Happy Factory Toys Made a Difference in St. Vincent and Trinidad!

St. Vincent--September 2008-- we found the Georgetown Orphanage and in conjunction with our Mission's Humanitarian Couple, the Tanners, Elder Collins became acquainted with their needs. We visited often; and with Elder McNeal and Elder Scott we took them some Happy Factory Toys--not just the little cars, but also a steam shovel.

Several of the children are quite handicapped and the people there loved the idea of having the "kids" play with this steam shovel to help build their coordination.


Look at how excited they were!


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At Christmas (2008) in Trinidad, we were sent 200 toys that we gave to all of the missionaries. They in turn shared these with different children homes, orphanages, and hospitals on the island.
They all reported back with gratitude in their hearts that they were able to share in the joy these toys brought into the lives of, not just the young, but also, the older people they visited!
We chose the Margaret Kistow Children's Home in Arima--12 boys and 18 girls--ranging from the age of 2 years up to 30 years.

Elders Damm, Risenmay, Cromwell and Clarke were our partners in this "awesome" experience!

We sang songs while they all assembled in their front room--they began to sing with us.
Then we presented the Christmas Story through more song and scriptures. (We had rehearsed our parts while eating the Collins' traditional "pull-a-parts" at the Elders' apartment.)

Everyone participated in the singing and if they knew the scriptures, you would hear them following along.
The Elders passed out cards with Christ and the Little Children on them--they loved that!



Elder Cromwell was a real hit when he sang and talked to them in his Donald Duck voice.

Once again Happy Factory toys made a difference!

First Three Weeks of Mission---St. Vincent

This is where we started our mission in the West Indies. We arrived on St. Vincent August 23, 2008, after a week in the MTC in Provo, Utah. We lived on the top story of this three bedroom, three bath home (way bigger than needed) ---VIEWS were phenomenal! Breezes blowing through and we loved every minute of it! The family below us would bring us pineapples, bananas, avocados and cake or breadfruit.

View off our front balcony--nice place to sit and study.



We combined with Elder McNeal and Elder Scott teaching and "shadowing" in the Caliaqua Branch. The members were sweet, humble people. We would give "travel" to Brother and Sister LeBorde every Sunday and for Family Home Evenings at the little building every Monday.

Elder Beute and Elder Kahaialii joined us on P-Days with Elder and Sister Hatton. They all served in the Kingstown Branch.

Elder Scott doing what Elder Collins did just moments before and I didn't capture that moment!



And Elder McNeal enjoying quiet.Ann Marie, Ran, Shantell and Prince.
We walked up a narrow trail through overgrown trees and brush in the dark to visit this cute family..no one had a flashlight...a little interesting.

The island was quite hilly and one could see the ocean from everywhere. The missionaries were "mountain goats". They worked from dawn to past dusk.

And we were OFTEN with them.







While we were there, we also went 4-5 days a week to help Sister Brooker learn how to read. While I taught her, Elder Collins would help Brother Brooker read, so that he would feel more comfortable reading the scriptures out loud in church.







We enjoyed being part of Juan Rodrigues' baptism in the ocean.










Three days prior to leaving the island, we were driving home and felt a strong impression to pick up a lady (Clair Primus), carrying her grandchild up our steep road. She expressed her desire to meet again with the missionaries; so, we told Elder McNeal about her. After we left, he visited with Sister Primus and on November 8, 2008, she was baptized with her daughters, Camille and Akelia.