Wow Wow Wow.....If I only had time to do more. Sue and I have been on the run for the past two weeks. Oh, we did get to go with 2 other couples to the North Island Area for a little retreat. We stayed at the Silver Sands Village for two nights, The Tropical Lagoon Villa for one night, attended church in Port Maria on Sunday and drove home. We were with Elder & Sister Foisy and Elder & Sister McKenzie.
We have been busy teaching at the Sunbeam Home for Boys (45 boys ages 8 to 18) and two small Red Cross schools, one in May Pen (60 students) and one in Spanish Town (35 students). Sue is teaching her old standby curriculum, Hand Washing, First Aid and Hygiene. We'll teach 3 weeks in a row at each school.
Some of our family members from back home wanted to do a little service for the Sunbeam Boys Home, so we donated 50 pillows, 50 pillow cases, cups, silverware, plates, and a variety of balls, Frisbees', and educational puzzle books. Way to go Barneys and McKenzies.
The pillow cases are a story within themselves. We bought the cloth by the pound and paid a member from Kingston, Sister Richards, to sew them up for us. She did an excellent job.
In our spare time, we distributed out-dated Hygiene kits to two of the three "Mustard Seed" communities. They are compounds for the developmentally/physically handicapped. What an amazing program they have. It is sponsored by the Catholic Church.
Well gotta scoot......so enjoy the pics.

Two of the Staffers at the Mustard Seed - Jacob's Ladder. There are three campuses
                                                                       in Jamaica. They call each by a unique name.                                                         This one is Jacob's Ladder, the others are called Our Father's House and Jerusalem.

View over Jacob's Ladder

                          Some recent expansion in the background and near is their cemetery where they sprinkle the ashes                                                     of the residence that pass while living among them. 

Green houses and rain water catch basin.

An amazing chapel at Jacob's Ladder that was donated by a couple in America.

Church in Port Maria which is held at the Library in the shade of a Mango Tree.

Self explanatory.

This is a small business that is owned by a member. The tent and chairs used for church are stored there.
The shop is barely on the edge of a fairly steep cliff.

Looking down from the shop to their house.

The Barneys enjoying a cruise on the Rio Grande near Port Antonio

Here are the adventure stinkers.
Foisys on the left, McKenzies middle, the homeless on the right.
Sunburn was enjoyed by all. 

The Foisys were on the other end of the camera. 

Lloyd Bridges and his fearless sidekick.
Snorkeling at Silver Sands.

The neighbors dog that hangs around our porch for handouts.
She had 9 pups and only raised 4. 

Sunbeam boys quickly placed their new pillows on their beds.

Stow away......

Future NBAers

They do like their new nurse....

Stuff for the Sunbeam Home

Pillows headed for the Sunbeam Boys Home

Pillow distribution.

They are sooo excited.

Fun educational books.

Teaching at the Sunbeam Boys Home.

See how time flies when you are busy....We have been all over Island doing all sorts of service.
A couple of weeks ago we attended a Humanitarian Project Turn-over for a project to help the Red Cross upgrade some classrooms for kids that they help bring up to speed with their studies so they can matriculate into the regular school system. Now that was cool.
We also helped Elder and Sister Arrington, the Humanitarian couple, haul a bunch of Humanitarian kits to donate to an organization here in Jamaica. They are stored in a shipping container behind the Spanish-town Chapel. There is all sorts of stuff in it. Chainsaws, generators, medical stuff and much much more. It is there in case there is a disaster that needs fixing.
There are 3,000 boxes with 5 hygiene kits in each that have expired items, so they are donated and then replaced. We only made 2 trips with 150 boxes each trip.
So there is more work to do there.

Sunday before last we attended the Branch in Yallahs and went to a Baptism afterwords.(see pics)

Yesterday Elder McKenzie (Lee) and I went to the University of the Northern Caribbean and met with the head of the theology department. Dr. Bwambali. Elder Mckenzie has set up some lectures and presentations at the school, so we did a preview presentation. That went great. By the way, it is a Seventh-Day-Adventist University. They are excited to partner with us on ways to reduce crime in Jamaica.

