More about our trip to Guyana in August

One of our main goals of visiting Guyana was to meet the seminary teachers. It was a great experience. They are very dedicated teachers. It is as sacrifice to teach the young people when the church is so new in these areas. Few people have a testimony of seminary but these teachers are putting their hearts into it and we know in time it will grow strong and influence many. This picture is of a very special family in Crabwood Creek Branch. This is the Persaud family.

The mother, Omawattie, is in red. Her daughter, Daiwanttie at far right is the Seminary teacher. Shaniah is the granddaughter, Devesh is the son and Diana is a friend. They make their living with the tiny grocery store that is attached to the front of their humble home. To get there we drove down a dirt road with the biggest chuck holes I have ever seen. We will never do that again. We will get out of the car and walk! This family was Hindu and now they are a real stable part of the church here. They love the gospel. It has made such a difference in their family life. They are very happy.

We visited this family with their nineteen year old Seminary teacher, Alisha Phagwah. Their names are Dominique, Cassandra and Robert Sunthgolam. It was a special experience as this teacher invited them to her Seminary class. She bore a strong testimony of how Seminary can bless their lives. The mother agrees and wants her children to attend but the problem is transportation. They have to wait for an hour and a half on the street for a taxi very early in the morning to catch a ride to school. They hope one will come by in time so they can get to their school because if they are late the gates are locked and they are not admitted. Even paying for the taxi is a financial burden for them. So they struggle with the added problem of trying to get to Seminary. We pray they will find a way.

We had our first opportunity to sit in on a missionary discussion. I was so excited to be included. This is Rowinda. She is a college student from the Bush near Brazil. She is an Amerindian which means she belongs to the Indians who were here in Book of Mormon times. She is very brave to move so far away from family. In Guyana the Amerindians are considered lower class citizens. She has felt the discrimination here as her class mates call her names and treat her unkindly. She has withstood this hardship. We felt a special bond with her. We were so happy to hear of her baptism on September 11th. Everyone of her friends and family were against her becoming a member but she could not deny the truths she learned and so made the choice. She is so happy.

We drove to Linden with our Seminary supervisor, Nelsion Nurse to deliver Seminary materials. It took us about two hours. It gave us a lot of time to get acquainted with Nelsion. He is a wonderful young man. He is the only member in his family. He returned from his mission to the Dominican Republic a year ago. He is a clothing designer. While we were there we visited his mother. She sews the things he designs for his shows. He was very excited to show us a sight he knew we would love. He took us on a hike through the hills of pure white sand. It was so hot and humid we thought we would not make it. I kept thinking, "This better be worth it". I have to preface what we saw with the fact that all of the water in Guyana is brown - the ocean as well as the rivers - and they have so many rivers! Well, the climb was worth it. We looked down into the most beautiful blue/green lake I have ever seen.

The Blue Lake of Lindon, Guyana.

Two bonus pictures from Port of Spain Stake Young Adult Conference in Trinidad. This is our Stake President and his wife - President and Sister Gould. The Port of Spain Stake of Trinidad is the first and only stake in the West Indies. It was formed less than two years ago. President Gould is a dynamic leader. Sister Gould is one of our outstanding Institute teachers.

My job at the YSA conference was holding this darling baby, Franciline. (Well, OK, I begged). She belongs to one of our young Seminary teachers, Andrea Richardson. She is from Guyana and her husband is from Trinidad. We have met her family in Guyana. They are faithful members.