La Fête de la Société de Sécours



Sr. Jean Marie - President of RS in my Branch

Yesterday, the Sisters of the District celebrated the Anniversary of the Relief Society with a day at the Chutes De Carbet – a beautiful park with 3 breathtaking waterfalls.  To be honest, I was reluctant to go.  My language is not conversational and the thought of 7 hours at a social event was daunting.  But I am so glad that I decided to go.  Not only was the park beautiful, but the association with my sisters here in Guadeloupe was so good for my soul.

The 3 Bouchaut Sisters

The park is on the southern end of the island and so Rich took me to the meeting place where we met the other sisters.  I hitched a ride with the Sisters Bouchaut (Boo – show) – Mother (an investigator), daughter and daughter-in-law.  The daughter in law served a mission on Temple Square and speaks English well which is so nice for me.  We took a short hike in to the picnic area and settle out things on several tables and just relaxed as we waited for everyone to come.  It was so fun to see all the great women from our district come, loaded down with picnic food to share, babies in arms and about 15 of the young women as well.  We gathered when everyone arrived and the darling RS President of the District read from the “Daughters in My Royaume”.  I admire their love of the manuals that the Church gives them.  They read them and mark them and discuss them.  She then asked each of the three sisters who lead the Branch RS to bear their testimonies.  Each of them spoke of the love they felt among the sisters and how women are different from men and how RS fills needs that women have.  We then went around the circle as each sister introduced herself.  They were asked to tell how long they had been members of the church (doesn’t that tell you something about the newness of the Church here in Guadeloupe?), and to tell something that they liked.  I just was filled with such fondness for these women as they spoke.  They were told to keep it short, but they just couldn’t as they shared the stories of their conversions and the things that they liked.  The feeling in the circle was so sweet.  These sisters really know one another.  I love to watch them love each other’s children.  The little ones just go so easily from one sister to another.  You can tell they feel loved by every sister.

We ate good food, drank unusual soft drinks (one of their favorites tastes like black licorice) and everyone shared goodies.  They are good cooks.  Tried some great quiche and some root vegetable – like a potato…the like couscous and rice with egg and ham and green olives.  I am a green olive fan so that was good for me.  Everyone was going from table to table trying each others food.  I put out my little bag of chips to share and they all laughed.  The invitation to bring food to share got lost in the translation for me!

Two of our young women and the one on the left DOES have arms...she is cold in 75 degree weather!

Two of the young adult sisters with the RS President's baby

Our District RS Pres to the left in the background.  One of
our darling (live wire!!) young women in the foreground! 

Later, people went to the Falls or to the hot springs or to the falls where they could swim.  I loved the whole day.  I felt like I was a part of these great women.  I am dying to be better at the language so I can more fully participate in their lives, but yesterday filled my heart with friendship.  It reminded me of how important it is to feel the love and friendship of others.The park is on the southern end of the island and so Rich took me to the meeting place where we met the other sisters.  I hitched a ride with the Sisters Bouchaut (Boo – show) – Mother (an investigator), daughter and daughter-in-law.  The daughter in law served a mission on Temple Square and speaks English well which is so nice for me.  We took a short hike in to the picnic area and settle out things on several tables and just relaxed as we waited for everyone to come.  It was so fun to see all the great women from our district come, loaded down with picnic food to share, babies in arms and about 15 of the young women as well.  We gathered when everyone arrived and the darling RS President of the District read from the “Daughters in My Royaume”.  I admire their love of the manuals that the Church gives them.  They read them and mark them and discuss them.  She then asked each of the three sisters who lead the Branch RS to bear their testimonies.  Each of them spoke of the love they felt among the sisters and how women are different from men and how RS fills needs that women have.  We then went around the circle as each sister introduced herself.  They were asked to tell how long they had been members of the church (doesn’t that tell you something about the newness of the Church here in Guadeloupe?), and to tell something that they liked.  I just was filled with such fondness for these women as they spoke.  They were told to keep it short, but they just couldn’t as they shared the stories of their conversions and the things that they liked.  The feeling in the circle was so sweet.  These sisters really know one another.  I love to watch them love each other’s children.  The little ones just go so easily from one sister to another.  You can tell they feel loved by every sister.

