New Years Guyana

The Jungle picture is what it looks like here all the time ( no snow). Early Revellers for New Years... kids dancing in the street, they ask for money to party. Typical Market Place shopping,,,all day and every day..

We hope all Blogg viewers have a great 2008!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy New Year to all... Here in Guyana it is celebrated for sure, very wild,, but called Happy Old Year..
For you who recognize this tradition::: Can you believe The New Years Kettle came all the way from Green River to Guyana!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We hope everyone has a nice New Year, and a happy and healthy 2008.

Christmas in Guyana

Enclosed on the Blogg are pictures of three activities we were involved with for Christmas.
Some involved the Elders here in our area. We fed them them, watched them play football(soccer) went caroling with them on a horse cart ( one of the major, very popular means of hauling everything here) and on Christmas Morning we went to two orphanages and sang Christmas Carols with them and gave all of the children a gift.. The Santa you see is an Elder from Kearns.. and he was so good. One of the orphanages is for handicapped children, and this was such a great way to spend Christmas Morning, (one we will Never Forget)!!!! The other Pictures are from a Christmas Party on Saturday before... at a school we are working with to give them some help. These students had been out of school for two weeks, but came back on a Saturday, all dressed up, to have their party... you can see how sparten the school is... they played ONE game Pin-the-tail-on-the -donkey, ( and there are donkeys, pigs, horses, cows, sheep, goats and dogs ALL over the place,,, mostly in the road,,,no fences) they only had one teenager be in charge and he had to use a little cloth for the blindfold, it would not even go around the childs head without being held.. and the donkey was just drawn on the only blackboard with chalk.. it was so neat to see the childrens faces when they got their drink and snack and a little gift, that we helped with.. They were so excited to be there and they had to sit and hour waiting for this all to happen..Happy kids..The children are so happy and have so little.

We are so fortunate to be here and to have had these kinds of experiences. We cry one minute and laugh another and are frustrated another... Things change as fast as the rain storms we experience here one minute to the next, coming off of the Atlantic everyday.

Christmas in Guyana

We are finishing up Christmas in Guyana and will follow with some text and Pictures.

Merry Christmas

We just want to wish All of You a very Merry Christmas!!!
These past few weeks have been very busy for us. A container of goods came in from Salt Lake and we got to be there for the Handing Over Ceremony where all the items were handed over to the people back in a very poor area. The leaders, teachers and those who deal with the very poor, were all there to help distribute the goods. It was a big deal! Dad had to speak and he told them how the Humanitarian program works within the Church. He did a very good job and it was a great experience for us!! This was on local T.V. and the newspaper. We also had the experience of taking a wheelchair to a man who was in great need of a chair. We have included our experience with him in the previous blog.
When we have these experiences, we are so happy and excited to find more projects and people to help…and just as I was feeling so great..our power went out and was out for over two days. I started to grumble about it and while this was going on, we needed to meet with some ladies and take them shopping for a project we were working with them on. As we spent hours with them, we visited and talked about our families and they told us that they had never lived in a house with power or running water and they are mothers with families!!! We were in our air conditioned car that they were enjoying and I was reminded that they have no vehicles!! I realized once again that I had no reason to be complaining at all!!! Let me tell you…at home we are really used to the good life and we take it so much for granted!! I hope I never do again!! Now a few days later, we haven’t had water for 2 days and already, I’m back to wanting to grumble a bit, and I keep thinking of all the many people who have never experienced power and water in their homes!! Dad keeps saying to me “Hey, we are having fun,,it’s just like camping! It’s just more hot and humid than the Uintahs!! For some reason his talking like this isn’t making it any easier for me!!!
Also, with Christmas time here in Guyana, the people will do anything to get extra money and the crime escalates. It’s been very bad the past few weeks. The daily newspaper today was telling about the crime and these are the words they use…they talk about the bandits and the robbers and the pirates are hijacking ships and boats in this area!! It’s unbelievable the things that take place here!! Sometimes we feel like we are reading a book rather than actually living in all this!! The people here at Christmas time also clean their houses inside and out and clean their yards. This is a tradition here.
Living here in Guyana is teaching me so much!! Everyday, we learn something new and experience something we never thought we would experience.
One more thing…we had a Branch talent show last Saturday afternoon. It consisted of children through adults. Same church but different culture..anything goes!! The teen-agers were the most interesting. It was unbelievable!! Guyana consists of six nationalities and our Branch is made up mostly of the two most populace…Afro-East Indian. The talent show was three hours long. After 2 hours, we had intermission where they served hot dogs and then continued on for another hour with anything that anybody wanted to do!!
Hope all of you enjoy the holiday season and remember the real meaning of Christmas,It’s always better to give that to receive!!
From up on the mountain in Grenada, looking down on two cruise ships and the people getting off to shop at the mall, andmarkets there..

