Zone Conference - December 3, 2008

Here is the whole group of good looking elders. The couples are from left, the Langfords (us) the Larsens, President and Sister Robison, the Tanners and the Evans'. We had a wonderful spiritual day studying Lehi's dream of the tree of life. We wanted our picture with a tree, but alas, the building is brand new and there isn't even a weed that tall.

Traffic

How many lanes do you see painted on the road? Do you think the bus on the far left wants to turn left? All he wants to do is get ahead of the other bus. Guyanese do not like to wait in line while they are driving.

House

We have been watching a woman build a house along a very busy street. She started with a cardboard box and has been adding to it. The rainy season is coming. When it rains, it pours buckets - thunder, lightening and wind. We wonder how long this will last.

Training

President Gamiette came to Guyana. His purpose was to help the Banch Presidents see what their duty was in relation to seminary and institute. Elder Boyd K. Packer says, "Doctrine if fully understood has the power to change behavior better than the study of behavior has to change behavior". So President Gamiette put the Branch Presidents and the Seminary and Institute teachers into groups and had them teach themselves. By the end of the training meeting, when the Branch Presidents reported on what they learned, they gave the talk that he would have given, had he given a talk.


We went to the Canje District and repeated the training. It was magical to see the Branch Presidents learn how to enroll new members who have just been baptized. The baptismal rate here is one of the highest in the world. One of the big problems we face is keeping up with the structure to retain all of the new members who are coming into the church.

Seminary

Scripture Mastery - These students in Vreed en Hoop are sharing their projects to help us remember a scripture. The Elders drop into class from time to time. They challenge new teen-age converts to meet them at seminary. Bless them, they do so much good.

Movie Night

The Young Adults had a movie night. How much equipment does it take to show a movie? And how many elders does it take to hook it all up. The rejoicing over a picture was premature. There was no sound. They ended up using the DVD player with the monitor. They put away the computer and the projector and the microphone sound system. It was fun. There were about 25 young adults. They served channa (garbanzo beans) and something else afterwards. My idea to have popcorn went over like a lead balloon.

After School

The children are all heading home. Notice the different colored uniforms in this picture. Every school has its own colors and combinations.