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