The Lost is Found

We hate to admit that we are getting old - well, okay, we are old.  Old people lose things and this week we lost a whole day. 

The English always celebrate Boxing Day the day after Christmas.  Christmas was Saturday, so Boxing Day was celebrated on Sunday and of course Monday (You've got to have a day off work you know.)  We finally found out what Boxing Day is -- it's the day you box up old things, new things, or whatever and give them to the poor, it's the original form of re-gifting - it's what you did before they invented the "return" lines at Walmart.  All this time I thought Boxing Day was a description of the fighting that occurs in the "return" lines.   

Monday we drove to the Shade House Project on Salisbury Plain and found that the pump still has not been installed.  Tuesday we stayed in the apartment all day and completed some much needed paperwork and made phone contacts -- still not many people are working this week.  In the meantime, we began organizing the senior missionary New Years Eve activities. We wanted to go to the Terra Nova restaurant for dinner on Friday but in calling, they wanted J$10,000 a plate (about $120 US).  We didn't think we could drink enough alcohol to get our money's worth, so we decided to go to dinner on Thursday.  Friday we will have a barbecue at the Mission Home and then attend the district New Years Eve Party and possibly view the fireworks in Kingston Harbor - if we can stay up that late.

Never let it be said that we are counting the days until we come home.  In fact its quite the opposite - we somehow lost a day and didn't recognize our error until we called for reservations for Thursday night and were told "we'll see you tomorrow".   Luckily I glanced at my watch and noticed the day was Wednesday and not Tuesday or I would have started to "straighten her out"!  

As we find our days again in order, we wish all of you a Happy New Year 2011!!  We send our love from Jamaica and will see you all in 8 months and 2 days, (if we don't get confused and stay a few days longer). 

The year of no Christmas program

Each year I look forward to the sacrament program before Christmas.  I marvel at the music, the reading of the Christmas message, the marvelous spirit everyone has in giving and merrily expressing our greetings of love to each other.  I love the lights, even though I complain in jest about helping Theron put them up, I love them.  (This year his holiday lighting consisted of putting 3 new light globes in our ceiling light and one in the refrigerator.)  Most of all, I love the message of Christ that resonates from everywhere.

With all these thoughts and anticipations, I was looking forward to the Kingston Branch Christmas Sacrament meeting.  In our past wards, we started singing Christmas hymns the first Sunday in December; this year we didn't.  I asked on the first Sunday why we didn't sing Christmas songs and was told that it was fast and testimony meeting; we don't sing about Christmas now.  My thought was why not we are singing of the Christ that we are testifying of, why not?  On this Sunday before Christmas, we did sing Christmas hymns, but that was the end of any mention of the season.

The first two speakers were the office elders, Elder Stone and Elder Packard.  They had been called to speak just a half-hour before the meeting started.  You would think they would chose the easiest thing to speak about - Christ and Christmas.  One talk was on keeping the Sabbath Day holy and the other was a testimony of the gospel.  Not one word about Christmas.  The main speaker was Brother Andersen, our new ward mission leader, who had also been asked to speak just before the meeting started.  He spoke on the Word of Wisdom.  He did make one reference to Christmas which was that he hasn't eaten his grandmother's rum laden Christmas cake since he was baptized.  The Jamaica Christmas cake is made with rum; they soak the fruit in rum for weeks before they make the cake.  The program was quickly going from bad to worse in my mind and heart.  President Martin, the Branch President, stood to speak because the other speakers had left 10 or so minutes remaining.  My thought was there is so much to speak about, we could have had two sacrament meetings about what we will celebrate this week.  President Martin rambled on about various things and testified of family and said that he too had to give up eating Christmas cake made by others.

Not one word in our precious Sacrament meeting time was spoken about the upcoming celebration.  No reading of the Christmas story written by Luke.  No expression of the ultimate trust our Heavenly Father had in Mary to nurture and love his precious son, Jesus Christ.  No mention of the miracle that happened in the other world of the night being as day testifying that Christ had indeed been born in Bethlehem.  No mention of the importance of the shepherds, humble men who came to worship.  No mention of the stable, the wise men, the star, and the angelic choirs.  Without the birth of Christ, we would not have the atonement; we would not have the fulfillment of John the Baptist's mission; we would not have the scriptures of the miracles; we would not have the earthly words of Christ recorded for edification.  The birth is a keystone.

My heart is full of gratitude for all the many brothers and sisters who gave of their talents in expressing through song and testimony this magnificent Christmas miracle.  I am grateful for a LaRae Dillingham who learned to play the piano as a child and shared her wonderful talent with us in so many Christmas programs.  I am grateful for Michael Moody, the General Church Music Chairman, for composing such beautiful Christmas songs and freely giving them to us as a gift.  I am grateful for Leanna Willmore who shares of her limited time to direct the magnificent choirs and bell ringers.