We ate good food, drank unusual soft drinks (one of their favorites tastes like black licorice) and everyone shared goodies.  They are good cooks.  Tried some great quiche and some root vegetable – like a potato…the like couscous and rice with egg and ham and green olives.  I am a green olive fan so that was good for me.  Everyone was going from table to table trying each others food.  I put out my little bag of chips to share and they all laughed.  The invitation to bring food to share got lost in the translation for me!

Later, people went to the Falls or to the hot springs or to the falls where they could swim.  I loved the whole day.  I felt like I was a part of these great women.  I am dying to be better at the language so I can more fully participate in their lives, but yesterday filled my heart with friendship.  It reminded me of how important it is to feel the love and friendship of others.

Today in Church, many of the women wore yellow and blue in honor of Relief Society.  They wore their pins and I just marveled at these amazing sisters in the Gospel. 

The young women of the District made our day even more fun!

We Promised Pictures



Caught this picture of three of the adorable children in the District.  The one on the right is in our ward - Naomi!  She is tiny and adorable as are all the children.  I love the babies and children on Guadeloupe.  They remind me that children are the same all over the world.  My favorite is when they lift their little heads to kiss their cheek for a greeting. 

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These are the Occolier Brothers and their wives.  They live in Martinique and the one on the left is the Branch President.  His darling wife is the seminary teacher there.  The brother on the right served with one of our French tutors and when he heard that we were coming to the West Indies he brightened and said to be sure and look up Brother Occolier and tell him that his former comp, our tutor loved him and thought he was a spectacular missionary.  I have such admiration for these amazing young leaders!

These are 4 of the stalwarts of our branch.  Left to Right: Frere Jomie - EQ Pres; Frere Adrian - new convert who is the best missionary in the Branch - his story is wonderful and he can be counted on to be there when there is work to be done; Frere Giblaca - Quietly keeps everything running smoothly - he is that behind the scenes member who makes sure that everyone has everything they need.  Just love him and feel it a privilege to call him friend.  Frere Jomie (brothers who joined the Church at different times - this Jomie was first) - Branch Mission Leader and we love him!

Rich with Frere Jomie who is one of the rocks of the Abymes Branch where we serve.  When we first came to the mission, we had such trouble with the French names and so we made connections to names with people with whom we were familiar - Frere (Brother in French) Jomie was Burl Ives!

Elder Andros and Elder Figaro who picked us up at the airport when we arrived in Guadeloupe.  Elder Figaro finished his mission just 5 weeks ago.  These two will always be so special to us.  They took such good care of us when we first arrived!
They had our apartment sparkling clean, food in the fridge and patience with us as we tried to figure out how to find our way around, buy groceries, pay bills!

This is a picture of our young elders at our first Zone Conference. Anyone who has served a Senior Couple mission knows that it is these young men who inspire and bring good cheer. We love them and they will forever be a part of our lives!

Dad and I with President and Sister Gamiette at our first Zone Conference.  This was the first time that we actually met our mission President and we love him and Sister Gamiette so much.  They are both returned missionaries.  He is from the island on which we are serving, Guadeloupe and she is from France.  She served her mission in Seattle!  They are wonderful teachers and although President Gamiette is young enough to be our child, we feel the power of great mission president!

I gathered some of the girls - young to young adult for a picture.  I love them all and just love their love of color and style!

Well, that is enough for now. We will post some pics of the beautiful island sometime soon as well as the colorful paint on the houses and apartments. But the people are what make Guadeloupe the special place it is for us

