Monday was Preparation Day and since our elders planned to meet with the elders in Castries Elder and Sister Treseder invited us to come spend the afternoon with them, and the night as well, since Tuesday is zone meeting and we would we driving there anyway. We readily accepted the invite. Once with the Treseder’s we thought it prudent if we prepared as much as possible for our next zone conference. This conference will require unique planning as it is scheduled on a Monday. So where we have been able to do much of the purchasing the day before it won’t happen this time because of Sunday. Therefore food for the elders arriving Sunday evening, for the elders Monday morning breakfast, the mid-conference snack, and the zone conference luncheon will need to be readied two to three days prior. So we went shopping at Mega J's (the Costco of St Lucia) purchasing as many of the non-perishable items that will be needed. For the conference luncheon we decided to have Subway Sandwiches hence we drove to Subway’s in downtown Castries to place our order. While doing so we decided to have a sandwich as well for our evening meal. It was a good choice and if the sandwiches for zone conference are as tasty as what we had this evening the elders will be delighted. On Tuesday Elder Prince, the zone leader, presented a well prepared lesson. It is impressive how well these elders do in preparing and discussing principles of the gospel and the ways they can be incorporated into helping them be better missionaries. The one drawback to this meeting was its length-a little over three hours. Chairs tend to get quite hard in that space of time. About ten days past branch member, Denison Gustave, as a passenger, was involved in a motorcycle mishap while on his way to work in Castries. Luckily, and this may sound insensitive, his only injury was a compound fracture of the right leg. President Nicholas and Elder Faux had been contemplating going to his home in Fiette, near Choiseul, and pay him a visit. On Monday Evans William, the branch elders quorum president, contacted President Nicholas and suggested to him that they ought to visit Denison. This firmed up the decision so Wednesday afternoon the three of us, with Elder Faux driving, rode to Fiette to visit with Denison. We had a good visit but the highlight of the visit came about when Denison asked for a priesthood blessing. Elder Faux was asked to do the anointing and Evans to seal the anointing and give the blessing. As far as we are aware this was Evans first time doing this and he did a great job. It is really impressive to see the growth and progress Evans is making. He is most serious about his calling and is seeking to learn whatever is necessary to be successful. If you remember it was noted that in our February zone meeting President Gamiette reminded the priesthood brethren when acting in their calling they should look the part with white shirts and ties. In the pictures of President Nicholas and Evans you will note their obedience to this counsel.
Sister Faux: The rest of the week was not too exciting but a few things happened that made it pass fast. Wednesday we had our normal correlation meeting which was interesting as it started out with a big discussion about President Obama. People here love him and really defend him. Some places you will see many pictures of him and Branch President Nicholas thinks he is wonderful. It is a very interesting topic. Wednesday evening we also have a Book of Mormon class usually taught by President Nicholas. Last week Davis Thomas taught and he did a nice job so it was good to be in attendance. I spent part of the week mending some of the elder’s clothes; ties, pockets on shirts, and zipper in pants. Elder Lundberg’s zipper was broken and I told him I do not mend zippers. But he brought them over and it looked pretty easy so I fixed them without a problem. These elders think I can mend anything. I have forgotten how many precious ties I have repaired. They love their ties as I have said before. It is just fun to have them come anyway. Another thing we did this week was to visit Patricia---she is a member but has not been to church for who knows how long. Elder Faux loves to visit her. It is not a very comfortable visit as she is always upset about something. Many times it has been with the elders. This time it was about her renters and how bad they are. She showed us their apartment and as she took us around to the entrance we had to walk by one of her female dogs with two new pups. The dog came right at us, barking and snapping. It tried to bite but she only caught hold of Elder Faux’s pant leg. I was frightened and as we returned Patricia took hold of the dog and held it at bay. Everyone has a yard full of dogs—well not everyone but many people have them. Some are real watch dogs. At Sacrament meeting today we had all branch members bless and pass the sacrament. That is good, and unusual, as we almost always need some help from the elders. Brother and Sister Elliott, from Canada, were our speakers today at Sacrament Meeting. This is their last week here and they will go home