My Christmas this year was different, it almost wasn't Christmas until I decided to write these thoughts.  My Christmas is now in most precious memories and thoughts of precious people who have touched my life over the years.  I have also reflected on the Christmas Day I gave birth to our baby son Marc.  That was a precious gift to our family.  Our Heavenly Father has entrusted us with three precious spirits of whom we love so dearly.  They are my Christmas presents; I love you Adrian, Curt and Marc.

Perhaps the lesson to be learned from the Christmas program that wasn't is that Christmas resides in our hearts, our minds, and should become the strengthening testimony of our lives not only at this time, but always.

May all of you have a very Merry Christmas and relish in the joy of this season.

Sister Shanna Schaefermeyer, far away in Jamaica, but not far away from home and family.

A Season of a Thousand Opportunities

We have a quote from President Hinkley that we used in our family history presentations back in Utah.  President Hinkley said, "Service, that's what rolls the work along.  This is a season of a thousand opportunities."  I had contemplated this quote last year as we submitted our mission papers.  My thoughts then were, "There are a thousand different places to be sent and a thousand things we could be called to do, I wonder which one of the thousands we will be given"?  Well, this week I had to take President Hinkley's statement a little more literally.

On Thursday the 16th, we participated with Food For The Poor and the Salvation Army in a Christmas Treat for the Elderly.  We arrived at the park an hour before the announced 10:00 am starting time and found a long line of old people waiting for the gates to open.  This is, in and of itself, remarkable because in Jamaica nobody shows-up anywhere earlier than an hour AFTER an announced event starting time. 

Shortly after 10:00 the gates were opened and the infirm were brought in and seated at the long tables placed under large white "event" tents.  Shortly thereafter the others in line were escorted to their seats.  They were "escorted" to insure that things were done in an orderly fashion.  Apparently elderly doesn't necessarily equate to orderly when lining up for the Christmas Treat.  But it was fun taking many of the women by the arm and walking across the stadium to their seat.  They were excited to be there and were certainly in a festive mood. 

There were tickets given out for the event and many came with tickets that weren't colored quite like the original - but they were allowed in anyway, along with many who showed up without a ticket. We kept setting up tables, chairs and tents to accommodate as many as possible. Eventually we were out of room and had to leave many people on the outside of the fence to stand and watch from afar.

Tents full of old people!

The salvation army played Christmas Songs and everyone sang.  They had a well-known Jamaican entertainer who sang and everyone danced!  You haven't lived until you've seen people in wheelchairs or standing with only one leg, dance and celebrate the Christmas season!

Here is a video of some of the dancing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXcjnqj-Eqc

A traditional lunch of chicken with rice and peas was served followed by many of the old people coming up to the microphone to sing or tell poems.  Some of them had pretty good voices - and some did not.  The event concluded with the gifts being handed out as people left the stadium - again in a very orderly fashion! 

The gifts consisted of a plastic bag containing a bag of rice, one of Lima beans, a can of Vienna sausages and a can of mackerel.  A second bag was given that contained a LDS Hygiene Kit and a t-shirt along with a cap for the men and a pair of slippers for the women.

Shanna handing out some of the gifts.

 Now, about that "season of a thousand opportunities".  We seated 1300 people, served 1500 chicken lunches and handed out 1700 gifts - including to many of those still outside the gates!  I'm pretty sure that I've never given 1700 Christmas gifts before, but we did this year, and if you've contributed time or money to the Humanitarian Center, you were right there beside us  - participating in a Season of a Thousand-Seven-Hundred Opportunities for Service this Christmas.

Discovering a new attraction

I hesitate to write another blog about the "non-missionary" activities we are involved in, but you already know that that is exactly what I'm going to do.  I have several blogs that need to be written so I hope I can get a couple done today.

Last Monday we took Elders and Sisters Flake and Herbert over to see the Eighth Wonder of the World. We had been there before (see July 11 post) so they wanted to go.  Its a little exercise for the old folks so its a good outing.  Enough about that.  On the way home we stopped at a water diversion dam in Bog Walk Gorge just above Spanish Town.  This is a place we get a glimpse of as we travel up the canyon.  The dam is used to raise the level of the water to divert it down an irrigation canal and we have seen a security guard there so we assumed that we could not get too close to it. 



