No Wimps allowed! (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles) did you know that?

What can I say? This has been a very hard week for us. We had a misunderstanding that enveloped us for many days. Thankfully, when you can't get away from each other, you have to address things and resolve them, which we were able to do. We are now once again well and happy and trying be on the same page doing the Lord's work.

New Year's Day...or Day after Old Year's Night....we went to Georgetown and spent the afternoon with the other Senior couples in Guyana. Sister Bohne prepared ham and beans soup (she made a special pot for me without ham! So thoughtful!) Creamed spinach, which was heavenly and smothered cabbage, which is cooked cabbage with onions and ham (she made a separate one for me without ham.) I was very touched at her thoughtfulness. It was a delicious meal and we had an enjoyable time visiting with each other. The drive down and back was so pleasant because there was hardly anyone on the road.
We didn't have seminary this week because of the holiday break but we start teaching again tomorrow. Our one constant student, Shaneeza, is with her mother in New York and doesn't know when she will be returning, so hopefully we will get some other students to commit to attending on a regular basis. We have two for sure that said they will come and perhaps others will get interested also.
Being "the" Senior Couple, one of our responsibilities is to see that the bikes for the Elders are in good functioning order. Each companionship has four bikes so they have an emergency bike to use until the other one gets fixed. Sometimes the Elders remove parts from one bike to the other so we had four bikes that were not usable at all because they had parts missing, broken handle bars, broken gear shifts, single wheels, flat tires etc. Dave evaluated all the bikes and brought two of the wounded bikes and two other skeleton bikes along with all the parts the missionaries had in a box, home and we went and bought all the needed parts. He has worked and worked on them. He has one totally finished with shiny new fenders, cleaned and greased chains, new tires and tubes, new cables, lights, and handle bars. He will work on the other one this week. Then both sets of Elders will have four bikes each companionship, that are in very good shape. I think he has rather enjoyed this project and he is so good at it too! I'm amazed at all the things my good husband can and will do to serve.
Friday, we had our YSA activity. We had a great lesson on "Not looking Back" for the new year. We talked about Lot's wife and how that applies to all of us. Then we introduced them to "hot dice" and had fun with that. We had brownies and "nice cream"  which surprisingly to me does not work as well here as it does in Utah. They have several different types of bananas or plantain and the consistency is quite different than the bananas we get in Utah so it turns out more like a pudding than an ice cream consistency. But, they liked it anyway!  We had seven people there which is up from the five we started with.
Today, Sunday, We had church with our new schedule and it was very nice. Our branch Primary President was there and she taught a lesson and then I taught them a couple of songs and the time was finished! One little guy, Onandie (I love him so much!) asked if primary was over and I said yes and he actually groaned and was sad.
We came home for lunch and then went out on visits with our Branch President Ryan. We had a great time meeting with people and praying with them. I love that they usually hold hands in a circle when we pray. We went to five families. Many of them had only been baptized since Oct. but haven't been coming to church since. I'm not sure how much they understand about the commitment that is required after baptism. Many churches don't require regular attendance and when you are baptized that's all you have to do. We have lots of work to do to get them to grasp this new concept of a changed life and way of being. The Church is just a "baby" in this area, but has so much potential for growth and influence.
After our visits, Pres. Ryan took us to see the beautiful side of Guyana. We went to the mine fields which are really lovely mountains of Bauxite tailings. Bauxite is an ore that contains 15-25% aluminium. They have a large company here in Linden. Then he took us to a beautiful sandy beach along side the Demerara River. It's a gorgeous place and completely isolated from the hectic, crowded area of Linden. Then he took us to blue lake which was formed by the mining of bauxite many years ago. We had no idea these places existed and were delighted to see them and look forward to spending some longer time there.
Sometimes when I am waking up in the morning and realize I am still here in this difficult situation, I am surprised by the sadness I feel. Missions are hard! They are not for quitters, or for fragile or wimpy people. You have to be willing to tough it out and work on yourself and develop or weed out traits you never thought to have. You have to be willing to be tolerant, loving, patient and forgiving of your companion and let them develop or weed out traits they never thought to have. I can't say I've weeded out or developed in the way I feel the Lord is giving me the opportunity to do but it certainly is the perfect schooling to do so and I am grateful for that when I wake up fully and think about what we could do to show our love to our Savior and Heavenly Father today. How can we be His hands and His heart today. The people here are very easy to love and they love very freely. We are frequently trying to take our "Utah Mormon" mentality out of minds and hearts and be patient, understanding and let them grow and learn at the pace they need to.
This morning, Monday. I woke up remembering what I wrote here and felt like I needed to explain a little further as to what I am feeling. We volunteered for this!  It'a a honor and privilege to be here! Yes, it is hard to give up all the comforts of home and miss family and friends but....always a but. It's worth it to learn and develop in a way that would not be possible staying comfortable in what we know. There is a saying here in Guyana when you ask someone how they are, often they will say "I tryin" This is very telling of how life is here. It is trying and you do have to try every day to be better and better. We have immersed ourselves in this society and we are finding joy and beauty in our surroundings amidst all the hardship and scarcity that we see people enduring. I believe it will be one of the most worthwhile things we do in our lives.

