Kevan Kingsley Clawson's Blog, page 13

Misc Events from St Martin

 

 

 Terri teaching some of her Seminary students

 I have started to walk almost every day now, so here are some pictures of the island…  this is just part of an inlet going to a ‘private island’ in the bay  Part of a shopping center near our apartment   This is the beach just across from where we live   Don’t ask…I don’t have a clue…  Don’t ask I don’t….   We have been holding District Meeting at our apartment recently due to the power outages that have been going on (we have one every day as they ‘move’ the power around the island so everyone gets hurt a little). We are back to a full boat of missionaries now: #8 of them! Elder Spencer and Elder Nixon are companions, living in the Pt Blanche apartment (Elder Spencer is the new District Leader); Elder Pohl and Elder Savard (he speaks French!) are the Zone Leaders, living in Belvedere; Elder Page and Elder Jones are working in Philipsburg/St Peters area, but are living in the Belvedere Apartment with the Zone leaders until we can find a new apartment in their area (which is more difficult than we thought); and, last but not least, Sister Robinson and Sister Stewart are working the Cole Bay area.   This is the mountain we live on. The hardest part of my walk is going up the hill to the apartment!    They have started a lovers ‘lock’ on the bridge, where couples can bring a lock and attach it to the heart.   Part of every meeting is feeding the missionaries  Terri sharing some insights during one of the District Meetings Elders Pohl, Spenser and Page  Sister Robinson and Stewart

New Callings and responsibilities

Terri and I received new callings here on St Martin. The District President has asked Terri to teach Seminary (ages 14-18 yrs) and asked me to teach Institute class (ages 18 yrs and up).

  This is my Institute class, held on Weds nights, just before choir. We had about 15 in attendance, including several investigators. Pres Huggins has opened the class to all adults in the Branch also.  Here is a picture of choir practice (most stay after Institute to sing)    Missionaries at our house  on prep-day. They often use our internet to send letters, etc. We have had lots of power issues the last few days, and the Church’s power was out, but our’s was on…so they came and stayed~ After doing all their chores and emails, some played a few games  Due to the continued power problems, we also held District Meeting at our apartment. This is Elder Pohl, our lone Zone Leader, conducting the meeting  Sister Robinson and Stewart giving a report on their area.

Next week we have transfers, again! We are told that we will be back to a full compliment of #8 missionaries on island. But we will see, as things always seem to change.

Our Trip to Martinique

Last week Terri and I, with all of our St Martin missionaries, traveled to the island of Martinique for a Zone Conference with Elder Cornish, the Area President (who is on a mission tour with Pres. Herrington).

I have provided some pictures (totally out of order….) of our great trip!

All the St Martinites stayed at a hotel not far from the Martinique chapel where the Zone Conference would be held (Pres and Sister Herrington stayed there too). It had great views of the city and had really good food.

 This is the view outside the restaurant that was on the top floor of the hotel.   Sister Stewart and Sister Robinson taking in the sights

Here are some (Poor) views from the airplane   Here are some pics of our group at the airport  Sister Stewart, Elder Pohl, Sister Robinson, Elder Page, Elder Spencer   And dinner at the Turner’s house in Martinique after arriving  We had great breakfasts at the hotel    No, we did not use the pool….but we were tempted!   Here are some pics of the Martinique chapel, set in an industrial park… The Church is upstairs in this warehouse building   Elder Turner at the podium  The room they meet for Sacrament meeting each week  here are a couple of classrooms  combination office and classroom  setting-up for Zone Conference   The St Martin Zone with the Turners in the background  Up front are Pres & Sis Cornish (Area President) and Pres & Sis Herrington   Pres Cornish teaching the group Group shot of our combined Zone Conference  These are all the ‘Canadians’ in our group–they are taking over! That night we ate at the hotel restaurant. It was a great meal. It was French, so some of the missionaries were tasting things for the first time…   Elder Pohl just wasn’t quite sure if he liked some of the things (we shared)    

It was a great way to end a fabulous trip! The next morning was spent in interviews with Pres Herrington, and soon after we left for the airport to return to St Martin.

When I got home I found someone working on the roof of our apartment (running new cables for TV or something). I told him I was taking a ‘before’ picture, and that after he fell I could take an ‘after’ picture…

Events update

Our weekly meetings entail working with the Missionaries on Monday Prep Day so they get out their weekly letters to the mission President, It is also the day we wash and clean.

Tuesday is District meeting where all the missionaries gather to discuss and plan the week.

Weds is choir practice (Terri is choir leader), and we have had a decent turnout for this.

Thursday is correlation meeting with the Ward Mission leader to coordinate the missionary work with the Branch leadership.

Sunday is our regular meeting schedule.

