August 16, 2011 - SOY and Blue Birds

We've had 2 more SOY (Strength of Youth) trainings this week--One in Orange Walk and one in Belmopan.  Berly, Eric, and Kerben, our SOY experts, came again from Guatemala. Actually the trainings are mostly for the SOY counselors, but we are asked to be at all the meetings.  Enthusiasm is contagious, as more people get involved with the conference. 

In small groups, the soon-to-be counselors learned teaching techniques that will really make learning fun for the youth.

These conferences have been held in the USA for 30 years, and in some other countries for several years--usually called Especially for Youth.  The name has been changed here in Central America to Strength of Youth.  Since this is the very first SOY conference in Belize, we are working hard to make sure it will be successful. 

Sister Pattee had a hard time keeping up with line dance instruction,

But the young counselors-to-be, thought it was a piece of cake.

In the next activity the counselors learned how to make a banner and a cheer to represent their group based on a scripture they were given. 

 A panel of judges was needed to decide the winning banner and cheer. Guess who the judges were?  The oldest and wisest people there, of course.  (Pattees at left, Sandbergs, right.)

We pronounced this group the winner for their "Leap of Faith" banner and leaping cheer.

Then Eric and Berly demonstrated how not to dress for a dance.

No extreme clothing or too short skirts. The youth will for sure love this little skit set to music. Hopefully it will teach them not to wear extreme-type clothing to the SOY dance (or any dance).

Sunday evening we helped Paul finish up his Perpetual Education Fund application.  Tenica, his wife, was with him.  She is also going to school with the assistance of a PEF loan. We enjoyed our visit with them.

Monday evening Herb and Melanie (nonmembers), plus Sisters Clark and Rodas joined us for dinner.  Melanie showed us how to make some delicious Belizian food--black soup. Herb and Melanie own the store where we buy our drinking water.

Buses are a very important mode of transportation here. 

Ever wonder where all those school buses go after the U.S. schools are through with them? 

Most buses used here are just Blue Birds, with a new paint job. 

Often, they get new engines, too.

The buses mostly run city to city.  They make only a few intercity stops. 

These buses seem to serve the people well.

We both spent quite a bit of time training branch leaders this week.  Elder Pattee works with all 5 branch presidencies and also the Belize District presidency.  

August 10, 2011 - A Varied and Busy Week

We are heavily involved in Strength of Youth Conference preparations presently. Lots of meetings and fundraising. SOS won't actually happen until December 19, but much remains to be accomplished. 

Another planning meeting.

Belize City Branch had a SOY fundraiser for the Young Women.  Sadly, not many young women showed up to help this time.  The fundraiser of cooking and selling turkey dinners was successful due to the leaders hard work. A similar fundraiser was held last month, and it was well supported by the young women.

But they did show up for the "Home Evening" activity we had at our place Sunday evening. 

Elder Pattee hired these 3 young men to wash the mission van.  This gave them an opportunity to earn money for SOY.  They were good workers and did a nice job.

Sister Pattee hired Deysi and Ismara to do some housekeeping tasks to help them earn SOY money.  They will return next week to finish their job.

Recently we had a Relief Society training meeting for Belize City Branch and Cinderella Branch presidencies. Sister Julie Smith called the meeting, as she is a counselor in the district Relief Society presidency.  We talked about the importance of using a conducting sheet. Sister Pattee printed some up so all could hopefully use them. She also stressed the importance of having the presidencies sit up front during their Sunday meetings. For some reason they don't like to do this.

Melanie was taught and baptized recently by Elders Holbrook and Molena.

The past few days President and Sister Cordon came from San Salvador for missionary and member training.  We picked them up at the airport and brought them to our house for dinner.  After a short visit we drove them to their hotel. 

We were able to spend quite a bit of time with them, as they were here Thursday through Monday. 

Friday was multi-zone conference. The young missionaries always look forward to these conferences with the mission president and his wife.

Especially lunch. 

This time we had Chinese take-out.

One of the favorite parts of the meeting was an activity to help us think about unity. We divided into 3 groups and pretended an astoroid had hit the earth.  The missionaries had to get their group to safety. 

Of course they were all successful.

All missionaries received an early Christmas stocking from some members from the U.S. And Sister Cordon found a good buy on shoes for all the Cayo District sisters. They walk in rough terrain, and their shoes were so worn out, they were having to put cardboard liners in them. 

While the Cordons were here, we did lots of visiting of people in their homes.  Usually we don't take photos there, because the circumstances are often very, very humble.  But I did get a couple of shots of the Nolberto family. There are 10 children in a very small space. 