next Sunday. They have come for the winter for many years as he has a business here. When they return to Canada they have a 15 acre farm to care for. Brother Elliott comes back and works but don’t know the details about that. They bring a great spirit with them as Brother Elliott teaches Sunday school and this year Sister Elliott has been the chorister and started a choir. That has been very fun to watch. The branch responds very well to them. To begin their talks they had the Hippolyte Family, Mother, Father, daughter and baby sing “Families Can be Together Forever.” It set the tone as the talks were about temple marriage. The Hipployte’s now have temple recommends they received after attending the temple class we taught. They are planning to attend the Santa Domingo Temple when finances are available. The talks about temple marriage were very well presented and makes me realize how blessed we are to have so many temples available to us. It is a big hardship for these members to prepare to attend the temple as it is so far away. The Elliot’s invited us to dinner this week and so we enjoyed that experience. They live in a nice home with one wall just being wooden shutters and no glass. On the way home there was a large forest fire close to the top of the mountain. So many areas have been burned so it makes us hope for rain soon. Saturday we enjoyed our Relief Society Birthday party activity. It was pleasing to see so many sisters in attendance. Part of my assignment as a missionary is to train members, like the Relief Society presidency. As I explained about celebrating for the March 17 birthday they were excited to learn about it. They may have been told about it before but anyway, they thought it would be fun. So we planned a party with everyone bringing potluck and having a volunteer program. So that is what we did and it worked out well. There were no decorations of any kind, not even a tablecloth or napkins, but no one seemed bothered by that. We had a nice program and the highlight was Sister Celina Noel singing, it was very beautiful. President Nicholas also did a dance that electrified the congregation. It is interesting that such simple things make them so happy. That is about it for another week. Hope you have nice spring days this week. Love from Elder and Sister Faux.

14 March 2010
The longer that we are here the more impressed we are with number of people branch President Nicholas is acquainted with in this area. This is quite evident for in our weekly branch correlation meetings as the elders discuss who they have contacted during the week, or are teaching, he will on many occasions; give some insights concerning the person/s he feels would benefit the elders. There have even been instances when he has ruffled the dander of the elders by suggesting to them they not continue teaching a particular person/s and his rationale why. In a recent district meeting the lesson was on “Working with the Branch President”. During the lesson it was most satisfying to hear of the high regard the elders have for President Nicholas. They all agreed once he has his mind made up it is hard to change. But they also agreed that he is not so hard-headed that he won’t change his mind if presented with other alternatives that would be better. They were also complimentary about his willingness to go with them to teach an investigator or visit a less active member. We have felt our rapport with President Nicholas has been good and pleased to know the elders have the same feelings. Saturday morning a youth activity was held with 21 participating. Our beach venue was about a 20 minute drive north. At this beach there is a ‘shelf’ for some distance that keeps the ocean knee to waist deep depending on the waves. The president likes this site as the kids can play in the ocean and not have to worry about getting into too deep of water. A mini-bus was rented to take us there. President Nicholas told the driver the one-half mile stretch of road to the beach was ‘perfect’. However, when it came time to be picked up the driver told us we had to walk to the highway-he wasn’t driving that road again. Elder Faux asked the president about using the word ‘perfect’ to describe the road. His reply, “Compared to what it used to be it is perfect”. We have been with the president on it ‘when it use to be’, and It has been greatly improved- but perfect? The activity was a success and at the end President Nicholas thanked the youth for how well they had conducted themselves. They evidently heeded the counsel he gave before leaving the church that there be no swearing, no cursing, and no fighting. Last Monday (preparation day) the elders didn’t include us in their plans so we spent the day with Elder and Sister Treseder in Castries. We had a most pleasant day with them. Sister Faux took the branch sewing machine with and added an extra length to a skirt of Sister Treseder’s she felt was too short. Our favorite spot for lunch, Spinnakers, was overrun with tourists so we had to settle for second best. We are pleased to have met the Treseder’s as it is fun and pleasant to be with them.
