July 31st, 2016

Hello dear family and friends,

We have had a busy week conducting zone conferences in Trinidad, but it has been nice to be home for a over a week. It has rained a lot lately and the mango trees in the yard are winding down with the big crop of the year. I have made 15 batches of jam and the missionaries are happy to have me share the joy with them for their toast or a spoon.

We have been able to teach this week with some of our sister missionaries and have enjoyed getting out to be with them and their investigators. One of the member lessons was with Anastasia. She has been a member for 9 years and is an awesome young woman. When we arrived at her home we thought it was deserted because it was so dark and the stairs leading up to her apartment had cement areas missing and open rebar exposed. As we entered she gave us a big smile and a hug and led us to her princess room. You could see straight through the floorboards to the ground as we walked to her room. She had pictures of the temple, the first vision and the prophet scattered on Disney Princess clad walls. We had a wonderful lesson about the blessings of the gospel and Dad told her we would fast with her to be able to come up with some names of those she would like to share the gospel with. We knelt in her tiny room to pray and the spirit was so strong. She said a beautiful prayer and blessed all of us. We couldn't help but be humbled by the circumstances in which we found ourselves. Everything she valued was within a 6x8 room, and it was obvious what was important to her....the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!

This week Dad also attended the baptism of a sweet lady from Venezuela while I was taking care of a sick sister missionary. She was baptized by the first Spanish convert in Trinidad who joined 3 months ago when Dad started having Spanish speaking elders serve in Trinidad. Then today she was confirmed by Elder Uri from the Dominican Republic in her own language. It was a great Sunday and we hope that you were able to begin a new week by partaking of the sacrament and remembering His sacrifice for each of us. We are learning, growing and appreciating so many of the things in life that are so easy to take for granted. We can feel your love and support and hope that in some small way you are feeling the blessings that come from our opportunity to serve.

Have a great week!

Love, Trini and Dad

PS Washday in Suriname makes me grateful for a washer and dryer