Christmas morning at the Orphanage

From 12-2009

It was 10:00 am when the 14 elders and 4 senior missionaries serving in the So. Trinidad Zone knocked on the door of the Hope Center Orphanage. I had made an appointment for us to visit the children with a program and presents on Christmas morning.

The most important part of our program would be a reinactment of the nativity by the children. Afterall, what is Christmas without acting out the birth of Jesus Christ with the help of some children?

From 12-2009

When we arrived. the 17 children were barely out of bed. They were still dressed in their pj's, and the woman in charge stated, "We have to bathe them all, first."

Hmm, we weren't too excited to wait for 17 baths because we had another appointment at 1 pm at the mission home for Christmas dinner with all the missionaries serving in Trinidad. The mission home was nearly an hour from the orphanage.

They hustled to get the children all dressed. One by one they combed all the girls' hair (most were girls)and finally we were ready for our show to begin in the large play area at the back of the orphanage. The children were seated on three benches in the shade and the show began.

First we introduced ourselves.

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What about our variety of Christmas headgear?

Elders Winenreid, Jarvis, Gaddy, and Beeson...

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Elders Carter, Lang, and Cornwall...

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Elders Nielsen, Bullock, Baxter and Morris...

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Elders Morris (again?), Jones and Clark...

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Elder and Sister Morton...

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And, Elder and Sister Bullock!

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We sang a few songs, did a few skits (such as the Ugliest Man), and then we were ready to dress the children in costumes to act out the nativity.

Each set of 4 elders were assigned to dress either the angels, wisemen, shepherds or Mary and Joseph. Here goes the dressing them in their costumes...

Elder Baxter helping Mary.

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Mary...

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Elder Lang helping Joseph...

From Drop Box

Joseph...

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The angels... (dressed in pillow cases from my apt.)

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The wisemen... (Do you like the way we used my skirts?)

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Is that the wisemen, again?

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The shepherds...(wearing

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towels, of course!)

Shepherds up close!

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And Michael who didn't want to wear a costume...

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The show begins with Joseph and Mary riding the donkey (Elder Jones).

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They've made it to the stable...Mary is still pregnant...there are a few "animals" with them in the stable.

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And Jesus was born! Everyone was happy, even the donkey!

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What do you think about all this, Joseph?

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The angels sang the announcement of his birth to the shepherds, who were watching their flocks from the slide.

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They took their "sheep" with them and followed the star as they looked for the baby Jesus.

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The "cows" in the stable helped to make a little room for the shepherds when they arrived.

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Isn't the baby Jesus darling?

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Here come the wisemen...

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Those wisemen had a long way to travel as they followed the star.

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Ah! They finally made it.

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They kneel at his feet.

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Then, smile for the camera.

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Can you tell how much the children are enjoying this? Especially Joseph!

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I'm not sure the 3 "cows" are enjoying it as much! Hey, I didn't know cows could stand on their hind legs only.

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The show ends with a final picture of the whole cast...children and elders. I'm not sure how Mary got tucked in and behind and a little out of view. Oh, well...

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Now for a look at the children after we gave them each 2 gifts. They ranged in age from 6 years to 17 years. Most were girls. Some of them were sisters.

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Bench 1...

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Bench 2...

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Bench 3...

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We had a very sweet visit at the orphanage. The children were responsive to us and we were happy to help them to have a happy Christmas memory.

There are lots of orphanages in both Guyana and Trinidad. The one we went to was only one of three that I visited this year in my search for our Christmas Day orphanage visit.

A Temple Christmas

From 12-2009

While many were hustling from store to store looking for just the right gift for their loved ones, Elder Bullock and I were in the temple with some of our beloved saints from Guyana.

When we were expelled from Guyana last October 28, 2009 by the Guyanese government, there were some saints whom we were still trying to help get to the temple. We promised them we would meet them in the Trinidad airport December 17th and fly with them to the Dominican Republic to spend a week with them there at the temple.

When Elder Bullock and I entered the airport, our Guyanese saints had been watching for us and the look of delight on their faces when they saw us arrive made us feel warm and wonderful. We hugged them all and the children treated us as if we were their grandparents.

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The group of Guyanese saints consisted of the 6 members of the Apple family, John, Nona and their four children; Radicka, and Rowena, both single mothers of 3.

The airport was decorated for Christmas and they were excited to have their photos taken.

Paloma, Matthew and Kevin Apple...