People walking across the river to Spanish Town



We parked a way below the dam and walked down  a steep hill where we found a small bridge to take us over the canal and a path that lead up to the diversion dam.  We quickly realized that that people living on the other side of the river had to walk across the river at the foot of the dam to get to town.  We spoke to a woman who was going to work, carrying her shoes and she walked.  As we walked across the river we passed two very young girls who were walking home from school together holding hands so they wouldn't fall down in the shallow but swift water.

There were  hundreds of Black-Fish swimming right at my feet

It turns out that the guard was responsible for adjusting and maintaining the flow of water in the canal and not for keeping people off the dam.  I asked him if anyone ever slid down with the water on the face of the dam and was told that yes, it happens all the time.  We then saw several young boys who said that they were going to slide but they had to wait until their food digested (somethings are the same all around the world).  They waited a good two minutes and then pulled off their pants and climbed up the stairs to the top of the dam.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IteRG50I7s 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfyrTxgj5bI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KCNiUt3hUI

When I spoke of sliding, I pictured sitting down and sliding.  Sliding on their feet totally took me by surprise.  As much fun as it looked, I couldn't quite convince myself to take off my pants and follow suit (or suit-less) but I'm sure I'll have video of me one of these days.

The Family Visits

Missionaries often define their time on a mission as Lump, Hump, Bump, and Go Home.  Each signifies a six month time period - at least for those who are out for 24 months.  As our mission is only 18 months we  officially reached the Hump on the first of December, - we celebrated by hugging our other two children as they arrived the next day.  Nine months is a long time to be away from family - even when you are busy!  What a joy it was to hug our grandsons, Cameron and Taylor, our daughter Adrian, our son Curt, and our favorite son-in-law Todd.

In Jamaica, you want to look like you fit in.  Just tie the luggage to the top of the car.

They arrived in MoBay and we immediately packed the car and headed for Kingston - a 4-hour drive through some of the best winding, pothole laden, narrow roads of Jamaica.  They were witnessing our best, right out the gate. 

We stayed in Kingston for three days where we met the mission president, assistants, and met a favorite person of ours, Gerda Shand.  Gerda is the principal at Achievers Multi-Resource Centre.  We had just installed a new computer lab at this school and we wanted Cameron and Taylor to see a Jamaica school.  They didn't say a lot, but I think they will appreciate their schools more by having this experience.  Besides, we needed Curt and Todd's computer expertise to fix a problem we were having.  They came through and diagnosed and resolved the problems.  We could have gotten it fixed locally, but they work cheap and we will certainly use what the Lord (and Delta Frequent Flier Miles) has provided!

Elders Talbert and Lee with future elders Cameron and Taylor.

This was a vacation for them and for us (yes, senior missionaries can have vacation).  We traveled to the only beach near Kingston - Lime Cay.  Well, the beach is actually a 20 minute boat ride out of Port Royal to a small island.  The day was perfect; lots of sun, good snorkeling, lots of sand, and a real treat for Utahns' to get out of the snow and cold.  Actually, the water in the ocean was warmer than in our swimming pool - just ask Adrian who wouldn't get in the pool because it was too cold.

Gerda Shand at Achievers.

We almost had the whole island to ourselves.

December in Jamaica.

We were able to watch the Christmas Devotional at the branch in MoBay and then enjoy three great days at Sunset Beach Resort sipping virgin hummingbirds (ask Cameron about this drink, he turned into a lush of sorts - we're going to have to watch that kid), riding the water slide and lazy river, canoeing, paddleboating, and swimming, swimming swimming.  Taylor was waterlogged by the end of each day.  A cold front came through but Taylor didn't care, he was in the pool.  Theron, Todd and Curt went diving on Monday and on Wednesday we all went rafting down the Martha Brea River on bamboo rafts. The rafts used to be used to ferry the bananas down the river to market but now they haul an even better cash crop of tourists.

Vine swinging.

 

Sipping a hummingbird.

Just another day in Jamaica.

Thursday came all too quickly.  What a treat this was for us to have everyone so close, to talk and laugh, and just share time with.  Families are so important and we are ever grateful for our wonderful family.  What a joy to hug Cameron and Taylor and everyone else.  We loved to tell our stories about our work and have them give us encouragement and support.  It was a great way to celebrate our Hump day and now we are starting to think (and worry) about our Go Home day in another 9 months.

A Christmas Activity

It has been a while since we posted a blog and lots of things have happened, so this may turn into two or three different blogs.  We'll start with the Spanish Town District Relief Society Christmas service project of two Saturdays ago.  The sisters in the district were asked to donate soap, towels, canned food, and other items to be given to the residents of the St. Monica Home for the Elderly. Many of the item they were requesting are contained in our hygiene kits and since we had just received a new shipment we offered to add to what the sisters donate.  (May we sincerely thank all the many sisters and youth that go regularly to the humanitarian center or put together these kits in wards and stakes throughout the Church.  We appreciate these kits, the people literally treasure these kits, and they are just so perfect!  Thank you, thank you.)

