Suriname

We had a pleasant visit to Suriname. It was more new and strange for us. The plane was late, the hotel shuttle didn't wait for us so we took at taxi and traffic was terrible. For the most part, traffic is more calm and orderly than Guyana. The drivers seem to follow the rules most of the time. There was no livestock roaming around. The country seems more prosperous and definitely more international. The buildings in the picture are a Jewish Temple and a Moslem Mosque next door to each other. Our CES supervisor is Indonesian, the woman who volunteered to translate sacrament meeting for me is from Java (served a mission in Mexico - that means she speaks Javanese, Spanish, Dutch and English - I feel so dumb) We attended an inservice for the teachers Saturday morning and then stayed for a baptismal service. It was delightful. A woman and man were married on Friday (at the church) so that they could be baptised on Saturday. They have a tiny adorable daughter. Our CES hostess picked out a Chinese restaurant and we took her out to lunch. We were given a short sight-seeing tour and then taken to our hotel. There is a large park downtown that is a "people's park". It is all palm trees and very beautiful. Sunday, we were picked up by a Brother Ibrahim. He is Lebanonese. We enjoyed the block, spent time in the teenage Sunday School class and then went to YW and YM. Everything was in Dutch and we didn't understand most of it, but the spirit was strong.

Brother Ibrahim invited us to his home for dinner and we accepted. His wife is a Seminary teacher and we had met her the day before. They have two children, a boy 12 and a girl 11. She made us a meal of rice with everything in the kitchen in it. It was delicious. We visited for several hours and enjoyed it very much.

Monday morning we visited a seminary class and found the children very eager to learn and questioning and doing what they do in the model films they make at BYU. The children here are hungry for the gospel and the scriptures. They appreciate seminary and their teachers.

How did we like it? We loved it. The only hard thing is the newness of everything. I found I had a sick stomach most of the trip. It went away when we got back to Guyana. I guess it was nerves.