Chris Jardine

Chris Jardine, a native of Guyana got leprosy as a very young man which caused many deformities of his body. Both hands are just stubs. Over the years, his leg got very bad and in1984 he had the opportunity to go to the States in Louisiana where a surgeon amputated one of his legs. He needed to stay there for awhile so he could get used to his prosthesis and learn how to use it. He stayed in Louisiana for three years where he did odd jobs around the hospital. While he was there, he met the missionaries. He was converted and baptized. He joined the Church in 1985 and he is reputed to be the first native Guyanese to be baptized in the Church. We were told by another source that he kept telling the missionaries that baptized him to see that other missionaries be sent to Guyana and he pushed it until it happened. He came back to Guyana, his native land and a few years later because of diabetes, he had to have his other leg amputated. The surgery was done in Georgetown and the doctor amputated his leg above the knee so there was no chance for a prosthesis. He is now 70 years old and he continues to live in a very, very old hospital where he has lived for years in a very small 10x 10 room in Mahaica. He was in very bad need of a wheelchair! When we found out about his condition, we just mentioned it to the First Lady. There were no wheelchairs allocated for church members in this container that she had just received, but she was very excited to see him get one of these wheelchairs and she made arrangements immediately for us to get one for him. We took it to the hospital where he lives and it was a wonderful Christmas gift to us as we were able to spend an hour with him! As soon as he saw the chair, he maneuvered himself into it and had a big smile on his face but then he quickly put himself back in his old chair. He said “I want to wait and get up Christmas morning and have this be my Christmas gift”..he then said “do you have time to read some scriptures with me before you have to leave? Of course, we wanted to! He wanted to read from Alma 32:1-23. When we finished, he wanted us to sing him a Christmas hymn…Away in a Manger. This was so humbling and touching for us. There was such a wonderful feeling in his tiny little room that had no furniture, only a stool and some boxes. As we left, he watched us and waved until he couldn’t see us anymore. We can’t wait to go back to see him again. We have made a wonderful friend!
What one wheelchair can do!

Trip to Grenada to deliver wheelchairs

So here's a really touching story about Mom and Dad's latest trip to Grenada to deliver wheelchairs.

Here's what they wrote...
Grenada was wonderful..the senior couple there has it made!! Theywalk on the beach every morning so we walked with them the twomornings we were there. The water is really torquoise blue. I havenever seen water so beautiful and the beaches are unbelievable!! Ican definitely see why people go there for vacations!!! Thewheelchair ceremony was very touching for us.

When we went to Grenada and met many people who received wheelchairs,
we wanted to share one of the stories with all of you and this is the
one we chose. He was such a pleasant man and so grateful for all he
had!! Atttached with the story is a couple of pictures we took of
him. And we are sending a picture of him with two of his police
friends that was sent to us after we left Grenada.

