Week 31 in St. Thomas

This week we got word that we are going to get young Elders back to our island!  I cannot tell you how happy that makes us!  They fly in next Monday, so we are looking forward to that!  This week on Tuesday, we celebrated our 43rd wedding anniversary, so we switched up Preparation day and had it on Tuesday.(Although as Senior Missionaries, we can really have time off anytime and we do kind of just set our own agenda.)   After District Meeting and taking care of a little bit of business we went to the beach and then got cleaned up and went out for our favorite place on the island that has great Tacos!  It was a fun day.  We are so thankful for our eternal marriage and especially for the children that we have been blessed to be parents to and the families that they have created.   Don't know how we got to be so blessed! 
The week went by pretty much the same as most weeks until Thursday and that night we held our first Self Reliance Class with just 1 person (remember it is all about the one.)  I love this program so much and do believe that if people will follow the principles outlined and taught and practiced in it, that they can become self-reliant.  The key of course is having faith in Jesus Christ and realising that He wants us to be prosperous.  He loves us and will help us to achieve our goals if we will just let Him.   We are hoping that this program  will make a difference in this sister's life. She is a single mom with 5 kids to support, but the principles apply to all!
On Friday we ferried over to Tortola.  We wanted to be there for the epic baptism that would take place at 7:45 am there on Saturday.   Elder Cox and Elder Hanson were to baptize 5 wonderful people that day.  The morning could not have been more beautiful .  After they were baptized, a rainbow appeared.  That is the second time that we have had that happen after a baptism since being here.....amazing!
See that beautiful rainbow???  God is good.  

Saturday after the baptism we hung with these two amazing elders all day long!  We started off by them treating us to lunch at this French Deli.  It has to be some of the best food on the island and it was just discovered!  Elder Cox was kind of sad about that. 

This is part of a mural that is on a wall there in Tortola.  There are some beautiful murals there .  I need to take more pictures next time I am there. 

One of the things we did that day was to buy a water cooler for the branch.  It just so happens that two of our best members (Jamoll  and Drew) work at the place we purchased it.  After doing that, we began what became a series of visits to various homes where they fed us at each place.  We figured that we had 5 meals on Saturday.  The people are just so loving and generous.  Plus of course, they were all going to miss Elder Cox because he got transferred back to Puerto Rico . We were exhausted keeping up with their pace!  
Sunday, the five people that were baptized were confirmed to become members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  That is also when they are given the gift of the Holy Ghost, so it was a very special day for this Branch.  We love all these wonderful people.  
Elder Cox is being transferred back to Puerto Rico to become a Zone Leader and Elder Hansen is getting a new companion. So they ferried back to St. Thomas with us on Sunday afternoon and we fed them dinner at our apartment.   They are both such good missionaries!  Just in the time that we entered the ferry terminal and sat down, they had made 3 appointments with various people!  They teach us so much and we feel so blessed to be able to associate with such outstanding young men. 

Well that is a wrap.  Hope you all had good a good week.    Stay strong and steadfast.
Love,
Dick and Donna

Comments

  1. Just a bed of rosesAugust 19, 2019 at 7:34 PM

    The rainbow...incredible. it's always nice to find the best place to eat! Touching stories, thank you

    ReplyDelete

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