Singing Christmas Songs

We committed 50 kits for the project, one for each elderly resident and one for each staff member.  Elder and Sister Herbert and we arrived at the announced time of 10:30 a.m; we had a wonderful time talking with the Herberts until the sister arrived around 11:30 a.m.  Okay, Jamaica time, no problem.  The District Relief Society President, Sister Campbell, had the staff bring the residents to the dining hall.  As they assemble, some are capable of walking on their own, others are in a wheelchair, and one sister was carried by an orderly.  A sweetness filled the room as each one assembled.  The first song from our small group of Relief Society sisters was "I Am A Child of God."  The sister leading the music expressed to each that we are all children of a Father in Heaven.  Tears rolled down one lady's face.

Lifting Spirits

We then started in with singing Christmas songs --  Away in a Manager, Silent Night, The First Noel, I Heard the Bells, O' Little Town of Bethlehem.  Here we were sweating in the small room filled with people, the coconut tree, breadfruit tree, and ackee tree standing resolute in the courtyard, not a breeze in all the air and we were singing Christmas songs.  I guess it felt like Christmas, but it didn't look like the Christmas' I am used to seeing.  The resident I was standing by was singing loudly to each song.  Others listened so intently and other sang along quietly.  Eyes were wet and hearts were swelling.

The Relief Society sisters prepared sandwiches and cake.

After the singing, we handed out the hygiene kits -- they were hugged.  For those residents that were bedridden, we took a kit to their bedroom.  Everyone was appreciative.  Small sandwiches and cake were given to everyone and all the other items donated by various sisters were distributed.  Never have I seen a small gift so warmly received.  What a wonderful way to start the Christmas season.

We are seeing Christmas trees and lights adorning businesses and homes (and palm trees - we even saw an artificial palm tree for sale next to the traditional Christmas trees outside a store in the mall), but we still can't sing "It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas."  The sun is warm, the palm trees are swaying from time to time, but that's as far as it goes.  We have no decorations in the apartment and we both received our Christmas presents from home last week when Adrian was here.  I love my new Kindle and Theron loves his new socks.  This Christmas isn't about presents, it's about service and we hope our service is acceptable to the Lord.  May all of you have warmth in your hearts for family, friends and the wonderful gift that our Father in Heaven gave us on that first Christmas.  Merry Christmas to all.

Love,
Elder and Sister Schaefermeyer

We weren't very thankful, but . . .

There are times when we have to do things we are not thankful for, but we do them and they turn out to be some of our best moments, greatest blessings and most profound learning expereinces.  Several weeks ago, we received word that during the Thanksgiving holida, we would need to be in the Dominican Republic for humanitarian training.  President and Sister Hendricks had already planned a great senior missionary Thanksgiving and my how we wanted to be there.  That's how we approached this thankless trip to the DR.  Oh, it would be a great time to meet with all the other Caribbean humanitarian missionaries and interface with Bennie Lilly our direct supervisor over welfare, but we would have preferred a different week.



Tuesday we traveled from Jamaica to Miami to the Santo Domingo.  It did give us a chance to get a US stamp in our passports.  This was important because Jamaica requires that if you live there for over a year you have to get a country drivers license (which make us eligible for receiving traffice tickets); one little hop to Miami and we're good for another year; problem for us resolved.  One blessing realized from our trip.




Bennie Lilly, Elder and Sister Atkinson, Brother Theodore



We started the training early Wednesday morning and met Elder and Sister Angus (from Vernal) who serve in Guyana/Trinidad/Tobago, Elder and Sister Atkinson (from Alpine) who serve in the Dominican Republic and Brother Bertonie Theodor (from Haiti) who serves in Haiti.  We are the humanitarian corps in the Caribbean.



Training room at Area Offices.  Elder and Sister Angus and Theron's back.

 We were taught from the new Church Handbook of Instructions which contains several significant changes.  Perhaps the most important one is the new guiding principles of the Church.  We all know the - preach the gospel, perfect the saints, redeem the dead, but a fourth principle has been added -- care for the poor and needy.  With this change we learned that welfare councils are done away and ward councils (using all ward leadership) have this responsibility.  It brought our work so much into focus.

