A New Adventure Coming!

It has been awhile since I have written on my blog.  There have been many things happen in the past few weeks.  We really enjoyed conference.  It was hard watching it at the Temenga Chapel as there is no air conditioning.  It was live, but it aired three hours later, for instance, the 10:00 session started at 1:00 in Suriname.  We were able to watch all four sessions, plus Elder Gubler watched the Priesthood session, live, which ended at 11:00 p.m.  It was great watching conference in the mission field.  The spirit was so strong, I spent much of the time in tears.  We were in a room full of Elders and a few members who wanted to watch it in English.  Where in the world would you find 24 young men eager and excited to watch 10 hours of conference.  Many said that this was the first time they had stayed awake for all the sessions.  I love these Elders, they have all strengthened my testimony by their sacrifice and commitment they give to their missions. They are all so excited to be out on their missions and really love and care about the people here in Suriname.

It is with sadness that we will be leaving Suriname on October 31.  We will be going to St. Lucia to take over for a senior couple, Elder and Sister Gartz, who will be finishing their mission.  We are excited, but sad at the same time about this new outcome.  We feel it was an answer to prayer as I have had some issues with my teeth that Elder Gartz, a retired dentist, will be able to help me with before he leaves.  Since the mission will be losing half of the Senior Couples in a month or two, Suriname will have to survive with one senior couple. They should be just fine, the Vanderbeeks are a wonderful couple and quite capable of handling all the missionaries.  Elder Gubler has said that senior couples in South America have to be as tough as nails and the Vanderbeeks are.  I feel that the senior couples in Guyana and Suriname are some of the strongest couples in this mission.  

We have grown to love Suriname and the people here.  The members have been so warm and loving.  We will especially miss the missionaries.  The missionaries are having a lot of success.  In fact, there will be eight baptisms performed this coming Saturday.

We had our Zone Conference a couple of days ago.  I am so impressed with President Mehr and his ability get up an speak without notes and his knowledge of the scriptures.  Elder and Sister Olpin, his parents-in-law, told us that as a young boy he spent a great deal of time studying the scriptures.  That was his passion.  He has encouraged all the missionaries to memorize certain passage of scriptures.   It is amazing how these Elders will get up and quote 15 verses by memory.  In past meetings, President Mehr has stressed the importance of fasting.  He has asked each missionary to teach a member or members of the branch or ward they are in about the law of the fast.  The purpose for the past two fasts were for member referrals.  There have been many miracles happen in the Mission because of fasting. This meeting, President Mehr, stressed the importance of keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. He wants the missionaries to do the same thing, teach someone about the Sabbath and have them commit to keeping it holy.  The church is new in the West Indies.  In order to strengthen the wards and branches, the members have to get back to the basics.  Many blessings are promised if these members will obey the law of the fast and keeping the Sabbath Day Holy.  In our interview with President Mehr today, he told us that the mission has been really strengthened because of fasting these past couple of months.  There have been more baptisms and a greater attendance at church.  

I am so thankful to be on this Mission.  I am excited to go to St. Lucia, THEY SPEAK ENGLISH THERE.  I feel that I will be able to communicate better with the people.  I really admire Elder Gubler, he has spent so much time and energy in learning Dutch.  I know that he will be blessed because of his commitment to do whatever he has been asked to do.  He has had a good time conversing with the Elders in Dutch, but it has been difficult to understand the people with their accent and Taki Tak.

I have gained a greater testimony of fasting as I have witnessed and heard about these miracles.  The Lord blesses those who keep his commandments.  The church is true and that's why I am on this mission and that's why there are tens of thousands of young men and women sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world.

P-Day in the Jungle

Huge Spider Web, I'd hate to see the spider that

made it.

Our hike in the jungle

It was pretty steep

The Elders enjoying the waterfall

Waterfall

Suriname North Zone

Paramaribo taken off the bridge

Downtown Paramaribo

Paramaribo

Old Dutch building

Keizerstraat

Lillypads

Elder & Sister Vanderbeek

Nickeri chapel

Senior's Conference

It has been awhile since I have written on my blog.  We have had a busy couple of weeks. Last week we attended a Senior Conference in Trinidad for all the Senior couples.  We left Monday and returned Friday evening.  It was a very spiritual and uplifting Conference. President Mehr has a vision to bring the Church out of obscurity in the West Indies.  To do this, he has made us all Humanitarian Missionaries.  The Church is involved in many humanitarian projects around the world.  Some of the projects are:  small animal production (building chicken coops and providing chickens), Neonatal resuscitation training at Hospitals (the Church also donates resuscitation equipment), wheelchairs, donation of items to schools, health care facilities, clean water and sanitation, vision care, and etc.  The Church did a Neonatal Resuscitation training in Trinidad while we were there.  They get the local ward or branch involved in the project.  The Church has Humanitarian Missionaries that deal primarily with these Humanitarian projects.  A Humanitarian couple, the Cooks, just completed their Mission from here a couple of months ago.  The Church spends a great deal of money in this area with the Humanitarian projects and President Mehr feels that this is a way for the people here to recognize the Church and become more familiar with it.  He feels it will open doors for the Church with the Governments of these countries as well as opening doors for the Missionaries.  We both felt that he was truly inspired.  We are excited to start this work here in Suriname.