 There are tons of dogs around but not many cats. This is a very nice looking one.

 Dave loves taking pictures of flowers!

 More scenery in a part of town we hadn't seen yet.

 I love how the houses are just tucked up in the hills.

 We discovered the Linden cemetery. All of the graves are above ground.

 Soccer is a favorite past time and these men posed for me.

 Skeleton of a bike

 Another one

 Finished!

 Beautiful sandy beach on the river

 Dave zoomed in to get this shot.

 Some scenery from the mine tailings

 It's a beautiful coral color

 This is a pure spring and our Branch President, Ryan Ramdeholl

 Gotta try it! Water is precious here.

 The spring

Blue Lake created by mining bauxite

Day by Day

It seems we haven't done a whole lot since Christmas. It was a sweet way to spend it here getting to do what we did.
Since we have been here a little over six weeks, we have gotten into a pretty familiar routine, this is how it is day by day here in Linden, Guyana.
 Dave gets up around 6-6:30 and takes a shower with a gentle flow of water which helps to get a warmer temperature. I get up around 7 or 7:30 and hurry and get in the shower before the water turns off at 8.
We keep our sink full of soapy water so we can set our dishes in there to wash. Sometimes we have to wait to wash them until the water comes back on to rinse them. We do have a container of filtered water we can use if we need to get the dishes done before. We have 4 of everything. bowls, plates, spoons, forks, knives. So sometime we need to wash something when we have to use it.
I'm able to do my hair pretty well with the electricity in the bathroom. There are some places, in Curacao for instance, that doesn't allow electricity in the bathrooms.
Breakfast is usually cereal. I used to make oatmeal every morning at home and put in frozen blueberries but frozen fruit is not found here and it's not as good, to me, without so I just eat cereal.
We keep several containers of water in the bathroom so we can flush the toilets.
Our laundry is washed pretty much the same way as usual except you have to time it when the water is on right at first or it doesn't get through the cycle before the water turns off. I have to hang everything out to dry.
Every week or so I clean all the tile floors. I sweep and mop them. I am surprised by how much sand we track in daily. We have one rug, a runner really, that I have to beat outside to get it cleaned.
We get most of our produce out in the market, where there are many little wooden stands that many people sell the same things, which they grow, next to each other. It makes me wonder how they can make any money. Most stands sell pineapple, lemons, potatoes, bora (which is a long, long string bean that they use in fried rice or chowmein) watermelon, pumpkin which is like summer squash, tomatoes, onions, eggs, ginger and cassava roots, cucumbers, okra, soursop (which is a prickly fruit for juices) passion fruit, mangoes, carrots and sometimes lettuce.
They have two variety stores that are right by the church, that have other things like soap, rice, canned goods, sugar,  some cereals, flour...quite a few things really. When we go to Georgetown, they have much better grocery stores and we stock up on things we can't get in Linden, like taco shells, almond milk, salad dressings, salsa and tortilla chips. We have been pleasantly surprised at how we can get most of the things we like to eat here. We eat lots of salads and veggie/bean soups. Bean tacos, rice and beans, chowmein, baked potatoes, which I cook in a crock pot so as not to use too much gas or heat the place up, and peanut butter sandwiches.
You have to be prepared for rain at any moment. It starts without any warning, comes down hard for maybe 20 minutes and then out comes the sun again and it stops. Carrying an umbrella is always advised. This is the rainy season so maybe it won't be like this in the dry season.
Where we live in this small town with all of the houses very close together and needing to keep the windows open for breezes, we hear lots of conversations, which we can't understand very well because they speak creoles or broken English and all of their very loud music until sometimes 2 and 3 o'clock in the morning. Lot's of roosters crowing, dogs barking, birds and frogs.
We have air conditioning in our bedroom but only a couple fans and window breeze else where. It's not a huge apartment so it works pretty well. The power goes off quite often for 30 mins to a couple of hours so the temperature gets a little toasty at those times and we usually only wear what is absolutely necessary when ever we are in our apartment.
We see lots of cows, bulls, chickens, goats, sheep, dogs, donkeys and horses just meandering around the town. I asked a member if these animals are owned by anyone and he says they are but the houses don't have much yard so they just let them wonder around and get food. We saw a cow rummaging through a garbage can today.
There is virtually no order or laws to speak of. It's like how I imagine the wild wild west was back in the day. There may be double yellow lines on the road but they mean nothing. Cars will pass you on either the left or the right. Driving to Georgetown you will witness cars passing several cars at one time on double yellow lines as cars are coming towards them at 80 miles per hour in the other lane. If they don't make it in time, they expect you to slow down so they can quickly get in the right lane before they crash head on. Motorcycles have free access to anywhere they can fit. Police drive around with their lights on for unknown reasons. If you are waiting in line in a car or at a store or food counter, people will move up in front and take their place in front of you. Taxis, which there are hundreds because the average person does not own a car, will stop at any moment in the middle of the road to pick someone up that is wanting a ride. Most of the roads barely have room for one car so the oncoming traffic can be treacherous. We have stopped being surprised or alarmed at what we see and just expect the unexpected at all times. Dave has learned he needs to be a very humble driver because we play chicken every day, many times a day and they are willing to keep going so somebody has to stop.
We have no TV. We don't eat out. Occasionally, we will watch a movie that we have downloaded on Dave's laptop or something on Netfix, if the internet is strong. Rules are different for Senior Couples so we do have some little perks that the young missionaries do not.
Most all people are friendly and smile easily at you. The members are kind and generous. The scenery is lovely. They love music, singing and dancing. They seem like they are very happy and content with their lives.
So that is our day to day.
This Friday we have a YSA activity and next Monday we will get back to teaching Seminary. We have identified 9 possible sites for a church building and have given our report to President Baird. Dave did an amazing power point presentation about all the sites, where they are in relation to the current meeting place and he has way points for all the members displayed on a garmin map to show where most of the members live in relation to the proposed sites. Really, UNBELIEVABLY amazing, thorough and informative. We are hoping for one of the spots more than all the others and are excited to hear from them. This is the map. We went to each one of these dots so Dave could pin them and then get the GPS coordinates. Gathering this information took us several weeks.