Sister Faux:This afternoon I think I will tell you about one of our most favorite people in St Lucia. We have printed more pictures of her than anyone else on this island. Her name is Boom Boom. or rather that is her nickname. Her real name is Percivia and she is Miss Personality Plus. She loves the Elders and acts so cute with them. She is growing up in the home of Betherlie and Evans William. Their daughter Swancy, age 18 is Boom Boom’s God Mother. She was born into a family of five and for some reason Swancy was asked to be her care taker. I think she was less than two months old when she was taken to the William home. Swancy has been very good to her although she is corrected very sharply when she does something wrong, as all children are here in the West Indies. They dress her very well and take great care of her. She is very smart as well as cute. She always has a bath outside in a little tub and in cold water. I ask if she had a bath in warm water when she was tiny and no, she always bathes in cold water. It is very hot- but cold is cold! Swancy’s Mom (Betherlie) was just sustained as Relief President. Boom Boom was at church today in her new shoes and a very cute dress—we enjoy her very much. It is still HOT and dry here on the island. I know I talk about that all the time but if you were here you would talk about that also. The hills-mountains on the way to Castries are mostly all brown with very little green showing. The rain forests we pass through is still quite green so it must get some kind of moisture. One thing we notice is all the people standing by the roads waiting for a bus (which is really a van). Sometimes they must wait for a long time. Other times we see people waiting and someone in a car just stops and picks them up. Same with a truck, they just hop in and sit on sides of pickup or stand up. It looks very dangerous to see that. I am sure they are not charged when they do that. At times they wave at us and must not see the four elders mashed together in the back seat….So miserable. We are often embarrassed by the people (tourists) that get off the cruise ships. They are dressed so badly, I guess they all want a suntan but it looks awful. Same as they get off the planes and need to smoke. Maybe I have said this before but we see so few people that smoke here. The Elders see many more smoking than we do. Sacrament Meeting was very good today, first speaker was Jeanette Thomas and she spoke on prayer (She is one of my favorites). She said if we pray before reading the scriptures we will better understand them. We have all heard that many times. In closing she sang all the verses to ‘Did You Think to Pray’. Her singing voice is not perfect but it touched my heart and was an excellent talk. Sister Cotter talked on happiness, the only way to find real happiness is to live the gospel. Very true….New missionaries to Vieux Fort, Elder Harris and Elder Barker also spoke. Elder Harris talked about Joseph Smith as he was taught by Angel Moroni. Elder Barker talked about how small and simple things make big things happen. We also had a song by the choir and it was very good. I have only seen the choir do that once before. Anyway, today was a nice day and hopefully starts us off on a nice week. Hope each of you has a good week also. Sister and Elder Faux

7 March 2010

Many of the homes in St Lucia , especially the more modest to the affluent, will have 400 +/- gallon water tanks plumbed into their system. From what we have been told the culinary water is collected from the various rivers. At times the run off after a heavy rain will overwhelm the collection system so it is shut down. Thus homes lacking a water tank may go without water for a day or two. Now that St Lucia is experiencing a drought these water tanks are even more of a benefit. Branch President Nicholas decided it was prudent the church have such a tank as there have been a couple of Sundays wherein we met for only sacrament service as there was no water in the building. So last Saturday was the day to get this done. With the help of the elders, especially Elder Morris, the plumbing for the pump and tank was installed. While this was being done Elder Faux was given the assignment to find a tank. This was almost like looking for ‘hen’s teeth’. None were to be found and of the six suppliers in the vicinity only one implied they may get more in. Therefore on Monday President Nicholas scouted the entire island with no success. One supplier did promise him a tank in a week if he would pay for it in advance-which he did- so let us hope…
Last week was also transfer week so we said goodbye to Elder Morris, to St Vincent, and Elder Welch, to St Maarten’s , and Elder Brague from Castries, to Trinidad. Technically this is the second time for Elder Brague as he served in Vieux Fort when he first arrived in the mission then transferred to Castries. The elders had to be at the Castries airport by 6:00 a.m. Wednesday morning so we drove up Tuesday afternoon and stayed the night with Elder and Sister Treseder. By Wednesday noon our new elders, Elder Harris and Elder Barker, had arrived. Elder and Sister Faux were ready to start for Vieux Fort but when the elders expressed their apprehensions that there may not be food to eat when they arrived at the apartment we took the hint and detoured by Burger King in Rodney Bay before our drive back to Vieux Fort.

