Two for One

 Last week was a blur and we didn’t take any pictures, so this week we did better and there were more stories to tell.  Our mission leaders have been off island  with Zone Conferences and now Mission Leader training in the Dominican Republic , so they have been generous in offering us their .  After our flash surfing experience in it last time, we are grateful they still trust us .

Tourist season has definitely arrived!  There are people and    everywhere. Usually this is also the beginning of the dry season, but  rainy season was mostly dry so Mother Nature is catching up by sending tons of rain now.  Our apartment has roof issues, so we’ve got a huge puddle in the bathroom and water coming through the windows  during the downpour.  Luckily, there’s nothing it can hurt of ours in those specific areas so that’s a tender mercy AND Doug says the beauty of being a renter is we don’t have to fix it!  So ….island time for the roof leaks.  We also had a main water break 2 weeks ago, which resulted in about a week of low water pressure.  What does that mean & why do we care?  Well, rain brings cloudy  skies, low pressure leads to water tank issues, which now leads to lots of   showers!  It’s an adventure!

Wednesday evening we got to help the Kirkham’s,our Humanitarian couple, with our Barbados  Day of Service by helping complete 180 food hampers to donate to the local Salvation Army.

Service Night 
Pink bags for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

We had Zone Conference on Thursday.  It’s always uplifting when we get to spend time with our young missionaries.  This one was a bit unique, as Sister Bickmore had broken her collarbone last Saturday attending a baptism on St. Vincent.  Through another tender mercy, she was able to locate an orthopedic surgeon on the island and was able to have surgery on Thursday morning.  This meant our mission leaders were not going to make it to ZC, but our APs, Zone Leader, and Sister Trainer leader all stepped up and ran the  training so well.  Sister Stoffers did Jeopardy training for Sister Bickmore.  I got to do my health training in person for our Zone, where the other islands get it by video that I make each time.  Our STL did a training on Jacob 5, so she asked Doug to help her teach what grafting was.  Luckily, Sister Bickmore’s surgery went well and she was released, so President Bickmore was able to join us at the tail end of lunch  and be our final speaker.  It was a long day, but a good day.

What does grafting mean, Elder Ellis?

Health tips

Barbados Zone

Friday, evening, We went out to dinner with the Kirkhams to a restaurant called Lobster Alive.  It was incredible!  Doug & Jay enjoyed those 2 lb  with gusto.  Kathi and I loved the lobster  pasta.  The restaurant was right on the beach and newly renovated for tourist season.  The lobster  was fresh and had just arrived from St. Vincent.  Yes please!

Saturday started with another downpour, but by 10 am we had a break and drove down to Carlisle Bay with the rest of the seniors to enjoy the .  Snorkeling  was good and we were able to see ,   trumpet fish, and several shipwrecks.  There were 5 cruise ships  in port, so we had lots of company.  We met a couple from Wales who were here for 2 weeks following a transatlantic cruise  from the UK.  He was quite the character and he & Doug hit it off, so he wanted to get a picture with Doug in his Welsh  .

Sunday, raining again but the breeze was wonderful blowing through the  windows  which kept it nice!  We had wonderful talks by 2 sisters on being good neighbors and remembering our personal baptism.  We really love  these ladies and they bring such depth and devotion to our little branch.  Second hour, we had a wonderful discussion on Elder Anderson’s conference address on Tithing.  Doug & I have a personal witness that obedience to the laws of Tithing and Fast Offerings brings promised blessings from God.  It would not be possible to be serving our mission at this time in our lives if this wasn’t true.  We’ve seen the blessings from the time we were married be poured out, from generosity of meals that showed up or random rebates or , or the changing of jobs after finding out we were pregnant with twins and insurance coverage that wasn’t supposed to cover things but then did.  In Malachi, God said to prove Him and He definitely has proven Himself as a keeper of promises!