Week seven in St. Thomas

Hard to believe that we are into week 7 here already.  We never get tired of the sunsets here.  It seems like every single day, we can snap a beautiful picture of a sunrise or a sunset.  It reminds us of the beauty of this earth and of God's hand in our life.

This is Mark Frazier.....he is a visiting medical worker that comes to the island to work 3 weeks at a time.  It was fun to have him at church with us this Sunday.  He is actually a high school friend of Kelly Thompson, a friend of ours. 

This is Mary Ann and Daniel Roderos.  They are also in our branch here.  The ironic thing is that Mary Anne was born in the Philippines.  She and her family joined the church as a result of knowing the Grimms, who are good friends of ours from Tooele.  It has been fun for Mary Ann to get back in touch with Linda Grimm after all these years.

Here is a picture of Dick getting things set up in the parking lot of some apartments where we teach Joseph each week.  It is very humbling to see how some of our members live, might be depressing for most of us but he is one of the happiest people that we know, so thankful for all that the Lord gives him.

On Mondays we drag the Elders out with us to play pickle ball.  They are such good sports to play use old foogies....we have fun though.  We are going to miss Elder Howe (on the left) who will leave next Monday to go home after serving 2 years in this mission. He has been such a strong and diligent missionary.  We have learned so much from him as we have accompanied him on appointments.  He is expert at asking people to make commitments and keeping things on track.

On Monday evening we had a little birthday party for Christina.  She is the sweetest lady and was so appreciative.  As she opened the card that we gave her she wept as she thanked us for remembering her.  She lives here in the most humble circumstances and her husband is ill and is in the Dominican Republic.  She doesn't speak much English, so thankfully the Elders joined us.  It was a memorable evening.  Sometimes, as we go about our work here, we feel like we are just spinning our wheels, but when we can make a difference in just one person's life, it makes it all worth it.

Christina got dressed up to come to her birthday party after working all day cleaning. She is just such an inspiration to us as an example of someone who has nothing but she has the gospel of Jesus Christ in her life and she is just so happy.  

This week we have tried to connect with the organizations that serve this island.  We are still trying to make connections with Catholic Charities and the Red Cross.  I just snapped this picture of this building to show how very humble the buildings are that serve here.  We are so thankful for other organizations that work to help people have a better life.  Our church loves to partner with these organizations in helping others.  

Here is just a random picture that I took of the devastation that the hurricanes caused on these islands.  This is really everywhere.  S0 much damage was done and so much has still not been fixed.  

That is the week in a nutshell, we continue to learn and to pray for direction  as to how and where we can serve best.  We are thankful for the love and support we feel from so many of our family and friends.