One more thing. We had a combined meeting with even the primary today for the last third hour of our Sunday schedule. No more third hours! Honestly, I'm quite excited about the schedule change. Anyway, we all came back into the large meeting room where we have Sacrament meeting and the Sacrament was still there all covered on the table. It struck me as something quite sacred. When someone dies we layout their bodies and cover them with a cloth in respect for them and usually at a funeral we view them and there is a sense of reverence and love for the deceased. Here was the symbol of the Savior's dead body still in this room and I felt very touched by that moment of realization and the sacredness of it all. I love my Savior so much! I am so grateful to be able to wear His name over my heart every day! I want to have His goodness and purity take over my heart and change it forever!

These two beautiful ladies are sisters. Sunita is 16 on the left and Esha is 11. I am just so taken by their beauty and sweetness! They hug and kiss us several times, each time we meet and when we depart. Their home is right on this river.

 This is the veggie/chili that Dave makes and we eat on it for days at a time. It is very satisfying.

 We brought a mini Bosch and these silicon loaf pans with us so Dave could make his bread. He is still trying to figure out what works because of the climate, altitude and the oven has no temperature gauge.

 This is our across the street neighbor. He makes furniture for his livelihood.

 This is a row of houses just up the street a ways. You can't really tell from the picture but the colors and designs are all pretty bright. It's pretty cool to see what they do with their homes. Lots of purples, pinks and bright blues.

 If I have posted these pictures before, just enjoy them. 

There are lots of unique flowers we don't see in Utah.

 Isn't this so cool! 

 This is another one that is so unique! These are palm size flowers. I guess that doesn't tell you much....it depends on who's palm you are referring to. Think large-ish palm size.

 These are the tiny frogs that make the noise we hear all the time. It sounds like a bird but it's like a two note whistle. I'll have to ask Dave what notes they are since he can figure that out by sound.

