We should have mentioned this last week but it was still too fresh on the mind. Since our arrival here Elder Faux has followed in the footsteps of the previous couple and each Sunday morning drives to Laborie (15 to 20 minutes one way) to give the Evans William family a ride to church. Last Sunday just Evans and Betherlie attended. As we arrived at the church house we were informed that for some reason there is no water in the building therefore sacrament meeting only today. About this time Betherlie receives a telephone call from Swancy (her daughter) telling her Boom Boom, her nine month old god-baby, has fallen from a chair and broke an arm. Without any hesitancy Betherline tells Elder Faux he needs to take them back home immediately-so away we go. When we are within 45 seconds of their house Betherlie receives a telephone call from Swancy telling her Boom Boom’s arm is not actually broken but that she did hurt it enough to cause minor swelling. Once at the house Betherlie and Evans start making preparation to take Boom Boom back to church with them. Looking at the time I tell them, at the most, there will only be fifteen minutes of meeting time remaining by the time we return so is it worth the effort? Betherlie insists the second hour is going to be held so back we go arriving just as the third elder is finishing his remarks. The fourth elder takes all of eight minutes to deliver his message and then we are singing the closing hymn, the closing prayer is offered and church is over for today. Laborie, here we come for the third time within the last 90 minutes. The elders came to our apartment on Monday to do their weekly e-mail. Elder Welch arrived with what appeared to be a case of pink eye. The mission policy is to ask the mission nurse before seeking local medical attention. Since there is no mission nurse at present we drove to the nearby ‘mall’ and found an eye clinic that took care of him. We attended district meeting in Castries on Tuesday-our last with Elder and Sister Collins. After the meeting we went to Domino’s Pizza for lunch and while eating we remembered that at our very first get together we dined at Domino’s Pizza as well. When we returned to Vieux Fort we could tell Elder Welch was not feeling well. His eye was somewhat better but still bothering him in addition to some cold symptoms. He was planning to go out teaching, but after clearing it with his companion, we insisted he stay at the apartment, doctor his eye and the cold symptoms, and get some rest. Reluctantly he agreed to do so. He was at our apartment the next morning and looked like a new elder. His eye looked good, the cold symptoms under control, and he felt rested. He told us once we left the apartment he went right to sleep and slept the whole night-which did him a world of good.
Sister Faux: Today is Sunday and we were assigned to speak in church again, this has been a monthly assignment and it works out okay. We both decided on our own topic and both chose to speak about callings and how to fulfill them. When some of the members have a calling and for some reason cannot come to fill the assignment – they just don’t come. Then the Branch President fills in, he does a good job but is expected to do that too often. Anyway the talks went okay and we are free for a few weeks. Since we have four elders now I think we will take turns with them. We had about 42 in attendance today and it was a nice day. We had correlation meeting following church and that was needed and turned out well. One of the callings I spoke of was the opportunity of helping to keep the church clean. We have had no sign up for that and today we did get some volunteers to help clean. It will relieve the Branch President very much. Tonight we went to the Williams again and had Family Home Evening. Boom Boom is the star of course, and we had a good evening. Elder Packer and Elder Welch went with us as well as Randy. Evenella gave the lesson and she did a good job, I took a few cookies for refreshments and they had a great fruit? drink so all went well. Last Monday the Elders came and did their email and they came right after lunch time. I thought they had had it but not so. I made them tacos, and I don’t think they had had them since coming on their mission, so that was a good choice. I noticed one elder had five… I also made a fresh banana cake and they savor that as well. Before they left I gave the four of them haircuts so it turned out to be a good day. My sewing classes are going good; still have a few members that have not had a turn as yet. Friday I had three come together and that is fun but makes it slow as they have to wait for each other to sew. I did find someone to cut dress pattern for me so I am anxious to see how that turns out. As I have said, there are no dress patterns on this whole island. There are many tailors and dressmakers but they are so good they don’t need patterns. I wish I could learn that skill. This little project has helped me get better acquainted with the members that come to sew. I like to do it. We had our movie night Friday and that turned out well. I think we had about 29, you just never know who will come. One girl said she had seen the movie “Over the Hedge” 200 hundred times before –so now she has seen it 201 times. If anyone that reads this blog and knows a good movie we could watch, we are open to suggestions. We had our second temple class Saturday night and it was very enjoyable. We hope we can keep a good attendance for that class. We also had Seminary and three girls came and they were almost on time so that surprised us. One note about how the elders travel as they teach. Maybe that is not a good way to explain it, but they carry only a Book of Mormon with them and a small pamphlet or two, no big backpacks or bags. I cannot think how hot it would be to carry a backpack, makes me break out in a sweat just thinking of it. A note about more thing. The earrings’ that I brought with me are all discolored, sort of like the metal in them has turned rancid, or some chemical reaction. I think the heat has caused it or maybe it is because they are so cheap. I did not bring any nice ones, just left them at home. We are enjoying good health, we are happy, and we know we belong to the true church. Life is good. Love, Sister and Elder Faux