Week 33 in St. Thomas

Here we are in Week 33 ....and  September.  September is the month that both Irma and Maria hit the islands in 2017, so there is a sense of uneasy anticipation all around us.  When we were at the store on Tuesday night, people were just filling up their carts with tons of food and water and we wondered what was up?  Well when we woke up on Wednesday morning, we knew exactly what was going on......more on that to come......

Monday morning, bright and early, we started out the week out right by playing Pickle Ball!  Our first time back on the court since Elder Shah and Robinson left.  I have to say that we "schooled" the elders today, but aren't so naive to think  that as the weeks go on, that these 19 and 20 year olds will get better and better and these old geezers will stay the same and that they will soon be "schooling" us!  Either which way, it was fun to get out and play again and get some exercise and some laughs.

You probably cannot tell what this even is, but it is me (in the hat) at Brewer's Bay chatting with some local ladies.  It was so fun to visit with them.  I asked them if they knew of any service projects that were needed and they said that they were the officers of the French Town Community Center and that they need some work done there. I told them that I only knew one person that was a Frenchie and told them the name, and they all started laughing and said that was their cousin!  Anyway, on Tuesday, we went to see the Community Center and what they need and we are going to try to work something out for them.  They were the cutest ladies....

So Wednesday we woke up to it raining pretty hard, and didn't think that much about it, but it wasn't too long before President Smart called us and told us to stay in all day becasue there was a Tropical Storm headed our way.  So we stayed in our apartment all day long.  Our power went out about 10am and so we spent the day studying and reading and playing Scrabble.  Thursday, we still didn't have power nor did we have water, so we decided to stay in again since it was raining and thundering most of the day.  We finally got our power back about 8pm on Thursday night, only to have to go out again about 10:30 just as we were thinking that we might be able to watch the BYU vs. Utah game.  So we didn't get to watch it, but sounds like we didn't miss much......  One thing this whole thing has taught us is to not take electricity or water for granted!  We ended up going down to the public beach on Thursday to shower.....it ended up being a Category 1 Hurricane, which after what they went through in 2017 was really nothing.....but for rookies, it was still quite a storm.  Mostly there was flooding and a lot of trees that were leveled and branches and leaves all over.  Glad it wasn't any worse.  Thanks for all the texts and phone calls....we definitely felt loved! And now as we watch Dorian making havoc in the Bahamas and Florida, we are praying that it will turn out into the ocean and not do much more damage.  

This was the amazing  sunset on Thursday night.  Seeing the beautiful sunsets on this island reminds us daily of the beautiful world that we live in and of God's hand in our lives.  We are so grateful for all the blessings that we have been given and seriously try not to take them for granted. 

Sister Smart sent this picture in a text on Wednesday that said:  "Some times we need a hand.  Some times we need to be carried.  He is there for both."  She definitely has a way with words and with following the spirit.  We appreciate her and love her and her husband so much.  

On Saturday morning, we got called to help out at the local Red Cross with their Logistics.  In order to help them do the inventory in their warehouses, we first had to be all trained on how to operate a fork lift safely.  So we did that and then helped with the inventory.  The Red Cross is very busy here after a storm, even if not much damage was done, they are still very busy with calls and other activities.  It is one more way that we can serve here on the island and we have met some wonderful people in the process.

We loved seeing this picture of our Marsh Creek Primary this week!  There are three really cute grandkids in this picture!  Eliza, Briggs and Max!

Well, we made it through another week!  Hope everyone is doing well and that you appreciate your dryers and your electricity and water!  Stay strong and steadfast...
Love,
Dick And Donna