As the elders from Castries were coming to Vieux Fort on Monday (preparation day) to spend the day with our elders we took advantage of the morning to pay some bills and do some shopping. Before leaving the apartment Sister Faux wondered if we ought to eat a little something before just in case the elders came to use the computer before we got back. Elder Faux assured her we would have plenty of time. Bad call. On the way back to the apartment we get a telephone call from the elders asking if it would be OK if they came to use the computer. We arrived at the apartment and four of the six elders are on the porch awaiting our arrival. Eventually the other two elders arrive and then, even later in the afternoon, the two sister missionaries from Castries also arrive. They had accepted an invitation to have lunch with President and Sister Nicholas and were now wondering about e-mail as well. The elders had lunch at Scooby’s so we didn’t have to be concerned about them. So for the afternoon we had a houseful of missionaries, which we did enjoy, except for the hunger pangs. We had district meeting on Friday rather than Tuesday and glad for that as we had the chance to spend some time with Elder and Sister Whitehead. They are the mission humanitarian couple and were in Castries to finish up a project. We met them once before and it was good to see them again. Our most exciting event of the week was the baptism of eleven year old Gabriella. Elders Westover and Brague have been teaching and working with her so this will be Elder Brague’s first baptism. She moved in with her grandmother, Celina and her nine year old aunt, Shazi, a few months back, both of whom were baptized in June. She has wanted to be baptized but the main delay was in finding her father to get his consent-which he readily gave. At another time Celina had two other grandchildren living with her that became quite interested in the church. Their father became aware of this and immediately took them to live with him. Elders Packer and Welch were also planning a baptism on Friday of a twenty three year old young lady. She is a member of a paramilitary unit which had a planned excursion to St Vincent. The baptism was to take place before she left but, typical of the West Indies, last minute plan changes were made and she ended up in St Vincent rather than in the waters of baptism. Needless to say the elders were disappointed, especially Elder Packer as he departs for home on Tuesday and was hopeful of a baptism to end his mission on. We have been impressed with Elder Packer’s dedication and work ethic. His shortness of time has not diminished his zeal for furthering the work. He has been a great example to us.
Sister Faux: Last Sunday we invited the Sister Missionaries and Elder and Sister Treseder , the couple from Castries to speak in our Sacrament Meeting. That turned out good except Elder Treseder did not speak because the president felt the time was up. So he will have to come later and speak. After the meetings were over we invited them to come and have dinner with us. That was nice and we became better acquainted with them and had an enjoyable day. Monday I bought some material for a dress and was able to work on that at different times during the week. Have I complained about being tired of all the clothes I brought—well that is what I am doing so will have to find time to sew a little for myself.
I will tell you a little of our day Saturday. We picked up the elders a bit after 7 am to get ready for the baptism. That turned out nice and Gabriella is a very nice young girl. After the baptism we came home and had a little breakfast and then went back to the church to sew. Sister Nicholas finished a skirt and blouse for Olivia and it turned out nice. It was for the holiday today, Jounen Dweyo’l, They wear some very pretty plaids and look nice. We took some pictures of the young girls in the branch today that had the basic dress on. Back to Saturday—I stayed at the church until four, then we had to clean it, Elder Faux and I, We delivered Jeanette’s skirt to her that I finished. Came home for a few minutes and ate a bit, back to the church for Temple class lesson, then home again to pick up our neighbor and take her grocery shopping. I don’t know if you can follow or not but we were up and down the church steps, which are very high, six times—Elder Faux more than that as he came to check on me. Busy day. Today was the holiday Jounen Dweyo’l, and it is the celebration of their heritage and I guess there were celebrations all over town for that. We celebrated by having a lunch at the church. Most people brought dishes to share—a huge pot of Boulron ? (crab & dumplings in sauce), smoked herring , bread fruit, green fig salad (green bananas) avocado—ferine and pear, fresh fish (tuna) and that was quite good. Some kind of apple drink. That is what we had and they enjoyed all of it. I ate a small amount but Elder Faux ate most of his. Enjoyed it???. I took some great American food called brownies…
I thought I would tell you about how the houses look here. Many are built on stilts very high and they sometimes climb about three floors to get to the house. I always wonder about that as I would think as they get older can they manage that? Many of my friends have bad knees, does that not happen here? People are always visiting on the streets, day and night, they have no book to read, no hand sewing to do, sometimes they are with friends or family, sometimes alone. They usually don’t have a nice place to sit but they are always out on the streets. They walk everywhere—it must be miles each day. We go for about a three mile walk and I am tired, I really admire them. They walk alone many times, women alone on dark streets and does not bother them. We Americans must be pansies. Elder Westover and Brague came by tonight to check a problem with our computer. Nice for us when they come. Fixed our computer problem and then we had a banana split. Fun!
We did not go to the William home tonight. Betherlie has a bad cough and we felt she needed the rest and we did not want to catch the cough—so no picture of the famous Miss Boom-Boom. Good night and have a wonderful week. Love, Sister and Elder Faux