Mark James comes from a family of eleven children. He is the eighth child. Unfortunately, for Mark he is the victim of thalidomide and was born handicapped with no legs or feet except a flipper at the end of his right leg which goes not quite to the knee. The right hand is missing and the left hand has only three badly deformed fingers. When he was 8, he was put in an institution in Trinidad where he was taught to cope with life in a very positive manner. He was trained in ordinary living skills and adapted well to his circumstances. As he grew older, he was trained in arts and crafts…such as cleaning shells, weaving mats and other such things. With these skills he has been able to maintain his own way of living and taking care of his needs and wants. Now he makes a living selling CD’s, post cards, spices and baskets that have been woven by others, to tourists from the cruise lines and anyone else who will buy from him.
The gift of the wheelchair was very heart touching to us! Mark was suppose to be brought to the wheelchair ceremony by a policeman who was his friend but because of work Mark was not able to come so we took the chair to him! There sat Mark James in the street of the Mall with two of his friends.. a taxi driver who was going to take Mark’s old chair for his crippled wife (we want to see is she can get one of those new chairs also) and a woman who also has a booth outside the Mall. They tried to help him transfer from his old chair into the new one but he did not need any help…he hopped out and struggled by himself to get into his new chair!! The whole time…his friends kept telling him how blessed he was with ‘Praise The Lord” in every other breath as the wheelchair was unfolded. These friends showed him the pocket in the back with the church’s logo on it.
Mark moved into the new chair and just beamed and beamed. When he could speak, all he could say was “thank you, thank you” I am so blessed” over and over again. Tears fell from his eyes and all our eyes and before anyone knew it, Mark was off in his new wheelchair as fast as he could move it to the front of the mall. Propelling it with his right arm and his deformed hand. He wanted to show all the other venders his new chair and just smiling and so happy….they were all so happy for him!!
If ever there should be a man who was on liquor or drugs to drown his deformity or have depression from living with what he has lived with his whole life, it should be Mark, yet he assures us that these habit forming aids have never been considered by him to cope with life in a wheelchair. He has a wonderful independent nature that keeps him upbeat and happy. We are so fortunate that we have had the opportunity to get to know such a man!

Is this place for real?

Here are some of the latest pictures of where Mom and Dad live. The kids are extremely jealous that Mom was standing that close to what they call giant dragon lizards. I was extremely worried. Are those rabid dogs? It's hard to believe there are places on earth that still look like this. I guess it's a good thing that this is where Mom and Dad are sent to do humanitarian service. But Mom and Dad, Zack and I both agree you shouldn't get too close to those animals, they might bite!

Here's what Mom and Dad wrote...
The pictures of the dogs are our neighbors and they bark all the time!!The donkey was walking across the street so we had to wait for him tocross...I am looking out my window and I see a boy selling somethingfrom his cart.....there is a picture of some children playing withtheir little baby puppies...they don't live very far from us......andthen there is a picture of two iguanas that a boy wanted me to buy. Ididn't want to take an iguana home with me!!!! They eat geckos and Ididn't want him to eat my gecko.

We finally got our internet and will be forwarding/blogging pix and will send some infor.. on how hard this assignment is and how this is an Amazing place.. like 200, years ago except.. some things... like horse carts, tons of them all over the roads, and all farm animals all over the road loose. and then modern Mini busses (their public transportation..15 passengers Toyota vans) and these guys that drive them are really crazy.15 got killed last week in one van when they were speeding and hit a parked logging truck out in the hinderland.. 100 traffic deaths, and 80 homicides since the first of the year,, this is not a big populace city.. anyway.. great people and so many needs we have a ton of work to do.. IF we can navigate all of the forms, finances, and red tape.. and guess what all on the computer,,,and FOR sure I would rather watch a duck build a nest for 5 hours, than spend one hour in front of a computer.. so this learning curve is to steep.. anyway.. Sherry did not... want an iguana for dinner.. They were alive and kind of neat animals, however these two boys, had caught them and had them for sale,,, 1000.00 each that is $5.00 USD..the driving is almost like being in a race, at all times..and on the left side of the road.. looking out for cows, horses, donkeys, chickens, goats, sheep, and tons of dogs.. and they ALL run loose really they just find their way home or get eaten..

