Our last time as a Diamond Zone

Here is the group we occasionally hang out with. Great group of guys and sisters. Imagine serving this crew breakfast every 6 weeks. We tried something new this time. The night before, we made a breakfast casserole with cut up pieces of bread, cheese, eggs, milk, vanilla and added cooked sausage and beacon on top, and let it sit overnight. In the morning you top it with diced tomatoes and green onions and bake. Was pretty easy and made the for a smooth dish. Sister Handly brought tons of fresh pineapple, watermelons and bananas. I think we might just have to do that again. Don't these elders look well fed and content?

Testing out the ping pong table

These fine elders of the Diamond zone love not only to get together every six weeks for an hour or so, they just love each other. Did you know they end all their phone calls with "I love ya" which was sort of weird when the first one said it to me. I don't really hear it often, but they sure say it to each other. They are really known as a band of brothers.

Pre transfer missionary breakfast

Look at these goofball elders. At this point our lovely breakfast is over and they are waiting turns for pingpong on our dining room table. Most of them get to stay, and oh, how we will miss the others as they transfer to a new area. Good luck gentlemen!

Manatee's at the Park

Today, we were suppose to drive to Canje for an interview after church, but it was postponed. So on the way home from church, we stopped at the Botanical gardens (not what you are imagining) for a little picnic and to see the manatees. We spotted about four of them. They posed for us as long as we fed them a little grass. They are about 8 feet long and live in this large pond. We were a little suprised that they let us pet them. A face only a mother could love.

A green parrot day

One day this week, I was on my way to pick Scot up from the church after an afternoon with the sisters and I heard this loud cawing sound. I pulled over the car to catch these green parrots up in a tree. There were about 15 in all. How often do you get to see a bunch of parrots in the wild, or shall I say in the neighborhood. It was pretty neat. Glad I had my camera. For a really good glimpse of these parrots, just click on the picture and you can see their beauty up close and personal.

Sister Juman and the Prime Minister at the Celebration

Sister Juman and I happened to be walking toward the enterence of the National Indian Arrival Day Celebration just as the prime minister was entering the grounds. He was surrounded by body guards, but she wanted to shake his hand, so she did and there I was with my camera. It was sort of a thrill. He even shook my hand. Probably because I was the only white person on the entire celebration grounds. He didn't stop for anyone else. I just drove by his house yesterday in downtown Georgetown. Perhaps I should pop in for a visit sometime and bring him rice krispie squares or brownines or something. You never know when it might help to know people in high places. Then again, maybe he wants to learn about the church. You never know.

Indian arrival Day Celebration

May 5 was East Indian Arrival Day. I went with sister Juman and she explained the festivities. Here we were on a ferris wheel. It was her first time on one and she kept her eyes closed the whole time. There was traditional dancing, floats depicting the history of the people, music, dancing, traditional costume, food and all sorts of cultural mixes. It was fun and there is so much to learn about these people. And this is just the East Indians.

The East Indians comprise of the Hindus, the Muslums and the Christians. Each with their own traditions. But they all get along because they all came as endured servants 171 years ago. They share that important part of history.

These children represent the early school children. They don't dress like this now, but all the students here from kindergarden up through high school do wear uniforms.

Apparently, these children on this float represent the way the early hindu people were married. They had arranged marriages of children and later, when they were older, lived together. The boy here wasn't too happy about the whole thing, but the girl seemed pretty happy.

This was just one of the performing groups. It is all drums. And frankly...... I don't get it. It sounds to me like 10 minutes of the same beat. So I must be missing something. But they seemed to know what they were doing. We also watched the Haricrishna groups play and dance. They might be hindus that believe in Christ. I'll have to look into that more.

Cute little frogs

See this cute little frog? We have these visitors each evening. We think they climb in through one of the drains. They are only about an inch big. But we end up chasing one around the living area each evening. See, what they don't realize is that if they come inside for the evening, they will shrivel up and die by morning. So it is rather important that we catch them and save their little lives. By save, I simply mean I catch them and toss them outside near the drain. This one was found in the dishes in the kitchen sink. The chase is on. If I win, we both win, or, another another one bites the dust.

Mother's Day preparation in the Garden Park Branch

Check out this great group of Garden Park Primary kids. They were preparing three songs for mothers day next week. They are singing some song I vaguely remember from my primary days as a youth, Love is Spoken Here,

and a Happy Family. They are also having two primary children speak and one child give a poem. What an awesome tribute to mothers. They practiced smiling and the whole performance bit. I can hardly wait to see them next week. They Rock. And their leaders are pretty cute too. I love that where ever I go in the world, Primary children are learning the same songs. I need to brush up on some of them. I get to teach them songs when I visit their branch and we have such a fun time.

Seminary Rocks in the West Indies

Here are some pictures of some of the seminary students in our district. We had a special seminary fireside this saturday. Elder Gamiette, our soon to be mission president and current CES director for the West Indies came to spend a day with the youth. They played a fun Scripture Bingo game that really challanged them. They were split into 4 teams. If a team thought they had a bingo, they had to either stand and recite the scripture (one of the 25 they are to learn for the year) or read the scripture and relate a personal experience. So many of the kids are receint converts to the church and were so quick to apply the scripture to their lives. I was in AWE. Guess I'd better buckle down and learn these scriptures. They were so into it and Brother Gamiette is soooo motivating. He will be replaced by Brother Alverado of Peurto Rico. He too is a really fun guy. He lead a great discussion with the young Adults that evening. WOW!

Two of our favorite friends

Here are two of my favorite people here in Guyana. This is the darling wife and son (Rande)of our new District President. They got to spend a little time at our home one sunday afternoon while our husbands had meetings. It was fun. Is this not the cutest kid you have ever seen? He is always smiling. Sister Vonella Goodluck happens to be the sister of one of our St. Lucia friends, Kendrea from the Castries Branch. The world is getting smaller every day.

The sheep and the goats

This land is full of wild life. This troup of about a dozen goats and kids crossed out path the other day. We stood on the side of a bridge to see if they would confront us or not. They didn't seem to have a problem sharing the road with us. They are cute little critters. They are all over the place. Makes us feel a little like we live in the country.

Shrimp for dinner, maybe

On our way home from Conjie the other day, we stopped on the side of the road along this trench to visit with this little family. A mom, her 4 year old boy and these 3 daughters were attempting to catch shrimp in this trench. The two older girls about ages 12 and 10 were swiming in the water with their net while the rest of the family walked the bank with a basket to hold the caught shrimp. When we asked them how long it would take to catch, they said this was their first time and that they had no idea. What a fun family activity, catching dinner.

Rice Drying on the Road

Guyana is famous for their rice. Part of the rice drying process is to pour the rice out of its 50 lb bags onto the road and spread it out to dry in the sun. Every 15 minutes or so the workers walk through it to help it dry. After several hours of drying, they scoop it back up and take it back to the mill to separate the rice from the dried outside cover. Here is a father working with his son and sister Hymas who thought it looked fun. What a way to toughen your feet.