Looking on the bright side

Meanwhile, we prepared to leave Guyana ourselves. We had been there 19 months. We had served in 3 of the branches. We had dear friends all over these branches. We had just gotten home from our temple trip 5 days before that awful day of detention at the Criminal Investigation Department. We didn’t want to leave. We dug in our heels. But we had no choice. We threw out what we could as we tried to fit our things into 3 instead of 4 big suitcases. Every day I shed a few tears. We had expected to serve in Guyana for 4 more months and it just didn’t feel good to suddenly be told we had to leave….now!

We had many sweet goodbyes, parties and farewell love notes. We felt very loved and appreciated as we prepared to leave. We will never be the same after all that we have experienced and learned during our time in Guyana. One of the things we learned is that we don’t need so much “stuff” to be happy. We were happy every day in Guyana though we had very little of what we were used to living with back home. It was gratifying to us to be able to love, teach and give service to a people who were so badly in need of it and so appreciative of it.

Now, we are serving in Trinidad in a small town in the south of the island, Point Fortin. We hear little of what is going on in Guyana. We expect that most of the 14 new Guyanese boys have all begun to serve with their experienced companions. At first they will be serving as mini missionaries until they are able to attend the Missionary Training Center and temple in Santo Domingo, DR and return as regular full-time missionaries to serve out their 2 years of missionary service.

I'll end by quoting the words of President Hymas, “As you drive around you’ll see the "new companionships" -- one white guy and one Guyanese. We will still be out in the streets on the Lord's errand! It is profound to see the local young men taking over for their "brothers" who had to leave. It is the Lord's work and as the scriptures poignantly remind us "...it is the work of men that are frustrated, not the work of God that is frustrated..." It is quite a testimony to be a part of such faithful young men and young women who have willing left jobs, family, and friends to alleviate the crisis in the missionary effort in Guyana.”

We know the missionary service of these young men will be a huge blessing to the growth and strength of the church in Guyana. Just think, in two years there will be an army of returned missionaries there…like the righteous army of young men who were led by Helaman.

And, the temporary mini missionaries will have returned to their homes to eat roti a little longer with their families while they dream and anxiously await their turn to serve as full-time Guyanese missionaries in the West Indies Mission.