According to the counter on the side, we have served 65% of our mission. Pictures pop up on my cloud photo app from a year ago and it feels like it happened yesterday.
We have been busy with new missionaries coming, self-reliance classes that we are now facilitating or assisting others, visiting people, teaching a friend from India, and who knows what else?! Some funny things have happened, but the reality is I can’t remember them. If I don’t write them down, they are gone.
On Sunday, we visited the Castries branch so Lorin could meet with the new district president who came over from St. Vincent. I went to the women’s meeting after the main worship service and met some lovely ladies. One of my friends was in charge of the lesson. Just as she started teaching, she had to leave. Guess who volunteered to teach? Yep, it was fun. It helped that I knew the talk the lesson was based on. It is entitled Come unto Christ. We didn’t get through all of it but we had a nice discussion about the need to nurture people as they make life changes, including joining the church. The person who gave the original talk is from Brazil. He talked about how the Amazon river is formed by two large rivers coming together. The two streams flow side by side for miles then eventually mix. Fresh water flows for miles out into the ocean because the combined stream is so powerful. Great metaphor for life. We walk side by side with people who appear to be different than us but as we blend/unite together in one purpose, we are all stronger.
We have been busy like I said but today we took some time off for preparation day. We hiked the Tet Paul trail with some of the missionaries. Then we ran home and changed to go swimming at Piaye beach. It was a bit too rough to swim so we splashed around and picked up some sea glass. It was much more fun today than it has been. The last few times, I felt pressure to find glass to give to the kids to make necklaces for their fundraiser. Pressure and sea glass hunting do not go together. The whole point is to enjoy the hunt and turn off your stress!
If you have any tasty gluten free recipes, please share. I tested negative for celiac disease, but my doctor still wanted me to try gluten free eating for 2 weeks. She is a genius! The only day I had stomach problems was the day I substituted rye bread for “real” bread- thinking rye was gluten free. It is not. Rye, barley and wheat are out. Gluten free isn’t too bad though. The trade off is I am eating fresh mangoes every day with zero problem! If giving up bread means I can enjoy fresh fruits again, it is not the worst thing ever!