This trip interfered with Chucho Alvarado's, ( the 7 year old son of the President) school Turkey bowl. This is a special day at his school where the kids race to see who can win a turkey. Because he missed it, we brought a small wrapped on along and had a special race on the beach. We drew lines in the sand and had the Pietz couple hold up the finish line. And of course, Chucho was the winner. Here is the winner with his family. After, we took a dip in this beautiful Caribbean water. This really was the color. Best quick ocean swim I have ever had.

Vieques , Puerto Rico

Just a few weeks after we got to Puerto Rico, the mission president and his family, us and one other couple decided to meet another couple on the island of Vieques. We actually went to see biolumincent micro creatures in Misquito lagoon. But you have to go at night and we went in a kayak. So no pictures of that, but here are a few pictures of our 24 hour trip. Here we are under this monster tree.

Some days you just feel like clowning around. And this particular day, I found a clown, clicked his picture with some of my friends on our way to a zone conference. Anything to add a little spice and color to our day. Here I am with the clown, Sister Button, on the right, the mission secretary and Sister Icely our mission nurse on the left. Sister Icely really serves in St. Thomas, but comes to San Juan for zone conferences to visit with our young missionaries and give little health presentations.

Jeralie celebrates her birthday in style

Many of you may not know my feelings about birthdays but I think they are all about creating memories. So here is what we did at the end of Feb. for mine. I called it a ladies day out. And boy did some husbands grumble. The mission president hates to know there is a party going on and he wasn't invited. Anyway, I invited all of the senior sisters missionaries and the mission presidents wife and 2 daughters and a friend to go on a boat ride, which was free, to a restaurant for lunch. It was such a pleasant day. It took about 45 minutes to get there. Very peaceful and unhurried. Then, on the way home, some of us stopped into to Maggie Moos for ice cream. We had a great time.

Young Single Adult Snorkeling Party

The St. Kitts branch recently organized their Young Single Adults. They are a great group. There are about 8-10 in the branch. Mostly girls. We planned activities for the next 6 months. Last month they went on a hike organized by the one non member man of the group. It was a smashing success. That young man Ricky, was baptized last week. Yahoo. The Elders quorum have scooped him up and are becoming fast friends. Then, yesterday, they had their second activity. They planned a snorkeling party. They were encouraged to invite their friends. So they did. And 20 people came. They spent the afternoon eating, socializing and snorkeling, which many of them had never done before. They can hardly wait for their activity next month. Way to go YSA St. Kitts.

Great Sign Ehh?

Monkeyin' around

As we were driving around the island, we saw this rare sign. Monkey crossing. Nevis and St. Kitts are among the only islands on our mission that have monkeys. They were brought over years ago as pets by the English. When the English left the island, they left their pets. Monkeys are actually a problem to the people because the monkeys steal their mangos from the trees before they are ripe. And many people depend on mangos as a staple. But I must admit, they are sort of cute.

The Allen Family on Nevis

After church, we went with Brother Croft to visit the Allan Family. The Allens have been members of the church for 25 years. They cannot afford to take transportation to get to the family group. So we visited them. Brother Croft is a priest. We invited him to prepare himself for the Melchezedek Priesthood and then prepare to go to the temple. He got excited about those ideas. Then we asked his son Evenson if he was interested in serving a mission. He is 19. He said he was. We spent a little time explaining that missions take sacrifice and hard work. We also explained the blessings of a mission that will come to him, his family and the members on Nevis by his serving. If he and one other person from St. Kitts serve missions, the mission president will send full time missionaries to their island. Evenson does not have a penny to his name and is looking for a job. Jobs are so hard to find on this island. We will come back next month and see if we can find a way for him to prepare himself to serve. With the help of the nearby branch and a miracle from the Lord, I'm sure he can have the desire of his heart and bless others along the way.

Went to the small island of Nevis today. It is just off St. Kitts. We took the ferry which took about 30 minutes and drove to the Croft family home. They are the family that holds the family group meeting each sunday. Sister Croft picks up the members and brings them to their home. Today, only 1 lady, Franchesca came to church. We sat on their porch and enjoyed a lovely lesson by sister Croft on the Priesthood. After a great lesson (yes, with the whole family) we had sacrament meeting. We sang, prayed, Brother Croft blessed and passed the sacrament and we all shared our testimonies because it was fast and testimony sunday due to general conference. What a sweet spirit that resided there. Unfortunately, the Crofts will be moving in two weeks after Brother Croft graduates from Medical school. We will need to find or activate a priesthood member to keep the family group going.