Week 20 in St. Thomas

Started week twenty in St. Thomas on Monday.  It was kind of a gray and gloomy Monday in more ways than one:  not only was it rainy and overcast but it was the day that the Elders flew out to Puerto Rico.  Some people have asked why they were transferred back to Puerto Rico with no replacements coming here?  It is because there is a shortage in leadership right now, as there are many new missionaries, and not so many that are experienced. Ours were experienced and both got called to be Zone Leaders, so that's the story!   Before taking them to the airport, we got up early for our last Pickle Ball games. Then we took them to our apartment and fed them breakfast and they did their e mailing and calling.    We sure are going to miss our Monday mornings with them.  They have been such good sports playing "their grandparents."  We told them that we would have to have a Pickle Ball reunion someday.......

These are not gang signs......it stands for VI (Virgin Islands).  

Yup.....again.

So, this weekend, our boys all got together in Brentwood for a good friend's wedding.   I decided that I need to post a little bit about what is going on at home too, after all, it is part of the story!  I could not resist posting these pictures;   it is during times like this, that we really miss seeing our  kids and grandkids .  But we were so happy that they were all together.  (except Joye and the family....)

Here"s the whole gang at the wedding. Denae, Mike, Olivia , Grant, Jackie, Max, Talor, Mikayla and Bob.  Sure did make my mamas heart happy to see them all together. 

We are going to miss these two!

So now we are the only full-time missionaries on this island.  We really are going to have to step up our game to fill their shoes.   Our daughter made the comment that maybe it was a good thing that they are leaving because "you seem to be kind of co- dependent with them!" What is she, some kind of a psycho-analyst?   I will admit that they were the master teachers and it was nice to be in a supportive role many times.  We are going to need the Lord's help more than ever now, and we are know that He will help us.  It is His work after all....

And they are off...........

I saw this quote on a friend's blog and loved it so much.  It is our HOPE that what we are doing here improves, orders, sustains, lifts, ministers and aspires.....

On Wednesday, Stanley, the student at My Brother's Workshop that we have been helping,  finished all his courses and is set to graduate!  Suzanne (the head teacher at MBW, and a wonderful person) started crying when he finished, and then she wrote his name on the list of names of graduates that she has hanging on her door.  Stanley is really a success story and will celebrate his graduation in June.  We are so proud of him too!

This is Imra.  You see the little frame that she is holding up?  That is the craft that I did with her on Thursday as the rest of the group played Bingo with Dick and LaMira. (I am mad that I didn't get a picture of that, but will next week!)  As I sat with her today and urged her to do the coloring, she would say that her hands were too weak and would ask me to do it. Then she told me that her back hurt her and so I rubbed her back.  When we got home on Wednesday night I ran across a quote by Dieter Uchtdoft:

Fill your heart with
Love for others.
This is the second
Great commandment.
Try to truly see everyone
around you as a child of God.
Minister to them. Laugh with them.
Rejoice with them. Weep with them.
Respect them.  Heal, lift and
strengthen them.  

It is amazing how serving here among so many that are so different than we are, helps us to see people as children of God.  It really is true that if we lose ourselves in service to others, we find ourselves and we find that we feel closer to God too.  We are so thankful for this opportunity to have really nothing else to do but serve and invite others to follow Christ.  

Had a first this week:  We were serving lunch at the Salvation Army on Friday like we normally do.  The patrons at the SA are mostly men, homeless and down on their luck.  A guy came through and said to me, "Hello gorgeous!"  I said, "Good afternoon, (which is the standard polite greeting here.) He went on and on a bit and then asked me out to dinner on Friday!  I quickly told me that I was married (Dick had stepped away) and wondered to myself:  where in the world would he be taking me ?????  

After our appointments on Friday, Dick and I had a little date.  I haven't written much about the food here, because honestly, it is nothing to write home about!  We tried Taco Chelles today because we had heard good things about it, and it did not disappoint.  Dick had a shrimp taco and a ceviche taco and I had a tuna taco.  They were really good. We also had some chips and salsa, the salsa was excellent but they served it warm, which was weird to us!   We decided that each month we would choose a place to try and broaden our horizons and eat somewhere besides  Wendy's (potato & chili) and PriceSmart(salad, pizza & coke)...... 

Sunday morning Dick called me to come and see the spider that had been crawling up his leg! EWWWWWW, can't believe how big this thing was!

Had to end the blog with this adorable picture of 6 of our grand kids.  This week wrapped up the open house at the Oakland Temple.  That has been our temple since 1988.  It was the temple that Bob and Jackie, and Joye and Ryan were married in.  It is the temple where Dick was sealed to his parents. It is the temple where we have been in with all of our kids and their spouses, so it holds a special place in our hearts.   We are so blessed to have it be so close to us.  It has been fun to see so many of our friends serving these past few weeks in various capacities for the open house.  Such a wonderful experience for the Bay Area.  We are so thankful for the temple and miss it so much.

Until next week!  Stay strong and steadfast......
Love,
Dick and Donna