Surprise!!! Here it is, Saturday night already and the McKenzies are here with us for a couple of days. We checked out Medical facilities in May Pen and renewed a lease for the Elders apartment and inspected the Sisters apartment. What a great bunch of missionaries we have here. They are truly focused on helping the people of Jamaica come unto Jesus Christ. This afternoon we went to the Old Harbour fish market and bought 3 nice lobsters for $20 US, $1500 Jamaican. Tomorrow we are attending church here at the Old Harbour Branch, Monday we are rounding up junk at the missionaries apartments so they can clean out and organize. Tuesday Elder McKenzie and I are attending a "Religion and Crime Prevention" that is being sponsored by the Seventh Day Adventists.
Hopefully we will be able to make a short presentation. Well the part you are most excited about has arrived. PICTURES......

Marijuana is illegal in Jamaica-but it is everywhere?? Here is a small bakery on the coast near Negril that has a great variety of baked good that contain Ganja.

This is Ackee Fruit. It grows on a tree and it the main ingredient in the national food, Ackee and Salt Fish.
As it ripens, it pops open and exposes its black seeds. The seeds and unripened fruit are quite poisonous.  

Ackee Fruit and Salt Fish  that's cooked and safe to eat

Sister McKenzie picking Ackee Fruit

Brother Muswah near his pig farm. What a great member of the church.

Domino's pizza delivery guy. He made 3 trips to deliver the full order for Zone Conference.

Street vendor with a rolling barbecue

Check out the sign.
"Jahrell's - Flicking Licking - Jerk Chicken & Festival - Yah so Nice"

Sister McKenzie loves Lobster

3 for the price of 3

Old Harbour fish market

What's your small price

Pretty colorful fish and fresh off the boat

Putting up the canopy at Negril

Assembling Sacrament trays at Negril

Room used for Seminary inside Brother & Sister McKnight's home.

                                               Sister Freeman (Jamaica) left and Sister Terpend (South Africa) right.                                                          These fine Sisters have chosen to serve those that they are teaching by making personalized Christmas cards for all of their FRIENDS here in Old Harbour. 

                       These fine fellows were so attentive to the missionary message I was bringing to them.                                                                     What is the message, you may ask.                                                                        "Which one of you wants to be a part of our Missionary Christmas Party?"
                 We are considering roasting a pig in the ground, wrapped in banana leaves, for our dinner.

                    One of the Sisters' Apartments has, as they call it, ..A STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN.
             Really, the stairway just ends at the ceiling. There isn't even a second floor in this home.

                                                        Cutest urinal I have ever seen.

Negril Jamaica is now a better place. Sunday we held a Sacrament meeting at a members home. The members in Negril are part of a Branch in Savanna-La-Mar which is about a 45 min drive away. It's difficult for the members to travel that far, so President Parker is taking the Church to the members. Sacrament will be held in Negril 3 weeks out of the month and on the 4th Sunday they will travel to Sav-La-Mar (as the locals call it). I have to say it was a Spiritual feast to hear the testimonies of the members and even some of those that are meeting with the missionaries. 30+ in attendance. 12 were missionaries.

View from "The Waters Edge" hotel, looking at Montego Bay.

Another view from "The Waters Edge" hotel.

This is a street vendors cart.

Sunset from a restaurant called "The Push Cart"

Elder and Sister McKenzie at morning study.

Saturday Dinner at "The Push Cart"
Barneys, Mckenzies and Parkers

Easy to guess this and the next

Sister Missionaries with sign

Two Street Urchins 

The Sisters always draw a crowd of little ones. They are amazed at the mission bus.

The two sets of missionaries in Negril.
Sister Mitton, Sister Allen, Elder Day Elder Windous

Starting to gather for Fast & Testimony Meeting

The lane into the members home where we held church.
The bus is in the background.

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.