September 29th, 2016

Dear Family and Friends,

We just returned from Zone Meetings and a Multi-Branch Conference in Berbice, Guyana.  We have 6 branches of the church there, that are spread out across the countryside. They vary as much as 2-4 hours from the capital of Georgetown. It is always exciting to travel the road to Berbice and try to avoid hitting cows, pigs, goats, chickens, donkeys and people. This trip there were also sugar cane fields being burned that filled the sky with smoke, as the crop is being prepared for harvest.

The conference was amazing. Over 200 people came to the Sunday Session and packed into the only church owned building in this area. The theme of the conference was "Love at Home." I told the members that my son Jon, used to say "There is beauty all around, when there's no one home!" It made them laugh.

The building was very hot, humid and full of the spirit. All of the participants on the program showed up and delivered their assignments beautifully. That was a miracle!  We met with missionaries and members and dad conducted interviews that had people lined up down the hall and into the foyer. 

The faces of the children tug at my heart. They are so reverent and beautiful to watch as they worship. I pray that they have food to eat when they get home. Life here is hard and "enduring to the end" is a difficult concept when you are "enduring day to day."

There is a young woman named Rianna who is going on a mission in November to England. Her mother was recently diagnosed with a tumor on her spine that has paralyzed her movement from the waist down at this point. We petitioned the Area Presidency for help with her surgical costs and just heard that it was approved. We are hoping that the removal of the tumor will give her the use of her legs again so she can operate the little shop she has outside her home. Rihanna has moved her mission date back a transfer to be able to help her with her recovery and physical therapy. We are so grateful for the generosity of the church. The family had raised some funds and a donation campaign was also helpful but the church made up the balance.  It is amazing to know only a fraction of what the church must do across the world to help others. This gospel is truly the epitome of charity.

We are grateful to play a part in the Savior's plan and bear testimony that He lives and loves each one of us. As we try to serve Him with all our heart, might, mind and strength, we are mindful of each of you and want you to know that your prayers sustain us as we do "hard things!"

We love you,

Trini and Dad

September 18th, 2016

Dear Family and Friends,

It was another week in Caribbean paradise. We have been in the ABC islands conducting zone meetings and are now back in Trinidad doing the same. While we were in the ABC islands we took a few hours to tour the island of Bonaire. A wonderful member family on the island is in tourism and offers a three hour tour...a three hour tour. His name isn't Gilligan but he and his wife have a wonderful story. He is from Aruba and because of the islands reciprocity to the Netherlands, those students holding a stellar grade point average, are able to attend the university in the Netherlands for free. While in the Netherlands going to school, he met a blue-eyed blond Dutch girl in his Samba class. They fell in love and were married. His grandmother lived on Bonaire and promised them some of her land if they would take care of her in her advancing age. One day after work, he came home followed by two missionaries. His wife said," Why are they here?" He answered "They are thirsty. I told them we would listen but we aren't interested." At the time the mission was about to close its doors in Bonaire, because there were no worthy Melchizedek priesthood holders on the horizon to sustain to be branch president. They listened once and twice and within two months they were baptized. As soon as he received the Melchizedek priesthood he was ordained the new branch president! They are an awesome family with two little boys and he is now the second counselor in the ABC Member District Presidency. 

Anyway, we went on a four hour tour in their air conditioned van with our 4 missionaries that are serving on the island.

We found out that Bonaire is trying to become the first green island in the Caribbean. They are number two in the world for off-shore diving and pride themselves on natural white sand beaches caused by erosion of the coral. You are not allowed to take shells or coral home with you as a souvenir. It is against the law. Dad didn't know that when he put some of the finger-like coral in his suitcase on our last trip to the island. We had a wonderful day learning the history of the island and seeing up close and personal why they take pride in their little island. There is a history of slavery as you will see in photos of slave huts that were used for sleeping Monday through Friday. Then they walked 5 hours to the town where their families were, before it was time to walk back so they could report at sunrise on Monday for work in the salt pan industry. These salt pans have flourished as an income for the island since the 1500's. The mountains of salt are loaded onto hoppers that go out to the ocean and then are deposited directly onto ships where they are taken to the US to be processed into everything from table salt to water softening pellets. Salt is 20% of Bonaire's economy today, the rest is tourism because of the diving industry. There are no chain hotels or restaurants. It is quiet and sleepy and has a great gelatto shop in the middle of its one block main street. The people are wonderful and speak Papiamento, Dutch, Spanish and English. We have one Papiamento/Spanish branch (30-40) and one small Dutch group (12) that meet in a rented home. They have amazing young people that are the future of the church. We are grateful to know these wonderful Saints and appreciate so much, their testimonies that strengthen ours.