In-between Terri works on taking calls from sick missionaries from two missions (Trinidad and Barbados), and I work on keeping up with the vehicle problems (making sure they are insured, registered, assigned drivers, monthly mileage, accidents, etc).

We also pay a lot of the bills on the island, like electrical, phone, rents, etc.

Occasionally we have odd service projects, or need to give missionaries rides.

This week Elder Pohl attended Leadership Conference in Barbados.

Terri and I occasionally go with the missionaries to scheduled teaching appointments, to lend our knowledge and testimony to theirs about the truthfulness of the Gospel.

We have also been busy preparing for tropical storms and hurricanes, in an effort to protect the missionaries. We have been lucky as the storms have passed by just to the north, or just south of us. But we think we ar prepared and trained for if we get hit.

There are always misc things to do. I fixed the sister’s washing machine, and cleaned the French apartment (which is empty for now), and tried to arrange to get some problems fixed by the landlord.

We often act as taxi service for missionaries coming and going from the island.

All the missionaries  on St Martin will be leaving Sunday for Martinique for Zone Conference with the Area President, Elder Cornish, who is making a mission tour. We will be leaving Sunday and returning Tuesday.

We often aid the cleaning of the building on Saturday, and wash our car every week at the same time.

We have to go to the pharmacy often to get medication for sick missionaries.

We do monthly car and apartment inspections, and create reports for the mission on progress.

occasionally we visit members who are shut-in or ill, and give them the opportunity to partake of the sacrament. I also work with one member who is on Church welfare who does what he can to do work around the chapel as his contribution.

It looks as though Terri and i will be teaching Seminary and Institute classes here, as they have no one else who can put in the time. We are reviewing training videos and this years curriculum and trying to prepare for the call. It has yet to be determined how many youth will be involved and committed to come, or what days the training will take place.

There will be additional changes in the mission coming up as a number of senior couples will be leaving the mission, and we are not sure if they have replacements–which usually means that we will be picking up the slack until other mission couples come.

Which, of course, leads into yet another pitch for seniors to make the sacrifice and decision to come on full-time missions! The need is very great, and seems to become greater every year. So if you are on the fence–get off! And do something more than dream of your mansion above…as the song goes. Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure, a duty of service and love!

More ‘non storms’ coming?

Well, hurricane Danny was a wimp! Almost no rain and little wind. It ended up going south of St Martin. But there are a few more lining up to come our way. There is another due to come Weds night or Thursday morning…

In any case, we will be prepared for whatever comes! We are hoping that we are going to get a little rain out of this anyway–most of the islands are desperate for water.

I get more training via skype tomorrow for managing the vehicles, and Terri is busy dealing with sick missionaries in two missions (she is getting a lot of calls from the Trinidad mission right now for some reason).

I went out with the missionaries tonight for an appointment. The appointment fell through, so we tracted for a while. I have decided that missionary work is meant for young men… the hills are steep, and I am out of shape! We talked to a few people, and set-up two appointments for next week. It was fun, but very tiring.

Your missionaries are safe!

Just for those parents and family members that follow our blog: your missionaries are safe and we are well prepared for hurricane Danny here on St Martin.

We held a ‘lunch meeting’ with all the missionaries today to go over all the emergency supplies and procedures that we have in place. Each apartment has been supplied with enough food and water for one week (or longer), as well as water storage for toilets and bathing. Each apartment has a small medical kit, and other supplies, such as flashlights, work gloves, etc.

We also have procedures to contact each missionary during and after the storm to ensure they are safe. We have a meeting place in case all the phones go down. We are also prepared to help the local Branch, members of the Church, and others here on St Martin after the storm.

So don’t fret: the missionaries are very excited–for most it is the first time for them to go through a storm like this!

After the storm we will post again to let everyone know what is going on, and that everyone is safe.

  Typical emergency water for drinking and cooking X one for each missionary per day  Typical emergency supply for each missionary apartment  An emergency stove  Typical water storage for toilets and washing  So relax…things will be okay!

Our trip to Barbados

This week we went to Barbados for training. I met with Henry Batista who trained me on managing the mission vehicles. We also got instruction from the Turners (the office couple), on how we can help them and the mission.

  Leaving St Martin  You can see the large cruise ship in port in front of Philipsburg. Point Blanche apartment where some of our missionaries live is right next to the large blue water tank on the hill above the ships (Elders Page, Stewart, and Pohl live there now)   The hotel we stayed at after arriving in Barbados    Sister Turner at the front desk in the Mission Office Brother Turner at his desk  Terri waiting in the main office area   The wall of incoming and leaving missionaries  Sister Herrington at her desk (the President was hiding in his office most of the time…)   Front door to the mission office. It is located in a tall office building just a block from the ocean in Bridgetown Barbados  We walked to lunch, and to our hotel, which was just just down the road.  There were a LOT of closed, deserted hotels along the beach (even though the beach was beautiful!)  There is a great boadwalk that runs a couple of miles along the beach, with many great restaurants.  This is where we ate lunch one day  Terri’s small hamburger–it was fun watching her try to eat this!   It was a fun and useful trip for us both. In a couple of weeks we travel with all our St Martin missionaries to Martinique for a Zone Conference with the Area President. Woo Hoo!

