Special moments with missionaries

I'll take you on a little walk through what's been going on with us and some of the missionaries in our zone.

Our zone leaders, Elders Sturdevant and Huntsman, planned a special zone meeting for us. They were dressed up to be Brad Pitt and somebody else...I don't remember, but hey, they looked a whole lot better than those guys! They inspired us...and following the meeting, the elders all hit the streets of Berbice scouring them for more baptisms.

From 2009-05-15

One day we were visiting the Bushlot elders, Elders Scott and Coronado, and they invited us for a lunch of mac and cheese mixed with rice. While we were waiting for our lunch, Elder Bullock checked out their apartment and found a live rat munching at the dirt in their shower. The elders came after it with a pan and a big stick. Result: one broken pan, rat blood on the floor of their shower and a wounded rat still roaming freely in their apartment. The next day they found the rat dead in their bedroom.

The rat was probably pretty comfy in their apartment considering how clean and tidy it wasn't! That's a mosquito net you see hanging over the bed. They are supposed to protect you from those little critters...but I am still covered with itchy bites.

From 2009-05-15AlligatorBreakfastArrivalDay

Do we look joyous as we eat our mac and cheese and rice and think about the bloody rat that just got away?

From 2009-05-15AlligatorBreakfastArrivalDay

We stopped by the zone leaders apartment to check out their "digs". We were met on the porch by a portion of this little feller.

From 2009-05-15AlligatorBreakfastArrivalDay

Here's a close up. He looked so alert and awake with his eyes still open. He appeared to be smiling and I almost forgot the rest of his body was missing.

From 2009-05-15AlligatorBreakfastArrivalDay

Meet Nicholas. Who could be cuter? He loves to wear his white shirt and green tie! He looks like a missionary already!

From 2009-04-26ArrowptTobagoCWB&CBushlot

So, when you no longer have the missionary truck (which we don't), how do you move the missionary furniture? Why, of course, you rent a horsecart for $2.50. And the bonus is, the driver may even let you take the reins and drive the cart. Elders Huntsman, Sturdevant, Manwill and Olsen used their muscles to get the washer down the stairs of the apartment in the photo and up onto the cart. Combine those Elders on a job and they definitely can come up with some real power!

From 2009-05-27HorsecartFishing

They pulled a few faces, did a few antics...

From 2009-05-27HorsecartFishing

And off they went!

From 2009-05-27HorsecartFishing

When they arrived to the next apartment with the washer, both Elders Huntsman...

From 2009-05-27HorsecartFishing

And Elder Sturdevant instantly turned into little boys. They grabbed the fishing lines from their little friends and began baiting the lines with guppy-like fish.

From 2009-05-27HorsecartFishing

Who needs a store-bought fishing pole when you can make one out of a stick. It is the popular thing to do around here.

From 2009-05-27HorsecartFishing

Senior missionaries, Ron and Linda Larsen, time was finished and they were headed for home. They have lived upstairs from us for the past 15 months. We, the senior couples in Guyana, had a farewell lunch for them at the Pegasus Hotel, which is the fanciest place to eat at in Georgetown. There are a lot of us, don't you think?

From 2009-05-15AlligatorBreakfastArrivalDay

A couple of nights later the New Amsterdam Branch had a surprise farewell party for them in the outside area of our apartment planned by the sisters from the branch. The sisters had brought all the food and just asked me to provide the place.

Sister Larsen was wearing the turquoise blue shirt and Elder Larsen was on her right.

From 2009-05-15

Each sister brought a pot of something. Here they were dishing it up for everyone.

From 2009-05-15

And now you can see what the meal looked like. There was roti (like a totilla), curried chicken, pineapple circles and vegetable chowmein.

From 2009-05-15

A large group gathered to say goodbye to them and to thank them for coming to Guyana. The members here love the missionaries, which includes the senior couples.

From 2009-05-15

I gave out a pile of clothes to each of these two little cuties. One of them definitely did not want to pose for this picture in her new dress. Can you tell which one?

From 2009-05-27HorsecartFishing

More cuties, with at least one little future missionary in the group! Most of them were wearing clothes sent by our friends from home.

From 2009-06Missionaries

Did I mention a motorcyle slammed into me broadside?

From 2009-05-27HorsecartFishing

Here's the rider of the motorcyle. He yelled at me nonstop and poked me in the shoulder as he spoke. I poked him back with my finger and said vehemently, "Don't touch me!" He stopped poking, but not yelling!

I spent most of the day in the police station trying to settle with the police and this guy and to get his insurance company to agree to pay for my car since he had plowed into me. I finally gave up and we had it fixed ourselves. The repair was only $150 and it looked like new.

His bike didn't have a scratch on it and luckily, neither of us were hurt.

Yes, we still do baptisms. Today, the elders in our zone baptized 15. There are so many baptisms I can never learn all their names. It is our job, the senior missionaries, to try and set up the branches so we can keep them all active and coming to church. That is an overwhelming task.

For that reason, we teach a weekly fireside at each of our three branches. By the time we go home next January, we will have taught 250 firesides. All of them have been about either about Joseph Smith and the history of the church or about the stories of the Book of Mormon.

I think we have learned the most as we've prepared these presentations!