We hope you enjoy some of the pictures of the tour!

We love and miss you all,

Trini and Dad

 

September 14th, 2016

Dear Family and Friends,

Mission Leadership Council was held with all senior couples, zone leaders and sister training leaders throughout the entire mission. We flew everyone into Trinidad and devoted our day to becoming more effective Preach My Gospel Missionaries.

Chapter 10 is titled How Can I Improve My Teaching Skills. Dad taught the section How To Begin Teaching 176-177. When we were in the MTC, a story was told about this particular section that Dad related to all our missionaries.

President Packer was asleep one night and woke up with several things on his mind. He was on the committee that helped to submit and critique certain portions of Preach My Gospel, but this particular evening he could not go back to sleep. So, he took a pen and began to write down everything that was on his mind. Then he went back to bed. 

The next day, he took the manuscript into the missionary department and told them about the experience and gave them a copy of every word as it came to him. They were happy to proof the submission and edit accordingly.

When the editing department returned the printed copy to Elder Packer, he read it and instructed them politely to revert to the original wording, as it had come "straight from God." His instruction was heeded and Chapter 10 remained as it has been received. Dad testified of the truthfulness of this section and encouraged each missionary to share with their investigators that "This is the most important message you will ever hear." 

Then, I spoke about our opportunity as a mission to create a flag of faith, a title of truth and a banner of righteousness. I compared it to the Hindu flags that are planted in all of my neighbors yards, signifying prayers to specific deities and the blessings and protection they hope for, through their faith. It was a stimulating and collaborative effort to create our mission "Title of Liberty." I am transferring it to fabric and displaying it so all my neighbors know what we pray for and have faith in. Thank you for a great idea Moroni!

After that, we had all of the senior couples share a little about themselves, along with their testimony. You could have heard a pin drop. What a great source of strength and dedication to the Lord. It was moving for many to share that they were converts, had not served a mission as a young man or woman and what a privilege it was to be in the service of the Lord now. I think they may have been the highlight of the conference. 

We are grateful for all of you and hope that you are enjoying a wonderful Fall!

We Love You,

Trini and Dad

September 4th, 2016

Dear Family and friends,

It has been a wonderful week of baptisms throughout the mission. One in particular, that we were able to attend, was especially noteworthy. Martha Mary Clinton lives on the hillside in Port of Spain. The walkway to her home has 139 steps! The elders have counted every one of them. Elder Spjut and Elder Lorenzo were in the area one day, making sure that they hadn't missed a single home, when her dogs kept barking out by the fence and she came out to quiet them.  She said she doesn't usually bother to shush her dogs, since they protect her property. That was when she saw a tall white boy and little dark boy in white shirts and ties trudging up her stairs. The elders stopped at her front gate asked if she had a minute to spare for a special message. She said they looked thirsty and tired and she felt sorry for them, so she asked them to join her on the porch and gave them a drink. 

Martha is 70 years old and had been going to several churches over the years hoping to find peace and love. She always felt that she had lived the way God would have her live, but her investigations into various churches always left her with something missing. She said it was like putting a puzzle together and missing the last piece, so she quit going to church and stayed home to read the Bible and pray. She had been praying recently to God to guide her to the truth and then the missionaries found the house with 139 steps. They climbed to the top and found Martha.

