3-1-12 - Tying up Loose Ends

We are hurrying to get things done before we leave on March 12.  We can hardly believe our time as senior missionaries here in Belize is almost over.  Seems like we just arrived here a few months ago.  

This is probably our very last home evening with investigators.  We enjoyed having Greg and Ruth, with their children Arlin, and Rosalie in our home.  We talked about eternal families. 

Belize City Branch enjoyed a Saturday outing at Old Belize, a local swimming and picnicking area.

Branch President Gordon enjoyed having some time to relax and catch a quick nap--something he rarely has time for. 

Brother Belgrave enjoyed the sun, sand, and water.  He also braved the very tall water slide.

Later, some of us took a tour of the many artifacts of Old Belize.  One of them was a fire hearth pictured above.  Fire hearths were very popular for cooking.  Some people here still favor them for the smoked wood flavor given to the food cooked on them.

Cinderella Primary children enjoyed learning about choosing the right on Sunday. 

After Relief Society in Belize City Branch, the sisters gathered for a group photo.  Sister Pattee  presented the fourth Sunday lesson on Elder L. Tom Perry's conference talk, "Perfect Love Casteth out Fear".  These sisters will be dearly missed.

Elder Pattee, Sylvia, Adilee, and Olga enjoy some porch time after dinner on Sunday afternoon.

On Tuesday all the missionaries in Belize got to meet with President Falabella. (He is seated on the second row, 3rd in from the left.)  He is our area president and lives in Guatemala City.  This photo was taken one year ago, the last time he came.  (we weren't able to get a picture of him at Tuesday's meeting.) 

He talked to us about overcoming challenges with investigators.  Having the help of the Lord is the best solution.  Just as Nephi and his brothers were unable to get the brass plates on their first two tries, when they had the Lord's help, they were able to obtain them. 

Belize City Zone sang, "I Know that My Redeemer Lives"as a special number.

Always the missionaries enjoy seeing and visiting with each other after conferences.

We are getting all our Perpetual Education Fund files updated.  PEF gives great hope and promise to young members her in Belize that want to study and train for better jobs.  PEF enables them to get low interest loans for school. 

February 22, 2012 - Elder and Sister Sandberg Leave - New Senior Couples Arrive

It has been a time of changes. Elder and Sister Sandberg left Belize for home this past Monday. We will surely miss them. They have done much good here and have truly helped move the Lord's work forward.  They have often helped us in our missionary tasks. We look forward to seeing them in Utah.

Elder and Sister McLaughlin arrived about a week before the Sandbergs left, so that they had time to do some training with them.

Elder and Sister Davis arrived one week after Elder and Sister McLaughlin.  This will be the very first time Belize has had 3 senior couples all at the same time.  The Davises will live in Belmopan and will work with the Belmopan Branch and the Dangriga Branch.  Dangriga Branch is about 2 hours away from where they live.   

Sister Villatoro received a new companion--Sister Capra (left). We enjoyed having Melanie and her husband Herb come to dinner. The sisters joined us. We gave Melanie a picture of the Savior. 

Melanie and Herb own the Quality Water Store, which is where we met them. 

Sometimes we go for a walk down by the sea.  The Caribbean is just behind Elder Pattee.

We were very happy to attend the baptism of the Garcia Family.  They will be wonderful members. 

Congratulations Garcia Family!

Some of Sister Pattee's dearest Belizean friends--sisters from Belize City Branch.

The Belize City Branch had a fundraiser on Saturday. They sold turkey dinners for $8. The money will go toward a temple trip to Guatemala City Temple. Elder Pattee carved 2 turkeys, and Sister Pattee spooned rice and beans into Styrofoam containers.   

Beautiful girls!

Beautiful flowers!

This bougainvillea outside our window has both pink and white blossoms. The little blooms almost look like they are made of paper.

Our landlady loves plants and flowers. All of these photos are from her (our) yard. 

I will miss the beautiful foliage of Belize.   We have less than 3 weeks left here.

February 9, 2012 - A Final Trip to San Pedro

Our time in our mission here in Belize is coming to a close. We have less than 5 weeks left. There is much to do and lots of loose ends to tie up.

We try to attend Tuesday zone meetings as often as we can. We took some of the time to help teach about ways to improve baptism services. We discussed about the talks to be assigned and proper baptism clothing. Elder Pattee suggested assigning young priesthood holders to be witnesses. 



After viewing a slide show presentation, Elder Zapeta taught the training lesson on "Unity Between Companions as They Teach". Then the elders role played to practice the concept.

This week the zone leaders brought the Meighan Family to Home Evening. We enjoyed having them in our home.

They are a wonderful little family. Brother Meighan is very musical.  He plays the trumpet and other instruments.  He also likes to sing. He and Elder Rabanales and Elder Sutton sang "Nearer They God to Thee" in 3-part harmony. Sister Pattee made cupcakes for our treat. They are always seem to be a hit. 

This past weekend we made our final visit to San Pedro Caye. Saturday afternoon we taught Elders Ortega and Gealta a seminary inservice lesson. They are the seminary and institute teachers for San Pedro. They are also President Urbina's counselors in the branch. They carry a heavy load. 

Then we did an apartment check for them. Afterwards we took them out to dinner at Carrumbas. We all had seafood, and it was delicious!