More comings and goings

Sister Stewart arrived on schedule, and is working with Sister Robinson.

 Sister Robinson & Stewart at the airport

Sister Stewart is from Salem Oregon.

Elder Tulikihakau (Elder T) did NOT make it. Seems that there was a problem with his visa, so they did not let him get on the plane. Not sure what will happen now…

Elder Pohl is still scheduled to arrive late this evening. He will be serving as the new Zone Leader. He will have to serve with Elders Page and Spencer until his companion arrives. Eventually he will live and serve in Belvedere.

 

Going, going, almost gone…

We continued to lose missionaries as the transfers began.

 Sister Hodge giving her last testimony to the District. We have a tradition that those going home are given the opportunity to share #5 things they learned that can aid other missionaries in their work. They end their lesson by sharing their testimony one last time.

Sister Hodge gave these five things:

The Atonement is REAL. It has the power to change lives and to give missionaries power.
Teach people, not lessons. Each person is different, so rather than teaching a rote lesson, tailor each lesson to the person you are teaching.
Love people for who they are. The Gospel unites people of very different backgrounds. There is no reason to judge others, or to demand they change to become something they are not–by living the Gospel, you bring out the best part of yourself.
Don’t DENY yourself. This is referring to a saying from Pres. Mehr: disobedience brings with it the loss of blessings. Don’t deny yourself the blessings you could receive by obeying the commandments. “I will not be denied!” (God’s blessings)
It will all work out. No matter how difficult life becomes, or how many trials you are forced to face, it will all work out: God loves you and makes all things work toward good. Often it takes time, but even our most difficult trials will someday become our greatest blessings.   Elder Harding giving his last lesson and testimony. These are his #5 lessons:
The Atonement: the enabling power of the Atonement is available to aid you when you need it.
Christ-like attitudes. Your attitude towards life and your mission makes all the difference! If you have a positive attitude you will be more successful.
The Spirit Teaches. The spirit will prompt you to teach the same lesson differently to each person, because they are individuals who learn differently.
Fight & be fully invested: you need to be willing to fight–through the trials given you, and fight off the ‘natural man,’ or the tendency towards our baser instincts. And you have to be fully committed to the Gospel and the work.
The Church is true. Which makes all things possible, and all the work, trials, and problems worth the effort.
 Then it was picture taking time for all those leaving: Eder Pape, Sister Hodge, Elder Harding, and Elder Mills (Elder Broadbent left already)  Elder Spencer (one who is staying with us) playing the keyboard    Elder Pape and Elder Mills  When taking Elder Pape and Harding to the airport, we had time for one last visit to Maho beach, where the planes fly in. The timing was good, as the big 747 KLM plane was leaving just then.    Terri, Elder Pape and Elder harding  Terri with Sister Hodge (leaving) and Sister Robinson (staying)

And the leaving begins

Today we had a farewell lunch with the missionaries. We have a total of #5 missionaries leaving St Martin this week: Elder Broadbent left already, Elder Harding and Sister Hodge go home, Elder Pape and Mills are being transferred. Tues and Weds will be very busy days as we drop off and pick up missionaries from the airport.

  The Elders had a training meeting over skype for the missionaries who would be training new elders just coming into the mission This weekend we had the District President visit. President Otto, who is from Guadelupe, came to do some training and to hold Branch Conference. On Saturday all the leadership received some training, then we held a special Branch Conference on Sunday.  After Church we invited Pres Otto to our house for a meal before he flew back home  That Sunday the missionaries decided to eat together after church.   Elder Pape did the honors and did the cooking! He cooked ribs in a slow cooker.  Today we took all the missionaries to our favorite French restaurant in Marigot, to celebrate? so many missionaries leaving. Sister Robinson will be the ‘old’ missionary here when all the changes are made!  I had a chicken casserole , Sister Robinson had pasta with lobster and fras gras

 

 

Terri and Sister Hodge had steak

 Most of us had chocolate moose for desert :)  Terri discussing a gospel topic with the missionaries

After this week settles down a little, and all the new missionaries arrive, we will be shutting down the apartment in Marigot for a while (until we get more missionaries). We are going to try to fix-up the apartment while it is empty–it is the oldest apartment here on St Martin.

Next week we travel to Barbados for training.