A Dream Come True

Today and tomorrow is District Conference (the equivalent of Stake Conference). Yesterday we picked up the visiting Area Authority who will be presiding - Elder Hugo Martinez of the Seventy. He is from Puerto Rico, speaks native Spanish,excellent English, and no French. He is mid-50's, a retired Family Physician, married to a pediatrician (also Puerto Rican). His wife also has a law degree and is a cofounder of a successful HMO in Puerto Rico. The HMO went public and they have retired as a result. They joined the Church while attending medical school at University of Mississippi. We had a nice conversation while driving him to his hotel. We asked him if we could do anything for him. He responded by sincerely asking if there was anything he could do for us. We told him we were on our way to visit the Lafolé family (baptized last week) to encourage them and to help the father prepare for his brief testimony he is invited to give at the Sunday session of District Conference. He counseled us to help the father prepare a brief testimony and to teach him the basics of what a testimony is.
On our way to visit the family, we got a phone call from the elders who have been teaching the family. They have been trying to visit the family all week, and each time their ride has fallen through (the family lives 1 hr. plus from the chapel). They were sorry to call us at the last minute, but thrilled that we were available since we were heading that way.
The night before his baptism, the father of the family had a dream. In his dream, he wanted to pray but did not know exactly how to pray. He wanted to know the basic steps of how to address his Heavenly Father. In the dream Linda came forward and told him she would teach him how to pray in English and that I would then translate it into French. In his dream that made him very happy.
When we arrived last night, we told him that we would do two things. First Linda would review for the family the basic manner of prayer and that I would translate for her into French. Secondly, she would review for the family the basic steps of how to share a testimony. Linda of course did very well. After she had finished, brother Lafolé said that as she was speaking, he could feel the truth of what she was saying in his heart before hearing the translation. It was the message coming from the messanger that touched him - rather than the translation. He felt that this was a fulfillment of the dream he had the week before.
There was a great spiritual feeling in the home. He worked with his wife and children to try to express his testimony for the talk on Sunday. We trust he will do well.

La Famille Lafolé

Yesterday the Lafolé (pronounced la-foe-lay) Family was baptized. The father Alex and the mother Mylene (mee-len) and two of the children Elodie and Sebastien were happy and excited for the day. We fasted for the health of the mother on Friday and Saturday and felt like the blessings of heaven attended the family. I baptized the mother, who although weak, was able to walk down into the font and up out again afterwards. She forgot to pinch her nose (with the predicatable result) but was very happy with the experience.
The father told me before the baptism that he had a dream the night before. In his dream, his wife asked him to teach her how to pray and he told his wife that he did not know all of the basic steps to pray. In the dream, Linda stepped forward and told Brother Lafolé that she would teach him in English and that I would translate how to pray into French. He was very happy in his dream that Linda would teach and that I would translate for him. It was remarkable that the day before, Linda and I had decided that she could teach in English and that I could translate for her into French as needed. It seemed to reaffirm that the approach to Linda's teaching was a step in the right direction.
I gave a talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost during the service. I read from 3 Nephi 19 where the 12 disciples of Jesus taught the multitude the day after Jesus appeared. They prayed for that which they desired most - that the Holy Ghost be given to them. After having prayed and taught the people the same words which Jesus had taught the day before, they were baptized and the Holy Ghost came as a fire from heaven and fell upon them. Jesus then came and prayed with them and asked the Father to give the Holy Ghost to them who would later believe on their words and be baptized. My french rose to the occasion and I felt able to express myself without the usual difficulty. I promised them that they would also be given the gift of the Holy Ghost, because as Jesus prayed, they too had faith, had been baptized, and believed in the words of those who had been sent to teach them. I explained that the process of being born again (John 3) involved the baptism of water and baptism of the spirit - sometimes called the baptism by fire - and that the Holy Ghost can change our hearts and will heal us spiritually and sometimes even physically - according to our faith and our Father's will. The Spirit will purge even the desire to sin from us and will purify us as we continue to faithfully live the gospel. I also told them that I had indeed felt the feelings associated with the Spirit - feelings of peace, happiness, patience, kindness, and love as I had taught them in their home. It went well.
Today the family came to Church and were confirmed. They were all very happy. I was asked to confirm Sebastian. The branch mission leader confirmed the father and the Branch President confirmed the mother. Elder Shepherd, who initially contacted the family via the daughter, confirmed her. District Conference (with Elder Martinez of the 70 presiding) will be next Saturday and Sunday. The father Alex has agreed to share his testimony with the congregation during the Sunday morning session.
Today I was sustained as 2nd counselor in the District Presidency. I will continue to serve also as a counselor in the Branch Presidency until another is called. We love being full time missionaries. It is nice to have nothing else to do other than try to be of help. As they say in the MTC: "Blessed are those who are flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape." It really is nice to be of service - wherever, whenever, whatever.