Next, we went to the chapel (rented building) to help clean it up for church the next morning. A man hired by the Church had been sanding all the outside railings, getting them ready to paint. The problem was that he opened up all the windows and doors, and most of the sawdust went inside. Thick blue dust was on everything. 

Hope Elder Gealta and Elder Pattee know which end of the broom to use. After some of us swept and dusted, the mopping began. 

Sister Lee owns a home on San Pedro and flies down from the States for visits 2 or 3 times each year.  She mopped the chapel area floor. 

Besides the missionaries and Sister Lee, two other sisters and their husbands came to help.  Soon we had the building ready for Sunday.

As Sunday morning dawned, I had hoped to take a photo of the sun rising up out of the sea, but a bank of clouds was low in the sky. This picture was taken from our hotel balcony. It was beautiful, anyway. 

For some reason San Pedro Branch did not receive any manuals for the 2012 year.  It takes a very long time for orders to come from Salt Lake City.  We gathered up what extras we could find in Belize City and took them with us.  Our hope was to at least have manuals for the teachers.  Unfortunately, we couldn't find a YW Manual 1 or a 2012 Outline for Primary Sharing Time, so we downloaded and copied a few of the lessons from the Church's website.     

Sister Pattee was asked by Sister Valaskis, Young Women leader (at left), to teach the San PedroYoung Women. We talked about Divine Potential and the joy of being a woman at every age.

Elder Pattee did several interviews. Since it was fast and testimony meeting, we both bore our testimonies.

Here are some of the local San Pedro branch members that were in attendance at Church. Lots of tourists came, too. There were probably about 60 people in attendance. 

We have tried to get the Church website address of the San Pedro church building changed to "on the beach, across from the water taxi" (there is no actual street address because it is not on a street). So far we haven't met with success. Many LDS tourists would love to come, but can't find the place. Some of them just happen to stumble onto it, or see the missionaries around town, and get directions. It has been a frustrating dilemma.

Some time this year the Church will build a chapel on San Pedro. It will be much better than a rented building and may actually have an address. 

We enjoyed visiting with the San Pedro members and will miss them and also the beauty of their Caribbean island.

Goodbye, San Pedro! (Taken from our water taxi as it pulled away.)

January 30, 2012 - The Dunfords Revisit Belize - Lobsters - Another Baptism

Belize City enjoyed a visit from some former missionaries this past week.   

Brother and Sister Dunford (at right) were senior missionaries here in Belize City just previous to us. They and their children came on a cruise and had a few hours to come ashore in Belize. 

They came to our house first, then all the children took a tour to the Altun Ha Mayan ruins with Suzie (front far left). While they were gone, Brother and Sister Dunford went with us for a few visits, and then we drove to the Belize City Chapel.

The Relief Society sisters had prepared a nice "rice and beans" luncheon (favorite Belizean cuisine). We helped set up the tables and decorate them.  

The Dunford's children returned from their tour just in time to join us. The branch members were delighted to see the Dunfords again and meet their family. 

Thank you for your service to Belize, Brother and Sister Dunford!  We enjoyed your visit!

*     *     *     *     *

Earlier in the week we got a frantic call from Rose. She had slipped out of her wheelchair and needed help.  We picked up Sisters Clark and Villatoro and headed to her house. By the time we arrived, Rose's father had arrived and helped her back into her chair. We were happy to see that she was okay. It was Rose's birthday, so we were especially glad for an opportunity to wish her "Happy Birthday!"

On Thursday we attended another meeting at the U.S. embassy in Belmopan. Inside the compound the beautiful grounds are meticulously cared for. But since no cameras are allowed, we only got this shot from down the street. 

OSAC - Overseas Security Advisory Council 

In our OSAC meeting, we were told that the population in Belize fell in 2010. The economy is struggling here just as in many countries of the world. Some of those that can are moving to other places. We were reminded that crime is up, but since the gang truce with police in September, things have been quieter.

We found the best pizza we have eaten in Belize in a little place on our way home. There is no sign out front, but we think it was called Pasquale's. Next door was a small house with a papaya tree growing almost under the eaves. The rooster wanted his photo taken, too.

On Saturday Brother Smith invited us to his home in Sanhill, which is about 20 minutes outside of Belize City. He has served in many leadership callings here, including district president. He decided to treat us and four of the younger missionaries to a lobster fest. We have never seen so many lobsters. Needless to say, they were delicious!

A Caribbean lobster's claws look different than those of an Atlantic lobster.

Brother Smith loves the sea and has caught lobsters for many years. He told us of the time he and his brother had a contract to provide live lobsters to a man that flew them to Florida. They made an underwater cage and caught lobsters all month to put inside. They would feed the caged lobsters each night. The evening before the man from Florida was to come, the brother accidently left the door to the cage slightly ajar after he fed them. When the man arrived to get his load of lobsters, they had all escaped. 

Brother Smith introduced us to his mother who  is home bound. She has 13 children and over 150 posterity.  She doesn't know the exact number of her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. She inspired us as she told us about her life. Before we left, we all sang "I Am A Child of God" to her.

We enjoyed visiting with the younger members of the family, too.

We saw this iguana sunning himself as we were getting into the van to leave. Before heading home we tried to find some less active members that lived about a mile away. Unfortunately they were not home.

Desiree (center) has been investigating the Church and was baptized. She will be a great strength to her family and branch.