 Luckily, my engineer husband thought to pack a temperature gauge in our luggage. This is how we know what temperature to bake a cake, cookies, or bread etc. (all of which Dave makes...)

 Finally, a beautiful Sunset for your viewing pleasure, lest we forget in the daily grind 

the wonder and beauty that surrounds us. 

All is right!

I had to post again because of the tender mercies of the Lord. Today, Christmas Eve, we purchased food stuffs for five families in our branch. Three single mothers, Robert, who just got baptized and basically lives off the land and Phil, an 18 year old boy who is another recent convert that lives alone with his ailing mother. It took some time to gather it all together and then we went to deliver it.
There were hugs and tears and "Merry Christmases" Some very sweet exchanges. When we went to Phil's house, which is one room no bigger than a normal size bedroom in an average American home, He wasn't home but we found his mother sitting on the steps eating some rice. Her name is Lattesha, We told her we had some Christmas food for her. Tears came to her eyes and I hugged her. She wrapped her arms around me and just started to sob and held on tight. I sobbed right along with her. I felt like she probably hadn't been held for a very long time.
 Nothing against her son Phil, but what 18 year old boy hugs their mother on a regular basis? Plus, he is in charge of her every need. Do all the laundry in the river etc.  He is really a very nice, sincere young man.  I believe she has Parkinson's because her hands are shaking all the time.
After we left, I was just overcome with all of the hardship and scarcity that is all around, every where I look. I realize that this is what these people know and they eek out a living the best they can. Here it is Christmas Eve and people were still selling from their make shift stands, trying to get money for Christmas. We bought as much as we could from them. Eggs, carrots, pineapple,tomatoes, and potatoes.
When we got back to our apartment I was overcome again and had to crawl up in bed and just sob...like ugly crying sobs. It was a good release. Dave held me and I said I wanted to go back to Lattesha's and read to her or something. I couldn't stand to think of her alone most of the time in that little shack, no water, no electricity, and shaking and hurting.
So we did! We got Dave's lap top and drove back over the bridge and down the sandy, bumpy road. We got there and she was just sitting in her hammock in the room. We watched the first part of the Presidents Devotional with the beautiful lights of Temple Square and the beautiful music of the Tabernacle choir. Dave and I each held a hand of Lattesha's.  The hand I held was constantly shaking. I tried to hold it tight enough to give her some relief from the shaking but it still shook. Then I starting to squeeze her hand and then move up and squeeze her forearm, up and back, up and back. That seemed to stop the shakes. Maybe I gave the nerves something to distract them so they didn't shake. I was happy to give her some relief for how ever long I could. When the choir and congregation sang Silent Night, we sang too. It was truly one of the sweetest things to be singing about the birth of our Savior while trying to do some loving for Him.  Then we watched the Nativity and said a prayer with her. She said "you comin back tomorrow?" We said we would. Since we are away from the people we love most at Christmas, this was a pretty good way to spend our time.
We got home and we had water so I took a shower. Usually the water is room temperature even with the little heater we have on the shower head, So cold showers are the norm. Dave figured out how to get hot water by only turning the water on enough to let it get warm and even hot! So, I let some nice hot water run on me for longer than usual, because I do hate to waste water. It felt so good.
When I got out of the shower, I checked my phone and "what to my wondering eyes should appear?" but a Maro Polo message from Nate and Brianna! I opened it up and heard the notes of "The Nativity Song"  you know "this is the season..." and I started bawling again...this is the song we would sing at all our family Christmas parties and I had stickers for them to correspond with the lyrics. There our sweet grand children were on the floor with their fisher price nativity singing at the top of their voices and pointing to each piece! We were so touched by this sweet gesture of love and remembrance. we were both weeping. After our time with Lattesha and that song. We were alright! All is Well, all is bright!
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!  God bless us everyone!

 This is what we got to see and listen to them sing this very significant song to us. Nate was closest to the mike since he was holding the phone, and I gotta say, He has a very nice voice!

 This truly was one of the best Christmas gifts ever and one we will always remember and 

never forget! 

 This is where Lattesha and Phil live. It's in a beautiful area by the river just very primitive.

 Even though this was a very sacred moment, I'm glad we have a picture of it.

She kept saying her hand hurt but we couldn't see anything visibly so we didn't know how to help her. It's a very unsettling feeling. 

Wait, what? It's Christmas?

