1ST WEEK IN ST. KITTS

We had Monday to pack, clean the apartment, run errands and tie everything up in St. Thomas.  We did sneak in a game of pickle ball with our dear elders!  It ended up raining during our 5th game....we were tied 2-2....so we just called a draw!  We are going to miss playing with these two.  Hoping that they can find some replacements for us!



We boarded the plane on Tuesday  morning.  We had SO (too) MUCH STUFF....we ended up having to throw out about 12 pounds of stuff....yoga matt, brown sugar,  shoes, clothes, you name it.....all went into the garbage at the airport.  Then in Puerto Rico we had a 5 hour layover before boarding the plane to come to St. Kitts and we had to throw more stuff away:  our fins, more shoes, books......we vow when we come home, we are just leaving all our stuff here......what a hassel that was!  We didn't get to St. Kitts until almost 8:00 pm by the time we went through customs and all that....well, the Van Ordens picked us up and we throught we might get some dinner, but NOPE, we went right away to an appointment with a young couple that they are teaching and the next day we started at 8:30 am and didn't get home until 9pm, and we visited so many people that our heads were spinning.  We got up early on Friday and drove them to the aiport to return to Illinois and then we got all our 200 pounds of stuff and moved into our apartment.  The apartment is very nice and get this:  it has central air, a washer AND A DRYER,  a dishwasher, and a pool!  It is small and was short on a few things, but all in all it is really a lovely place to live.  
This is the Van Ordens.  They have been on 3 missions and are returning to Illinois.

 So after we unpacked, we had to go get food.  That was a shocker!  Look at these prices.....




That was our total bill......before you freak out you have to know that they use Eastern Caribbean Currency and it is about 2.70 cents to a dollar.  So this bill was about   $206.49, which is still a load of money for what we bought but you gotta do what you gotta do!  (The food just filled a small basket.) Then the next day we went back for $60 more dollars of things we found out we needed.  

 The other weird thing is that now the steering wheel is on the right side of the car.  So instead of stressing out that an oncoming car is going to hit me on these crazy narrow roads, I am flinching about going off the road. And for Elder Garrison, he is constantly turning on the windshield wipers because they are on the left anf the turn signal is on the right..... It really is quite an adjustment 
On Friday we did some office work and went to see a couple of members and another friend of one of our friend from St. Thomas.  He works at a jewelry store here....his wife was out of town, so we are going to try to meet up with both of them later.

Anil and Elder Garrison.



This is downtoan Basseterre,  this area is called the circus.  It certainly is humming with lots of people.  People lined up along the streets selling everything you can imagine.  

 We walked the golf course on Saturday morning for exercise  before the golfers were out.  It is right across the street from us and a beautiful place to walk.  On the walk, we saw this sign, which we thought was pretty interesting.  I guess you can buy property  here and become a citizen just like that!

I  saw this somewhere this week and just loved the thought.  Really there is nothing better than helping others find Christ.  We have been so blessed to be a part of this work and see others literally change their lives and follow Christ.  Nothing better....
Loved getting this picture of Max.  His first Sunday as a deacon.

This is the St. Kitts Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Sunday we got to meet the members of the St. Kitts Branch.  What a wonderful group of people.  They had us get up and introduce ourselves and bear our testimonies.( After Sacrament meeting we manned the nursery with 4 darling little ones.)  We look forward to getting to know each one of the branch members , and trying to support them in anyway that we can.  

 Well, that's our first week here.  I am sure that there are many adventures ahead.  Our prayer is that we can do what the Lord has in mind for us to do here.  It's funny, when The Smarts orginally asked us to come on this mission, they were in St. Kitts and wanted us to come here.  The timinig didn't work out for us to come right then, so we were assigned to St. Thomas.  Then when the Van Orden's left, they felt impressed to move us here.  There must be a reason, we hope and pray for guidance to find and carry out what the Lord has in mind for us.  Thanks again for your prayers and support.  Stay strong and steadfast.
Love,
The Garrisons

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