The Church is also planning a big celebration in the West Indies Mission for the 25th anniversary of the start of missionary work here.  All the Caribbean countries are involved in this celebration.  There will be shows and contests put on throughout the next couple of years to get ready for this event.  This will involve all the Wards and Branches and any nonmember friends they want to invite.  They want to get the media involved and make this a big event.  I'm sure you will read more about it in the Church News as time goes by. We will also be helping out the District in Suriname to get this going.  

President Mehr also mentioned that in the next three months ten Senior couples will be completing their Missions and going home.  Because of all the newly created Missions in the Church, that has left a shortage of Senior Couples.  There will only be three couples to replace the ten that are leaving.  Plus, the number of missionaries will increase.  He is issuing a plea for Senior couples to go on Missions.  He is also issuing a plea that you put down West Indies Mission as a preference.  The Mission has four French speaking countries and all of the Senior couples assigned to those countries are going home, with no French speaking couples coming out.  So, all you Senior couples that know French, WE NEED YOU! 

It was great to see all the Senior Couples and also to meet up with the Seniors from Trinidad. We have gotten really close to them and have a great deal of love for them.  They are all awesome people and have sacrificed so much to be on a Mission.  It was truly an honor being with these great people.  We are getting more and more use to Suriname and really enjoy the missionaries and the members.  They are having a lot of success here, with baptisms nearly every week.  Elder and Sister Olpin, a Senior couple serving in Barbados (Sister Mehr's parents), were here to give some members Patriarchal Blessings.  They are such sweet people.  We were honored to help drive them around.  They told us of a man and his son who recently joined the Church here in Suriname that received their blessings.  The gentleman, who was Roman Catholic, always thought there was something else out there that answered many of his questions.  He knew immediately that it was the LDS Church when he met the Missionaries.  I think if more people asked questions and tried to find the answers that the work would progress rapidly.  Many people are indifferent and do not care.  There is a bad problem with immorality in the Caribbean and it is creating serious problems with the youth here.  The children are raised by their mother with no father in the home and they have numerous brothers and sisters with different mothers.  The men often boast at how many children they have sired.  It is a sad situation and it breaks my heart for the youth and the children.  

The Lord is hastening his work by the amount of Missionaries serving all over the world.  I'm thankful to be part of this great work.  I know the Church is true and I'm so thankful to be a part of it.  I know there is a true Prophet of God on the earth today.  Why wouldn't Heavenly Father have a Prophet for us today?  I'm excited for General Conference which is coming up in a couple of weeks.  I love listening to the words of the Apostles and Prophet and all the other leaders of the Church.  I am currently reading the Book of Mormon for the 2nd time.  I know it is the Word of God and really feel the power and the spirit of this great book.  It has the fullness of the Gospel in it.  I'm thankful for all my family who support us on this Mission. We couldn't do it without them.  I love all of them very much.  I'm posting late pictures and will post more pictures as I get them.
    

Sweet sister recently baptized

Elder Gubler & Elder Hall

Elder Westra & Elder Alpeter

Local members

Elder Northrup & Elder Reise

Local members

Darling girls

Elder Bechan

Elder Jones

Local members

Beautiful family

Senior's Conference

Senior Conference

Senior Conference

Life in Suriname

We've had an interesting couple of weeks, but we finally feel settled.  For the past couple of weeks, Suriname has had a Carifest that many countries have been involved with.  When we came here, we only had a week at the Marriott and were hoping we could find another temporary place to stay until a house was finished across from the other Senior Couple here. When we saw the house, we realized that this temporary place could take months to finish. Things are done really slow in these foreign countries and this house was nowhere near completion. We were hoping to occupy an Elder's apartment until the house was finished or until our mission was finished, but after looking at the apartment, we decided differently.  I knew as well as Elder Gubler that we would not be comfortable in that apartment.  That day we found a Real Estate Office and the agent had just gotten a listing for a small house for rent.  She hadn't even posted it on her website yet.  It was newly built and just perfect for us. It is the same price as what we were paying in Trinidad.  It's completely furnished and quite modern according to Suriname standard.  It has hot water to the shower, which is not normal, but there isn't any hot water in the other faucets (bathroom & kitchen).  It also has a washer, but no dryer.  It has a cute patio with a clothes line.  I don't mind not having a dryer except for towels.  It has three bedrooms, one bathroom, and a kitchen living room area.  It also has a single car garage.  It is conveniently located near the Temenga Branch and the mall and grocery store.  It is also near the Missionary Zone Leaders of the Zone we're over. The Real Estate Agent said that it was a miracle that we found this place, because rentals are very hard to come by in Suriname.  We knew that the Lord was watching over us.