We also learned the difference between a bishop's storehouse and the Lord's storehouse.  My immediate reaction to this topic was 'we can't have one of these in Jamaica because we don't have a stake and bishops.'  Little did I know how much we now have to teach on this topic in Jamaica.  Look at D&C 82 and read alll the things that we are to bring to the bishop's storehouse.  I have always lumped 'talents and skills' with material resources, but after our workshop I will no longer think this, as I have now learned that even in places where no physical bishop's storehourse exists, there is the Lord's storehouse; it's stocked with all the talents, skills and testimonies of the members.  Immediately, my thoughts flowed to our food new initiative and that's exactly the way it was organized.  We give all the credit for this direction to the Lord.

In one of our discussions, Brother Theodore from Haiti whos native language is French, asked, 'What is a slum?'  For a brief moment, everyone in the room stopped breathing.  How do you answer this question?  The reference is all in our perspective and background.  He lives in Haiti; they are struggling with adequate housing, food and clean water which are all terms I would use as 'slums' yet to him this is not so.  What a narrow view of life I have.



If we had only attended this one day of training, our time in the DR would have been well spent.  We weren't very thankful to go, but we are indeed thankful now for the change it made in our hearts.

However, the day was not over.  In the early evening, Elder and Sister Coleman of the area presidency (from North Salt Lake) hosted our group to a complete Thanksgiving dinner.  Sister Coleman had baked for a couple of days the pies and turkey.  Sister Almeida (wife of the DTA - Director of Temporal Affairs)contributed part of the food as did Sister Anderson (wife of a member of the area presidency).  What a treat to be in this special home at this thankful time of year.  Thank you Colemans; we love and appreciate them.

Elder and Sister Atkinson (DR) and Brother and Sister Almeida

Elder and Sister Angus (Guyana) and Elder Coleman

Thursday's meetings started with Elder Coleman's weeping testimony of humanitarian work.  He talked about projects and people in Mexico when he was the Area President there.  Marc do you remember the first employment center in Monterrey?  It would have been about the time you served there.  He talked a lot about Monterrey, Mexico which is also a special place in our hearts because our son, Marc, served his mission there. 

Schaefermeyers, Almeidas, Atkinsons, Bennie Lilly, Bertonie Theodore, Angus', Elder and Sister Coleman



There is so much from this day that we will take back and try to implement and teach in Jamaica.  Our hearts are full and thankful.

The most special occurance was attending the Temple on this Thanksgiving Day.  What a special time for us.  It had been 9 months since we were last in the Temple.  That's the longest time we had ever been absent from participating.  If nothing else had happened, this would have been a highlight.



We weren't very thankful, but our hearts were touched, we were taught, we learned, our minds were opened and our attitude changed.  It still would have been wonderful to spend Thanksgiving in Jamaica, or even better at home with family, but this Thanksgiving opportunity will always be a highlight of our mission.

These comments from a talk that President Monson gave in May of 1986 summarize our charge and focus.  We share this and hope you feel his spirit and the spirit of our work:



He was speaking of the welfare program and it's initial purpose, "Our (the Church's) primary purpose was to set up, insofar as it might be possible, a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of a dole abolished, and independence, industry, thrift and self respect be once more established amongst our people.  The aim of the Church is to help the people to help themselves. . . . As we look back through fifty years and reflect on the development of the welfare program, as we look forward to the years ahead, let us remember the place of the priesthood, the role of the Relief Society, and the involvement of the individual.  Help from heaven will be ours."

Then he quotes, "How silently, how silently, The wondrous gift is giv'n!

So God imparts to human heart The blessings of his heav'n.

No ear may hear his coming; But in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive him, still.  The dear Christ enters in. (Hymn 208)

I had never thought about these words from this song in conjunction with our welfare program, but I am thankful for the new perspective.

Missions are about friendships

Today is "black" Thursday here in Jamaica, well at least for some of us, because Elder and Sister Cheesman left for home.  They had served 18 faithful months in the mission office.  They were creative, fun, efficient, fun, and did we mention had become our very good friends these last 8 1/2  months and they were fun.  We were blessed to have them share our life and work with us during this time.  Cheesmans we love you; we love your testimonies; we wish you the best!  We miss you already.

Sister Gail Cheesman leaving the apartment for the last time.

Shonete Grant of Clarendon Home for the Disabled.

Since companionships are together 24/7 its hard to come home and talk about the events of the day, so we would share our adventures with the Cheesmans.  They claimed their days were pretty routine in the office and so always seemed interested in what we were doing.  When we had tales to tell, we could come back and tell them to our friends.  If they were still here we would tell them about the lizard running through our car today that caused us both to scream like little girls.  They would laugh and Ross would have thrown his head back and say, "Oh, - My,  -Gosh!" 

