Taking care of our Elders

Here are some of our elders...all full of life with nowhere to go on their preparation day.



Elders Kaspars, Clark, Lebaron, Falatau, Saragers, and Davis (on their laps) have crossed the river on the ferry and have dropped by our apartment just to see what goodies we have to eat and gaff (chat) a bit with us old folks. And who is the guy in front who has gotten pretty "hammy" in his old age.

We have ten elders in our zone and we manage to fit them all around our table for "yums" (not yams) after our zone meeting. The "yums" were a huge bread pudding that disappeared in a flash!


Now they're out in front of our front door for a real pose. I can't believe there isn't one of them pulling some weird kind of funny face. Elder Dayton didn't quite fit so had to sprawl out on everyone's laps. I'm sure he loved it.

We love to pamper our elders with food. In Guyana, they aren't allowed to eat in the member's homes so we are the only ones who can cook for them. Can't you just imagine what they eat the days they don't eat with us? Hmmmmm.... They eat lots of peanut butter and jam sandwiches and "mac and cheese"!


Here we are visiting a family with Elders Dayton and Fillerup. The teenager, Odessa, lives with her aunt, Amelia, and her little cousin, Tianna. Grandma is over for a visit. Odessa and her Aunt Amelia are excited to be baptized this Saturday.

So many young people are raised by someone other than their mother and father. Usually it is their granny. One young woman told me today that when she was 6 and her brother was 1 her mother gave the two of them to their grandma to raise. This seems to happen often here. Many of the girls have their first baby when they are 15.

Odessa wanted me to have my photo taken alone. I insisted the girls had to be in the photo with me. There is a neighbor girl also in the photo. I am very affectionate with all of the young people and they just seem to love me. Maybe they are all starved for affection because they don't have mothers.

Ok, here's a little change of pace. I took some photos in the Rosignol Branch just before their sacrament meeting began.

This father just rode up to the church with his two little kids on the bike with him. I couldn't coax a smile out of them.

And Elder Bullock is helping this young man so he can be ready to pass the sacrament in his white shirt and tie. Does the shirt look a little big? It probably belongs to one of the elders. They supply lots of the young boys with their only white shirt and tie.

I couldn't resist snapping a photo of these beautiful little princesses waiting for church to begin. I don't doubt they have all walked through the mud and dirt to get to church. I wonder how they have managed to stay so clean.

Ok, we're back in Rose Hall driving down this little side street and we were following close behind this family all riding in their donkey cart. I snapped the photo right through the front car window as the little girl waved to me.

Then, they stopped so they could pose for a "real" photo. Do you suppose they all are wearing their seatbelts? I can count 11 riding in the cart.

Does anyone see rain falling? Umbrellas are often used here for protection from the hot sun.

And here is my last photo. What do you suppose this is? Do you recognize it as the garbage truck that is just pulling up in front of my apartment to gather my garbage? I didn't think so!