Just today Sue, the McKenzies and I were in Mandeville to a funeral for Sister Barrett. She was the mother of the 2nd Counselor in the Mission Presidency. I was asked to Preach the Sermon. It was a great experience to be able to talk on the Plan of Salvation to a captive audience. We were there for over two hours and had to leave before they headed to the burial site (a plot on the family compound) I am jealous.
We (Sue and I) are headed to Port Antonio at 5:30 in the morning (3 hour drive) I get to call, sustain, and set-apart two Elders Quorum Counselors and a 2nd Counselor in the Branch Presidency. It is such a blessing for us to see the Church growing here in Jamaica.

So I hope the Ambulance has a key.

This is called an Apple here in Jamaica ???

Inside the Apple. It sort of reminds me of an Asian Pear
texture wise, but not as good.

This was the Baptism of a girl in the Yallahs Branch.
We met in the yard of a member for the service. Sat under a mango tree while we had the short little service.

Then we walked a block to the Font.

The font. The water was freezing....it was about 74 degrees.
The outside temp was about 85.

We live about a mile and a half from the bay where we can buy fish and Lobster really cheap.
These little fellas cost $500 Jamaican. $3.75 US each.

Bread fruit grow to the size of a cantaloupe and they are as hard as a rock.
They are a giant green potato type fruit. They would definitely do some damage.

Sister Barney note....I walked into a doctor's office in Ocho Rios. The receptionist was found sitting in this tiny cubicle. She was extremely friendly and polite. As we chatted she told me that she had been working for this doctor for 16 years and loved her job. Meaning, she had spent all of her working hours in this tiny space. 

This school is for children that are not able to attend the public schools,,,for various reasons, usually because they have been naughty. The Red Cross finds them wandering the streets and provides another chance for them. 

Our church took this school on as a humanitarian project. Built a bathroom, kitchen, painted the walls and added fans.  Here are 4 of the students who's lives are being changed.

Sister B again.... Amazing story. I met this mother before the program started, She said her son, Daniel, had been kicked out of the public school because he was failing every class. While giving myself a tour of the facility  I was looking around the classrooms and out of curiosity, picked up a spelling notebook from the top of a stack on the teacher's desk. It said "Daniel" on the cover and as I glanced through, every page I opened had a 100%!!! This program is working, and now these  "once lost children have been found". An amazing success story!!!

These would be cool names for a pair of dogs or cats or any animals I guess.

I hate finding these in the apartment. Sue found this one in the tub.

A recently returned missionary in the May Pen Branch. He served in the Dominican Republic.
                                                                 He is 6' 11" ..... he wants to go to college.                                                                          If anyone reading this has a connection at BYU.....now is the time to jump on this!

After Christmas

Saturday morning the 29th of December. We finally have a break from the mission medical rush.
We have had one Elder in the Hospital with Dengue Fever, a Sister that was suspected with Dengue on the other end of the island that turned out negative, and several with flu-like symptoms with "runny belly".
The big problem is finding a medical facility that is open during Christmas, let alone one that can do what we need in the time-frame we need it in.
Luckily we found Winchester Medical a few weeks ago. They have a great facility and Docs that are willing to work with us. We have certainly seen the Lord's hand at work when His Missionaries are involved. Lots of little "Tender Mercies".

This box contains One Braille copy of the Book of Mormon

This is 1 of 8 folders that are in the box. The missionaries that work downtown have a blind investigator.

This is a business card that someone distributed in our housing area.
Very interesting talents that Mr. Blake provides. Check out the last bullet point!!

For the medical types out there, check out what Dengue looks like.

                                                              A team of donkeys pulling a cart..                                                                                  the amazing part is that we see this right on the busy freeway...not on a dirt path.

This is Donovan 

This is Elder Charles from Haiti. Sister Nurse fixed a small problem he had and while there at his apartment I asked him about the big (7.0) earthquake in 2010. He lived just South and East of the center. He said it was terrible. His house was spared, but the neighbors toppled. He and his family tried to help others as much as they could but it was hard without any of the proper tools. By the way, he is an outstanding missionary.

Guess what this is? I can say it 's a Sister McKenzie creation that
turned out very good.

The police station here in Old Harbour has a tree every year for Christmas. It's quite creative.

Daytime pic of the Tree.

The neighbors dog had puppies and they were just crawling all over the porch, so Sisters Barney and McKenzie
rounded up a box, reinforced it and made her and the pups a bed. The pooch jumped right in with her pups

I think these would be cool names for a male and female cat pair.

Inside the Tony Thwaites Wing....looks nice aye.

The menu for Winchester Medical

Winchester Medical