We have visited them many times. Though people seem to be wall-to-wall, Nolbertos don't seem to mind. They are a very happy family. The older children help with the younger ones. 

Sister Norbeto was getting her hair done. Her daughter is putting in extensions.

We were glad to catch this photo. The man on the left is a "Rasta". He never cuts his hair.  Even though he is wearing  a ball cap, it is easy to see his hair. It kind of looks like uncarded sheep wool. We see lots of Rastas here. 

Happy Birthday, Elder Pattee!

To celebrate Elder Pattee's birthday we went to lunch at his favorite restaurant, Senor Coconut.  They specialize in Belizian food, which is rice and beans (cooked in coconut milk). They also have very nice Red Snapper fillets. 

Elder Pattee has been doing lots of temple recommend interviews lately. We are getting ready for the San Salvadro, El Salvador Temple dedication, which is August 21. 

President and Sister Cordon did a special fireside while they were here for Belize City Branch and Cinderella Branch. He bluntly told the people that if they didn't send more missionaries out and if more people didn't become temple worthy that the Church would not grow and flourish in Belize.

August 2, 2011 - A Summer School for the Children in Cinderella and Belize City Branches

Last month Sister Woods from Belize City Branch asked Sister Pattee if it would be possible to have a summer school in July, as they had a very good one last summer. It had been their very first one, and it was headed up by Elder and Sister Dunford who were then the senior missionaries here in Belize. 

 

The main challenge was money.  There really was no money for a summer school.  So we felt very blessed to get funding--some from the Dunfords--and some from the district.  Elder and Sister Pattee also contributed, including providing much of the transportation needs. We completed our school activity this past week, and it was a very good experience.  Children from both Cinderella and Belize City Branches attended.   

 As part of our gathering activity each morning, Sister Smith sang with the children, then Sister Pattee would tell a story that would explain about a topic such as being kind, liking yourself, pioneers, etc. She was also in charge of making sure we had materials for lessons and crafts, and that we had water and snacks.   

 One morning the sister missionaries, Sister Rodas and Sister Clark, came and helped us with music, too.  We are very happy that our building now has a digital keyboard. 

 

Sister Cadle gave a demonstration about volcanoes. In this unit the children were also taught about hurricane safety.  They learned what the different warning flags meant and made their own little flags. Since it is presently hurricane season in Belize, the timing was perfect. Children here in Belize City need to know about how to stay safe in the event of  a hurricane. 

A teacher by profession, Sister Cadle headed up the learning activities. Sister Woods, Sister Sanchez, and Sister Chi are all studying to be teachers (PEF loan participants). They all had the opportunity to also teach,  as we divided the children into 3 age groups. 

  

Some of the Young Women helped, too.

One day Brother Myvette, who takes care of the chapel grounds, brought a hogshead to work with him.  Sister Jenny made sure all the children got to have a turn for a close-up look. Apparently hog's head is delicious when cooked in a pit in the ground.

   

For Pioneer Day Sister Lozano, from Cinderella branch, taught us how to make model handcarts out of bristle board. We also sang some pioneer songs. 

Demonstrating a pioneer toy--a "button whizzer" (Sister Lozano in background)

Lots of beautiful children!



 Sarah and Jacob, HELP International volunteers, came to our school the last 2 days.  They did the entire teaching for us.  The children loved it. The first day they taught about "Under the Sea". Sarah and Jacob are brother and sister from Centerville, Utah.

They even had a  a fish pond (game). Then each child made an aquarium out of 2 paper plates. 

The second day we learned about "Wild and Tame Animals". The children enjoyed making little African drums and lion masks.   

A game of Parrot and JaguarTag was fun, too.

And for the last activity on the last day, the children enjoyed getting wet. It started with a game that used a cup of water. It ended with a water hose and everyone getting sprayed.

 Our summer school turned out to be a lot of fun.  Hopefully, we all learned something, too.  Thanks to everyone that was involved in making our summer school a success!

Since our two HELP International volunteers were here the night the Belize City Relief Society met for an activity, they helped the sisters learn how to sing  hymns in parts. It was July 26, so one of the hymns we sang was "Come, Come Ye Saints. 

Then Sister Pattee told the sisters about her great-grandmother, Mary Larsen Ahlstrom, who was a Mormon pioneer.  The meeting ended with Sarah and Jacob singing "Abide with Me; 'Tis Eventide". Sister Clark, at the piano, joined in singing a third part. What a beautiful way to end our evening.