Dear Family and friends,
I
am sure by now that you are aware that my companion, Sister Egbert,
your mother, left last Friday to visit OUR new granddaughters in Utah
and Philadelphia. A Mission Presidents wife is only allowed to leave a
mission for family emergencies when approved by the Missionary
Department in SLC. The Missionary Department decided that having THREE
granddaughters born in such a short period of time would qualify.
Mission Presidents, on the other hand, are not permitted to leave their
mission for the three year period
Friday we both left for the airport, with mom going northwest to the United States while I went southeast to Guyana. Saturday and Sunday I presided over the semiannual
Member District Conference in Georgetown, the capital city of Guyana.
Both days were full of meetings with the leaders and members. This would
be equivalent to a Stake Conference weekend. At the final Sunday
session two of the speakers didn't come, so I had the opportunity to
speak for an hour as the concluding speaker.
Yesterday,
I drove to Berbice which is the poorest area in our mission and
definitely qualifies Guyana as a a third world country. It is located in
the jungle area of the northeast coast of Guyana. During the day the 75
mile car drive from Georgetown to Berbice takes over two hours because
of the poor road conditions and the animals on the road. Herds of sheep,
cows, horses and goats will just walk to the other side to eat, or
just walk down the middle of the road for miles. Some will even lay down
and sleep. If you drive at night it will take even longer because the
roads are very dark and now you can't see the people, who are also very
dark, as well as the many animals.
The pictures this week will
allow you to get an idea as to the conditions in Guyana. You will see a
portion of the Palm tree jungle, typical houses in the area and wild
horses and cows wondering the roads. You will see Guyana's equivalent to
our Home Depot . They too, will deliver to your home. Not with trucks
however, but with horse drawn wagons.
Hopefully
we can begin to appreciate how blessed we are . Our homes have
electricity, running water (both hot and cold water), inside toilets
instead of out houses, and enough food for our families so that we don't
go to bed hungry. But even living in such a country, these two sisters in the picture return home from school with smiles on their faces. The best clothes that they have are the required uniforms they wear at school. The last picture is where the girls live.
We love you all and appreciate your support and prayers.
Trini and Dad
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