Magical

This week was like a roller coaster. The MAIN senior couple, The Jones', who know everything and are the most helpful, kind, fun and loving, found out they were leaving two weeks earlier which will be this next Tuesday! Heaven help us and I mean that literally! We could definitely used two more weeks of training from them. Thank goodness we can still make phone calls when I don't know or can't remember what to do with this or that. We did get to do some fun stuff with them this week though.
Monday morning, all the district missionaries went to the aquarium for P-day. We saw a dolphin and a seal show and some other cool sea creatures...magical. Then we worked at the office for the rest of the afternoon. Tuesday was Carnival here in Curacao. It's a yearly celebration of riotous living in preparation for Ash Wednesday and Lent. They have a large parade with colorful, elaborate costumes and very loud music and drinking and partying. We met up with the Jones and found a place near the beginning of the parade at 5 pm. It started soon after. There were hundreds of people walking in costumes broken up by bars on wheels. We were told by a local that the route was 8 miles long and wouldn't finish until 2 or 3 am. We watched until 8:30 pm and then walked to our car passing by hundreds of more people still waiting to start the parade walk. Really amazing! It was enjoyable and somewhat magical.  I'm glad we got to experience that part of Caribbean culture.

The rest of the week we worked later hours at the office and felt good about the progress we are making.
Saturday, we drove around the island with the Jones and "pinned" all the places we need to know about to be in charge of the next District activity and hiking Mount Christoffel since the Jones will be gone. One of the stops was a gorgeous cove beach where we swam and relaxed a bit. The water was so clear that I could see many different kinds of fish swimming all around me. It was magical!

Sunday, Sister Jones gave a beautiful testimony in Papiamento and had an Elder translate it for those of us who don't speak Papiamento. Elder Jones also bore a wonderful message. With them leaving so quickly, their only chance to say goodbye officially was on Fast Sunday. They will be missed very very much! I feel badly for the missionaries that are stuck with us cause we cannot fill their shoes. We will do our best but some people are just irreplaceable and unforgettable. That's the Jones'! They are magical! We joined them for their traditional fast Sunday pancake breakfast with the missionaries. We will get to do a few of those before we leave....it seems like very soon. 

We've been here in Curacao for three weeks and I've been noticing the differences between here and Tobago. First thing is: there are no bugs in Curacao! Magical!  I haven't had one bug bite, there are no sugar ants in the kitchen or outside, the little tiny lizards aren't around either. There are tons more cacti here in Curacao and it feels less humid. There are no noisy birds....only coos of the many many doves on the island. Magical!   The roads are very nice and drivers seem pretty accommodating. magical.  There is a larger number of European's living here, being a Dutch colony. The language is a challenge mostly at church but outside of church, it seems like most everyone speaks some English. The weather seems consistently beautiful, as in Tobago. it's magical!

 In our last few months of our mission I want to receive every day as a blessing. I want to really soak in the beauty and delight of living on a tropical island. It's magical! The daily burst of color with all the flowers, The calls of the birds, the turquoise blue water and crashing of waves. The instant relief of the breeze, the beautiful brown skinned faces with beautiful bright white smiles. The fragrance of my clean laundry as I hang it out to dry in the sun, with palm trees swaying all around me. I tell ya, it's magical!

We had a Zoom conference with Elder and Sister Godoy last week which I failed to mention but has stuck with me. Sister Godoy got a large white board and asked everyone to call out what blessings has the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ given us as she wrote them on the board. People called out: baptism, gift of Holy Ghost, temple blessings, understanding the Fall, the Atonement, Plan of Salvation, Degrees of Glory, repentance, sacrament, sealed as families, nature of God, Priesthood authority, living prophets, etc. Then she asked, "which ones can you live without?" and there was a hush in the room. Then she just started erasing each one until the board was empty and we all felt this horrible sadness and emptiness. Then she said "this is what the world feels...emptiness, we have the truth and the blessings to offer them." It was so powerful and enlarged my testimony of why we need to share the good news, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  and, you really don't need to be on a mission to do that. I know that Joseph Smith was a powerful instrument in God's hand to restore the truth back to His children so they could have all that He desires to give them. We have it to bless our lives and we can share it so others can also be blessed in this life and in their life to come. The Savior is our Redeemer and Friend, the Book of Mormon is more of God's words for us, we have a living Prophet to guide us today! That's pretty magical too!

 The missionaries on the island of Curacao.

 Left: Sisters Scott and Patterson, Elder Stauffer, Sister Jones, me, Dave, young Elder Jones, 

Elders Flynn, Hollingshead, Frandson, and Wardle.

Older Elder Jones is taking the picture.

 Welcome to the Aquarium 

 always such a thrill to see...magical

 the seals weren't as thrilling...

 snorkeling without getting wet

 sitting in a submarine to view the creatures

 beautiful starfish

 Lion fish

 the gang again except Dave is taking the picture in stead of Elder Jones who is behind his wife, second from the right. 

 beginning of watching the parade

 You can run out in the crowd and get your picture taken with any group...

 lots of people in the parade...

it made us wonder if there were very many people left to do the watching

 One group went on forever.....

 and forever...

 when it got dark, the costumes had lights on them

 they were all so happy to pose with me

 so many different kinds of costumes

 all the bars on wheels had their own sound system. It helped to be wearing ear plugs

 Peacock guy was very cool

 and hummingbird guy

 The cutest little cottage in our neighborhood. I love the bright blue with the bright pink flowers

 These people love color so much they painted the dead trees

 Gorgeous beach

 another view

Sister Jones and I swimming and watching the fish...magical

 amazing colors...magical

 Sisters at pancake breakfast.

 Left: Sisters Jones, Ray, visiting from Aruba, Patterson, Scott and me

 Elders at pancake breakfast. 

Left: Dave, Elders Jones, Flynn, Frandson, Wardle, Hollingshead, Jones and Stauffer.

 Elder Jones, the master of the pancake and of service for the pure motive of loving God. 

He has served the people on this island tirelessly, with much kindness and patience. 

I respect and admire him.  

Sister Jones and me. I think we knew each other in the pre-life cause we are bonded for eternity now. I love her and I'm so grateful for who she is, how she loves and serves. 

She is an AMAZING example for goodness.
She makes things MAGICAL!