Suriname is a little different than Trinidad.  There is not as much traffic and they drive more sane around here.  It's also not as busy or crowded as Trinidad.  I noticed also that the service you get in shops and restaurants is a lot better.  But, it doesn't have as many nice stores.  A lot of the stores are owned by the Chinese.  They call them supermarkts and they all carry about the same things which are cheap household items and food.  All items are much more expensive here.  I figure on some items I'm paying twice and sometimes three times as much as in the US.  Gas is also expensive at $6.00 a gallon.  We are currently driving a Church-owned-vehicle from Guyana.  Elder and Sister Vanderbeek, the Senior Couple here, traveled to Guyana a week ago and drove an extra vehicle back from there.  It is only a temporary car.  We have submitted a couple of bids for a pickup truck and will have to drive this temporary vehicle back to Guyana when we get our pickup.  

Most of the people speak English and we have been able to get by with speaking English. Elder Gubler is doing a lot better than I am with his Dutch.  The Church meetings are held in Dutch, but most of the members speak English to us.  Elder Gubler likes to practice his Dutch with the missionaries and the members.  

We have become familiar somewhat with the city and have been able to find our way around. Elder Gubler is an expert at directions and learns quickly where places are at.  We will spending the next little while inspecting Elder apartments and supplying them.  All the Elders ride bikes and the Vanderbeeks will take care of repairing of bicycles.  We found out that the bikes are always breaking down and need constant repair.  It sounds like it is difficult to find good bikes here.  The Missionaries are on bikes all day and ride them long distances.  The roads are not very good here and a lot of them are unpaved, so it is very hard on the bicycles.  As soon as we get our pickup truck, we will be taking care of bicycles in our Zone.

They call Suriname the Netherlands meets the Wild West.  There are old style Dutch buildings in the main part of the city along with old run down buildings that look like the wild west.  I will get pictures later.  There are six branches and one district in Suriname.  We have attended two of the branches and the members are all loving and very welcoming.  They are small and five of them meet in a rented place, where Temenga meets in a Church-owned-building.  It's amazing how you can attend church in different countries, but the spirit is still the same.  We had a family home evening with members of the Paramaribo Branch last night.  It was a very spiritual meeting.  Some of these members were some of the first members in Suriname.  They told of some real spiritual experiences they have had.  I have been very impressed with their strength and their testimonies.  I'm very thankful to be a part of this great work and look forward to serving the missionaries and members in Suriname.  We are very happy with our new home for the next 14 months.  

Our blue huis

Our temp vehicle

Neighbor's goats

Kitchen

Living room

Our bedroom, notice the bars on the 

windows, sometimes we feel like

we're in prison.

Wardrobe, they don't have closets

extra bedroom

laundry and bathroom area

bathroom area

Extra bedroom

Another view of kitchen

Patio, we have a lovely view of a used-car lot.

    

Suriname

Well we finally made it to Suriname after almost four months in Trinidad.  We arrived late Wednesday night, early Thursday morning.  We found out that they didn't have an apartment for us, so we are having to stay in a hotel.  We have been very nervous, because we have to check out of our hotel on Friday and couldn't find another place to stay because of an Indian Festival they are having in Paramaribo.  We have been frantically trying to find an apartment, but everything is closed because of a four day weekend.  President and Sister Mehr are here in Suriname because of Zone Conference.  They suggested we stay in an Elder's apartment that just opened up and is very nice.  So we will be moving there on Monday.  We're hoping to make it our home for the next 14 months.

We attended Zone Conference on Friday and District Conference on Saturday and Sunday.  They have both been very spiritual days, but very tiring.  Elder and Sister Vanderbeek are a Senior Couple already here.  We will help them out by taking over a Zone of Elders.  Nine new Elders came to Suriname the same time we did.  There will be 28 Missionaries in Suriname.  They are all Elders and all of them ride bicycles. 

Suriname is a flat country and is hard to get around.  The people here speak Dutch, but many speak English.  Our first day at Church many of the members came up to us and spoke English.  They were impressed with Elder Gubler at how he spoke Dutch.  It is a difficult language and one we are still going to work very hard at.  President Mehr told us it would be all right to use English and if needed, get one of the members to translate for us.  He really wants us out here to help take care of the Missionaries. 

We had a sweet farewell with the Senior Couples in Trinidad.  We've made some wonderful friends there and will miss them.  It will take time to get use to this new country.  It is different than Trinidad, but I think I will grow to love it here.  Again, I'm thankful to be here.  
 

Elders in Arima, Trinidad that we were over

Zone Leaders that we were over

Baptism in Sangre Grande for Rhonda

Two more Elders we were over

The Sisters we were over, Rhonda, and The Monsons

Elder Gubler walking to the Mission Office, we did it each

weekday morning in Trinidad

A SWAT vehicle.  This is a company that provides security

protection in Trinidad.

Mission Office Sign

Elder Gubler at the Mission Office

Elder & Sister Ray at our farewell lunch

Elder & Sister Smith, the new couple.  He's a Doctor,

thank heavens.

Sister Ray

Elder & Sister Monson

Elder Ray  & Elder Gubler

Elder & Sister Ray, they took over the Browns.  Our

walking partners.

Zone Conference in Suriname

Elder's choir at Zone Conference

Chapel in Suriname where District Conference was held