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Radicka...

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Rowena...

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We arrived after 1 am to the temple housing after a full day of flying...Guyana to Trinidad; Trinidad to Panama; and Panama to the Dominican Republic.

The next morning early we guided the Guyanese adults to the temple for their first visit to a temple.

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About noon the Apple family was sealed. It was a very precious moment to watch while the 6 of them knelt together around the altar. I snapped a quick picture in my mind that I hope to keep forever. Here are some pics of their family. Notice how happy they all look...knowing that they have the promise of being an eternal family if they keep the commandments of God.

The Apple family at the temple door...

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Here they are later on the temple grounds...

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Brother and Sister Apple...do they looked excited to be at the temple? Nona is so excited she is giving John a love punch to his chest!

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Here they are as we were leaving for church at a Spanish-speaking branch on Sunday. Can you tell it is raining?

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The Apples live in Bushlot which is a very rural part of Guyana. The Bushlot Branch was one of the branches we served in while we were missionaries in Guyana. Here are a couple of pictures of the house they were living in before we left there.

From Drop Box

Notice the pile of lumber in front of the house. They were given the rights to the lumber of a house that Bro. Apple subsequently had to tear down. He took all the lumber to build his family their own home. It was a short distance away from this house and somewhat larger. Neither house has electricity or piped water.

Elders Lebaron and McNeal took us over there. A few neighbor boys joined them in the photo.

From Drop Box

Brother Apple works in Georgetown all week and comes home to Bushlot on the weekend. They were baptized almost two years ago when we first came to Guyana. Here's a photo of their ocean baptism that we attended.

Their quick wedding so they could be baptized...

From Drop Box

The whole family dressed for their wedding in clothes Nona had made...

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Just before their baptism... a few cousins joined in the pic...

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Nona, John, and oldest daughter, Sasha, walking out into the deeper water...

From Drop Box

What a great blessing it was for us to be present at both their baptism and the sealing of their family in the temple. We love this great family.

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Rowena...

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Rowena lives in Georgetown, Guyana. She is the travel agent who arranged for all our airplane tickets for both our temple trips. I had only met her in Guyana once. When I ordered these last tickets through her, I received an email back from her asking if she could come with us on the temple trip. Of course, I wrote her back, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" We loved having her with us. She had a very strong testimony that was good for all of us.

Radicka lives in New Amsterdam, Guyana, which is about 1 1/2 hours east of Georgetown, the captitol of Guyana. New Amsterdam is just one of many villages that are in a semi rural setting. We lived in New Amsterdam and she was our Relief Society President. She was baptized 10 years ago and was one of the first members baptized in this part of Guyana. When she was baptized, there were only 5 members attending the meetings. Wow!

In the the housing facility for the temple patrons, there are two big kitchens where they are able to cook their meals. The missionary training center that is located upstairs also uses these kitchens so the patrons just have to be sure they do their cooking when the missionaries aren't eating.

Mealtime for our group was always a fun gathering time where they cooked together as one big family. We lazy Americans didn't bring anything to cook. We planned on eating "out", but they kept fixing things for us to eat.

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Rowena (on the left) and Radicka's ancestors are from India. The Apples are Ameridians which means they are Native Americans...or Lamanites. The ancestors of most of the people who now live in Guyana are East Indians (from India), Blacks (from Africa), and Ameridians. And of course, many of them are a mixture of these different races, such as Rowena.

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Check out the cute little round Ameridian/Lamanite faces of the Apple children.

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Bro. and Sis. Apple did most of the cooking. It looks like they've finished the dishes and are ready for fun!

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A little laundry room fun!

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On Monday we made a little walking visit to oldest part of Santo Domingo. We checked out an old fort and they loved taking photos on the....hmmm...you'll see what!

Radicka...

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Rowena...

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and Roberta...

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Can you believe we (I mean me) were able to make it up onto this old tank?

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Elder Bullock, is that you?

From Drop Box

Birds, birds...

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And more birds!

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We visited the oldest cathedral in the West Indies. The ceiling is made to resemble palm branches. It was pretty cool!

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A little look at one of the pretty stained glass windows...

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Here's the only Santa we could find in the Dominican Republic. Too bad the security guards chased us away before our whole group could get in the picture with him. I wanted to sit on his lap!

From the look on everyone's faces you might be able to tell that I snapped the photo as the guard was ordering us to leave!

From 12-2009