We would tell them about our plan today to go to Spanish Town, give some hygiene kits to the Clarendon Home for the Disabled, visit Food for the Poor (FFP) and measure wheelchair seats to make a pattern for getting seat cushions made and then be home by noon.  They would be excited to know that our order of ten shipping containers has started to arrive at Food for the Poor and be amazed at the many 100 lb bundles of clothing and the many other items the church is providing to the people of Jamaica.  They would be excited to know that we saw President Smith waiting to pick up two new commercial sewing machines for two sisters in his branch who will be sewing our wheelchair cushions. When we explained that FFP  had an order of supplies for President Blake in Sav-La-Mar that we had to haul to the Spanish Town Building for storage they would understand why we look so sweaty and why our half day job turned into an all day affair that included a few service hours from Elder Peterson and Elder Powell the Zone Leaders in Spanish Town.  Which of course included lunch at Pizza Hut.
These are the things we would tell the Cheesmans, and even though we are always happy to share them with our blog readers and family, we want the Cheesmans' to know that we loved to have their listening ear and their ready smile to keep us encouraged to pursue another day.

Some of the 100 pound bales of clothing that just arrived from SLC

There is a special grandmother in Morgan that will enjoy these pictures of Elder Peterson.  He is a great missionary.



Elder Peterson and Elder Powell - (Elder Peterson is the shorter one)

Now a report on our projects -- the Area Presidency meets on Wednesday to approve projects.  Well, yesterday was Wednesday.  Jamaica had a great day -- Approved were projects for Garland Hall Children's Home in Montego Bay; Brokenhurst Community Center in Mandeville; and YES - the two district Food Initiatives!!!  We are now just one step away from a very large project that we are both excited and scared about.  This is a major initiative and will be the first one under the new guidelines.  Our partner is the Church membership and it will provide chicken, goats, pigs, gardens, and home food storage projects across the two districts.

Yesterday, November 17, was also another big day.  My father turned 80 years old.  Happy Birthday Dad.

A Day in the Life of Our Mission

We haven't done a day in the life for a while now, but today was a day worth noting.  This day was planned yesterday when we received a phone call that a sister from Linstead was in the hospital at Spanish Town and needed a wheelchair.  Okay, time to put our wheelchair assessment procedures into place.  Clearing the delivery of a wheelchair with Food for the Poor, we arranged to pick up Tracy Meddow, our wheelchair monitor and certified wheelchair fitter, to devote her day to assessing Beryl Barrett, our patient.  More about Tracy later, and enough of the background that leads to today, November 11, 2010.

8:30 a.m.:  We leave home to drive to Yallahs, 45 minute drive east of Kingston, to pick up Tracy.

Tracy and Beryl at the hospital.

9:30 a.m.:  Leave Yallahs for Spanish Town -- this is 45 minutes back to Kingston and 35 minutes further west to Spanish Town.  On this drive, we get a call from Susan Moore, Medical Director of Food for the Poor.  She told us that she had received a call from a doctor concerning Vernal McLeggin.  Vernal was measured for a wheelchair at our training, but we couldn't give him the chair because he had a pressure sore.  The doctor said that He was working with Vernal to heal his sores but that the chair Vernal currently had was causing the sores and so he was requesting that Vernal receive the new chair that would fit him properly so he could heal.  Okay we said, not a problem (of course we actually said, "no problem mon").  "Where does he live Susan?"  She thought it was MayPen, about an hour drive west of where we were.  "Can't help him today".
 
11:30 a.m.:  Arrive at Spanish Town Hospital and visit with Beryl.  She is a member with a strong testimony and told us about her conversion -- basically she saw the missionaries walking the streets of Bog Walk and asked them "Whamefo?"  Interpreted means what are you doing here?  They told her and she joined and is one of the few members who is endowed.  Right now, she suffers from endometrial cancer and her entire lower body is swollen, thus the need for a wheelchair.  Tracy proceeds to measure her so we can get the proper size.  The hospital bed she is sitting on isn't ideal to properly measure to determine the size of chair because it's soft and Tracy determines that a 20" wheelchair is needed-- that's a large one.

12:30 p.m.:  Pick up wheelchair from Food for the Poor.  As we drive to the back to pick up the chair, we see a man in a wheelchair who is getting a rough rider chair and as we stop to talk to him we find it is Vernal McLeggin, who actually lives in Spanish Town just 10 minutes from FFP.  He was on his way home with his new wheelchair; he was going to wheel it home from his wheelchair.  So we loaded him and his two chairs and drive him home.  Coincidence?  I don't think so.  We were there at the right time in the right place.  Vernal told us that when he sat in the Rough Rider wheelchair, he was so excited and so at home.  He was very disappointed that he couldn't take it home last week.  His friend here told us that this chair was all he has been talking about.  Today, he has his chair and he is thrilled!  "It is the first time I have sat in a chair and felt at home and comfortable in."

