As Sisters in Zion We'll All Work Together

The sisters in the Branch are much like sisters all over the world, they love to be together laughing and talking.  They tease one another, share dreams and heartaches, discuss the gospel and "at the end of the day" (something they say a lot) feel better and have a renewed hope that everything is going to work out. 

 

Here are a few of their sayings that I love:

"You know"

"For true"

"Would you believe"

"Up to today"

Well, after typing that, I realize without their voice inflections, something is lost!

Oh, how I love to listen to them talk!

Justina De'Beauville taught floral arranging at Home, Family, and Personal Enrichment.

Ginger Lilies, Bird of Paradise, and colorful Anthyriums, are very abundant here in St. Lucia.

These are the happy faces of the the Relief Society Sisters.

Sister Mirla Santos-Marquis is the President, 

(she likes to be called Sister Santos, unless her husband, Lambert Marquis, is with her,

 then she asks us to please call her Sister Santos-Marquis--we have a good laugh over that)

 Michelle Chastanet- 1 Counselor, Marie Joseph- 2 Counselor

(they were just recently put in--pictures will be in the next post)

Michelle - Frances - Justina - Shermin

They all got into the act of arranging flowers and had a great night.

One more hair-do!

I had to add this sweet picture of Wavney.  A lot of time and effort is put into the girls hair here in St. Lucia.  This particular hair-do took about 3 hours to complete!  Some of the more complicated ones take all day long!

Sister De'Beauville - "Like a Star" - steady and true

The Young Women's Presidency

Licia JnPaul 18 - Justina De'Beauville - Kacy Leonce - 18

The youth are the strength of the Branch, is it any wonder with a sweet lady like Sister De'Beauville leading them!!!!!

Today in Young Women's, everyone told their conversion stories.  They each started out by saying, "There were these two young white boys, dressed in white shirts and ties....."

Sister De'Beauville said when she saw them, she was curious about the nice way they were dressed in compared to most of the Lucian boys that age.  She went over to them to find out what they were doing here.  The rest is history, Sister De'Beauville has not missed Sacrament meeting since that time, a year and a half ago.  She remains "steadfast and immovable" and everyone who meets her instantly feels her positive spirit soaring high, lifting all those around her.  She is nothing short of miraculous, how blessed the Branch is to have her, President De'Beauville and their family setting the example for all to follow.

Sarah Damaze 15

Sarah has been coming to church for the past 5 months.  She has such a strong testimony and wants to be baptized, but her mother will not allow it.  Each time she bears her testimony, she always says, "If I have enough faith, and continue to read the scriptures and pray, then my parents will one day give me permission to be baptized."  Sarah has invited them to church and they actually came a couple of times.  She is such an amazing young woman and it is an honor to be near her and feel of her good spirit.  She radiates charity, compassion and kindness.

We are so very blessed to know her!

Now that school is out, the young women love to do crazy things will their hair.

Most of them love to add extensions, braids, beads and anything that is not allowed at school.

The following are some of the examples of "new do's"

Cherylyn and Teddisha

Rosey Etienne

The Twins

Nakeesha & Nikeesha

The Strength of Youth

Marlon, our latest baptism, is a nice young man.  He lives with his mother and step father.  His step father has been very mean to him and they have no relationship at all.  He bore his testimony the day after his baptism and said his baptism day was the best day of his life, one, he was baptized and two, his mother told him that she loved him!!!!

The girl next to him is Rosey.  Rosey is a fun lovin' young woman who is bright and knows a lot about the gospel.  Her family is one of the few who actually have Family Home Evening each week.  They also read the scriptures together, at Book of Mormon class they always know the answers to all the questions.  Surprising facts when you realize that they are being raised by a single mom, Adriana, who works 2 jobs so she can put food on the table.  She is rarely home and Rosey has a lot of adult responsibilities put on her.  Amazing family!

The girl on the right is Kacy, an 18 year old who, along with her 2 brothers, Neil and Chad, live with their sister Vanesta since their mother died 6 years ago.  Kacy joined the church last August, has served as Laurel Class President for the last several months and just recently was called as a counselor in the Young Women's Presidency.  She has a strong testimony and is such a good girl.  What ever she is asked to do, she does to the best of her ability.  Against all odds she is keeping the commandments and living a clean life.  Love her!!!!  

Our "School's Out" Beach Bash!

As we continue to teach about modesty...this day everyone of the young women wore modest swim wear.  What a huge change that was from what they were wearing last year at this same time!  Now, we have to teach the young men, a couple of them showed up in their underwear, which is not uncommon here in St. Lucia.  Luckily they are standing in the back!

A Day in Soufriere

Yesterday we took the Elders to Soufriere, they enjoyed Claudius the Snake man!