This week has kind of been a blur. It's really hard for us to wrap our minds around the idea that it's Christmas. We are so far removed from all that reminds us of Christmas. Perhaps when we get to talk to our kids and grand kids and see Christmas there, it will be good.
The missionaries from the Wismer side went and did service for Hanniff at his farm. We love this family so much. Molly is his wife and his youngest daughter is Sarah. He is manning this huge farm mostly by himself. He also has a large chicken coop and a pig pen. The missionaries and Dave cleared away some debris and a huge fallen tree. They worked very hard. Molly fixed us lunch of rice,beans and chicken. Whenever we go to Hanniff's we always stand in a circle holding hands and we say a prayer before we leave. It's such a tender thing and makes me want to incorporate that in our home.
As we were driving home, the men were soaked to the skin, muddy and tired and wanting a shower. As you know, we have a water issue here on the Wismar side of Linden. Sometimes we get water on schedule and sometimes we don't. So, we were all hoping there would be water for us to clean up when we got to our apartments. I was so touched by this conversation as we drove home. Elder Hollinger said to the other two missionaries. "I'll pick a number between 1 and 20. The one closest to it will get to shower first and the other second." He was wet, muddy and tired too but he put his companions needs before his. Such a kind, unselfish thing to do. He will be leaving us to go home on the 29th. He has served so well! He will be greatly missed.
We had our branch Christmas party on Saturday. The Branch President asked us to get a tree, decorate it, decorate the tables and get gifts for the children. We found a little tree the same height as me and found some decorations. We went to the church and cleaned it all up. It's always full of sand and roaches. We weren't sure about the gifts for the children since we have only ever done candy canes in our wards in Utah. We found some small cars and coloring books. There were no crayons to be found. We found some colored pencils and we cut them in half and I sharpened all of them so each child would get a set of 6 colors. It was a little challenging since I only had a little sharpener. I ended up having to wear gloves because I got blisters on my hands after a short while. We were trying to be thrifty because we didn't want to spend too much of the Lord's money.  The President ended up getting gifts for the children. All the boys got large plastic tanks and the girls got barbie like dolls. We had a very large crowd for dinner and they served fried rice, curried chicken, some chickpea thing....challa....not sure, and roti wraps and cake. There was food left over so a lot of people took food home in take out boxes. I think everyone had a good time. We cleaned the church up again and set up for Sunday meetings.
I was asked to speak in church and I told the story of the Prince and the Pauper. How, because of a mix-up, The Prince became the pauper and the pauper became the Prince. The Prince then found out what life is like for all of the common folk of his kingdom. He was thirsty, hungry, cold, dirty, and even got beat up. Somehow the mix-up is corrected and the Prince becomes king and because of what he went through was a very compassionate and loving King to his people because he knew how they suffered.
We also have a Prince that became a pauper. The Prince of Peace. He left worlds of glory and light voluntarily to experience everything He had to so He would know how to care for us.  I loved that correlation.  I do know that Christ suffered all things in our behalf.
"He was born to change all hearts, end all goodbyes, heal all wounds, fix all mistakes. Born to overcome anguish, regret, depression, fear. He understands you, He heals us. He can bridge the gap between God and man and bring us home. If we let Him. If we love Him. If we follow Him."
( I borrowed those words from a Mormon message) I believe them!
May you all have the meaning of Christmas in your hearts every moment and feel Joy regardless of what ever is going on around you. If you are reading this, I love you!

 The work crew (left to right) Ronaldo, Phil, Dave, Hannif, Molly, Sarah, Me, Elder Hollinger, 

Elder Revilla, Elder Moracca

 Moving the huge tree

 Sarah and Molly

 Working hard. You can't tell but it's pouring down rain on them. 

 More hard work, Elder Hollinger is giving it all he has along side my hard working man! 

Here the sun is shining again. It changes within minutes.

Children at the party. There were many that we have never met. Probably children of guests of members. Darling children! I just realized that Dave's face is hidden, The Santa hat is him.

 This is some kind of something that was under the log after they rolled it away

More....sorry to gross you out.....nature is fascinating!

This is our Mission President and wife, The Bairds. We had a Christmas devotional on Sunday. 

There were 27 connections in this meeting from 6 countries, 90 missionaries, 10 senior couples. 

So the 7 of us in Linden were singing "Silent Night" at the same time with all others in

 the Trinidad Port of Spain mission.

Technology is amazing!