Sister Faux: Notice the map of the West Indies Mission. It was drawn by a missionary, I don’t know his name but thought it looked good. You can see why they travel so much. Suriname is the Dutch speaking part of the mission and part of St Maarten’s is French speaking. Guadeloupe is also French speaking. Our mission president’s family first language is French so the children are learning English as they now go to school in Trinidad.

Since Monday was our last day together with our elders we had a farewell dinner, chicken enchilada casserole, green garden salad, French bread and German chocolate cake. It has been fun to feed them as they make me think I am a good cook. The next morning they came over and just hung around a bit and finally ask if we had any leftover casserole. I told them just a bit and then ask them if they had had breakfast. They said no and that they were starving (at the end of transfer funds are low). So I showed them the cold cereal and let them help themselves. They felt better after that. As they ate dinner the day before it was also fun to hear them talk of their future wife and how they will marry a girl that can cook. They have been good elders that we have enjoyed. Our new elders will be much the same and we will enjoy them also. It is interesting to listen to the elder’s talk of their family and how much they love them, especially their Mothers—they can hardly wait to talk to them on Mother’s Day. Tonight I thought I would tell you a small bit about some our friends we have met while we have been here and have learned to love each of them. First our Branch President Nicholas, he is a good kind man and the member’s love him. He tries to be good to them and wants to help them be active. He lived here as a child and then moved to England but felt he must come back just a few years ago. He joined the church in his teenage years. He has been to the temple in England. He was married before and has 5 (?) children in England. Sister Nicholas, his wife is very friendly to members and investigators. She is known for her good cooking and cooks dinner for the elders each Sunday. She is expecting their second child in June. She will be leaving for England the last Sunday in March and will stay for a few months -maybe six. She is leaving her daughter, Olivia, here with her husband. They have a girl Shanna that lives with them and is also a member of the church. I have helped Sister Nicholas repair and remodel many of her dresses and that has been very interesting. She has not been to the temple but has a recommend and will use that when she gets the chance. Sister Cotter is another wonderful lady. She was the first member baptized in St Lucia. She is widow and has a store n downtown Vieux Fort. She has a daughter that lives in Kentucky and she goes to visit her occasionally. Her son lives in Castries; she has a recommend and hopefully will use it soon. Then Evans and Betherlie, we call her Beverly. She was just called today to be Relief Society President. We are excited about that and know she will be very good in that calling. She works in management in a super market and must work every other Sunday, so she will work out a schedule with her counselors. They had lived together 25 years before they were married a year ago so they could be baptized. Evans has been called to be Elders Quorum president. They have three grown daughters. Their daughter Swancy has a baby God child that she is raising and the family love that baby so much. She is Boom Boom that we have sent so many pictures home about. We spend each Sunday evening with this family and so we know them well—very god people. There are many more friends and will tell more about them at a later date. I must tell you about some other people that we love—Kris Pence is our daughter///no not really but we feel like she is. She is the daughter of Elder Faux’s business partner, Craig Smith. She always worked in the drug store that Craig and Elder Faux owned together. I taught her as a Laurel and have loved her since that time. She is the person that sent our name to mission president Robison and because of his request to the missionary department we here. Her son was serving in Suriname at the time. She is wonderful and does our blog for us. Thank you Kris. Some other friends that we love are Dennis and JoAnne Wilson. They are our neighbor’s in Pleasant Grove, Utah---Liberty Grove. They have taken care of our home and our flowers (which are many) since we left also all of our mail and whatever that entails. They have been very busy doing all of that and more. JoAnne has had, and still has some health problems so we know it must be difficult for them. We really appreciate them and all they are doing. Thank you Dennis and JoAnne. Well that is it for today hope everyone has a great week. Love from Elder and Sister Faux

28 February 2010
