The two most notable events of the week were district meeting in Castries on Tuesday and Thanksgiving Day remembrance on Thursday. We are impressed with the preparation and worthwhile teaching/training that takes place in our district meetings. Tuesday’s meeting was most notable however. When we entered the room we noticed that Elder Christensen, the district leader, had it all set up for the meeting with a projector and screen in place. After the opening formalities; hymn, prayer, reciting of the mission theme, a review of last week’s accomplishments, and the missionary reports, Elder Christensen read a letter from President Gamiette in regards to the importance of being obedient. A couple of observations were made in regards to the letter, which resulted in a few more comments and then you could almost sense the transformation in the feeling that permeated the room. The lesson subject became the blessings that are ours by being obedient. Scripture references and promises were read and discussed. Some personal experiences were shared. Elder Christensen conducted the lesson as though it had been what he had prepared except the projector and screen was never used. After the meeting Elder Christensen was complimented on the great lesson and his reply, “That wasn’t me doing that”. There is no question he was following the promptings of the spirit. The original plans for Thanksgiving were to have the Castries missionaries come to Vieux Fort and we would celebrate together. But in a directive from President Gamiette the missionaries were told if they were invited for dinner they were not to spend more than one hour in the home. To comply with this directive our plan was cancelled since at least three hours travel time would be involved in addition to the dinner time. So we had dinner with our four elders, Randy, and our neighbor Sharon. Dora prepared a scrumptious dinner of fruit salad, sting beans, dressing, yams, mashed potatoes and gravy (you don’t have any idea how hard it is to find a potato masher), cranberry sauce, hot rolls, and chicken in lieu of turkey. She couldn’t find any pumpkin so for pie she prepared a banana cream and a coconut cream. Needless to say It was thoroughly enjoyed and in a way cruel. The elders would have preferred sitting in the shade and letting their meal digest rather than hitting the road-in the sun and on a full stomach.
Sister Faux: When I look at the menu it looks pretty normal—but—as Elder Faux said the potato masher was one great problem. We hunted everywhere to find one and not one anywhere. So the next best thing was to borrow one and that was also a problem. Finally the landlady’s worker said she had one we could borrow. It was plastic and Elder Faux had reservations about using it. It did work fairly well and we had mashed potatoes. The sweet potatoes we prepared the night before we had the masher and they were different-red outside and white inside and very firm. He mashed them with a fork and they were still firm. Finally I looked on the internet and found a recipe that said to add a cup of orange juice –so I did and with that and more butter they tasted somewhat like home. For the pie I couldn’t find any half and half or cream but did find real milk so used that and Jell-O pie filling. Not too good but it had to do for this year. The elders are all good sports as they act like they enjoy each meal. Speaking about the elders I will tell you a bit about them. First we have Elder Westover from Corona, California. He is a good elder and is soon on his way home. He will leave for home next month and arrives home I think Dec 23. He is going home a touch early so that he can get back into college in California. We have enjoyed him finishing his mission here. He has been In Guyana for some time and was zone leader and I think district leader also. He has wonderful feelings about his success there. His companion is Elder Morris from Mesa, Arizona. I think he has been out almost four transfers (six weeks each transfer) and he has been transferred each time. He is a great young man also and is very good at meeting people and explaining the gospel, especially in Sunday School Class or our Wednesday night class. Our next transfer is Dec 9 and we wonder if he will be moved again. We hope not. Our next elder is Elder Welch from Farmington, Utah. He is a happy young man and nice to have him around also. He attended college at Rexburg, loved it there and plans to return as soon as his mission is over, in about one year. He is a great trainer and is working hard to get people baptized. His companion is Elder Thomas from Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand. He has been out about five weeks and is doing a fine job. He is large young man, 250 lbs, and makes our back car seat seem very full. The other elders are not as big in size, but big in spirit. Elder Thomas’s Mother is Tongan and his father is British. He is a handsome man and his skin is almost as dark as most or our natives. These are the young men that serve here and we love them and can feel their sprit every time we are around them. From all the young elders we have met we feel our Heavenly Father has saved the best for last. They are very inspiring. Have a good week as you prepare for Christmas. Who would have thought we would be spending our holiday’s here on a wonderful tropic island. It is great.