part of Friday in Dennery riding a zip line. This is an upbeat adventure. There are eleven different lines involved that carry you over, among, and between the lush foliage and trees in this area. Saturday we drove to a pretty black sandy beach near the town of Choiseul. We took our lunch with to take advantage of the shady park adjoining it. Thus the vacationers spend all the time they desired frolicking in the beautiful Caribbean Ocean. Ceci and Hunter were a little lax with the sun screen however and returned to the apartment with some sunburn to contend with. The family was our sacrament service speakers on Sunday and did a great job. Also Ceci accompanied the singing on the key board so that was a plus. So many members complimented us after church about how impressed they were with our family. And again this Sunday the chapel was, for all intentions, filled to capacity with either 69 or 71 in attendance. It just depended on who you asked. Regardless it was a sight to behold. We just hope they keep attending.
Sister Faux: Yes, our sacrament meeting today was very good. Not only did each of the family speak but Wesston also blessed the sacrament and gave the closing prayer. Ceci played the piano accompaniment as we sang the hymns. It was very nice and we enjoyed that happiness very much. A couple of the girls, Vina and Kimberly (who are sisters) took Ceci with them after sacrament meeting. She did not know where they were going but thought at first they were going to Young Women. They actually took her to a service station down the road and bought some treats: crackers and bubblegum (and stuff like that). She was surprised buying something on Sunday but they were nice to her. It is wonderful to have the family here; the only bad thing is they have to go home on Thursday.
A wonderful thing happened to Elder Welch and Elder Lundberg—they ordered 50 ties over the internet and they arrived this week. Regardless that they are all used ties they think they are beautiful…..some are quite pretty. I just tell them they are all nice. I have never known how important ties are to the elders. They trade, save, and treasure them. It is very funny but they just love them. They probably get very tired of them as they wear them each day, a bit like my dresses ---so very tired of every piece of clothing I brought with me. Not many of them are going home with me. Speaking of going home, I have been planning on going home on a cruise but our friends the Collins are not able to go with us, so Elder Faux has decided that we will just fly home too. Disappointed but that is okay.
I think Wesston has fixed my skype so I can call people. He closed it out and reinstalled it so tonight it was working much better. I have tried to do that and did not help one little bit. Everyone I tried to call did not answer but I can call again. It is still the very dry season and all the pretty grass is yellow as I said last week, only it is worse now. Many trees are losing their leaves and are not as pretty as before. I have mentioned the fires before but now much worse It seems many places just burst into flames from the heat and reflections from glass or something. . Just to show that even tropical islands can experience a drought. Everyone has gone to sleep so I had better try that myself. Hope you have all had a great Sunday. Love, Elder and Sister Faux

14 February 2010
If we were to have a headline for the week is would read “Zone Conference and Three Baptisms on the Weekend”. But before that on Tuesday we drove our medical student neighbor, Sharon, and her sister, Calucet, to Castries. Calucet has come to stay with Sharon until April and needed to extend her visitors permit. They are Pakistani and have lived in California for a number of years. We can understand Sharon most of the time but Calucet hardly ever. We were glad we could help them but it was an interesting five hours as we went about conversing with one another. They call Sister Faux ‘Mum’ and Elder Faux ‘Papa’. Wednesday morning we drove to Castries again to prepare for Thursday’s zone conference. There was food to buy and prepare for the lunch on Thursday in addition to the elders Thursday morning breakfast. On Wednesday evening we met with President Gamiette along with our branch president, branch clerk, elder’s quorum and relief society presidents. And something transpired here that was impressive. Before the opening prayer President Gamiette counseled the brethren that when they meet to act in their priesthood calling they need to look the part, which means dressed in white shirts and ties. Branch President Nicholas and Davis, the branch clerk, were in white shirts, no ties; Evans, the elder’s quorum president had his white shirt with but had not put it on. So he was excused to put it and his tie on. While he was gone President Gamiette produced ties for President Nicholas and Davis to put on. Once these brethren ‘looked the part ‘it was remarkable as to the new feeling/spirit that permeated the room. We had