Today is a beautiful day here in Jamaica. The sky is blue with a few puffy white clouds. The temp is around 82 with a gentle breeze. What is the weather like where you are?

We have had a great week. We have visited Mandeville, Spanish Town, Linstead, Kingston and Yallahs. We attended church yesterday in Yallahs. There were around 35 in attendance, including 4 missionaries and 3 Senior Couples. In each town we were scoping out medical facilities, and we are so impressed with most Dr. Offices, Clinics and Hospitals.

Apparently the Jamaica Kingston Mission has the worst driving record of all the missions in the Caribbean, so we are starting a driver training program for all driving missionaries. Last Thursday we had our first Drivers training for all mission drivers here on Jamaica. Elder and Sister McKenzie conducted the training. And I must say they did and exceptional job. We both passed.

Here are a few pics that you may enjoy.

At the Ministry of Tax there is a full sized door mounted in a walk through space in the counter.
Not sure why...I suppose they just had an extra door and needed to put it somewhere. 

This is the drive thru at the Old Harbour KFC. I'm wondering if goat meat tastes like chicken.
Read the sign on the wall????

Driving on the left (wrong) side of the road takes a bit of getting use to. For the first few days I kept turning on the wipers to make a turn.

The Elders and Sisters do a lemon-aid stand to introduce the Church to passers-by.

This was the welcoming party in our apartment. Not sure how long he had been waiting, but he was petrified.

Sister B here....I walked up to this woman in the market to buy callaloo (a dark green leafy vegetable..maybe like Kale)  She looked at me for a moment and simply said, "You are a nurse." Surprised and imaging I had heard her incorrectly, I asked her to repeat what she said. Again she said, You are a nurse.  I tried to make sense of it by pointing to my name tag ???...questioning if she were a member???...knew the local missionaries?? Nothing!
Finally, I said, "I am a nurse. How did you know.?"  She shrugged her shoulders, but the old man sitting near her said, "She knows things like that." Gave me a little shudder. Her name is Lena if anyone needs a fortune teller contact?

 

The road North from Spanish Town to Linstead.
It's beautiful in the mountains. I really didn't expect to be in the mountains here in Jamaica.

The river is muddy from all the rain that we have been getting every afternoon.
It is the rainy season you know.

This is Sister Dennis from the Old Harbour Branch. She invited us to dinner one evening and what a spread she put on. I think we were served every traditional Jamaican dish in one sitting.
Sister Dennis would be considered one of the Pioneer members here in Jamaica. She was brought into the church by Victor Nugent who is considered to be the first priesthood holder and local leader here in Jamaica. The Church has a movie about him if your interested.

                                    This is one of the things that she prepared.It is the National Jamaican Dish. Ackee and Salt Fish.                                      It really tasted better than it looked. But we are game for anything...if it is prepared properly.


The food is easy. The hard part is a notification that came yesterday and said that the water supply in all of Old Harbour will be "disrupted" for the next MONTH!!!!!  We do have a large tank, but never the less this might get interesting. The missionaries in this area do not have such a tank.

Some local vendors and their go-carts. I'll get a better picture of one soon. They have a steering wheel from a car with ropes to the front wheels to steer. Reminds me of the "Little Rascals".

I was always taught to pull over and let your vehicle cool off when it over heats on a hill.

                                       The only facility in Yallahs. The waiting area is outside and we were told,  "always full".                                                                             Sister B prays extra long for the missionaries in this area.                                                           The closest real clinic is probably 1 hour away. 

This is where the Saints meet in Yallahs. It's a small house. Sacrament in the front-room, the overflow is the front porch and the garage where the missionaries are standing.

This takes guts..but I can do it. Passed my drivers training test twice.

Well here we are in Jamaica, Jamrock is what the locals call it. I'll plug in some pics from the past few days and explain as I go. We have attended two Zone conferences and we are so impressed with the missionaries. One was in Kingston and the other was in Mandeville. As I already mentioned in my last post, we are housed in Old Harbour which is about 1 hour West of Kingston. We were handed keys to our apartment, given a driving test administered by the office elders and pointed West towards Old Harbour and wished "Good Luck". There are 3 challenges with driving, (1) we drive on the wrong side of the roads and for the first day or so I kept turning on the wipers to signal my turns because the wiper controls are on the left and the blinker controls are on the right. (2) there are very few road signs and someone keeps forgetting to update google maps. It's a guessing game with directions. (3) the traffic is crazy....I get a real feeling that we are in West Africa again.
We have meet a few of the member here in Old Harbour and they are super nice and most helpful. Church is at 10 am and the chapel is only 10 min from our apartment. The only problem is Sister Barney and I will be traveling a lot at the request of President Parker. He said to tell the Branch hi and well see you again in a year or so.

Here is our humble abode...and of course the limo. Right now we are driving the old Mission Presidents vehicle while we wait for our new one. I'm sure the wait is Jamrock schedule.

Looking West on our street Mandela Close.

Another shot looking South

Castle Jamrock

The neighbors across the street, Anthony and Beverly, have a beautiful home.

Looking in our house from the front door.

Our rustic entertainment center....soon to be replaced with a piece of real furniture.

Sister Barney at the IT work station.

Our kitchen and laundry room. We do have a toaster oven but it need an outlet.

Guess.

Master bedroom.

More master bedroom.

Looks like we had a visitor in the night...looks like cat tracks to me.

Do you think the Aviary housing development that we live in was inspired by a liberal?
I'm not sure if I can continue walking in the mornings.

One of the many local culinary delights that came highly recommended by one of the local Jamaicans.
Made from Ram parts that I can't spell at this time.



Before I sign out for today, I want you to know that the gospel is true and I'm so happy to have a living Prophet on the earth to guide and direct the church with direction from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who is the Cornerstone.

Good morning Jamaica.... and a top of the morning to anyone that is checking our blog!
We arrived in Kingston last night at 7 pm and we were so pleased to be greeted by Elder and Sister McKenzie (Sues Sister and Brother-n-Law). After a nail biting one hour ride back to their apartment, we finally got to bed around 11 pm.
Our breakfast this morning was FRESH papaya, bananas, pineapple and filtered water.
We are so excited to get to work serving the people here in the Jamaica Kingston Mission.
We have been assigned to the Old Harbor area just west of Kingston, and as soon as our apartment is ready, well be moving from the McKenzie to Old Harbor. Hopefully that will only be a day or two.
We are suppose to meet President and Sister Parker tomorrow (Monday) and receive our marching orders...no pun intended, as he is retired military.
The MTC experience was fantastic! It has changed a bit from the last time we were there in 2014.
They have done away with "roll play" and we actually are assigned to pair with another couple, get to know them, and then teach them by the spirit something that will be of use to them.
What a marvelous experience that was.
The couple we were paired with are Elder and Sister Allen from Victor Idaho and they are assigned to one of the Philippine missions as Mission Nurse and MLS.
It was instant love. They are such a cool couple, and they were so inspiring. Sister Barney was able to help Sister Allen with lots of nursing insight that helped to take away some of her apprehensions and I feel so inspired by the lessons they prepared for us. They certainly followed the spirit and presented uplifting messages that were needed.
We certainly hope and pray for them to have and feel success.
Well I better get on with the morning.
As they say here in Jamaica...."see ya latter"  ;-)

Oh...I'll work on some pictures for the next post.