Seminary

Here are three pretty little girls who ought to be in seminary. One of them is in school, the others stay home all day. They are too poor to have bus fare to go to seminary.

Shoes

This is the kind of picture that needs bubbles with thoughts in it. Elder Sookram looks like he's asking, "When's lunch?" We promised this pair lunch after we bought shoes. Sookram has a reputation for out eating Elder Jordan. We find that incredible. Sookram is about 6' 3" and weighs 136 lbs. Elder Langford looks like he is finished. He doesn't like to shop to begin with and this has been a challenge. Elder Jordan looks like he's looking for Heavenly assistance in this choice.

Shoe shopping

Elder Jordan's shoes are worn out so we had to go shoe shopping. He prepared for a 6week special assignment last September 1 and he is still serving. He goes into the MTC the first of February. Shoe shopping in Guyana was a revelation to us. The shoe stores look like what you would find in the U.S. The difference is that what you see on the shelf is what you get. If you find a color and style you like, it better be in your size because there is nothing in the back. We needed black dress shoes that would wear well. Guyanese do not wear black dress shoes except for special occasions, so finding some that would wear well was a challenge.

The Berbice Bridge

This is the new Berbice Bridge. It is the most wonderful thing to help us in our mission. We can now get from Rosignol to New Amsterdam in 5 minutes. It was taking us anywhere from 1-1/2 hours to 7 hours to cross the Berbice River by ferry. We don't miss the ferry. We will be able to run to New Amsterdam and Canje in 2 hours. Oh happy day!!!!!

Family History

We welcomed another new couple right after Christmas. This is Elder and Sister Handly. They have come to support the Family History program in the Caribbean. They are starting with Guyana but will go to Trinidad, Suriname, and the islands that have a need. This is the first picture we took with our new camera. It is a little blurry because we haven't gotten used to it yet. You may ask, what happened to the old camera? I'm sorry we don't have a picture of that!

We went to Patentia Village to visit Sister Ruby and collect her attendance report for the month of November. The first time we went, her yard and house were flooded. People were bailing water out of the bottom floor. We could not get close enough to the house to get her attention and decided she was too busy to deal with us anyway so we went home. It is an hour drive to her village. Her phone didn't work and hadn't worked for over a week. We decided to go back a week later. We found her and she welcomed us into her home, BUT, her yard was still flooded. The flood water is brown so you cannot see through it. There is a trench (with yucky water) around every house in Guyana. The trench was flooded. There was a bridge, but we couldn't see it. Sister Ruby stood in her gateway and said, "Just walk toward me and you'll be fine." Elder Langford walked toward her and was fine. He turned to me and said, "Just walk where I walked". I took a step and felt the bridge, I took a second step and there was no bridge and I went down sideways up to my neck in yucky water. My bag with my camera, cell phone and the palm pilot went with me. Sister Ruby, her sister and Elder Langford couldn't help laughing until they cried. I crawled out like a drowned rat and regretted that we couldn't get a picture of the entire mess. We got the November report, cancelled our other appointment in Patentia and went home. I took a 20 minute hot shower with lots of soap, washed my clothes (including my black skirt) in Clorox and was as good as new. Elder Langford was able to dry out all three electronics, but the cell phone is the only one that agreed to work. The camera and the palm pilot were lost. There are nasty diseases that you can get from falling into trenches, but we have been very faithful about taking our malaria meds from the day we got here. We found out that the malaria meds are what they give to people in flooded areas and it prevents other diseases besides malaria. Lesson: Be obedient to all of the rules and the Lord will bless you.

Changes

The one thing you can count on in life is change. We had a party just before Christmas to bid the Tanners good bye and welcome the Whiteheads who took their place. We'll miss the Tanners. We gave them a gift certificate for chips at the ferry. The Whiteheads will take on the Humanitarian Aid responsibilities. They have hit the ground running and will do a wonderful job. Pictured from left to right: The Langfords, Tanners, Whiteheads, Evans, Ron Larsons, Sister Bullock in the green blouse, Elder Bullock in a red tie, and Elder Earl Larson in back, Sister Sherry Larsen in front of Sister Bullock.

White Christmas

It was Christmas Eve. We are having a white Christmas - the sky is white and the rain is coming down in torrents. We got a call from Elder Clark and Elder Young. They were in a remote area of Sofia and had waited 20 minutes and there were no busses, would we please come and rescue them. It took us 15 minutes to get to them and here they are. They were so wet I wouldn't let them get into the car until I had taken their picture.

Don't worry, mother. Getting wet in Guyana is only getting wet. We do not get cold when we get wet. Our clothes are all washable and these guys are wearing their long boots to save their shoes.