another good zone conference, and as anticipated, it went overtime-about 75 minutes worth. President Gamiette gets so enthused and wound up in his teaching that time has no bearing. And he keeps the missionaries involved and participating. The lunch was a big hit as the elders were served two soups; taco soup with sour cream, cheese, chips and Clam Chowder. Elder Treseder also made a pot of chili. All that was left were the empty soup bowls. Saturday morning Jane (Jennifer) Augustine was baptized. She didn’t want to be baptized in the ocean so we took a 20 to 25 minute drive up the coast to a very pretty secluded place where a river empties into the sea. It is about one-half mile off the main highway and the road (?) leading there is strictly a four wheel drive. We are glad President Nicholas has such a vehicle to provide rides in situations such as this. We were amazed Sunday as sixty one members/ investigators (10)/ visitors (2) attended sacrament service. It was a sight to behold as the chapel was full. Then soon after church, the baptismal service was held for Lucius Mathurin and Sheba Sinasis. They were baptized at Sandy Beach-the preferred spot-about a mile from the church. And because of the large sacrament meeting attendance these two candidates had twenty seven people witness their baptism. At the conclusion of the services we all enjoyed another munch and mingle lunch at the church. Of note: the last three baptisms have been complete member participation. All the talks, prayers, and actual baptism have been by branch members other than on Saturday’s baptism the elders were the witnesses. Our goal is to have the branch self sustaining and this is a big step toward that. Also, Evans and Betherlie William, with whom we visit each Sunday evening for family home evening, celebrated their wedding anniversary this day. While visiting their home this evening they served us a large large plate of food in celebration of their anniversary. We asked for smaller portions but they insisted on filling the plate to their likings. As a result we brought home enough food for probably three meals.
Sister Faux: Good morning, we just returned from our morning walk and it is breezy and warm. Elder Faux claims that it is good for us and I am sure it must be-- and I tell myself that as I limp along. This week we had an interesting event that was fun to see. Those who read our blog last week may remember we had some visitors at church, a couple from Idaho Fall, Idaho, Greg and Vicki Hulet. In our comment section their daughter, Sunshine, sent a message (she lives in California)for us to say hello to her parents. Elder Lang’s mother (that we have contact with) had read the blog and saw their picture and notified the daughter Sunshine. It is small world indeed, and sometimes very fun. Elder Faux told you about our busy week, just a couple of comments, Sister Jennifer that was baptized in the river wanted to be baptized there because Jesus was baptized in a river. You might notice the vehicle that we rode down the terrible road, is a truck. Made me a little nervous, but life is an adventure. I might mention a few rules about baptism, when an investigator is preparing for baptism they now need to attend church three times in a row. They need to attend a Family Home Evening and also need to help present a family home evening. The Book of Mormon is very important and they must read for 14 straight days. Now this is a problem for some as they cannot read -that is the case with Jennifer (Jane) and so her younger son reads to her. We are in a very dry season and many of the trees and grasses are getting very yellow. Tall grass on the road to Castries is all yellow and looks like Utah in August. We are told it is unusual to be so dry. A man that lives up the road from us said it will start to rain the end of March. So we will see if he is right. We also held Family Home Evening last week and Elder Faux talked about keeping a journal. It was well accepted and turned out very interesting. Elder Morris lost his wallet on a bus and we thought he would never see that again. But our prayers were answered as Elder Morris, unknowingly, caught the same bus a few days later. As he got on the driver ask him his name, and if he knew where his wallet was. When he said he had lost it the driver produced it for him. He had found it on his bus and had kept it safe. His money, credit cards, and all other things still in place. It was just like a miracle. We continue to take our elders in the backseat of the Toyota, very miserable for them. Elder Faux and I sit in comfort in the front seat and listen to them moan. We tell them it keeps them humble. We continue to consider them as fine young men. It was great to have the baptisms with one more scheduled for next week. Hope everyone has a wonderful week. Love, Elder and Sister Faux
P.s. Sunshine, if you happen to read this please accept our apology for the way we mangled your parents names/spelling last week. We apologized to them as well.

