We were in Castries for the most part of Monday. It was time to have the routine maintenance service for the auto and that is where the service center is located. Once we had the auto logged we went with Elder and Sister Treseder. Our first stop at their apartment where Dora gave Sister Treseder a haircut- before the fun started. For fun we went shopping and browsing at the mall in Rodney Bay. Dora was looking for a pair of shoes, which she didn’t find, but she did find a curling iron. The one she brought with her melted when she inadvertently plugged it into the 240 V outlets that are standard here. This curling iron is 120 V so she can use it when we return home-provided she doesn’t by pass the adapter again. We hadn’t planned to eat at the mall but in looking over the cuisine we decided to try it to see if it might be something we could have catered for the next zone conference. We enjoyed our meal but will try a couple of other options before a decision is made. The rest of the time we just wandered through the various businesses in the mall. It was a most enjoyable day with the Treseders’. We returned to Vieux Fort just in time for our monthly branch family home evening. As usual, just a few in attendance when we started but gradually increased so we had a nice group at the end. For a lesson/program we sang a few Christmas Hymns then branch member Davis Thomas read the Christmas Story from the 2nd Chapter of Luke. We then sang a couple more hymns and closed the program with three primary age girls, Gabriella, Shaza, and Kelsey singing ‘Its’ A Jolly Jolly Christmas’. It was most entertaining, especially when they added a little St Lucian version. It was a fun way to end our program. After the closing prayer the elders got everyone involved playing the game, “Do You Love Your Neighbor?” What started out looking like it might be a bleak evening ended up quite successful-thankfully. We were in Castries again on Wednesday to take Elder Westover as that was transfer day and he will be spending two weeks in Trinidad before returning home. He has been a good missionary and we have enjoyed our association with him. Our new elder is Elder Rosales. But he really isn’t new as he was one of the elders that greeted us as the airport when we first arrived. This will be his second time working with the Vieux Fort Branch. He is from Guatemala, Elder Thomas from New Zealand, so we have somewhat of an international elegance with the four missionaries in Vieux Fort.
Sister Faux: Today is Sunday and we had a nice Sunday Service, however we were very few in number, I counted 23 people as we started, six of those being missionaries, and about five more came a little later. I don’t know the problem but it does not seem to be getting any better with each week. Randy did not come again and we do not know his problem. It makes us sad. We had eight sisters in Relief Society but that is about usual. The elders have been trying to reactivate so hope that helps. We were invited to our friends, Jeanette and Davis Thomas, for lunch today. She served pumpkin soup and was really very good. Friday night we bought a pizza (Domino’s just opened) and took it to the beach to eat with Jeanette and Davis as well. That was a fun evening. Saturday we cleaned the church once again (people don’t seem to remember that it is an assignment for all the members) Then we interviewed Lilly about being a Semi nary teacher. We have to report to our mission president to see what he chooses to do.
This week we received a couple of Christmas cards from our friends and that was fun. We also received a birthday card with a beautiful handkerchief (Thank you Eleanor and John) the envelope was all tore up but arrived okay. We took a picture of it and will post it with our pictures. We just returned from our weekly trip to the William Family including Boom Boom. We had a fun evening with Evenella giving the family home evening lesson once again. She is not a member of the church but she always gives the lesson. I took cinnamon rolls for the treat and I don’t think that was their favorite dessert.