Some serious TROOPERS!

We've gotten a few emails from Mom and Dad and talked with Mom on the phone the other day. Boy do we miss them. They are such TROOPERS! Mission life is certainly not easy right now. It sounds like they are living in a pretty primitive area with a lot of crime. And on top of all of that, they are expected to be computer geniuses. Dad we admire you for even trying....I find myself wishing they were serving in some safe stateside mission...Nauvoo, Washington, or Idaho. Hmmm. I am so grateful that I know the Lord is looking out for them and keeping them safe. We Love You MOM AND DAD!

Here's some of the latest updates from some emails I've gotten...

Mom says...

It has been so hectic and busy with all our moves and no internet..I have really missed our communication. It hasn't been as easy for me as I thought.I realize I'm not as strong as I thought I was!! but I'm going to make it!!! Our apartment is ok. Many things don't work very well butour landlord is very nice and is going to see that things are fixed.It wasn't very clean and I have been scrubbing cupboards. Things are going to work out and we are going to be very busy...I can tell!There are so many people we can help!!It's a bit overwhelming with all the paper and computer work that hasto be done. I don't mind the work...it's if we can remember how to do everything. Honestly, it's like we are running a business. There's alot to do and of course, working with church money! After we have donea couple of projects completely through, I think it will be easier!

Dad says...

We have signed up for DSL.. but it will take a week or so,, at least, but can still use this computer in our office right now.. slow and close to giving up the ghost, so I'm trying to make my flsh drives work,,any suggestions.. I'm so glad you two got to visit for a few days in Beijing.. that was a classic thing to do,, we are so happy you two could do it. We are so struggling, every morning we look for a reason to head to Utah.. and then we have an exp. that tells us to hang in there,, we have seen and exp. so so much already.. but this operating a business when you can't even keep your own Personal affairs in order is a BIG order..I hope we can survive all we have to do in the next while,, as we have so many requests and that does't count ALL of the ones we have to finish and pursue, that we inherited.. so other than that.. Mom fixed and cleaned and cleaned our place so it is spartan, but adequate... guess what this morning was.. before church.. at 7 this morning we went to theSenior Citizens housing,, you could not even believe it... and we helped serve them a special breakfast,, put on by oneof our favorite ladies, who we have and will work with a ton.. she is a member of Parliment ,and runs a school for needy kids, and is the number two person in the opposition party here in Guyana.. and we have a project going with the1st Lady of Guyana.. we have to devide our help. as there is politics nationalities, to deal with too.. anyway...Mom served FISH sandwichs this morning,,, last night we were at a senior citizens nite movie, and treats, and the movie was shown in the daylite, and what a deal... 15th cent. living... horse carts on the road,,, they have total right away even with the crazey bus/van drivers... this place is amazing.. only a few red lights, ( nobody obeys) and no street signs, and all of this in the last few years.. and the roads.. just wide enough for a horse/mule drawn cart.. and then a brand new RAV 4 ddrives by, or a big Toy. Truck . and then I have to drive on the left side of the road, and the Steering wheel is of course on the right side of the car too.I must quit murmuring huh.. anyway,, I' m way to old and dumb for this job.. but We are going to give it a couple of months,, we have to as our bank account here is something else to.. the drivers licence, the utilities, are so bureautic.. like in Midvale when I was 10 years old.. We went to a Hardware store to buy acouple of things, a padalock for one ( we have at least 3 locks on every door, ourgate, with razor contintine currled wire all around.. and the neighbors,have armed gaurds 24 hours. and there was a guy killed two nights ago and two others shot a week ago here in our area,, and we live in a nice area.. , it took four people to check us out of the hardware store... you pick out what you want (caged) then take a number to the cashier,(caged) and she gives you three receipts, and puts a stamp on each one and then stamps ( rubber stamp ) each again and then you go to the next place and give them your receipts, and she checks every thing you bought, and then walk two feet and a guy checks all of the sacks contents,and then marks the receipts one more time and then you walk out,,, past an armed (shotgun) guy,, to your car... this is in the day light too. enough today... we love you guys,, I might move to England or Hong Kong as I get better on these roads.. but there are no rules \here on theroad... But the Gospel is true, and these members are so new in the gospel but have neat stories, and there are two sets of Elders in the Branch we attend/// Love yaDAd