7 February 2010
The first week of the month and like every other unit in the Church there are reports to be complied and submitted. Our branch does not have a computer system so we prepare them using pencil, paper, and a calculator-the old fashion way. The foremost report was doing a branch audit for the last six months of 2009. Generally someone from the mission office will come to do the audit but this time, for whatever reason, they assigned the senior elders with the island zones to do the audit in their respective branch. Since the Church is not officially recognized in St Lucia it is not permitted to open its own bank account. Therefore the bank account is in President Nicholas’s name and expenditures require only his signature. This situation is not unique in the mission so these accounts are monitored closely. Thus this audit was approached with some trepidation and prayer since audits are not Elder Faux’es forte. Besides he helps somewhat with the weekly donations and expenditures. His concern being could he be objective in conducting the audit as outlined. It took the three of us, President Nicholas, Davis Thomas-branch clerk, and Elder Faux nearly four hours to compile it, which included a telephone call for help to the mission financial secretary. Elder Faux is happy to report that to the best of his knowledge everything checked out A-OK. It is also interesting to note that the Castries Branch tithing donations are deposited into President Nicholas’s account also. This account has a sizable sum in it at this time. Elder Faux inquired as to why this money is not transferred to the general tithing fund. He was told if that much money were to be transferred President Nicholas would be swarmed with government officials wanting to know where it went and why. So it stays where it is until the Church is officially recognized in St Lucia. On Tuesday we drove to Castries for a zone meeting. Since St Lucia is now two districts we don’t see the Castries missionaries that much anymore so it was good to meet in our zone meeting. Elder Prince, the zone leader, had a well prepared agenda that was uplifting as well as motivating. You just marvel when you see these 19-20 year-old-‘kids’ making presentations such as this. Not only the presentation but the knowledge and wisdom demonstrated by the missionaries being taught. For the past month the Cunningham Family from Canada have been attending church. He is a doctor and has been doing some training at the local hospital. Also visiting today were Greg and Julie Hewlett from Idaho Falls. I (Elder Faux) see these folks attending and often wonder if going to church while on vacation, regardless of how many miles from home, is unique with the Latter-day Saints. My conclusion is that ‘it is’. Our testimony of the gospel gives us that desire to attend. And our testimony is strengthened as we feel of the same spirit, partake of the sacrament, taught from the same lesson manuals, and are inclined to visit when we should be going to our next class.
Sister Faux: As usual in a “real” church meeting food always seem to be an important part of many meetings. And so it is here in the West Indies Mission, at least with the missionaries. So following our zone conference we ordered Domino’s Pizza and had it delivered to the church. It is a very good pizza. I have never been a real fan of pizza but it tastes great here. Following zone meeting we shopped at Megs J’s for a few food items (Elder Lundberg still had a good time) then returned to Vieux Fort in time for correlation meeting that evening. Sorry we did not get any pictures of our elders this week- we must be getting lazy. We want you to know they are still working, still handsome and still make us have a happy day when they come to our apartment. I don’t recall if I have told you about the elders we have now. We still have Elder Welch and Elder Morris and they have been here for some time, I am betting that the next transfer they will be moved. That is a pure guess and no one has told me any such thing so we will see. The next transfer is the first week of March.They are good men and good to be with. Elder Morris replaced Sister Cheri Penrose’s battery cable in her car. We were to keep it running while she has been back in Utah since before Christmas. In order to do so a new cable was needed. She just returned today, is our neighbor and a medical student. A very brave student in my opinion. Her husband died a little over a year ago and she decided to come here for medical school. She has four sons and one daughter. Her youngest son is 14 (?) and Is living with his sister in Logan while Cheri is here in school. This week Wednesday and Thursday we are having zone conference, so another exciting week for us. Preparing the food is always interesting. Back to our elders, we also have Elder Lundberg from Logan, Utah. He has been serving his mission for one year and is a nice young man that we enjoy and we are glad he is here. Elder Larson, from Logan also, will be going home in May and is a very polite and nice young man. He did go home a short time ago for a month because he had a bad infection that could not be taken care of here. They both brighten up life and we enjoy each of them. A couple of things the elders say that is interesting are “I love them bad” and “we will be seeing you just now “-which can mean up to an hour.
Sorry not a very interesting blog- will try harder next week. Love, Sister Faux
p.s. While waiting at the airport for Cheri today we met Pastor Brook, a Baptist preacher we have become acquainted with. There are two of them in the area and the other one, unlike Pastor Brook, is very antagonist toward the church. The elders will walk a mile out of their way to avoid him. Pastor Brook is very cordial and we enjoy visiting with him. It just so happened that as we were leaving the airport he was two cars ahead of us. As we reached the toll booth to pay our parking fee the attendant told us there was no charge as our fee had been paid by the gentleman that had preceded us. Is that not a kind gesture?