Last Thursday was a day that arrived all too soon-as it was the day our family that was visiting with us departed for home. Even though they arrived in Vieux Fort they departed from the airport in Castries. To make the drive to Castries and have them there at the scheduled check-in time meant that we had to arise at 3:30 a.m. – an early hour to start the journey home. But we did enjoy Monday through Wednesday with them. Monday was Independence Day in St Lucia therefore a holiday. Neither Evans nor Betherlie William had to work that day so they invited us, and the elders, to join with them and their family for a beach picnic. They have a favorite spot on the beach that is about a thirty minute walk (they say ten minutes) from their home. It is not just a walk along the beach but includes thick woodland and a swamp-that is dried up due to the drought conditions. It is a pretty spot and we can see why they have been going there for years. Once there Evans soon had a fire going to cook the dinner that Betherlie and her daughter, Evanella, set about to prepared. It consisted of dumplings, pork pig tail, and Irish potato. While watching Betherlie and Evans you got the distinct impression they were the ones you would want to be with if you were hopelessly lost in the wilderness and wanted to survive. If the picnic were not enough we returned to their home in the evening for family home evening which included roasting hotdogs and marshmallows. We were glad our family was here to participate as it provided them an experience they would never have as a tourist. We spent most of Tuesday in Castries showing them various places of interest, letting them do some souvenir shopping, and having lunch at Spinnakers-our preferred restaurant. We drove to Castries on the Caribbean side and returned to Vieux Fort on the Atlantic side so we circle the island. We enjoyed Wednesday at the Anse Chastanet Resort near Soufriere. The family wanted to snorkel and this resort is well known as a snorkeling, and scuba diving, delight. They were not disappointed. We were happy to have Elder and Sister Treseder join with us and to enjoy their company for the day as well. Wednesday night arrived all too soon as there as still some things to do and see, but…
Sister Faux: we just returned from another evening with Betherlie and Evans where the elders provided us with another wiener roast and marshmallows. It was still fun, the elders ask Evans if he had eaten roasted marshmallows before and he said no but it was just like hot ice cream. In two days Betherlie is starting a month vacation and that makes her very happy. She has a few fun things planned to enjoy herself. Boom Boom was not feeling well tonight, she is cutting teeth and makes her miserable. She is a cutie. We enjoyed having our family here very much. Each day was a new adventure but we needed them to stay a couple of days more to get in all we had planned. We have missed all of our family and sometimes don’t think about what good kind people we have in our family. Our Branch President told me this morning how wonderful it was to have Ceci playing the piano for the large crowd of members and investigators we had. Today we did not get a count but was about half as large as last week. It was so great to have real music and have it provided by our granddaughter. Tomorrow we start a new week and more changes are on order. Both Elder Welch and Elder Morris will be leaving Vieux Fort and us. They are both good elders and we have enjoyed them very much. Elder Welch has been here six months so it is time for him to move on but still makes us sad. Elder Morris has not been here that long. He is very pleasant to us and we are sorry to see him go. We will get two new elders and will tell you about them next week. Today our Relief Society President, Sister Nicholas, wife of our Branch President, was released. She is expecting a baby and will be going to England to have her baby and will be staying there for six months. She is leaving Olivia (age 4) here with her dad—that should be interesting. They are having the baby in England so it will have that citizenship. Sister Nicholas will be missed in the branch; she is very friendly and is an excellent cook. In fact, she cooks Sunday dinner each Sunday for the elders. She leaves the last Sunday in March and the president has already warned the elders, no more Sunday dinners. We still have had no rain and so some places have rationed water. Castries people have to be very careful and cannot water plants outside. Elder Treseader just planted some plants at the church and they need water bad but he was told there is a large fine if anyone is caught watering plants. There are so many burned areas everywhere on the island. It is making us nervous and many people are talking about the lack of water. Last night we had an interesting experience as we were invited to go visiting to the Augistine home with Elder Larson. That is the area a service project was done where they put in a large tract of cement steps. I could not believe it and could still barely walk up the steps. They had to pack cement and the sand and gravel a long way in buckets to finish the walk. The church must be true. That will probably be my first and last experience walking those steps. Well it is bedtime so will close and bear my testimony that the church really is true. Love, Sister and Elder Faux