Funny Face

Elder Lauritzen has gone home to Riverside, California.

From 2009-03-16

As a final tribute to him, I'll share with you some of the funny faces he made to keep us all entertained!

From 2009-03-16

From 2009-03-16

From 2009-03-16

From 2009-03-16

From 2009-03-16

From 2009-03-16

From 2009-03-16

We miss you, Elder!

Wuh oppen dere?

It's "What happened there?" for those of you who aren't Guyanese!

Ting mash in! (Thing mash in!)

From 2009-03-15JadeBassoo

Actually, I stepped in some really soft mud that had just been scooped by a big machine with a long arm that scoops mud from the trenches and dumps it in various places. This had been dumped right on the wide pathway in front of all the houses in Cow Dam so there was nowhere else to walk but right on it. Some of it had dried and hardened but if you weren't careful enough you might hit a very soft spot and sink...which I did almost to the knee with one of my legs.

The Elders who were with us yelled, "Wait a minute, I've got to get a picture of this!"

From 2009-03-15JadeBassoo

When I was finally able to pull my stuck leg from the slimy black mud (with a lot of help), this is what my foot looked like.

Gross! And I think my hairdo looks even grosser!!!!

Loads of Clothes

We have received boxes of clothes from so many of our generous friends, including the primary children from Kent, Washington. We say thank you to all of you for sending clothes that we can share with our Guyanese friends to help make their lives a little more comfortable and to put smiles on their faces.

We'll add a few photos we've taken of some of our friends modeling what we have given to them. See if you recognize anything that they are wearing that you might have donated.

From 2009-02-11

Be sure to check out their shoes.

From 2009-02-11

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Baby clothes for Janelly, Jade's baby.

From 2009-02-11

A whole outfit for Roopa's mission...one of several we picked from the boxes for Roopa and Bibi that they will be able to wear on their missions.

From 2009-02-11

And here is Roopa, again.

From 2009-02-11

We have found about 8 little girls the ages of these, whom we have been able to give a pile of about 4-5 outfits each to take home. We see them wearing them to church each week.

From 2009-03-15JadeBassoo

More little girls.

From 2009-03-15JadeBassoo

One more with a huge grin!

From 2009-03-15JadeBassoo

Here's a tiny one that is adorable!

From 2009-03-15JadeBassoo

Here's some bigger ones that are adorable as well. Their names are Pretty, Prya, Ameritta, Navita, Sharmela and of course Roopa is in the middle. Most are wearing "box clothes"!

From 2009-02-11

This family has 7 children and the mother is just 28. She was 14 when she married. We have been able to help this family a lot.

From 2009-03-15JadeBassoo

We were able to find church clothes in the boxes for Tasha's husband and older boys...all except church pants for the dad. So, I asked the elders if anyone had pants they had grown out of, and I was in luck...or I should say Tasha's husband was in luck. They looked great at church the next week all decked out in their dress shirts, pants and ties!

From 2009-02-11

Church clothes for this little family of boys, Richard, Michael, and Nicholas. They especially loved the ties!

From 2009-02-11

Little Travis went crazy over all the pockets in these long shorts.

From 2009-02-11

Nanda and her daughter, Aliena, are both pretty proud of their new outfits.

From 2009-02-11

Here's the older daughter, Alecia, wearing the same dress. Her mother sneaks and wears it when Alecia isn't home to stop her!

From 2009-02-11

Here's Alecia, again. She loves this dress!

From 2009-02-11

Nanda, Aliena and Alecia all love green like I do!

From 2009-02-11

Aliena figured out she could wear a little girl's dress as a blouse. Alecia wears this blouse frequently.

From 2009-02-11

Kevaul loved his long shorts. When I returned later to take his photo, they were hanging on the clothes line so I knew he'd been wearing them.

From 2009-02-11

Jamal had to pull his shorts off the clothesline for his photo, as well!

From 2009-02-11

And here he is posing with his soaking wet shorts.

From 2009-02-11

Nervani and Shavonni always have a huge smile and a kiss for me.

From 2009-02-11

Here they are with their mother, Tasha, who has the 7 children and is 28. The oldest child is 13!

From 2009-02-11

This just a big mixture of people saying goodbye to Elder Fillerup after church. Some are wearing clothes from the boxes.

From 2009-02-11

I thought you'd like to see how some of the boxes were packed.

From 2009-02-11

Linda must have spent hours rolling each item to its tiniest size. The clothes were all in the boxes like sardines in a can.

From 2009-02-11

Here is the Rosignol primary. Some of the children in the front rows are wearing some of the clothes.

Thank you all of you that sent clothes. I don't have photos of everyone. There were so many more that I just couldn't photos of them all!

Our three missionaries

Yes, they are ours! They are our three darling Guyanese missionaries!

Bibi has been waiting since December for her call to come. Of course, it didn't help that she never sent in her dental clearance form with her papers because she was afraid to have her 8 cavities filled that needed filling!

But now the fillings have been filled and she is still waiting for her call to arrive. But, she has received her flight itinerary so she knows where she is going on her mission...to the Dominican Republic West Mission.

From 2009-03-15JadeBassoo

Here's how excited she was when I copied off her itinerary, highlighted her mission assignment, placed it in an envelope and delivered it to her home. She kept hugging me and saying, "Oh, I love you! Love you! Love you!"

From 2009-03-15JadeBassoo

Here's Vickey when he received his call to Puerto Rico. He has the greatest smile all the times these days!

From 2009-03-15JadeBassoo

Today, Bibi, Vickey and Roopa all spoke in the Bushlot Branch sacrament meeting so they could share with everyone why they are going on missions and to encourage them to prepare to go, also. Aren't they so adorable?

After the meeting all the young people gathered around them to hear about where they were going and to meet them. They all are members of other branches. The next 2 Sundays they will be speaking in the sacrament meetings of our other 2 branches.

From 2009-03-15JadeBassoo

Meet the Bassoo family (minus the dad) who were in sacrament meeting to hear their talks. We are at their house just after church and they are all modeling some of the clothes that we have just shared with them from the boxes we've been sent.

From 2009-03-15JadeBassoo

And here we are, the old missionary couple. We couldn't be more proud of them if we were their parents!

Jade's baby....Janelly

Here's a quick "before" photo of Jade.

From 2009-02-11

Check out that big belly! Pretty huge for a little gal like Jade!

From 2009-02-11

Hey, that's a cute little gal...only a few days old.

From 2009-02-11

Baby Travis, sitting at the end of mommy's bed, just isn't the baby anymore!

From 2009-02-11

"Who says babies are good?", thinks little Travis.

From 2009-03-15JadeBassoo

Here's Janelly a week later looking pretty sweet.

From 2009-02-11

A couple of months later, and little Travis thinks things still aren't that great around the house with Janelly always crying for his mommy!

From 2009-02-11

"See, she's always trying to look real cute so mommy will pick her up. What about me?" he thinks. "I used to own this whole place, including my mommy!"

From 2009-02-11

"Who says she's cute? Not me. She just cries all the time."

From 2009-02-11

"So, where can I hide her from mommy?"