Vernal and his new rough rider.  This is in front of his home. He runs the internet cafe shown just behind him.

Lunch at Angel's Pizza Hut and then to Spanish Town Chapel to pick up some hygiene kits to surprise the staff at Spanish Town Hospital. 

2:00 p.m.:  We arrive at the chapel.  Elder and Sister Herbert and the full-time elders are there.  We visit and load the car --oh, just for good measure we throw in 3 boxes of newborn kits.  Now, back to the hospital to deliver the wheelchair.  We arrive, load the hygiene kits into the wheelchair (hey, we don't want to strain our backs) and push them to the ward.  The nurse of the ward sees us and smiles from ear to ear -- the social worker sees us and says are you the Humanitarian Missionaries?  We have been calling the Preeces for months now.  We have 4 babies on the floor and need diapers.  Do you have any?  Well, let's see, we have those 3 boxes of newborn kits in the car and a few other items.  Go figure -- were we in the right frame of mind or what?  Tracy sits Beryl in the wheelchair and you know what, the chair was too big -- she really needed an 18".  Okay, now what.  As Tracy and I are deciding what to do, Beryl asks me where Elder was; I say he will be here shortly (he was down getting newborn kits).  Then she asks if he would give her a blessing.  Remember the Herberts and full-time missionaries?  Yup, we call them and they tell us they will go get some oil and be there in 15 minutes.  We can't wait until they get here because we have to go back to FFP and get an 18" wheelchair before their warehouse closes

The new wheelchair.

3:30 p.m.:  We arrive back at Food for the Poor, they help us exchange the wheelchair.  We go back to the hospital.  Fit the chair; leave Spanish Town.  The Herberts have just left, the blessing went well.  It all just works out and you know why, because the Lord is in charge and is concerned about each of us individually.

We now drive back to Yallahs, drop off Tracy and then home to Kingston.  Arrive home around 7:00 p.m.

About Tracy.  You may remember the plane crash in Jamaica in December of last year.  She was the missionary returning from Atlanta, Georgia who was on the flight. You may have read her story in the Church News. We heard all the details; learned a lot of her life; saw her magnificent testimony.  That was the best part of the day.  There are days when you are around special people that just make the day a marvelous experience.  Today was such a day.

The best comment of the day was Theron on the way home -- "I can't wait to get back to Utah so I can drive on roads that aren't an obstacle course."  He spends all day looking at the road, dodging potholes dodging cars, and dodging people walking on the road.  It is an obstacle course.  I don't mind; I'm in the passenger seat.

Just a normal traffic day.  Anything goes.

End of the Hurricane Season

After the two weeks of wheelchair training, we were both in somewhat "funky" moods -- well, let's just say we were tired and lazy.  The good news is that it is over - the other good new is that hurricane season is over but the bad news is - there is a hurricane on its way!  So early Sunday morning, President Hendricks directed us to call the branch presidents and have them announce over the pulpit to have members make appropriate preparations for Hurricane Tomas.  Monday, we arranged for a video call between Bennie Lilly, the Area Welfare Manager who lives in the Dominican Republic, us, and President Hendricks.  Tuesday morning found us in the call going over emergency procedures.  We tested the satellite phone, bought a couple of loaves of bread checked our generator, and watched and waited.

The path of Hurricane Tomas

Knowing there wasn't much for us to do; who can re-direct a hurricane. We spent Wednesday and Thursday finishing writing the food initiative project descriptions.  On Friday, we met with President Hendricks and received his official approval of the project.  We are now waiting for Cullimores to talk with Salt Lake to get their unofficial approval before we officially submit it to the area presidency for their official approval before they send it to salt Lake for their official approval.  We officially guarantee you haven't heard the last of this project!  Our final projection is to help over 340 families both LDS and non-LDS, 3 children homes, a reintegration agency, a Mustard Seed Community, and a homeless shelter agency.

Tomas took its time and Thursday night it rained.  Well, let's just say it rained as it normally does, nothing spectacular.  Friday was rainy with breaks of sun.  Saturday was windy (but not as bad as the Uintah Basin) with clear skies.  If this is what a hurricane is like, we'll definitely take it over a tropical depression.  Neala and Elynn's Nicole was only a tropical storm but had 100 times the power of Tomas the Hurricane.  We were prepared (and that's a good thing) but the preparation wasn't worth the outcome.  Our hearts go out to the people of Haiti who continues to go through one devastation after another.  We have a container of emergency supplies and equipment on its way from headquarters but on Friday we were asked if it would be alright to divert it to St. Lucia and we were glad it was loaded and already being shipped.  May they use the supplies to help them clean up and recover.  We are ever thankful that Tomas missed us.  The ground in the mountains is still saturated but our damage is minimal.

