A Great Zone Conference topped off with a great game of Rook!

Zone Conference was the best so far! President and Sister Robison taught us how to study and learn in a better way. They did a wonderful job and showed us how they study the scriptures, how they mark them, and different things they write in them. The young Elder's were involved and taking it all in! I am always amazed at how the young Missionaries can memorize scriptures! It does not come easy for us oldies! In fact, I hate to admit this, but we are still trying to memorize "My Purpose"!
After Zone Conference, we cleaned up everything, unpacked the truck, put away everything and then took a 2 hour nap! It felt great! That evening we played Rook with Elder and Sister Hatton, finally found a couple that "Know Rook"! Elder Hatton is always saying "On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate that?" He says that all the time, for the food, the ice cream, a particular Elder, the beach, golf course etc. So on a scale of 1-10 the Hatton's are a 10 when it comes to playing Rook! And I could learn a lot from Sister Hatton, when she played what Elder Hatton thought was the wrong card, she was sweet about it and said, "You are probably right, I could have played that better!" What's up with that?

Humble Humus!

On Wednesday, Elder Sherwood and Cam spent most of the day gathering up groceries for Zone Conference next week...it is more complicated than it sounds because you have to go to several stores to find the things you need. After running all over town, they came home with bags and bags of groceries. It took quite a while to put it all away. The next day was a holiday and all the stores were closed, I thought they would be open until noon but not so. After all that food in the house, I did not have eggs, bread or cheese...I have always said that if you have those 3 things, you can always fix something to eat! Without those 3 things we had a very humble meal of carrots and humus!!!!

President Gamiette

President Gamiette, over Seminary and Institute, flew in Wednesday. He taught the Book of Mormon class and did such an outstanding job! It was interesting to watch as he used about 2 scriptures and went into so much detail, it took the whole hour. He is anxious to get early morning Seminary going. Here in St. Lucia the students get up very early to catch the bus for school. Having early morning Seminary would mean they would have to get up at 4:00 a.m. and be at the church by 5:00 a.m.! After looking at all the odds, Pres. Gamiette agreed to have Seminary on Wednesday nights. He joined the church when he was 21, went on a mission, came home and married his sweetheart in the Temple, one month after the met each other. He knows first hand the future of the church here in the West Indies depends on the youth...we have a wonderful group of youth, and are hoping to send the first missionary out before we leave!

Double Bubble---Happy Mother's Day & Happy Birthday Grandpa

Talking to Grandpa Sherwood this morning was so terrific, it was the first time he could hear us! And he was wanting to visit, about everything and anything! It really did start Mother's Day off with a great beginning. Our Elders spoke about their mothers in Sacrament Meeting, it was so sweet to hear them express their love and appreciation for their Mothers. I remember what a thrill to hear from our boys when they were serving missions...it was during that time of my life I started loving Mother's Day. But today for Elder Sherwood and me, there is this deep lonesome ache in our hearts for our Mothers. We both long to spend "just one more day" with them!

Sulfur Springs Spa

Yesterday we headed to my favorite spot on the Island, Soufriere. It is a quaint little fishing village right next to the world famous Pitons, the Grande Piton and the Petite Piton. When Tony and Neisha were here they, along with their two sons Cole and Keaton, hiked up to the top of the Grande Piton! There was no hiking going on yesterday, but we did go to the "Sulfur Springs Spa" and had a mud bath! If you ever come to St. Lucia don't leave without doing the mud bath, it leaves your body so nice and soft, and makes you feel years younger! We stopped and took pictures of Claudius the Snake Man and then stopped by to endure the freezing cold water fall. We had the remaining "White Girls" , Cam and Licia with us. Licia JnPaul is the 19 year old I told you about earlier. She was born and raised in Soufriere and we drove way out in the country to see her home and family. They live in the country close to the Rain Forest, and raise everything they eat, including pigs, chickens, rabbits and goats. Their home is humble and so is her family, they were very kind to us and it was the highlight of the day to meet them. Licia left her home to get an education at the college in Castries. She lives with her cousin Merlisa (Mel) very close to where we live. Every few weeks she gets so homesick she has to take the long bus ride home. After being there I know why she loves it, it is quiet, peaceful and feels like a little bit of heaven.

Make Your Own Pizza

The Elders were in charge of Mutual last night...they did MTC Night. They told about the things they did to prepare for a Mission and then all the things they do now that they are Missionaries.
The youth got involved with having ironing contests...all the youth do know how to iron, they wear uniforms to school, and are required to be neat, clean and freshly ironed! Then they had a contest to see who could tie a tie the fastest, this one was more of a challenge but, they had fun with it. Another contest was shining shoes...the youth "out-shined" the Elders, and Elder Sherwood finally got someone to shine his shoes, they really needed it. We finished the night with making our own pizza. Whenever we serve food the kids are so excited because many of them do not get enough to eat. The picture is of Mel...our future missionary!

Del Sol

The "White Girls" work at a place called "Del Sol". They sell all kinds of clothes, toys, flip flops, hair clips, Frisbees, nail polish etc. that change color when in the sun. The store is based out of Utah, with most of the employees being L.D.S. It is such a fun store and when the Cruise Ships come to St. Lucia, the store is so busy. Right now the busy season is coming to an end, with only one Cruise Ship each week. That is why the girls are leaving, they go to other Del Sol stores that will be busy this summer. We are hoping that we are lucky enough to have some more fantastic girls next fall.