We made several stops, the Kassava factory, Sulfur Springs, Piton Mineral Falls,

and the glorious Piton mountains.  Great Day!

Nothing quite like a good mud fight !

Elder Beute - Elder Procter - Elder Cromwell - Elder Sookram

Zaka, the artist, paints these wild looking wall hangings.

Elder Sherwood loves the Accra (fish cakes) that this sweet lady makes in Sulfur Springs.

Three of our Young Women,

 D'Anne, Laurel Class President- Nakeesha, a new investigator-

and Sarah, wants to be baptized, but is waiting for her parents permission.  In the mean time she never misses a meeting and has such a strong testimony, she is simply amazing.

Baptisms on both ends of the Island

On Monday we went to the hospital to visit Tennison, a little 8 year boy who suffers.. from Sickle Cell Anemia.  His family, Mother and brother joined the church about 1 month ago.  Tennison has been in the hospital 3 times since we have known him.  

 

Thursday we witnessed another miracle as sisters,  Shenell & Shanta

were baptized in Vieux Fort.  We first met Shenell 8 months ago when we were teaching the Institute class in Vieux Fort.  She was so shy, always sat in the back and would not say a word, 

It is so wonderful to see how the church can change people, Shenell bore her testimony and looked everyone in the eye as she spoke.  Her Sister Shanta was just the opposite, very fun and outgoing, she called on everyone there to bear their testimonies.  We felt very blessed to be there.  Each time we go to Vieux Fort, we are amazed at all the Williamson's are doing to help strengthen the members.  What a wonderful blessing they are for that Branch.

The other miracle was Craig, (the boy on the front row with his arms out) who was baptized with his siblings several months ago.  He is about 13 and was very shy.  He blew us away as he stood and gave a talk on baptism, didn't even use any notes.  Later he bore his testimony, he has come a long way.  What a thrill to see his progress.

Shanta & Shenell

Marlon was baptized on Saturday.  One of the Young Women, Kacy, told him that she could not date him unless he was a member of the church.  He took the lessons and is one of the strongest young men in the branch.  He may be the first missionary to leave from ST. Lucia.

He bore his testimony and made us all cry as he told about the best day of his life, not only did he get baptized, without one family member in attendance, but when he went home, his mother told him she loved him....he said that his mother did not say that very often!

President De'Beauville - Elder Procter - Marlon - Elder Sherwood - Sister Sherwood -          Elder Cromwell

June Happenings

I'm Back....trying to catch up on the last few weeks...

The Primary Children loved little Marley...they couldn't keep their hands off her!

We put Josh & Karissa to work teaching the CTR class, the children loved them!

Our good friends, Steve and Renee Coombs, came for a short visit, Cam was there and introduced Renee as Aunt Renee...so she will be known among the youth as Auntie Renee!

We had such a great time showing Steve and Renee the beautiful island of St. Lucia.

We laughed as this picture was taken..."We found our new summer home!"

It will take a lot more than heavy rains to keep us from having a baptism!

Elder Procter finding refuge from the storm!

The sisters could not get enough of Baby Marley,

 she was the only one who stayed dry during the down pour!

Our children, Josh, Karissa and our newest grandbaby, Marley, came for a short visit.

Miss Justina made this little banket for Baby Marley.

Jason is such a nice young man, always very polite and kind.  He will be a great addition to our branch, and the 4th Priest.  The youth will be the ones to carry on, carry on, carry on!

Jason-Elder Cromwell-Hazel Ann

Hazel Ann cried all through Sacrament Service, the first time she attended.  We are excited to have her in the branch...good things are happening here!

We had two baptisms on the 28th, the rain was coming down in sheets, the few umbrellas we had was not enough to keep us from getting soaked!

We have 3 new Elders in St. Lucia, right to left- Elder Sookram is from Trinidad, always has a big smile on his face and is a pleasure to be around, he has been here a couple of months-Elder Beute is from the Netherlands, very out-going, has a lot of enthusiasm, is very neat and clean-Elder Cromwell is from Idaho, he is one of 11 children, a hard worker and tender hearted, great missionary!- Elder Procter is from Utah and so excited to be here, I am so grateful that he is a computer whiz...I need some help with my new computer.  We are thrilled to meet new missionaries and learn from them daily!

 

This was our "Super Saturday", the theme was A Rising Generation.  They wrote their testimonies on small pieces of paper, attached them to helium balloons and released them.  President Gamiette, who is over Seminary & Institute, flew in and taught the youth details about the Book of Mormon.  What an outstanding teacher, he involved the youth and really got them into the Book of Mormon.  He also did some training for our future Seminary teacher, Licia JnPaul.  The youth had a lot of fun playing all kinds of balloon games, it was the first time they had ever played with water balloons!