The new mission office on 4 Garelli, Kingston 4

The mission office after hurricane Tomas (actually its just the move to a new office)

The Mission Office was moved this week.  The new building will be much nicer, the space use is different but everyone will adapt, and maybe next week they will have the phones working.  This was more tragic than Tomas.  It takes a lot to move an office and set up the new one.  By Friday, they could all sit at a desk and do a little work.  Yup, that's what missions are about; adapting to what needs to be done when it needs to be done.  Thanks for all your prayers about our safety during the non-hurricane.  We declare the 2010 hurricane/tropical storm season officially over.

Someone needs to tell him Hurricane Tomas is over.  He wears everything he owns.

 

"Mormons Hand Out Rough Riders"

That was the title of the Gleaner newspaper article about our wheelchair training and donation.  Although the name Rough Rider is appropriate for the type of chair we are providing, the brand is also used on a small rectangular box kept behind the counter at the pharmacies here in Jamaica -  yep, condoms, and thus the heading will probably improve the readership more than a mundane moniker  such as "LDS Roll Out New Chair".

Getting the chairs ready.  Were we grateful for an air compressor.  This is a Rough Rider chair.

Steve Spencer, PT, teaching the 1st class.

It was April when we started working on the wheelchair project for Jamaica.  We had to convince our partner, Food for the Poor (that didn't take much effort) to participate in the training program which the Church requires for wheelchair distribution.  Once it's decided to do the project, we write the project, get it approved, order the chairs, put all the details together to actually make it happen.  We weren't the only ones working on this, our good friends Kelvyn and Kay Cullimore, the specialists from Salt Lake guided us through the whole thing.  We are grateful for mentors.  The program is taught by physical therapists the Church selects who travel here and conduct 2-days of training and one-day of actually applying what is learned by fitting people for wheelchairs.  Fitting people for a wheelchair you ask?  What's that all about?  It's about preventing life threatening pressure sores and other health risks.  It's about selecting the right type and size of chair to help the person be comfortable and confident, and teaching them how to properly use them and care for them.  We  arranged for about 30 people to come to the training; one-half came Mon, Tues, Wed and one-half came Thurs, Fri, Sat.  The people who were trained fitted 24 people with new wheelchairs on Wednesday and 28 wheelchairs on Saturday.  Those were the paydays for us!  What a wonderful experience.

This is how you use the wrench we gave each student.  At first, she didn't want to be there.

Assessing the patient is critical to understanding the person.

We had great students from 14 different agencies that deal with people with disabilities.  There was one nurse who came grudgingly (no one trained at your facility means no wheelchairs for your facility, so she came).  About one hour into the training, she was one of our best students and could not tell us enough how much she was learning.  That happened over and over with several professionals who attended.  This is a great program and our partner is now distributing wheelchairs to those agencies who have certified fitters. 

Just a few of the stories:
This young man came in with no wheelchair.  He had been shot several months earlier and was now paraplegic.  I watched the fitting and he received one of the "Rough Riders" -- kind of a sports car model wheelchair.  I saw him outside using the chair and saw a young woman watching.  I asked her if she knew him and she told me she was his girlfriend.  The conversation was, 'He looks like he can really use that chair,'  she said, 'It's been a long time since I have seen him smile like that.'  The people in the yellow shirts are the class participants.  Garfield (on the right) uses a wheelchair all the time.  He even received a new one after the training -- fitted just for him.

He is a gunshot victim.

Then, there's the mother who has one arm, no legs, and her chair was literally falling apart.  Look at how her life will be changed.

Nothing stops some people from life.

This man has no legs and he juggles on the street as a way to make some cash.  His old chair had high arms and it was difficult for him to be flexible and juggle.  The streamlined chair with low arms gives him lots of mobility.  I asked if he wanted to have the foot rest removed and he immediately told me, no ma'm, that's for my bag of juggling equipment.

The foot rest will be used for his bags!

The children are extremely sweet.  I could not imagine living in a wheelchair my whole life.  This little gal could not stop smiling.  She came in, in a very small wheelchair.  She has to wheel herself to school over dirt roads.  Wow, what a joy it will be to use this new chair.

On Saturday, October 30, I turned 60 years old.  What a way to spend my birthday -- seeing these people smile, change their lives, and find joy in this program.  These few chairs are only the tip of the iceberg, we had 500 chairs shipped.  The worth of one soul is great in the eyes of the Lord.  Thanks to all who donate to this program.  We'll see whether the headline proves to be an attention getter or not.

Two Rough Riders growing old together.