Week 9 in St. Thomas

In some ways we are gobsmacked that we have been here for 9 weeks!  Some days it feels like 9 years and other days fly by.  We will admit that this week has flown by.  We are getting to know more and more people and even run into people at the store that we know once in a while!  The beach in this picture is about a mile from our apartment.  It has a rocky shore, so it isn't my favorite but because it is close, we go down once in a while just to watch the sunset and relax.  We live in a place where the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea meet each other, and it is really beautiful.

This is an example of some of the art that one can find around on the retaining walls on the island. Most of the art is patriotic or religious.  They are always in bright colors and interesting to look at. You can see it mostly in Charolette Amalie and the Red Hook Area.

This is a picture of how the garbage is collected on the island.  There are huge receptacles placed in various spots on the island, and people bring their trash to these places and then the garbage trucks go and pick up the trash there.  It really is pretty efficient.  There is no way garbage trucks could collect trash from each home here because the streets are so narrow and steep in many places.

This weekend, Elder and Sister Flake came over to our island and to Tortola to present firesides on the Pathways, Self Reliance and English Connect programs that the church has going in these areas.  It was so fun to be with them for a day or two and get to know what they do.  They live in Puerto Rico and it is the first time that they had come to St. Thomas.  They are from Snowflake, Arizona.  They do a great work here!

•                                             We did our best with this selfie!

It is kind of hard to see what is going on in this picture, but this is "The Isles of the Sea" District Meeting .  We have it on Google Hang out!  So all the missionaries that serve on the islands have a meeting together every Tuesday at 9:30am  to 10:30am.  It is wonderful to connect with these other missionaries and share thoughts on things that we have studied during the week and how to better serve .  There are Senior Couples on Antigua, and St. Kitts and Elders on St. Croix and Dominica.  We are the only island that has both a senior couple and a set of Elders, and we feel so lucky!!!!

 On some days here in St. Thomas we will have as many as 20,000 tourists here via cruise ships.  So the economy of St. Thomas really does depend on the tourist industry.  The hurricanes in 2017 really hurt the economy here, but things are up and running now and I am sure that so many people are grateful for that. 

  Look at there size of the Tres Leche cake that they are eating!  Kris owns a jewelry store here and is a member from India.  He treated us to a Puerto Rican dinner one night this week.  It was fun to get to know him better!  I told him that he is the age of our oldest son, so we have kinda adopted him!

On Thursday (Pi Day) Elder Robinson turned 20 years old.  He is no longer a teenager!  The Marshes had us all over for dinner to celebrate his birthday.  Elder Robinson is from Gilbert AZ & is a really good missionary. We feel blessed to serve with him on St. Thomas.

We were in Tortola this weekend and had a linger-longer after church to honor the Relief Society.  The Relief Society, which is the women's organization of the church is the largest and oldest women's organization in the world.  I am so grateful for this organization.  It helped me as a young mother `raising our teenagers, learning how to organize our home, cook, and just so many other things too numerous to list.  Probably the thing I love the most about Relief Society is the sisterhood that I have always felt.  No matter where we lived, I always knew that I would have an immediate "family" of women that would care about me and our family.  The purpose of Relief Society is to help women prepare for the blessings of eternal life as they increase faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and His Atonement; strengthen individuals, families and homes through ordinances and covenants; and work in unity to help those in need."  I feel like if we embrace this organization and participate fully that these purposes will certainly be met.  I LOVE  Relief Society.  ( Just realized that is it 177 years old!  My mistake!)

These two little ones in the Tortola Branch just keep us entertained and laughing, and give me my "grandma" fix.  Aren't they just the cutest little boys ever?

Thanks for all your love and support and especially your prayers.  We are finally getting in a little routine and making some good connections with people.  We are so blessed to be able to serve at this time in our life in such a beautiful place.  Until next week....
Dick and Donna