Trivia at Santo Domingo

This is a note to explain a bit of trivia history… first I had no idea about Chris.Columbus, and where he landed and hung out… so I learned and will pass it on, As I’m sure you are dying to know this. When we first got to, Santo Domingo, and started to work in the Church Employment Center I noticed the University across the street and on a lunch break we walked over and around the campus with the students,, (120,000 or more) really.. we were told by our Boss, Domingo Ayabar that he graduated from here (his first degree) and it is the oldest University in the western hemisphere Est. 1538. Then we took a few hours off and went to “Old Town Domingo”…. A restored part of the city… and learned a ton more. I will include a few pics. Of the oldest road, the oldest Cathedral, and the oldest Fortress in the Americas,,,the Cathedral and the road are still used today. However the fort is not as you can imagine.. Chris. Columbus’ son Diego was the first Viceroy and laid the first stone in the Cathedral. The fort, est. in 1503, was also a prison and Diago Columbus and his wife lived here after it was no longer used as a prison. I’m sure this is So interesting to you,, so one more item.. Sir Francis Drake stayed in the Cathedral, in one of the (13) chapels and had a fit, and chipped off the nose and hands of a bishops statue… The rest is history… Now I have to learn about how all of this transpired..I thought Columbus landed at Plymouth Rock.. ????

Me and Christopher Columbus The new LDS Templo ( spanish for temple) in Santo Domingo
Two pic of the old Cathedral

Old Street
Old Fort

Filling in....

So I thought since Mom and Dad aren't able to figure out the blog because it's all in Spanish, I decided to post the pictures they sent via email and the latest news from Mom's email (I'll take out the part about us being your favorite kids. j/k)....

Dad's description of the pictures (yes, this is Dad's language, unedited--we love you Dad)...
these pix are Sherry atwork iay n the employment center, a very poor school,, notice theschool kits like we made in draper, Domingo Ayabar with Mom, he is ourboss for a week or two, he is the area welfare manager, has been abranch pres. stake pres, and is now a bishop. The temple is so so neathere we have gone to it many times,,, It is a large temple for thewhole Carib.

It is Sunday and we still don't have the internet. I'm writing today in hopes that tomorrow I can send this. It has almost been a week since we got here and it seems like a month!! So much has happened!! Last Monday early in the morning (4: ooa.m.) we left for the Salt Lake airport and got off right on time but had some problems after that!! By the time we got to Dallas (our first stop) it was raining so hard that we couldn't land. We were in the air for so long that we had to go to Houston for gas!! Then we had a hard time getting off the ground there and when we finally arrived in Dallas, it was so late and of course, we had missed our connecting flight. We spent hours trying to get out of Dallas and when we finally arrived in Santo Domingo, it had been 25 hours!! And that's not the worst of it….we had no luggage!!! With all the flight problems, our luggage was lost along the way somewhere! By this time, I was so tired and not too happy. The Briggs who had come to meet us had been waiting for so long also but they were very good about it.