31 January 2010
The big event for the week was the baptism of Lucy Eugenio after church today. This is the first baptism in the branch since November so a long awaited event. It started to rain around 6:00 a.m. this morning continuing off and on until about noon. Rain generally means Low Church attendance since being in the rain, as the allegory goes, is the best way to catch cold. No one wants a cold so they stay home rather than attend church. But it was exciting to see Lucy arrive early, looking so nice and so excited. We ended up having a good turnout and many of the members stayed to be part of the baptism service. By the time we arrived at the beach the weather had cleared other than being a little windy. But this didn’t hamper the baptism. In fact it appeared the elders enjoyed the waves a little more than they should have; especially when some of the breakers washed completely over them. And it was great to see so many branch members at the beach to witness Lucy’s baptism. We returned to the church for the conclusion of the service after which we enjoyed a delicious munch and mingle lunch served by Sister Nicholas. Tuesday was our district meeting. Until December the island was one district. We took turns at the meeting venue-one week in Vieux Fort the next in Castries. But now each city is a district so that weekly get together is no more. So we hold our own and we compliment Elder Welch, the district leader, on his well prepared lesson, which included ‘role playing’, which Elder Faux is not a big fan off. And as usual at the close of our meeting food immediately came to mind. Not Scoby’s today but Domino’s Pizza. On Thursday Elders Welch and Lundberg each noted their one year on-a-mission date. It is a little unusual to have a companionship share this date so we decided to do a little celebrating. We did so by driving to Castries to grocery shop at Mega J’s (St Lucia’s Costco) and then go to lunch at Spinnakers, which is becoming our favorite restaurant in Castries. We were pleased that Elder and Sister Treseder, the couple serving in Castries, were able to join with us as well. While eating our lunch it became evident a couple at a nearby table was celebrating an event. When a birthday cake was delivered to their table Elder Faux, with a little coaxing, gentle persuasion, and cajoling got the elders to join with him and Elder Treseder to sing Happy Birthday to them. It was an amusing surprise for them, and they seemed pleased with our effort. In fact when they departed they gave us some of their birthday cake to enjoy.
Sister Faux ... Another week has gone by and if you remember last week I talked about wearing the non matching earrings to church that started the week. A couple of days later I wore my blouse wrong side out. The next day we went to help a friend and her daughter, that I had not seen her for a while, met me at the door. She seemed happy to see me and then said, “Sister Faux—Sister Faux -you are getting fat!” So that started the week, but I think it improved after that. What next?
A few things I noticed this week; When we went to Mega J’s it was fun to watch Elder Lundberg as they shopped because he has been serving in Guyana and there stores sound very small and inconvenient. He kept saying, “Look I can buy this, even if I don’t need it”. So many good things he had not seen for almost a year. At the store I had 14 things on my list and could not find anything I had planned to buy such as, chicken, hamburger, sour cream, jello—yet Elder Lundberg was so happy.
There had been many fires on the way to Castries that have burned many miles of beautiful forests. Sad news, my hairdresser is going to work on another island for six months. She said that she could not recommend anyone in Vieux Fort to cut my hair—woe is me. I was surprised when we arrived here to see the many horses on this end of the island. We see a few that are ridden occasionally but many just wander around. We see one staked now and again but I have never seen any water left for them. I feel sorry for them. We have been waiting for a Seminary teacher to be assigned, but no one is available so we thought we would begin to have class last week and we (Dave) would teach. Surprise- no one came…Our weather has been a little cooler the last week and at times we do not have our two fans running. The thermometer still says 80º except one cool day it was 79º. We have included a couple of our walking pictures but the broken road does not look as bad as it is. The water on the road has been there almost all of the time; we know it is really dry when there is no water at all. When it rains at home there are always worms on the road and sidewalk, but there have never been any worms anywhere here, I think that is interesting. We had Relief Society a week ago in the evening. Our project was to teach the sisters how to make pizza and it was fun. Kids arrive at the church before the mothers get there. Sister Nicholas baked two pizzas and had to cut them in 20 pieces, because we had so many kids and elders. It was my turn to speak in church today I talked about President Thomas Monson, as many do not know very much about him. People really pay attention when we give a talk. It is a nice experience. We had about 35 at church today so it was a pretty good turnout. Have a good week. The church really is true. Love, Sister and Elder Faux-- Elder and Sister FauxGablewoods Mall South, P.O. Box 923Vieux Fort, St Lucia, West IndiesHome 758-454-7219 Cell 758-384-5487 doraanddavefaux.blogspot.com