Carifesta

 

The country of Guyana is hosting "Carifesta" this year. It is a celebration of Caribbean culture hosted by Caricom which is a loose confederation of Caribbean countries. The main festival will be held at the fair grounds, which are about three blocks from where we live. We went over one Sunday to deliver a Book of Mormon to one of the artists. He showed up at church and was interested. He took us on a tour of the work being done in preparation. They have built a big assembly hall and several smaller buildings using Amerindian techniques. These artists are in charge of sharing their talents. They were being paid to stay there two weeks to finish their projects.

Driving in Georgetown

This is Christopher. He is in the backseat of our car. What is he doing? He is looking out the rear window to try to see the stop light so that he can tell us when it turns green. Many of the stop lights are placed where you can't see them. Makes driving a little difficult. Our usual technique is to wait until someone honks. The only problem is, they honk long before the light turns green.

Pineapples

This is Montaine John. He is 82 and grows pineapples on his farm and brings them to the Bourda Market to sell. He has a degree in agriculture and a certificate in education. He worked as a teacher all of his career and finished up as head-master of a secondary school. Teachers aren't paid enough, so he grows pineapples. Retired teachers don't get enough, so he grows pineapples. These pineapples are the sweetest ones we have ever tasted. They are not acidic (no canker sores) and we make it a habit to visit him once a week.

 

This is another family we visited because they weren't coming to church. Dad works on Sunday but says the job is finally finished and they will be there for sure next Sunday. The daughters always go shopping on Sunday. Dad gets paid Saturday afternoon and they go to the market on Sunday. We tried to teach about the blessings of keeping the Sabbath. We'll have to wait and see if they got it.

 

This is Sister Judy. She has 5 children of her own and her sister died. The rest of the children are nieces and nephews. They are sitting with Elder Sturdevant and Elder Homestead. We went to visit because they aren't coming to church. They can't afford two taxis to get them there. Elder Homestead asked the children what they spent their money on. They replied "peanut punch". It seems a man down the street makes peanut punch and it is very popular. Elder Sturdevant said he could make peanut punch and if they could learn how, they wouldn't have to spend their money down the street and could afford a taxi. The peanut punch is about 3 big spoonfuls of crunchy peanut butter, sweetened condensed milk, regular milk, and sugar whirred up in a blender. I tasted it and it was too sweet for me. They didn't make it to church again. We went back. Randy slipped on a wet floor and cut his cheek open. They had to take him to the hospital for stitches. Satan just gets in the way. They will try to come again next Sunday.

Farewell Whites

 

This is a farewell Family Home Evening for the Whites. We love them. They have served a proselyting/Guyana office mission. Their replacements came early so they were transferred to St. Vincent for the remainder of their time. They've earned a vacation. They have worked hard doing double-duty. From left, the Whites, the Langfords, the Larsens (proselyting), the Evans (proselyting/Guyana office), the Tanners (Humanitarian Aid and our upstairs neighbors), and the Owens (proselyting and he is serving as a Patriarch here)

 

 

Mother and baby. This is right outside the gate to the Preshad Nagar Building.