Things got better as time went on. We have a very nice place to live in! All the conveniences you could ask for. Our luggage finally got here and that made things so much better!!! We got all settled in and they put us to work immediately. We have been going to the Employment center most of the time. We are working on the PEF. Checking on the students, talking to them on the phone and updating their information. Can you imagine us working on the computer for hours at a time, especially me!! We have met so many people and all are very nice, humble people!!
It's hard to tell you everything that has happened so I will just touch on most of it. We are living right here on the Temple grounds on the end of the MTC. It is Temple housing and it is so nice. The church looks our for the missionaries! We have been invited to so many socials!! I can't believe how much they all get together. We went to the Temple on Friday and Saturday. We got together afterwards. Last week, we all ate together. Tonight we are going to an Open House for a couple who is leaving. Tomorrow night is Family Home Evening and we are going to have a special evening in the Temple. And there are more gatherings.
The Temple here is beautiful both inside and out. It's a different experience being with all Dominican's. And of course, all Spanish speaking. We use head phones. We have really had a great experience here and look forward to attending the Temple several more times before leaving.
Today was Stake Conference and it was great being there. Once again, we had to use head phones! The Stake President is an incredible person! You should see some of the Bishop's here. The Bishop of the ward we are attending is so young. I seriously thought he was a teen-ager when I first saw him. We have met other Bishops also and they are so very young also. Domingo Ayabar, the man we are working with most of the time is so young and he has already been a Branch President, Stake President and now he is a Bishop!! We are amazed at these very young leaders and yet, they are so humble and good!!
Santo Domingo is a crazy place…sometimes I think I am in China, it is so similar. The streets and the crazy driving is almost identical. It is also very beautiful and tropical here. We walked down to the Caribbean yesterday and it is amazing. We just
Sat there for awhile and watched the waves and the beautiful water. There are some very unbelievable places here. The food is good and we are fairly close to a grocery store so we have been eating way too much…in fact, we both noticed that we are gaining weight very fast. Also, our neighbors keep bringing us very delicious bread. Everyone here bakes bread. So we are eating all the time. We also went to a very fun restaurant with Domingo last week. It was right on the Caribbean and the food was so good and it was packed with people!!
Well, I have to go to Relief Society now so I will close. I just wanted all of you to know that we are fine and doing very well! I'll write more in a few days when we get our internet.
Yeah!!! We have our internet now!!! So much is happening that I can't even begin to tell all…it's wonderful here!! A couple of days ago we had an unbelievable experience with the Humanitarian couple that is serving here. We went out into a very poor area to an elementary school where they had received some desks and school bags from our church and we had the opportunity to hand them out. It was so hard to keep from breaking down and just sobbing as we watched those wonderful little children and their parents being so grateful as they clapped their hands and hugged us and wanted their pictures taken so Fred took many pictures of them and we will post them on our blog if you would like to see them. The thing that was so touching at first was they had a little ceremony to thank the Humanitarian missionaries for the desks and school bags. One of the administrators of the school is LDS and a few of the students are too. They started their meeting with singing "We Thank Thee O God For A Prophet" in Spanish and with a prayer. It was so touching to us!! And they ended it with singing "Til We Meet Again" and another prayer. It was quite the event to be a part of. There is so much more to tell but I will close for now. We miss all of you

Hi we can't blog... as everything is in spanish... can someone help... is it because we are here in Santo Domingo? or is it someone changed the language on us... what is this,,?? we are ready with pictures and with text.
help!!!!!!!!!!!!! no comprendo espaniol, Comastau

MTC Finished

This picture is of Sherry and I pointing at where we've been and where we're going! Wish us luck!
This is our study group! We worked with them all the time we were at the MTC. This group of missionaries is headed all over the world!
This brother was a guy that I served with 50 years ago! What an experience to see him again! What a small world!
Kenyon, Sherry, Kris and a soon to be elder at the MTC!

Study... study... study... she's the brains in the companionship!
Inspiring to see the missionaries everywhere we looked! What righteous young men and women!

We trying to add some photos of the mtc..It was an incredible experience,, we learned tons, and got totally worn out, and very spirtual.

e will try to include a few photos,, some of our study and fun group of senior missionaries.. plus we had a great time being with the young Elders and Sisters,,, they are so so neat.