In her testimony after her confirmation today she said, "I was searching for love in all the wrong places. Now my son and my granddaughter are listening to the missionary lessons. I know the Book of Mormon is true and I am grateful for the other prophets that I have learned about. I asked the missionaries lots of questions and they always had an answer for me. The Holy Spirit was there in my home and I have had answers to my prayers. I give God all the praise and thank Him for allowing these young men to find my home, share the gospel with me and help me find the missing piece."

She's going to be an amazing addition to the ward in Port of Spain and it was wonderful to get to know her and witness this special conversion. She was glowing today after sacrament meeting and so excited to be part of the "Family of God". Her name is a proper way for you to visualize what she is like. Martha and Mary rolled into one. We hope you had a great Sabbath Day.

Love,

Trini and Dad

August 28th, 2016

Dear Family and Friends,

Last week was spent in Suriname as we held Member District Conferences. Dad and I spoke regarding the theme "Love at Home." The highlight of the week though, was on Saturday evening as 8 converts were baptized at "The Waters of Suriname!"   A family of 6 along with 2 single sisters joined the church. It was a wonderful service and all of them bore their testimonies at their own baptisms. It was so wonderful to see so many dressed in white on this special occasion. 

Then we flew home to Trinidad to conduct transfers! It was crazy as usual. We had 12 arrive and 9 leave for home.

Immigration is still an issue as we had an elder stranded for a couple of days on Curacao until we could get him into Aruba with his companion. Thank heavens for our senior couple there. Now that all are safely gathered with their companions or back home with their families, we are preparing for a Member Leadership Conference with all of our senior couples and the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders. 

We testify that only the Lord can make all of the pieces fit together in this mission. It never seems like we are going to get a handle on it and then it all works out. His hand is really in the work.....down to the very last detail. 

We thought you might enjoy a candid shot of a goat herder, (High on a hill was a lonely goat herd...la di oh da, la di oh da, lay hee who) whose goats are in charge of mowing the cricket field a couple times a week. While Dad was taking the photo, I was waving at a little girl in her backyard pool. Hopefully they rinsed out the barrel before she hopped in! She was having a lot of fun cooling off and her Dad let us take her picture! 

It's hard to believe everyone is back at school and the leaves are starting to change. We just finished the mango crop and even enjoyed a few avocados. The mosquitoes are still biting, the birds are still singing, the gospel is still true, and we love all of you!

Remember to count your blessings,

Trini and Dad

 

More pictures. This is why we were so busy last week after arriving home from Suriname. First the incoming missionaries and then the outgoing. Transfers come every 6 weeks. They take the whole week with flights from all of our countries, interviews, training, devotionals and lots of dinners at the mission home. But.... still having FUN!

August 12th, 2016

Dear Family,

ABC easy as 123! Well not that easy to travel to all these islands in less than a week when you are dealing with Caribbean airlines that have a very relaxed view of timeliness. This time we at least were not dealing with cancelled flights. We were able to visit all three islands this past week for zone conferences, interviews and member support. Our missionaries are having great success in these islands and the baptisms have already doubled since last year. Their goal is to triple them and we are well on our way. It is very exciting to see recent converts placed in positions of leadership and soar. If any of you know couples that can speak some Spanish and want to serve we have a great missionary experience for them. Both Aruba and Bonaire are in need of a senior couple and we are definitely recruiting!

It's hard to believe that summer is wrapping up for all of you and school will be starting soon. I know the kids have had a great summer according to Instagram at least. Thank you for keeping us in the loop. It makes our day to check social media and see all the good things that are going on back home. We have loved watching the posts and need to start figuring our how to do some of that ourselves. I have been waiting over a year for a good hair day....which won't happen while we are here!

We are busier that we thought was humanly possible. Dad is always available to help any missionary, member and stranger. Our new senior couple has arrived to assume the mission office responsibilities so things are busy with a steep learning curve of training We have really learned the importance being "our brother's keeper." There is always something to do, someone to love, and problems to remedy. We have been blessed to have good health so we can try to keep up with the demands of this calling. WE LOVE YOU!!!

Have a great day,

Trini and Dad

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